William Jarvis - Sky Valley 04 - Murderous Coffee Crumble (7 page)

But I won’t cry anymore. Not after tonight, no. Not after you were so insensitive to invite me to your wedding when you knew, you knew it would ruin me.

I’m telling you, Troy. One day, you would regret this. You would regret all of this and you would be so sorry because I would ruin you. I would ruin you so bad,

Lena

“Damn,” Emmy said. “She sounds…”

“So obsessed with your father.” Daniel said.

“She was a woman in love.” Emmy said. “She was in love with my father too much. Damn.” She went on. “Why didn’t my father tell me about this?”

“Parents will always have their secrets.” Nana said. “Maybe, your father just wanted a perfect family setting for you.”

“This would have solved things earlier.”

“Emilia,” Nana said. “Please don’t be mad with your father.” She said. “Anyway, Tripp, on the other hand was also in love with your mother. He tried to be with her as much as Lena wanted to be with your father.”

“So this means…” Emmy said.

“That Tripp and Lena are working together because of their unrequited love for your parents.” Daniel finished for her. “It’s crazy but all of these leads to that.”

“That is just the craziest thing I have heard all these time,” Emmy said, “but it does make sense.” She took a deep breath. “I couldn’t believe they did all of these just because of that.”

“I guess sometimes, love can really drive you mad.” Nana said. “When I was with Daniel’s grandpa, I also said that I would do anything and everything for him. Sure, Lena and Tripp’s love for your parents drove them mad. And you know…the only way this could end is if they actually get to understand that this isn’t the right thing.”

“Isn’t it too late for that?” Emmy asked.

“Emilia,” Nana said. “I believe that it’s never too late for anything. You can still change things.” She said. “When Amelia died, I thought it was the end of the world. I thought that I would never be able to bring Daniel up the way I was supposed to bring him up. But I did. I tried my best and look at him now.” she said. “What I’m only saying is that you cannot let any situation define you. You have to do your best to make things work and you have to do your best to fight. I know you have it in you, Emilia.” She said. “And besides, Daniel’s there and I’ll certainly kick his ass if he bails.”

For a brief moment, that made them crack up.

CHAPTER 15
SHE LOVED YOU

“Dad!” Emmy called out as she arrived at home. She asked Daniel to just stay at the living room for a while because she wanted to talk to her father. “Dad!” She said once more.

She made her way to her father’s office downstairs and opened the door wide. “Dad.” She said as she saw Troy poring over some files on the tables.

“Emmy.” Troy said. “What’s going on?”

She handed him the letters.

“What are these?”

“Those,” Emmy said, “are Lena’s letters to you. Well, she never really sent them but she gave them to Daniel’s mom when…when she was still alive. Those are years and years of letters and heartbreak, dad.”

“Emmy, where did you get these? Amelia’s dead.”

“She kept them.” Emmy said. “Nana was cleaning up earlier and she found all of those, together with your old yearbook. You told me mom had always been your prom date but apparently there was a year that she wasn’t and you actually went to prom with Lena McMahon.”

“Honey, I—“

“And those letters are proof that you actually also had a relationship with Lena and she loved you! She loved you, dad. Yeah, she may not have been very good at it but she did. Her love…well…it drove her mad.” She said. “She was so consumed by it and this leads us to the fact that she’s actually working with Tripp on this because they both have unrequited feelings for you and mom.”

“This is crazy.”

“Why can’t you just wake up to the truth, dad?” Emmy demanded. “I know it’s hard, okay? I know it is. But because you’ve hidden the truth from me for so long, all these things are happening now. I mean, I’m not blaming you, dad, but why would you paint such a picture-perfect version of things when you know it’s all a lie?”

“I wanted to protect you.” He said. “Look, Em,” he said, “I did a lot of stupid things when I was younger. If you knew me back then, you’d probably say that your mother did not deserve me. Actually, there are still times when I get to think that way. I loved your mother so much and sometimes, I feel like if she wasn’t with me then she probably wouldn’t have died. I know it’s stupid but sometimes, that’s how I think because…because I have no idea how to make sense of this. Sometimes, I feel like it’s the world’s way of getting revenge because yes, I did play when I was younger, but I loved your mother. She was…she was wonderful and I would never hurt her that way.

