Sorry about the mishap. Something went wrong and chapter 12 didn't post earlier like I thought it had. To make up for it, here is chapter 13 a week early also! Enjoy!

Moonlit Shadows TAKEN Copyright © 2016 by Shawna Gautier. All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or to actual places, events, or locations is purely coincidental. The characters are all products of the author’s imagination.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Sami was awakened the next morning by the ringing of her cell phone. She snatched it off the nightstand and answered. It was her mom. She rolled over to face Billy for support, but he was gone. All alone, she listened quietly as her mother explained how her grandpa had reached his final hours of life and that she would stay with him until he had passed . . . Sitting in bed with her knees to her chest, Sami buried her face in her hands and cried. She didn’t even hear the door open when Billy walked back in.

“Was that your mom?” he asked softly as he sat next to her and pulled her into his arms.

She nodded.

“Is it Harry?”

She nodded again. “He only . . . has a few more . . . hours.” She barely managed through sobs.

He sighed and shook his head as tears formed and effortlessly rolled down his cheeks. He hugged her tightly. They sat quietly for a minute before he released his hold on her and dried his face on the sleeves of his blue T-shirt. “I’m so sorry . . . Are you gonna be okay?”

She nodded and sniffled, trying to control her tears. “Yeah, I’ll be okay. I’m just gonna miss him.”

He grabbed some tissues from the desk and handed them to her. “I know . . . I’m gonna miss him too.”

After she dried her eyes, Billy kissed her forehead and pulled her back into his arms.

Glancing at her dresser, Sami focused in on the picture of her grandparents. She realized that they would soon be together again. A sense of peace filled her heart. Then her gaze shifted to her makeup mirror sitting on her desk, and her disheveled face came into focus. Her eyes were red and swollen, and her hair puffed this way and that. She was a mess.

“If you don’t mind, I need to take a shower and change,” she said, pulling away from him.

“Okay. I’ll be downstairs. I’ll let Mike know.”

“Okay.” She watched him leave before she finally climbed out of bed. Forlorn, she went to the picture on her dresser. “Good-bye, Grandpa . . . I love you . . .”

Head down and heavyhearted, she made her way to the bathroom.

* * *

Billy was sitting at the table along the back wall when Sami entered the kitchen. Showered and refreshed, wearing a loose-fitting white tank top and jeans, she looked like she was feeling much better. The ache in his heart eased a little.

Inhaling deeply, Sami smiled at Mike, who was standing at the stove. “Mmm, pancakes? Smells delicious.”

Mike nodded and pressed his lips together, his expression reflecting sadness. “I’m sorry about Harry. He’ll be missed.” His voice was gentler than usual.

Sami forced a smile and captured her lower lip with her front teeth.

Billy could see that she was near tears again. He went to her and took her into his arms.

“I’ll be okay,” she said with a quavering voice. She swallowed hard to hold back her tears.

“Okay,” Billy said softly, trying his hardest to keep his own tears from forming again. Then they both sat down at the table to keep Mike company while he cooked breakfast.

“Maybe I should call Jason and tell him?” Sami suggested.

Just then Jason walked through the front door.

“I already did.” Mike turned and winked at her. “I hope that’s okay.”

“It’s fine. I’m glad you did,” she replied.

Given the circumstances, Billy didn’t mind either. Until Jason walked right up to her and gave her a big hug, lifting her off of the chair. “I’m sorry, Sam,” he said dismally.

Billy clenched his jaw but restrained his anger.

“I know.” Sami hugged him back. Tears threatened to overflow again.

Jason set her back down in her chair and looked at Billy. “Billy.” He was trying to be amicable.

Billy unclenched his jaw and acknowledged Jason with a slight nod. “Jason,” he replied calmly for Sami’s sake, and out of respect for Harry.

“Okay, let’s eat,” Mike announced as he set a platter of pancakes and a bottle of syrup in the middle of the table, along with enough plates and silverware for all.

Not knowing quite what to say under the circumstances, everyone proceeded to eat slowly, and in silence. The mood was completely solemn. Shortly after, the phone rang, and the news came that Harry Meyers had passed.

Though they all wanted to mourn together, they also wanted be alone. Mike went home to take care of some business. Jason sat on the front porch, staring out into the forest. And Billy sat on the couch with Sami tight in his arms.

Carol arrived home within the hour. Brenda was nice enough to give her a ride home while another deputy drove her car back for her.

With tears in her eyes, Sami met her mother at the door and threw her arms around her. “I’m sorry, Mom. I’m so sorry.”

