Payback by Melody Carlson Read Free Book Online Page A

image is gone. I blink and shake my head and wonder if this was truly from God or just my imagination runningamuck. Why would Steven be dressed in black and acting so goofy like that? Surely he’s not the predator who plans to shoot innocent kids at a high school prom next week. That’s just too bizarre.
    I jump when I hear a horn honk behind me. Then I realize I’m just sitting at the stop sign with no cross traffic coming. So I put my foot on the gas and move forward, still trying to sort out what I just saw…or imagined. Very weird.
    When I get to Olivia’s, I tell her about this most recent vision, saying that it makes absolutely no sense. “I’m not that fond of Steven,” I admit, “but I hardly think he’d shoot high school kids. And yet he seemed so sinister and evil to me. Not anything he did, but just a feeling I got. Silly, huh?”
    “It does seem pretty strange.”
    “I wonder what it means…Was it a legitimate vision or something I just imagined?” I shake my head. “Sometimes I wish God would just rent a well-lit billboard or maybe a reader board. You know, print out whatever it is in bold letters to get His messages across. Much simpler.”
    “But God wants to use people to get His messages across, Sam.”
    I nod. “Yeah, I know. But sometimes it’s confusing.”
    As we drive to the dress-rental place again, I tell her that I think I’ll have to disguise myself for the next prom so the guys in Stewed Oysters don’t wonder why I’m there or mention something to Conrad about me being with a different guy.
    “Oh yeah, I hadn’t even considered that.”
    “So I’m thinking a wig and some really wild makeup or maybe even sunglasses,” I tell her. “It’s a casino theme, so I suppose I could be a little over the top.”
    “I have a blond wig you could borrow,” she says.
    “Why on earth do you have a
blond
wig?” I frown at her. “In case you haven’t noticed, you’re
already
a blonde.”
    “The wig happens to have short hair.” She laughs. “Remember when I was thinking about cutting my hair last spring? Well, I ordered this short wig online just to see what I’d look like.”
    “You never told me that.”
    “Because it looked totally stupid.” She laughs. “The wig’s style is right out of the fifties or sixties—like a big bubble head.”
    “Sounds perfect. And maybe I’ll go for that flashy red dress this time.”
    “I’ll have to tell the guys in the band about the casino theme,” she says. “Maybe we can dress up too. This is going to be such a hoot, Sam.”
    I consider the irony as I pull up to the rental store. The fact that she’s thinking this is all about fun and games when, in reality, I’m actually trying to prevent an extremely serious crime…well, it feels slightly twisted. Still, I have to agree with Olivia, it is kind of fun too. Crazy.

Five
    Y ou don’t think Steven has anything to do with the prom shooting, do you?” Ebony asks me after I tell her about my latest vision. “Any possible links to terrorism?”
    “I can’t imagine that he does,” I admit. “But the image I saw of him seemed sinister.”
    “How do you feel about Steven…I mean, personally? Do you like him?”
    “To be honest, I didn’t like him at all to start with. But I guess I sort of got used to him. Do I
like
him? Probably not a lot. Still, he seems to make my mom happy. For her sake, I’m trying to be tolerant.”
    “And this seemed like an authentic vision from God?”
    “Yes…”
    “How about if I run a background check on him? Where did you say he moved from?”
    “Southern California.”
    “That’s rather broad. Did he mention a specific city?”
    “I think he said he has a brother in San Diego and a mom somewhere else down there…but I can’t remember him saying exactly where he’s from.”
    “And you say he’s an investment broker?”
    “Something like that—insurance, investments, that sort of thing.”
    “Do you know where he works?” I