Die Before Nightfall Read online

  Chapter Nineteen

  Three days later, Raven paced the living room of the cottage, Merry running beside her, begging for a walk. One she wouldn’t be getting because Ben had made Raven promise she’d stay inside while he was gone. Too bad. Without a job, the days were long and empty, leaving her with too much time to sit and think.

  She stared out the window at the fading light. She’d spent a lot of time praying and reading the Bible during the past few days, and still the chains that held her to the past were there. Knowing Shane, allowing him into her life had made her crave the kind of marriage Ben said he’d had. The kind she’d hoped to have with Jonas. The kind she still wasn’t sure existed.

  Ben’s sedan pulled up in front of the house, distracting her from her thoughts. She watched him step out of the car. Evening sunlight touched his hair with gold and highlighted the broad expanse of his shoulders. He looked strong, confident and content, all the things Raven wanted to be and wasn’t. As if sensing her gaze he glanced toward the window and smiled.

  Raven hurried to the door and opened it, stepping out onto the porch. “Long day today.”

  “Visitation. I spent most of the afternoon at the hospital.”

  “How’d it go?”

  “Two new babies to add to the congregation, and Mikey Samuels is recovering well from an emergency appendectomy. How was your day?”

  Long. Boring. Frustrating. Raven refrained from saying so. “Good. Sam Riley stopped by for a few minutes. We’re invited to dinner at his house after church next Sunday.”

  “He’s got another puppy to give away?”

  Raven laughed and shook her head. “No, but he mentioned a kitten.”

  “Better watch it. He’ll have you owning a zoo before he’s finished.” He stepped to the back of the sedan as he spoke and opened the trunk. “I brought you something. Come help.”

  Raven hurried down the porch steps and peered into the trunk. There were several flats of plants inside, some flowered, some not, all with the pungent aroma of earth clinging to them.

  “What’s this?”

  “Your new assignment.” Ben lifted a flat and placed it in Raven’s arms.

  “Assignment?”

  “Something for you to do tomorrow. All your pacing is starting to wear the floor down.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be annoying.” She carried the box to the porch and set it down on the floor.

  “You weren’t, but I can tell you’re restless. This’ll burn off some of your energy.” He slid a box down next to the one Raven had carried.

  “I don’t even know what any of these are.”

  “That’s where these come in.” He pulled a stack of books from the trunk.

  “I’ve got a black thumb, Ben. These plants will be dead within a week.” Despite her words, Raven was intrigued. She’d never had a flower garden. Now might be the perfect time to learn how to plant and care for one.

  “You’ll put as much effort into it as you do everything else and you’ll end up with the most beautiful garden in Lakeview.” He smiled and put another flat in her arms. “Now let’s get these to the porch. I’ve got a meeting tonight.”

  They carried the plants to the porch and then stepped inside the house.

  “I stopped by the Montgomery house to see how Abby’s doing. She asked me to bring you something.” He pulled a small leather book from his back pocket and handed it to Raven.

  “What is it?”

  “I don’t know. Neither did Shane, but Abby was insistent that I give it to Thea. Shane said that’s you.”

  Raven glanced at the cover, ran her fingers over the embossed words. “I think this might be the book Abby went into the garage for on the night of the fire. She was beside herself and insisted that we find it.”

  “Must mean something to her.”

  “I guess so. I just wish I knew what. How is Abby?”

  “The same. A little vague. Forgets words. Not eating much. And asking for you.”

  “For Thea, you mean.”

  “No. For you. She might get confused, but she knows you’re a nurse. She’s told everyone who cares to hear that you were the only person who hasn’t tried to poison her. You need to go back.”

  “I know.”

  “Then do it.”

  “If it were just about Abby, I would.”

  “Abby won’t be around forever, Rae. Now’s the time to do what’s right, no matter how scared you are of what doing it will bring. I’ve got to head out. Want to come?”

  “No. You go without me. I’ll be fine.”

