Page 11 of Always Be an Us

I roll my eyes because I know my Grandpa hasn’t shot a thing in his life, as much as he likes to pretend he’s so tough. Amelia catches my look and giggles.

"Anyway," Grandpa says. "I went back to the hotel and everything was in chaos. That’s when I found out that they shot poor Madam Thornley’s fiancé and the woman herself was missing. She had disappeared into thin air, gone without clothes or anything. She even left her diary behind."

"Her diary?" Amelia inquires.

"Yes. I found that a little later while I was snooping around somewhere in the kitchen. It was in the corner, where the cleaners never cleaned, judging from the amount of dust that had collected there. After realizing what it was, I tried to give it to her family or to the cops. The cops didn’t want it because they didn’t think it was relevant to the case. And her mother wouldn’t even let me get close enough to hand it to her. Mean, snobby old lady."

"So you kept it?"

Grandpa shrugs. "I didn’t have a choice. No one wanted it. The journal didn’t really have much that seemed pertinent to the case, mostly just letters between Madam Thornley and her lover which she pasted in there."

"They sent letters to each other?" Amela frowns. "Even though they were staying in the same hotel?"

"Yes. All the time," I say. "According to Grandpa, Madam Thornley was very reclusive and wouldn't leave her room for days sometimes, and so Victor, her fiancé, would tuck the letters under her door. Grandpa saw them once or twice when he was in the hallway, helping the cook deliver Madam Thornley’s food.""Yup. I remember thinking it was odd. I mean, if she liked the guy so much, why not just come out of her room and talk to him instead of trading letters back and forth? But Madam Thornley certainly cared enough to save about a dozen of those letters in her journal. And they’re still there now.""Can I see the journal?" Amelia asks, her eyes shining."Sure thing," Grandpa says and gestures to me with his chin. "I gave it to Emma on one of her birthdays. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind sharing it with you."

Amelia turns to me with a plea in her eyes and I chuckle, ruffling her hair. "Of course. It’s up in my room," I say.

I used to read through it from time to time when I was younger, everything seeming like a fairytale to me. But after a while, I had to stop because the story made me sad. Madam Thornley was so in love with her fiancé, and then he just died. It was too painful to think about.

"I’ll go get it for you. Keep it as long as you like."

"You’ll really let me have it?" From her expression, you’d think I just offered her my left kidney."Sure will," Grandpa says, smiling proudly at me. "That's my Emma. So generous." He holds up the large fish in his hand. "Anyway, I'm going to put this down inside. You two come in so Emma can give you the book and I can finish up the story."

And with that, he heads to the cottage, whistling to himself.

We stand there for a few seconds, Amelia seemingly stunned into silence.

"You're grandpa is really cool, too."

"You think?"

"Yeah," she sighs. "My grandpa isn't half as cool as that. All he talks about when I visit is school and the stock market."

"That sucks," I say. "Come on, let me give you the book. And then you should probably get going. It's going to get dark soon."

"Yeah," Amelia sighs, but she doesn’t look in any hurry to go, kicking her feet on a stone.

"You can always come back tomorrow and hear the rest of Grandpa's story," I say.

Before she can respond to that, the loud hum of an angry car splits through the atmosphere and a jeep comes roaring down the path.

I grab her hand and draw her back as the car stops right in front of us.

And then a large man steps out.

My heart leaps.

It's burger guy from the bar.

"What the fuck are you doing with my daughter?"

Chapter Four

Declan

It’s her. The girl from the Tiki Bar.

I didn’t recognize her when I was driving up, but I certainly do when I get out of the car and storm over to where she’s standing with my daughter

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