Trapped by Revenge: A Shelby Nichols Adventure (14 page)

This was the point I wanted him to think about. “Right, but he claims he was set-up. Just like me.” I paused to let that sink in. “I don’t want to go to prison like this innocent guy. Did you know he got the death penalty, and he’s scheduled for execution next week? What if that happens to me?”

“That’s not going to happen, Shelby. We’ll figure this out, I promise.”

“Thanks.” I knew he meant it, but even he had his limits as to what he could promise.

“I’ll get out the case files on Rebecca’s murder and match them with your case and see how they compare. If there’s a connection, I’ll find it,” he said, trying to reassure me. “I’ll work on it today and let you know what I find out. Okay?”

“Sure,” I agreed. “And if I find out anything else, I’ll let you know.”

“Good.” He checked his watch. “I’ve got to go, but I think we made some progress today. I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”

“Okay, but can you do me a favor?” I reached over and grasped his forearm. “Can you give me a heads up if you’re going to arrest me?”

He frowned. “What do your premonitions tell you?”

“That you’re probably going to arrest me,” I responded.

“Then we’ll just have to make sure that doesn’t happen.” He smiled reassuringly and squeezed my hand. “I’ll let you know the minute I find out anything.” He was thinking that even if I got arrested, he was sure I’d make bail and be out in a day or two. Right now we both needed to focus on finding the real killer.

“Okay. I’ll do my best,” I said.

His brows drew together in puzzlement, but knowing I sometimes blurted things out that didn’t make sense, he nodded and left, taking the bill with him. I stayed put. I wasn’t ready to leave yet, and I still needed to finish my refill of diet soda. I knew that even if Billie or Uncle Joey couldn’t get their hands on Killpack’s files it was okay, because Dimples had access to them and would now be looking for a connection between the murders and a judge. So I’d accomplished a lot by speaking to Dimples. That was a plus. On the bad side, Dimples had found a motive for me to kill Killpack. But at least no one else knew about the folder and I hoped he’d keep it that way.

Tonight I had to find out if this judge we were going to see was the right one. With the way things were going, I hoped it was all right to pray that he was.

***

“What do people wear to bible study groups?” I asked Chris. I stood in my closet full of clothes and couldn’t find a thing to wear.

“I don’t know,” he answered. “Whatever you want, I guess. I don’t think you have to get dressed up or anything.” He glanced at me, thinking I looked pretty good in my jeans and designer t-shirt. “Wear what you’ve got on.”

Since I didn’t want to change my clothes again, I decided to take his advice. Besides, it wasn’t like we were going to church on Sunday. Chris had changed out of his clothes as well, and had on a casual pair of khaki pants with a short-sleeved shirt. He looked great. Heeding Uncle Joey’s advice, we left a good twenty-five minutes early so we wouldn’t be late and get into trouble.

During the drive, I told Chris about my day at Rebecca’s office and my chat with Dimples. Chris didn’t like hearing about the empty file with my name on it, or the fact that it also had Uncle Joey’s cell number on it. “Dimples took the file, and no one else knows about it, so don’t worry,” I reassured him.

“He did?” Chris could hardly believe it. “That’s a huge risk he’s taking for you.”

“I know,” I said. “I also told him to look for a file on a judge. I explained that one of my sources told me a judge was involved in all this, but that I didn’t know how or why. I think he bought it.”

“Good thinking. Hopefully he’ll have a name for you before too long.”

“True, but I’m still hoping the judge we’re seeing tonight is the right one,” I said. “I’ll sleep lots better knowing we’ve found him, so keep your fingers crossed.”

“Will do. Looks like this is it.” Chris pulled into a parking lot behind the church. The lot was half full, with more cars coming in behind us, and I was grateful we’d come early enough to get a parking space. This class must be pretty popular.

Inside, we were greeted by an enthusiastic member and ushered into a large classroom that looked like it also served as a social hall. Rows of chairs were set up in front of a wooden podium. All of the good seats in the back were taken, and we had to sit on a bench closer to the front.

