Precedent: Book Three: Covenant of Trust Series Read Online Free Page B

left.
    “ I’m thankful you’re okay.” Chuck stepped closer and squeezed her hand.
    Physically, maybe. “Did you catch his name?”
    “ It’ll be on his bill, I’m sure.”
    “ He was nice. Kinda reminded me of Joel.”
    “ So you do talk about me when I’m not around.” Joel Molinsky pulled the privacy curtain aside and crossed the room to her bed in three long strides.
    “ Honey, what are you doing here?” Bobbi said.
    “ I was in the neighborhood.”
    “ No, really,” Bobbi persisted.
    “ Dad.” Joel hugged Chuck, ignoring her.
    “ Joel?” Bobbi said one last time.
    “ Really, Mom. I’m, uh, clearing my schedule.” He rolled his eyes to the ceiling and took a deep breath. “Anyway, I was practically next door at Cardinal Glennon, so I went ahead and stopped in, rather than wait until you got home, so I could stop worrying.”
    “ I thought I was the only one who worried.” She reached for him, and he leaned down so she could wrap her arms around his neck.
    “ I love you, Mom,” he whispered.
    “ I love you, too.” Holding one of her children close was better than all the medications and all the rest in the world. Now she needed the others.
    After the embrace, he looked her in the eyes. “Are you okay this morning?”
    “ No, but I can go as soon as all the paperwork is done.”
    “ I talked to the kids last night,” Joel said.
    “ How were they? What did they say?”
    “ Jack needs somebody to sit down with him and let him talk for about twelve hours straight, then I think he’ll be fine.”
    “ And Shannon?”
    “ Shannon is like her mother.” He grinned, but then he grew serious. “Everything inside her is all churned up. She’s angry, scared, hurt, confused and it’s all very intense.”
    “ And I was stuck here all night,” Bobbi muttered.
    “ I don’t know if you could have done anything for her, Mom. I think she’s gonna have to sort this all out for herself.”
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 3
    Antipathy
     
     
     
    When Shannon tried to open her eyes, they burned and scraped like someone had ground dry sand into them. She didn’t know she had that many tears in her. Last night Joel just let her cry, without saying stupid things to try and make her feel better. She loved him for that.
    She asked him point-blank where God was. From what the doctor said, just a fraction of an inch would have saved Brad’s life. Couldn’t God have given the bullet a little push, just a half inch? Joel shook his head and said he couldn’t explain it. Nobody could explain it.
    Still in yesterday’s clothes, she pulled a sweatshirt over her head and wandered downstairs. Uncle Gavin and Aunt Rita sat in the kitchen where she’d left them last night. Rita rounded the table and hugged Shannon tightly. “Morning, baby. You feel like breakfast?”
    “ No. Are Mom and Dad home?”
    “ It won’t be long. They were signing papers, and as soon as that’s done, they’re leaving.”
    “ So Mom’s okay?”
    “ She’s a strong woman.”
    “ Crazy strong. Where’s Jack?”
    “ He went for a walk. He’s desperately trying to remember what he saw last night, hoping it’ll help the police. ”
    “ For whatever good it will do,” Shannon muttered, and dropped into a chair at the kitchen table. “Jack didn’t see anything.”
    “ You’d be surprised what the police can use,” Gavin said. “I’d say the boys who were the actual targets would be more than willing to give their rivals over to the cops.”
    “ You really think so?”
    “ God will bring this around,” Gavin said with a wink and a nod. “Wait and see.”
    “ If God had been on the job in the first place, He wouldn’t have anything to bring around.” She pushed away from the table and walked out of the kitchen. Uncle Gavin always said stuff like that about God. His family never had hard times of their own, just what her family went through, so it was easy to believe God was all sunshine and rainbows. Only Kara’s