Secrets of the Unseen by Elle Gray

Author:Elle Gray [Gray, Elle]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Storyville FBI Mystery Thriller
Published: 2024-01-01T16:00:00+00:00

Cora walked through the ravaged streets of Storyville. She walked around the decaying bodies, taking shallow breaths and trying to shut out the stench that saturated the air. The state of the town left her feeling in dark despair, but her conversation with Father Wilkes had left her feeling not just uncertain but unsettled in ways she couldn’t understand. Maybe it was hearing a priest say he’d be okay with committing genocide or his too-calm demeanor in the face of what was happening, but Cora just didn’t feel good after talking to Wilkes.

Her mind and heart in turmoil, Cora let her subconscious guide her steps, and when she looked up, she was unsurprised to find herself standing outside the high school where Highsmith was watching over the survivors. She knew she shouldn’t be there. Cora knew her mere presence was potentially putting him and everybody inside the gymnasium in grave danger. Being there might bring a host of dangerous and deadly people down on everybody.

But Highsmith had been her safe harbor from almost the moment she arrived in Storyville. His presence had a calm, soothing effect on her. He was always so even keeled and had the ability to take things in stride with such grace that it eased Cora’s often turbulent thoughts and emotions. Nobody had ever had that sort of effect on her. Nobody had ever seemed to inherently know the right things to say or calm her just by being there before. It was why Cora wasn’t altogether surprised that her unconscious mind had led her to the school.

The door opened even before she knocked on it, and one of the deputies stuck his head outside. He looked around, his features pinched and nervous, then turned his eyes to her.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

She nodded. “As okay as they can be, I guess.”

“Sheriff’s in the back office,” he said.

“Thank you.”

He stepped aside to allow Cora in, then closed and chained the door behind her. She made her way through the hallway then through the open doors that led into the gym. There were more people than the last time she’d been there. Almost twice as many. The smell of so many bodies squeezed into the space was pungent. Almost overwhelming. All things considered, though, Cora would rather be breathing in body odor than the scent of death on the streets outside.

They all still had the same stunned and shell-shocked expressions on their faces she’d seen the last time she walked through the gym. Cora offered them an encouraging smile as she passed but got nothing more than blank stares in return. She wasn’t surprised. If it wasn’t for everything she’d been thrown into the middle of, Cora thought she might be sitting on the ground looking exactly like those folks. Maybe in that way, she was lucky. It was screwed up a hundred different ways, but at least she had something to occupy her mind.

Cora stepped through the door and into the office, a small, affectionate smile creasing

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