Another class member shook our hands to welcome us, and noticing that we didn’t have any bibles, found one for us to share from a shelf along the wall. He was thinking it was exciting to have more people join them, and he hoped we liked it enough to come back. He thought this bible study class was the best kept secret in town. Wow. That was high praise for a bible study group. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

“You’re in luck,” he said. “We’re studying the Book of Revelation tonight.”

“Great,” I responded. “Isn’t that like ‘the end of the world’ stuff with earthquakes and bombs and natural disasters?”

“Yes, among other things,” he answered, hoping I wasn’t one of ‘those people’ who just wanted to go off on some tangent about a zombie apocalypse or something. “Excuse me.”

More people came in, sparing me from continuing our conversation, which was a good thing since his zombie apocalypse thing took me totally by surprise. Did people really believe that? I glanced at Chris and whispered, “Is there something in the Book of Revelation about a zombie apocalypse?”

“No.” He frowned. “That’s complete nonsense.”

“Oh, okay, good.” I was about to explain why I asked when a distinguished looking man rushed in, drawing everyone’s attention. He had an unmistakable air of authority, and with a smattering of gray hair at his temples, he looked to be in his early fifties. This had to be the judge.

“Sorry I’m late everyone,” he said. “Give me a minute and I’ll be ready to start.”

I glanced at the clock in the room and it read six-fifty. It wasn’t even seven o’clock yet, and he thought he was late? Uncle Joey wasn’t kidding about being on time, and I was glad we’d come early.

As he took out his material, I noticed lots of people talking to each other like they were old friends. Apparently, everyone knew each other here, and I felt a little out of place. It was also a small enough group that Chris and I probably stood out as the newcomers. Hopefully that wouldn’t bring us too much attention.

I had the feeling that if I wanted to talk to the judge about Uncle Joey, it would have to be after class. This meant I had to come up with a good enough question to warrant a personal conversation. So I settled in to listen and learn.

The judge welcomed everyone, and to my chagrin, asked any newcomers to stand and introduce themselves. We were the only people who stood. He asked us to introduce ourselves which we did. Then came his next question, and my heart raced with dread about what to say.

“How did you find out about the class?” he asked.

“Um…” I hesitated, then just decided to blurt it out. “My Uncle Joey told me we should come. He said you were a great teacher so that’s why we’re here.” He frowned as he tried to figure out who Uncle Joey was. “Joe Manetto?” I said, answering his unspoken question.

Chris almost stomped on my foot. What the hell was I doing? Weren’t we supposed to be here incognito?

“Oh… yes, Joe Manetto… of course. Well, I’m glad you’ve joined us.” He was lying about that part, but I could hardly blame him for that. “After class, why don’t you stop by and tell me how your uncle is doing?” He was sure I had a message from him. Otherwise he wouldn’t have sent me. Well, he had a message for Manetto himself. Two could play this game.

What did he mean by that? Chris elbowed me and motioned with his head that I should respond to the judge’s question. “Oh… sure, that would be great.”

The judge began his lesson and had us all turn to the first chapter of Revelation. He read several scriptures and gave his interpretation of what they meant. After a moment of silent contemplation in which we all waited uncomfortably, he told us to skip ahead to Chapter Thirteen. He was thinking of me when he said that, and I knew he hoped to teach me a lesson or two.

Oh great! Just because I’d told him about Uncle Joey, he assumed I was a bad person. Now he was determined to do his best to convince me to change my ways, even if he had to scare me a little by putting the fear of God into my heart. He read a few verses and every time the verse mentioned the beast, he glanced at me. Since the parts about the beast weren’t very flattering, I was starting to get a complex, and from the attention he paid to me, it seemed everyone else was wondering about me too.

He went on to talk about how people are deceived by the devil into worshipping evil, especially when they are rewarded with earthly goods like money, or cars, or any number of things. Some, he continued, are even deceived enough to think that bad things are good, and good things are bad.

