Chapter 19Charlie felt as if the ground was falling away from her as she stared at the screen of her phone. Leave it to Conscience to reappear now, up to his old tricks, just as she was about to accomplish something worthwhile.
"You haven't heard from him in days, have you?" asked Gloria.
"I thought maybe he was leaving you alone," added Sutra.
Charlie just shook her head slowly. The words on the phone looked the same as any text--same font, same size--but they packed so much terrible power that they took her breath away. In a flash, they drained all the confidence right out of her, putting her back in the mindset of the victim she'd been before Nil came along.
Gloria put the crimson laptop back in the trunk. "What does it say?"
Charlie held up the phone for her to read. "This."
