Broken is the Grave

by Candle Sutton

  Maybe he’d wanted her to accept what he’d just told her, but she couldn’t. Not yet, anyway. “How about we pick this up tomorrow?”

  “Just… don’t write me off, okay?” Hesitation marked the jerky movement of his hand as he slowly lifted it to brush against her cheek. “I’m not crazy. Please give me a chance to prove it.”

  Warmth flooded her and her skin tingled at his touch.

  Her brain screamed danger, but her heart craved the contact.

  Words failed her and all she could do was nod.

  His hand lingered a second longer before slowly dropping away.

  She could kiss him. Only a few feet separated them. If she leaned forward…

  Whoa. Where had that come from?

  Go. Go now.

  She followed the command drilling through her brain and pushed to her feet. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Without waiting for a reply, she strode to the stairs and hurried below deck.

  What was wrong with her? Must be the stress. Yeah. That had to be it. These last few days had exacted a sharp emotional toll. It was only natural that it would come out in some unexpected fashion.

  Add to that the fact that he was cute, and really seemed to care, and of course she’d respond this way.

  But she needed to not respond that way.

  Especially not until she figured out if he was sane. And if he felt the same way she did.

  She wasn’t sure she could survive another heartbreak.

  ₪ ₪ ₪

  Bethany woke instantly when Becca stirred.

  Filtered light drifted through the porthole on the wall, testifying to the early morning sun trying to pierce the fog.

  At least it was Saturday.

  No worrying about how she was going to get JJ to school, or making it to class on time herself, or how she was going to get to work.

  Just a day to relax and try to recover from the week she’d endured.

  Her back hurt from last night’s attack and her arm felt slightly numb. Her throat was tender to the touch and it hurt to swallow.

  But it could’ve been much worse.

  She gently finger combed the brown curls on the little head next to her. She might never have seen her kids again. If some bruising was the worst she had to complain about from last night, she’d take it.

  Becca stirred. After a few incoherent mumblings, she settled back to sleep.

  It was just as well. Bethany needed the quiet this morning to think through last night.

  The conversation with Zeke drifted into her mind. A second Eden. A perfect world.

  Could she believe any of it?

  She really needed it to be true. Otherwise she and her kids were living in confined quarters with someone who was delusional.

  What evidence had he given her to believe him, anyway?

  Sure, he said God had told him how to find her apartment, but there were other ways he could’ve gotten that information. That stuff was all online if you knew where to find it.

  He’d also somehow managed to get her to open up.

  But that could’ve been nothing more than her need for connection after finding out James had died. It meant nothing.

  Then there was the language.

  She wasn’t an expert on languages, but she’d never heard anything like the one he and Elly had spoken. It was otherworldly.

  A sigh leaked from her.

  Sliding out of bed, she dropped to her knees. Maybe God would make it clear.

  Praying gave her peace. When she finally rose from her knees, she’d made a decision. They’d stay.

  While she still had trouble believing it all, she wasn’t worried about her kids being in such an environment. Even if Zeke was delusional, she couldn’t see him as dangerous.

  Besides, Detective Salinas wouldn’t have vouched for him if he was crazy, would he?

  Wait!

  Zander. He was dating Elly. And he was a cop. He’d know if what Zeke had told her was the truth, wouldn’t he? And he’d give it to her straight. He had no reason to lie about it.

  All she had to do was catch up with him.

  Which shouldn’t be too hard with Elly on the boat.

  She gathered some clean clothes and headed to take a shower.

  Then she’d need to get some things figured out. Like all the bus routes she’d need to navigate to and from the marina. Not to mention the safest route to take at night, after she left work.

  Not that she wanted to go back there. Ever. If that man had found her there once, he could certainly do it again.

  And next time, he’d probably make sure there were no fire extinguishers in sight.

  God had watched out for her last night. But would it happen again?

  ₪ ₪ ₪

  “I hear you had some trouble last night.”

  Bethany started as Zander dropped onto the lounger across from her. She’d been so involved in skimming the chapter on Impressionism that she hadn’t realized he’d joined her on the deck.

  But he had. And not only was Elly not in sight, no one else was either.

  Weird that Zander would stop by when Elly wasn’t around.

  But it worked out okay for her. Now was her chance.

  Looked like she’d have to address last night first, though. “Yeah. I assume you saw the police report?”

  He nodded. “Your name popped up as being connected with another investigation. The responding officers contacted me.”

  Great. Her name was now synonymous with murdered husbands and armed altercations.

  “Are you okay?” The gentleness in his question broke into her thoughts.

  “Nothing a lot of makeup and aspirin won’t cure, right?” She sighed. “I’m scared. How did he find me? First on some random sidewalk in an area of town I never spend time in, then my apartment, then my job. I don’t understand how he can be everywhere I am.”

  “I had a thought about that. Zeke said that when he opened the spreadsheet, a pop-up appeared. I bet there was something built into that spreadsheet to send out an alert when it was accessed.”

  They could do that?

  Obviously. It was the only way they could’ve tracked her there.

