Truth Is Found

by Morgan Kelley

  Beau hated this.

  He hated that his brother was hurting her.

  It was hard to watch her suffer because of him.

  “Let me talk to Trey. Can you hold out a few more minutes with him yelling?”

  She shook in his arms. “I can, but you don’t want to…”

  “Trey! Talk to me.”

  Nyx looked up into his eyes. Hers were filled with so much pain, but if he wanted a direct line, she’d give it to him. “He’s angry.”

  “I can handle him. You just hold on for me. I’ll get it done fast, and then we’ll silence him again.”

  Beau slid her off his lap. Slowly, he moved away from her, knowing that she was going to hurt. Her body bowed as her hands went to her ears to try and block out the noise that only she was hearing.

  “Trey! You’re hurting her! Stop!”

  It didn't take long for Nyx to start channeling him. “You need to take Tori home! You need to leave now! The winery is full of dead. You have to go. Save our sister. Do your duty!”

  The voice was Nyx’s, but Beau knew who was coming through.

  “Trey! You have to calm down. You’re killing her! Don’t hurt her!”

  “She’s just the link! She shut me out for too long! I have to be heard!”

  He wanted to rage himself. “She’s mine! You’re hurting what’s mine to protect!”

  “Unsafe. It’s all unsafe. No one is protected where the dead roam unchecked.”

  Beau noticed that Nyx released her ears, so his brother must have calmed down. “She’s mine, Trey. You’re hurting my woman. We’re blood, and you’re torturing the woman I care about.”

  He nearly said ‘love’, but he wasn’t sure how Nyx would take that, or if she could even hear him. The last thing he wanted was to rush into something and frighten her. Besides, he didn't know why he was so connected to a woman he just met.

  Beau had his own demons to work through.

  Nyx’s body relaxed, the bowing stopped, and she spoke calmly, channeling Trey. “Go home, Beau. Go home. Take our sister and get out of here. There are things that will hurt you both if you stay.”

  “We can’t. We have to help the dead. Tori is on a mission, and she has to complete it.”

  “GO HOME!” Nyx screamed, her body bucking in some invisible hold Trey held on her.

  Beau reached for her hand to reconnect them. “She’s mine!” he shouted back. “I won’t let you hurt her!”

  The trickle of blood down Nyx’s face from her nose was all that was left. Trey was gone.

  She was safe again.

  “Nyx?” he asked, touching her face. She was ice cold and not responding. That alone scared the shit out of him. Beau hated that this was happening to her.

  Maybe it was good that she’d passed out.

  Christ!

  He had to find a solution to this. If not, he’d stay by her side until they died. Beau couldn’t let her hurt.

  Over his dead body.

  Oh, and his brother’s.

  * * * L i t t l e m o o n * * *

  Littlemoon Investigations

  Owner’s Apartment

  When he woke up, his face was hurting him. It was like someone punched him in the face with a fistful of bricks.

  Then Justin remembered what had happened.

  Tori.

  He’d been leveled by his brother’s wife.

  Son of a bitch!

  As he opened his eyes, she was there. Tori was in Julian’s favorite chair, her feet were up on the coffee table, and she was watching him.

  There was a mix of sympathy and anger in her eyes, and Justin knew he was in for it. Tori was going to kick his ass around the room, and she would probably enjoy it.

  “I see you’re awake.”

  “Yeah,” he muttered, trying to sit up. The second he did, the room wavered, and he knew he was going to be sick.

  “I also see that you raided our home and wrecked the place,” she added.

  “Yeah, I’m really sorry about that. I was drinking. I needed to find Julian’s stash.”

  “What the hell were you thinking, Marine? You know you can’t run around like that. You have a wife and a life now. You have responsibilities. You own part of our business, and the last thing we need is the media catching you acting like a child.”

  He looked over. “Can we do this later? I’m going to puke.”

  “No,” she stated. “Someone has to have a ‘come to Jesus’ talk with you, and it’s going to be me.”

