AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Dad looks up at me, quirking his upper lip up in thought, then nods. “Charlie and Jude.”
“You know them?” I question incredulously.
“Yeah. Where are they?” he asks as he moves his head around.
“They have a house behind the church.”
“You got a gun?”
I nod, then shake my head. “Simon must have it.”
“Simon’s here?”
“Yeah. Without him, I’d never have gotten you into the car, let alone here. You rest while I look for him and our American Gothic friends.” More for myself than him, I squeeze his hand lightly and walk toward the back of the church.
Opening the door, I peer out. There’s no one around, and our car has been moved, now sitting a short distance from the door. I’m assuming Simon moved it. It’s something I should’ve done in case we were being pursued—they’d never see it from the road. Walking across the small distance to the shack, I knock on the door. The woman answers, wearing another shapeless black dress and her boots.
“He awake?”
“Yes, Jude.”
She smiles at me and yells, “Charlie, he’s awake.”
The man appears in a white, long-sleeved shirt and black pants—no jacket this time. “We best go see if he’s okay.”
“Thanks.”
Jude shuts the door, and I walk back into the church. Simon is talking to Dad, a serious expression on his face. When I get closer, both men stop talking.
“Do you have my gun?” I ask Simon.
He holds out the SIG Sauer to me, and I gratefully take it from him. “Thanks, and thanks for moving the car. Where’d you go?”
“I was just looking around. There’s nothing here. Post Oak is a ghost town. Apart from this church, there’s nothing.”
“You didn’t see anyone else?” asks Dad.
“No. Not even a car drove past.”
I let the gun hang at my side. Charlie and Jude walk into the church. He now has on his black jacket and smiles widely at all of us. A chill goes up my spine, and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I swear, even in the cold light of day, his eyes seem black. The couple stands at the foot of the gurney. If he held onto a pitchfork and had on blue overalls, they’d match theAmerican Gothicpainting perfectly.
Charlie nods at Dad. “Nice to see you again, Jamison.”
“I’m sure it’s not.” Dad groans as he tries to sit up. Simon helps him into a sitting position. “How long before you want us gone?”
“No time like the present,” replies Charlie.
“He just woke up,” I reply.
All eyes come to me, and Jude takes a step forward. “We’ll give you antibiotics and painkillers, but we need you to go, Jamison, and as far as you and Charlie are concerned, you’re square.”
Dad laughs. “Not even fucking close, Jude.”
“We could’ve let you die,” she hisses at Dad.
Whatever Charlie sees on Dad’s face, he grabs Jude by the upper arm and moves her back. “Now, let’s not be hasty, Jude. Maybe Jamison is right.”
Her face twists into an ugly grimace, her lips turning down at the sides. “No. Youpromisedme, Charlie, no more. Wherever he goes, bad luck follows. I like it here. I don’t want to pick up and move again…” She pauses. “You promised.” Jude’s face is a mask of disappointment, and her voice has gone up an octave.
