The Outliers (The Outskirts Duet #2)

“That’s the thing,” I said. “All of this was done under the guise of God and discipline. I don’t know what kind of God would look at these videos and think that is properly represented his will. And if that’s the kind of god you choose to believe in, it’s not a god I want to know.”

“I’m proud of you,” Finn said leading me away from the podium underneath the tent flap behind the podium the opposite direction of the crowd.

As soon as we were on the other side someone stepped into our path. I took a startled step back. Finn pushed me behind his body. His entire body stiffened as he readied himself to go on the offense.

“It’s just me. Bridget.” I peeked out from around Finn and he stepped aside. I approached her like I would a small child who might easily scare.

“Thank you for leaving us that phone.”

Bridget kicked at the dirt. “No, thank you for using it. I stole it years ago. Been sneaking around taking videos here and there. Never really knew what I was going to do with them or how I was going to get people to see them. It’s me who should be thanking you.”

“Do you need a place to go, Bridget?” Finn asked using the same soft tone I was.

She shook her head. “My husband was carted off as well. I think I’m gonna be okay. Gonna go back to North Carolina and ransack the house. Take anything of value and I’m going to take a page from your book and... escape.”

There was an excitement. A life in her voice that hadn’t been there before. Bridget skipped off as my heart skipped while watching her leave.

“Look what you did, baby,” Finn said, pulling he into the crook of his arm. “She’s going to have her own life now. A real life all because of you.”

I was on the verge of tears. I couldn’t believe it. “No,” I shook my head. “Not because of me. Because of her.”

“You’re right,” Finn agreed. “I think Bridget was much stronger than we gave her credit for.”

Bridget had proven to be more than I’d judged her to be. I’d never make that same mistake again. Because, as we’d just witnessed, Bridget was a force to be reckoned with.

And the day of reckoning was here.





Chapter 23





Sawyer





Because of the serious nature of Richard’s crimes, he was denied bail. He was awaiting trial in the Brillhart County prison. We were told the evidence was ironclad and he wouldn’t be seeing freedom for a very long time.

If ever.

I didn’t know if I could ever get used to not having to look over my shoulder, although my steps felt a bit lighter and the mood between those I care about most had improved considerably.

Finn told me to meet him at the library. Of course, we happened to be getting a hurricane that very night. My first one.

When I had asked Miller how I needed to prepare for the hurricane he laughed and told me, “It’s only a category one. You only need to buy some more beer.”

“What do you do for category five?” I’d asked.

Josh answered by telling me that the best way to prepare for category five was to place your head between your knees and kiss your ass goodbye.

I’d make sure to remember that.

I arrived at the library right on time. “What is all this?” I asked, looking around the dark room. The only light was coming from an overhead projector. Finn stood on the back of the room, fiddling with dials on multiple little black boxes. “Finn?”

Finn guided me by the hand to the center of the room where he’d pushed aside all the desks and set up a blanket and pillows all over the floor. “You can call me Professor Hollis and tonight you are my pupil so have a seat young lady.” He moved to the front of the room and stood in front of a large screen hanging from the ceiling.

“What’s going on? What is this?” I asked, perching myself among the soft pillows. “I thought we were here because of the hurricane, but the storm isn’t set to come in until later tonight.”

“You are correct. We are here because it’s the highest point in town and the furthest away from the water in case of flooding. But I thought we could get here early. I wanted to spend some time educating that precious and very sexy mind of yours in the ways of our odd world. All in the name of your quest for knowledge, I wanted to teach you some things before the power goes out.

“Okay,” I said, skeptically, folding my legs up like a pretzel.

Finn smiled and that dimple I love so much appeared. “Welcome to extremely shortened version of everything in our world. My name is Professor Hollis and I will be in charge of molding your mind this evening,” Finn said, dramatically extending his arms.

I laughed at how seriously he was taking this and I was touched at how much trouble he’d gone through.

“Shall we begin?” Finn pushed up the fake plastic black rimmed glasses up the bridge of his nose. He was wearing a long white lab coat. He had a remote in his hand and he stood off to the side of the projector. He clicked a button and a black and white picture of an ape appeared on the screen. “You’ll note the pen and pad on the floor in front of you, Miss Dixon. I recommend taking notes so you won’t fall behind before the test.”

I picked up the notebook and pen and nodded for Finn to continue. “Very good. First lesson. Evolution.” He clicked the remote. On the screen was written the very next words he spoke. “People came from apes.”

He clicked the remote again. It was a drawing. A portrait of a man wearing a white wig with the American Flag across the background. “Lesson two. American Politics.”

He shook his head and clicked through two more slides. “All you need to know is that modern politics aren’t rooted in any sort of factual realm created by humans.” He clicked the remote again and a picture of a group of twenty something adults were sitting on a couch in a cafe. “Now, on to pop culture. How much do you know about the show Friends?”

“Not a thing.”

“Good, because this is where I take over Professor Hollis,” Miller showed up wearing a matching lab coat and plastic rimmed glasses. He took the remote from Finn and they exchanged long hard handshakes and pseudo stern looks.

“I didn’t even hear you come in!” I said to Miller as Finn joined me on the floor.

He buffed his nails on his coat. “I mean. Most people don’t. I AM a distant relative to Batman. Which brings me to our next subject.” He clicked the remote and the screen showed dozens of illustrations of men and women all dressed in tight fitting costumes and masks. I recognized some of them and others I didn’t. “Superheroes and all the ways they are incredibly awesome,” Miller said.

I laughed through the entire next hour where Miller’s lessons ranged from ‘Why Nickelback music doesn’t suck all that bad’, and ‘Why Bruce Willis should be nominated for Sainthood.’