The Girl Behind the Red Rope Page 15

Sylous was right about the boy. She only prayed she had the strength to do what was necessary. There was no other way.

  She knew that by this hour Dr. Charles and his family would be upstairs attending to dinner in the attached apartment where they lived. But she wouldn’t have long before they returned to check on their patient.

  Sylous hadn’t offered any instruction on how to kill them, which meant he didn’t care. After much deliberation through the night, she’d settled on poisoning them. She didn’t think she had the stomach for violence. Poisoning seemed safer, more disconnected. There would be no autopsy, naturally. No one would be the wiser.

  She’d prepared earlier under the guise of researching rare causes of rashes like the one Evelyn had. It hadn’t taken long to do a quick inventory of the medications the clinic had on hand and the lethal doses of those medications.

  Supply was limited, but potassium chloride was available. Used to treat low blood pressure, enough injected through an IV would stop the heart. The boy’s would have to be administered through his food with a side of thiopental, which would cause him to relax into an unconscious state while the potassium chloride killed him in his sleep.

  Rose reached the doctor’s personal office, opened the door and walked into the dark room. She went to the desk, slid open the top right drawer and reached into one of the back compartments for the keys to the medicine cabinet.

  Making her way back to the door, she carefully peered around the corner to make sure the clinic was still empty. The front door wouldn’t be locked until midnight, but most of the lights had been turned off, and with darkness fast approaching, few if any would be out at this time of day.

  Taking a deep breath, she hurried to the supply room and entered. Using a small flashlight she approached the medicine cabinet, quickly unlocked it and scanned the labels. She withdrew a syringe and both medications, then locked the cabinet.

  So far so good.

  Thirty seconds later, Rose was standing outside the patient’s room. The door stood wide open. She hesitated for a moment. Once she crossed the threshold there was no going back. A slight shiver worked through her fingers. Chasing away her doubts with a final breath, she quietly stepped up to Ben’s bedside.

  The room was cast in shadows, but there was enough light from the small window to guide her. Beeping from the monitoring device punctuated the patient’s steady breathing. Ben lay still, tucked under white sheets and a blue blanket that were pulled up to his shoulders.

  She studied the older man for a few seconds. Peaceful, lost to the reality of where he was or what was about to become of him. Perfectly ignorant. She felt a tinge of envy. While she’d been battling doubts and fear since agreeing to Sylous’s guidance, he’d been at peace, oblivious to the problems of the world.

  He would never even know she’d aided in his passing.

  That burden was for her to carry, and she would carry it for the good of the world. A price she was willing to pay, she’d told herself a handful of times. Sylous had called her to walk this path, and she would always follow where he directed.

  Even so, her hands shook as she held up the syringe and vial. “Forgive me,” she whispered. “I have no choice.” She looked back at Ben’s still face. “I’m protecting your children, you understand? I’ve always protected them.” She kept her voice low but felt the need to speak the words—a kind of absolution for what she was about to do. “Your sacrifice will eliminate the threat against your children.”

  It was true. Though she spoke it for her sake, not his. And her speaking seemed to calm her somewhat.

  She uncapped the needle, lifted the vial, and pierced the cap. Three cubic centimeters of the amber fluid was all she needed, and it flowed into the syringe with ease.

  It would be simple: inject the potassium chloride into his IV and, without any suffering, his heart would cease to beat. Easy and painless.

  But she was hesitating. Her hands were still trembling.

  Murder is a sin, an offense against God. But so was failing to protect his bride, the faithful few of true religion who’d come out from among the world. Could she commit one sin to justify not committing another?

  Was wiping out Sodom and Gomorrah a sin? Was killing Jesus a sin? Even slaughtering children wasn’t beyond God. In truth, Ben was now a Fury. Killing a Fury was a good thing.

  So why was it so hard?

  Rose swallowed as the shake in her hands worsened. “I am only doing what has to be done,” she whispered to Ben. “Sylous commands it.”

