Belle Manor Haunting
Page 16
“You give life and you take it,” Corbin said. “I just take it. I seek out those who waste their lives, achieving nothing. They’re not good or bad. They’re satisfied in being no one. Their indifference tells me they don’t belong here, that the world is better once they’re erased.”
“You choose for them? What if what you see as indifference today changes tomorrow?”
“It won’t change tomorrow, or any other day for the rest of their life.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I see inside their hearts, as you now do with those you seek. For some, change isn’t possible.”
Addison shook her head. “I shouldn’t feel sorry for them, I guess, but I do.”
He smiled. “You really are as good as I thought you to be. I admire you for it.”
“I won’t serve our father’s agenda.”
“I understand.”
But would their father?
Would he understand?
Addison glanced at the time and thought of Luke. “I need to go, Corbin.”
“Please, can’t you stay a bit longer?”
“I can’t. Not today.”
“Can I see you again? I want to be part of your life.”
Addison reached out and took his hand in hers, feeling a rush of energy flow between them. “You will see me again. I’ll call on you once I’ve settled into the new role I’ve been given. I have much to learn.”
“I look forward to seeing you again, Addison.”
She took his hands in hers, holding them until he faded from sight, and then she remained there a moment, pressing her toes into the fine grains of sand, pondering life, and the changes yet to come. She’d been given a great responsibility, which would have seemed too much to bear a couple of short weeks earlier.
Now she was certain.
Life would go on and she would adapt.
She was ready.
She just had an important dinner date to get to first.
***
Thank you for reading BELLE MANOR HAUNTING, book four in the Addison Lockhart ghost mystery series.
When I started this series, I planned to make it a trilogy and end it there, but as Addison’s character has developed over the years, I found there was so much more I wanted to do with her. In the book you just read, Addison’s life takes several twists and turns, and she finally realizes who she is and who she’s been all along. We’ll explore her new abilities a lot more in book 5.
For more information about this series check out the series order (as of the date of this printing) in the “Books by Cheryl Bradshaw” section below. And if you’d like to stay updated so you know when new books come out, sign up for my newsletter today and receive a FREE eBook from my collection. Learn more by clicking HERE.
Cheryl Bradshaw is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author writing in the genres of mystery, thriller, paranormal suspense, and romantic suspense, among others. Her novel Stranger in Town (Sloane Monroe series #4) was a 2013 Shamus Award finalist for Best PI Novel of the Year, and her novel I Have a Secret (Sloane Monroe series #3) was a 2013 eFestival of Words winner for Best Thriller. To date, nine of Cheryl’s novels have made the USA Today bestselling books list.
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Sloane Monroe Series
Black Diamond Death (Book 1)
Charlotte Halliwell has a secret. But before revealing it to her sister, she’s found dead.
Murder in Mind (Book 2)
A woman is found murdered, the serial killer’s trademark “S” carved into her wrist.
I Have a Secret (Book 3)
Doug Ward has been running from his past for twenty years. But after his fourth whiskey of the night, he doesn’t want to keep quiet, not anymore.
Stranger in Town (Book 4)
A frantic mother runs down the aisles, searching for her missing daughter. But little Olivia is already gone.
Bed of Bones (Book 5)
Sometimes even the deepest, darkest secrets find their way to the surface.
Flirting with Danger (Book 5.5) A Sloane Monroe Short Story
A fancy hotel. A weekend getaway. For Sloane Monroe, rest has finally arrived, until the lights go out, a woman screams, and Sloane’s nightmare begins.
Hush Now Baby (Book 6)
Serena Westwood tiptoes to her baby’s crib and looks inside, startled to find her newborn son is gone.
Dead of Night (Book 6.5) A Sloane Monroe Short Story
After her mother-in-law is fatally stabbed, Wren is seen fleeing with the bloody knife. Is Wren the killer, or is a dark, scandalous family secret to blame?
Gone Daddy Gone (Book 7)
A man lurks behind Shelby in the park. Who is he? And why does he have a gun?
Smoke & Mirrors (Book 8)
Grace Ashby wakes to the sound of a horrifying scream. She races down the hallway, finding her mother’s lifeless body on the floor in a pool of blood. Her mother’s boyfriend Hugh is hunched over her, but is Hugh really her mother’s killer?
Sloane Monroe Stories: Deadly Sins
Deadly Sins: Sloth (Book 1)
Darryl has been shot, and a mysterious woman is sprawled out on the floor in his hallway. She’s dead too. Who is she? And why have they both been murdered?
Deadly Sins: Wrath (Book 2)
Headlights flash through Maddie’s car’s back windshield, someone following close behind. When her car careens into a nearby tree, the chase comes to an end. But for Maddie, the end is just the beginning.
Deadly Sins: Lust (Book 3)
Marissa Calhoun sits alone on a beach-like swimming hole nestled on Australia’s foreshore. Tonight the lagoon is hers and hers alone. Or is it?
Deadly Sins: Greed (Book 4)
It was just another day for mob boss Giovanni Luciana until he took his car for a drive.
Addison Lockhart Series
Grayson Manor Haunting (Book 1)
When Addison Lockhart inherits Grayson Manor after her mother’s untimely death, she unlocks a secret that’s been kept hidden for over fifty years.
Rosecliff Manor Haunting (Book 2)
Addison Lockhart jolts awake. The dream had seemed so real. Eleven-year-old twins Vivian and Grace were so full of life, but they couldn’t be. They’ve been dead for over forty years.
Blackthorn Manor Haunting (Book 3)
Addison Lockhart leans over the manor’s window, gasping when she feels a hand on her back. She grabs the windowsill to brace herself, but it’s too late--she’s already falling.
Belle Manor Haunting (Book 4)
A vehicle barrels through the stop sign, slamming into the car Addison Lockhart is inside before fleeing the scene. Who is the driver of the other car? And what secrets within the walls of Belle Manor will provide the answer?
Till Death do us Part Novella Series
Whispers of Murder (Book 1)
It was Isabelle Donnelly’s wedding day, a moment in time that should have been the happiest in her life...until it ended in murder.
Echoes of Murder (Book 2)
When two women are found dead at the same wedding, medical examiner Reagan Davenport will stop at nothing to discover the identity of the killer.
Stand-Alone Novels
Eye for Revenge
Quinn Montgomery wakes to find herself in the hospital. Her childhood best friend Evie is dead, and Evie’s four-year-old son witnessed it all. Traumatized over what he saw, he hasn’t spoken.
The Perfect Lie
When true-crime writer Alexandria Weston is found murdered on the last stop of her book tour, fellow writer Joss Jax steps in to investigate.
Hickory Dickory Dead
Maisie Fezziwig wakes to a harrowing
scream outside. Curious, she walks outside to investigate, and Maisie stumbles on a grisly murder that will change her life forever.
Roadkill
Suburban housewife Juliette Granger has been living a secret life ... a life that’s about to turn deadly for everyone she loves.