“I know, sweetheart. Me too,” Carol replied. It was as all they could manage as they cried together.

“Carol.” Billy cleared his throat, trying his damndest to be strong. “I’m very sorry about Harry. If there’s anything I can do to help . . .”

“Thank you, Billy.” Carol smiled and nodded through her tears.

He gave Sami a gentle pat on the back. “I’m gonna go outside to give you and your mom some time. Okay?”

“Okay.” Sami nodded. Her face was grim with heartbreak.

Billy’s chest grew heavy at the sight and sound of her pain—hers and Carol’s both. He escaped through the front door before he lost the battle with his own tears.

Mike had returned and was sitting on the wicker loveseat. Jason was on the matching chair on the other side of him.

Billy turned away and pulled the neck of his T-shirt over his eyes to dry them before Mike or Jason noticed. Then he joined them, sitting next to Mike.

All three of them sat quietly for a few minutes . . . staring into the forest . . . listening helplessly to the uncontrolled sorrow coming from inside the house . . . contrarily trying to keep their own sorrow under control.

A few minutes passed before Jason cleared his throat and broke the silence. He looked at Billy nervously. “Uhh . . . Billy? I just wanted you to know . . . I’m sorry, dude.”

Billy was confused and slightly irritated. “Don’t be sorry for me. You knew Harry as well as I did.”

“No, I mean . . .” There was an uneasy silence before he continued. “For getting lost that day.”

Taken off guard, Billy tensed in alarm. He wasn’t ready to dredge up the past. He swallowed nervously and looked to Mike for help.

Instead of offering advice, Mike stood and went into the house to offer his support to Carol and Sami.

“I didn’t mean for anything to happen.” Jason got up from his chair to sit on the porch railing to face Billy.

Billy fell utterly silent as thoughts of that day flitted through his mind. All the hatred he’d felt for Jason boiled to the surface.

Finally, all of the questions he’d bottled up for the last thirteen years came to mind. “What were you doing out there alone anyways? You’ve always been arrogant . . . Always! It’s always been about you!”

Fury now raged through his blood. He lunged at Jason and grabbed him by the shirt with tightly clenched fists. “YOU KNEW YOU WEREN’T SUPPOSED TO GO OUT THERE BY YOURSELF! YOU KNEW IT!WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?”

He released Jason and stepped back, sucking heavy breaths, trying to gain control of his rage.

Jason nervously reached into his jeans pocket. “I was looking for this,” he said with a husky voice. He pulled his hand out of his pocket and opened it. Lying in his palm was a Buck Folding Hunter knife.

Mouth agape, Billy stared at the familiar knife before he slowly reached out and took it. He held it in silence. His hands began to tremble. He pulled out the blade to read the inscription . . .

For my son, Billy . . . Love, Dad

Billy’s heart grew heavy as he remembered the day that his dad had given him the knife. It was for his twelfth birthday. He’d been frantic when he lost it in the forest one day while he and Jason were hiking with Mike.

“I remember you were so upset about losing it that you cried.” Jason swallowed hard. “I’d never seen you cry before, so I went to look for it . . . I was so frickin’ happy when I finally found it. I started running back along the trail, but somewhere . . . somehow . . . I got turned around . . . I tried to give it to you after the funeral but you wouldn’t even look at me. You hated me.” He shook his head. “I know I should’ve given it to you sooner, but I didn’t even know how to approach you.”

Billy clenched his teeth, trying to hold back the tears that stung his eyes, but he was powerless to stop them. He cleared his throat. “I can’t believe you found it. I thought it was gone for good.”

“Yeah well, I had to find it . . . you were my best friend.” Tears dripped down Jason’s cheeks and soaked into his shirt.

Billy’s heart sank. He felt awful for treating his best friend so badly after all these years. Hating him. Blaming him . . . He cleared his throat again. He pressed his lips together to steady the quiver.

“I’m sorry, Jason . . .” Billy shook his head. “I’m sorry . . . I know it wasn’t your fault. I was just . . . just so pissed at the world. I just . . .” He was at a sudden loss for words.

“It’s okay, man. I would’ve hated me too. As a matter of fact I did . . . for a long time.” Jason stood and patted Billy firmly on the shoulder.

But that wasn’t enough for Billy. He grabbed Jason by the shoulder and yanked him into a strong embrace. “I’m sorry . . . I’m so frickin’ sorry!” He cried away the guilt weighing heavily on his soul.

