by Kim Alexis
If only he could keep running. If only he could run all the way back home and forget he’d ever come here at all.
Chapter Nineteen
JULIETTE LOOKED AT THE clock, relieved to see that she still had ten minutes before she needed to head next door to Didi’s room. Their phone call with the home office and the FBI would be disturbing enough in and of itself. She didn’t need to bring any extra anxiety into the matter, but right now anxiety was all she was feeling.
Standing, she began to pace again, more slowly this time. She wasn’t self-unaware, she knew where this gut-wrenching fear was coming from and that it wasn’t just about the murder of an old colleague and friend. It had to do with an earlier time, with the death of her parents. She’d been just fourteen when they passed away, leaving her and her younger sister Katherine in the care of distant and aloof grandparents.
The news of Raven’s death yesterday hadn’t hit Juliette this hard. But now that she knew it was murder, that changed things. She couldn’t quite put her finger on why, but it had something to do with the intentionality of it. Raven was dead because someone wanted her that way, someone made her that way.
Again having a seat on the edge of the bed, Juliette closed her eyes, remembering herself as a young teen in the aftermath of her parents’ death. At first she’d felt certain that they, too, had been murdered. Their death had been so unexpected, so random and inexplicable. Several years prior to that, she had become convinced that her father was a secret government agent—a suspicion he and her mother had laughed off, insisting that she read too many spy novels for her own good.
But then they were killed under mysterious circumstances and her imagination had gone wild. For months she had pored over the newspaper reports about the tragic accident, looking for clues and suspects and motives. She’d never come up with any solid theories nor been able to convince anyone else of her suspicions, and eventually she’d had no choice but to let those notions go. As she matured, she’d come to understand that sometimes people died and there was no reason for it, the only villains a dark night and a slippery road and a sharp downhill curve.
Juliette opened her eyes and glanced at the clock again. Seven minutes.
She reached out a hand to the bedside table drawer and slid it open to see if there was a Bible inside. There was, God bless the Gideons. Though she had a great Bible app on her phone, at the moment she needed to hold the Word in her hands, needed its heft and weight and the crinkling of the pages as she turned to the book of Deuteronomy, to the verse that had given her so much strength over the years. She found it now, and though it wasn’t in the translation she usually used, there was something lovely and lyrical about good ol’ King James.
“Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid . . . for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”
She focused on the last part: He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
Her mind went to the more familiar translation she had memorized years ago, which put it, Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.
That was God’s promise, and she knew it was true.
As a young woman, she had railed against it, though. She could still see herself at eighteen, the night before her graduation from high school—the graduation her parents had not been alive to attend. She had found this verse that night and it had made her furious.
“Everyone leaves!” she had cried in prayer, shaking a fist at the sky. “Everyone forsakes you in the end!”
Yet somehow God had remained steadfast.
Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.
She remembered herself at twenty-six, the morning after she’d broken her engagement with Mike. That time she’d been the one to do the forsaking. She’d broken a good man’s heart just because she hadn’t loved him enough for a lifetime.
She’d forsaken him, but God had not forsaken her.
Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.
She pictured herself at her surprise fortieth birthday party, surrounded by family and friends and employees. The party had been lovely, but the occasion it marked bittersweet. She didn’t mind getting older. What she minded was getting older alone. Where was the husband she had always expected to find? Where were the children she had always dreamed would fill her life? It’s not like she hadn’t dated. Over the years she’d gotten at least a dozen proposals but even the two times she’d said yes, she ended up changing her mind and calling things off. She’d never found anyone she loved enough for a lifetime.
Later that night after her party, once she was finally home and by herself, she had wept from the heartbreak of it all.
“Why, God? Why put the desire for husband and kids in my heart if You weren’t going to bless me with either?”
He hadn’t given her any answers. But somehow He had given her comfort.
Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.
That promise had proven true at the lowest points in her life and at every moment in between.
Looking around the empty hotel room now, Juliette knew it still held true. God was there with her. He always was. He always would be. No matter what insanity raged around her, He would not leave nor forsake her. He would be steadfast.
With that thought, the anxiety began to fade. Once again closing her eyes, Juliette allowed God’s promise to sink in to the bone, to saturate her to the core. She prayed aloud, thanking God for being with her, always. As she spoke, a calm surged deep into her soul.
She stayed there, in prayer, for as long as she could. Then, with a final “amen,” she rose and headed for Didi’s room, one minute to spare.
MOONFLOWER SOUNDED SCARED.
Crystal didn’t know what had frightened the aging flower child so, nor why she kept denying it when Crystal pointed it out, but from the tone of Moonflower’s voice over the phone and the odd, disjointed things she was saying, there was no question. She was terrified half to death.
Crystal had thought about Moonflower all morning and intended to call during her lunch break, but had spent that time with Greg instead. Now she was in transit between two treatment huts and only had a few minutes to spare.
