Category: Action/Thriller Publisher: Up At Midnight
ISBN-10: 0990958973
Type: Fiction
Pages: 558
Copyright: Dec. 18, 2020
ISBN-13: 9780990958970
Delving into her mother's journals reveals shocking truths and questions about Savannah's paternity. Meanwhile her "new" family doesn't take too kindly to her.
What’s in a name? Money and prestige if the name is Morgan and a whole lot of trouble if the name is Savannah. Lee Morgan is determined she’s his daughter and is doubly determined to intrude into her life and bring her on board the family’s multimillion dollar business.
Lee’s claims are supported when his son’s poisonous tell-all book “Bad Blood” hits the shelves and races up the best seller lists. At the same time Savannah and Georgia go in search for a piece of furniture in the attic back home in Augusta where they run across their mother’s journals that paint a much different picture of events leading up to Savannah’s conception.
Savannah struggles to cope with the bombshells threatening to wreck her world as she’s known it, fights break out among family, and dead bodies are piling up. She soon learns it doesn’t pay to be a Morgan.
Excerpt
Georgia’s Tahoe rolled up in the empty driveway. She and Savannah drove the two hours to Augusta expecting to see their father’s pickup parked in the drive or on the curb. It wasn’t. Georgia seemed disappointed. Savannah was not. “Daddy said he’d be here,” the elder sibling lamented.
Savannah checked her watch. Ten fifteen. R.J. started early that morning and if they swung by the bar four blocks away, his antiquated Chevy would probably be parked cattycorner in the lot. “He’ll be here soon enough. Let’s get busy while he’s gone.” She reached to the floorboard for her purse. When she climbed out she grabbed her travel mug of extra strong coffee.
She’d much rather have stayed home and changed her son’s muddy diapers than face her drunken father at any point during that day. Even Ennis considered it a great trade off to stay home with the kids on his day off rather than spend the day with R.J. Prince.
Georgia collected her things and they headed to the door. “Dane’s supposed to join us. He didn’t feel comfortable leaving us alone with Daddy.”
“Good for Dane.” That was the best news of the day. Sorting out an attic was hard enough without having to watch their backs.
“Have you given Lee Morgan an answer yet?”
“No. I owe him one soon though. It’s very tempting especially with the salary and the fact I could work from Atlanta. I’d hate to move back here even for that kind of money.”
Georgia overlooked the last remark. She knew living in the same city as their father would be a nightmare. “Sounds like he really wants you because there are plenty of private security companies available to him.”
“I think it actually revolves around Mama.” She decided against telling her sister about the romance between Lee and Charlene. The kids’ hard-working daddy won her heart, not the rich boy living outside of town. All she would say was, “He really liked her.”
A nostalgic smile crossed Georgia’s Rita Hayworth features, “Well, she was an extremely likeable lady.” She keyed the lock, opened the door and immediately gasped at the living room’s disarray.
Why, Savannah did not know. “It always looks like a storm blew through. Why are you freaking out?”
Dirty plates, liquor bottles and glasses covered their mother’s coffee table. R.J. made a TV tray out of the once beautiful cherry wood piece. Half thrown back blankets covered the couch. Several wrinkled and previously worn white t-shirts and khakis slung over the two wingback chairs. Their daddy hadn’t slept in his own bed since their mama died and deemed the living room his new bedroom.
Georgia sniffed the air. Yes, the place smelled stale. A heavy tinge of old Johnnie Walker hung in a sour, invisible fog around them. What had her sister expected? Lilac arrangements and Glade commercials? Hardly.
Georgia plucked a white t-shirt from the wingback but Savannah took it, threw it back. “We’re not maids today, sis. We’ll tidy up our bathroom first.” She saw Georgia start to object and lifted a hand in a stop gesture, “And we’ll tackle the kitchen and downstairs bathroom if we’re not too tired. Just calm down. This is status quo for the house and you know it.”
Since he barely used the upstairs, it needed only a quick sprucing up. Savannah saw her sister fretting over the rest of the house but knew cleaning it and rummaging a hot, musty attic would sap the last of her energy to zero.
Georgia set her purse down, marched to the living room window and opened it. Maybe now, Savannah thought, she’ll be halfway satisfied.
“Open the kitchen window. Let’s get some fresh air in here.”
Halfway satisfied? Who was she kidding? They’d clean the whole house by nightfall. Savannah’s purse joined her sister’s, her shoulders slumping as she trudged off to follow orders.
They spent most of an hour on the upstairs. R.J. hadn’t returned from his usual haunt by then so they turned their attention to the walk-in attic. Unlike his bedroom, their father deemed that room off-limits, not just to him but the children as well. Savannah recalled a rather nasty argument when Seth wanted his son Dylan to have his old comic book collection and went in search of it. R.J. stormed upstairs, physically tossed Seth out of the attic and into the hall then blockaded the door with a threat to knock Seth into “next year” if he disobeyed him. Only Georgia pried the reason out of him. Your mama’s things are in there. I don’t want ‘em disturbed...
Savannah watched her sister unlock and remove the padlock their daddy installed years ago. Georgia grasped the doorknob to the attic then paused. Because of R.J.’s protests over the years, the process felt ceremonial and exciting. They’d finally see inside the sacred room. This must be how archaeologists felt when they discovered the Valley of Kings...
Georgia took a deep breath, “Ready?”
Savannah shrugged, “Why not?”
The door swung open, rested against the stop. Both sisters winced and stepped back at the heat billowing out and enveloping them in blast furnace temperatures. So far it was the hottest fall on record and the attic felt more like summertime. Savannah winced at the thought of the next few hours trolling around boxes and furniture, pouring sweat and waiting until nighttime to get a long, cleansing shower. “He couldn’t have agreed to this last spring when the place wasn’t a kiln?”
She propped the door open to Georgia’s halfhearted protest, “Daddy will get mad if you leave it open.”
“So he’d rather find us dead in here?”
Georgia opted not to argue. She flipped the switch, bathing the large space in subdued light. They both stood in amazement and for Savannah, a fair amount of horror.
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Reviews for "Bad Blood"
Reviewed by Reggie Miller
7/7/2026
Hi
What genre do you enjoy writing the most?🥰btw I analyzed your work, and I think it has a very unique and engaging storytelling style. The way you present your ideas and emotions really stands out.
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