The Legacy series: The Love series, the Wrapped series, and the Burning Souls series.

by Mj Fields

  ���Emma, I have to go back to England for a few days to wrap things up with my father���s estate, as well as do a couple interviews before our tour. I would like to get that out of the way as soon as possible so that I can get back here for our child���s birth. Would you like to go?���

  ���I would love to, but London���s in school,��� Emma said softly.

  ���I know, I should only be gone a few days, I���ll have Lila work on it, but I want to do it soon is that alright?��� Brody asked.

  ���Okay,��� she smiled up at him.

  * * *

  Brody and Emma stood at the airport waiting for his flight to be called. Emma sat playing with her hands, and he grabbed them and kissed them.

  ���Would you stop?��� Brody smiled at her.

  ���Sorry,��� Emma smiled.

  ���No, Em, I���m sorry. I wish I didn���t have to go, but I must. When I come back it���s happy from here on out okay?��� Brody wiped away Emma���s tear and held her tightly.

  ���I don���t mean too���Brody you���re my happily ever after. It hurts to think you don���t know that. I Love you, us and our life, I wish you understood that. You are my more,��� Emma held him tightly.

  ���You���re mine as well love,��� Brody kissed her, ���Listen let���s be happy…we have five minutes before I leave, I want to see you smile Em,��� Brody kissed her face.

  Emma smiled at him, ���That���s better.���

  ���Just a few days?��� Emma held his face in her hands.

  Brody smiled, ���I���ll be back before you know it.���

  Brody kissed Emma and pulled her up and hugged her tightly.

  ���The nursery looks good right?��� Brody smiled.

  ���It���s perfect, I can���t believe you did all of that,��� Emma smiled.

  ���We���ll do more when I get back,��� Brody kissed her again. ���I need to get going, customs, uugghh!���

  ���I love you Brody Hines, see you soon,��� Emma smiled broadly.

  ���I love you Emma Hines, see you soon,��� Brody kissed her quickly and turned and walked away.

  Brody walked through the gate, and his heart pounded, he didn���t relish the idea of not telling his wife the other reason for his trip. But it had to be done; he couldn���t go on ignoring what his gut was telling him.

  Brody walked through customs and walked to his gate. He looked around to see if his travel companion was waiting. He smiled shyly and sat down.

  ���Thank you for meeting me. I���m sorry about all of this secrecy I just don���t want to hurt her,��� Brody put his head in his hands.

  ���I understand Brody; I don���t want to hurt her either. I���m glad you trusted me enough to open up to me about everything. I won���t hold anything against you if this does not pan out, I won���t say that I���m not only hoping but praying things will go well.���

  ���I know, but I don���t think I���m wrong, and it scares the hell out of me. Emma���s going to be hurt; I just don���t know how the hell this happened. Never in a million years could I have ever imagined something like this. Unbelievable,��� Brody sighed.

  Their flight was called, and they walked onto the plane and sat.

  ���It���s going to be a wild few days, I hope you���re ready for it,��� Brody laughed nervously.

  ���I���m ready, we should rest on the flight over, I don���t think we���ll get much sleep if we���re to get this all wrapped up in a few days. If it takes any longer they���re both going to be suspicious.���

  ���I agree,��� Brody turned toward the window, ���I should have just told her, damn it. It���s going to crush her.���

  ���Why? If nothing comes of it and you did tell her she would be even more devastated. She doesn���t need to know until we figure it out.���

  ���Okay,��� Brody said and closed his eyes as the plane took off.

  * * *

  Emma cried the entire way home. She couldn���t shake the thought that something was going to go horribly wrong. The first time he went to England they broke up. The second time she was drugged and his father died. She couldn���t lose the feeling that he was hiding something from her or that something horrific was about to happen.

  * * *

  ���Em, I���m in London,��� Brody said softly.

  ���Okay���Brody is everything alright? I can come if you need me. I love you,��� Emma began to cry.

  ���Shh Em, I love you. Everything will be fine, I miss you already,��� Brody said softly.

  ���I���m going to come, Mom and Dad can watch London, I should be with you������

  Brody cut her off, ���Emma I won���t be long, and you need to be with London and Lila. I want you to know I wish you could be here as well, but it���ll be just fine. When I come home it will be a very long time before I ever leave you again. I love you more Em. Kiss London for me, I���ll see you soon.���

  * * *

  They walked into the bar that he had first seen the tattoo. Brody ordered drinks and sat in the booth.

  ���Do you see the tattoo on that woman���s neck?��� Brody asked.

  ���I do.���

  ���It���s the same one, Henry,��� Brody shook his head.

  ���Well let���s get the ball rolling. If Elizabeth is alive I need to know,��� Henry said with restrained urgency.

  ���We���ll go to the hotel, and I���ll make the call,��� Brody said.

  Brody slammed his drink, and they left.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I want to thank Stephanie for being my forever friend, second set of eyes, her tireless work, and for the constant encouragement.

