The Secrets of Good People: A Novel by Boo Walker & Peggy Shainberg

Author:Boo Walker & Peggy Shainberg [Walker, Boo & Shainberg, Peggy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Published: 2025-03-18T00:00:00+00:00

Jones pulled into Sylvie’s driveway. How hard it must be to not have a car, to be so locked down by her disability. It couldn’t have happened to a nicer person, losing her sight. Wasn’t that the way the world worked? Jones had seen it so many times. No matter who you were, how much good you did, there was no insulation from the bad things that were always out there, hiding in the thicket, ready to strike.

Even sweet and wonderful Sylvie wasn’t protected. He wished he could have been there, first to stop whatever had happened in her accident and then to help her afterward. The poor thing, so all alone, trying to find a way to see in the black. What that must be like. He closed his eyes and tried to envision being Sylvie, wishing that some form of light could come back.

It never would, though.

It never would.

He stepped out of the car. His shoes splashed into a puddle. Coming up the steps, he kicked off the water. He might look for lights to be on in a normal house, to wonder if a person was home. But she didn’t use lights. She didn’t have a car. It was as if she lived in the shadows.

There was a stillness that scared him, though. He hurried to the door and knocked. “Sylvie?” He checked the door, jangling the knob. It was locked. “Sylvie!” He peered through the window. Nothing.

Jones circled to the back. That door was locked too. Maybe she was asleep. It was always nighttime in her world. Still, something wasn’t sitting right. He’d learned to follow his gut. As he was about to kick in the door, he heard something on the beach.

He looked over and saw figures out near the water. Squinting, he made out two people carrying someone, feet dragging. Holding his pistol to keep it from bouncing out of the holster, he jogged down the boardwalk and into the sand. They were about a hundred yards away, coming toward him. He ran faster, hoping to God Sylvie was okay.

To his great relief, it wasn’t Sylvie being dragged. It was someone else. Wait . . . It was Sylvie and Miriam dragging a naked woman by the arms. It was . . . Catherine Overbrook, limp as a dead body.

Jones ran as fast as he could and, when he’d reached them, lifted Catherine up in his arms. “I got her. I got her.”

He took her to the sand and laid her down. She was out cold, her body deadweight. Her legs folded outward, her breasts fell to the sides. She lay there naked and unashamed. Miriam and Sylvie cried to him, “Help her!”

Jones scrambled to do what he could. He checked for a pulse. Nothing. Without another thought, he began pressing her chest down, one, two, three. He felt his heart reeling in overdrive, and he worried he might break her ribs. One, two, three.

He tilted up her head and pressed his lips to hers, pushing in breath.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.