Page 176 of Hunt for You
I picked up my phone because it was habit, but the only notification was a text from Gerald, and I didn’t have the energy to read it.
It occurred to me in that moment that if I just lay in this bed and never left it… no one would notice. At least, not for a really long time.
And that thought scared me.
And the first thing I wanted to do was call Sam.
I started to shake and knew I needed to distract myself or this was going to get really dark, so I opened YouTube, looking for something to get my mind off everything… to find the local news channel video, front and center on my homepage.
DARK PRIEST OUT ON BAIL, FORMER PARISHIONER UNEASY.
I couldn’t click the video fast enough and cursed as an ad played first, then finally the story, introduced by the local news anchor who looked like his hair was made of wax.
“Locals are uneasy today as District Court Justice Marklin in Salem confirmed that Samuel Priestley, dubbed theDark Priest,was released on bail two days ago after several character references that the judge himself described asvery earnest,were supplied by highly regarded witnesses that included another judge.
“Parishioners at the Church of Christ in Dayne, where Priestley was recently filling in after the death of the previous pastor, had mixed reactions to the news.”
The image hard cut to an older woman with white hair looking worried, speaking to a nodding journalist holding a microphone in front of her face.
I couldn’t even take in the words, because all I could hear was my own breathing and the thoughts screaming in my head.
Fuckingbail?
Sam was out?!
Sam wasfree?
And he wasn’t replying to my messages?
What the fuck was happening?
I threw back the covers and dressed so fast I almost toppled over before I got my yoga pants pulled all the way up.
“Jeremy,” I whispered as I ran out to the rental car, my heart pounding in my chest. “What the fuck are you doing?”
I got to Sam’s house in forty-five minutes, with my heart rate just over ninety beats per minute.
The car tires squealed as I tore up his driveway and slammed on the brakes, throwing the car door open and running to the front door, pounding on it like a mad woman.
“Sam?! Sam, I know you’re out! I know you’re free! Open the door!”
But there was nothing. My heart didn’t slow though. I caught a whiff—the tiniest scent of Cain and my entire bloodstream lit up.
I tore around the house towards that back lawn surrounded by the untended gardens and old trees—and slid to a halt when I found Sam standing stock-still on the old, cracked patio, his eyes wide, and his expression wary.
My heartswelled.And then froze.
I opened my mouth and…
“You knew him,” I accused without preamble. “You knew my father.”
Sam’s eyes narrowed, but he shook his head. “Not like that,” he said in Cain’s voice.
“You’re lying.”
His lip tightened in rage. “I amnotthe liar here.”
He tensed, obviously prepared to march me out of there, but I could finally take a deep breath.