Come, Gentle Night by Stephanie Black

Author:Stephanie Black
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Covenant Communications, Inc.
Published: 2022-10-27T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

“Jemma?” A hand shook Jemma’s shoulder. “You need to wake up. Abe’s here.”

“Abe’s where?” Jemma mumbled.

“In the kitchen, waiting to take you home.”

Jemma tried to focus on the blurry face above her, but keeping her eyelids open was too much work. She let them close. “I’m not . . . going home until the end of August.”

“Not home to Indiana. Home to Abe’s house.”

“I’m . . . here . . . now.”

“Jemma.” A hand jiggled her shoulder again. “You’re not at Abe’s. Do you know where you are?”

Blearily, Jemma checked her surroundings. Not her bedroom.

“Do you know who I am?” The voice was quiet but knife-sharp, and Jemma wondered vaguely how she’d upset her questioner.

Her questioner. “You’re Wendy.”

“Good.” Wendy sounded relieved. “You’re in my guest room. Do you remember that now?”

“Okay.”

“Jemma, do you remember what happened last night? Why you stayed here?”

Wendy’s guest room. Why had . . . ? “Um . . .”

“Cooper Shaw. You found him. Do you remember?”

Cooper. Cooper in the rosebushes. “Yes.” Jemma squirmed, trying to sit, but she couldn’t do it without Wendy’s help.

“Abe’s here,” Wendy repeated.

“Does he . . . need to . . . question me?” Jemma’s body tilted backward.

Wendy put a hand between Jemma’s shoulder blades, bracing her. “He needs to take you home. I need to go to work.”

“Okay. What did I . . . do with . . . my clothes?”

“Don’t worry about getting dressed now. Go collapse in your own bed. Abe said he already called your work to tell them you’re not coming in.”

“That was nice of him.” Jemma plucked at the front of the flowery red pajamas she wore. “I need to give you your pajamas back.”

“Do it later. No rush.” Wendy leaned to whisper in her ear. “I went to the drop and left your note.” She held a folded piece of paper out to Jemma. “Here’s your note from Rowan. I’ll tell you straight out that I read it. I read your note too. Payment for my delivery services.”

Too groggy to care what Wendy had read, Jemma unfolded the note.

Dearest Jemma,

Thanks again for saving my life. I owe you everything. Cooper says he’s found a way to get a chunk of cash—several thousand dollars. It’s a legit way, so don’t worry. He’s trying to talk me into leaving the state, and after the near miss tonight, I’m considering it. Maybe I should give things time to calm down in Ohneka. Can we talk about it? If you get this note in time and can slip away, meet me here between 4 AM and sunrise. I’ll wait for you. If you can’t make that meeting, then meet me here Tuesday night at midnight. I love you forever.

Rowan.

“I guess I missed this morning’s meeting,” Jemma said.

“I could have made it. I picked up the note not long before four, but I’m not who he wanted to see.”

“Wendy . . . thank you.” It would have been so easy for Wendy to tell Detective Turner exactly where to find Rowan.

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