“Please tell me what’s bothering you. I’m sorry to be so pushy, but I don’t have much time and I’m really worried about you.”
“It’s just been a hard day.” Moonflower’s voice cracked. “It’s never easy to lose a client, especially not like this. Now I’m not even sure if I can go back to work at all. Ever again.”
“Why on earth not?” Palm Grotto without the peaceful, motherly presence of Moonflower Youngblood? Crystal couldn’t even imagine such a thing.
“Because of what was done to Raven.”
“I know it’ll be hard at first, but in time—”
“It’s not that.” She lowered her voice. “Okay, you’re right. I am scared.”
Crystal remained silent, willing her friend to explain.
“Now that Raven’s been killed, I’m afraid the killer might come for me too.”
Crystal was so startled she could barely form a reply. “What? Why?”
Moonflower sniffled. “Never mind. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“No, really. What do you mean? Why would anyone want to hurt you? Tell me. Maybe I can help.”
Moonflower paused, and then spoke, her voice low and foreboding. “Raven was being blackmailed.”
Crystal stopped in her tracks, trying hard to keep her mouth from hanging open. “Blackmailed? I don’t understand.”
Again Moonflower tried to backpedal. “Look, I shouldn’t even be talking about this. Forget I said anything.”
“No way.” Crystal forced herself to start walking again. “Moonflower, Raven was murdered. If you know she was being blackmailed, you have to tell the police.”
“Tell the pigs? Absolutely not! Never trust anyone in a uniform, don’t you know that?”
Pigs? Oh, right. Just as Greg had
mentioned the day before. Best to drop it for the moment lest Moonflower decide to clam up again. “You’re not being blackmailed too, are you?”
“Of course not.”
“Then why do you sound so frightened?”
Moonflower exhaled slowly. “Because I’m the one who told Raven to turn the blackmailer down, to call his bluff and refuse to pay. She took my advice and now she’s dead. If the blackmailer killed her for refusing to pay, then what’s to stop him from killing me too?”
Crystal shuddered, trying to wrap her head around what she was hearing. “If you tell the police, they’ll protect you.”
Moonflower sighed. “No pigs. I told you that already.”
Good grief. “Well, at the very least, I’m coming over there after I get off work. I have to hang up now, but I want to talk about this some more later. Okay?”
“I’ll text you my address.” Moonflower sounded relieved.
As they said their good-byes and hung up, Crystal knew she had to find some way to convince her aging hippie friend to talk to the police. Before the unthinkable happened.
And someone else ended up dead.
JULIETTE HATED HAVING TO do this by telephone, where she couldn’t look these men in the eye nor observe their body language. She had hoped she and Didi might at least be able to Skype in, but the FBI agents had nixed that idea right off. They weren’t exactly keen on bringing them into the conversation via conference call either, but at least they had allowed it.
Now they were fifteen minutes into that call, with Elsa, Natalie, and two male agents on speakerphone on that end and Juliette and Didi each on her own phone on this end. So far, almost the entire conversation had been just one long rapid-fire question-and-answer session. The two agents weren’t big on explaining much, but there sure was a lot they wanted to know.
Had any strange calls come into the company lately?
Had any unusual orders been placed?
Had there been any unique customer requests of late?
Had there been any recent repairs done to the facility, or had any workmen shown up claiming to be from the phone or gas or electric company?
“Basically, we’re looking for anything out of the ordinary,” the agent said, stating the obvious. He went on to say that they needed information about all new accounts opened and all employees hired within the past year.
Juliette bristled at the request. Why hadn’t she thought to bring the company lawyers in on the conversation as well? It sounded like Elsa was typing into the computer, already complying, but Juliette called that to a halt.
“We’re happy to answer some basic questions, but I’m afraid that’s as far as it goes for now. If you want confidential information like this, you’ll have to speak with our lawyers.”
Didi’s eyes widened as she peered over at Juliette and gave her a thumbs-up.
On the other end of the line, the two agents blustered a bit, but Juliette knew her rights. Before she handed over a single piece of the requested information, she wanted to know a whole lot more about why they were asking these things and what this investigation was about. Their earlier explanation that this had to do with the counterfeiting situation wasn’t enough.
By the time the two men hung up, they were clearly unhappy with her, but what else could she do? She preferred to err to the side of caution and leave such matters in the hands of her lawyers, who were the experts.
Once they were off the phone, Juliette and Didi rehashed the entire conversation, going back over each of the questions. Though neither one could think of any recent abnormalities or aberrations, they called Elsa back and told her to ask around a bit among some of the other employees to make sure. They also asked if she would take a closer look at the information the agents had wanted, details on new accounts and new employees, just for their own in-house knowledge for now. Elsa promised to get right on it and said she would contact them if she came up with anything unusual.
