Laurie couldn’t halt the growing sensation that she was the problem, not the solution. If she hadn’t shown up on the mountain that day… If she hadn’t mated with her two wolves… If she hadn’t defied the long-standing practices of both local townships and rocked their boat…
But she had. And perhaps she had been hasty and wrong to do so. Maybe she wasn’t truly meant to be with Zach, but rather had forced the issue by putting herself intentionally in his path that day.
She’d known this might happen.
Hell, she’d counted on it.
And from the moment she met him, she’d brought nothing but trouble to his family, his job, Corbin, Corbin’s parents. Even Corbin’s job was likely on the line now that she’d touched that crazy deputy from his station who had nothing but evil in his thoughts.
She wasn’t meant to be here at this time.
She knew it with her entire soul.
All the signs pointed to that end.
Now, she just had to figure out what to do about it.
Chapter Thirteen
Mary’s hands shook as she opened the front door to her small preschool. What the hell had she become?
She didn’t recognize herself. What she’d considered gospel, literally and figuratively, for her entire life was slowly being stripped away. If she had been in her own hometown and put in front of a similar set of circumstances, she knew she would have reacted with the same intensity as the rest of the members of her congregation.
The reason? She was close to them. She didn’t believe they could do wrong. She’d known them her entire life.
But she was not at home in rural Oklahoma now. She was in her new town—where she’d lived only six months—and she found herself questioning the people who should be her peers.
Bottom line—she simply didn’t know any single person in town well enough to trust every word they said. And that was how she ended up doubting their choices.
Right?
She dropped her purse next to her desk with shaky hands. She knew she was lying to herself. She squeezed her eyes shut and leaned on the edge of the desk, gripping it with both hands. Her reason for doubting her faith and questioning the other parishioners of her church had nothing to do with how long she’d known them.
If she was honest with herself, it was the discovery about her own sexual orientation that rocked her world and caused her to question her beliefs. Before she’d met Jazmine, she’d never once realized she was attracted to women. She’d dated men her entire adult life. No, she hadn’t found herself overly interested in any of them, but that was a far cry from deciding she wasn’t fond of men in general.
She flopped down in the chair behind her desk and stared blankly into the room. No one else had arrived yet.
She was exhausted.
When her phone rang, she picked it up and smiled. Jazmine.
There was no denying the effect that woman had on her. Just seeing her name on the caller ID calmed her and made her heart race at the same time.
“Hey,” she breathed into the phone.
“You make it to work okay?”
“Yeah. You?”
“Yep. Still freaking out about that truck going by us last night?” Jaz chuckled. She was far less concerned about getting caught with Mary than vice versa.
“No. I’m sure you’re right. Whoever it was didn’t see anything.”
“Anything else happen this morning? I know you have to be tired. I am too. But you sound more off than usual.”
“I never slept at all, actually. There was a message from Ada, the pastor’s wife, when I got home. They freaking filled Zachary Masters’s condo with natural gas during the night. I didn’t get the message they were meeting until I left you. I called the cops anonymously. Oh, and they’re meeting again this evening.”
“Jesus. Those people won’t let up. Are you going to attend? I’m worried about you. I don’t want you to do anything dangerous.”
“I’m okay. I can’t pull out now. That would look even more suspicious. Besides, Lord knows what they might do next. Someone could have died in that condo. But guess what? No one was home during the night. And how do I know this? Because there’s an informant on your end of the lake.”
“What? Are you serious?”
“Yep. Some guy named Pete. I think he’s a deputy. He knew Laurie, Corbin, and Zach were in Sojourn last night. He even knew there was a gathering of Native Americans, who attacked them at home. While that was happening, freaky church members from my end of town broke into Zach’s condo and turned on all the gas burners with no flames.”
“Shit.” Jaz sounded far more concerned than usual.
“Yeah, shit. This situation is out of control and way too organized. It’s like a conspiracy of people from both towns working together for a common goal. If I don’t keep my head in it, who knows what might happen?”