Yes, I got together with Lena. There was a time in high school when we were together just because well, I was mad at your mother for sharing a kiss with Tripp. It was a dare and all that and your mom had her sense of recklessness, too, so that’s what happened. Anyway, I went to prom with Lena, your mother was mad, we got back together and I didn’t really think Lena would harbor ill feelings over that.”

“She did.” Emmy said. “You were such a jerk to her. I don’t know what she was like in High School but dad…”

“I know.” Troy said. “But I was young. I always thought Lena was too full of herself but back then, she wasn’t able to show it so…” he took a deep breath, “Anyway, your mom and I got back together and—“

“And you hooked up with Lena again back in college.”

“Your mother and I weren’t together then.” He said. “And it was one kiss, Em. I didn’t think she’d be fussy because of that.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“I get the feeling that you may be Serena’s father.”

“God, no.” Troy said. “I would never do that with her. And I’m sorry.” He said. “I know this is all crazy and I know it’s dragging you down and I’m sorry about that. But I never wanted any of this to happen.”

“You could have told me the truth right away.”

“You’ll understand me when you finally become a parent.”

Emmy took a deep breath. “Do you like Audrina? I mean, do you really have strong feelings for her or are you just stringing her along?”

“What does that have to do with this?”

“Dad,” Emmy said, “If you’re just stringing Audrina along,” she said, “You have to stop it right now and you’ve got to get your act together. She deserves far, far better. None of us are perfect so you have to stop pretending that you are.”

“You are not allowed to go there!” Emmy heard Daniel’s voice from above.

“I have to see her—“ It was a woman. Emmy thought that it was Serena but she couldn’t be too sure.

Emmy and Troy looked at each other and went upstairs to see what was going on.

CHAPTER
16
YOU HAVE TO FIX THIS

“You have no business here.” Daniel told Serena.

“I need to talk to her.”

“What’s going on?” Emmy said as she saw Serena and Daniel arguing at the living room.

“Emmy,” Serena said. “I need to talk to you.” She was teary-eyed and her hands were shaking. “You have to fix this. You have to help me.”

“The last time I asked you for help, you said no.”

“I know.” Serena said. “And I’m sorry but I was so confused. I didn’t know whom I could trust. I really had no idea what to do. But…but now I’m scared.”

“What do you mean?”

“I heard mom and Frank talking and…and they like, they have this plan. They’re planning to kill you.”

“That’s obvious.”

“No, no, you don’t understand how grave this is.” Serena said. “They’re planning to go here. They’re with Tripp Meyer! I saw a gun a while ago and I just…Frank asked me to stay at home but I couldn’t. Not after knowing that it’s this grave.”

“I think you’re just playing on me.”

“I won’t do that!” Serena said. “I know I said that you’re not my friend but I couldn’t just sit there knowing they have plans of killing you. I guess I was just scared to see the truth.” She said. “I’ve always loved my mother like she was the best person on earth, you know? I always thought she was perfect and she could do no wrong but apparently, there are things in her past that are still dragging her down up to this moment. I heard her and Tripp talk last night, saying that they would finally get their revenge. I didn’t know how to feel about that. I just thought that I had to do something.” She was crying now. “I know you do not want to trust me, but…but I’m scared. I’m pregnant.”

Emmy was confused.

“If…If they kill you, they’d be murderers. And…they’d be in jail and I don’t know…I just…I just don’t want my child to be around them. It hurts so much knowing my own mother cannot trust me. It hurts so much knowing that she’d trust Frank more than me. It’s not that I want to be in on the plan, you know what I’m saying? But it’s just hard that she would lie to me like that. She made me believe that she’s amazing and she can do no wrong and that she’s the best mother out there but she’s just…she’s just insane. And then Frank…I loved him so much. I still do and I believed him and now…and now I just have no idea what to believe in anymore.”