  “You sure? You’ve been cooped up in the house all day. You must be getting antsy.”

  “A little, but I doubt crashing a meeting will cure me. Besides, I want to read this book, see if I can figure out why it’s so important to Abby.”

  “See you later, then. Keep the doors locked.”

  “I will.”

  “It’s supposed to storm tonight. You know where the flashlights and batteries are in case the electricity goes out?”

  “Yes.”

  “The windows are closed and locked?”

  “Yes.” Raven rolled her eyes and shoved Ben toward the door. “Now go.”

  He chucked her under the chin and planted a kiss on her cheek, then walked to his car and waved as he got in. Before Raven could close the door, he was out again. “Almost forgot. I’m supposed to give this to you, as well.” He walked back and handed her a small box wrapped in foil paper. “Gotta go.”

  Raven glanced at the box, curious to know what Abby had sent her, but wanting to wait for a while to open the box. The night was still young and she had hours to occupy before Ben returned. She waved as he drove away, then closed the door and locked it against whatever threat might be lurking beyond the cottage walls. The thought worried her, made her check the windows and doors twice before she carried the little book and the box upstairs where predatory eyes couldn’t peer into the windows.

  Silly. She knew it, but her nerves were on edge, her heart pounding a strange rhythm as a rumble of thunder broke the silence. The storm. The change in atmospheric pressure was making her jumpy. Raven tried to convince herself of that as she sat on Ben’s bed and opened the book. But even as she read, even as she tried to find a clue as to why the book was so important, her mind shouted that something was coming—something more than a storm.

  The book was interesting, but not enough so to keep her mind from churning. Raven turned a page, rubbing a foot against Merry’s fur. She wondered why the nonfiction account of an eighteenth-century woman’s life was so important to Abby.

  “Maybe the box has something more interesting.” She peeled back the foil wrap, lifted the lid. “It can’t be.” Her fingers trembled as she lifted the silver locket from its bed of cotton. Then she flipped open the clasp. Micah. Tiny baby features just formed and not quite the child he would have been.

  Raven didn’t know she was crying until tears dripped into the box and wet a piece of paper that had been folded beneath the locket. She pulled it out, wiping at tears with her other hand as she read.

  A gallant knight never breaks a promise. I found this in a pawnshop in Richmond. The owner was holding it, not wanting to sell it because of the photo inside. God is good, isn’t He? Jake says you can have it back. Your son is beautiful, by the way. Like his mother. We miss you. I miss you. Always, Shane.

  Shane had kept his promise.

  Despite Raven’s unwillingness to trust him, despite the fact that she’d walked away from Abby and from him, he’d done what he said he would. He’d found the locket.

  She sniffed and rubbed a hand against damp cheeks, barely seeing Micah’s picture through her tears. Her life had been lacking in the kind of connections she’d longed for, bitterness eating at her soul. She’d thought herself alone, but now she saw the truth. God had been with her all along, guiding her to this place. A place of healing, a place where she’d found not just a brother’s love, but friends, community, a sens
e of belonging. Home.

  If she dared reach for it. If she dared trust in it.

  More tears poured down her face and she let them come, praying for healing, praying for understanding, knowing this time she would have both—and with them the life God had wanted for her all along.

  Thunder clapped and crashed, waking Shane from the light sleep he’d fallen into. He groaned, eased the kink from his neck and eyed the paragraph he’d been working on. Another dark-haired princess in a pale, flowing dress. He grimaced, hit delete and closed the laptop.

  He’d tried, really tried, to get Raven out of his mind. He had thought he was succeeding. He’d been wrong. She’d jumped out of his head and into his manuscript.

  Great.

  He wanted to phone her, tell her she could come back to work and they’d go on the way they had before. But it wouldn’t be right. He knew it, and he felt sure she did, as well. God had a plan. Shane wasn’t sure what it was, but he did know the only thing that made sense was letting Raven have time and space to put the past behind her. Until she did, there could be no future.

  “Mr. Montgomery?”

