Page 27 of Death in the New Year

“Well, your grandmother went into town again and was going to stop and see you at the church.”

“What?” he gasped. “No. No, Grandpa Sven. No!”

Trak, Zeke, Miller, Angel, and Wilson were out the door before anyone else could move.

“What’s wrong?” asked Sven. Nine stood and gripped Sven’s shoulder.

“Call her, Sven. Call her and tell her not to go to that church under any circumstances. Do not. Code? Activate her trackers and find her.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Ruby could feel the evil seeping from the church as she approached the door. She’d felt it the moment she left a few days ago. Seeing Barry was her excuse to get one step closer to the reverend. She reached for the door, and her hand felt as though it were being burned. Having touched nothing, she knew this was her sign that true evil was inside.

“May I help you, Miss Ruby?” asked the reverend.

“Oh, I was hoping to catch Barry. Is he here?” she asked, taking another step backward.

“No, but it’s cold out here. Why don’t we go inside,” he grinned. He just needed to get her inside, and everything else would work itself out.

“I’m good,” she said. “In fact, I was just thinkin’ I’m feelin’ warm. It was all of a sudden like. The heat of hell coming at me.” She eyed the man suspiciously, and it was as if he knew.

He took a step toward her, and she took another back. The reverend wasn’t a big man, and Ruby was a stout woman. She knew a few tricks, and if he thought she would give up, he was sadly mistaken.

Behind the reverend, the door opened, and Isaih stepped outside, staring from Ruby to him and back again.

“Everything okay out here?” he asked calmly.

“Go inside, Isaih,” said the reverend.

“No offense, reverend, I appreciate your help and all, but I ain’t no slave. Don’t order me to do things when it’s clear there’s somethin’ wrong here. Miss Ruby? You okay?”

“She’s a disgusting woman,” muttered the reverend.

“Well, I wondered how long it would take for your true colors to come out,” she said, staring at him. “I smelled your evil when I got close, and I damn sure didn’t like it.”

“You’re a witch!” he yelled.

“A witch,” she scoffed. “Baby, I’m a helluva lot worse than a witch, so don’t you dare think of comin’ at me or one of mine.”

Ruby could see that he was thinking of attacking, but Isaih slowly moved to her side. She reached inside her oversized handbag and pulled out a small weapon.

“I knew it. I knew you were trash when Barry told me about you. A whore! A Jezebel!”

“So much for forgiveness, right, reverend? I wasn’t a whore. A whore gives it for free, honey. I charged for it, all in order to feed my children, and I don’t regret one sweaty, disgusting body that touched my flesh. I’ve been able to give my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren a good life. What have you done?”

“I help people,” he scowled.

“You don’t help people. You manipulate them. What did that poor woman do to you? What did Imelda do to you?”

“She was always arguing with me. Always arguing with Shirley.”

“And them poor little girls you drowned? Cheerleaders, cheerin’ on their high school team. What did they do?”

“They were headed down the same path as you. They were going to turn into whores. The earth didn’t need them.”

“I don’t know about the earth,” said Ruby, shakin’ her head, “but their parents needed them.” She felt her phone vibrate and casually hit the button.

“Ruby, don’t move from where you are. We have you on the trackers and are coming,”said Zeke. She raised the phone and turned on talk to text.

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