She was crying so hard that Emmy rushed to hug her.

“I’m so sorry.” Serena said.

“I knew you’d be here.” Frank said, holding a gun and eyeing Serena. “I told you to stay at home.”

“You’re insane!” Serena screamed. “Put that gun down.”

“You think you can just tell me that?” Frank said. “Your mother and I worked so hard for this and you’re going to ruin everything. Back off.”

“I won’t.”

“I said back off.” Frank said and went near Serena and Emmy. He was then pointing the gun at them but Daniel reached out for the gun.

“Dan!” Emmy called out.

“Oh my goodness!” Audrina said as a shot was fired. She has just gotten out of her room.

Daniel and Frank were in a tug of war of sorts and another shot was fired. This time, they all saw Frank fall down, blood spurting out of his mouth.

“Frank!” Serena said, the fear evident in her voice. “Oh my god.”

“Let’s go.” Daniel said. “We haven’t got time.”

“Come on.” Emmy told Serena. “I know it’s hard right now but we have to fix this. You want to fix this, right?”

“I’ll stay here.” Audrina said. “I’ll see if there are some police officers we could trust…”

“Come on.” Emmy told Serena once more. She then got back on her feet, tears in her eyes.

CHAPTER
17
DIE, BITCH

“Audrina said that she called the police from Mountain City.” Emmy said. “Apparently, a friend of a friend works there. They’re going to take Frank to the hospital then some of them are going to be here in a bit.” She held Serena’s hand. “It’s going to be okay. You did the right thing.”

Then, they found themselves in Lena McMahon’s house. It was what Frank called his house while Lena was working at the jail. They went inside to find Lena talking to Tripp Meyer in the living room.

“Oh look what we have here.” Tripp Meyer said. “You’re all setting yourselves up for disaster. And wow, Troy, my old friend. Finally seeing things the way they’re meant to be seen, huh?”

“Enough of this, Tripp. This has gone on for too long.”

“It’s enough when I say it’s enough.”

“Lena,” Troy said. “For the sake of your child, stop.”

“I don’t know what you’re doing with them, Serena, but they’re not your friends.”

“Mom, please.” Serena said. “You have to stop this. Frank’s already in the hospital—“

“What in God’s name did you do?” Lena said.

“So, you’re more worried about Frank than for your daughter?” Emmy asked. “What kind of parent are you, Lena?”

“You don’t know one thing about parenting, Emilia. You never even had the chance to be with your mother for so long. You don’t know what a mother does best.”

“Yeah?” Emmy said. “And a mother kills people just for the sake of it? That’s what’s best? How many more are you going to kill?”

“I never killed anyone.”

“You are so in denial.” Emmy said. “You worked with Tripp on this. You’re still working with him, you know?” She then looked at Tripp. “And you, what kind of heart do you have? You already killed your own daughter!”

“That was supposed to be you!” Tripp said. “It was supposed to be you and yet…yet my daughter died.”

“That should have been a wake up call, Tripp.” Troy said. “The fact that your daughter died should have reminded you that there are far better things in life than just trying to get revenge for a love that you weren’t given. This has to stop, Tripp.”

“You’re forgetting that this isn’t all on me.” Tripp said. “You hurt Lena, too.”

Troy took a deep breath and faced Lena. “I know I haven’t been there for you all along and I haven’t been a great friend—“

“I never needed you as a friend, Troy. I loved you.”

“Lena,” he said. “What we had happened a long time ago. It’s best to just let it go.”

Lena laughed. “That’s so easy for you to say because you’re such a player. I was there for you all along, Troy. I was waiting for you. But what? Your heart was set on Rita! You even married her! You married her even if she didn’t love you as much as I did. And where did that leave you? It left you without a wife, caring for your airheaded child who only left you for Paris. You were all alone while I was just around. So, when Tripp asked me to work on this, to finally kill your daughter, the last remnant of Rita in this world and voila! Your daughter survived! I got to admit, it’s like she has nine lives or something.”