The Beach House (14 page)

Megan dropped to her knees and cried. It was over. Damon was dead. Except that it would never really be over. She would have to face every day now knowing what had happened.

Just then, Horace and Megan could hear cops at the beach house next door. They would find the bodies of Kristi and Mark. They would soon realize that Detective Sullivan was nowhere to be found.

After Horace was sure that Damon was dead, he cut his body down from the ceiling. He knew that the police officers were probably at the house next door examining the crime scene and looking for
Detective Sullivan.

Horace wrapped Damon’s body in an old blanket that was lying on his couch. He looked down at poor Max. He felt that he had avenged Max’s death and that he would be able to finish out his years on this beach peacefully. He scooped up Damon’s body and carried it out of the beach house. The rain had stopped and the sun was beginning to come up.

Horace approached the waterline, Damon still cradled in his arms. He continued to walk into the water until it was about up to his shoulders. He let the body go and watched it slowly drift away. After a short period of time, the body was out of sight. Horace wondered where the body might end up. “Now the ocean has another secret to keep.”

Horace made his way back to Megan. By this time, there were police officers on the beach. One of them was questioning her. He wondered what answers there were to be given.

Megan had explained the whole situation. She told the officer about what Damon had done to Cliff, Max, Mark, and Kristi. She told them about how her and Horace had worked together to kill him. She told them about how Detective Sullivan had saved her life and
in the process had lost his own.

The officers listened with great sympathy. Not only had she lost her friends, she had been tasked with the matter of saving her own life. They were also saddened by the loss of one of their own.

The police officers inquired as to the whereabouts of Damon’s body. Megan wasn’t quite sure about Horace explained what he had done with the body. She, however, understood the justice of sending his body out into the ocean just as Damon had left his brother’s body out there so many years ago.

Megan collapsed onto the sand. She had never been so exhausted in her life. She didn’t know what to do now. She was tired, starved, and deeply saddened all at the same time. She didn’t know how she would move on with her life.

She buried her face into her arms and released a lot of emotion that had built up over the last several hours. As she cried, she could feel the presence of someone standing next to. She looked up to see Detective Sullivan looking down at her. She had no idea how he could still be alive, and she didn’t care. She was just so happy to see the person who had saved her life.

Megan was able to muster enough strength to get to her feet and wrap her arms around Sullivan. He happily embraced her. He knew that the nightmare was over. For the first time in a long time, he had some hope that things in his life would change for the better.

As Clint and Susan approached the beach house, they saw from a distance that the road was completely blocked. Clint couldn’t believe their bad luck. “It’s just one thing after another on this damn trip.”

Susan rolled her eyes. “Probably a car accident that will be cleared up. Just be patient, honey.”

An officer approached their vehicle, and Clint rolled down the window.

He peered into the car. “Morning, folks. This road is going to be closed down for some time. There’s been a crime committed and we can’t have people going down to the beach.”

Susan wondered what kind of crime could be committed at the beach. “We’re headed to our beach house, officer. Any idea how long this might take?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “It will be awhile, ma’am.”

***

After a couple of hours, Clint was able to drive down to the beach. Despite his declining health, he remembered the way to the beach house as if he had driven it just last month. Upon reaching their destination, they saw that it was their beach house that was completely roped off. Susan and Clint got out of their car and found an officer who had just left the crime scene.

Susan walked up to the officer. “Excuse me, sir. This is our beach house. What happened here?”

When Susan heard of what her son had done, she dropped to her knees. Clint tried to console her, but it was no use. Both of her sons were gone. This place that had housed such great memories had been the demise of both Jonathan and Damon.

***

Horace peered out through his window. He couldn’t help but feel sorry for the grieving parents. Ironically, the ocean had swallowed up both of her sons. He only hoped that Jonathan felt vindicated in some way. Maybe
Jonathan could finally be at peace.

Clint and Susan signed the final paperwork. The beach house was no longer their property. They were very relieved to be finished with it. They had no idea of the horrors that took place within the home, and they didn’t want
to know what had happened.

They knew that their other son was gone. His body had yet to turn up anywhere. Perhaps it never would. The police officers had explained to them that Damon had been the cause of Jonathan’s drowning. Susan couldn’t fully accept that fact although it explained a lot about what had happened to her youngest son.

She could only hope to put the beach house behind them and live out the rest of their lives in some sort of peace. She no longer wanted to think about the beach house. What had transpired there tarnished even her fondest memories of her boys.

