The Way of the Wicked (Hope Street Church Mysteries Book 2) (4 page)

“There’s nothing quiet about two kids,” Quinton pointed out. “My nephews can make more noise than an angry football stadium crowd.”

“It would be a change from that techno music Missy likes,” Bryant said. “My head is still ringing from taking her dancing last night. If I asked out the woman from work, I could be in bed by ten!”

Nathan gazed into his coffee cup and said, “I’ve had a recurring dream that’s kind of creepy. Someone keeps knocking on the back door of my house and I can’t decide if I should let them in.”

“Can you see their face?” Savannah asked.

“No. Just a dark shape in the night,” Nathan said. “I sense the person’s a man, and though I’m not exactly scared of him I don’t think I want to invite him into my home.”

Quinton studied Nathan. “Is there anything going on at work? A project or new client that’s worrying you?”

Nathan snapped his fingers. “As a matter of fact there is! This guy wants me to design a commercial website where he can sell muscle-building vitamins. I guess he’s made a nice pile of money as a chemist because he drives a yellow H2, has a fancy gold watch, and a serious golf tan.” He flicked his eyes at Bryant. “He even out-bronzes you, my friend.”

Bryant pretended to be crestfallen. “First George Hamilton and now a chemist. Shocking.”

“Sounds like a lucrative project,” Trish said.

“It would be,” Nathan agreed. “He wants top-notch graphics, a flash video on the home page, shopping-cart features, you name it. And since my older-than-dirt A/C and heater units are on the fritz, I could use the cash.”

Jake perked up at the mention of the units. “You’re gonna call Mr. Faucet to replace them, right? You know we’re doing that stuff now besides the regular plumbing jobs.”

Nathan smiled. “I wouldn’t think of calling anyone else, Jake, but unless I accept this project, I won’t be able to afford a new fan.” He shrugged. “It sounds like a treasure chest has fallen in my lap, but I have a funny feeling about this guy.”

“Why don’t you get to know him?” Quinton said. “Take him out for coffee and see what your gut tells you. Listen to the man talk. He might surprise you.”

Nathan nodded. “That’s good counsel.”

The rest of the Sunrise group members murmured in agreement and then closed their workbooks as the chimes announcing the start of the worship service echoed in the hallway.

“We’re going to be on time for once!” Trish exclaimed.

“I’ll take everyone’s cups to the kitchen,” Cooper offered. “Would someone save me a seat in a dark corner?”

“Nah. We’re going to put you front and center,” Nathan said with a wink and a smile.

“You’d better not!” Cooper smiled back.

Cooper gathered napkins for the garbage, then piled the empty mugs and coffee carafe on a tray and carried them into a small kitchen area used by the academy teachers. She washed the cups thoroughly, enjoying the feel of the warm water and the scent of the lemon dish soap. As she rinsed the last cup, her dream from the night before came back to her with vivid clarity.

In the dream, Cooper had been heading for the banks of Gum Creek, the stream that wound lazily through the woods behind her house before meandering westward into Louisa County. She’d been barefoot and had continuously stepped on the prickly gumballs that fell like small bombs from the leafy canopy above. Finally, after picking her way over twigs, sharp pebbles, and spiky plants, Cooper reached the narrow creek.

A rowboat sat expectantly in the placid water, but when she reached down to grab it, the boat shifted sideways and was pulled away by the current. Within seconds, it was out of reach. Hoping to reclaim the little vessel, Cooper ran along the bank, but the current kept moving faster and faster, bearing the boat farther and farther away. Cooper couldn’t keep up.

Suddenly, the space of sky ahead of her turned dark and a fork of lightning fractured the clouds and punctured the stream. Cooper’s dream-self halted, afraid. And then, in a blink, she was in the boat, barreling straight for the storm. There was no rain—just black clouds, jagged lightning, and an eerie silence. Again and again, Cooper reached out and tried to grab hold of one of the plants growing at the edge of the bank, but they slipped from her grasp as though made of fog.

Cooper had woken abruptly, her body trembling with dread. Even in the comfort of the morning light, she could still see the black horizon and the tongues of lightning, waiting for her imminent arrival.

“Lord, are you trying to warn me?” she whispered in the silent kitchen. “Is a storm coming?”

She stared at the last drips of water as they slipped into the drain and then shut her eyes. Alone, in the stillness of the small room, Cooper strained to listen. The answer she heard in her heart was,
Yes
.

