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Whispers From The Dead
Book Two of Serenity's Plain Secrets
Author: Karen Ann Hopkins
Release Date: December 16th 2014
Excerpt from Whispers From The Dead:
Thinking that he had decided to forego any conversation and go straight to sleep, disappointment swatted me and I began to stretch out myself. Then he finally spoke.
“What were you dreaming about?”
Daniel had been with me from the first week of Naomi Beiler’s investigation. He knew all about it. But it still was difficult to talk about it sometimes, even with him.
Reluctantly, I began, “I’ve had dreams about Naomi’s death ever since the case was closed. I’m always running through the cornfield, looking for her; trying to reach her before she’s shot. Sometimes I never even find her. I’m just lost in the maze of never ending corn plants. Other times, I hear the gun shot in the distance, and when I come to the place where we found her body, she’s gone. But tonight, for the first time, I almost made it to her in time to save her life.”
Daniel was silent for a moment and then he said, “I guess something like that stays with a person for a long time, but you shouldn’t blame yourself for Naomi’s death.”
“I don’t blame myself,” I argued.
“Obviously you do in some way or you wouldn’t be having dreams about trying to save her,” Daniel paused and even in the darkness, I could see the silhouette of his head shaking, “Naomi made up her own mind to run away and unfortunately for her, she had the bad luck of having a really messed up kid obsessed with her.”
“Do you really think that it’s just bad luck that Naomi was murdered…that her death couldn’t have been prevented?” I almost growled, anger coursing through me.
“Yeah, I do. Sometimes things are just fated to happen. I guess you could say that it’s all in God’s plan and if it’s meant to be, we’re just swimming against the flow of the river to stop it.”
Again, silence filled the cabin for a moment and I pulled the covers up closer to my chin to chase away the chill that rippled along my skin.
“You know, you’re a lot more like them than you care to admit.”
Daniel’s tone changed, becoming heavy with annoyance. “Why do you say that?” “You have the same Calvinist approach to life as the Amish do—that everything that happens is preordained and we’re all little mindless insects scurrying around in the chaos.”
Daniel snorted and replied, “Maybe your problem is that you can’t accept that some things that are out of your control.” Daniel took a deep breath and continued more softly, “Look, I can understand that in your line of work, you like to be in charge of things. Hell, you have to be. But take my word for it; you’ll be a much happier person at the end of the day if you admit that some strings are being guided by a higher authority than you.”
“If that’s so, then why would God have allowed Naomi to die? She was a sweet girl, just wanting to find love and happiness. What good did her death serve anyone?” I challenged.
Daniel answered quickly, as if he was expecting the question all along. “It’s not about whether it was good or bad or right or wrong. It was Naomi’s day to die. You can kick yourself around mentally all you want and continue having guilt dreams about her, but it won’t bring her back. You need to move on.”
Daniel had spoken with firmness, but not harshness. He truly believed what he said and I knew that his Amish upbringing played a huge part in his outlook on life. It would sure be easier to just accept that whatever is going to happen is going to happen. I’d have a lot less stress to deal with if I took that approach. But I didn’t have that outlook on life and I didn’t foresee changing my mind anytime soon.
“I like to think that I can make a real difference in the lives of those around me—that I was put on this earth to be able to help people. I refuse to toss it all up to fate and destiny.”
Daniel chuckled. “I hope you prove me wrong, Serenity. God knows that if anyone is feisty enough to change the flow of the tide, it’s you. But in the end, I think you’ll be miserable that you can’t change the world. As hard as it is for you to trust anyone or anything, someday you’re just going to have to have a little faith.
My face heated with the realization that his well-placed words held double meaning. All along he’d been referring to our relationship and not just my unconscious feeling of responsibility over Naomi’s death. Was he right? Maybe my inability to have a little faith in the forces of the universe, and in Daniel himself, was going to turn me into a miserable and lonely woman.
A tear slipped from my eye and I quickly wiped it away, thankful for the darkness to hide it. I couldn’t deny that something was off in my life, but what should I do about it?
“We have to get up in just a few hours. Let’s continue this philosophical conversation some other time,” I said warily.
I rolled over on my side, away from him, and shut my eyes. Even though my body was exhausted, my mind was still wide awake. And then there were still those occasional pulsating sensations whenever I thought about Daniel being only a few feet away from me, to deal with. I reckoned that sleep would be a long time coming.
“I wish you would trust me. I would never hurt you,” Daniel whispered before the trundle creaked under the shifting of his weight as he settled down for the rest of the night.