Clint couldn’t understand what had caused his son to become such a monster. He had committed heinous acts that were unforgivable. Maybe Damon had been messed up his whole life. Maybe he had been a terrible father. Either way, he had to deal with the reality of the situation.

After they learned of the truth, Susan had refused to get out of bed for a couple of months. Clint only hoped that selling the beach house would bring her at least a small sense of peace.

***

Megan pulled on her black dress. She was looking forward to a night out. The events at the beach house remained with her every moment of
every day since the tragic events had transpired. She supposed that they always would remain with her.

She put on her heels and headed downstairs. Sullivan was waiting for her. “You look stunning, Megan. I can’t wait to take you out and show you off.”

Megan couldn’t help but smile. For the first time in her life, she felt as if she were with someone who truly loved her and wanted to be with her. He had saved her life in more ways than one. It allowed her to put Mark and Kristi behind her, although she would have never wished such a terrible fate upon them.

Sullivan pulled her close to him and kissed her warmly. He had learned that police work was not the most important part of his life. In fact, he was just figuring out how to live his life. It was hard for him to move past the events at the beach house. The decisions he made continued to haunt him. He was thankful that Megan had survived and that they could move forward with their lives together.

***

Horace sat on an old lawn chair outside of his shack. He had had enough of the beach. He took one last look out into the ocean. He wondered if Damon were still floating around out there somewhere.
Maybe he had washed up and was yet to be found. Max had received a proper burial on the beach; it was his favorite place to be.

Horace had seen a lot of events unfold out here. He could still recall the night that he saw Damon and Jonathan go out into the water. If he had spoken up then, perhaps this whole mess could have been avoided. Maybe Max would still be alive.

What was done was done though. Now he had to accept reality and move on with his life Horace grabbed onto the one bag that he had packed. He made his way up to the main road. He had no idea where he was headed. He was just walking.

***

Charley pulled his line out of the water. There was no luck catching any fish today. He learned that some days were just like that though. Some days the fish were biting, and other days, there was not a single fish to be found.

The sun was beginning to set, and he wanted to make it home to his family before dinner was on the table. He grabbed his tackle box, fishing pole, and cooler. As he began to trudge up the shore, he caught a glimpse of something from behind a rather large rock a bit further up.

Charley approached the rock with some caution. He wasn’t quite sure what to expect. As he bent down, he saw that it was a body. With a sense of urgency, he dropped all of the items he had been carrying home. “Jesus. Son, can you hear me? Are you alive?”

Charley put his arm on the young man’s chest. It appeared that he had been badly hurt. His shirt was torn and a wound was visible on his upper chest. The fisherman pulled the body further up onto the sand. As far as he was concerned, it was a dead body. He had certainly never happened upon one of those on his daily fishing trips.

Without a phone, he decided he would have to drag the body and call the police from his house. He only hoped they could identify the body and locate the man’s family. Charley decided he could come back for his fishing supplies later. He picked up the young man’s arms and began to pull him along the beach with him. The young man was rather light, not too muscular. That made it rather easy to pull him along the smooth sand. He had dark hair and dark stubble across much of his face. He couldn’t help but assume that the young man had been murdered. The gash in his skin made it apparent that he must have bled to death.

Charley also noticed large bruises around his neck area. It was as if something had been wound tightly around his neck.

As he got nearer to his home, he began to feel some resistance from the body being pulled along. He was starting to grow weary and assumed fatigue had set in. As he turned to look at the body, he could see that the young man’s eyes were wide open.

Charley dropped the body and called out to the young man. “Son? Can you hear me? Are you okay? What happened to you?”

The man looked up at the fisherman. His voice was very weak and he could only speak in a very low whisper. “I need you to get me somewhere safe. A man and a woman left me for dead. They threw me out in the ocean to die.”

Charley looked horrified. “Okay. Let me get you home. We can call the police and get you to a hospital.

The man looked up at Charley and smiled. “No. I don’t want the police involved. I can handle the situation myself.” The young man’s voice was very fragile and he could barely hear the words that were spoken.

Charley couldn’t understand why he shouldn’t call the police. After all, this was a very serious matter. “Look, let’s get you to my place. Then we can talk. What’s your name, son?”

“Damon. I appreciate your help. I’m just trying to get back home. I have some people who I need to see. I’m sure they are missing me.”

Thank you for taking the time to read this book.

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I wish you all of the best, be sure to look for my next book!

Chloe Young