Jenna. “Your father hit you in the
head?”
Not my real daddy, second father. He bought me, held me
down, she struck me. Wasn’t strong enough and he finished the job. Help her,
please. Help my mom before it’s too late to save her.
“Your stepfather is Spencer Bailey?”
Jenna nodded. The smell of apples and smoke became cloying.
Morgan grew weaker. The pain in her head grew sharper. Her strength wouldn’t be
enough for the EVP session to continue.
Turning off the recorder, Morgan lowered her hand. “You did
well, Jenna. Thank for being in my presence. Go and rest.”
On instinct, Morgan punched a number on her cellphone. The
signal was weak and it had very little energy left, but the call went
through…straight to voicemail.
All she could do was ask for his help. “Ethan, it’s me. I
need you. Hurts, my head hurts. He hit her in the back of the head, blood went
everywhere. He killed her. Please come.”
The phone went dark, drained of its battery just as the
lights went out.
Severe pain shook Morgan to her core, making it difficult to
find her night vision. Thinking she was heading for the door, she’d gone about
two steps before colliding with something hard.
The door creaked open. Someone had entered the bathroom, bright
lights flashed and her migraine loomed harsher than before, blinding her before
she could get a bearing on where she was or what was happening.
“Hello? Mrs. Bailey? Is that you?” A hand came out of the
light, grabbing her hair, pulling hard.
Morgan yelped and tried to scream. Something hard and heavy
smashed into her skull. Wetness trickled over her face. Helpless against
colliding with the floor, she tried to break her fall.
Caving in to the darkness that’d suddenly consumed her, she
was vaguely aware of the scent of smoke.
An alarm went off, deafening in its intensity. Rain poured
down, soaking her. And then there was nothing but silence.
Chapter Three
Ethan reached Druid Creek Castle at breakneck speed. He
didn’t recall driving, traffic or turning off the engine when he arrived or
exiting his vehicle.
His only thought was to get inside the building when he saw
two massive fire trucks in the parking lot. Customers were standing outside of
the castle pointing and talking as firemen went in and out of the front
entrance.
A quick assessment of the scene revealed that no one was
panicked. Flames weren’t shooting out of the building. No one looked hurt or
screamed for help.
What scared him the most was the ambulance that’d arrived
with sirens and lights flashing seconds behind him and headed around to the
back parking lot.
All hell had broken loose while he was having a tantrum
because his woman dared go out with someone else. All he knew right then was
that she’d called and she’d been in pain. That’s all he needed to know to haul
ass to Danvers and help her.
Seeing Remy Sinclair standing off to the side of the main
door, Ethan headed toward the other man. Morgan wasn’t with her date!
Angry and scared, Ethan took out his badge, flashed it as if
he had every right to be there and rushed to confront Sinclair.
“Dammit, she’s down there. Let me back inside so I can find
her!” Remington Sinclair screamed at someone inside.
“Sinclair, you’d better not be referring to my woman.
Where’s Morgan?” Ethan demanded.
Remy turned and faced him, unafraid to look him in the eye,
but something was off.
“She went downstairs to call you and do an EVP session. She
was gone awhile so I’d thought it was going well and made a dash to my car to
get a spirit box. When I went back inside, Alex Grant and I had started talking
when the fire alarms went off downstairs and we smelled smoke.”
“You trying to tell me Morgan’s somewhere in that fire?”
Panic damn near made him smash Remy’s nose in.
“Sprinkler system kicked in downstairs. Fire’s out. Grant
pushed me out the door and went to the basement to make sure all the customers
got out through the
head?”
Not my real daddy, second father. He bought me, held me
down, she struck me. Wasn’t strong enough and he finished the job. Help her,
please. Help my mom before it’s too late to save her.
“Your stepfather is Spencer Bailey?”
Jenna nodded. The smell of apples and smoke became cloying.
Morgan grew weaker. The pain in her head grew sharper. Her strength wouldn’t be
enough for the EVP session to continue.
Turning off the recorder, Morgan lowered her hand. “You did
well, Jenna. Thank for being in my presence. Go and rest.”
On instinct, Morgan punched a number on her cellphone. The
signal was weak and it had very little energy left, but the call went
through…straight to voicemail.
All she could do was ask for his help. “Ethan, it’s me. I
need you. Hurts, my head hurts. He hit her in the back of the head, blood went
everywhere. He killed her. Please come.”
The phone went dark, drained of its battery just as the
lights went out.
Severe pain shook Morgan to her core, making it difficult to
find her night vision. Thinking she was heading for the door, she’d gone about
two steps before colliding with something hard.
The door creaked open. Someone had entered the bathroom, bright
lights flashed and her migraine loomed harsher than before, blinding her before
she could get a bearing on where she was or what was happening.
“Hello? Mrs. Bailey? Is that you?” A hand came out of the
light, grabbing her hair, pulling hard.
Morgan yelped and tried to scream. Something hard and heavy
smashed into her skull. Wetness trickled over her face. Helpless against
colliding with the floor, she tried to break her fall.
Caving in to the darkness that’d suddenly consumed her, she
was vaguely aware of the scent of smoke.
An alarm went off, deafening in its intensity. Rain poured
down, soaking her. And then there was nothing but silence.
Chapter Three
Ethan reached Druid Creek Castle at breakneck speed. He
didn’t recall driving, traffic or turning off the engine when he arrived or
exiting his vehicle.
His only thought was to get inside the building when he saw
two massive fire trucks in the parking lot. Customers were standing outside of
the castle pointing and talking as firemen went in and out of the front
entrance.
A quick assessment of the scene revealed that no one was
panicked. Flames weren’t shooting out of the building. No one looked hurt or
screamed for help.
What scared him the most was the ambulance that’d arrived
with sirens and lights flashing seconds behind him and headed around to the
back parking lot.
All hell had broken loose while he was having a tantrum
because his woman dared go out with someone else. All he knew right then was
that she’d called and she’d been in pain. That’s all he needed to know to haul
ass to Danvers and help her.
Seeing Remy Sinclair standing off to the side of the main
door, Ethan headed toward the other man. Morgan wasn’t with her date!
Angry and scared, Ethan took out his badge, flashed it as if
he had every right to be there and rushed to confront Sinclair.
“Dammit, she’s down there. Let me back inside so I can find
her!” Remington Sinclair screamed at someone inside.
“Sinclair, you’d better not be referring to my woman.
Where’s Morgan?” Ethan demanded.
Remy turned and faced him, unafraid to look him in the eye,
but something was off.
“She went downstairs to call you and do an EVP session. She
was gone awhile so I’d thought it was going well and made a dash to my car to
get a spirit box. When I went back inside, Alex Grant and I had started talking
when the fire alarms went off downstairs and we smelled smoke.”
“You trying to tell me Morgan’s somewhere in that fire?”
Panic damn near made him smash Remy’s nose in.
“Sprinkler system kicked in downstairs. Fire’s out. Grant
pushed me out the door and went to the basement to make sure all the customers
got out through the
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