chapter 4: Buried promises

The following morning cassidy was in her office,Billy carr's words still replaying on her mind,she could still clearly remember his warning

"This town has a way of keeping secrets."

She knew she was treading on a dangerous ground,but her instincts urged her to stop at nothing until she uncovered the whole truth.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud knock on the door,then the door was gently pushed as Mark poked his head in with a visible smirk on his face.

"I know you'd really want to see this." He said as he handed her a sealed envelope. "I found it this morning,slipped under the front door,with no return address."

She hastily took the envelope from Mark,furrowing her brow, she opened the envelope cautiously and pulled out a single photograph. The photo was black- and- White, clearly worn out,and covered with dust, the image had started becoming blurry,but no one would miss the figure in the photo. Reverend Solomon Hayes!- much younger, and his hands were wrapped on the the shoulder of the girl on his left side,who was a teenager.

"Reverend Solomon" Cassidy said in an almost loud whisper,as she turned the photo over,and stumbled upon bold writings in red "transgressions of the father"

"Who is the girl?" Mark said moving closer,and taking a good look at the picture

Cassidy shrugged and nodded,then proceeded in a voice likely suggesting defeat, "I honestly don't know,but the girl looks barely sixteen."

She took a close look at the Reverend,she studied her face,the familiarity in his smile,something about him was quite disturbing, "he seems like a different person here,not the one he's pretending to be right now,it's all but a facade."

"And the more we look deeply into this matter,is the more I'm slightly convinced that Solomon is a changed person. And this, this seems like someone who is trying to make us remember who he really is."

Cassidy nodded in agreement. She slipped back the photo into her case file. "Let's not lose sight of the bigger picture, I want to know everything about Solomon's past,and if there are other 'skeletons in his closet' like this one,I want to get a hold of them,and have them all on my desk.

"Yeah,sure." Mark said while walking out of her office. Then she took her phone and scrolled through her contact list,until she found the contact she was looking for, Ruthie Lane- Gracetown unofficial historian, the steward of the local folklore,ornaments and family histories. If there's anyone who could help her solve the puzzle of Grace town twisted past,then Ruthie would be the perfect bait.

Ruthie lived on the outskirts of Grace town,her beautiful cottage perfectly placed between the towering pines. Cassidy parked her car in front of her house,and made her way to the door. She knocked gently,and after a few seconds,Ruthie appeared with a smile on her face.

"Sheriff Cassidy, I was expecting you'd show up knocking at my door any moment. Heard about the demise of Sarah,poor child,what a tragedy..."

Cassidy knoded,and followed Ruthie into her cozy living room. The walls were full of cards and framed photos of Grace town,from several decades ago.

"Ruthie,I was hoping you'd help me out with something. I have come across some unsettling truth about Grace town,and I'm highly convinced they are linked to Sarah's death

Ruthie's eyes darkened,her expression became subtly cold.

" The past always has a way of holding onto the present,and people always think they can escape the past but that's not the case."

Cassidy took out the photograph that Mark gave her from her back pocket.

"Do you happen to know this girl who is with Reverend Solomon in the picture? How are they related?"

"This was probably taken years ago,likely before Solomon left Grace town for the first time." Ruthie said,while narrowing her eyes

"She is Maureen Hughes,a sweet and quite lady,she was always in the company of Solomon and his friends when coming to church."

"Where is she right now?" Cassidy asked.

A cloud of sorrow covered Ruthie's face,she wanted to say something but her voice became husky

"She..she, Maureen vanished one night,and no one has ever seen her again. Her parents were made to believe by the police that perhaps she ran away,but they didn't but it,they believed there was more to it."

Cassidy's chest was throbbing loudly her heart sank. "Do you believe Solomon had anything to do with it?"

Ruthie's eyes met with hers,she could tell that these unfoldings were affecting her.

" I can't know what Solomon did or did not do; but something I'm sure about is that; he had a certain darkness growing up,he was gullible and really good at conniving; he easily twisted people's faith and beliefs to suit his needs, he was quite lethal then,I doubt he'd easily change,let alone change in a short period.

