Everyone Was Left Behind by Steve Armstrong

Author:Steve Armstrong [Armstrong, Steve]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: AlreadyNotYet Books
Published: 2016-10-02T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Three

Charity Price had watched from her bedroom window as her sister handed something small to the detectives. By this point, her sister’s betrayal no longer surprised her. Hope possessed her own agenda and didn’t seem to care who in her family got hurt along the way. Then again, maybe that was the agenda.

As soon as Hope came back into the house and disappeared into her room, Charity tiptoed down the hallway. She wore her light brown spring jacket and jeans, ready to go outside. Since her parents were locked away in the prayer room, sneaking out through the front door proved exceptionally easy.

Charity wasn’t violating curfew, but her parents would have vetoed her present mission, especially now that the evening shadows had lengthened into twilight. Riding her bike would have made the trip faster, but she didn’t want to feel like a high school student. Somehow walking gave her confidence and made her feel older, more sophisticated. She knew these thoughts were silly, but that awareness did not dispel their influence on her decisions.

Twenty minutes later, Charity stood in front of an apartment door she had only visited once before, when the music team of Holy Spirit Tabernacle assembled to practice. Her body remained static for a few moments before it finally consented to her brain’s impulses. She knocked. At first, Charity knocked without vigor as if her knuckles were composed of hollow plastic. No one stirred, so she summoned a bit more courage and rapped the door more forcefully. This time, footsteps approached from the inside.

Jason Watkins opened the door. His short hair seemed messier than usual. He wore a white t-shirt and blue track pants.

“Charity?” Jason looked beyond her, perhaps to see if her parents had accompanied her. “What are you doing here?”

“There’s something I need to tell you. Can I come inside?” Charity’s voice fluctuated in strength.

“Yeah, sure.” He stepped aside so she could enter. “I was just about to leave town, though.”

“Where are you going?”

“Uh, I needed to go see my wife. She’s been staying at her parents’ house since last Saturday.” Jason trailed off a bit. He was holding something back, which wasn’t surprising, given the nine-year age gap between the two.

“Jason, my sister got a hold of Elizabeth’s phone. She found the messages you sent and gave a copy of them to the police.” The words came in a rush. She knew no other way to say it.

“Have you seen Elizabeth? Is she okay?” Jason asked, his eyes full of concern as if he missed the part about Hope sharing the messages with the police.

Charity shrugged. “She’s hanging in there.”

He exhaled and paced the room. “I’ve wanted to see her so much and make sure she’s okay, but I’ve been afraid.”

The attraction he and Elizabeth Wilcox shared made sense to Charity. Even if the revelation disappointed her—crushed her, even—she understood. And it wasn’t just his neat jaw line and symmetrical face or her gracious beauty that sometimes lay camouflaged under her modest attire and the stress of motherhood combined with her crumbling marriage.

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