  To Kari M. at K23 designs who did the cover, you are amazing!

  To Laura B. P for all you have done, thank you!

  To Ellie N. I heart you, there are not enough words.

  To Chris V, thank you for your work getting this website started and finished, soon.

  To my Facebook and Twitter friends, you are WONDERFUL and make me smile.

  To Karen thank you again for your friendship, encouragement, and support.

  To my family who gives me enough love and support to continue working towards my dream.

  Mary, Suzanne, Sheila, Taylor, Faye, Emily, Erica, and Tiffany you are all AMAZING

  To Ally, my heart���I Love you more!

  WRAPPED IN ARMOR

  Book 2

  CHAPTER ONE

  My Dearest Brody,

  Today marks the third month I haven���t been able to see your beautiful face, and so much has happened. With it all just jumping around in my head, I���m writing in hopes that I can somehow make sense of it all.

  Elizabeth���s returned to us, and I know I have you to thank for that ��� my family���s so grateful that you got her out of that hell. She���s still in rehab and counseling, but I don���t know if she���ll ever be the same. I know I should be jumping for joy that my sister who���s been missing for over thirty years is here. I���m not Brody, and I know how incredibly ungrateful and inhuman that sounds, but her being here caused you not to be. My heart won���t be whole until I see you again.

  A month after you were gone, your fans held a national memorial service that I was supposed to attend. Rebecca went in my place. I couldn���t face them, or the fact that anyone could possibly believe you���re gone, because I know you���re not. I feel you from a far holding
all the pieces of my shattered heart together until you walk through that door and hold me telling me it���s all better now. Everyone believed I was mourning your death and couldn���t keep it together to be in public. That���s fine, I actually don���t care what the world thinks…I just want you home. The day of the service London taught me how to play the piece you two had been working on for her end of the year concert. She asked that I play with her since you���re gone and I agreed. I���m hopeful I won���t have to put her through that embarrassment, so you need to hurry home my love, my life, my forever.

  Month two: Rebecca and your band held their own service. I skipped that one as well, and I didn���t have to come up with an excuse, Lila went into labor. We have a beautiful little girl, Brody. Lexington Grace was born on May 13th, 2013. She weighed six pounds and two ounces and was nineteen inches long. She looks exactly like you; you���re beautiful blue eyes, your thick brown hair and your pouty bottom lip. Lexi was seven weeks early, it was extremely scary for a while, but after a week in the neonatal unit she was able to come home. Lila���s been a dream, she wasn���t teary eyed at all, she looked at me and handed her right to me Brody ��� she was the perfect surrogate just like you said she would be. Lila agreed to express breast milk for the first month to give our daughter the colostrum which helps build her immunities.

  After the press got a hold of the story about our beautiful Lexington ��� London, Lila, Mark, Lexington, and I went to the lake house and stayed for two weeks. Lila was still recovering from her C- section and working her ass off to give them just enough photos and press releases to keep them away. While we were there London finally broke down, and I think I���ve been convincing enough to let her think I have as well, although I cannot ever say the words.

  We���ve been home for two weeks, my boss has been generous enough to allow me to work from home, but on Monday I have to go back to two days a week. Mom���s cut her hours so that she can be with Lexi on the days I���ll be at work.

  Clive���s become an invaluable asset. I knew nothing of the finances, bills or anything and he did. I guess you trusted him enough, so he���s stayed on. I honestly feel safer with him here. I do feel bad about using your money to pay him and Lila. I���m managing to take care of most everything else on my salary which has increased since I started, but you know that already. Clive���s amped up security which I���m grateful for, I don���t know why, but without you here I feel scared. I���ve not slept in our bedroom since the authorities brought Elizabeth home and announced you were missing. The first time I walked in there I fell apart, the nights London���s gone I still do. I miss you Brody. I can still smell your intoxicating scent on your pillow. I use your toothbrush hoping I might taste you; I wear your clothes every day that I���m home and change before I pick up London. Lexington and I watch videos of you every day, and I tell her how perfect her Daddy is. Brody she needs to know you, love please come home. I miss you���more.

  Yours Always and Forever,

  Em

  * * *

  ���I now pronounce you man and wife, you may kiss the bride,��� Pastor Page announced, and everyone clapped and cheered.

  Emma closed her eyes and thought of the last time she heard Pastor Page say those words. She didn���t expect the sting when she offered to hold the wedding at The Hines��� estate. She never could have expected it to hurt like this. Oh Brody I need you now, come home, please, she begged in her thoughts.

  Emma opened her eyes as she looked at London and smiled brightly, ���You���re the most beautiful junior bridesmaid I���ve ever seen.���

  ���And you���re the prettiest Maid of Honor in the universe,��� London said and hugged her, ���Mommy, we���re going to be okay, right?���

  ���Of course, we always are,��� Emma said and held her tighter, ���We love each other more. How could we not be perfect?���

  ���Do I have to go to dads tonight?���

  ���Do you want to stay here, London?���

  ���Yes, I do…I just don���t want to cause a fight,��� London said sadly.