3

Cooper opened the cupboard in her tiny kitchen and inspected its sorry contents. Not only had she forgotten to stock up on bananas and oatmeal the last time she was at the store, but she was also fresh out of eggs and Honey Bunches of Oats. Luckily, her mother lived mere yards away and was likely to have breakfast leftovers.

Closing the door to her apartment, which was located above her parents’ detached garage, Cooper walked over the flagstone patio toward the back door of the cozy house. She noted that the herbs in her mother’s container garden just outside the kitchen were starting to look tired.

“The end of summer,” Cooper remarked to Columbus, their caged red-tail hawk. Columbus blinked his eyes lazily at her. “Daddy must have taken you for an early walk. You must have found a fat field mouse to be looking so smug.” She smoothed down the silky feathers on the back of the hawk’s neck. Columbus had become a member of the family two years ago after his wing was fractured by a bullet while he was roosting at one of the county airports. His assailant was never found, but the heartless attack had been written up in the
Richmond Times-Dispatch,
and within minutes of reading the story, Grammy was on the phone, demanding that she be allowed to adopt the injured bird.

Grammy had replaced the receiver and smiled at her son. “Earl. You gotta build me an aviary. And I mean right quick.”

Cooper’s father, Earl, was Grammy’s only child. He was a gentle, taciturn man who rarely denied his mother anything. When she wanted to live in his den instead of a retirement community, he agreed. When she wanted to go to bingo on Wednesday nights, he drove her and waited in the car until she was done. When she invited every stray dog, cat, bird, or bunny into their rural home, Earl simply sighed and drove to Wal-Mart with a list of the supplies needed to heal each one.

The injured animals only found a temporary haven in the Lee house. Once they’d recovered, they were either returned to their natural habitats or adopted by local families. The only animals ever to become permanent members of the family were Columbus and an enormous, tetchy, and tailless orange tomcat called Little Boy.

Because Little Boy was fond of bacon, Cooper half expected to find him waiting in the kitchen, but there was no sign of the tomcat in the sunlit room.

“’Morning, sweetie!” Maggie Lee called out while removing a tray of round cookies from the oven. “You on the prowl for some breakfast?”

Grammy looked up from her
Reader’s Digest
and pointed her thick magnifying glass at her granddaughter. “You see Columbus? He’s mighty pleased with himself.”

Cooper sat across from Grammy and smiled. “What’d he catch this morning?”

“A rabbit the size of a Thanksgivin’ turkey,” Grammy replied with a proud cackle. “Not bad for a bird that can barely get high enough in the sky to make a real dive.”

“He must’ve killed hundreds of pigeons when he lived at the airport,” Cooper said.

“Their best hunter. Not a doubt in my mind.” Grammy took a firmer hold on her magnifying glass and shook it angrily. “Whoever shot him will have to face judgment one day, along with all folks who are wicked to God’s innocent creatures!”

“There, there.” Maggie put a soothing hand on Grammy’s bony shoulder. “Would you like to sample one of today’s mistakes, Ma?”

The fury in Grammy’s hazel eyes vanished. “What kind have you got?”

“Iced lemon cookie.” Maggie placed several chipped cookies in front of Grammy. As Grammy began to eat, Maggie returned with two slices of raisin bread coated with cream cheese and a cluster of green grapes.

“Thanks, Mama. This is much better than anything I’d have dug up at my place.”

“You’d best fine-tune your cookin’ skills, girlie,” Grammy said “You gotta get that boy from church on the line and reel him on in. Best way to do that is to feed him.”

Cooper blushed and turned to her mother, who was busy sliding cookies into a plastic bag decorated with a
Magnolia’s Marvels
gold foil sticker. She then tied the bag with a gold ribbon and placed it into her delivery basket. Maggie hummed as she worked, and though she rose before dawn every morning to bake the gourmet cookies that were purchased by several cafes around Richmond, she looked as fresh and red-cheeked as a McIntosh apple.

Cooper finished her breakfast and brought her dishes to the sink, but her mother waved her off. “Go on, honey. You need to get to work.”

“Thanks, Mama.” Cooper kissed her mother’s cheek, which smelled like melted chocolate.

“You gonna see that boy this weekend?” Grammy asked before Cooper could get out the door.

“We’re volunteering together at Door-2-Door Dinners on Saturday.”

