A Walk Across the Sun by Corban Addison Read Free Book Online Page A

actually quite down-to-earth people.
    â€œI’m sure Ted had more to do with that than Amy,” Thomas quipped.
    His father chuckled. “The girl never seems to eat anything.”
    â€œListen, I’m sorry I didn’t come,” Thomas said with a smile. He didn’t expect to mean it, but he found that he really did.
    â€œAll is forgiven,” his mother said. “Now dig in.”

    Over dinner, they tried to steer the conversation toward lighter topics. But the gravity of recent events caught up with them as they were finishing the main course. His mother asked Thomas if he had heard about the tsunami in the Indian Ocean.
    â€œThey were talking about it on the radio,” Thomas replied.
    â€œYour mother has been glued to the television all afternoon,” the Judge said.
    â€œIt’s unfathomable,” Elena said, shaking her head. “All those people …” Her voice wavered with feeling. “How can something like that happen?”
    â€œI don’t know,” Thomas said. It was the second time he had confronted that question in a single day. He thought of Abby’s mother, crying in his arms. He turned toward his father.
    â€œWhile we’re talking about depressing topics, Dad, I’d like to get your impression of something that happened to me on the drive home.”
    He told the Judge about the kidnapping and his conversation with Detective Morgan. There was purpose in his disclosure. His father sat atop one of the most powerful judicial districts in the country. If anyone had a bird’s-eye view of American crime, he did.
    When Thomas finished speaking, his father rubbed his chin. “Hmm, Fort Bragg is in Fayetteville.” After a pause, he went on: “It might not have been an ordinary kidnapping. We’ve seen a spike in trafficking cases in the past year.”
    Thomas frowned. “What does the fort have to do with it?”
    â€œIt’s simple, really. The fort offers the pimps a steady client base.”
    Elena made the sign of the cross and stood up suddenly, starting to clear the dishes. Trading a glance with his father, Thomas stood to help her. Afterward, they retired to the living room. Thomas sipped a glass of eggnog while his father stoked the flames in the fireplace.
    They congregated around the Christmas tree and Elena picked up an old leather Bible from an end table. She opened to the Gospel of Luke, as she always did at this season, but she just stared at the page. After a moment, she put the Bible down.
    â€œI’m not sure I can read right now,” she said.
    â€œI’ll read it,” the Judge said and took the Bible from her.
    He flipped to the Advent passage and read the time-worn words. Thomas listened as he had every year of his life, but the passage meant little to him anymore. He had been confirmed into the Church like every other Catholic boy, but the ideas in the Catechism had frayed and faded during his years at Yale. In the real world, doubt was the only truth.
    When the Judge finished the reading, Elena reached beneath the Christmas tree and handed Thomas a small package, wrapped in gold paper. Listening to the Scripture seemed to have calmed her nerves. She smiled at Thomas and glanced at the Judge.
    â€œYour father picked them out,” she said.
    Thomas removed the paper and opened a jeweler’s box containing a pair of silver cufflinks. The cufflinks bore his initials: TRC. The “R” was for Randolph.
    â€œPriya was always trying to get you to wear those prissy Frenchcuff shirts,” his father said with a little laugh. “I thought these would help.”
    â€œShe was always trying to get me to do a lot of things,” Thomas said.
    Elena pulled out a second package. “I bought this for her,” she said with a sigh. “I found it at a used bookstore. I suppose I could keep it, but I’d prefer you to take it with you.”
    Thomas shook his head.