Chapter 9

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Chapter 9

Ethan

Not wanting to sit on my hands while the others began their search, I joined in. We partnered up, no one was to be anywhere alone. Beckett and I took the attic, I want to find Lindsey and be rid of her for good this time.

Moving furniture and boxes, some look like they were left behind by the old hotel, dusty and covered in cobwebs. Other items look like they were recently moved up here. Stacked and organized with labels meticulously written in a woman's handwriting I can only assume is Georgia's.

But clearly things have been gone through. Several boxes are opened in a corner, items are scattered and hanging out of a box, another is completely empty and photos are scattered over the floor.

Bending down to pick up the photos, I start looking through them when one picture in particular gets my attention. A beautiful blonde, a gorgeous smile for the camera and two little girls, babies, in her lap.

Curious, I held up the picture for Beck to look at. "Hey! Is this a picture of Georgia's or was this left behind?"

I know what I think it is but I need someone not so close to this to see it. Beckett comes over and takes a long hard look at the photo. Frowning, he pulls out his phone and snaps a picture of it.

"Who is she?" Beckett holds the picture out to me.

"Who do you think it is? I know who I think it is but I'm confused by this." Waving the picture, I wait for Beck to answer me.

"I want to say that's Melinda but if that's true then she was a very old woman when she had Lindsey. And that's a very old picture. Look at the date on the back." Flipping the picture over I noticed the date - 1954. Too far back to be Melinda or Brynn's mom, but could be the generation before.

"This isn't Melinda. One of those babies might be." Beckett points out the obvious and that makes me wonder what we've missed.

"You mean Melinda had a twin? And you think that twin was Brynn's mother?" I'm catching on to where he's going with this and I'm not sure I like it.

"Don't you? Proof is in your hand. There's no fucking way three or four women can look that similar and not be related!" Beckett reasons. "Especially four women in the same small town."

"If Melinda had a twin sister and she is, by some chance, Brynn's mom, that means Lindsey tried to kill her cousin." I slowly worked out the logistics of the situation.

"I doubt that matters to Lindsey." Beckett picked up more pictures and started looking through them. "So we have a set of twins, those women each had a daughter. How does no one recognize the connection?"

"It was hidden." That's the logical explanation. "Why would all this be shoved into a vacant hotel's attic? Something was wrong. Something happened to this woman and these babies."

"Who would have known them at that age? Who could we talk to that might remember them and their families?" Beckett has a line on something here and I don't like where it's going. I've got to follow him through it because damn it, I think he's right.

"Old Mr. Wilson or Sybil Silverson. I'd talk to them first." The barber and local hairdresser. They know everyone in town and every who, what, when and where in town. Everyone talks when they get their haircut.

I know Sybil has lived here all her life. Same for Mr. Wilson. My dad moved here in his teens. Paige was born here but moved away for college. I know Paige and Brynn's mom were close in school. Brynn's mom died when she was ten or eleven. Melinda died when Lindsey was five or six. That's too close to be a coincidence.

"Are you thinking that these two babies are Brynn and Lindsey's mothers?" I don't know how we didn't know this.

"Aren't you? That woman looks like she could be Brynn's mom. She also looks way too close to the photo we saw of Melinda. That can't be a coincidence." He's right, too many arrows aimed in the same direction can't be coincidence.

"How do we not know about this link?" I can't imagine a small town like Moss Bluff can keep something like this a secret for this long.

"The question is who put this up here? This was a hotel. A small one, but big enough for this town. So this must have been stored up here before Georgia bought it." Beckett looked around the musty old attic. The lightbulb on a thin wire above, swung over our heads. "I know that stuff is Georgia's. But this isn't."

Kneeling down we began a new kind of search. Looking through the old pictures, reading through papers and long forgotten items of the life of a stranger. Two generations back maybe three. Photos of the same woman, the two girls and no one else. No father, no other family members and only of this time frame. None of the children where they are any older than two or three.

"We need to take these down for Georgia. I'm inclined to call Charlie in. Something doesn't feel right about this. It makes me feel like this was hidden away for a reason." Beckett isn't wrong. It definitely feels wrong. All of this is wrong.

We hauled the old photos down to the library. Ten boxes, dusty and covered in cobwebs that no one has seen in years. Papers and photos, old clothes and junk that was tucked away. Georgia agreed she would go through them but only after we had dealt with the problem at hand.

"What in the world is this?" Georgia got up and moved chairs out of our way.

"We think this might have something to do with what's happening now." Beckett set down his box next to mine. "There's more up there. We'll bring it down but..."

"I'll do my part but Beck..." Beckett handed her the picture. "Who is this?" She flipped the picture over and looked at the date.

"That's what I thought too." Beckett answered without needing her to ask further. "Too many coincidences."

"I agree. Is there anything in this that gives us facts? Hard evidence?" Georgia knows what she needs to make a case, I'll give her that.

"Don't know. You might want to give your investigator a call and let him dig. I'd say he might do better than we will." Brushing the dirt off his hands, he looked around the room for his missing wife.

"They're staying in my rooms for now. I figured it was safer to keep the four of them together and out of the way. Quinn was beside herself and Aubrey looked overwhelmed. Thank goodness Chelsea and Isabelle have the kids and Emma has a clear head." She looks rattled which worries me. I haven't known the woman long, but in the last year, I haven't seen anything shake her.

"I think maybe it would be better if you take the four of them to Point Conception. I don't think it's safe here." Beckett made the request, I would have, if he didn't.

"We'll discuss that later. I'm not opposed to sending them but Aubrey is due anytime, I don't think she should travel. And Quinn won't like you becoming the overbearing brother again. Let's just focus on finding out how she got into my home." She has a point, although I'm in agreement with Beck. I don't think any of us are safe now.

