The Killing Woods: An Addictive Psycological Thriller (The Sidney Becker Murder Mysteries Book 1) by Linda Berry

Author:Linda Berry [Berry, Linda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-05-18T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

THE GRIEF GROUP met in a small upstairs room at the Episcopal Church. The pitched roof gave it the appearance of an attic, closed in and musty, with dust motes swirling in the light from three dormer windows. Shelves along two walls spilled over with yellowed books, and five folding chairs were grouped in a circle in the center of the wood-planked floor. To Selena, it looked like a forgotten room, where distressed people came to hide and turn their souls inside out.

Someone had volunteered to bring a carafe of coffee and cookies. Gripping a warm Styrofoam cup, Selena huddled in the circle next to Ann, watching other women wander in. Glancing at Ann, she fought an impulse to run. Her friend sat hunched in her seat, hands clasped in her lap, face a stone mask. Hell, if Ann could do this, so could she.

A slender teenager, dark-haired and pale-skinned, took the chair next to Ann. Her features were almost too strong to be pretty, though her expressive hazel eyes softened her brooding appearance. She wore a man’s motorcycle jacket, baggy jeans, and ankle high Nikes. A cigarette was tucked behind one ear and a letter was tattooed on each knuckle of her hands in blue ink, spelling GUYS SUCK. There was something tragic and vulnerable in her posture—one arm looped over the back of the chair next to her, her legs sprawled out in front. Maybe this was an attempt at toughness, but instead, she came across like a little girl dressed in her big brother’s clothing. Catching Selena’s gaze, she leered back. Selena glanced away.

A pretty black woman, dressed in an oversized orange sweater and faded jeans, with close-cropped bleached hair, approached Ann with her hand outstretched. “Hi, Ann. It’s so nice to see you again.”

“Hi, Jude.” Ann’s lips formed a stiff smile and she allowed Jude to clasp her hand briefly before pulling it back into a nest of interlocking fingers. “This is my friend, Selena, who I told you about.”

Jude’s inquisitive brown eyes turned to Selena, her manner amiable and confident. Selena sensed in her an innate strength that reminded her of Sidney.

“Nice to have you join us, Selena.” Jude smiled, showing a gap between her front teeth.

Selena nodded, noncommittal.

Jude seated herself next to Motorcycle Jacket.

The last straggler, who had been nervously hugging the coffee corner, slouched across the floor with darting eyes, as though the planks might open up and swallow her. She completed the circle by taking the remaining seat between Jude and Selena.

“Hello, Ladies,” Jude said. “So nice to have you here today. We have two new faces, so let’s open the meeting by going around the circle and introducing yourselves. Share whatever is most pressing in your life. Everything we say here is confidential, which means it never leaves this room. Agreed?”

Everyone nodded.

“Becky, want to start?”

With grave concern, Selena studied the woman sitting next to her. Becky was so thin she gave the impression of wasting away. She could be forty or fifty, hard to tell by her gaunt face.

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