AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Well, maybe I knew this would happen. You would judge Marcus, even though he’s the victim here. Even though some creature tore his throat out and bled him dry, you’re making it his fault.” Nicholls’s voice had risen. He glared at her.
“That’s certainly not what I intended,” Barbara said steadily.
“The fact is, this is a Colony killing. You said it yourself. You saw the video.”
“I did indeed, sir.”
“Then you have all you need.”
“The video isn’t conclusive evidence.”
“It…what?”
“I believe it might have been staged.”
“You think Marcus staged his own death?”
“That’s not what I said. I said I think the video might have been staged.” She sighed. “Let’s put Marcus’s body back and then we can sit down and talk through—”
The door to the kitchen suddenly swung open. Barbara and Nicholls turned.
Carly stood in the entrance, a cigarette dangling from her fingers, face grim.
“You better come outside. We got company.”
9
And though this world, with devils filled,
Should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed,
His truth to triumph through us.
A small crowd of about a half a dozen people stood outside the Roadhouse Grill. They held crosses and swayed as they sang; an old hymn Barbara recognized: “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.”
At the front, leading them, a familiar figure: Colleen Grey, dressed not in gray today but in a flowing black dress coat over a crisp white high-necked blouse. Attire that wouldn’t have looked out of place at the turn of the last century. Her assistant, Grace, stood beside her, dressed in a similar outfit but in pale blue.
Barbara wondered that they weren’t both a matching shade of blue from the cold. The dress coats couldn’t be that thick and Barbara was still chilly in a thick knee-length duffel coat.
Let goods and kindred go,
This mortal life also.
The body they may kill:
God’s truth abideth still,
His Kingdom is forever.
The singing finished. The crowd stood still, crosses aloft. Nicholls glared around at them, his gaze settling on the preacher.
“What are you doing here, Colleen?”
Not Reverend, Barbara noticed.
Colleen smiled. “We came to give you our blessing, Chief. You and Detective Atkins. To share the strength of God and hope that He guides you in this difficult time.”