  Abby’s newest caregiver knocked on the open door, and Shane stood to face her. Tall, with a broad, plain face, Shannon O’Malley had proven kind and efficient. Though Abby hadn’t bonded with her, Shane knew he could trust the woman. Especially since he’d double-and triple-checked her references.

  “Is everything okay?”

  “I’m not sure. Abby went into the bathroom a while ago. She hasn’t come out yet.”

  “She might need some help with her clothes.”

  “I called to her. She didn’t answer…and the key is missing. It’s not hanging from the door like it’s supposed to be.”

  Shane’s heart jumped, but he stayed calm as he hurried down the stairs and knocked on the door.

  “Abby? You okay?”

  “Is there another key, Mr. Montgomery? Another way to open the door? I’m really worried.”

  So was he, but he didn’t waste time saying so. Just ran to the kitchen, found the key ring with spare keys and raced back to the bathroom. His fingers fumbled as he tried to get the door unlocked.

  “Abby?” he shouted as the door swung open.

  The bathroom was empty, the window open. Rain and wind slashed against Shane’s face as he lunged across the room and peered out into the darkness. He could see nothing in the blackness.

  He swung around, ready to lash out at the caregiver, but she was pale and shaken, the phone in her hand, held out for him to take.

  “We need to call the police. She could be hurt or lost.”

  “How long was she in there?”

  “Fifteen minutes. No longer.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Yes.”

  Shane nodded, letting go of his anger, knowing it was useless. “I’m going out to look for her. You call the police. Ask them to contact Sheriff Reed. Once you’ve done that, call the names on the emergency contact sheet taped to the fridge.”

  He didn’t wait for her to respond—just trusted that she’d do as he asked. He opened the front door and stepped out into the storm, hoping Abby had gone to the same place she’d gone so many times before.

  Raven sniffed back the last of her tears and stood. Her body felt stiff, her eyes burned, but her heart was light and she smiled as she lifted the locket. She’d call Shane, thank him, tell him she was ready. Ready to work. Ready for whatever they might build together.

  She was turning to grab the phone when Merry leaped to her feet and dashed toward the stairs, barking frantically. The sound of a fist banging against the front door followed, and Raven raced down the stairs, her heart hammering in her chest as she shouted through the door. “Who’s there?”

  “It’s Shane.”

  She pulled the door open, thinking he had come about the locket, but saw his face and knew she was wrong. He was soaked, his hair plastered to his head, and he was gasping as if he’d run long and hard.

  “What? What’s wrong?”

  “Have you seen Abby?”

  “No.”

  “She climbed out the bathroom window. Maybe twenty minutes ago.”

  “Let me get my coat, I’ll come search with you.”

  “No. She might be heading this way. If she is, I don’t want the cottage to be empty when she gets here.”

  “I can’t just wait here while she wanders around alone in the storm.” Raven started toward the coat closet, but Shane grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

  “It’s not just Abby I’m worried about. What if someone else is wandering around in the storm? Someone who wants to finish what he started a few weeks ago.”

  “And what about Abby? That same person could be with her right now.”

  “I know that. The police are on their way. So are Mark and Adam. Stay here. Leave all the lights on. Make it an easy place for her to find.”

  They were wasting time arguing. The knowledge was in Shane’s eyes and in Raven’s heart. She nodded.

  “Call me. As soon as you know anything.”

  “I will.”

  Then he leaned down and kissed her. The warmth of his lips made Raven long to tell him what she finally understood.

  She didn’t have a chance. He pulled back, his eyes blazing with everything he felt, then stepped outside and disappeared into the storm.

  Raven shut the door against the rain, useless energy coursing through her. The house was eerily quiet, Merry silent and still, staring at the door as if sensing the danger that lurked on the other side. Raven scooped her up and ran through the house, turning on every light, flicking on the outside porch light and the one outside the laundry room door. She prayed Abby would see them, prayed she’d be drawn toward their welcoming glow.

