Fear the Wicked (Illusions Series Book 2)(33)

My fingers gripped tighter over his shoulder. "We should pray over him. Try to relieve him of whatever evil has infected him."

It was my mistake not to consider the area in which I lived before setting up this particular game. Here in rural Appalachia, there were all sorts of threats to avoid. Wild animals on the search for food, coyotes on the hunt for livestock, venomous snakes coiled and ready to strike when you take a wrong step. Most residents understood these dangers. They took steps to protect themselves, often choosing to carry a weapon that would quickly give them the advantage.

Take an armed man, drug him with an amphetamine and then plant him in the face of danger. It would have been a horrible idea if I didn't love the what occurred next so much. Before I could understand what Gentry was reaching behind his back to do, he'd already pulled the gun from the waistband of his jeans, cocked it and pointed it without giving me a second to get one last word out.

The hammer dropped, and so did Mr. Businessman, the loud blast of the gun nearly deafening me.

Good God, how I fought not to fall apart with laughter. Only the true Almighty could have dreamed up such wonderful results.

My jaw dropped in feigned shock, my hand falling away from Gentry's shoulder as I stared down at the dead man in a cage. "What have you done?" I whispered, my soft voice carrying through the room now that the man was no longer screaming.

The .45 shook in his grip, the realization that he'd killed a man sinking deeper into his mind and thoughts. "I -" Gentry looked at me, his gaze pleading and unsure. "He needed to die, Father. What kind of life is that? Possessed? Without his fucking tongue!"

Turning my attention back to the cage, I studied the dead man, the blood, the bits of skull and brain matter now splattered across the cage floor. A grin tugged at my lips, but I fought it back.

"Is this what you brought me here to see, Father? This...this man possessed by evil?"

"No," I answered after a lengthy pause. "I brought you here to see something else. But, now I'm afraid to show you."

In all honesty, Gentry's decision to shoot the poor bastard was the best gift of all. There had always been a chance he wouldn't believe the show, that he would have gone and reported the compound to his sheriff brother. Having killed the man himself, however, he put him in a position where he had no choice but to convince his brother that all of this was real.

"Show me!" he demanded, the gun now held down at his side. With the grip tightly clutched against his palm, the barrel shook so hard that it tapped against his leg. Even Richard was smart enough to keep his distance while an armed man was in such a fragile state.

My next show was through another door, this one far more tame, yet oh so enticing. I couldn't take him there. Not yet. Not until I knew my beautiful girl would be safe.

"You'll need to leave the gun behind, Mr. Holmes. This is a place of God."

Eyes meeting his, I spoke with a neutral tone. The man was shaking so hard, even the lines in his face were doing the tango.

"You said it yourself, Father. We need to fight. And even you have to admit that man was too far gone to have a chance at redemption. You heard your friend there. They'd caught him doing horrible things to his own daughter!"

"Man can be redeemed, Mr. Holmes, for anything."

"It's Gentry!" His voice was bellowing so loud that I had the urge to either cover my ears or cheer in victory. I hoped he didn't stroke out right there in front of me for how high his blood pressure must have been. Maybe I'd given him too much of the amphetamine. Or maybe I'd given him just enough.

"Fine. Gentry," I whispered, holding my hands up between us like I thought he would rush toward me. "But it is not our place to kill these men -"

"Yes, it damn well is! And if my brother was here, he'd tell you the same." Pointing with his gun, he indicated the cage. "It's things like that that are destroying this small town!"

Halle-fucking-lujah. Before long I would have complete participation and control of this once sleepy town. Those crosses in the back of my sanctuary were going to see a lot of use.

"Fine," I said again, "I'll take you to see what I intended to show. But you have to put the gun down. I don't think all those infected with evil have to be killed. I believe a good many can be saved in God's name."

Our argument was important, the mercy I was pretending to show in my responses. At some point in the future, Gentry will remember back to this moment. He would question whether what he did was right. And instead of suspecting my ulterior motive for showing him what I did, he would remember that I was the one who attempted to save lives. That memory would always be in the back of his mind any time he wanted to question my future plans for this town.

The gun was still shaking in his hand, but the mention of the Lord drew his attention. After a few tense seconds, he nodded his head and placed the gun on a counter along the wall. Turning back to me, he demanded, "Take me to see whatever it is.

My head snapped to Richard. "Is Eve still in the adjoining room?"

He nodded, his mouth pulled in a tight line as he fought against his true feelings about the situation. That big son of a bitch wanted to laugh as much as I did.

I knew he wanted to get back to the girl, and without openly saying it, I gave him my permission. "Why don't you get back to your duties for the evening? I can take it from here."