4. Chapter 4
June 25, 2011
8:32 pm
Hailey tried to fight the dizziness that came and went in waves as she attempted to keep herself from panicking over Angie’s revelation about the video. After catching up with Angie for another thirty minutes, Hailey said her goodbyes and made her way to her childhood home to find the tape.
When they spoke on the phone yesterday morning, Genevieve mentioned that all of Hailey's things were still in her old room. Hailey had been surprised to hear the housekeeper was still taking care of the Gallagher home after all these years.
Apparently, David Gallagher had no desire to change anything about the old estate, despite his new wife’s claims they needed to update the space. Hailey found it slightly eerie that her father hadn't changed the house since Hailey left and Sara was arrested. Especially given the fact it was where his first wife had been murdered.
Hailey wondered if the tyrant had a heart after all. Though, if he did, it was miniscule. Maybe after all the terror he’d rained down on his family, David felt a sliver of guilt and somehow didn’t want to give up old memories that undoubtedly haunted the home.
It was even more surprising, though, that her stepmother willingly lived there. If Hailey were in Lauren’s shoes, she would have convinced her husband to sell the home that harbored so much pain and cruelty. Who would want to live in a house where someone was murdered, even if it was grand and beautiful?
It gave Hailey the creeps.
Hailey’s heartbeat quickened as the two-story home came into view. She rolled down the window in hopes that the evening breeze would ease her anxiety. Those walls contained so many memories- more bad than good, unfortunately. Hailey drove the long, palm tree-lined drive, the lake peeking from behind the house as the driveway wound its way to the place she spent the first eighteen years of her life.
She circled around the massive fountain that had been built in the middle of the yard and parked the car. Her mother loathed that fountain, claiming it was a drowning hazard. But her father always loved the extravagant things in life and waved off Morgan’s concerns. He quickly revoked his judgments of his wife when Sara nearly drowned a year or two after it was built.
Though Hailey never recalled the fountain spouting water after the incident, a soft melody of splashes now joined the dusk’s lullaby as it beat against the pebbles at its foundation.
Hailey hated the site of it.
She didn’t immediately get out of her car. She sat motionless for a few minutes as dreadful memories surfaced. Her mind was replaying that night, the one where she had become motherless and found her own flesh and blood was the cause of her pain. Even after all these years, she could still vividly recall the sounds of the police as they swarmed her home, drowning out the familiar summer night song of croaks and chirps.
After suffering her own trauma hours earlier, she had come home to what became her worst nightmare.
She had been walking up the driveway toward the house when the flashing red and blue lights demanded her attention. As she had gotten closer, the crime scene tape and police officers had blurred together as her body fought off exhaustion and shock.
The hairs on her nape stood at attention and she had innately known something awful had happened. She had wanted to sprint toward her home and find answers, but after what she’d been through, she didn’t have the energy or the strength. Yet, despite her body’s protests, she had been instinctively drawn to the scene of the crime, every step becoming harder than the last.
Hailey had stopped for a moment, realizing she wasn’t presentable.
Should she change? Her mother would have a heart attack if she came home like this.
Her clothes had been torn and she was missing a shoe. She had brushed off the grass that clung to her jeans, the green streaks irking her. She had pulled a stray leaf from her hair.
Assessing herself, she had grasped at the locket she always wore and nearly cried out when she had realized it was missing. She had quickly remembered she’d given it to Trey weeks before.
However, it was the blood that had startled her. She had still been covered in the crimson stains that mixed with dirt, though at that point it caked her skin. She had aggressively scraped at her arms and hands, trying to erase the terror her body had just endured. When it wouldn’t come off, she had ordered her legs to walk forward toward whatever violence occurred on such a warm summer’s night.
Every step had been heavy, as if her body was trying to protect her from the monsters that lurked in the shadows. Tears had flowed down her cheeks, as if they were attempting to wash away the dirt and horror that stained her face.
“Mom,” Trinity said from the passenger seat, “snap out of it. You’re being weird.”
Hailey was startled back to reality. “Sorry, there’s just a lot of stuff you don’t understand about this place and it's really hard for me to be here.”
“Well, that doesn’t mean you have to be all spooky about it and zone out.”
Hailey smiled and shook her head. “Alright, alright. I’ll stop being spooky.”
The two of them climbed out of the car and Hailey took in the magnificent structure. As much as Hailey wanted to stay elsewhere, there were no other options in town. Since tourists very rarely came to Auburndale, there were no bed-and-breakfasts, inns, or hotels. At least none that were kept clean and weren’t used to run small criminal enterprises.
