Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 53965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 270(@200wpm)___ 216(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 270(@200wpm)___ 216(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
Kane sighs again.
“Was she worth it?”
I frown, and he chuckles.
“C’mon, of course it was a girl, doofus. Like you suddenly grew a superhero cape and sense of justice all on your lonesome?”
“And if I did?”
“If you did, then the sugar pills painted black that I sell guys who can’t get it up actually cure erectile dysfunction.”
I make a face. “Do they?”
He grunts. “They’ll sweeten your coffee.”
I sigh. “Well, she was.”
“Hey, at least you got that. Look, don’t sweat too hard. Where are you, county?”
“Just the town jail.”
He chuckles. “God, I love the south. They’re going to keep you there at least a few days. Small towns don’t have the manpower to start pushing paperwork to get you into county or anything. I mean, unless you really pissed them off.”
“The guy who’s plans I fucked up pretty much told them everything. Motherfucker even called Lockton.”
Kane winces. “Fuck, seriously? What a fucking boner.”
“And Worthington.”
Kane groans deeply. “Fuck. Okay, you might have a little less than a couple days. But look man, I’m going to make some calls. You okay in the meantime? I mean anyone in there going to try and get the jump on you?”
I make a face. “Well, I’m locked up with Canaan’s hardest criminals. There’s a teenager in here who got busted lifting candy from the corner store, and an old geezer who brandished a Civil War pistol at the cops when they told him to stop letting his chickens graze in the street. Shit’s pretty tense in here, I might have to start selling my ass for cigarettes.”
Kane chuckles. “Well, you still can’t go four fucking seconds without making a stupid joke, so it can’t be all that bad.”
I shrug.
“The girl?”
“Delilah.”
“Guess that makes you Samson. How’s that haircut feel?”
I grin. “Look at you, throwing out actual biblical shit.”
“I’ve got my moments,” Kane chuckles. “She come to see you at all?”
I shake my head. “I think Worthington might’ve been the nail in the coffin there. No, she hasn’t, and I don’t blame her.”
“She knows you didn’t actually do anything in that town, right?”
“Doesn’t matter. The whole town is gonna hate her if she takes my side, and we both know it. It’s over, man,” I growl, thumping my head against the wall. “It’s over.”
Kane sighs. “I’m gonna make some calls, brother. Sit tight, alright?”
“I’ll try not to go anywhere,” I mutter dryly before I hang the phone back up as my heart sinks.
It is, in fact, over.
“Preacher!”
I frown and look up at the cop. “Yeah?”
“You’ve got a visitor.”
I blink. Holy shit, Kane.
“A lawyer?”
“A mechanic, actually,” a familiar voice grunts.
The cop steps aside, and Jedediah Somerset steps forward. The cop walks over and starts unlocking my cell, and my pulse quickens. Jeb might be a Godly type, but he’s a brawny fucking guy, and this is a small cell.
“Whoa, whoa, hang on, hang on!” I grunt, standing. “Hang on, you can’t just let him in here! You took an oath, man!”
The cop frowns at me and rolls his eyes. He turns to Jeb. “You got ten minutes, Jeb.”
“Only need five,” he grunts. “Thanks, Carl.”
“Carl, you dick!” I yell. “This is exactly the type of shit that gives good cops a bad name—”
“Will you quit hollering?” Jeb grunts. Carl smirks and locks the door behind him before he heads back out to the front of the station. I swallow and I size Jebediah up as he folds his arms over his chest.
“So, figured we should talk, son.”
I nod. “Okay.”
“But since you talk plenty, how about I go first.”
I nod again. “Works for me.”
He levels his eyes at me, and he sighs. “Do you love my daughter.”
I blink. Wait, what?
“Excuse me?”
“It ain’t a complex question, preacher.”
I frown. “Guess you can stop calling me that.”
He shrugs. “Except it appears you actually are one. Minister of The Universal Life Church, is it?”
I smile wryly. “It’s just this online thing.”
“But it’s an actual ordainment, right?”
“I guess?” I shrug. “Yeah, it is.”
“Jesus Christ never went to seminary school, you know,” he grunts. “Never had any certificate from any place that said he was what he was. He just… was. He preached the Word, and that made him a preacher, of sorts.”
I frown. “Think there was a fair amount of sway there, seeing who his daddy was.”
Jeb cracks a grin. “Fair enough.” He sighs. “So, you are a preacher, even if you don’t really hold God in your heart.”
I frown. “I don’t not, I just…” I shake my head. “Never mind.”
“Speak,” he grunts.
“I didn’t exactly come from a loving home, Mr. Somerset.”
“That your excuse for not knowing God?”
“Maybe. I don’t know.”
“You know, I didn’t come from Canaan myself, and I sure as heck didn’t come from a home filled with love. But I used that, and I remembered that when I decided to fill my own house with love, and goodness, and the Holy Spirit.”