Page 73 of Seeking Evil

He watched for a second longer before backing away from the fire.

The woman kept her distance from him, still not trusting him. He certainly understood.

“What is your name, my dear?” Henry asked as he pushed down on the gas pedal. He wanted to get her to town before the fire department became aware of what he’d done.

“L–Lindsey.”

Henry recognized the name. Law enforcement was looking for her along with the others.

He reached town and parked a block over from the station before turning to her. “The police station is over there.” He told her how to get to it. “Go ahead. It’s okay. Tell them everything.”

Lindsey got out slowly. She stood beside the car as if still not believing he had set her free.

Henry rolled the window down. “Tell them I’m sorry.” He put the car into Drive and drove away.

In the rearview mirror he saw her watch him leave before she crossed the street.

He’d done it. He’d done the right thing. Now, he had to apologize to Maggie before he did the final necessary thing.

He drove to the church where he and Maggie had attended religiously.

Reaching the cemetery, Henry parked the car near the row of headstones and got out. He weaved his way through the silent reminders of those who had once lived until he reached his wife’s grave.

Henry held onto the headstone and slowly lowered himself to the ground.

He kept his hand on Maggie’s headstone almost as if he were touching her hand. “I’m sorry about this. I should have done the right thing a long time ago.” But he’d been weak and had tried to protect T even when T continued to spiral after Colleen.

“I’m going to set things right because it’s what you would want me to do.” He smiled and wiped away tears. “You always did the right thing, my love. I wish I could believe what you did about salvation. I wish I knew without a doubt that God was real and when I die I’ll be there with you again. I want to, because I’ve done some awful things, Maggie, in the name of love. If God is real, He can’t forgive that.”

When no answers came, Henry touched his hand to his lips and then placed it on her carved name.

“Goodbye, my love. I hope you can forgive me.”

Henry lumbered to his feet. Waited until the world stopped spinning before he headed toward his car.

As he passed by the church, he noticed Betsy’s vehicle parked next to the pastor’s. It didn’t take her long to weasel her way into Maggie’s old job.

A jealous, bitter woman who had wormed her way into Maggie’s life to try and emulate Maggie.

As he passed by the police station, he wondered why Patrick and those FBI agents weren’t heading toward his house. By now, Lindsey should have reported him and T. Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong.

Chapter Thirty

“Patrick, you’ve got to come. Quickly. Now.” Deb stuck her head into the conference room, startling them all.

Zeke could tell right away something had broken on the case.

Patrick hurried over to his wife. “What is it?”

“Lindsey Newton just came into the station.” Deb waited for those words to sink in.

“What? You’re kidding.”

“Nope. She claims one of the people who took her dropped her off and told her to tell us everything.”

“One of the people. There are more than one?” Zeke asked.

Deb told him yes. “I’ll let her tell it.”

---