  Where could she have gone? And why? Another book hidden in some secret place? A special spot that was just hers? A childhood retreat that she was just now remembering?

  The possibilities were endless, the list screaming through Raven’s mind as she ran upstairs, flipped on the overhead light and moved the desk lamp close to the window. Please, God, let her see it. Let her be coming to me. Let her be safe.

  Outside thunder crashed and rumbled, and the wind gusted against the sides of the cottage and rattled the shutters. The ground would be wet and muddy, the way difficult for a woman in Abby’s condition. She could fall, be hurt, or worse. Yet even as these images rushed through Raven’s mind, her prayers continued. God could save Abby from the storm. He could bring her safely home. She trusted that, believed it in a way she hadn’t believed anything in a long time. The peace, the strength she’d longed for, finally hers…

  Merry whined in her arms, squirming to get down, and Raven bent to release her. That’s when she saw the book Abby had given her. It had fallen open on the floor, the spine buckled and pointing up, and there, edging out of the opening, was a piece of paper.

  Her hands trembled as she eased the paper out and unfolded the yellowed sheet. Words were scrawled across it, the ink smeared and faded. Still, names leaped out at Raven—Daniel, Thea. Names she’d heard many times since coming to Lakeview. She skimmed the letter, her heart pounding harder with each word, her mind barely able to grasp what she was reading.

  My dearest Thea,

  If only I could look you in the eye and tell you how sorry I am. If only I had a chance to go back and undo what I’ve done. It’s too late, though. Too late to make different choices. Too many people would be hurt. Too many lives ruined.

  God help me. How can I go on knowing that I’ve hidden my brother’s crime? I tell myself that Adam is right, that it was an accident, that Daniel didn’t mean to kill you, that you’re dead, and that nothing I do now can change that. But is that the truth? I don’t know. I only know that nothing can change what I’ve done. What we’ve done. I wanted to protect your memory. All I’ve done is hidden you forever. Even if God can forgive me, I’m not sure I can ever forgive myself.

  The rest of the words were
blurred and difficult to read. Raven didn’t try. Her hands shook as she folded the letter and placed it inside the book. The truth would have to come out. She’d give the letter to Jake and he could decide what to do, but first they had to find Abby. Snippets of conversation ran through her mind, things Abby had said that only made sense in the context of what Raven had just learned. The cemetery. Abby had said she’d left Thea there, near a tree with two crosses.

  Is that where Abby had gone?

  She grabbed the phone, dialed the Montgomery house and got the answering machine. “Shane, I think I know where she is. Out on the cemetery hill. I’m going to find her.”

  Then she hung up the phone, grabbed a flashlight, pushed Merry away from the door as she opened it and ran out into the night.

  Wind gusted around her as she raced up the driveway and onto the road. It was the longer way, but safer. There were lights in the distance, men and women checking the fields and the woods near the Montgomery house. No one was on the road. Had Shane thought of the cemetery? Raven could only hope he was already there, leading Abby home, away from the steep hill and the lake’s turbulent water.

  Thunder crashed, cracking through the night like a gunshot, and Raven ran faster, the knowledge of what had happened so many years ago spurring her on. It seemed inconceivable that Daniel Meade had murdered Thea, and even more difficult to believe that Abby had hidden the crime. But she had. Raven knew it as surely as she knew Abby was at the grave now, her need for atonement so strong it stayed with her even as the images of her life faded away.

  Raven’s feet slipped on mud and wet grass as she ran across the field and up the hill into the graveyard. She slowed, shining her light around the area, but saw no sign of Abby. The edges of the cemetery were dark and lined with trees, and there was no evidence of the crosses she sought.

  She skirted the fence, pushing through thick overgrowth, feeling tree limbs and thorns tearing at her clothes. She’d almost given up hope when her flashlight illuminated a piece of cloth caught on a branch and swaying in the wind. She grabbed it, searching for other signs that Abby had been there and finding loose earth piled close to the trunk of the tree.