  She reached for the thin plastic line of his IV. “You won’t suffer,” she said, silencing the opposition in her mind and placing the needle into the IV line. “You won’t feel any pain, and I promise the same will go for the boy. But you have to understand, I must do God’s will and protect Haven Valley.”

  Rose pressed the plunger, releasing the heavy dose of potassium chloride that would quickly find its way into Ben’s bloodstream. A ball of tension rolled through her gut, yet she held steady. She was doing this for her people, for her children, for Sylous, who was the voice of God.

  “To protect Haven Valley,” she said, “you and the boy must die.”

  I DIDN’T ENCOUNTER ANYONE ON THE WAY TO THE clinic. Most people were already inside for the evening, and I walked in the buildings’ shadows, trying to stay out of sight. I had to get back quickly before anyone knew I was missing.

  I knew the clinic’s doors would be unlocked but decided using the back door would be safer. I would rather not announce my late arrival. If someone was inside, I would slip back outside. Easy.

  Rose had said she asked Dr. Charles to pull what I needed and put them aside for me. I hoped he’d done so. There was a pickup box in the front room. They should be there. Simple.

  I reached the back door and eased it open. Made hardly a sound as I eased inside and softly closed the door behind me. I stood for a moment, letting my eyes adjust to the dark hallway, listening for sound. As far as I could tell, I was alone. All I had to do was get to the front, find the medications, and get back out. Then it was a straight shot home. Easy and simple. But I had to be quiet so as not to alert Dr. Charles and his family, who were on the floor above me.

  I was four or five strides down the hallway when I heard a voice. Soft and indistinguishable, but there. I pulled up, flattened myself against the wall and strained my ears.

  The voice was coming from up ahead, around the corner. A corner I had to cross to get to the pickup box. I considered heading back out the way I’d come.

  The voice came again, a woman’s voice, from one of the patient rooms around the corner.

  An image of my father flashed through my mind. He’d been the only patient in the clinic yesterday when I’d left. Who would be with him now? Not Dr. Charles. A woman. His wife? Unlikely. Didn’t sound like her.

  I had to know, and there was no sign of Bobbie to tell me I shouldn’t know. Besides, she was the one who’d suggested I come.

  Creeping with caution, I eased toward the corner and the voice came clearer. A familiar voice.

  “I am only doing what has to be done,” the voice said. “Sylous commands it.”

  Dread mushroomed in my chest. I knew I should get out before I was discovered, but I also had to know what she was saying to my father. What had Sylous commanded? So I stood as still as a mouse and held my breath.

  “You won’t suffer,” the voice said, and in that moment I knew it was Rose. “You won’t feel any pain, and I promise the same will go for the boy.”

  The boy. Eli. Certainty crashed into my skull like a hammer. Rose intended to do something terrible to my father and Eli.

  Terrified by that certainty, I craned my head around the corner and saw Rose standing over my father.

  Her back was half turned to me, but I could see that she was holding something in her fingers. A syringe. And she was injecting the contents of that syringe into my father’s IV.

  “To protect Haven Valley, you and the boy must die,” Rose
said. Her words cut through the confusion gathering in my mind like a blade.

  You and the boy must die. Her words echoed through my mind and the world around me seemed to stand still. Die. The word was in my mind, but so unsettling that it didn’t offer me meaning.

  And then it did.

  Die, I thought again. Rose was killing my father. And Eli was next.

  I lost my mind to fear and retreated without thought, hurrying on tippy-toes, not daring to breathe. Then I was outside and the cool evening air hit me like a wall of bricks.

  The back door shut behind me, and a small part of my mind wondered if the sound had been too loud. But the thought didn’t linger long because I was already around the clinic’s corner, then pressing against the wall, hidden for the moment. If Rose came out, I would run.

  You and the boy must die. Rose’s final statement ravaged my thoughts, tore them into pieces and devoured them. Rose was murdering my father?

  No, I must have misunderstood. An image of Rose standing beside my father’s bed, syringe in hand, filled the space behind my eyes. You and the boy must die.

