Lacies secrets, p.1
Lacie's Secrets, page 1
Copyright © 2022 by Teresa Sorkin and Tullan Holmqvist
FIRST EDITION
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
All quotations from Hansel and Gretel come from The Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales. Grimm, Brothers. “The Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales.” Project Gutenberg, April 2001/June 28, 2021, https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/2591/pg2591-images.html
The Alfred Lord Tennyson quote is from his work titled Maud.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hardcover 9780825309793
eBook 9780825308581
For inquiries about volume orders, please contact:
Beaufort Books
27 West 20th Street, Suite 1103
New York, NY 10011
sales@beaufortbooks.com
Published in the United States by Beaufort Books
www.beaufortbooks.com
Distributed by Midpoint Trade Books,
a division of Independent Publishers Group
www.ipgbook.com
Printed in the United States of America
Cover design by Laura Klynstra
Interior design by Mark Karis
TERESA
Thank you to my Husband Ian and children Jaden and Isabella who give me purpose and lasting memories each day.
TULLAN
For my wonderful sisters—Malin and Linda—Thank you for the gift of true sisterhood in this life, Sharing joy, compassion, home and love.
PROLOGUE
“So now I have sworn to bury all this dead body of hate, I feel so free and so clear by the loss of that dead weight.”
—ALFRED LORD TENNYSON
It was never supposed to have happened. Not like this. A serene summer week with friends was all it was supposed to be. Yet, there it was. A body, floating aimlessly in the murky pool, like a mystical, otherworldly creature, devoid of the life that once pumped through its veins. The stark image was like a still painting; quite beautiful and distant.
The harshness of the moonlight accentuated and outlined the body perfectly, its arms spread out like wings, its hair a halo, the blood draining from it, slowly creating a swirl of pink hues in the oval pool. They had all been swimming and laughing in the pool earlier that evening. Well, most of them had. Some had been preoccupied with the events of the week. None of them ever imagined that one of them would later be back in the pool, lifeless. The body had been alive just a few hours earlier, full of energy and promise. And now, it was just a shell, and soon it would decay, its eyes nothing more than cave dwellings for maggots, its withering skin falling off, leaving only bones to be reclaimed by the earth. Yet this very moment was special because everything looked peaceful.
The first rays of sun would bring the horror into full light. Soon enough, all would be exposed to outsiders. The house had been filled with friends, enjoying a week away from their normal lives. That was certainly how the week had started. But tensions had been running high the last few days and had threatened to boil over. By the look of the body in the pool, someone had reached their boiling point.
On the terrace above the pool, a dark figure appeared. It stood still and silent, observing the floating body, not wanting to wake the others just yet, wondering how they would react once they saw it. There would be lots of questions, that was certain, disbelief and shock. But some of them would not be surprised at all. Some would have been expecting it as if something terrible had been bound to happen all along. The house would stir as it always did when tragedy came to visit. It was a house that had seen things, both awful and wonderful, and now, awakening like a lion, it called on someone else. They were now part of the house, of its past and its future, part of its story. It would haunt all of them forever.
As dawn slowly broke through the darkness, a scream tore through the house, and life as they knew it would never be the same.
PART ONE
1
“Near a great forest there lived a poor woodcutter and his wife and his two children: the boy’s name was Hansel and the girl’s Gretel.”
—HANSEL AND GRETEL, GRIMM BROTHERS
When the call came, Kate was not expecting it. It was eight o’clock on a Tuesday, at the end of May. It came out of the blue, on an early summer breeze, while everything seemed to be humming along. It came as she enjoyed a sip of her morning coffee and was looking at the first blooms outside. Her peonies had just sprung pink buds, and she could hear a bird crying in the distance.
Kate Williams had just said goodbye to her husband Charlie and their son Andrew after a quick breakfast. She loved that moment of the day, alone in the kitchen, enjoying the quiet of the empty house. The sun shone in through the window and she opened it wider to let in some air. Warmth spilled in, announcing the arrival of a new season. The first days of summer excited her and also made her a bit nervous.
The phone rang, the unexpected sound startling her. She looked down at her cell phone, but it was dark. It must be the home phone; everyone she knew called her on her cell phone. She looked around for the landline, barely remembering where they kept it. It was half-hidden on a shelf in the kitchen, behind a blue ceramic bowl filled with trinkets collected from summer travels. She hesitated before picking it up.
“Katie?” said the voice on the line. No one called her Katie anymore, not in years. She knew who it was right away, the voice ragged and gruff from years of abusing it with too many cigarettes and strong coffee. It was Susan Dresden, who, along with her husband, Doug, lived on her mother’s property in Maine as the estate’s caretakers. Kate closed her eyes and braced herself for what was coming. If Susan was calling her, the news could not be good.
“Oh, Katie…” said Susan again.
“She’s gone, isn’t she?” Kate whispered, the words getting stuck in her throat. There was silence at the other end, a deafening silence. She wondered for a moment if the line had been dropped. “How did she…?” Kate wanted to know, even though it didn’t matter.
