Page 40 of Fury

“I should have called you first,” she apologized as they ascended stairs to the second floor.

“It’s okay.” He smiled graciously. “How are you?” He unlocked the door, and they stepped inside.

“I’m . . . ” She shrugged. Sighed. “As good as I can be, I suppose.”

His apartment was small and minimalistic, but she got the impression she could eat off the floor if she needed to. The place was spotless.

Bongani placed the bags on the counter and started putting things in his fridge. She caught him eyeing her. Probably wondering why she’d come over just to stand mute in his kitchen. Hollyn felt like such an intruder right now. She shouldn’t be here.

“Is there anything specific you wished to talk about?” he probed.

“Isayus.” The word was out before her next breath, and it surprised her.

Bongani’s hand stalled over the carton of milk. “Yes.” He was quiet for a moment. “I will miss my friend. But I take comfort in the fact that he is with Heavenly Father now.”

She’d always admired Bongani’s unwavering faith. He’d actually been the one to invite her family to the church they all attended now. Their belief was something they had in common, but if she were honest with herself, God had taken a backseat in her life the last couple of years.

That should change.

“You’re not mad?” she asked.

“Mad? No.” He shook his head. “I decided long ago that anger only hurts me. It does nothing to the one who did me wrong.”

Hollyn nodded and slumped down on one of the bar stools around the peninsula.

“Butyouare mad?” Bongani closed the fridge.

“I’m trying not to be, but I can feel it getting stronger. The more we find out about the accident and that it likelywasn’tan accident . . . it just”—she balled her bandaged hand—“makes me so angry. And terrified. And . . . fragile.”

Entirely too close to how she’d felt the day she’d been taken from her childhood home and placed in foster care.

“It was not an accident?” Bongani repeated.

Hollyn watched him. “We don’t think so.”

He was still for a moment. Sighed. “I will pray for whoever is responsible.”

“What?” Hollyn seethed in shock. The idea instantly ignited a lividity that had her shaking. He couldn’t be serious. “Pray for them? To be caught and prosecuted, right?”

“To turn themselves in. To find redemption in Heavenly Father.”

She was on her feet in the next second. Deep-seated anger flared. “Redemption?” She couldn’t be hearing him correctly. “How about pray they’re taken off this earth before they have achanceat redemption!”

Sadness rested in his dark eyes. “I cannot pray for that. And neither can you.”

The nerve!

“You know what?” She stalked toward the door. “This was a mistake.”

“Hollyn.”

“Forget it!” Hollyn closed the door on his next words and shot down the stairs.

She could hardly see straight. Pray for the people who’d murdered her parents?

Not happening. Ever.

“Agh!” She raged to no one but herself as she shoved out the front door.

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