“Yeah, I can see how Lily wanted to help. Have you met his wife and kids? Breaks your heart. They’ve had it so hard. Viper and Razer loaded up the truck and took them groceries. When they came back, they told Shade to take his pay up. It must have been bad.”
Evie swallowed hard. Until she had come to Treepoint, she hadn’t really understood the extreme poverty of the area. At first, she couldn’t understand why they didn’t move away to a better area with more opportunities. Many of the younger population did, but many stayed. After living there for a while, she realized the rich heritage of the town; the mountains and close family bonds were what held them in place.
Shade came in, going to his office, and the work increased to a busy vibe. Up until summer, the factory had been run in a rotating month by each of The Last Riders, taking turns. After his last rotation, Shade had stayed longer, his skill at running the factory apparent by the increase of orders.
As the day flew by, Evie hadn’t felt so good in a long time, reinforcing her belief that she had been partying too hard the last year. It was time to calm down and take a breather, at least from the alcohol and weed she had been junking up her body with.
“Finished?” Jewell broke the silence.
“Yes.” Evie tossed her last order into the mail cart before going out the steel door.
The bright sunlight in the parking lot had her and Jewell hesitating. When her eyes were able to focus, a big smile lit her face at what she was seeing.
“Hot damn.” Jewell took the words right out of her mouth.
Running forward, she threw herself into the arms of the man unpacking his belongings from the trunk of his car.
“Lucky, welcome home.” When a grin lit his face, Evie thought it was the first authentic one she had seen in years. He had taken on being an undercover agent by posing as Pastor Dean at the local church. After Christmas, it had finally come to a head, and he was able to close an investigation that had been ongoing for years.
“Why didn’t you tell us you were moving in today?” Evie asked.
“Because I didn’t know. The new pastor arrived in town last night. Do you remember Merrick Patterson? He was looking for a new church. His wife is expecting and the extreme cold weather up north was getting to her, so he jumped at the chance to move.”
“Merrick?” Evie remembered him from the military. He and Lucky both had been chaplains.
“That’s fantastic.” Evie went to church every Sunday. She had been dreading the possibilities of who would be taking over the church; a sanctimonious preacher would have made it difficult to attend. “Let me help you with your bags.”
“Razer and Viper just took one load for me, and there's not much more. I threw all my suits away. I don’t want to see another suit for the rest of my life.”
Evie quit smiling. Lucky was one of the best pastors she had ever known. He had a natural ability to draw people out. He, on the other hand, felt he had lost the calling.
After Evie heard the factory door open and close, Shade came to stand beside them. “I see you’re not wasting any time.”
“No. I wanted to make Merrick comfortable. I’ll hand over the church to him Sunday, and then I’ll be free of all my commitments to the church.”
“We need to talk,” Shade said just as Lily pulled into the parking lot.
“Fuck,” Lucky said. Lily was a member of Lucky’s church and was one of his most faithful followers. It was going to be hard for her to see the other side of Lucky that she was unfamiliar with.
“Be cool,” Shade warned Lucky.
“Pastor Dean, hi. I was wondering where you were today,” Lily said as she came up to the group.
“I’m outta here,” Jewell said under her breath.
“Coward,” Evie teased.
“I’m a lover, not a fighter. Arguments tense me up.” Jewell left, but Evie wasn’t about to budge from the spot. She was dying to know how the men were going to work this out.
“Hi, Lily. I was going to come back and introduce you to the new pastor because you were at lunch with King when I came by the church store earlier.”
“You went to lunch with King?” Shade asked sharply.
“At the diner,” Lily answered.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I wasn’t aware I had to tell you my every move since the danger is over.”
“We’ll talk about this later.”
“No, we won’t. It was lunch, just across the street.”
“Lily, we still don’t know who Digger hired to hurt you. Until we make sure he’s stopped, you’re not completely out of danger.”
“Oh.” She paused. “Next time, I’ll tell you when I leave the church.”