Bishop didn’t know what to do. He was almost in denial, but he knew his daughter wouldn’t play any practical jokes in this manner. Receiving a text from his only daughter, he took his responsibility of being a father seriously.
Daddy. Can you say a prayer for me and Stoney? She offered to drive me back to Houston, but she’s acting weird
Was how she started off her messages. Several messages later, Mercy had spilled the beans on how she had been helping Stoney locate her mother. By the time Mercy informed her dad how her friend seemed to be on a mission for Houston, feeling no real threat in the situation, Bishop Perry didn’t think to call, but to only stop and pray for the girls.
Later that afternoon, walking from the back door of their home, Ky wandered toward Mercy’s secluded home on their premises. Using the key, he entered with a mind for prayer over his daughter’s home and surroundings.
“Dear Lord. I don’t know if I should worry, but I’m coming on behalf of my daughter and her friend, Lord. If Mercy is feeling uneasy and there is no need for her to be, dear God, please bring her comfort.” he went around the house with his anointing oil, leaving invisible crosses.
When Mercy’s computer made a humming sound, Bishop Perry looked in its direction and walked over. With a click of a single key, the screen appeared. Obviously Mercy had forgotten to shut it down before she left. With information displayed on the screen, he sat down to take a closer look.
A document was open on the screen. A paid search engine was open as well. There was one name listed over one hundred times from the state of Texas.
“Oh my Lord,” he said aloud. “Michelle Morgan,” he read on the search engine’s page. On the document that had been saved to the computer’s hard drive, Bishop Perry read, “Maeshell h. Morgan, now known as Michelle Morgan. Married to Keithe Morgan…” Taking a moment to try to comprehend what he was seeing, Ky searched more on the file titled, “Find Stoney’s Mother.”
Having an inkling that his daughter did not know to what extent she’d gotten involved, Bishop Perry knew that if Michelle hart had to be involved, he had to get involved.
Keithe’s ride, once again, back to Houston was a long, treacherous one. The only difference this time was that he was going back to pack and move forward with his life, away from Michelle.
The last straw had come and gone. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t been down the road with Michelle plenty of times before. The only difference this time was that he’d heard it for himself. He didn’t have to hear it through the grapevine, or receive hints from people in his office. A disease had to make its way through his bloodstream. The doctor’s call, along with Michelle’s conversation to her beau, had told him everything he needed to know.
Finally pulling into his distinguished and well-constructed driveway, Keithe clicked his car’s garage door opener, thrust his car into park, and waited for the door to rise. Just as he was about to switch his car into drive, his cell phone rang while in its holster.
“Keithe Morgan speaking,” he answered, not knowing what information lay on the other end of the phone. Instead of turning off his engine, Keithe jerked his car in reverse and sped away from his home.
“Now what?” he wanted—no, he needed—to make sure he had heard Bishop Perry correctly. Driving toward his downtown office building, Keithe adhered to what Bishop Perry suggested: to not go home. He didn’t think it necessary to tell the Bishop he had already touched ground in front of his home and then drove off. Instead, he continued with the conversation, although his body was tired and his eyes were heavy. Traveling without any preparations, Keithe hadn’t taken any medication for the day, and hoped the whole situation wouldn’t keep him away from home too long.
Bishop Perry cleared his throat and cloudlessly eased into his approach with Keithe. “Since last seeing and speaking to you, ah, earlier, a lot has transpired in my family life.” he left room to just dwell on his thoughts. “And not all for the good, Deacon,” the bishop shared as he and his wife, Kendra, were being driven to Houston in order to get Stoney as far away from Mercy as possible. The phone calls he had been making to his daughter, on her cell phone, had gone unanswered, only adding to their worries. With her text messages being sporadic, their only focus was to make it to Houston.
“Oh wow, Bishop. I’m sorry to hear that. Is there something I can help you with? I mean, I doubt Michelle is at home. I could have spoken with you there.” Keithe hadn’t a clue that the Bishop’s heartbreak included him.
“There is. Deacon I’m asking for your help because, well, it’s your wife.” Bishop didn’t know how to break the news to Keithe any other way. He was sorry for having to continuously dump hard information on Keithe about his wife, but he had no choice. “I’m on my way to Houston now, Deacon. I know you are a saved and holy Ghost–filled man of God. This is personal.”
“I’m listening, Bishop.” Keithe agreed to be and do whatever it was that Bishop Perry needed, even before he had completed his thoughts.
For the next fifteen minutes, Bishop explained how his daughter had befriended a girl who turned out to not have good intentions. With no mention of the friend’s name, Keithe held on to the story, hoping he could actually help the Bishop.
Bishop Perry went on to inform Keithe how the young girl had been looking for her mother for some years. Per the notes he’d seen and what Mercy had texted him, since she and Mercy had become friends, Mercy had been helping her as well. He finished his rundown by reading off the text messages he had received from his daughter.
“They are headed to Houston if not there already,” Bishop stated, having no idea that Stoney had driven as close as she could to Keithe the entire trip. “I need someone to find this girl. My daughter is frightened for some reason, and Mercy is a strong enough individual to know when something is out of whack. I have the police involved from this end, but being that you are there and—”
“And what, Bishop?” all Keithe needed was the name. The story was too familiar, and though he felt as if he were in the midst of a Twilight Zone episode, Keithe knew what was coming next.
“The girl is no doubt coming to look for her mother, Deacon.” Bishop looked over all the information he had taken from Mercy’s apartment. There was no easy way to break the news but to just do it. “She’s coming to your home, Deacon. Your wife is her mother. Michelle is Stoney hart’s mother.”
When he finally heard Bishop Perry release the information, there was nothing that could help Keithe hold his peace. Keithe, knowing the information would activate stress, clutched his chest when his breathing was thrown off course. Gasping for big gulps of breath, Keithe couldn’t pull over quickly enough before his mind started to cloud and the feeling he’d so often felt before crowded his body. The onset of his seizure had already begun, leading his vehicle off the road.