“In her sleep. She was fine last night, save for a cough she had. I gave her her favorite tea, like always.” The words now came rushing out.
Kate knew all too well that “tea” meant gin or bourbon. Her mother, Gail, drank every day and called it tea. Had they enabled her for all these years? Kate wondered as she slumped down on the kitchen chair.
Susan continued through the phone, “She seemed happy. Well, happier than usual. Doug and I were surprised, to tell you the truth. We hadn’t seen her like that, well since…”
“Lacie.” Kate swallowed. It felt strange saying her sister’s name after all these years.
“Doug found her this morning. She looked peaceful.”
It was hard to imagine her mother ever being peaceful. She had been sick for some time, suffering from many ailments, a broken heart being one of them. It must have all caught up with her. Kate’s gaze wandered out through the window to a red-tailed bird fluttering around her big oak tree.
Kate felt her chest tighten, and her eyes filled with tears. Her sadness surprised and overwhelmed her. She shook the tears away and stood up. She didn’t want to be on the phone any longer, remembering the past. She thought she had moved beyond it, but it came crashing back in an instant.
“Your mother didn’t want a funeral, or a memorial even. But of course, you knew that, didn’t you? She certainly mentioned it enough times to make it stick. She wanted to just pass quietly,” Susan continued as if somehow talking would make all the hurt better. “She was so private these last few years. Never had many visitors; just us and some town folk from time to time.”
A funeral. Kate hadn’t even thought about a funeral and wondered what else she would have to arrange. She was relieved she would not have to say anything about her mother at a funeral. It would have felt unnatural and she was afraid of what might come out if she had to speak. The truth was better left unsaid, she thought, as she took a deep breath. She looked out at the garden as Susan’s voice droned on. The bird on the tree flapped its wings rapidly and flew off. She realized she had no choice—she would have to go back.
“I’ll come up soon then.” Kate tried to keep her voice level.
“Are you sure? All the way from Connecticut?” The surprise in Susan’s voice was evident.
“We’ll have to clean it out to get it ready for sale. It certainly won’t be easy to do, a house of that size. And after four generations.”
“For sale? Are you sure?” Susan asked.
“Yes.” Kate had already made up her mind.
“Doug and I, well… We thought that you may want to keep it in your family. It’s such a beautiful summer house, and it’s been in your family for so many years.” Her voice trembled and then she paused. Kate could tell she was upset. Susan was a proud woman, though, and her voice regained some strength. “But it’s your home to do with as you wish. We’ve loved every moment in this house.”
Kate’s heart softened, and she felt a twinge of guilt. Maybe she could try to convince the new owners to keep Doug and Susan on. They knew the house’s ins and outs be
“It’ll be okay. I’m sure whoever buys the house will need help, and who better than the both of you to do that,” Kate reassured Susan.
“Now are you sure you need to come up, Katie? Doug and I are happy to take care of things around the house. We can put Gail’s belongings in storage.”
“Thank you, Susan, but I’m sure. Maybe it’s time for me to come back.”
“I understand. We’ll be happy to have you,” Susan said, as if the house were hers. “Would you like us to take care of your mother, her body?”
“Please.” Kate’s heart was heavy in her chest as she thought about her mother, now gone forever. “I’m so sorry you have to deal with all of this.”
“It’s our honor, Katie. We loved your mother like our own family. Doug and I will be there for the burial.”
“Thank you. Andrew has his high school graduation in a couple of weeks, so we can come up to deal with the house after that.” Kate sighed, looking at the calendar she had pinned to the fridge.
As Susan explained how they would deal with the death as quietly as possible, Kate thought about how it would feel to be back at Villa Magda for the first time in almost twenty years. She hadn’t seen her mother in years and had never been back to the house since that fateful summer. Now, she just needed to go back, clean everything up, and finally get rid of the house along with all of its terrible memories.
“Is she… was she still in her bed?” The words slipped out of Kate before she could stop herself.
There was a pause on the other end of the line. When Susan finally answered, her voice shook a bit. “Well, Doug found her in Lacie’s room. She was holding onto that bunny.” Susan’s words spilled out and then stopped abruptly. She had said too much. Of course, Kate knew what bunny Susan was talking about: Lacie’s favorite stuffed animal, the one she had received on her fifth birthday. She wouldn’t let go of it when she was a kid.
Kate remained silent for a few moments. Lacie’s room?
“I thought she didn’t go in there?”
“She’d kept it locked for years,” Susan confirmed. “The last time she was in there was the end of that summer.” She sighed. “She said she would only ever open that room if Lacie came back.”
“Came back?” Kate repeated, a shiver running through her.
She hadn’t thought about Lacie and all that happened that summer for years. Long ago, she had locked the events of the summer away in her mind, and she knew there might be things that she would never be able to recall. Over the years, Kate had come to terms with it, imagining the part of her brain where her memories were jumbled like a messy room hidden behind a closed door. Truthfully, a part of her preferred not knowing. It made it easier to sleep at night. But Susan talking about it brought feelings of dread, and Kate desperately wanted to hang up.
