A Spark of Light: A Novel by Jodi Picoult

Author:Jodi Picoult [Picoult, Jodi]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Women, Contemporary Women, Fiction, Literary, Sagas
ISBN: 9780345544995
Google: 9RZPDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2018-10-02T07:00:00+00:00

ALTHOUGH HUGH HAD ORDERED THE police to clear the area, there were still stragglers. The media, who were too stupid or ambitious to leave. Gawkers, with their cellphones out, recording footage to post on social media. There were still a few of the protesters, too, although they’d moved a safer distance away to hold a prayer circle. Littered on the ground they’d ceded were the hallmarks of their beliefs: a sign that proclaimed ABORTION IS HOMICIDE; dolls painted with fake blood and abandoned in haste, limbs twisted on the concrete in their own miniature crime scene.

Hugh couldn’t remember the last time the cops had been called to an altercation here at the Center. For years the employees had coexisted with the protesters the way that oil and water settled in a jar: in the same space, but separate. Each side had an odd, grudging respect for the fact that in spite of the obstacles, they both showed up every day to do the work they believed needed to be done. The protest had mostly been nonviolent and civil.

Except, Hugh noticed, right now.

A ripple of surprise ran through the protesters, triggering some innate reflex he had for impending trouble. He turned around in time to see a young woman with pink hair break through their little sanctimonious tangle. It was the girl he had interviewed an hour ago, the employee who had called 911 after running out of the Center when shooting began. She stood toe-to-toe with one of the protesters, a tall, round man with a shock of white hair.

“Rachel,” the man said. “Please. Come pray.”

Hugh watched her poke the man in the chest. “Allen, you do not get to act like this wasn’t all your fault.”

He was mildly surprised to realize she knew him by name.

“He’s not one of us,” Allen replied.

“How can you even stand here and say that?” she cried. “If people like you didn’t spout the bullshit you do, people like him wouldn’t exist.”

Hugh took a step forward. “This is an active hostage situation,” he said. “You all need to go home.”

“I can’t,” Rachel sobbed. “Not until I know everyone in there is safe.”

“That’s why we’re praying. There’s someone pro-life inside,” said Allen.

Hugh ran a hand through his hair. “Clearly.”

The protester shook his head. “Someone else,” he clarified. “She’s a hostage.”

—

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