Page 113 of Now Until Forever
“I have taken care of the threat.”
“You’re the source of the threat,” Eliana said. “You’re the one who ordered them to coerce me into that apartment. It all happened because of you, because you’re the Mother.”
Lydia started to chuckle again. “What a quaint notion, that I would run a cult.”
“No, you’re just a murderer.”
Sylvia had talked her through the cases they found. Unsolved murders everywhere that Lydia had lived. Proof that she was some kind of monster behind the serene veneer, the qualifications, and the high-priced outfits. Despite all the good she seemed determined to do in the city, nothing could erase the fact that she was rotten to the core.
How could she not be the one who’d ordered them to take Carlos?
Lydia said, “All we can be is who we are.”
Eliana didn’t even want to ask about all the layers that made up this woman. The little she knew, she already wished she didn’t. “Did you take my friend Carolena, then? Is that what you’ve been doing?”
“Let’s stay on topic, shall we?”
“I’d rather you just tell me what you’ve done.”
“And where would the fun be in honesty? After all, you’re only going to go to the police and tell them a wild tale that they will never believe. I’ve worked hard to generate a stellar reputation in this city. There’s nothing you can say to convince the police I’m a monster. Besides, you have no evidence.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to tell Lydia that the police and the Shrine had files on her. Sooner or later, they would connect every unsolved crime to Lydia Rosenberg. But then, if there had been no evidence at the Shrine when Doctor Splitfield was discovered, how could they possibly pin the crimes on her as the perpetrator?
So either she left no evidence at all—or someone in the department had covered up her involvement.
“Tell me if you’re the one behind the canisters, the theft from the vault, the murders, or the Reverence Sisters.”
“That is a long list of crimes. Of course, I would need time to think about it.”
“You know what you’ve been up to,” Eliana said. “What kind of game are you playing?”
“Finally,” Lydia said. “Now you are starting to ask the right questions. I just knew that if I pushed you a little bit, the part of you that takes after your mother, not just in looks, would start to show itself. Once you fully realize who you really are, then the game will begin.”
“You think I’m your adversary? I’m a security guard.” Eliana closed her eyes, squeezing them shut. Wherever the cabbie drove, hopefully they would eventually reach her apartment building. But right now, she didn’t really care.
“We both know you’re far more than that.”
Eliana sighed. “How long have you been interfering with my life?”
“It depends on what your mother has told you about that day in the woods.”
“You mean…my dream?”
More like a nightmare. The one that had haunted Eliana off and on for years. Lately, it had morphed into something entirely different, but were there snatches of memory hidden deep inside the troubling images?
She didn’t want to know what they meant and wasn’t sure this woman was prepared to give her the truth either.
Lydia finally spoke. “You and I both know very well that often it’s the nightmare that is the truest thing we can experience. Peace and safety? Those only bring about complacency. Fear is something that makes us come alive. It tells us who we really are—and who we’ve been denying that we always will be.”
Eliana was terrified of losing Carlos. That no matter how hard she prayed, or what she did to try to get him back, she might’ve already lost him for good. God’s answers to her prayers weren’t wrapped up in her actions, intentions, or how much she could do for Him to earn His favor. But that only meant shemight be completely ineffectual, given that He was in complete control of her life and everything else.
Who wanted to give up total control and have things get worse?
Could she really give Him so much trust that she allowed Him to take away the one person she wanted to keep hold of? Eliana would’ve said that she’d yielded her life to the Lord. But if she wasn’t prepared to let Him be in control of everything—if she even wanted to keep an inkling of one thing for herself—she hadn’t really surrendered to Him.
Eliana gripped the phone. “What are you afraid of?”
Dead air was her only reply.
