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CHAPTER 1

Morgan

When Morgan found out that her sisters Charlie and Abby had left messages for their mom for two days and still hadn’t heard back from her, she became concerned—so much so that she couldn’t concentrate on anything else.If she hadn’t lived nine hundred and fifty miles away, she would have gone over there herself.

Morgan called Sylvia, Carla’s housekeeper.Sylvia had cleaned her mother’s house every other week since the girls were little.However, Sylvia told Morgan she had been sick with the flu and had not been to Carla’s in over a week.

Morgan tried to convince herself there was nothing to worry about, but her instincts were screaming for her to do something, so she called Carla’s best friend, Ginny.Ginny hadn’t talked to Carla in a few days either but said if Morgan couldn’t get a hold of her in the next few hours, she’d drive to Carla’s house.

Work had been hectic that day, so when Morgan got home, she was more tired than usual.She hung her jacket in the closet and put her slightly dripping umbrella in the stand.It rained so often in Oregon that her umbrella rarely stayed completely dry.

She heard a knock on her door.Through the peephole, she saw two police officers standing on her doorstep, one male and one female.The look on their faces made her stomach lurch, and she suddenly felt the temperature in the room drop twenty degrees.Hundreds of thought balloons were above her head screaming, ‘Don’t open the door,’ but she opened it anyway.

“Hi, I’m Officer Gardner,” the policeman said, “and this is Officer O’Reilly,” he gestured to the policewoman, who nodded.“Are you Morgan Weiss?”he asked.

“Yes…”

“The LAPD called us after doing a wellness check on your mother,” Officer O’Reilly said.“Her friend called when she didn’t answer the door.”

“Is she okay?”Morgan asked.

Officer Gardner and Officer O’Reilly looked at Morgan somberly.

“No.I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but your mother has died,” Office O’Reilly said.

“You have the wrong person,” Morgan said.

“Carla Weiss was your mother, correct?”Officer Gardner asked.

“Sheismy mother.Are you sure it was my Carla Weiss?”

Morgan knew the answer; she just needed to hear it again, yet that was the last thing she wanted.She wished she could put her hands over her ears and drown out anything they were about to tell her.

Officer Gardner nodded.“Yes, they got a positive ID.”

Morgan felt so light-headed that she had to grab the door jamb.

“Maybe we should go inside so you can sit down,” Officer O’Reilly said.

In a haze, Morgan moved away from the door so they could enter.Officer O’Reilly led Morgan to a chair in the living room.

“What happened?”Morgan began to breathe heavily.

“The LAPD will tell you the details,” Officer O’Reilly said gently.

“Please just tell me.”

“They said it was an overdose,” Officer Gardner said.

“That doesn’t make any sense; she barely even drank.”Morgan swallowed hard against the lump in her throat.

“They said there was an empty bottle of Xanax on the floor.The prescription had been refilled recently,” Officer Gardner said.The word “suicide” hung in the silence between them.

The sob that Morgan had been trying to hold back overtook her, and she let out a wail that seemed to come out of her entire being.Officer Gardner stood there looking uncomfortable while Officer O’Reilly put her hand on Morgan’s back.

“Why would she do that?”Morgan squeaked out.She could barely speak; her tongue had gone numb.

“We don’t know, ma’am,” Officer O’Reilly said.“Can we call someone for you?”