Best Kept Secrets(158)
Fergus raised his hands above his bowed head and called
upon God and a host of angels to cleanse the sinner of her
wrongdoing.
Nora Gail pushed him aside and moved toward her sister.
They faced each other. Nora Gail, her platinum hair radiant,
looked marvelous for someone who had just gotten out of
bed. The constant use of expensive night creams guaranteed
her a glowing complexion. She was resplendent in a rose
satin robe trimmed with seed pearls. By contrast, Wanda
looked like an overweight brown wren.
"It's cold out here," Nora Gail remarked, as though they'd
seen each other only yesterday. "Let's go inside." She led
her gawking sister across the threshold of the whorehouse.
Nudging Fergus in his skinny ribs as she went past, she said,
"Preacher, if you don't shut up that noisy praying, I'm going
to shoot your balls off, you hear?"
"Ah-men!" he cried, suddenly ending his prayer.
"Thank you," Nora Gail said with amusement. "I'm sure
I can use the prayers. Come on in. I've been wanting to talk
to you."
Several minutes later, they were collected around the table
in her kitchen, which looked very ordinary and not the least bit sinful. Coffee had been brewed and poured into fine china
cups. Fergus commanded Wanda to avoid it, as though it was
a poisonous concoction.
"You can't defeat us," Fergus said heatedly. "God is on
our side, and He's sorely provoked at you, a whore who leads
weaker brothers astray."
"Save it," Nora Gail said with a casual wave of her hand.
"I fear God, all right, but what's between Him and me is
personal, and no business of yours. The only thing that scares
me about you, preacher, is your stupidity."
He took umbrage. His face puffed up like an adder. "Did
you send my wife some of your ill-gotten money?"
"Yes. From the looks of her and your kids, I thought she
could put it to good use."
"We don't need your money."
Nora Gail sat forward and, with a lazy smile, spoke softly
to Fergus. "You haven't thrown it back in my face, either,
have you?"
His mouth puckered like a drawstring purse. "I never reject
a gift that God so generously bestows."
"No, I'm sure you don't." Nora Gail complacently
dropped two cubes of sugar into her coffee. "That's why I
want to make a deal with you, Reverend Plummet."
"I don't deal with the ungodly. I came here as a messenger
of God, to warn you of His wrath, to hear your confession
of--"
"How would you like a new church?"
The flow of evangelism ceased abruptly. "Huh?"
Idly, Nora Gail stirred her coffee. "How would you like
a new church? A big, grand church that would put all the
others in town to shame, even the new First Baptist." She
paused to sip her coffee. "I can see I've left you speechless,
which in itself is a blessing."
Again, she smiled like a cat that had just licked clean a
saucer of cream. "As soon as Purcell Downs is completed,
I'm going to be very rich and very respectable. It would be
to your benefit, preacher, to accept my generous donations,
which would be sizable and given on a regular basis. Then,
when Texas Monthly or '60 Minutes' comes out here to
interview me as one of the state's richest businesswomen,
they can also report what a generous and benevolent person
I am.
"And in return for this fancy church I'll build you," she
said, leaning forward again, "I would expect you to keep
your loud mouth shut about racetrack gambling. There are
plenty other sins to keep you occupied. If you run out of
sermon material, I'll be more than glad to provide you a list
of sins, because I've committed them all, sugar."
He was gaping like a fish washed ashore. The madam
definitely had his attention.
"And, you wouldn't be pulling any more stunts like you
did at the Minton ranch a week or so back. Yes," she said,
holding up her heavily jeweled hand to stem his denials, "I
know you did it. You caused a valuable horse to get put
down, and that really chaps my ass."
Her eyes narrowed on him. "If you do anything that stupid
again, I'll pull the pulpit right out from under you, preacher
man. I make plans, see, and I knock down anybody who
stands in the way of them. If you have a problem you want
solved, come to me. Leave the revenge-getting to somebody
who knows how to get it and not get caught." She leaned
back in her chair. "Well?"
"You've . . . you've given me a lot to think about."
"Not good enough. I want your answer today. Right now.
Do you want to become a religious big shot with a shiny new