“How nice!” Maggie exclaimed, removing another batch of lemon cookies from the oven.

Grammy tossed her magnifying glass down in disgust. “A bunch of cranky old folks? What kind of date is that?” She frowned. “You listen to me, Granddaughter. I’ve been around for near eighty years now and I know a thing or two. If you’re gonna run around town deliverin’ food to old coots, fine. But afterward, go to dinner with that Nathan. Some place filled with young folks. Last time I checked, you were thirty-two years old and livin’ with your parents. If you want to change that, then change yourself.” She pulled out a catalog from beneath her pile of newspaper pages. “Here. This might give you a few ideas.”

Cooper accepted the catalog without looking at it, kissed Grammy’s forehead, which felt a bit like Maggie’s parchment paper, and headed out to her truck. Inside, she took a quick glimpse at the catalog Grammy had given her before tossing it on the passenger seat. “Only
my
grandmother would give me a copy of
Victoria’s Secret,
”
she muttered and rolled her eyes.

When she got to Make It Work!, Cooper decided to shred the catalog using the machine in the break room, so she stuffed it into her workbag and, after greeting a daydreaming Angela, went to the locker room to change. Because both male and female employees shared the space, Cooper always changed in a bathroom stall. She was just buttoning up her uniform shirt when someone else entered the locker room.

“Lunch, books, pens. Boring,” she heard Emilio mumble and realized she’d left her bag on the bench by her locker. Was Emilio going through her things?

“Whoa! Now we’re talking!” she heard him exclaim and instantly imagined him pulling out the
Victoria’s Secret
catalog. Instead of confronting him, she decided to stay where she was.

“Look out, you little minx.” He produced a cat-like sound that Cooper suspected was supposed to be a roar “Emilio’s on the prowl.”

• • •

After an uneventful week of repairing seven copiers, four fax machines, and two laminators, Cooper was ready to socialize with her Bible study friends. Besides the Sunrise members, Cooper’s closest confidante was Angela. Lately, however, Angela seemed completely absorbed with their hunky new coworker. Even her customary flirtation with Mr. Farmer had waned, and Cooper worried that Angela might have actually fallen for Emilio.

In fact, Angela had spent their entire lunch hour singing Emilio’s praises. Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore. “He’s a little vain, don’t you think?”

“Just young and sure-footed,” Angela had replied in Emilio’s defense. “He asked about
you,
”
she said with a hint of reproach. “If you were single, for instance.”

“What did you tell him?”

Angela had shrugged. “That you had a crush on someone but things weren’t progressin’ much. That you and this guy were still Rated G.”

Cooper’s temper had flared. “Angela! I don’t tell you things so you can gossip about me behind my back!”

She felt bad about snapping at her friend, but she also didn’t like that Angela had been acting like a different person since Emilio joined their crew. Cooper secretly wished Mr. Farmer had hired someone a little less attractive.

Shaking away negative thoughts of her coworkers, Cooper met the Sunrise members at the downtown headquarters of Door-2-Door Dinners. The squat concrete building was teeming with activity. People streamed in and out of the front doors, large trucks pulled up to the rear of the building to deliver supplies, and meals were being loaded into an assortment of vehicles lined up along the western side of the building. Cooper glanced around nervously.

“You look like you’re about to jump out of a plane,” Jake said when he joined her on the stairs. “I wasn’t always a big people person, either, but in my line of work, I’ve learned how to deal with all kinds of folks. All ya gotta do is smile and you’ll be okay.”

Cooper couldn’t imagine having to work in people’s homes like Jake did. “At my job, folks don’t talk to me once they’ve shown me which machine needs fixing,” Cooper said.

“You’re lucky.” Jake snorted. “Me? I get dozens of bored women who want to tell me their life stories. If it’s not the ladies, then it’s a bunch of soft-handed men that want me to show them exactly how I do the repair, like I’m some kind of home-project TV show host. And if it isn’t the owners around, then I get the family pets instead. Fido and Fluffy just
love
to smell me in all sorts of embarrassing places just when I’ve got my head wedged in a cabinet under the bathroom sink.”

Cooper tried to shake off an image of Jake’s pants falling down as he bent his body in two, but he caught the look on her face and shook his pointer finger at her. “I know what you’re thinking, but no one sees my butt. I make sure my belt is
really
tight before I bend over, you got that?”