  “Hold that thought,” he muttered, storming toward the bathroom to toss his cookies.

  As he purged in his brother’s bathroom, Tori moved behind him to hold his hair. Her eyes filled with sympathy for the man. He’d done a number on himself.

  “Marine, you’re a mess.”

  Yeah, he was well aware, and it was humiliating at best. The last people he wanted to see him like this were the ones he’d let down.

  “Get out of here, Tori. I’ll be fine.”

  “No, Justin, you won’t.”

  “Stay away,” he growled, wiping his mouth with a towel before he headed to the sink. Any conversation that they had now would be a bad idea. He was drunk, sick, and angry.

  God only knew what he’d do.

  “Shut up, Justin. We’re going to talk, and then you can shove me away. I promised my husband that I’d handle this, and I will.”

  She strode back into the living room to wait for him. When he finally emerged from the bathroom, he looked like shit.

  No, he looked worse.

  A two-day bender would do that to a person, and their liver.

  “Sit.”

  He stared at her.

  “So help me God, Justin, I’ll get up, come over there, and beat your thick skull in until you comply. We’re in the middle of a hot mess, and I had to leave Julian alone out there. So sit your ass down!”

  He realized that his brother may be in danger. “Is he okay?”

  “Yes, but you’re not. Now, you may want to hate me for the rest of our lives, and if you do that’s fine. It’s going to piss Clarissa off, and make holidays awkward, but that’s your choice. I have some things I need to say to you.”

  He didn't speak.

  Apparently, Tori nailed it on the head.

  “I’m going to say something to you that I’d never say to Julian. I’m going to trust you to keep it between us.”

  He lifted an eyebrow. It had to be important if she was asking him to keep a secret from his twin. They never did that, and she knew it.

  “I’ve relived that day over and over again in my head. I’ve done the ‘what if’ scenario so many times that it haunts me. I’ve cried, I’ve asked why, and I’ve lost so much sleep over it. In the end, I’ve come up with one conclusion.”

  “Yeah, what’s that?”

  “If I could, I would have traded my pregnancy for Vivian’s. I would have sacrificed our child for yours.”

  He stared at her.

  “Even though we had to fight to get pregnant, I would have offered it up because we love you both. I would have carried this on my shoulders, instead of yours.”

  Justin knew just how big that declaration was. “Why would you do that?”

  “Because you obviously can’t carry the weight. It would have killed us, but it wouldn’t have torn our marriage apart. This is killing the happiness you found. No one should lose a child, Justin, and it sucks that Vivian did, but now she’s lost even more. You’re walking away, and she’s afraid.”

  Her words resonated with him.

  She was right. His marriage hung in the balance.

  “You’re on the cusp of losing everything.”

  Justin jumped up and began pacing. It wasn’t lost on Tori that her husband did the same thing. In fact, now that Justin was growing out his hair, they looked identical.

  “I failed her! I’m the man, and it’s my job to keep her safe. I feel so damn helpless right now. All I wanted to do was wrap Vivian in my arms and pro
tect her. I failed. I’m not mad at her, or you. I’m mad at me. What kind of husband am I? My wife went out, got in a car, and I couldn’t save my child. I lost my child, Tori, and I got lost. I don’t know how to get back, or if I ever will get over this.”

  “You’re tougher than this, Marine. You will get over this. Remember what you told me when Julian and I couldn’t get pregnant? You told me you had my back. Well, that’s why I’m here. I have yours too.”

  “My wife and child suffered because I’m a screw up. How do I live after that?”

  “Well, you won’t find the damn answer in the bottom of a bottle, Justin. We’ve been down this road. You get mad, you drink, and you lose control. It’s a trigger for you, so you can’t do it. You have everyone worried, including Vivian.”

  “I can’t face her, Tori. I’m afraid to face her.”

  She understood. “You can’t run forever. You have to man up and talk to your wife. She’s just as afraid as you are.”

