Read Online Truth Be Told by Victoria Christopher Murray - Free Book Online Page A

they sat at the kitchen table and chatted about school and what they were going to do over spring break, Grace strained to press thoughts of her missing husband aside. After they cleaned up, Grace helped Amber with homework, while Jayde searched on-line for information on Zora Neale Hurston for an English report. The time almost felt normal, except for the way Grace looked at her watch every ten minutes and glanced through the window for oncoming car headlights in the time in between.
    It was eight-thirty when Grace tucked Amber into bed. Amber pulled her children’s Bible from under her pillow and handed it to Grace.
    â€œDo you know what you want to read?”
    Amber nodded. “About the Hebrew children. We’re studying them in Sunday school.”
    Grace sat on the edge of the bed. With one side of her brain, she read scriptures from the Book of Daniel, while with the other she tried to figure out where her husband could be. She was grateful when she was able to turn off Amber’s light, then kiss Jayde good night with an admonition not to stay up past ten.
    When Grace stepped into their bedroom, the space felt empty, so she settled into the office that she and Conner shared across the hall. She pulled her Bible from the book shelf and stretched out on the couch. She leaned back into the leather, trying to find a comfortable place, but she couldn’t find any comfort tonight. Still, she was determined to read. She turned through the pages of Isaiah to the fifty-fourth chapter. She’d missed the last two Women’s Fellowship meetings, but Devry told her what they were studying. Her eyes roamed the scriptures until she stopped at the last verse. This had always been one of her favorite scriptures:
    No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.
    Tonight, the scripture made her heart pound. The words replayed in her mind as if they were a warning. She stood, leaving the Bible open on the couch. Downstairs, she set the alarm, closed the windows, and then checked on her daughters. Inside her bedroom, she changed into an oversized Hampton University T-shirt and climbed into bed.
    No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper.
    Grace couldn’t count the number of times she’d stood on those words. But as she lay back in the bed, she had the feeling that she was going to need to stand on that scripture more than she ever had before.

    Conner stared at the twin towers across the Avenue of the Americas. Los Angeles hadn’t recovered from the energy crisis, yet the high-rise buildings were glistening as bright as Fifth Avenue at Christmas. He shook his head. His mind was filled with thoughts of Los Angeles’s crisis when his own loomed ahead. Disaster had waltzed right into the middle of his life, right into the soul of his marriage. A low moan escaped from deep inside him when he thought about what this could mean to Grace’s career.
    But this tragedy went beyond him and Grace. There were his children. The tears almost flowed when Conner thought about his girls.
    He squeezed his eyes together, wishing he could force Pilar and her words back to yesterday. But what would change? He massaged his closed eyes with his thumbs, but no matter how hard he pressed, he couldn’t erase the images planted in his mind. He should have listened to his inner voice. Even as he drove to Encounters, his mind screamed, “Turn back!” The warning had tolled louder with each passing mile.
    â€œWhat is wrong with me?” he had asked himself as he drove to the restaurant. There was nothing to fear. He was meeting Pilar, an old friend, acquaintance, employee—he wasn’t sure what to call her. Whatever she was, she couldn’t cause him harm. He held that thought until he slowed his car and saw Pilar standing stiffly straight at the restaurant’s entrance. Then he knew there was much to