Chapter Twenty-one

Lenora gripped the steering wheel as she zipped down I-77 in the left lane. Traffic was heavy as the lunchtime crowd traveled back to their workplaces. She concentrated on the cars around her and sought a way to pass into the next lane. As an opening came in front of a car to her right, she guided the car over until she reached the far right lane. She tapped the steering wheel as she slowed the car down. Her anxious thoughts were almost too much to handle.

God wouldn’t give her more than she could bear. She took deep breaths and prayed for the terror in her mind to cease. Finally, she turned on the street leading to Charmayne’s house.

Lenora slung the car into the driveway. Before jumping out of the car, she grabbed the crumpled paper and her purse. The loud roar of an approaching garbage truck drew her attention as she opened the car door. She turned away from the truck to focus on Charmayne’s home. Charmayne’s car wasn’t visible, but Lenora assumed the Jaguar was parked in the garage. The silver Jag was a gift from Bishop and while Charmayne had a love/hate relationship with her dad, she gladly accepted the expensive gift. How the bishop could be so flamboyant was always questionable to Lenora.

No doubt, the Freemans had exquisite tastes, but they did linger on the side of sensibility and simplicity. At least Lenora tried. She was raised by a single mother who worked many night shifts at the hospital to support her family and eventually help pay for Lenora’s college education. She was simply grateful.

Lenora scanned the neighborhood, noticing there wasn’t much movement other than the garbage truck picking up trash bins along the way. As Lenora drew closer to the front door, she stopped before heading up the steps. There was a patch of no grass growing in Charmayne’s yard. She stepped a little closer and noticed shoe prints in the dirt.

She shook her head and walked up the stairs. After she rang the doorbell, Lenora remembered Charmayne had a landscape person maintain the yard. The grass appeared to have been recently cut so Lenora wasn’t sure why her eyes were drawn to the shoe prints. As she glanced back over her shoulder at the prints, she noted they faced Charmayne’s living-room window. Almost as if someone had been standing in that spot for a while.

What was taking Charmayne so long to come to the door? Was she even home, and if she wasn’t, where was she? It occurred to Lenora that she hadn’t heard a single word from Charmayne since yesterday. It was Charmayne who came to her yesterday, upset and reaching out for help. Knowing Charmayne’s tendency for soaking her sorrows in a bottle of wine, Lenora was wondering if her friend was passed out in the house. With the cryptic threats she had received and Charmayne revealing similar threats, this was no time for a pity party.

Lenora leaned on the doorbell again. Then she cupped her hands around her face and peeked through the windowpane next to the door. Through the white sheer curtains Lenora glimpsed the hallway. She narrowed her eyes in search of movement.

Movement from the side of her left eye startled Lenora. She stumbled backward from the window and spun around. Her heart was beating fast as she clutched her shirt. Her instincts told her she saw something, but no one was behind her. She glanced down at the shoe prints once more and frowned.

Lenora turned back to the front door and banged on the door. She shouted Charmayne’s name. Now she was just making a fool of herself. She stepped back and clenched her hands. This wasn’t helping her nerves at all. She turned around and folded her arms trying to figure out what to do next.

Her ears caught a sound. A low, steady rumbling sound. How did I miss that before? She turned and walked toward the garage. It sounded like . . .

Horrified, Lenora sprinted over to the garage and yelled. “Charmayne?” She stood on her toes to try to see through the garage-door window. She was tall, but she still couldn’t see into the garage. Lenora began to bang on the garage door. How long had the car been running? It couldn’t be safe for Charmayne to be running the car inside with the garage doors closed.

Lenora quickly calculated she’d been here at the most five minutes. She ran over to the garden area and searched for an object. Picking up a smooth stone, she threw it. After the glass shattered, Lenora covered her mouth as she clearly heard the Jaguar’s engine hum louder.

She might be losing her mind, but she had to get inside that garage. With trembling fingers she reached for her phone from her bag and dialed 911. She prayed that this would all turn out fine. Charmayne would show up, give her a crazy look, and demand payment for breaking her garage window.

An operator interrupted her thoughts. “What’s your emergency?”

She answered, “I think my friend is in trouble. She’s not answering the door. It sounds like the . . .” Lenora choked. “. . . the car is running in the garage, but the doors are shut tight. That’s not good, right? Can you send someone out here? Please?”

“Ma’am, can you tell us your location?”

Lenora had been to this house over the years so many times, but the house number failed to register. She stepped back and looked at the arch over the front door. “203 . . . 203 Quest Drive. Please hurry!”

Lenora ended the call and folded her arms around her body as waves of despair clutched her mind. She chided herself as she thought back to yesterday. What did Charmayne say before she left?

I’m sorry, Lenora. I will take care of it for both of us.

Lenora held her head. “Charmayne, what have you done?”

Or better yet, who did this to you?