  A wave of nausea rose through me and I fought to keep from emptying the contents of my stomach on the ground, but it was no use. I vomited at my feet, desperate to remain as quiet as possible. Between waves I took several harsh drags of air and tried to steady my breathing.

  With that violent retch, clarity came to me. Sylous had told Rose that my father and Eli had to die because they were wolves in sheep’s clothing. They were the darkness masquerading as light. It was the only thing that made any sense.

  Rose had just killed my father.

  Eli, the boy with the beautiful blue eyes, the child my father had called my brother, would be subjected to the same fate. How could killing him keep Haven Valley safe? Surely there had to be another way.

  I straightened as a sudden urge of my own worked its way up my spine. I couldn’t let Eli die. He was my brother. He was just a child. I had to protect him.

  “Don’t be crazy, Grace.”

  Bobbie appeared on my left, face firm, eyes sharp. But I wasn’t interested in her advice now, so I turned away.

  “You’ll be declaring war on Rose,” Bobbie snapped, her voice low and afraid. “There’s no way to get to him without exposing yourself. It’s a terrible idea.”

  My father had asked one thing of me: keep Eli safe. Maybe my desperate need to follow his dying request was a temptation, which confused me because I really didn’t know Ben as a father.

  What I did know in that moment was that I had never wanted something so badly as to protect Eli. He was being held in the Pierce home, but it was a home I knew as well as my own. With schedules I knew intimately.

  And Rose wasn’t there. Not yet.

  “This is insane, Grace,” Bobbie cried. “Think of the danger you’ll be putting yourself in. And your baby!”

  That gave me a moment’s pause. But only a moment. My need to save my helpless brother had taken root. And the branches were sprouting with each passing thought.

  “And if Rose is right about him?” Bobbie demanded.

  “You don’t know?” I asked aloud, spinning to her.

  She blinked. “No.”

  “Then please shut up.”

  And then I was running.

  Chapter

  Twenty-One

  I RACED ALONG THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE TOWN, ANgling for the Pierce home, moving as fast as my tired legs would carry me without making a ruckus. The sun had just set over the far mountains, and I knew within half an hour the sky would be dark. I didn’t have much time.

  Bobbie appeared and disappeared at will, stepping out from behind a tree or a house just ahead of me as I ran. Her voice of warning was insistent and constant.

  “You shouldn’t do this, Grace.”

  “Think of what they will do to you if you’re caught!”

  “You’re running toward danger, Grace.”

  Every word she said was true, and my mind screamed at me in agreement. This was insane and dangerous. If Rose would kill a dying man and a young child, what would stop her from killing me? Even more, for her to go to such extremes could only mean that a true and terrible threat against Haven Valley had made itself known, at least to Sylous and her. Rose had always been a gentle and pure woman, and murder wasn’t something I thought her capable of.

  The fact that she’d been pushed over the edge meant I should be terrified of whatever had done it.

  Determination like I’d never known pulled me forward. It filled my legs with strength and blocked out the cries from my brain. Eli needed to be saved, and there was no one else to help him. There had to be another way. My father knew he would need protecting.

  Bobbie was relentless. “You can’t trust anyone, Grace, and that includes the boy.”

  “It also includes you,” I snapped, breaking my silence.

  “I saved you from the Fury once. I will do it again.”

  “And what if you’re a Fury?” That was unfair. “This is my choice!”

  Bobbie hesitated. “Then at least be careful,” she finally offered me. “And be quick. Rose will return soon.” With that, she left me.

  I rushed behind the houses, keeping my head and shoulders low, avoiding windows, trying to remain within the shadows that grew with the fading sun. Slowly a plan began to take shape in my mind.

  Harrison and the children would be home. When the weather permitted it, he often enjoyed a sunset devotion with his children on the front porch in plain view of all who might pass by. Which meant they wouldn’t be in the house. Rose usually accompanied them, but I knew she wasn’t back yet. If she’d left the clinic only moments after me, she wouldn’t be far behind. If she’d delayed for any reason, I’d have a couple minutes longer. Either way, I assumed I had less than ten minutes.