  “As for your apartment, that information is easy enough to track down for the right person. Bank records, tax records, utility bills, heck, even the records at your kids’ school would give away your address. If you do an internet search on yourself, you’d be shocked at how much information just readily pops up.” He paused. “And they probably found information about your job when they searched your apartment. Pay stubs or something.”

  She was paid electronically, but she did have her work schedule posted on her fridge. She was pretty sure the school’s logo appeared somewhere on that template.

  It was all very logical. It wasn’t like someone was following her or had her bugged or something.

  “Thank you, Zander. That helps.”

  “We’ll catch this guy. You hang in there until we can find him.”

  “Are you any closer?”

  He looked at her with an unreadable expression. “We’re working some leads. Just know that you’re safe here.”

  She sure hoped he was right.

  Time to move on to other matters. Before Zeke or Elly or Josiah joined them. “I do have another question for you.”

  She hesitated. While she’d planned to talk to him about this, she hadn’t thought about what she’d say. Mapping out the conversation would’ve been smart, but it was too late now.

  “Zeke told me about Hephzibah.” The words spewed from her before she could stop them.

  A slight widening of his eyes was the only indication she’d surprised him. “Really. You must be important to him.”

  “What do you mean?” And why did the words warm her heart?

  “They don’t tell just anyone about that. Can you imagine what would happen if the media found out? They’d never stop harassing Elly, Zeke, and Josiah. Then there are the explorers, scient
ists, and treasure seekers. There are people who would go to extremes to find out where Hephzibah is located and would try to get in. I don’t think God would let them make it, but they’d die trying anyway.”

  Whoa. She hadn’t thought about all that, but she could see it happening.

  “You need to be very careful with this secret. Don’t tell anyone, not even your kids. It could put Elly, Zeke, and Josiah in danger.”

  She nodded, the gravity suddenly very clear. “So it’s true? There’s this perfect society? And they’re perfect?”

  “Yes and no.” Zander looked down at his hands. “There’s a perfect society and they started out perfect, but things change. This world changed them.”

  “Changed them how?”

  “Sin. It’s like a disease. It’s contagious and once you catch it, it leads to destruction. Elly caught it and now I think Zeke has, too.”

  Caught what? “I don’t understand.”

  “They sinned. They went from being perfect to being just like us. Sinners in need of saving.”

  “How can you tell?”

  “The main thing is that I can see a change in him. He’s burdened in a way he wasn’t a few days ago. He’s lost some of his joy. Also, there are his eyes.”

  It was said like she should know exactly what he meant, but she had no clue. “What about them?”

  “Remember me telling you that Zeke had purple eyes? They’re brown now. When I first met Elly, she had these amazing eyes. The color of flowers. Now they’re kind of a grayish color. I don’t understand it all, but when they sin, their eye color turns normal, like the rest of us.”

  So, she hadn’t imagined those eyes. “And Josiah?”

  Zander’s grin looked a little sheepish. “Still purple. I checked.”

  Although if all this was to be believed, who knew how long that would last. The whole thing was just too weird.

  “Can you prove any of this?” When he shook his head, she pressed on. “I thought cops were all about the evidence. How can you believe it?”

  “I ask myself that all the time.”

  “And?”

  “I know it here.” His fist bumped his chest. “I can feel it. God’s affirmed it. Besides, I’ve seen a lot of things I can’t explain where these guys are concerned.”

  “Like?”

  “Healings. Prophetic stuff.”

  Prophetic? Like telling the future? Did he really expect her to believe that? Maybe he’d convinced himself it was true because of Elly.

  “Don’t believe me?”

  Dang. Her doubt must’ve shown. “You gotta admit, it’s hard to swallow.”

  “Don’t I know it. Maybe this will convince you.” He stared at a seagull standing on the railing of the boat a few feet away. “It was just last week. A murder led us to a big human trafficking and drug operation in town. Elly was helping the witness and they both got snagged, as well as a buddy of mine who asked the wrong questions.”

  His eyes looked distant and his Adam’s apple bobbed.

  “We came here looking for Elly and ran into Zeke. He prayed, then looked me directly in the eye, told us Elly was in danger, told us where to find her, even told us how to get in. He was right on every count. Long story short, my buddy got shot and Elly healed him. I saw it with my own eyes. He would’ve died, it was that bad. They’re both fine now.”

  As he returned his attention to her, she noticed the dampness lingering in his dark eyes.

  “The weird thing is–”

  Weird thing? The whole story was weird.

  “–After he prayed, Zeke told me to bring his sister home. He seemed sad and didn’t mention the witness. The witness died before we got there. When I asked Zeke about it, he said God had already told him she wouldn’t make it.”

  Ghost fingers danced across her skin.

  Healing, prophecy, people from an alternate reality. She felt like she’d stepped into a sci-fi movie. The only thing missing were little green men.

  “I don’t need evidence.” Intensity darkened Zander’s eyes. “I’ve witnessed these things. Stick around long enough and I’m sure you will, too.”

  She wanted to believe.

  The realization slammed her like a marble statue. She desperately wanted it to be true, wanted to know that Zeke wasn’t crazy, wanted to know that there was perfection in this wild world around her.