Then he read the part where it says: “he that killeth with the sword must be killed by the sword.” He glanced right at me while he said that and added. “The only way to avoid death and destruction is to end any association you may have with those who will bring you down with them into the fiery pit of hell. If not, your soul is lost forever, never to see the light again.”

He finally glanced away from me, and I was able to breathe. I even slumped a little in my chair from exhaustion. That was harsh. If this was how the judge talked to Uncle Joey, no wonder he quit going to church.

I caught a few stray thoughts from the congregation that I must be in some kind of trouble, because usually the judge wasn’t so preachy about the hellfire and damnation part. He generally only did that if there was an ex-con in the group, whom he’d ordered to come to the class as part of their probation.

Naturally, they wondered how long I’d been in prison and what I’d been in for. At least one kind person thought I looked too nice to be a criminal, but then she thought that looks could be deceiving, just like the judge had said, so she’d better keep her distance since she didn’t want it to rub off.

I suddenly understood exactly how Hester Prynne must have felt with the big scarlet letter A plastered over her chest. Only mine was a C for Criminal. The judge finally seemed to run out of steam, and I wasn’t the only one who was relieved.

He rounded out the hour with a nice sermon about repentance and changing our ways that pretty much made everyone feel better. He even smiled a few times and talked about the love of God for all his children. He didn’t look at me when he said that part, but I decided not to take it personally.

Finally the hour was over. I’d never spent an hour anywhere that felt so long, and I was grateful that he wasn’t a member of my church, because I didn’t think I could ever sit through another sermon like that again.

People began to leave, and I knew it was time to face the judge. Thank goodness I’d already thought of something to tell him before we’d arrived, or I might have just skipped that part and gone straight home.

Chris and I approached him, but Chris stayed a step behind me. He wasn’t feeling very charitable toward the judge and basically wanted me to do my thing so we could get out of there. I couldn’t blame him. I smiled at the judge, but I just couldn’t bring myself to lie and tell him what a great sermon that was like everyone else. Besides, lying was a sin, so that made it okay.

The judge extended his hand for me to shake and said, “Thanks for coming. I hope you got something good out of the class.”

“Oh, I certainly did,” I answered and dropped his hand.

“So Joe Manetto is your Uncle?”

“Yeah, on my mother’s side.” I hated saying that, mostly because my mom would kill me if she ever found out. “Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that he’s been going to church, just not this church, so you can stop spying on him.”

“Huh?” He didn’t know what I meant. He’d never spied on Manetto in his life. He didn’t care that much about the deal, he mostly just wanted to make Manetto miserable. It gave him a lot of pleasure to see Manetto squirm at church, and now he was going somewhere else where he couldn’t watch? That just ruined his whole day.

“Uncle Joey told me he was supposed to go to church because of some deal he made with you, which I know nothing about by the way, so I told him to come to mine, and he’s actually come a few times.” I leaned in conspiratorially and whispered, “I’m hoping to reform him myself if you know what I mean.”

“Oh… well, good luck with that,” he said.

I frowned so he’d think he’d hurt my feelings and said, “Isn’t the worth of souls great in the sight of God? So even if Uncle Joey has some flaws, he’s still worth trying to save. Right?”

“Um… sure. I guess, I mean… yes.” He was thinking that he had me all wrong, and felt a little guilty about how he’d singled me out during his sermon.

“Good,” I said, maybe a little too forcefully, so I smiled and continued. “Well, I just wanted to tell you thanks for trying to help him.”

“Ah, sure,” he sputtered.

Someone else was waiting for a chance to speak with him, so I smiled and turned away. I took Chris’ arm and we hustled out of there. We didn’t speak until we were in the car and exiting from the parking lot. Chris glanced at me and asked, “So, he wasn’t the one?”

“No, damn it! I mean… darn it!” I guess all that preaching of hellfire and damnation had gotten under my skin a little.