  “I’ve lost all I loved in a matter of seconds.”

  Tori went to speak, but she was distracted. There was music beginning to play, and that meant Bethany was taking her for a little trip.

  “I can help,” she stated, praying she held on.

  The curtains in the room began blowing, and the lights flickered. When Justin stopped, he looked around.

  “What the hell?”

  He looked around, eyes wide at what was happening. The old beer bottles on the table from his bender flipped upside down, magically balancing on their openings.

  “Jesus!”

  Yeah, hardly,

  “You’re about to get a message from the beyond,” she stated, standing from the chair. “Give me a few minutes. I have to talk to Bethany.”

  He looked at her like she was half out of her mind. They’d not told the family everything about her gift. Yes, Claire knew, but only because she’d seen it happen. Justin only heard about it, and even then, he thought they were yanking his chain.

  It looked like Justin was about to get a firsthand look at it.

  “Just don’t let me fall,” she whispered as the room around them came to life.

  “I’m ready.”

  With that, the decent into Crazyville began. Tori could feel herself sinking through the layers until the gray went black, and then morphed back into gray again. When she opened her eyes, there stood her little spirit friend.

  “It’s about damn time!” Bethany said, pacing across the now empty room.

  “Yeah, well, I’ve been a little busy,” she stated.

  “You call cheating on me with some other ghost busy?” Bethany asked.

  Tori began laughing. “You realize how crazy that sounds, right? You’re jealous of my dead brother’s ghost. That’s three days past stalkerish and into dead weird.”

  “More like the woman he’s coming through. You might not need me anymore.”

  Tori didn't have time for this. “Bethany, I promise I will always need you. We’re friends.”

  That seemed to appease the dead woman. “Okay. I believe you.”

  Finally.

  Tori was back in control. Her spirit guide was chilling out.

  “What’s he doing?” she asked, looking around the room. “Is he running for it?”

  Bethany blinked and then started to laugh. “No, I’ve locked the door. He’s not going anywhere. He is staring at you like you have three heads.”

  “Well, keep him busy. I can’t go chasing him all over the place.”

  “Two Julians? How lucky are you?”

  She pointed. “There’s only one, and I’m not sleeping with him. He’s my brother and married.”

  She lifted her hands. “Okay! Calm down. You used to have a sense of humor.”

  “What did you want to tell me?” she asked.

  “I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation with him. He’s stressing this for nothing. That baby wasn’t meant to survive. In fact, she wasn’t going to be born. Fate just stepped in and saved them the pain of losing her later.”

  “Well, gee. Let me go tell him that so he can take a header off my building.”

  Bethany laughed. “There’s more.”

  Tori waited. After all, this was Bethany’s show.

  “His wife is going to get pregnant again…well, she’s meant to if he gets past this. He’s at a crossroad. If he chooses right, he’s going to get his child back.”

  “What?”

  “The soul will be recycled. Tell him that. When they get pregnant again, they’ll be getting that child returned to them, just in a new vessel, plus they’ll get another baby.”

  “Twins?”

  Bethany nodded. “Two girls. His fate isn’t sealed yet, but if he doesn’t fix this, they will be.”

  Tori grinned. “There are days I love having you around.”

  “Oh, and days you don’t?”

  “Absolutely.”

  While she was there, Tori figured she needed more information. She needed the three girls’ names. “Can you get their identities for me? A first name at least?”

  Bethany crossed to her. “I can, but you’ll have to be on the property. If I try from here, it’s going to take a lot of energy, and you and I aren’t strong enough.”

  She could do that.

  “I’ll do it back in the room.”

  “Tori, I have to tell you something.”

  She didn't like that. “What?”

  “There’s more spirits there now. Someone else has crossed, and there’s a lot of anger. The girls aren’t alone.”

  Great.

  More ghosts.

  Why couldn’t this case be simple?

  “Am I in danger?”

  She thought about it. “You’re all in danger. I’ll stick close, and I’ll try and warn you if something comes up, but watch yourself. You won’t get another chance at motherhood.”