  ���Well I���m your Mommy, and I���ll fight for you until the day I die,��� Emma smiled, ���Why don���t you sit with your sister and I���ll go make a phone call.���

  * * *

  Emma tucked the girls in and walked back outside where the reception was starting to die down.

  ���Thank you so much Emma for offering to do this for us,��� Lila hugged her.

  ���Lila, I owe you so much more, this was nice. A break from the normal Saturday night,��� Emma smiled.

  ���Are you alright, I mean with everything?��� Lila asked as she did almost daily.

  Emma nodded her head yes and smiled, ���I still don���t believe he���s������ She paused, unable to say the words.

  ���I know, I just really wish you���d talk to me, Emma.���

  ���If I ever feel like I���m going to lose it, you���ll be the first call I make,��� Emma smiled, reassuringly.

  Everyone had left, and Emma walked out to see if there was anything else to do, ���Mrs. Hines, everything���s all set, you should go in and sleep,��� Clive suggested, ���I���ll see to it that everything���s secure for the night.���

  ���I know you will, I���m just not ready to go to bed yet. Would you like some coffee, Clive?��� Emma asked holding the door open for him.

  ���Sure, thank you ma���am,��� Clive answered.

  ���Honest to God, you need to stop calling me that please,��� Emma said with a hint of demand in her voice.

  ���Alright I���ll try,��� Clive took the cup of coffee she handed to him.

  ���So you and Brody knew each other before?���

  ���Yes, for many years.���

  ���That���s nice.���

  ���Emma,��� Clive choked out and she laughed, he smiled back at her.

  ���Clive?��� Emma smiled.

  ���I hear you every night, crying, and I know you watch him on TV every day. Could you tell me why you do that to yourself?��� He asked with an inquisitive tone.

  ���I miss him, very much. I don���t believe he���s gone and I expect him to walk through that door someday soon.���

  ���I see,��� he looked at her.

  ���You think I���m crazy,��� Emma looked away.

  ���No ma���am���Emma, I can���t believe he���s gone either,��� Clive confessed, ���It just doesn���t make sense. But neither does believing otherwise. He would be with you if he could be.���

  ���Clive, do you think he���s hurt?��� Emma asked sadly, ���Do you believe he���s still alive?���

  The hope in her voice made him uneasy, ���No ma���am, I just wish, like you do, that he was okay.���

  Emma���s face fell, she had hoped she wasn���t alone that someone else just knew he was alright. Henry had been using all his contacts at the ISA to try to find him, and failed to turn up anything. Emma had stopped pushing her father since his mini- stroke. Knowing that he felt it was his fault to begin with, Emma herself went to England and retraced every step she could trying to piece together exactly what may have happened to him. Rebecca still kept in contact with the authorities and pushed them to find something, anything that would help them figure out what had happened. The authorities had found his shirt with cuts in it and blood that matched his DNA by the river, and that was enough for them.

  My Dearest Brody,

  I���v
e had a difficult day. I hurt thinking of what may have happened to you. I hurt knowing that wherever you are, you���re unable to get back to us. I hurt knowing that I���ve failed in finding you. I hurt so much missing you. I hurt knowing that I���m either crazy believing that you���re out there somewhere, and I hurt thinking you aren���t.

  Our little Lexington is six months old and cutting her first tooth. She���s healthy and happy and every day she looks more and more like you. Even her mannerisms complement yours. She smiles when she sees your videos on television, she laughs out loud she���s starting to sit up unassisted.

  Our London has dove into piano and over summer vacation, she attended music camp. She played many of your pieces and each night as I sat and watched her play and smiled and clapped for her. I felt like I was distant from her, and it scared me. I need to be present for them and in order to do that I need to be whole. Without you, I struggle every day to become that again.

  I have dreams of you often, not the nightmares that I had before, but very pleasant dreams, sometimes too pleasant. I still haven���t slept in our bed and I fear I never will again.

  It���s been eight months without you and I know when I smell your pillow, it truly isn���t your scent I smell, but the memory of it. People say memories fade…and that scares me senseless. I never want to go a day when I don���t remember your smile, your smell, your touch, your voice or the way you loved me.

  Yours Always and Forever,

  Em

  ���Ma���am, may I have a few moments?���

  ���Of course,��� Emma said grabbing the remote and quickly turning off the home video of their first Christmas together.

  Clive smiled gently, ���You didn���t have to turn that off, I know you watch them every day.���

  ���I don���t want everyone to think I���m crazy,��� Emma said with tears forming in her eyes.

  Clive sat and took a deep breath, ���Ma���am I need to return to England for a bit, I have family matters to attend to. I���ll return as soon as I can.���