Now & Then

“And you’re keeping her in the old church on the corner of Eighth and A1A?”

They looked at each other again. “Told you he knew,” the Sheriff said.

“How do you keep her quiet during the church services,” I said. “Drug her?”

“What? Are you nuts? What kind of man would drug a young woman?”

A guy like me, I thought, since I planned to drug Rachel that very night if I survived.

“Can I ask you something?” I said.

The Sheriff shrugged. “Don’t see what difference it makes at this point.”

“I’ve noticed a disproportionate number of people in town are almost insanely happy, including you guys. Why’s that?”

“We’re grateful for Libby’s sacrifice.”

“Sacrifice?”

“Uh huh.”

“Are you kidding me? Abby Winter made a sacrifice. Libby Vail was kidnapped. Hell of a difference!”

The Sheriff gave me a curious look. “You think we’re forcing her to stay?”

“Aren’t you?”

Chapter 26

CONVINCED I WASN’T going to kill them, Percy removed my chains. Convinced they were going to remove my chains, I decided not to kill them.

The Sheriff put his shotgun down and said, “Libby’s not our prisoner, but there is a conspiracy of sorts.”

He paused as if trying to find the best words.

“A bunch of us—the descendants—are helping her hide here.”

“So eighty people are working together?”

“Maybe eighty.”

“And you’ve managed to keep it a secret this whole time?”

“Till you showed up.”

“How’s it possible for that many people to keep a secret?”

“We’re all related.”

“What’s she up to, that requires such secrecy?”

The Sheriff and Percy exchanged a look.

I dove in. “It’s the healing power, isn’t it?”

Percy said, “Told you he knew. That’s why he was at the church, trying to talk to the elders.”

I said, “I felt something myself and was trying to find out what it was. These old people were like statues at first, and then they started moving around. There were two guys in the van watching them. The driver made a phone call and you showed up in seconds. How’d you get there so fast?”

“We were already nearby, north on A1A.”

“Guarding Libby?”

“Guarding her secret and making sure the elders got to her safely. We sometimes help with the driving.”

“Tell me about the elders,” I said.

“Libby’s not a healer,” the Sheriff said, “but she has the power to make people feel better. We’re her people, and she’s our blood. Of the roughly eighty descendants, there are fifteen or twenty older ones. Some are sick, some arthritic. When she’s at the church, if we think it’s safe, we bring them to see her. If we’re not sure, we bring them to the church yard so they can be close enough for her to ease their pain.”

“And you believe this.”

“Doesn’t matter if I believe it.”

“Why’s that?”

“’Cause you do.”

Ignoring him, I said, “And where does Beth fit into all this?”

“Beth is one of us.”

“Why hasn’t she had any luck?”

“Luck?”

“Well, it seems the whole town is prospering, but Beth’s husband died, she’s losing money, her B&B’s falling apart…”

“Libby doesn’t bring good luck, she attracts good people.”

I thought about that a minute.