Riven - Jerry B. Jenkins [93]
He nodded, removing only his shoes and socks.
“Does this mean we’re on again?” she said.
“You and me?”
“Who else?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Really?”
“’Course. But could you drive me somewhere?”
“Right now?”
“In the morning.”
“Maybe. Where?”
“My aunt and uncle’s. My ma and Petey are already there, but I had to work, and now I got no way of getting there.”
“My dad’s girlfriend and her kids are coming for Christmas dinner tomorrow, Brady. Why don’t you join us?”
“Nah. I promised. Now can you take me or not?”
Adamsville
“Merry Christmas to you, too, Thomas,” Russ said. “But something tells me you didn’t just call for that.”
Thomas chuckled and apologized, saying he hoped he had caught Russ before his celebration had begun. He told him all about the Deacon.
“I told Henry and I told the warden and I told you, Thomas, that I’m out of there. Now I’m partial to the man, and I care for him, and I’ll want to know when the deal goes down. But no, I can’t be there, and yes, I have the same misgivings about his soul. I don’t know what more to do about that, but let me tell you this: he knows the score. He can feint and dodge and play word games all he wants, but he knows the truth and the gospel and what he has to do. Don’t let him play you.”
Thomas told Russ of his frustration at having to play nursemaid to a condemned man when the man wanted nothing Thomas had to offer.
“Welcome to prison, friend. I’m sorry. Even now, just by getting you to call me, the Deacon is trying to work a guilt trip on me for abandoning him at his hour of need, but—”
“I’m doing this on my own.”
“Well, you’d like to imagine you are, but don’t think he’s not working on you. Just tell him we talked and that I’ll be thinking of him and praying for him, hoping he makes the right decision.”
Why did all this have to come when Thomas was consumed with fear over Grace? He wrestled with how to approach her. Part of him wanted to scold her, yet that didn’t jibe with his dread over her fate. He didn’t know how long he could put off the confrontation.
Two Days Later
Aunt Lois, who had expressed delight when Brady showed up for Christmas, took a call from her former sister-in-law that sent Brady toward the door.
“Wait right there, young man,” his aunt said. “Yes, Erlene, he’s here, but he clearly doesn’t want to talk to you. What’s up?”
Brady was determined to escape, but something in Aunt Lois’s eyes held him fast. “Trust me,” she said, “we’ll get him to do the right thing.”
The woman hung up, cocked her head, and beckoned Brady with one finger, then pointed at the couch.
“I’m not going back,” he said.
“Just tell me what you did and who Tatlock is.”
Brady sat and told her he and his friend had been throwing snowballs and he’d accidentally thrown one through the Laundromat window.
“That’s why you’re here?”
He nodded. “Somebody saw me and called the cops, and I got scared.”
Aunt Lois took his hands in hers. “Listen, this Mr. Tatlock sounds like a wonderful man. He told your mother he’s not interested in pressing charges. He just wants to talk to you. He swears he’ll keep the cops out of it if you’ll come back and see him. Just tell him the truth, Brady. Your uncle will drive you back tomorrow morning, okay?”
Adamsville State Penitentiary
The day before New Year’s Eve, Gladys stopped Thomas on his way to his office. “Like clockwork, who do you think wants a visit to his house today?”
“The Deacon.”
She nodded.
“Can’t you just tell him he didn’t ask in time?”
Gladys narrowed her eyes. “Sit down a second, Thomas.”
“I know,” he said.
“Sit.”
He did.
“You’re not seriously considering dissin’ this man two days before he meets his Maker, are you?”
“Problem is, I don’t think he’s going to meet his Maker.”
“All the more reason to see the man.”
Thomas nodded. “You know I’ll see him. But—”
“Russ told me all about him, Reverend. But we don’t give up on ’em till they’re gone, do we?”
He shook his head.
“Now, I’ll be thinking of you and praying for him,” she said. “A ticking clock has a way of focusing a