Cash's Fight(78)

“I knew that something good would come out of me starting church again.”

Rachel smiled at his compliment.

“Why did you decide to start going to church in Treepoint instead of Jamestown?”

“Have you met the pastor in Jamestown?”

“No.”

“I don’t like to be told I’m going to Hell if I indulge in a beer.”

“Hell and brimstone?” Rachel laughed.

“That and the headaches he was giving me from the yelling.”

Rachel had suffered through too many of Saul Cornett’s sermons not to sympathize with him.

They ate their dinner and Rachel was pleasantly surprised at how well they got along.

“So, you work in the church store?”

Rachel nodded, leaning back in her seat. “I also study plants.” She found herself telling him everything about her schooling.

“I have a friend that works at the university.”

“Really. Who?”

“Dr. Alden.”

“He’s the advisor for my dissertation.”

“That’s cool. I’m buying some property. You’re welcome to look it over if you want.”

“I’d like that,” Rachel said enthusiastically.

After dinner, she was glad she had decided to meet him at the restaurant as they said their goodbyes in the parking lot; it took away the pressure of being alone with him.

“I’ll give you a call when the sale goes through,” Scorpion promised.

“Do that. I enjoyed dinner,” Rachel said and meant it.

There was no chemistry that had set her on edge, but she could see herself and Scorpion becoming friends.

He watched as she drove out of the lot.

She was sure Evie would tell Cash she had seen her with a date. As a back-up plan, it wasn’t the greatest, but Scorpion was just the first. She had every intention of beginning to date and put herself out there to find the type of man she was searching for.





Chapter 27

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Cash walked into the factory, seeing Shade talking to Jewell and Bliss as they filled their orders. Nodding his head toward Shade’s office, Cash went inside and waited.

“What did you find out?”

“Nothing concrete. I talked to Jewell; she said that Lewis received a phone call about twenty minutes before he got off work, and he finished his order and left. You talked to her?”

“Yes, she told me the same thing.”

“I checked his phone records; it came from a pay as you go phone. I couldn’t find out who bought it,” Cash said grimly.

“Find anything at his house?”

“He was fucking someone. He had a bag filled with sex toys and condoms.”

“Willa?”

“I don’t know. If so, she wasn’t giving it to him; he was taking it. She hated him, but I don’t think it was her.”

“Why not?”

“Because he had an underwear set in the bag and I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t have fit Willa. I checked the local hotel, then Jamestown’s. No one recognized his picture.”

“Go further. Start with the towns closest to the Virginia border. If you don’t get a hit, try the Tennessee border,” Shade ordered.

“He wouldn’t be able to drive far. With the kids, he would’ve needed to stay close,” Cash reasoned.

“Unless he had a sitter.”

“Thought of that. Beth is going to ask around church and see if any of the women there were babysitting for him.”

“That it?” Shade asked.

“Pretty much. If I find out anything, you’ll be the first to know.” Cash went to open the door.

“Cash, while you’re flashing around Lewis’s picture, show them one of Brooke. She may be the more memorable of the two.”

“Will do.” Cash closed the door behind him.

Going back to his bike, he started it before heading back out on his search, turning in the direction of the Virginia border. He wouldn’t stop until he found what he was searching for. If there was a connection between Brooke and Lewis, he would find it and give the information to Shade. What he did with it from there was his call.

* * *

For a man who’s promised to storm my defenses, it’s anticlimactic to not see him for three days, Rachel thought glumly.

It had taken two more dates, one with King’s cook and the other with Lily’s old boyfriend, for her to realize that finding the chemistry she shared with Cash wasn’t going to be easy to find with another man.

“Do you want something to drink?” Rachel asked Mag as the television show they were watching went off.

“No, thanks. It’s my bedtime.”

Rachel smiled warmly at the woman as she laid down her crocheting. It was a mess, but she kept doing it. She said it kept her fingers limber.