Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 108849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
“No,” Laurel said shortly.
Kohnex looked down at his dog. “I think that you do. There’s a familial essence, a connection to the danger.” He peered into the distance again, and his tone deepened. “Somebody wants to harm you, Agent Snow. You need to be very careful.”
Yep. Huck was going to have to clock him. He sighed. “Do you have any connection to Teri Bearing, Pastor Caine?” He emphasized the “Pastor” this time.
Zeke shrugged. “The Bearings attend the church, so I know Teri and the mayor and their kids. They joined long before I left on my sabbatical, and they’re still members now. I think they were actually looking forward to the live sermon tonight. The mayor wished to give a brief talk about the community, you know, to bring in people.”
“Where is Pastor John?” Laurel asked, referencing the pastor who’d taken over for Zeke when he’d disappeared for years.
“Oh, my. Did I forget to call him?” Zeke asked. “I saw him when I left last night, but he may have stayed here all night. I don’t know.”
There was no doubt in Huck’s mind that Zeke Caine knew Pastor John’s location at all times. Pastor John had been the one to set up this live national sermon service. He couldn’t have been too happy when Zeke had returned and taken over. “Does Pastor John still live in the church cabin to the west?”
“No,” Zeke said. “John purchased one of the cabins farther down to the east, a distance from Timmy’s place. There’s a series of them that were built by a family named Bollington at least thirty or forty years ago. They’ve each been individually sold through the years.”
Huck glanced toward the outside door. “Just down this river?”
“Yes. He purchased it a month ago, I think. But I have no idea what time he left the church last night.” Zeke pressed one hand against his cheek. “You don’t suppose Pastor John killed Teri, do you?”
“Why would I suppose that?” Huck asked.
Zeke looked away and then back. “I don’t know. But they were seeing each other.”
“Define seeing,” Huck said.
The pastor shook his head. “I really shouldn’t. I’m not one to engage in gossip.”
“This is a murder investigation, Pastor Caine,” Laurel said.
“You mean ‘Father.’” Zeke’s tone sounded indulgent.
Her voice remained sure and strong. “I really don’t.”
Huck cleared his throat. “How long have Pastor John and Mrs. Bearing been seeing each other?”
“Maybe for a couple of months, from what I understand.” Zeke looked properly somber.
Huck lowered his chin. “Are you breaking the confessional right now?”
“Oh, no, no. This is just normal gossip,” Zeke said. “I’m not breaking the confession at all. I wouldn’t do that.”
“All right. From whom did you hear this gossip?” Laurel asked.
Zeke lifted his hands. “I really don’t know. I can’t say. Besides, if I did hear something in confession, and it wasn’t about the confessor, then I’m not breaking the confessional.”
Huck tried to hold on to his patience. “Somebody in confession told you about Pastor John and Teri Bearing?”
“Yes. I can’t reveal the identities of those persons because I gleaned the information during confession, although I can tell you about the actual affair because that wasn’t what was confessed.”
Huck glanced at Laurel. She shrugged.
He didn’t know either. “I thought just Catholics have confession.”
“No, not at all. I think it’s important to lift sins off the chest, and we hold confession here once a week,” Zeke said. “Although, Tim, I do note that you haven’t been to confession recently. Should you attend?”
Kohnex shook his head. “No. Anything I’ve done is between me and God.”
Laurel focused on Kohnex. “Tim, did you know Mrs. Bearing?”
Kohnex nodded. “I did. We attend the same church, but outside of church we weren’t friends. She had a darkness around her, an aura of . . . I don’t know. If I had to pick one word, it’d be ‘melancholy.’ But in the last couple of months her aura had lightened to a pink, almost a sparkling-champagne pink. So I figured whatever had been weighing on her had lifted. Maybe she had fallen in love.”
“Did you hear that she was dating Pastor John?” Huck asked.
Kohnex scratched his chin. “I did not. But I don’t hear confessions. At least not formally.”
“Formally?” Pastor Caine asked.
Kohnex shrugged. “Sometimes the wind whispers her secrets to me, and then I know.”
“So you and the wind, huh?” Huck asked.
Kohnex nodded solemnly. “Yeah, my talent used to help with basketball games. I would know which players to put where and which plays to call. Then the wind murmured to me when I invested in that oil company. Lately, I’ve got to tell you, she’s been crooning a lot.”
“Saying what?” Laurel asked.
“Beware,” Kohnex whispered, his eyes widening.
Laurel tucked her gloves into her jacket pocket. “Beware of what?”
Kohnex looked back at his dog. “She hasn’t told me yet.”