Free Earthway by Aimée Thurlo

doubt she’s responsible for what happened to Tache.There’s nothing in her background that indicates she’d have theexpertise to make a bomb,” Blalock said.
    “You can get almost anything you want these days via the Internet—including know-how. I don’t know how complicated that bomb was, that report’s not in yet. But if it was black powder in a pipe . . . how much training could that take?” Ella asked.
    “You’re making premature judgements and that’s a good way to get broadsided when you least expect it.”
    Beforeshe could answer, Ella saw her brother come out of the critical care unit. “I’ve got to get going,” she told Blalock.
    Clifford came up to them, and Blalock nodded, greeting him merely as
hataalii.
The two had been forced to work together several times in the past, and had gained a mutual, if grudging, respect for one another over the years.
    “It’s time for us to go to the college,” Clifford said,looking at Ella.
    As they headed down the hall, Justine and Ford came around the corner. Clifford slowed slightly and smiled at Justine, but his face became politely neutral as he glanced at Ford.
    Ella signaled to her brother that she needed a moment, but Clifford seemed reluctant to stop.
    “I’ll meet you downstairs by the SUV,” Clifford said, then strode off.
    Ford stopped to talk to her, butdidn’t relax until Clifford was out of view and the hall was empty. “Did he finish his blessing?”
    Ella nodded. “I can’t say I envy you going up there. The New Traditionalists won’t want you there at all, but the Christians need your support.”
    “When Ralph’s sister Trudy asked me to say a prayer by her brother’s bedside, I couldn’t refuse. That’s what my job’s all about.”
    Ella nodded. “I know.The good thing is that you’re safehere at the hospital. Once you leave, stick close to Justine. She’ll keep you safe.”
    “But what about later, at my home? I understand that you don’t think Abednego will be enough protection.”
    Ella looked around. “Where is he, by the way?”
    “Out in my car. The temperature’s nice and cool in the evenings, and he knows to stay put,” Ford said. “But getting backto what I was saying, I got a call from Michael Cloud. He told me that you’d given him and his brother orders to watch over me tonight.”
    “It’s the best way. I’d stay with you, but that would create a whole new world of problems.”
    “You’re right,” he answered. “I’m glad you understand.”
    Glancing down the hall and seeing that Clifford was long gone, she added, “I better get going, but I’m gladthat Tache’s family has both you and my brother to rely on. You’re each needed now.”
    His parting expression left no doubt that she’d said the wrong thing. When it came to certain matters, Ford’s mind was completely closed. Her father, also a minister, had been the same way. His belief in the God he served required that he accept no other powers. It saddened her to think that the two men closestto her, Clifford and Ford, would never get along.
    A few minutes later, Ella joined Clifford, who was standing beside her police unit. “I wish you’d try to be a little friendlier to the reverend, brother,” she said, not referring to Ford by name out of respect for her brother’s beliefs.
    “We have fundamental differences, so that’s as friendly as it’ll ever get between us,” he answered. There wasno anger in his voice, just acceptance.
    They climbed into the vehicle, and Ella drove out of the hospital parking lot. As she thought about what Clifford had said, she realized that some things would never change. Religion,for all its talk about brotherhood, had, over the years, built insurmountable walls between millions of people.
    “Once we get to the college, how can I help you?” he asked,breaking the silence after they’d traveled a few miles.
    “Keep people focused on you. I’ll do my wallflower bit, then sneak away for a walk. If I