“Well,” Barnard said, stepping closer to Preacher, “I understand about sisters and I want you to stay away from mine.”
“I’d never intentionally hurt Natalie,” he said.
“Did you know your sister’s boyfriend was Dante’s partner?”
Preacher shook his head. “I had no idea until the cookout.”
“Is Andre involved in your sister’s business?”
Preacher nodded.
“Is Dante?”
He nodded again.
“And you didn’t tell us? How could you put my sister, me, and the jobs program in jeopardy that way? You knew I was trying to sign Circle Autos up for the program. Why didn’t you say something?”
“I didn’t know until a couple of days ago. Believe me, I struggled with it. I gave Dante a heads-up and threatened to turn him in if he didn’t leave Natalie alone. You and Natalie are like family to me, Barnard.”
Barnard shook his head. “From where I’m sitting the family you care about most is your sister. I can’t pretend I don’t understand because I do. What I don’t understand is why you didn’t trust me enough to tell me. What did you think I’d do, Preacher, turn her in?”
“I wasn’t sure what you’d do,” Preacher said, “and I couldn’t risk it. I know my sister is wrong, and I want her out of the business, but I don’t want her to go to prison.”
“I see that very clearly,” Barnard said. “I also see that you were willing to sacrifice me, Natalie, and the jobs program in order to protect your sister. As someone who’s supposed to be your brother in Christ, I don’t know how to assess that decision.”
“I’m sorry, Barnard,” Preacher said, knowing the words were not enough, but knowing too they were all he had. “If I had to do it over, I’d handle things differently.”
“We have a God of second chances, Preacher. At one time, I was sure you knew that, that you had experienced it firsthand. Now I wonder.”
“Don’t say that, man. Don’t even think it. You know my conversion was real.”
Barnard stared at him for what seemed like a long time. “I have no idea what’s in your heart, so I won’t presume to judge you. I only ask that you stay away from me and mine, and that includes both Serena and Natalie. You’ve cost us too much already.”
Preacher had no response and Barnard didn’t wait for one. He turned, got in his car, and backed out of the driveway. As Preacher watched him speed away, he felt he was losing the better part of the man he’d become.
CHAPTER 20
Life was good, Sean thought, as he strolled in the Boss’s reception area, and it got better when his eyes met Jessie’s and her face lit up with joy. They’d had a wonderful evening together, an evening that hadn’t ended until breakfast this morning. Sean’s plans to use her for the information she could provide had changed and now he considered her his woman. She had proved she cared deeply for him by reading his personnel file and telling him what she’d learned, a deed that could mean Third Hades for her if the Boss found out.
They considered what she’d learned from the file well worth the risk. Sean now knew that the Boss’s recent maltreatment was a test of his readiness for a promotion. According to notes in the file, Sean was passing with flying colors.
Sean glanced toward the Boss’s door and seeing it was closed as it normally was, he strode directly to Jessie’s desk, pulled her up and into his arms, and gave her what he hoped was a toe-curling kiss. “Miss me?” he asked when he ended the kiss.
“You know I did,” she said, sinking into her chair. His kiss must have made her weak. “Will I see you tonight?”
“No doubt,” he said. “Why don’t I pick you up after work?”
She began shaking her head. “That’s not a good idea. And neither was that kiss, though I enjoyed it. We’ve discussed this before. I don’t want to take a chance on the Boss seeing us together. He’s so unpredictable. I don’t know if he’ll be angry, or happy or indifferent.”
Sean agreed with her, so they planned to meet at his apartment later that night. After they set a time, Sean headed into the Boss’s office. The old man was seated at his desk, as usual, and, as usual, his head was bent in some activity. He didn’t have his joysticks today though, which Sean considered good news.
The Boss looked up as if he read Sean’s thoughts, but that was impossible since the Boss couldn’t read thoughts. That was a trait of the enemy.
The Boss folded his arms across his stomach. “Update,” he said.