Jason sniffled through tears while giving Billy sturdy pats on the back. “Me too, bro! Me too!”

The front door opened and Mike stepped out with a proud grin.

Billy and Jason quickly separated and turned their heads away to wipe their eyes dry.

“Now that’s more like it!” Mike belted out smugly. “I was beginning to think that you two would never kiss and make up.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The days following her grandpa’s passing seemed to rush by like a blur. The phone rang nonstop. Close friends of her grandparents, and those that still respected her grandpa, came to visit off and on throughout the daylight hours to offer their condolences. Homemade dinners began to overflow the refrigerator so that Sami and her mother started sending food home with Mike, Billy, and Jason. And vases filled with flowers congested the house and the front porch.

Sami dreaded the morning of the funeral. The mood downstairs was completely solemn. Melancholy, she stayed in her room for as long as she possibly could. She donned a sleeveless summer dress—the only black dress she owned—and tied her hair back into a simple ponytail.

Staring at herself in the mirror, she traced her finger along the delicate locket that hung around her neck, wishing that her father could be there too. She desperately needed his strength.

“Sam!” Her mother’s voice echoed from the bottom of the stairs. “It’s time!”

Reluctantly, Sami left the sanctity of her bedroom and slowly descended the stairs. Deputy Brenda Cruz, Mike, Jason, and Billy had been over all morning, helping to prepare for the gathering that was to take place after the funeral—a gathering she was dreading. If it were up to her, she’d rather come home and flee to her room where it felt safe and quiet and private.

Billy smiled with awe as she descended the steps. “There you are.” He met her at the bottom and wrapped his arms around her waist. “You look beautiful today . . . Are you ready?” he asked.

She hugged him tightly, not wanting to let go. Knowing she had no other choice, she let go and stepped back. “I guess so,” she answered glumly. She smoothed out the wrinkle in his suit from her cheek, and adjusted his black tie. “You look very handsome.”

“Sweetheart,” Mom said.

Sami spun around to face her mom.

Mom smiled reassuringly and hugged her. Stepping back, she tucked loose wisps of hair behind Sami’s ears. “I’m going to be riding with Brenda. You can ride with us also, but I’m sure you’d be happier with Billy. I understand.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

Billy took Sami’s hand in his. “We’ll see you there, Carol.” Then he guided her out the front door and to his car.

As she and Billy pulled out of Billy’s driveway, Mike and Jason exited her house, followed by Brenda and her mom, all heading to their cars parked out front. Like Billy, Jason and Mike wore black suits. Her mother, a mid-sleeve black dress. And Sally, a gray top and black pants. The mourners all wore black, a color that reminded her of the menacing forest that surrounded her—dark . . . desolate . . . deadly . . . Her instincts told her that she should flee this town—bury it deep within the past and never look back.

Maybe she could get her mother to move back home to California now that she no longer had to care for her grandpa? But even if her mother agreed, the mere thought of leaving Billy made her heart ache.

She glanced at Billy as he drove along the winding road through the forest. He flashed her a tender smile, extinguishing the heartache, setting her heart aflutter again. At that moment she realized that she couldn’t leave him. That this dark menacing forest was her home now . . . and it scared the hell out of her.

“Are you okay?” Billy broke the heavy silence.

“I’ll be okay,” she replied dismally. She looked up just as Billy slowed and pulled onto the long drive leading to the top of Cemetery Hill. It too, was surrounded by the same dreadful forest.

As they neared the top of the hill, the forest seemed to back away, bowing respectfully to a large open grassy field scattered with headstones and tombs. Some were near crumbling, others new and polished.

Like the sanctity of a church against evil, the graveyard felt like the only safe place in the forest, its fated residents having already paid the ultimate sacrifice with nothing left to fear, nothing left to give.

Billy pulled off onto the gravel shoulder and parked. Mike and Jason pulled up behind them in Jason’s car, followed by Mom and Brenda.

Billy and Sami got out of the car and walked through the grass, hand in hand, to the rows of chairs facing her grandpa’s mahogany casket. They took their seats in the front row. Mike and Jason sat in the empty chairs next to Billy. Though they were aware of the commotion of the arriving guests behind them, they sat silently, facing forward, taking a moment to remember . . .

Sami didn’t move, nor did she look up, when she heard footsteps approach and take the empty seat next to her. She just sat quietly, staring at the cascade of white roses draping her grandfather’s casket, remembering their sunny days at the beach together. She did, however, sense the stares of the three handsome men sitting next to her. She glanced over at Billy, Mike, and Jason, wondering why they were all staring at her with warm smiles on their faces. Without warning, the person who had just sat next to her wrapped his strong familiar hand around hers.