After getting their suitcase out of the trunk, she and Trinity mounted the large steps and knocked on the front door. A woman answered, streaks of gray visible throughout her blonde hair. Her brown eyes gleamed as a wide smile crept on her face.
“Gen!” Hailey exclaimed.
“Hailey, my sweet girl!” The woman wrapped Hailey in an embrace and Hailey smiled at the housekeeper who had also helped raise Hailey and Sara.
“How are you? I can’t believe you’re still working for the slave driver.” Hailey pointed toward the house, indicating David. It had been an ongoing joke between Hailey, Sara, and Genevieve.
Genevieve’s mother started working for Henry and Camila Gallagher when Genevieve was six years old. She and David grew up together, though Genevieve was a few years older than David. The two had spent many days playing together but as time passed, socio-economic status, different schools, and opposing social circles caused them to drift apart, though they still shared many secrets and confided in one another.
When Genevieve turned seventeen, she began working for the family as a housekeeper alongside her mother. Even when her mother passed away, Genevieve continued to dedicate herself to the Gallaghers. Especially to Hailey and Sara.
Hailey thought Genevieve may be a saint for entertaining David’s malicious and controlling demeanor for so long, though he never seemed to show the woman that side of him. Genevieve had never hesitated to put him in his place, and he respected her because of it.
Genevieve let out a rambunctious laugh. “The slave driver still needs my help.”
Hailey introduced Trinity as she awkwardly twirled her hair, waiting to be acknowledged. “Oh, Gen, this is-”
“Trinity. I know! She looks just like you.” Genevieve embraced the teen as if she had known her for years. Trinity stiffened as she hugged the woman back.
The three of them made their way into the foyer and Hailey’s gaze drifted to the end of the staircase where her mother’s body had laid. From what she understood, Sara had pushed their mother down the stairs where Morgan Gallagher met her demise. Hailey wondered if her face flashed through her mother’s mind in Morgan’s last moments. Did she cry out for help or for her husband or maybe even for her own mother?
She visibly shook as chills ran up her spine. Hailey clenched her teeth and willed herself to look away from the spot that once held her mother’s dying body.
Genevieve said, “Your father is working right now, but Lauren is watching TV in her room. I’m sure she’ll want to see you.”
Movement caught Hailey’s eye, and she looked up to see Lauren standing on the landing.
“He hasn’t changed much since you were young,” Lauren said with a smile as she descended the stairs. “He’s at a shooting fundraiser with a few City Commissioners. You know how much he loves his guns. Every now and again I’ll tag along, but he claims I’m not nearly as good a shot as he is.”
Hailey’s arrival had interrupted her stepmother’s night as she was clearly getting ready for bed. She donned a pink shorts-and-button-down pajama set and her face was void of makeup.
A curvaceous blonde with eyes as blue as ice, she was a sweet woman and drop dead gorgeous. Though she’d never admit to it, she had a nose job and breast implants that enhanced her already natural beauty. Hailey didn’t have to wonder why her father chose to marry her. Lauren looked good on camera, and she stroked his ego.
Maybe that wasn’t fair to the pretty blonde, but it was the truth. Sure, the woman was kind and engaging, but David only cared about one thing: his reputation.
Trying her best to push her way into the inner circle of the local politicians and businessmen, Lauren became her father’s secretary when Hailey and Sara were sixteen. She wasn’t overly ambitious, but she was driven enough to get her foot in the door at the mere age of twenty. That clearly paid off because she played a significant role in David building his political career.
Hailey suspected Lauren fancied her father for some time and took her chance with David when Morgan died. Surprisingly, it worked, because David married Lauren only a year after Morgan’s death.
Truthfully, Hailey didn’t dislike Lauren, but she didn’t love her either; something that was largely due to Lauren only being four years Hailey’s senior.
Granted, Hailey didn’t know much about her. Only that she’d been raised by a simple country couple who adopted her when she was three and that she’d moved to Auburndale shortly before she started working for David.
“Hi, Lauren. Thanks for letting us stay here,” Hailey said. She motioned her hand toward Trinity. “This is my daughter, Trinity.”
“Hi,” Trinity said softly as she raised a hand to wave.
Thankfully, Lauren didn’t try to hug Hailey or Trinity, and Hailey appreciated that Lauren didn’t force a relationship. Hailey had moved away by the time Lauren and David started dating, so she never had to wade through the awkwardness of living with a stepmother.
“Of course. Y’all can stay anytime.” Her thick Kentucky accent oddly soothed Hailey. “Help yourself to anything you’d like. Nothing has changed since you left, even though I keep trying to convince David to update it a little.” Lauren winked at Hailey, and she immediately felt at ease being back in the grand estate.