“Well, thank you for all you did. My mother appreciated you so much. So do I.”
“Gail had a difficult life. She was…damaged. And small towns hold onto things. We understood.”
Kate knew that all too well. It was another reason she had never gone back.
“Yes, they do.”
As she hung up, Kate felt a strange mix of emptiness and confusion, guilt and sadness, but she felt it all from a distance, as if it were happening to someone else. Even though she had been abandoned many years ago, Gail was still her mother. To compensate for her own childhood, Kate had tried to be the best mother she could be, giving up everything for her son. But now, she grieved for the mother she never had, and tears streamed down her cheeks for what never was and never would be.
When the front door slammed shut, Kate jumped. She hadn’t realized how long she had been sitting there. Her coffee had grown cold. She looked at the clock and realized who it must be. Molly Evans was one of Kate’s closest friends, and their children, Andrew and Ben, had gone to school together since kindergarten.
Molly walked in, her dark hair, normally down and curly, was pulled back in a bun and her body toned as ever—she practically lived at the gym. “Morning! Ready for our workout?” Molly had grown up in a suburb outside of Philly, but her accent was mid-Atlantic, having acquired it while at boarding school during her formative years. She smiled at Kate, but her face fell when she saw Kate’s expression.
“What’s wrong, honey? You look like someone died.”
Kate looked at her, stricken.
“Oh my God, did I just put my giant foot in my mouth?” Molly asked.
Kate let out a big sigh. “My mother died this morning.”
“Oh, Kate, I’m so sorry. I’m such an idiot!” Molly enveloped Kate in her strong arms. Kate let Molly hold her for a few minutes, the two women standing in silence. Then Kate eased out of Molly’s embrace.
“She was sick for a long time,” Kate said, as she sank down on the kitchen bench.
“You never talked about her,” Molly said gently.
“We have… we had a complicated relationship.”
“I get it, my mom is difficult at times,” Molly responded. “I’m here to help however I can.”
Kate pulled back, an idea popping into her head. “Actually, can I ask you a favor? Later this summer I have to go up to my mother’s house in Maine and get it ready to sell. I would love to have your opinion on the house. I have no idea what shape it’s going to be in,” Kate admitted. Molly was one of the top architects at her firm, and she was always looking for inspiration. Kate knew she would love seeing Villa Magda’s opulent architecture, and she could use Molly’s expertise when preparing to sell the house. “And Sam and Ben can join us for the week if you would like. I don’t want to be alone, and I know Andrew would love the company.”
“Of course,” Molly said without hesitation. “Like I said, anything I can do to help.”
Kate sighed in relief. “Thank you.”
Thank goodness for Molly, Kate thought, as she watched Molly walk to her car. With all the hours of Pilates and SoulCycle, Molly’s spark was finally coming back. The past winter, Kate had gotten a call on a Saturday at 2 a.m., the buzz waking her from her slumber. Charlie had been fast asleep beside her. The number was listed as private. Worried, Kate had picked up. Her first thought had been Andrew, but instead it had been Molly, hysterical and crying on the line. She was still drunk, Kate could hear it in her voice. Only this time, she was drunk and in jail.
“Kate, I need you!” Molly had cried to her over the phone.
“I’ll be right there. Don’t worry. We’ve got this,” Kate had promised. Kate would never let her friends down if they needed her. A therapist had said that she was still desperately trying to save her sister, and any friend needing her triggered that. So when Molly called for help, Kate ran to her rescue.
Not many people knew what had happened that night, not even Sam. Only she and Charlie knew, and Molly wanted to make sure they kept it that way. The arrest had been wiped from her record because no one was hurt while she was driving. Molly assured Kate that she wouldn’t have a drop of alcohol after that night, and Kate was proud that she had kept her promise. Kate’s mind jumped back to Maine. For years, her mother had tried to get her to go back for summers and bring Andrew along with her. “Mom, Andrew has a lacrosse sports camp all summer. Maybe we can try and come up next year?” Kate lied time and time again, until one day her mother just stopped asking.
Throughout her day, Kate kept returning to the question of why her mother had decided to go into Lacie’s room right before she died. Maybe she knew her time was almost up and she was desperate to be close to her favorite child, even if that meant going into a stuffy room that hadn’t been opened in nearly two decades. Gail had always kept that room locked, adamant that no one be allowed in. It was Lacie’s room. Period. Forever locked in time.
The summer that Lacie disappeared had, of course, changed their lives forever. The search was exhausting, continuing day and night for weeks, until they all started to lose hope. The disappearance had been national news for a while, with news crews swarming the gates of the estate, trapping Kate and her family inside. The relentless headlines were all variations on a theme: “Disappearance of sixteen-year-old devastates small-town Maine.” And then, seemingly just as fast, it had become a cold case. After weeks of searching for Lacie, the police and townspeople had given up on the idea of ever finding her. Kate’s family had, too, except for her mother.