“Good news on all fronts,” Sean said, leaning forward in his chair. “Preacher’s world is caving in. His past relationship with Serena has been exposed, so Barnard has turned his back on him. Barnard has also walked out on his marriage, leaving Serena alone to drown in the guilt of her past. The only setback we’ve had is that Natalie and Dante are over, so we’ll have to find a new way to get her. The upside is that Preacher is no longer a potential romantic interest for her. Misinformation about his involvement with his sister’s drug business has ruined his relationship with her and she’s turned against him. Right now, the only people Preacher has in his corner are his sister and Big Boy. We have him right where we want him. And last but not least, Tanya is still ours. In fact, her scheming set Preacher’s downfall in motion. She deserves some type of reward for what she’s done.”
“Don’t worry about any rewards for Tanya,” the Boss said, “I’ll take care of her.” He steepled his fingers across the bridge of his nose. “Good of you to think of it, though. You may be getting a handle on this, after all. You’re beginning to think the way I think.”
Sean thought those words were the highest praise the Boss could have given. They were so out of character that Sean would have questioned their sincerity if not for the information Jessie had given him from his personnel file. “Thank you, sir,” he said. “I’m only doing as I was trained. I told you I wanted to prove myself to you.”
The Boss tossed Sean’s words aside with a wave of his hand. “We’re at a critical point now, Jones. We’re close to accomplishing our goal, so the enemy is hard at work to stop us.”
Sean thought of Preacher and smirked. “He pulled Preacher back the last time, but He won’t stop me now. He never should have given these people free will.”
“I can’t disagree with you there,” the Boss said. “But the fact remains that it’s not over until it’s over. You have to be diligent. Now’s the time to focus all your energies on this project. Don’t let victory slip from your hands,” he warned. “You’ve come too far to end up in Third Hades because you tripped up on the final lap.”
“It won’t happen, sir,” Sean said. “I know what I have to do and I’m committed to doing it.”
“Now that’s what I like to hear,” the Boss said. “You sound like a man who enjoys his work. I like that.”
Even though he knew the Boss could start berating him again tomorrow, Sean felt himself grow taller under his praise. “Just following your example, sir,” he said.
The Boss chuckled. “Get out of here, Jones, and get back to work.”
For the first time, Sean left the Boss’s office smiling.
CHAPTER 21
After his confrontation with Barnard, Preacher wanted to have a word or two with Tanya for being so malicious, and he wasn’t talking about the Word of God. Back in the day, he would have read her up and down for such craziness. What was he thinking? Back in the day, Tanya never would have even contemplated such betrayal.
What was going on in the woman’s mind? He knew the answer even as he asked himself the question. She’d been thinking of herself and getting back at him. She was not a complex woman by any means. With Tanya what you saw was all there was. Was this really the woman with whom he wanted to spend the rest of his life? His answer was only clear when he thought of his boys. They deserved a mother and a father. He didn’t want to be a weekend dad. He wanted to be there for his kids. If being there meant putting up with Tanya, he’d do it. He’d asked God for a godly famil
y and he refused to give up on it, despite what Tanya had done today. Though his church family had apparently given up on him—Natalie and Barnard had practically kicked him to the curb with very little thought and no discussion—he wasn’t about to give up on the godly family he believed God had for him, Tanya and the boys.
Thoughts of his boys made Preacher yearn for the feel of their loving arms. The dark house told him he’d have to put his personal needs on hold. Apparently, Tanya had taken them out for the evening. Maybe it worked out for the best, he thought. Even though he could calmly and rationally think about what she’d done today and why, he didn’t trust himself not to blow up at the nonchalant attitude she was sure to have when he confronted her.
Why couldn’t she have waited? He’d told her he’d tell her everything tonight. Leave it to Tanya to go flying off the handle. He still needed to talk her; he didn’t want her overhearing anything else and embarking on another path of destruction. No, the next truths she heard would come from him. He could only imagine the fallout. If things had been bad with Natalie and Barnard, they were going to be ten times worse with Tanya. He bounded up the stairs to his apartment, dreading his upcoming discussion with her but wishing she would hurry home so he could spend some time with his boys.