The four stood silently until Lauren took in a deep breath and smiled. “Well, I’m going to hit the hay, but y’all are more than welcome to stay up and get settled or just relax. I figured you’d want your old room, Hailey, and Trinity can stay in Sara’s since they’re adjoining.”
Hailey smiled. “That’s fine with us.”
Lauren walked back up the stairs and disappeared down the hall.
“Well, I’m heading out, girls,” Genevieve said. “I told Lauren I would wait around for you because I just couldn't wait to see you.” She kissed Hailey on the cheek, then Trinity.
Once Genevieve was gone, Hailey carried their small suitcase up the stairs and showed Trinity where they would be staying. The teen stopped abruptly in the hallway to look at the photos that sat on a decorative table. She picked up a small gold frame that had been shoved to the back of the table, all but hidden behind another framed photo. Hailey assumed it was Genevieve who made sure it didn’t get put into a box or thrown into the trash.
Trinity studied the faces that stared back at her. “Is this your mother?” Trinity asked.
Hailey gently took the frame from her daughter and smiled. It was a candid shot of Morgan holding Sara and Hailey on each hip. The twins were four years old, both in corresponding outfits. All three girls smiled brightly, Morgan’s sparkle in her eye still present. It would be years later, but that sparkle would eventually diminish. Hailey could hardly remember it all.
“Yes, that’s my mother,” Hailey said proudly.
“She was really beautiful. You have her eyes.”
A lump formed in Hailey’s throat, and she quickly blinked back tears. “Then so do you.”
Trinity smiled and Hailey placed the photo back on the table as Trinity walked into the bedroom, leaving Hailey alone.
Her heart ached all over again, remembering that Trinity would never meet the woman Hailey called mother. Trinity was right; Morgan Gallagher was beautiful. But more than that, she was funny, kind, and smart. All things Trinity inherited from her.
Wanting to push her thoughts aside, Hailey went to her room.
Hailey’s mouth fell open as she took in the sight. Her room really hadn’t changed in the last thirteen years. The bedsheets were still the same pink floral pattern, and the drapes, though faded, still cloaked the balcony that sat right outside the French doors. Even her old set of drawers and vanity sat untouched. It was as if she had died, and David wanted to freeze her in time.
Maybe the old man really had changed. After all the years of abuse, had the patriarch of the Gallagher family finally found himself wishing he could go back in time before their lives had been shattered? Or was he still the same heartless father who always gripped control so tightly he’d draw blood from those he claimed to love if they didn’t allow him to have it? Was this yet another way to seek that control, to keep everything the way it was before it all spiraled out of control and their family disintegrated?
Walking to the French doors, she opened them and stood on the balcony, taking in the moon that was beginning to move the sun out of sight. She looked over the sunset that painted the sky beautiful shades of red, orange and yellow. She had seen it a million times, but tonight it somehow seemed sadder.
She had watched the sunset with her sister and her mother before bed as a little girl. Then it was just her and Sara when they were teenagers, always talking about boys and the latest school gossip. And she had watched it with Trey on more than one occasion when he snuck in through the window to say goodnight, slow dancing as dusk turned to darkness.
As much as she wanted to hate him, she couldn’t. Hailey smiled to herself, remembering the many times she and Sara climbed down this very balcony to meet up with Trey and Chase or when she and Trey spray painted their initials together on an old bridge just over one of the lake canals. Memories flooded her and this time, she let them, basking in the surge of bittersweet happiness she felt.
Breathing in deeply, she walked back inside and closed the French doors behind her. She stopped just short of the bed. She wondered if anyone had found the hidden compartment in the floor she had used as a hiding spot for her diary and other treasured items.
Curious, she knelt down and lifted the bed skirt and began pressing on the wooden planks. As one gave way and popped up, a sly smile pulled at her lips. She carefully slid her hand into the hole and felt for the old photos she had left behind. She was happy to find they were still there.
Pulling them out, Hailey studied the stack of polaroids. There were some of her and Sara at a party they had snuck out to. Others were of the twins sitting together on the lanai and then a candid shot Trey had taken of the two girls. Sara smiled wildly in all of them; always feeling like the world was hers for the taking.
For a long time, Hailey believed Sara would conquer the world and all its glory. Sara wanted to be a fashion model, and her future had been bright in that regard. Hailey knew in her heart of hearts her sister would walk the runways in Milan and Paris one day.
Unfortunately, drugs and alcohol consumed Sara. She had been on various narcotics cocktails in most of those photos and throughout most of their teen years. And she had paid dearly for her addiction.
So did the rest of the family.
