Fear the Wicked (Illusions Series Book 2)(43)

Yes. Yes I do. I have more than that, but these men didn’t need to know it.

Speaking slowly and with feigned reservation, I acquiesced to the terms. “You have to understand that this decision is not easy for me to make. I’m a man of God, a priest, and a Shepherd to my flock of parishioners. I prefer to teach the tenets of peace and love, of salvation and absolution.”

The sheriff opened his mouth to talk, but I held up my hand to silence him.

“However,” I added, “I’m also not a stupid man who is blind to the fact that evil is infecting this town. I tend to think we can drive it out of people, much like I’ve been trying to do with the ladies who are trapped within lust’s hold. I’m sure Gentry also told you about a woman I’ve been working with lately who’s lust is powerful enough to tempt a married man.”

Gentry winced at the reminder of having laid a lustful hand on Eve’s body. His brother’s expression darkened even more. “Yes,” he answered. “I’ve been informed.”

Breathing out, I drummed my fingers again, fidgeted in my seat, and took my time responding. One didn’t want to appear too eager.

“Fine. If you think this will help the town, I’m willing to try this approach and see if it helps alleviate the town of its suffering. However, for now, I think we should keep this between us and any other man who thinks he can be of assistance without drawing the attention of the entire town. I think it’s also important that children and women be kept away from this ordeal until we know we have a good handle on it. I see no reason to upset them with the details of what we’re doing to protect the town’s interests. The less people who know, the better, but in time, I think we can make it known that something is being done.”

Sheriff Holmes nodded his head and rubbed his palms over his pants. If I wasn’t mistaken, I thought I caught the gleam of heady anticipation in his eyes. Perhaps the Sheriff had been looking for an excuse to act against the criminals he encountered on a daily basis, and I was sure the compound was the perfect place for him to carry out his innermost desires without drawing attention.

Once again I was looking into the face of the truly wicked: the men and women who hid behind the masks of spiritual leaders, teachers and cops, pretending to be helping us when, in truth, they were preying on us for their perverse pleasure. They were the wolves in sheep’s clothing that the world had been warned about. And because they hid in places of authority and goodness, they were the worst evil of all.

“When would you like me to bring the first man to the compound?”

My fingers drummed one more time, my lips downturned when all I really wanted to do was smile wide.

“I have duties in the parish for the rest of today,” I answered. “But I have a sermon to give at the compound tonight. Do you think you’ll find somebody in time?”

The radio at his side blared with static, a voice coming through to call out for police assistance before rattling off a bunch of letters that meant nothing to any person not employed in law enforcement. I inwardly chuckled to think that the timing of that call had been a Godsend.

Sheriff’s Holmes’ eyes went wide once the noise stopped. “Yeah,” he answered, his voice tight and restrained. “I can have somebody there tonight.”





JACOB


Staying in the city for a full week had been a bad idea. I understood that Timothy needed time to find the music director and priest who’d abused Jericho, but it left me in a place I didn’t want to remember, surrounded by phantom voices from my past.

I’d spent the first night on the couch in my childhood home. Not able to force myself up the stairs to what had been my old bedroom, I’d laughed to myself to make a bed out in the formal living room, to think about how my mother would have screamed to know I’d mussed the room she kept so pristine just so she could pretend everything was perfect in her family and world.

After tossing and turning all night, with only small bursts of panicked sleep, I decided the following morning while I drank coffee at a small café that sleeping in the house would only be hazardous to my health. The next night, I’d rented a hotel room in some glitzy building down the street from the parish. It was the first night I’d slept solid after returning home, but the renewed energy only left me bored and idle – a man in search of something to occupy his time.

While staying with Alan, I’d allowed my desires and darkness to take me over. I’d played with those women, one right after the other, without so much as bothering to learn or remember their names. Much like when I’d been young, I used my looks to draw them in. I’d warned each and every one of them, but like most women, they’d laughed and believed I was only playing. They learned differently once climbing in my bed. I never hurt them enough to make them fear me when they left the next morning, but I gave them enough to make them think twice about climbing in my bed again. Most had been smart enough to stay away, some, however, found that they enjoyed being treated like a toy. Sure, they’d convinced themselves that it was only a game, but I knew in the backs of their heads they’d known that what I’d done to them had been wrong.

I never understood why some women believed they could change a man like me. Although I wasn’t as bad as some of the sick fucks out there, I had certain habits that any decent woman would know to avoid. But those women that wanted to fix me, the ones who’d convinced themselves that their pussy was magic enough to make me fall to my knees and beg them to be mine, they kept coming back for more regardless of the marks they carried when morning came and I showed them the door.