  Getting into the house would be as simple as using the back mudroom window, which would be open, allowing the evening breeze to cool the home. The screen was loose in the bottom right corner, which would make it possible to pop out. The basement door would be locked, but I thought I knew from Stephen’s confession where Rose kept the key.

  If she’d hidden it elsewhere, my entire plan would be foiled. My stomach churned as I prayed with each breath that I would find it.

  By the time I reached the Pierce home, I was panting hard and my dress was drenched in sweat. I brushed my arm across my forehead as I pulled up to listen.

  Harrison’s low, soothing voice carried on the wind—they were outside as I’d hoped. I hurried for the mudroom window, afraid that if I hesitated I would lose my resolve.

  The window was about six feet from the ground. A firewood chest sat beneath it. I stepped onto the chest, eased my fingers through the broken screen and popped the right corner out. Then popped out the left corner with a sharp tug. With both bottom corners free, the screen came loose. I placed it inside and leaned it against the wall.

  Placing both palms onto the sill, I hoisted myself up until I could swing my right leg up and into the open space. I stopped half in and half out, listening. What was I doing? It was insane! But I was committed, right? And my legs were dangling in the breeze for anyone to see.

  Rolling over the sill, I found the floor with my right foot, and I was inside, crouched, breathing too hard, listening for any sound from the front.

  The house was still quite dark. They hadn’t turned on any lights yet.

  I considered putting the screen back in place, but Eli and I would need to leave that same way, so I left it and tiptoed into the hall, hurried to the corner, and poked my head around.

  Empty. Rose’s office was down that hall beside the front door. The basement door was halfway between where I stood and the office. Warning bells were still screaming in my head, despite Bobbie’s absence. I clung to her last words: Be quick.

  I headed straight for Rose’s office, covering the fifteen paces on the balls of my feet as quickly and quietly as I could. Harrison’s soft voice carried to me from the p
orch just outside.

  Rose’s office was dark, but I knew it like the back of my hand. Knew where to find the key that opened the bottom desk drawer. Knew that she likely kept the key to the basement locked in that drawer.

  With trembling fingers, I pulled the top drawer open, withdrew the desk key, lowered myself to one knee, and unlocked the bottom drawer. It took some fishing around in the dark to find the key ring in a tray at the back of the drawer. Relief flooded me. But Rose could be home at any moment.

  I left the drawer open and hurried to the basement door, fighting off panic. At any moment the front door could open. At any moment I could be caught.

  So I ran now, on my tiptoes, thankful I was wearing shoes with soft rubber soles rather than my Chapel shoes. They padded loudly in my ears. I desperately hoped the sound didn’t carry outside.

  Pulling up in front of the basement door, I shoved the key into the lock, twisted, and let out a breath when the knob turned. Open.

  To buy myself some time in the event Rose returned while I was in the basement, I thought to return the key to the office and lock the basement door behind me before I descended. It would take an extra fifteen seconds, and for a moment I hesitated, thinking maybe I should just rush to grab the boy now. But I would have to return the key even after I got him—I didn’t want to leave evidence of a break-in.

  At least that was my plan.

  I followed it, hurrying back to the office, replacing the key where I’d found it, closing and locking the bottom drawer before setting the desk key back in its upper-drawer tray. Now all I had to do was get Eli, get out of the house, replace the screen and be gone, leaving no evidence. Hopefully, they would conclude the boy had found a way to escape by himself and run away into the mountains. They would never search for him there.

  I was at the basement door, ready to descend, when Bobbie appeared next to me. “Would it be quicker and safer to exit through the basement window rather than return to the mudroom?”

  I thought through her suggestion. Yes. But what if the basement window wouldn’t open?

  “Then you can return to the mudroom. But you need to replace the screen in the window now to make it look like the boy escaped on his own down below.”