Page 115 of The Tomorrows After You
Nicolette
With his permission, I told Melody the truth about Riot Asher. That not only had it not been Riot, it wasn’t even one of her sons. It had been one of Grace Asher’s colleagues from the church who strangled her so she wouldn’t uncover the major drug operation he had been building in the old coal mine.
Itwasa better story. Wrongful conviction. Brother sacrifices himself for brother. A villainous church treasurer deceives everyone for years. Drug distribution. Stock manipulation. Insidertrading. Allwrappedup in a love story.
It was awaybetter story. But it no longer belonged inBeyond Bizarreso the episode was squashed.
Melody would come calling if the producerswereinterestedin whathappenedin Godot, West Virginia. Itoldher I couldn’t guarantee Riot would talk and I wouldn’t ask him to. If hewantedto tell his story, itwasgoingtobe his choice.
That could meanburningone of my last bridges with Melody. But journalistic integrity and my career standing didn’t seem nearly as important as theyusedto.
Itwasscary. Having no direction. No purpose. Noobjective.But itwasthe first time in all my years that aimlessness didn’t worry me. A part of mewasexhilarated at the endless possibilities.
The following Sunday, I didn’t want to go to church with Riot. But we had gotten wind that it was Pastor Blackwell’s last service, so I felt obligated to go since I was the one who almost got him arrested.
Hewasquestionedat length about the investments, the clinical trial, the building contractor that latergotsued, and the stock shortage. Theyfoundit hard to believe that hehadno knowledge of it. After all, anywhere that Geoffrey Brown’s nameappeared, Elias Blackwellwasright there next to it.Ifoundit hard to believe that hewascompletely guilt-free, even if his crimewaslookingthe other way.
What’s crazy is that, in the end, it wasn’t the claims of insider trading that forced him to step down. It wasn’t his connection to the coal mine that ended up being the very place that caused half of his parish to fall victim to addiction. It wasn’t even the fact that he commissioned a community to be built on land that was so high in radon that it gave one out of every six people some form of lung disease.
Nope. It was the goddamn fluoride.
The good folks of Godot were most upset that he asked for fluoride to be added to the water without their knowledge. The absence of achoicefor healthy teeth and gums was what didn’t sit well with the community. They demanded his removal.
Fucking wild, I know.
I rapped twice on Elias’ office door.
“Pastor Blackwell?” I peered in to find him packing up his personal effects and I couldn’t help the stab of guilt that struck me.
“Nicolette, please, call me Elias. No longer a pastor, and all.”
I entered the office but remained a good distance away. “I’m sorry about all this.” My eyes roamed over the packed boxes.
He waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t be. You were following your instincts. And you have good instincts. Geoff was my best friend for a very long time. He was always the smart one. I used to think he had good instincts too. Turns out those instincts were quite...manufactured.” Elias twisted his mouth in contemplation. “Given all the facts, I would have assumed the same thing about me.”
“You reallydidn’t know? Anything he was up to?” He shot me a flat look. “Off the record, I swear.” I held my hands up. “Purely human curiosity.”
He sighed and sat down, steepling his fingers. “I like to think I didn’t but if I’m being incredibly honest with myself… Some part of me had to have an inkling. When the dividends started coming in after the lawsuit…” His tongue clicked. “Well, it was just a lot of money. And I guess I didn’t want to ask where it came from. I was eager to believe the lie that it was from a legitimate investment.” He shrugged. “It was almost time to pass the torch anyhow.”
“Yeah, who’s planning to take over?”
“Excuse me!”Icringedat Katie Plainbottom’s singsong voice, brushing past me.
I smiled ironically at her. “You know,youshould have been my first guess.”
She ignored me, busying herself with unpacking a box.
Elias Blackwell took his opportunity to excuse himself. “Be well, Nicolette. Whatever you do. Go with your heart.” He hugged me before disappearing down the hall.
Katie and I were alone. I took a step toward her and she eyed me warily. She peered around the large office as if trying to distract herself.
“Not sure I really need all this space. More for the optics, I guess...”Her shouldershruggedwith a nervous giggle.
“To be the senior pastor, don’t youhaveto be, like, I don’t know, a good person? You know someone who would neverintentionallyhumiliate someone in public?”My heartthrummedwith adrenaline.
She appeared defensive at first and then sighed, shrinking away like a dog that had been caught chewing the new couch.
“That’s what I thought.” As I turned to go her voice followed me.