"We have to break down walls. It's going to get loud, and I promise we'll fix whatever we knock down." I inform her, just so I don't get my ass chewed for destroying her house.

"Do what you have to. I'll get started here." Georgia picked up another photo. "This might explain why Lindsey is this way but she's out there and has gotten too close once again!" Georgia is right.

Heading back upstairs we cross paths with Leo and Cole. They found a doorway on the second floor. That means there's more than one way in and out.

"It's got to be like in the old days where servants moved around the old houses in secret passages to not disturb the homeowners." Leo is on the right track.

"So maybe we need to look back into the history of this place. What was it before it was a hotel?" Cole is the best person for that job.

"Why don't you go down to Georgia. Link up with her PI and fill him in. Between the two of you, you should be able to get some answers." Beckett directs him.

"I'm gonna check on the girls." Leo is worried about Quinn. Rightfully so. This is a fucked up mess.

"Let's get the wall figured out." Beckett muttered, going back up the stairs.

We went back to work, moving heavy furniture to get access to the walls. Knocking here, kicking there, listening for a hollow sound. When Beckett hit the south wall in the corner we finally found it.

Feeling around the wood paneling, we searched for a latch, a seam, some form of a door. We hit it, as my fingers ran over what looked like a knot in the wood but it released a latch and opened a door.

"Holy shit! Jackpot!" Beckett swore, pulling the small panel open.

Neither of us could squeeze through the small opening. Lindsey is small but I think even she would have a tough time of it. That doesn't mean there isn't another way in. So board by board we began demolition.

"What did she slaughter?" I asked Beck as we opened another panel of the wall. We weren't gentle about it. With a crowbar and sledgehammer, we tore the wall down.

"An animal." Beckett growled, obviously upset over it.

"You said that before. You aren't telling us what you know. What kind of animal, Beck?" He stops digging and drops his head. Rubbing his face, I know I'm not going to like what I hear.

"We'll have to find Brynn another dog." Beckett muttered softly.

That stopped me and made me sick. She slaughtered an innocent animal, a sweet dog that was intended for Brynn. Did Lindsey know that? Had she heard us talking about the dogs for Georgia, Quinn and Brynn?

"We have to find her now." I growled, heaving the sledgehammer into the wall again. This just pisses me off!

Yanking at the planks of wood we opened the wall. Sure enough, there's a window on the east side of the attic. Opening the round hole, I looked across the roof line.

"That tree right there looks easy enough to climb. She must have gotten up here that way." Pointing out the tree, Beckett only grunted a response.

Turning around, I see he's still digging. It's then I notice this isn't just a fake wall. There's a very narrow walkway that goes around the room and out. It's a fricking maze.

We stopped digging and followed the trail. Around a corner here, down a flight of stairs there. We found more doors to other rooms, small areas where it's clear she had been. A pair of pants and a shirt were balled up in a corner. A towel was wrapped around some food in another.

"Well, we know why we couldn't find her. And how she's managed to hide all this time." Beckett lifted up a blanket and found a notebook. "Looks like she was listening to us too."

We flipped through the notebook. Page after page of our words are in there. She was keeping notes on us. Following Quinn and Georgia the most but family meetings, mentions about Brynn's condition. It's all there.

"Hold on!" Beckett shines his flashlight on a page and reads line after line. "Get Quinn to the hospital! Now! Now!"

He slaps the notebook against my chest and hurries out the nearest secret door. Following him, we ran down the stairs and to Georgia's room. When we reach the door, we notice Quinn is not here.

"Where's Quinn?" Beckett asks, looking at Emma.

"She's in Georgia's bed. She's so upset and not feeling well..."

"That's because Lindsey has been poisoning her!" Beckett ran into the bathroom as Emma went to get Leo and Georgia.

In seconds Leo was racing into the bedroom with Emma and Georgia hurrying in after him. He's never going to let Quinn out of his sight again.

Sitting down with Brynn, I opened the notebook and read it from the beginning. There's a decent sketch on the first page of Quinn and Hope. With it is another horrible rhyme.

Quinn and Hope went up the stairs in search of some rest.

Instead of peace they find them sick, thanks to a little pest.

Some poison for mom, some poison for baby

A stomach ache and ills are all that they will see.

Slowly kill the first little mice

The rest will die with a roll of the dice.

Then all is mine

All is mine.

"She's deranged!" Brynn murmurs next to me. I didn't realize she was reading over my shoulder.

"You aren't safe here." Closing the notebook, I don't want her to see anymore of this.

There's a commotion in the bedroom and I hear Beckett and Leo talking about taking Quinn to the hospital. Jumping up, I go to them, they have to know about Hope too.

"Wait!" I yelled, just as they were heading out the door. "You have to take Hope too."

Handing Leo the notebook, he reads the page and froze. I've seen a huge change in my brother over the last year. Since he met Quinn, she and Hope are his top priorities. He's become the man and father those two need in their lives.

The look on Leo's face tells me Lindsey is in trouble. He won't hesitate to kill her and he's the easy going one. I don't think any of us will think twice if that's what we have to do.

This whole thing is making me sick. Who does this shit? How crazy is she to try to kill an innocent child!!? It pisses me off.

Leo scooped up Hope and took a good look at the baby. "She hasn't been sick. Not like Quinn."

"Better have her checked out anyway. Better safe than sorry. Come on, let's get them out of here." Beckett and Aubrey led Quinn out with Leo and Hope behind them.

Stopping at the door, Leo turns to me. "Find her, Ethan. Find her and kill her!"

Nodding, I feel the same way. It's the only way to be done with her for good. Opening the notebook, I work on a plan.

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