“Right.” Rachel grabbed Georgia by the arm as she clicked the phone off. The sound of footsteps caught her attention and she turned in time to see a tall form rushing them. Rachel spotted a long metal rod swinging toward Georgia. She pushed Georgia aside in time for the blow to catch her on her tender shoulder. She screamed and fell to the floor.
A second swish of the rod struck Georgia across her thigh. She screamed and Rachel looked up to see Brenda Tilden glaring at Georgia. For a split second Rachel’s mind didn’t connect Brenda with the attack. Brenda. She was the woman with the warm smile. The woman who loved KC. However anger in Brenda’s gaze distorted that warmth into something twisted and frightening.
Before Rachel could assemble words or right herself, Brenda fumbled handcuffs from her hoodie pocket and handcuffed Rachel’s wrist and pulled. Rachel screamed.
“Move toward her.”
Pain cut through Rachel. When she hesitated, Brenda fished a .38 revolver from her pocket and pointed it at Georgia.
Staring down the barrel of the gun freed Rachel from her confusion. Whoever Brenda had been didn’t matter. What mattered was now. “Brenda, what are you doing? I don’t understand.”
Brenda shoved out a breath. “Shut up. Shut the hell up.”
Georgia winced as she sat straighter, confusion making her gaze look a little wild. “Brenda? Is KC with you?”
Brenda sneered, hate dripping from her words as she spoke. “He’s gone. He’s like the others. Loves me but doesn’t really love me. Said it was too soon to meet his boy.”
Rachel searched for her phone and found it inches out of reach. She shook off the remnants of surprise and grabbed onto logic and facts. “Brenda’s mother worked for Pastor Gary. Her aunt Beth roomed with Annie.”
Georgia shook her head. “Your mother knew Annie? What does that have to do with me?”
Brenda laughed. “I’m not stupid, you know. Everyone thinks I’m stupid but I’m not. I know who you are.”
Georgia’s gaze hardened. “Who am I?”
Brenda cocked her head as if she were speaking to a child. “You are Annie’s daughter.”
“How do you know that?” Georgia demanded.
“I figured it out, stupid,” she hissed.
“How?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” She jabbed the gun at them both. “Both of you get up. Now. Mother is waiting.”
Rachel and Georgia rose, both lumbering under the weight of their injuries. Georgia struggled to stand strong but had to lean on Rachel.
“Your mother is sick with cancer. Why would she care about us,” Rachel said.
“She’s dying. And your deaths will be my final gift to her.”
Nikki had heard the voices and when they’d drifted out of the church she sensed she had to follow. She eased out of the closet and did her best not to look at the man as she quickly rushed down the center aisle and out the door.
April 20
Sugar,
I had that dream again. You ended up dead, dead, dead.
A.
Chapter Twenty
Friday, October 21, 5 PM
Calls to KC went unanswered as Deke raced to the New Community Church’s chapel, lights on top of his car flashing. He’d called dispatch and ordered marked cars to the scene. Shit. His skin itched as it did before an op went sideways. More times than he could count the sensation had stopped him from walking into an ambush. Shit. He’d seen Rachel early this morning and loved the way her body cuddled against his as he’d clung to reasons why they could work. And Georgia. He’d seen her yesterday.
Life could unravel slowly, or with lightning speed. His marriages had disintegrated with a painful silent slowness whereas Rick had nearly lost his life in an instant.
His grip tightened on the wheel and he pressed his foot against the accelerator. There’d been a lot of times when life had shredded around him but he would not, would not, let it happen tonight.
When he parked his car in front of the large white building that housed the New Community Church, the uniforms were seconds behind him. Out of the car, he unholstered his gun and dashed up the front steps. The front door was ajar.
Deke shoved it open and met with a deadly silence. “Rachel! Georgia!” His answer was his own echoing voice. Grim-faced he glanced at the uniforms behind him. “Search every inch of this place.”
The officers disbanded and with guns drawn moved into the sanctuary, two fanning left and two others to the right.
Deke drew in a breath. Searches in buildings could be the deadliest. Too many hiding places. Too many opportunities to ambush.
Gun drawn, he moved toward the altar, his gaze sweeping from side to side for any sign of movement. When he stepped onto the platform he spotted the blood pooling around the edges. For a moment he hesitated, fearful that he’d find Rachel or Georgia dead.
Gritting his teeth, he moved the remaining steps and saw Pastor Gary’s body. He closed his eyes and tipped his head back, allowing the relief to wash through him. He cleared his throat. “Rachel, where the hell are you?”
Rachel’s shoulder throbbed as she and Georgia walked through the woods with Brenda pointing a gun behind them. Rachel had heard the shrill of sirens as had Georgia and Brenda. Deke was coming, he was close, but would it be fast enough? She had to buy time until he found them.
“He won’t be here in time,” Brenda said. “He will find you soon, but soon it won’t matter. You’ll be dead.”
Limping now, Georgia balled her fist as if ready to turn and strike. But Rachel shot her a warning glance, begging her to stand down. Now was not the time for Georgia’s directness.
Rachel turned her head slightly back. “Brenda, why are you doing this? You didn’t know Annie.”
Brenda jabbed her gun, a silent order for Rachel to keep moving. “My mother knew her. That bitch made her life hell and robbed me of more love than I can measure.”
Rachel’s anger burrowed to the deepest and coldest part of her heart, the place it needed to stay so she could think. “Love from whom?”
“Pastor Gary. My mother. He was obsessed with Annie and all women who looked like her. He could never love my mother. She was so focused getting him to see her, she never saw me.”
“Why would Pastor Gary care about Annie?”
“Because he loved her. Adored her. Could never stop thinking about her. Every woman since Annie is a replacement.”
“Dixie and Rebecca.”
“His wife. His other whores. All Annie.”
Georgia glanced at Rachel, her eyes wide with worry. She’d discovered the identity of her birth father and she was reeling. “Where is Gary?”
“At the chapel,” Brenda said.
The scent of death. Rachel couldn’t bring herself to ask.
Georgia did. “He’s dead.”
Brenda hesitated, frowned. “No. Yes.”
The twisted path in the woods opened into a clearing. In the distance, headlights shone on Kate in her wheelchair. With a blanket wrapped over her knees, her form looked fragile.
Rachel and Georgia stopped feet from Kate who stared up at them with dark, piercing eyes. Disease may have robbed her of strength but the fire burning in her gaze told Rachel it had not softened her obsession. “Didn’t take much to get you here. Grateful for small blessings, I suppose.”