Page 24 of Brutal Sinner

“Yes, sir.”

I shake myself and he says roughly,“I want names of everyone connected to the reverend. I’ll get Brewer onto it. Carry out your own surveillance and monitor every move that bastard makes. What about the law?”

“There is none.”

“No cops?”

He sounds disbelieving and I say roughly, “There is no crime in Heaven. Not in plain sight, anyway. The cops aren’t needed because the reverend runs the town, and the folks are so fearful they wouldn’t even take a piss if he declared it sinful.”

“Fuck me. Now I know why you left. Leave it with me. I’ll drop a word in a few ears and get that town dragged back into the current century.”

“After we find Hope.”

I remind him and he growls,“We will find your daughter, soldier, and that’s a fact.”

I nod even though he can’t see me because if I’m sure of anything, it’s that.

He says with a heavy sigh.“Leave it with me. I’ll do some digging. Meanwhile, send me those names. Just say the word and we’ll be there.”

“Thanks, Ryder.”

“It will be my pleasure, soldier. Just remember your training and park emotion. It won’t help the situation.”

“I know.”

He cuts the call and if anything, I am reassured that I’m not on my own anymore. I have two friends here who want to help, and a shit load of friends back in Washington. As it turns out, I also have a family right here in Heaven and as soon as we get the hell out of here, I’m going to be the best father I can and if Faith agrees, the best husband, too.

CHAPTER13

FAITH

My heart is still beating so fast, I wonder if it will ever slow down to a normal pace.

Jonny came for me.

When he walked into the room, my world stopped spinning while I stared at the man I have done everything to protect.

We met when he was home after leaving the military. I knew of him; hell, the whole town knew of Jonny Santos. He was a renegade even as a small child, and I was warned against him from a very young age. ‘Don’t look the devil in the eye’ they told me and so whenever he was near, I cast my eyes to the floor.

Not that he ever looked at me. I was a child, a small girl, and yet he fascinated me. He had an aura surrounding him that I couldn’t place. Confidence with a swagger that stuck two fingers up at the establishment. There was talk he was sent to Reverend Peters to have the devil dragged out from his soul. His hold was too strong because apparently, it never worked. When he finished school he left town, and I felt a strange emptiness when I heard the hushed whispers that the devil had dragged him to hell.

Life wasn’t as exciting when he left and then a few years later, I bumped into him outside the general store one day.

I turned and ran into a wall of muscle and as my basket dropped to the floor, he bent down at the same time, and we knocked heads.

I will never forget the look he gave me when I stared into his dark brown eyes. It made my breath hitch and question my morality because I had never seen eyes gaze at me like that.

His strong hand covered mine and his husky voice told me he was sorry and to let him help me. A thousand emotions ran through me in a split second and something told me my life would never be the same again after Jonny.

I was right.

I hear the door slam and my heart starts thumping for a different reason entirely as I scoot to the chair and open the bible at the marker. I try desperately to read the blurred words as the footsteps make their way up the wooden steps and stop outside my door.

The sound of the lock turning makes me want to scream and as the reverend heads inside, he closes the door behind him.

“Kneel, whore.”

He states in a harsh whisper, and I scrape back my chair and do as he says.