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I gasped, and Hortense turned toward me. “You are Elijah’s relative?”
She nodded, and then tilted her head. “You know of him?”
I pulled out my phone and opened the family tree I’d made for Elijah’s family. “I’ve been researching his, I mean, your family for Bethel Church.” I handed her the phone, and she looked at it briefly.
“So you’re the one. Levi said he spoke to you, but you didn’t seem willing to listen to reason.” Her voice was heavy, sad almost.
“He threatened her,” Mika said, “and her son.”
My throat was suddenly very tight, and I had to take a deep breath. If I thought things were complicated before. “Yes, that’s right. He did,” I said softly.
Hortense raised her hands over her head and then let them fall. “I had no idea. I asked him to persuade you to stop your inquiri