By the time all was said and done, it was nearly 12:30 p.m., which gave Juliette just an hour and a half before the start of the retreat—time enough to grab a light lunch, see to the final details of the event, and renew her notes for her talk. She had spent the entire day thus far on matters related to Raven’s death and to the counterfeiting issue. And though she wasn’t even close to finding the answers to her many questions, she would need to put all of that out of her mind for now regardless and focus on the event that lay ahead.
Already attendees were no doubt arriving, checking in, getting settled. They had each come here expecting a great retreat, and it was up to Juliette to meet—and hopefully exceed—their expectations. God willing, this weekend would be all about its stated theme, Serving While Preserving: Helping Others without Ignoring Ourselves. These women deserved her full attention despite all the turmoil that seemed to rage on every side.
Chapter Twenty
JULIETTE STOOD IN THE shadows to the side of the stage, smiling as she watched the retreat’s introductory session get underway. They were starting with a skit, and though she knew the script by heart, it was fun to see it acted out, especially when the women playing the roles were as talented as these two volunteers from a local church’s drama team.
Each character represented opposite ends of the spectrum, one a constant do-gooder kept so busy with volunteer duties and other acts of service that she was at her limit and completely frazzled. The other was all about self, lazy and demanding and pampered. The two women played their roles perfectly, and by the volume of the laughter coming from out front, it was clear the audience thought so too.
The scene ended with both women realizing that something needed to be done. They said their final line in unison, “There’s something very wrong here,” then the lights came down and the two women moved to stand at each side of the stage as Juliette strode out to the center. When the lights came back up, the crowd got their first sight of their well-known hostess for the weekend and burst into enthusiastic applause.
Smiling, Juliette looked out at them and waited for the sound to die down. She had prayed for these people often over the past few weeks, prayed that they would come here with open hearts and open minds—and that God would have her say the words they needed to hear during their time together. And though she would have several opportunities to speak to them over the next few days, this opening address was one of the most important, as it would set the tone for the entire weekend.
Once the applause finally wound down to a close, she began.
“If you saw yourself in either of these two women, there really is something very wrong here.”
Audience members smiled, and many nodded.
Juliette gestured to the woman on her left, who gave a red-carpet-like pose, one hand behind her neck, the other on her hip. “For example, if you related a little too closely to our pampered princess here, well, let’s just say it’s time to start looking beyond the end of your own nose.”
“What’s wrong with my nose?” the woman cried in faux offense as she whipped out a hand mirror and examined her face. “This nose cost more than my last trip to Vegas!”
The audience chuckled.
“If, on the other hand, you related more to our over-burdened do-gooder, as I suspect many of you did . . .”
She gestured toward the woman on her right, who gripped her hair in both fists and let out a yell of frustration, much to the audience’s delight.
“Well, then, let me just say you’ve come to the right place. Ladies, thank you so much for your help, let’s give our actresses a hand.”
The audience cheered as the two women bowed and made their exit. Waiting, Juliette looked out at the crowd and noticed a sprinkling of men among the women, no doubt family members and friends accompanying some of the guests. Though much of the retreat would be limited to attendees, a few parts were open to all, including this introductory session.
Juliette continued her speech once the applause tapered off, explaining that Christians often had trouble fi
nding the right balance in the area of service. “Some of us really do too much. We feed, we give, we tend, we comfort, we work hard to bless others in the name of Christ. And that’s wonderful. We’re great at caring for others. The problem is how difficult it is to allow others to care for us in return.”
She paused, again looking out at the group. Eager eyes gazed back at her from around the room. Scanning the faces, she hesitated on one person in particular—a strikingly handsome man sitting in the next-to-last row. For some reason, his expression was not one of curiosity but rather of . . . what? Animosity? Irritation? Did this guy have something against her?
Forcing herself to ignore him for now, she continued with her talk, gesturing toward the screen behind her, which lit up with the words of a familiar verse.
“The Bible says a lot about the necessity of taking time to rest and rejuvenate, and today we’re going to start by focusing on Psalm 46, verse 10, ‘Be still and know that I am God.’”
Juliette dropped her arm and faced the audience straight on. “You know that verse well, but hear it again. Look at what it’s telling us to do. Be still.” She was silent for a long moment, her voice echoing in the quiet. “Be still,” she said again, whispering this time, and once more followed her words by a long moment of silence.
Finally she took a step forward, making eye contact among the crowd, and spoke in a soft voice. “Do you ever stop and think how utterly un-still our lives have become? Friends, it’s time to heed these words, to turn down the noise, to halt the activity, to stop the running, running, running. ‘Be still and know that I am God.’” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “My prayer for this weekend, my prayer for you, is that you reconnect with what it truly means to ‘Be still.’”
MARCUS'S MOTHER GENTLY ELBOWED him in the ribs then leaned in to whisper. “She’s really something, isn’t she?”
He nodded, unable to tear his eyes from the stage, where Juliette held the undivided attention of everyone in the room. Really something didn’t begin to describe it. She was amazing. Luminous. Spellbinding.