  “Wait. The gills.” Zander smacked his forehead. “Can’t believe I didn’t think of that sooner.”

  Did she even want to know what he was talking about? “Gills?”

  “Well, they’re not really… well, yeah, kind of.” He grimaced. “I don’t know what else to call them.”

  “Call what?” He wasn’t making much sense.

  “They can breathe underwater. They’ve got these things on their heads, kind of behind the ears, that allow them to breathe. It’s wild.”

  The chill that had seeped into her bones settled to stay. People with gills. How was she supposed to swallow all this? “So, what? I just ask Zeke to show me his gills?”

  Was she seriously having this conversation?

  Zander shook his head slowly. “Ask Josiah. When they fall, they lose their ability to breathe underwater. Elly did, and if my theory is correct, Zeke has too. But Josiah should still have his.”

  This was crazy. Every last piece of it.

  The more she heard, the more she felt like she’d stepped into some weird alternate reality.

  But maybe she would ask Josiah. See what he had to say… or show.

  “If Zeke can see the future, why didn’t he know that man was going to attack us on the street? Why didn’t he do something about last night’s attack?”

  “That’s not how it works. God sometimes gives them clear answers, often in response to prayer, but other times He chooses to keep things hidden. I don’t understand it myself.” He leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees. “Just keep this quiet, okay? If this got out, it could destroy them.”

  He was right. This was a huge secret, one Zeke hadn’t been required to share.

  Sure, she’d caught them speaking another language and Zeke – if he was formerly perfect – probably wouldn’t be the type to lie, but he could’ve told her some sanitized version of the truth.

  At least that’s what she would’ve done.

  Why had Zeke decided to trust her with this?

  “So where is everyone, anyway?” Zander looked around the empty deck as though expecting them to pop out from behind a chair.

  “They went to a park.” Bethany gestured to the open book on her lap. “I’m way behind on my homework, so Zeke offered. Elly and Josiah jumped in to help.”

  Normally she’d never let her kids go off with people she’d just met, but there was something about Zeke and his family that made her trust them. Even though part of her thought they might be completely crazy.

  Besides, the quarter had barely started. If she got behind now, she’d never catch up.

  “Sounds like something they’d do. Have they been gone a while?”

  She looked at her watch. “Wow. About two hours.”

  Time had really gone by quickly.

  “They’ll be back soon.” Zander reclined on the lounger and dropped some dark sunglasses on his face. “You go ahead and work. I’m going to just enjoy this nice day God has given us.”

  She turned back to her textbook, but her mind refused to settle on the words and images in front of her.

  Instead, it rehashed the conversation with Zander.

  Zeke was perfect. Or, at least, used to be.

  What did she do with something like that?

  ₪ ₪ ₪

  Tobias slammed his fist against the punching bag, feinted left, then rammed his other fist. His left arm throbbed with each punch, but he kept hitting, kept jabbing, imagining a very specific curly blonde head with each blow.

  The nurse had told him to take it easy.

  Well, he’d take it easy once he had that chick out of the way. Until
then…

  A solid hit sent pain radiating up his arm and he bit back a curse. Shaking his arm out, he waited for the pain to lessen.

  It didn’t.

  Maybe it was time to call it a day.

  At least he’d been able to incite a fight, and insert himself into the middle of it, last night. That had helped explain his injuries to the nurse who’d worked him over.

  And it sounded much better to say he’d lost to five guys than to some petite woman with too much spunk.

  Wielding a fire extinguisher, no less.

  From across the gym, the exterior door, a solid steel number that looked like it’d survived the cold war, slammed.

  He didn’t look. Probably just another guy looking to take his frustration out on something that couldn’t hit back.

  “Tob, my man.”

  The greeting was every bit as familiar as the voice that spoke it. As was the tremor that lined the words.

  Meetings always freaked the kid out.

  He turned. “Willie.”

  The scrawny white man ducked his head repeatedly, as though bopping to some rhythm inside his head.

  Maybe he was. Drugs would do that to you.

  Willie rubbed his dirty hands down the sides of his worn jeans. The toe of a gray sock – that probably used to be white – poked out of his right tennis shoe.

  If the man weren’t so hooked on heroin, he could probably afford some new shoes. They sure paid him well enough.

  “You got more product for me to circulate?”

  “Different kind of job for you today.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Hezekiah Shepherd.” Good old hospital records. It hadn’t been too hard to get the man’s name. “I need you to arrange for something to happen to him.”

  “Somethin’ to happen?”

  Idiot. “An accident. Or something. I don’t care how you do it.”

  Understanding slowly dawned. His eyes widened and he shook his head. “Huh-uh, man. No way.”

  He’d anticipated some pushback. At least Willie didn’t disappoint. “I own you. Don’t forget that.”

  “Look, man. I done a lotta things for you, but I ain’t killin’ no one.”

  The expected answer still disappointed Tobias. He made a show of clenching his fists as he took a step closer. “You don’t have a choice. You wanna go back to prison? ‘Cause I can make it happen.”