Chapter 11

By

Brynn Morgan

Copyright © 2023 by – Brynn Morgan – All Rights Reserved.

It is not legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited.

Chapter 11

Present Day

Emily woke up to the sound of horses neighing and birds chirping outside of the window. She stretched like a lazy cat in Bella's bed, and for a moment, Emily enjoyed the feel of the cotton sheets against her skin and the thickness of the down comforter. But as always, reality crept back in with a rush, and she remembered the loss of Luke, Isla, and her son. They were dead. Emily was alive. She wanted to die.

When Emily went to bed last night, she was convinced that it would be best for her to leave Hastings House and find something else, but in the morning light, things looked different, and Emily remembered that she had signed a contract and did not know how legal and binding that it would be. Emily could be sued for breach of contract.

It was not as bad as it seemed, she thought. It was a house, and there was nothing terrible there. Emily was making more out of it than it was. She picked up her charged phone and dialed Amori's number. It immediately went to voicemail. Emily waited for the beep.

"Hey, it is Amori. Leave your name and number, and I will get back to you soon. Your call is important to me." Her southern accent was exaggerated.

Emily did not leave a message and ended the call.

Just then, there was a soft knock on the door.

"Yes," Emily said.

"Morning." It was Lainie.

Emily walked over to the door and opened it. Lainie smiled at her, wearing her yellow pj's, and her short dark hair had a red headband holding back her bangs from her forehead.

Lainie had a couple of turquoise towels in her arms, a washcloth, a bottle of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash in one.

"I thought that you might need these," she said.

Emily took the items from her gratefully.

"Thank you so much," Emily said.

Lainie patted her on the shoulder.

"No problem at all. Davis went into town this morning, and he is coming back with Biscuitville for breakfast, so do not take too long," she said with a wink and left the room, softly shutting the door behind her.

Emily took a much-needed hot shower, dressed, and put her wet red hair in a loose bun. She exited the room and went downstairs. Emilu heard lively conversation coming from the kitchen. The kitchen was lovely, with white shiplap walls, light gray wood floors, white granite counters, and a long island in the center made of butcher block. It was a very modern kitchen with floating shelves and two large windows over the sink overlooking the stables and horses.

There were three round large copper fixtures hung over the island with Amber Glow Edison bulbs that created a Hygge effect. It was a very warm and welcoming space.

Davis, Lainie, and Bella looked up from the biscuit bags and smiled at Emily. Davis beckoned Emily over with his hand.

"Come on and get you some breakfast!" His deep voice boomed.

He wore the same John Deere hat, white crew-necked t-shirt, and Wrangler jeans with his trusty brown work boots. He had to be at least six foot four or more. He was one tall drink of water, that was for sure. He reminded her a lot of Luke. He had an exceedingly kind demeanor.

They all sat down around the island on tall stainless steel stools. Davis pulled one out for Emily and she sat down slowly.

"Davis was having thoughts, that apparently we have an army staying with us instead of just one woman!" Lainie said sarcastically and teased her brother, popping him on top of his hat. He smiled sheepishly and took a massive bite of his gravy biscuit, looking at Bella with a goofy face. She smiled back at him, cramming a strawberry jam and butter biscuit in her mouth, and crumbs fell all over her Scooby Doo pajamas as she imitated her uncle's movements.

Emily could tell that they had a good relationship, and she smiled, as did Bella when he nudged Lainie, trying to push her out of her stool. Lainie held her own, though. She did not budge.

Emily chose a Bacon, Egg, and Cheese biscuit, and Lainie poured her a cup of coffee to go along with it. Emily was hungry and had another biscuit when she finished that one.

Once breakfast was over, Bella went into the living room to watch cartoons, and the adults still gathered in the kitchen.Emily cleared her throat softly, and they both looked up. Lainie was loading the dishwasher, and Davis fed the puppy a leftover plain buttered biscuit.

"I have decided to try and brave it out at the house," she announced.