Sami’s heart stopped. She turned to face the unseen guest. “Dad!” She threw her arms around his neck and started to cry, finding comfort in his familiar spicy scent and the rough stubble against her cheek.

He hugged her tightly and gently patted her back. “Hi, Sam.”

“I thought you weren’t coming?” Sami was confused but elated.

She pulled away to see him clearly. His black wavy hair was streaked with silver, more so than the last time she’d seen him, and his brown eyes appeared darker. Like Mom, his vibrant complexion had paled.

“I made it happen. I wanted to be here for you and your mother.” Dad leaned forward. “Billy, Mike, Jason.” He gave a quick nod. “It’s good to see you again. Not under these circumstances of course, but it’s still good to see you.”

“Greg.” Mike returned the nod.

Billy and Jason smiled and also greeted him with a nod.

Mom took her seat on the other side of Dad, and soon after, the funeral proceeded.

Everyone fell silent as the minister spoke, guiding them all in saying farewell to Harry Meyers . . . as well as blessing him . . . and guiding him into his afterlife journey . . .

When Billy and Sami returned home, guests were already gathered throughout the house, on the front porch, and at the folding tables set up in the front yard. Sniffles could be heard, as well as stories of her grandpa’s past, and even laughter now and then. Trays of food were spread about the kitchen along with bottles of beer and wine. Nearly the half of the town had come together to remember Harry Meyers, and to say farewell.

* * *

Dusk settled in before the last of the guests had finally said good-bye. Billy left also, to give Sami time alone with her parents.

“So how long are you staying, Dad?” Sami asked as the three of them sat comfortably in the living room.

He sighed heavily with guilt. “I have to leave tonight, Sam. I’m catching an early morning flight out of Portland. I couldn’t find anyone to cover my flight tomorrow night,” he said softly.

Sami was devastated. “What? Can’t you stay longer? Can’t someone else take over for you?” she pleaded. It had been weeks since she’d seen him last, and she missed him. She missed being a family. What she didn’t miss was having a pilot for a father.

“I’m sorry. I have to get back. If I could stay I would.”

Sami nodded. Back home it had always been the same story—he had a flight to catch traveling hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles away, leaving her and her mother to figure out life alone. But he was here, at this moment, and maybe, just maybe, he and her mother could work things out.

They sat and talked for an hour more before he bid his farewell.

Sami was crushed. It felt as if she had lost two men in her life today.

Her mom was also upset. She said good night, but before she walked away Sami stopped her.

“Mom?” she asked quietly.

“Yes?” Mom’s voice was laden with exhaustion.

Sami was working up the nerve to ask if there was hope to save their marriage, but from the darkened corners of her mother’s eyes, she could tell her mom’d had enough for one day. “Good night.”

“Good night, sweetheart.” Mom disappeared down the hallway.

Needing comfort, Sami decided to see Billy. Not wanting to worry her mother, she didn’t tell her. She grabbed the keys hanging on the wall above the breakfast bar and turned off the lights, leaving only the porch light on. Then she tiptoed out the front door, and closed and locked it as quietly as she could.

Suddenly the porch light popped and everything went black. “Great!” She squinted through the darkness, trying to focus on her surroundings. There was no moon out tonight, which made seeing anything nearly impossible.

“Crap,” she whispered shakily as her heart started to race. She glanced at Billy’s house, but there were no lights on. In the dark it looked as if his house weren’t even there. “Shoot, they must be sleeping already.”

A cool wind awakened and howled its way through the forest. She shuddered, wondering if her stalker was out there, waiting for the perfect moment to strike—the perfect moment being now.

She scanned the road, looking for the squad car, but it was just too dark to see. Quickly, she fumbled with her keys, struggling to match the right one to the slot, using her fingertip as a guide to find it as if she were reading Braille.

“Come on, Samantha!” she urged herself, frustrated and scared.

Just then the wind died, filling the air with absolute silence again. The soft crunching of debris and the snapping of twigs stirred in the forest across the road.

“Crap!” she whispered.

Trying the last key, she frantically shimmied it into the slot. The knob turned and the door opened. Relieved, she hurried inside and shut the door, locking the dead bolt securely.

Then she rushed upstairs to the safety of her bedroom.

. . . And I will be back next week with chapter 14. This time I will make sure that I actually posted it before I announce it, haha. Have an awesome week!