Something Hailey could never come to terms with was the roller coaster of emotions brought on by her sister. She loved Sara to death, but with that love came pain. It was painful to love Sara; she was so destructive and chaotic.
Instead of focusing on who Sara had become and where she ended up, Hailey focused on the good memories. Then she moved on to the other photos.
The ones of her and Trey.
The ones she left behind hoping she could forget about the man who shattered her heart.
There was one in particular that stood out to her, though. She and Trey were sitting on a picnic blanket in a random field, their favorite place to go. There was a twinkle in their eyes as Trey pulled her close to his chest. Hailey had melted into him as if she had been doing it forever. It felt so natural to her. His hat blocked the sun, and her hair was pulled into a ponytail, allowing her locket to be shown off.
Hailey clutched at her chest where the locket would have hung if she had kept it. She had given it to Trey that day, after he told her he loved her. That was the moment they had made a promise to love each other for all eternity.
And she had meant it.
But he hadn’t.
She shouldn’t still be stuck in the past. After all, they were kids then. Neither one of them knew what love was, let alone what it meant to love someone forever. But his betrayal still stung.
Before Hailey could stop herself, she wondered about all the what-ifs and what-could-have-beens, all of the hopes and dreams that shattered along with her heart.
Hailey sighed.
She missed Trey and the life she thought they’d share. She missed the dreams she so desperately desired. She missed her mother so much it hurt. She missed who her sister had been before Sara had become an addict and murderer.
What she wouldn’t give to go back to that night and stop it all from happening.
She hated how emotional this trip was making her. She felt like a teenage drama queen.
Hailey pushed her feelings aside, no longer wanting to relive the hurricane of choices that destroyed her life in one fell swoop. She tucked the photos back in their hiding spot and closed the hatch, locking them away. Much like she wished she could do with her memories.
It wasn’t until she sat on the bed that she realized how much her feet ached from the heels she’d been wearing all evening. She took them off and tossed them on the bed next to her.
Her eyes fell on the closet doors that were now closed, the wooden panels unaware of the potential truth that was concealed behind them.
Pulling on the doors, she found it was now empty aside from a few boxes. She hadn’t taken much with her when she moved, just her clothes and makeup. She had wanted to leave behind all that she could and start over. It looked like Genevieve had boxed up old keepsakes and used the closet as storage. To the far left sat a lonely box, her name scrawled in bubbly letters across the side panel.
Hailey anxiously fetched the cardboard and walked to her bed where she began opening it. Her heart thudded loudly as she tugged at the flaps. Part of her wanted to throw it back into the closet and leave. How could she live with herself if what Angie said was true?
It wasn’t too late. She could ignore what Angie told her and finally move on with her life. Once she left town, her past would be left here, no longer able to dig its claws into her and drag her down.
Then she thought of Sara and how much she had loved her sister once upon a time. She remembered who she was before the drugs and alcohol, before their father began beating them into obedience, before she was named a murderer.
Pushing past her selfishness, Hailey folded down the tops of the box and peeked inside.
Sure enough, just as Angie claimed, there was a single video tape inside hidden under green packing peanuts. Her heart sank as she realized the magnitude this video could have. How it could turn everything upside down if it did in fact prove Sara’s innocence.
She popped the tape into the VHS player that still sat on the opposite side of the bed. She turned the volume down low, not knowing what to expect. Hailey hit play and held her breath as she watched the screen come to life.
Donna was drunkenly talking to the camcorder about the group’s plans. Hailey could make out Sara, Jake Nelson, and Thomas Smith in the background. They all sang loudly to the music that played on the radio in the car. Donna laughed at her friends and turned the lens toward them. Sara sang to the camera, always the life of the party, slurring her speech as she did.
It then panned to Thomas who was at the wheel, also intoxicated. He shoved the camera out of his face, causing Donna to curse at him. Hailey felt sick knowing all of them had been driving drunk that night, though during the video they seemed to be in a parking lot.
Sara grabbed the face of the camera so that Donna was focused on her. Sara started crying, her words hardly intelligible. “I love Chase soooo much, but I can't give up my dream of modeling. Doesn’t he love me enough to wait until I get my big break?”
“Forget about him! You can have any guy you want. Just wait ‘til you get to New York,” Donna said, sending Sara into hysterics. Donna set the camcorder down on the dashboard revealing that they had been parked at a local corner store. The camera went black after that, and Hailey sat motionless for a moment before rewinding the tape.
As Angie claimed, the camcorder had the date and time stamp of the murder: June 03, 1998, 10:42 pm .
Angie was right: Sara hadn’t killed Morgan Gallagher.
And Hailey unknowingly had proof for the last thirteen years.