Lainie looked at Emily with a shocked expression, an Davis looked at her as well.

"I thought that you had decided not to do that. I thought that ......" Lainie trailed off.

Emily sighed.

"I had, but I signed a contract, and I just do not know if it will be easy to get out of it. I have just spooked myself. I am sure that the house is fine. I just got scared because of the break-in." she ended.

Lainie slowly closed the dishwasher door, stood up, and said.

"Do what you think is best for you, but Emily, make sure you are completely comfortable with this decision. Ok?"

Emily nodded.

"I will," she said. "I am going to go and pack my things and drive back over there." Emily left the room with her shoulders slumped in despair. Depression was already creeping in and making her feel overwhelmed

ONE HOUR LATER:

Emily returned down the stairs with her duffle bag and her car keys.

Davis and Lainie waited in the foyer for her.

"Davis will go over there with you, Emily, and ensure everything is ok. You know that the kitchen is a tee-total mess, so you can come over here and have meals with us if you would like." Lainie finished.

Emily had not known Lainie for but a couple of days, but she felt they would be lifelong friends.

Emily walked over and hugged her, and Lainie returned the hug tightly.

Bella came in from the living room, ran over, and hugged Emily around her left leg. Emily looked down and ruffled her cotton blond hair like she used to do to Isla.

Davis followed Emily into the hot and humid southern air, and Emily gasped from the heat.

"It is going to be another hot one," Davis commented.

He hopped into the cab of his massive Silverado that looked like a monster truck to Emily, and she loaded her bag into her Camaro. He pulled out first, and Emily followed him back to Hastings House.

Emily drove to the house through the massive iron gates and down the long drive. She immediately saw the gorgeous silver sports car parked in the circular drive and wondered who it was. Emily had never seen this vehicle before.She parked her car beneath the tree, and Davis pulled up and parked beside her.

He exited his truck and looked at the car, and Emily followed suit. Was it the owner of the property, perhaps? The car seemed very expensive.

Emily walked over and peered at the car and saw it was empty. Davis looked at Emily.

"Maybe whoever it is, is around back?" he asked.

Emily nodded at him.

"Maybe," she said softly.

Davis held his hand up.

"Just stay here for the moment, Emily. I want to check things out," he said.

Emily stayed put and tried to call Amori, but again, it went to her voicemail.

Davis walked around the side of the house and looked out toward the garden, but he did not see anything. He returned to the front of the house and saw Emily leaning against her car door.

"Let me have your keys to the house." Davis ordered.

Emily handed the keys over to him, and Davis walked up the steps to the front door. He stopped and looked down. He turned and looked back at Emily.

"The door is already unlocked. You stay right here," Davis ordered and went inside, leaving her alone.

Emily felt a slight shiver. Had the house been broken into again? She heard him make a sound in the distance. Emily could not decipher his words. It sounded like a shout. She walked away from the car and closer to the porch.

"Davis?" She questioned.

Davis shouted.

"Do not come in here, Emily!" he warned loudly.

Emily climbed the few steps with hesitation. What was wrong?

"What's wrong?" she asked curiously.

She edged closer to the door, Emily nudged it with her shoe, and it opened wider. She gasped in horror at what she saw.

Davis turned quickly from where he knelt over a woman's body lying motionless at the foot of the stairs.

"Dammit, Emily! I told you to stay out there!" He screamed out.

But Emily had already seen too much. The second she saw the pale blond hair spread out of the floor and the one leg with a red patent leather high heel hanging off the foot at an angle, she knew who it was.

"Amori!" She screamed out as she saw how unnatural her body was positioned on the marble floor. Her head was turned to the staircase, and one leg was completely bent behind her.

Emily could not see her face but knew Amori was dead.

She crumpled on the floor, bent over and moaning, rocking back and forth.

Davis got up quickly and rushed over to Emily. He picked her up and carried her out of the door into the sunshine. She was going into shock.