After getting himself a glass of iced tea from the refrigerator, he flipped open his cell phone and dialed Tanya’s number. She picked up on the second ring. “Why are you calling me?”
Preacher pressed a thumb and forefinger against the sides of his nose. “What time are you coming home?” he asked, ignoring her rude question. He would not argue with her over the phone.
“I left you a note,” she said. “You ought to read it.”
“I didn’t see any note,” Preacher said. Now, after she’d made a mess of nearly all his relationships, she’d started being courteous and leaving him notes. A flag of suspicion went up in his mind.
“Well, look for it,” she said, and clicked off the phone.
Preacher pulled his phone away from his ear and stared at it. The urge to give Tanya a word or two quickly returned. He flipped the phone closed and placed it on the kitchen counter. Then he walked through the dining area to the living room, looking for the note. He found it propped on the coffee table, his name scribbled in Tanya’s bold hand. His apprehension escalated as he opened it and ran off the chart as he read:
Preacher,
I told you not to play games with me, but you didn’t listen. Now you have to pay. The boys and I are gone. I will not live with a liar and a womanizer. You need to think about what you want. If you decide it’s me and the boys, get in touch with my mother. I’ll be calling her next week. You can call me on my cell, but I want you to do some thinking before you call because I’m only taking one call from you. Anything beyond that, go through my mother.
Tanya
Preacher dropped down on the couch, the note falling from his hand. He couldn’t believe it. Tanya had taken his kids! She’d really taken his kids! Preacher felt as if his world had started spinning. His boys were gone.
He jumped from his seat and rushed to his cell, punching in Tanya’s number with quick strokes. She didn’t pick up after the fifth ring and the call went to voice mail. He uttered a curse before leaving her a terse message, “You can’t do this, Tanya. Bring my boys back home.” Feeling helpless and hopeless, he slammed the phone closed and threw it back down on the counter. “Why is she doing this to me?” he cried aloud.
He rushed over and picked the note up from the floor, quickly reading it again. His first thought was to call Maylene but his instincts told him a personal visit would be more effective. He grabbed his keys, jogged down the steps, got in his car, and speeded over to her house. Throughout the drive, he prayed he would find Tanya and the boys sitting in her mother’s house, safe and sound. A half hour later he was knocking on Maylene’s door. She opened the door but made no move to let him in.
“Is Tanya here?” he asked, cutting through the normal courtesies.
Maylene twisted her lips in a frown. “Why are you looking for Tanya over here? She lives with you.”
“She’s gone,” Preacher said. “Are the boys here?”
Maylene’s frown eased into an expression of concern. “No, the boys aren’t here. What’s going on, Wilford? Where is Tanya? Where are those boys?”
Preacher’s worry ratcheted upward. “I don’t know, Maylene. Tanya has left me and taken the boys with her. I don’t know where she is. Do you have any idea where she’s gone?”
Maylene shook her head. “She took the boys with her? I don’t believe that. She would have brought those boys to me if she was going somewhere. This is not like Tanya.”
Preacher searched his mind for what to do. “Look, call Tanya on her cell. She’s not answering my calls. Maybe you can find out where she and the boys are.”
Maylene studied him as if deciding whether to do as he asked. “Wait here,” she said. “I’ll get my phone.”
When she turned away, Preacher let himself into the house. A part of him didn’t trust that Maylene would tell him where Tanya and the boys were, even if she knew. “Jake, Mack,” he called out. “It’s daddy.”
Maylene came back into the living room, her phone in her hand. “I told you they weren’t here,” she said, “so stop yelling in my house.”
Though still unsure of Maylene’s truthfulness, Preacher stopped calling for his boys and sat in the nearest chair while Maylene dialed Tanya’s number.