  Tori’s hands went to her baby bump. “Only one child?”

  Bethany nodded.

  Well, if that was the case, she’d make sure nothing happened to Veronica.

  “There’s a man at the vineyard, and with each death, he’s getting more and more angry. He won’t come through. You’re going to need help.”

  “From who? The freaking Ghostbusters?” she asked.

  “You're funny.”

  “An exorcist?”

  “Hey! That’s not amusing! I’ll be sent away too. I was thinking more like your brother’s girlfriend. She’s like a lightning rod. If you can get her to focus past your brother, and I mean the dead one, not the sexy live one, she’ll tune in to him.”

  “Like a radio?”

  “Yes. You need her and a séance to figure out who he is. I’ve tried to ask, but every time I get close, he threatens me. He’s crazy and dangerous.”

  “Is he the spirit who attacked Beau?”

  She nodded. “Where he is, you’ll find the girls. He’s protecting them, and he’s collecting the new souls as they pass.”

  “Is he evil?”

  “No, he’s just lost like I once was. You need to set him and the rest free. He’s not supposed to be collecting spirits. It’s dangerous.”

  “Great.”

  Bethany shrugged. “It is what it is.”

  “Well, a séance it is then. I’ll be back when I get to the vineyard. I’ll need those names. Please don’t let them hurt me when they come through.”

  She recalled the last time she played medium to multiple angry spirits.

  “I’ll stick close,” Bethany promised, even as Tori began slipping back to reality.

  When she opened her eyes, Justin was super close, and looked incredibly freaked out. She couldn’t blame him.

  “Tori?”

  “Yeah, welcome to my haunting. It’s a fun time for me and all involved.”

  He didn't know what to say. “That was scary. I couldn’t get out the door and my phone was drained of all the charge.”

  “Yeah, Bethany it pretty strong. She’s been dead almost eigh
ty years. She can pretty much do what she wants.”

  The lights went out.

  “Bethany! Knock it off.”

  There was laughter, and they went back on.

  Justin looked around. “Okay, your gift is scarier than Vivian’s.”

  “Yeah, well, it’s my cross to bear. You need to sit down. What I’m going to tell you is big.”

  He stared at her. Maybe he was very drunk, and this was some dream.

  “Okay.”

  Tori sat beside him. “When we got pregnant, Bethany was the reason. She helped us out. Now she has a message for you.”

  He lifted a brow. “For me?”

  “Yes. There are two paths ahead, Marine. If you continue down this one, you’re going to be very unhappy.”

  “And?”

  “Fate has plans for you. I’m going to ask you to trust me with what I’m going to tell you.”

  “Okay.”

  She took his hand in hers. As soon as her brother-in-law slept, she was going to call his wife. They needed to work through this together.

  “Yes, you lost your child, but it’s only temporarily.”

  He stared at her.

  “Vivian has another pregnancy down the line. I know you think I’m crazy, but Bethany is pretty spot on.”

  “I don’t know if I can do this again. It hurts too much to lose a child.”

  “You didn't lose her. She was temporarily yanked back to wherever souls go. She’s coming back, and she’s bringing a friend.”

  He stared at her. “What?”

  “If you fix this here and now, you’ll have more kids, and the one you lost will come through again. You’ll have twins.”

  He tried to think.

  “I’m going to ask that you keep this between us. I trust you with my secret, Justin. I’m giving you something to get you through this.”

  He didn't speak. Instead, he broke.

  “Really?” he whispered, wiping his eyes on the back of his hand.

  “Yes, Marine. There’s an end in sight.”

  He couldn’t hold back anymore. His heart stopped hurting, and there was a release of weight from his shoulders.

  He didn't lose his child forever. It was only temporary. That alone gave him so much hope. The misery ebbed away.

  Tori pulled him against her, and held him in her arms. “Let it out, Justin. It’s going to be better. I promise.”