Yeah right. He was already causing me pain and he didn’t even know it.
“What were you dreaming about?”
Daniel had been with me from the first week of Naomi Beiler’s investigation. He knew all about it. But it still was difficult to talk about it sometimes, even with him.
Reluctantly, I began, “I’ve had dreams about Naomi’s death ever since the case was closed. I’m always running through the cornfield, looking for her; trying to reach her before she’s shot. Sometimes I never even find her. I’m just lost in the maze of never ending corn plants. Other times, I hear the gun shot in the distance, and when I come to the place where we found her body, she’s gone. But tonight, for the first time, I almost made it to her in time to save her life.”
Daniel was silent for a moment and then he said, “I guess something like that stays with a person for a long time, but you shouldn’t blame yourself for Naomi’s death.”
“I don’t blame myself,” I argued.
“Obviously you do in some way or you wouldn’t be having dreams about trying to save her,” Daniel paused and even in the darkness, I could see the silhouette of his head shaking, “Naomi made up her own mind to run away and unfortunately for her, she had the bad luck of having a really messed up kid obsessed with her.”
“Do you really think that it’s just bad luck that Naomi was murdered…that her death couldn’t have been prevented?” I almost growled, anger coursing through me.
“Yeah, I do. Sometimes things are just fated to happen. I guess you could say that it’s all in God’s plan and if it’s meant to be, we’re just swimming against the flow of the river to stop it.”
Again, silence filled the cabin for a moment and I pulled the covers up closer to my chin to chase away the chill that rippled along my skin.
“You know, you’re a lot more like them than you care to admit.”
Daniel’s tone changed, becoming heavy with annoyance. “Why do you say that?” “You have the same Calvinist approach to life as the Amish do—that everything that happens is preordained and we’re all little mindless insects scurrying around in the chaos.”
Daniel snorted and replied, “Maybe your problem is that you can’t accept that some things that are out of your control.” Daniel took a deep breath and continued more softly, “Look, I can understand that in your line of work, you like to be in charge of things. Hell, you have to be. But take my word for it; you’ll be a much happier person at the end of the day if you admit that some strings are being guided by a higher authority than you.”
“If that’s so, then why would God have allowed Naomi to die? She was a sweet girl, just wanting to find love and happiness. What good did her death serve anyone?” I challenged.
Daniel answered quickly, as if he was expecting the question all along. “It’s not about whether it was good or bad or right or wrong. It was Naomi’s day to die. You can kick yourself around mentally all you want and continue having guilt dreams about her, but it won’t bring her back. You need to move on.”
Daniel had spoken with firmness, but not harshness. He truly believed what he said and I knew that his Amish upbringing played a huge part in his outlook on life. It would sure be easier to just accept that whatever is going to happen is going to happen. I’d have a lot less stress to deal with if I took that approach. But I didn’t have that outlook on life and I didn’t foresee changing my mind anytime soon.
“I like to think that I can make a real difference in the lives of those around me—that I was put on this earth to be able to help people. I refuse to toss it all up to fate and destiny.”
Daniel chuckled. “I hope you prove me wrong, Serenity. God knows that if anyone is feisty enough to change the flow of the tide, it’s you. But in the end, I think you’ll be miserable that you can’t change the world. As hard as it is for you to trust anyone or anything, someday you’re just going to have to have a little faith.
My face heated with the realization that his well-placed words held double meaning. All along he’d been referring to our relationship and not just my unconscious feeling of responsibility over Naomi’s death. Was he right? Maybe my inability to have a little faith in the forces of the universe, and in Daniel himself, was going to turn me into a miserable and lonely woman.
A tear slipped from my eye and I quickly wiped it away, thankful for the darkness to hide it. I couldn’t deny that something was off in my life, but what should I do about it?
“We have to get up in just a few hours. Let’s continue this philosophical conversation some other time,” I said warily.
I rolled over on my side, away from him, and shut my eyes. Even though my body was exhausted, my mind was still wide awake. And then there were still those occasional pulsating sensations whenever I thought about Daniel being only a few feet away from me, to deal with. I reckoned that sleep would be a long time coming.
“I wish you would trust me. I would never hurt you,” Daniel whispered before the trundle creaked under the shifting of his weight as he settled down for the rest of the night.
Yeah right. He was already causing me pain and he didn’t even know it.
Read our 5 tree review for book one of Serenity's Plain Secrets - Lamb To The Slaughter.
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Looks like a great series. I haven't read the first book but it's on my TBR and I'm looking forward to checking it out :)
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