Bad Apple 1: Sweet Cider Read online

  “I’m so sorry,” I said. “If it weren’t for me...”

  “Stop it,” Truly replied.

  “Does Maude know?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do they have someone protecting her tonight?”

  “They’re parked in her driveway. They’ll be combing the ravine all night and probably tomorrow, too. Maude will be fine.”

  “Janie must be flipping out.”

  “She did and they took her to the hospital.”

  “Good. Maybe they’ll help her this time,” I said without thinking. “That sounded mean, didn’t it?”

  “It seems to me that if she had done a little more mothering instead of being so self-involved, none of us would be in this position tonight,” Truly replied.

  “Everyone has a different tolerance level. Janie couldn’t withstand the pressures of life.”

  “Spare me,” Tru said to Emily, then kissed her cheek. “Goodnight.”

  “You could stay here tonight, Tru,” Emily replied.

  “Thanks, but I’ve got about three hours of practicing to do. I don’t want to keep you up.”

  He leaned over and kissed my cheek. “You have my number.” A moment later he was out the door and disappeared into the night.

  Emily locked the door. “We’re safe, don’t worry. There’s a silent alarm on house. There’s a trooper outside.”

  I nodded. All very well and good under normal circumstances.

  But Joe was crazy mean. And they hadn’t really factored that in.

  I went upstairs, washed my face, brushed my teeth, and left my clothes and shoes on. I didn’t know what this night was going to bring. Come morning, when I woke in my jeans, if I was that lucky, I could chide myself for overreacting.

  Chapter 26

  I sat at the small writing table and removed my journal from the drawer. It was titled The History of Deeds Done. I took out a beautiful tortoise shell fountain pen I bought at auction that was only used for the journal and only filled with brown ink. I wrote until there was dent in my finger.

  Then I heard something downstairs and knew it had begun. Before I had time to stand up, I heard Emily cry out. I pressed the speed dial on his phone and got up.

  The loaded shotgun Truly had handed to me earlier was within reach, and I had more shells in my pockets.

  Him or me, for the last time.

  It was not going to be me.

  I made my way down the stairs, still hearing a struggle. Emily was not a gun person. The knowledge that we should have forced a can of wasp spray on her this evening came too late to help her now.

  Most of the lights were off downstairs so I was confident of reaching the kitchen without being seen.

  “Where is she?”

  He was in a rage. I could feel the anger pulsating from the next room.

  “Who?” Emily cried as he tugged her off her feet.

  “That bitch, Neal.”

  Enough.

  There was silence for a moment and I chose it to rack the shotgun. It was loud and made an unmistakable statement of its own.

  “Joe,” I called to him pleasantly, then stepped into the kitchen. “Let her go.”

  He had Emily by the neck and she was frightened. I hated him for that on top of everything else I hated him for. I was in a place of dead cold. There was no emotion at all.

  “You wouldn’t shoot me, you don’t have what it takes.”

  I leveled the shotgun at him. “You’re a gambling man. Would you bet your life on it?”

  “Yeah. There are two kinds of people in the world. Victims and victors. You’re not a victor.”

  I laughed. I wanted to distract Joe enough to give Emily a chance to get away from him. “Neither are you. You were Paul’s victim and nothing’s changed. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Did you like going to the movies with him? Snuggle? Did he put his hand between your legs? Like you were a girl?”

  “You shut up!”

  “I will if you let her go, she has nothing to do with this.”

  “No? They’re protecting you. I told you if you ever told, I’d kill you.”

  “I remember.”

  “I’m going to kill her first so you can watch and then I’m going to kill you. Say goodbye to your new friend.”

  The back door was kicked open.

  Truly had his rifle pointed at Joe. “You say goodbye and it wasn’t nice knowing you.”

  Emily chose that moment to elbow Joe in the stomach, and he doubled over. She broke away from him, and ran past me. “Steve!”

  “Everyone put the guns down,” Steve said coming into the kitchen, his sidearm drawn.

  “Let me shoot him,” I said.

  “Neal,” Steve said evenly. “Put the gun down.”

  “I’ll just shoot him in the leg and then I can say what he said to me. ‘You’ll never walk normal again.’”

  “Don’t ruin your life over him,” Emily said from behind me.

  I looked across the kitchen to Tru, who still had his rifle pointed at Joe.

  “It’s okay,” Tru said.

  I thought about it, then flipped the safety on the shotgun and lowered it.

  “Joe, I think you know the drill. Get on the floor. Put your hands behind your head.”

  “You’re not going to be able to pin anything on me,” Joe said getting down on his knees and then laying on the floor.

  Steve approached Joe. “Tru, put the rifle down.”

