Chapter 17
Nathan borrowed Mildred’s four-door sedan in an attempt to be less conspicuous. We’d driven up and down each street, and I’d held on to the crystal in one hand and the evidence bag in the other. I could feel the tingling as we neared even without a vision of where the property was.
It vibrated hard in my hand as we neared the library. I rested my hand on Nathan’s arm. “Stop here.”
He did, and I climbed out with him following behind.
He walked with me up the street before I turned back around and walked to the car. I glanced up and down the street, only taking a step in each different direction until I stared up at the library.
The red brick building was dark. A closed sign was hung on the door. There was nothing suspicious. Maybe my wires had gotten crossed.
“Let’s check it out,” Nathan said as he took my hand and led me down the alleyway. The building next to the library was the historical society. Those windows were dark too.
We crept down the alley, Nathan releasing my hand as we neared the end of the building.
The movement of the crystal vibration prodded me to go running around. I could feel it; we were near, and that meant trouble. I pulled out the stun gun and waited with my finger on the trigger as Nathan peered from around the corner.
He nodded and held his finger to his lips.
I stepped around him and peered with him. The man that had robbed us was carrying a basket filled with fruit as he pulled open the door to a storm shelter. He gave one look around before he was about to descend the steps.
Nathan sprang like a tiger and held his gun to the man’s head. “You don’t get to disappear this time.”
The man stood stock-still. His gaze widened as I approached.
He had fresh peaches, apples, and a slew of other fruits and veggies in his hands.
“Daddy, I’m hungry,” a small voice called out from the darkness below as he stepped into the light.
The man slowly lowered the basket of food to the ground and held up his hands. “Arrest me, but don’t hurt my kids.”
“What is this place?” I asked, stepping around them both. I eased down the stairs before Nathan could stop me.
“Cassie, get back here,” Nathan growled as I reached the last step.
Light danced shadows off the brick walls. There was a group of people, fifteen without counting the kids sitting on blankets on the floor.
“We don’t want any trouble,” a woman whispered. “Please, just leave.”
“I can’t do that,” I said as I moved farther into the room, stepping through the maze of people. With each step I took, I could feel the draw and knew I was closer. I opened an ancient-looking cabinet. My purse was nestled inside. The money from my wallet was gone, but the credit cards, ID, and crystal were perched on a shelf inside the cabinet.
“Thank God,” I said, pulling it free. I slid it around my neck and grabbed our things, including the ruined hundred-dollar bill. There was a stack of identical red-dyed hundred-dollar bills sitting next to it.
“Nathan, you need to get down here,” I called out.
A child across the room moaned and violently coughed. I took a step in that direction out of habit, and a woman pulled a little girl against her chest and rubbed her back. “It’s just a bad cough.”
Nathan stepped into the room with the man in handcuffs. He eased him to sit on his butt in the corner of the room as he gauged the current threat.
“Nathan Murray, when did you get back into town?” a man asked, stepping out of the shadow. He held his weathered cowboy hat against his dirty clothes.
“Pastor Bigsby?” Nathan asked.
The man stepped forward and shook Nathan’s hand.
“Pastor?” I asked.
“These are good people, Nathan. They’re God’s children, just like you, but they fell on hard times. We all did.”