"Please,be careful."

She could read concern from Ruthie's voice.

"Thanks Ruthie, I'll be careful."

"I hope so." Ruthie said as she placed her hands gently on Cassie's shoulder. " Grace town may seem like a small peaceful town from the outside,but it has a lot of pain buried inside, a lot of sins swept under the rugs,and

grounds never walked on,which digging, brings with them great repercussions.

****************************

Later that day, Cassidy sat in her brightly lit office,staring closely at the photo of Solomon and Maureen,her mind almost blowing up with millions and millions of questions running through it. She had a strong feeling that the disappearance of Maureen Hugher was connected to the murder of Sarah parker,although,she couldn't figure out how,was Solomon's past haunting him?

She was preparing to leave the office,but before stepping out her phone beeped and a message notification came up,she opened her phone with a slight tremor and fear. It was the unknown number.

_"They know you're getting close. Tread carefully."_

She quickly gripped her phone tightly and wrote a quick message, "who are you?"

No answer.

She was glued their for a moment,but then a knock on the door brought back her concentration. She became alerted,her legs slightly trembling,she wanted to ask whoever was at the door,but the words did not come out at the perfect time because,Reverend Solomon was already in,he stood there looking pale and beaten up.

"Sheriff,he said with a low voice,while walking slowly towards his desk. "I hear you've been making so much inquiries about me."

Cassidy was slightly terrified but she tried so hard to maintain her composure,while making a gesture for him to take a seat.

"As far as i am concerned,I'm just carrying out my duty Reverend,I have to get the story from all the angles."

Reverend Hayes remained calm with concealed emotions. "I changed my ways and came to this town to make amends, I came here to lead the people of this community back to God, but I can see you are really determined to ruin my reputation and drag my name through the mud."

"This is not about you Reverend,this is about finding justice for Sarah parker." She said in a confident but unwavering voice.

Solomon's eyes become dark, " And you think that justice lies in the past? A life I already left behind?"

"Left behind? Maybe or maybe not Reverend." Cassidy said narrowing her eyes and leaning forward to exert importance to her words. "Like this morning, I came across a photo of you together with a young missing lady- Maureen Haughes,care to explain?"

She could see that the moment she mentioned that name, a flicker of fear,perhaps surprise or an emotion she couldn't quite describe because Solomon fought so hard to mask it.

"Maureen was just a friend,nothing much. She was troubled,perhaps lost, I don't know...i tried to be of assistance to her but it bore no fruit,so she ran,that's all I know Sheriff."

"Really? You think that's all? because people who were close to her think that there's more to the story." Cassie said while closely studying him,to get a hold of his reaction.

Reverend Solomon clenched his hands into a fist,it was clear that he was boiling up with anger,he took a step close to cassie,she was afraid,but did not want to give him the satisfaction of watching her tremble,so she stood still. He got close and whispered into her ears with a hoarse voice,

"You don't know what you are dealing with Sheriff. Grace town has a deep history,and it usually doesn't take it kindly with strangers who try to stirr it up."

Cassidy felt a cold chill in her spine. "Is that supposed to be a threat Reverend?"

"No, a warning for you not to start what you won't be able to finish." He said with a diabolical smile covering his face.

"Well, Reverend Solomon,I'm not the type of person to be intimidated,and be ready to face the law if at all you're hiding something,because I'll unmask the truth,that,is a promise." Cassie said assertively.

Reverend Solomon did not respond,he just looked at her for a moment, with unreadable expressions,then he turned and walked away leaving Cassie in heavy silence.

As she stepped out of the office,Cassie's mind raced with so many unanswered questions. She felt the threads of Gracetown past pulling her into it's darkest and deepest end. Reverend Solomon was hiding something,something that went beyond Maureen Hughes and Sarah Parkers death.

At that moment,she realized that she was not only hunting a killer but digging into a series of dark secrets,one which would easily make her the next target of the killers!