Emily wrapped her arms around Davis's neck and held onto him. His heart raced beneath her shaking hand. David took her to his truck and opened the door. He sat Emily down on the passenger seat and buckled her in. She saw blood on his hands and pushed his hands away from her frantically. He looked down and saw the blood and wiped what he could on his jeans, and he climbed into his driver's seat and started the engine.

"Who is she, Emily?" Davis asked loudly as he dialed his phone and drove quickly away from the house.

Emily felt tears creeping down her cheeks. She could not comprehend what Davis was saying to her. It sounded like a white noise rushing in her ears. Amori was dead. Amori had fallen down the stairs; she sobbed uncontrollably.

Davis dialed 911.

"Who is the woman, Emily?" he asked urgently.

Emily looked over at him, and her blue eyes were terrified.

"Amori." She cried out. She covered her eyes with her palms and rocked back and forth in the seat.

"Emily." Davis worriedly put his hand on her shoulder, and his voice was soft. "I need to tell the police who she is," he explained.

Emily registered that he was talking to her, and she turned and looked at him.

"Her name is Amori Black, and she is the realtor for Mrs. Hastings. I don't understand why she was out here. " Emily said as calmly as she could.

Davis told dispatch who the deceased woman was and where she was located, and then he hung up.

Emily started crying again. She could not get the image of finding Amori out of her head. She would never be able to forget that image. It would haunt her.

Davis pulled up in the driveway, and Lainie met him.

She waited as he hopped down from the truck and hurried to Emily.

"The police are on their way to the house, and the paramedics are on their way too...but I told them they were only making a trip to pick up a body because that woman was dead, and Lainie, I didn't think she had been there for all that long. She was still warm. The hood of the car was still warm when I touched it, too. I tried to save her, but it was too late." he finished.

Emily then heard Lainie ask Davis.

"What do you think happened to her"?

Davis replied.

"From the looks of things. I would say that she fell down the steps and broke her neck."

Lainie did not say one word. She felt so bad for Emily. It was only more devastation for her.

*************

Later that night. After the police and paramedics had left the scene of the Hastings house, Emily sat on the front porch steps with Lainie, and they could see the blue and red lights of the patrol cars and ambulances fading into the distance and illuminating the oak trees way up high as they pulled out of the gates.

Emily was numb. She felt nothing at all as a sultry breeze blew the wind chimes hanging from the eaves of the porch and made a tinkling sound. Usually, she would have loved the sound of the wind chimes, but not tonight. The sound was too cheerful and light for this horrible night.

Lainie sat quietly beside her and contemplated the events of the day. Another woman was dead. Yet another person had lost their life at Hastings House.

What was going on?

Emily sighed and rubbed the back of her neck to ease some of the tension in that area, but it helped very little.

Her voice broke the heavy silence.

"Amori and Phillip had been trying to have a baby for years." Emily just suddenly said, and she had not said one word to anyone since arriving back at the farm earlier that day.

Lainie turned and looked at her and just listened. Emily continued.

"They were giving IVF one more try after countless attempts, and Amori was finally pregnant," she said. Emily paused. "I just do not understand it, Lainie."

She said, shaking her head in denial. "Phillip has lost Amori and now his unborn daughter." she started softly, crying again. "I just do not understand." she wiped tears away with the back of her hand.

Lainie did not know what to say. There was nothing to say.

Emily continued.

"Who up there is so cruel and so ruthless to destroy our every happiness?" Emily asked in a high-pitched voice, nodding toward the velvet black sky. "Does this supposed higher power ... if there is one ... just sit back and laugh at us in all our pain and suffering?" It is just too cruel if that is the case."

Emily stood up from the porch steps and walked out into the yard. She looked in the direction of Hastings House and felt the most profound chill invade her very soul. Emily turned and looked at Lainie with determination written all over her features.

"I need to find out everything that I can about Hastings House. Something is wrong there, and I must find out what , before someone else falls victim within its walls."

Lainie stood up as well and nodded her head in agreement.

"I will help you," she said softly