“What’s going on with you, Tanya?” the older woman said after a few moments. “Wilford’s over here telling me you’ve taken the boys and left him. What’s going on?”
Maylene stopped talking and Preacher assumed Tanya was answering her question. He wished he could hear what she was saying. He itched to snatch the phone out of Maylene’s hands and demand that Tanya bring his boys home, but he knew she’d only hang up on him. Right now, Maylene was his only hope of getting information.
“I can’t pretend I’m unhappy you finally came to your senses and left the drug dealer,” Maylene said, meeting Preacher’s eyes, “but why’d you take those boys? You know you should have left them with me.”
More silence as Maylene listened.
“Oh, all right,” Maylene said. She looked at Preacher. “I’m putting this on speakerphone,” she said to him. “She wants to talk to both of us.” Maylene pressed a button on the phone and placed it on the table next to Preacher’s chair.
“You’re on speaker, Tanya,” Maylene said.
“Can you hear me, Preacher?” Tanya asked.
“Come home, Tanya,” he pleaded. “We can work out whatever’s wrong, but you need to bring the boys home.”
Tanya gave a hearty laugh. “You and Momma always seem to think you know what I need. You’re alike in that way.”
Preacher glanced up at Maylene, who frowned at him.
“But that’s a conversation for another day,” Tanya said. “I want you both to hear this loud and clear. These boys are mine and they go where I go. I’m their mother, not you, Momma, and I say where they go or not go.”
“Stop talking crazy, Tanya,” Maylene said in a no-nonsense tone. “Bring those boys here. You know I’ll take care of them and you can do whatever you want. You’re a grown woman; they’re children. Bring them here, or tell me where they are and I’ll come get them.”
“Listen to me, Momma. For once in your life, listen to what I’m saying. These boys are staying with me. If you don’t start respecting me as their mother, you may never see them again.”
“Look, Tanya,” Preacher said, jumping in. “I know you’re the boys’ mother. I want you all back home so we can be a family. Haven’t I been saying that since I got back? Isn’t it what I’ve told you I wanted?”
“Don’t listen to this drug dealer, Tanya,” Maylene piped in. “You leave those boys with me. You don’t want them to grow up in a life of crime, do you?”
Preacher shot Maylene a threatening glare. Then he sai
d to Tanya, “Please come home.”
“It’s too late for begging now, Preacher. You should have thought about your family when you were carrying on with your church ladies. You want me and the boys back, you do as I asked in that note. Then maybe, just maybe, we’ll return home.”
“Tanya—”
Preacher was cut off when Tanya ended the call.
“Well done, Wilford,” Maylene said. “Now you’ve got those boys out there somewhere with Tanya. She’s my daughter but you have to know that her maternal instincts are about at the zero level. What are you going to do?”
Preacher looked up at Maylene, and seeing only disdain in her eyes, he got up and left her house without responding to her question. When he got in the car, he dropped his head on his steering wheel and prayed for the safety of his children.
Alone in her living room, Serena paced. She’d been pacing since she’d heard Barnard back his car out of the garage. Her husband had packed a bag and left her! None of the scenarios she’d played in her mind had Barnard leaving their home. Nor had they included the pain in his eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut to block the memory, but it did no good. His expression was burned into her mind.
She wanted to blame Preacher for Barnard’s leaving. In fact, she’d spent the last forty-five minutes doing exactly that. But sometime within the last fifteen minutes it had become abundantly clear to her that the fault was hers and hers alone. The abortion she still put at Preacher’s feet, but the subsequent lie about her knowing him belonged to her. Why had it taken her so long to accept responsibility? Why did it take Barnard leaving her for her to see the light? Why? Why? Why?
Hearing a car pull in the driveway, she rushed to the door, praying Barnard had had a change of heart. Her excitement fizzled when she saw that it was Natalie, not Barnard. She remembered then Natalie’s plan to come by tonight to tell her and Barnard about her problems with Dante and Preacher. Talk about bad timing!
Up Pops the Devil Page 24