  Truly didn’t move.

  “One of us has to handcuff this guy, and I’m not lowering my weapon,” Steve said.

  “Let me!” I offered, not being able to imagine anything more appropriate, unless it was shooting Joe’s leg out from under him.

  “You stay away from him,” Truly said, resting his rifle on the kitchen counter.

  Emily took my arm and pulled me out of the kitchen.

  ***

  Hours later, my face against his flannel shirt, by the thin light in the room I could tell morning had come.

  “Wake up, little Suzie, wake up,” Tru sang softly.

  I closed my eyes, sinking into his warmth. “This was the best night of my life.”

  The End

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  Book #2 in the Bad Apple Series

  BURNING DAYLIGHT

  With Joe Kent in jail, and off Kent Mountain for good, Neal Marchal finds herself facing exciting new possibilities.

  Except for a couple speed bumps on the highway of life. Remember that 4 man band they were in? It becomes a duo when Sonny and the drummer leave to join the Woodhicks. Scrambling to create an act for a benefit show draws Neal and Truly closer but it’s an impossible relationship if they expect the State to award Neal’s guardianship to the Lamberts. A cable television program takes up the cause of Joe’s supposed wrongful incarceration so there’s nonstop coverage of Joe, Toby and Shannon’s death on television every afternoon at 5. The Kents will do anything to get Joe released. How far does anything go? You know the Kents. They’re crazy mean.

  Truly behaves the way he always does, dragging everyone along behind him. This time he’s planning for the future-early graduation from high school, early acceptance into college, and trying to persuade Neal to have surgery to correct the damage done to her leg when she was thrown under the tractor. On top of this schedule, Tru wants to make a music video of the song they co-wrote.

  This is the choice that changes their lives in ways Neal and Truly could never imagine. For good or ill, there will be no going back.

  Book #3 in the Bad Apple Series

  RISE

  Neal Marchal and Tru Lambert find themselves being presented with opportunities in the entertainment business neither dreamed possible. But they don’t know if these are the right choices to make for their career. The money is impossible to turn down. Tru is confronted with paying for college and Neal faces the cost of surgery to repair the damage to her leg caused by her stepbrother’s violent temper. They say yes to the offer and Tru winds up
in Hollywood on a movie set while Neal winds up in a hospital operating room.

  Even though Neal’s stepbrother, Joe Kent, is in jail now awaiting trial for the murder of his sister, Shannon, he remains a presence in Neal’s life. The memories of his brutality are never far away and come flooding back when a cable news show takes up Joe’s cause to prove his innocence.

  Through the successes and the set-backs, Neal and Truly draw closer. Does the hot upcoming singer, Sephira Knight, come between them? What about the movie offer Tru receives—is he tempted? Does Neal’s own movie project pull them apart?

  And there’s always the bête noir of Joe Kent, ready to rise up and ruin Neal’s life once again.

  Book #4 and the conclusion of the Bad Apple Series

  CERTAIN

  Joe promised to kill her. Neal's been lucky so far but is her luck about to run out? Terrified and alone, Neal Marchal has been running and hiding from her abusive stepbrother, Joe Kent for most of her life. Now she has friends and resources but so does Joe. He knows her every move almost before she makes it. All Neal wants is a future with Truly Lambert and she's prepared to do anything to make that her reality. But there are twists and turns, friends and foes, that enter her life that Neal never imagined. Even when it's over, it's not over. Can Neal put an end to her past this time?

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I am indebted to Michal Towber for her generous sharing of musical knowledge and assistance with lyrics. As the disclaimer goes, if it’s right, credit her. If it’s wrong, blame me.

  EBooks By Barbara Morgenroth

  YOUNG ADULT/MATURE YA/CROSSOVER

  Bad Apple 1: Sweet Cider

  Bad Apple 2: Burning Daylight

  Bad Apple 3: Rise

  Bad Apple 4: Certain

  Flash

  Flash of Light

  Bittersweet Farm 1: Mounted

  Bittersweet Farm 2: Joyful Spirit

  Bittersweet Farm 3: Wingspread

  Caprice's Totally Screwed Up Wish

  Pass or Fail

  Unheard

  Just Kate

  Blue Raja

  ADULT

  Swept

  Almost Breathing

  Not Low Maintenance

  Unspeakably Desirable

  Fly Away With Me

  Nothing Serious

  Murder Is Exhausting

  MIDDLE READER

  Dream Horse

  Summer Horse

  EVERYONE

  Jingles All The Way

  NONFICTION

  The Ice Cream Parlor--History and Recipes

  Verrines: Sweet and Savory Parfaits Made Easy

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  EBooks By Barbara Morgenroth