Shade's Fall
Page 84

“It doesn’t make any sense to me,” Lily said, blowing on her coffee.
“What doesn’t? That she’s a fucking bitch or that she quit?” Rider asked grimly.
“Both. Not a month ago, she was giving me heck because she thought I took her brother’s job; now suddenly, she’s calling one of her bosses’ wives bad names in front of a large group who will spread it all over town so she wouldn’t be able to deny it. It’s almost like she wanted to get fired,” Lily answered, blowing on her coffee again.
She reached up, giving her husband a quick kiss on his lips. “Later.” She grinned, walking away, not paying attention to the stunned looks on the men’s faces as she pulled out of the parking lot.
* * *
Lily unlocked the church store, going inside and then closing the door behind her.
“Morning, Mrs. Hunter,” Pastor Dean said, coming in from the church entrance. “How are you this sunny morning?”
“Good. And you?”
“Can’t complain, other than I’ve gained ten pounds over the holidays. I think if one more parishioner gives me one more casserole or cookie, I’m going to vomit.”
“That bad?”
“The problem was that it was too good,” Pastor Dean laughed. “I’m bursting at the seams.”
Lily pulled two bags of clothes out from under the counter and another that had been shoved into a darkened corner. When she tugged the bag loose, it jarred a metal box. Lily dropped to her knees, reaching back, and with her fingertips managed to snag the box by the handle, sliding it free. She pulled it out from under the counter and then stood up, lifting the heavy box with difficulty onto the counter.
“What’s that?” Pastor Dean asked, looking at the box curiously.
“Your guess is as good as mine. It looks like it’s been shoved under there for a while.” Lily pulled the two metal rings open then tried to open it. It was locked.
“It’s locked,” she said, stating the obvious.
“I have some tools in my office. I’ll take care of it.”
“Okay.” Lily slid it across the counter toward him.
A customer came in and she moved toward the woman entering the store.
“I’ll see you later, Lily.”
She waved as Pastor Dean left, asking the woman what she needed.
Lily wondered what was in the box. She would have to remind herself to ask before she went home.
* * *
Shade was standing next to Razer in his office when his cell phone rang. The caller ID showed Dean was calling.
“Yeah?”
“Thought I’d let you know that your new wife found a lock box in the basement this morning. Want to take a wild guess what was inside?”
“Lily’s adoption papers?”
“Yes.”
“Fake?”
“Yes. I’ll take them by Knox’s office when I go to lunch.”
“Thanks. Want to hear something interesting?”
“Hit me.”
“Georgia quit this morning. Beat me to firing her ass. Thing is, Lily came up with this idea. She seemed like she wanted to be fired, so we checked it out. Seems the bitch had a chunk of money put in her checking account the day after Halloween.”
“How much?”
“Fifty thousand. Not only that, another deposit of thirty was put in first thing this morning. This is the first day the banks have been open since Christmas.”
“Someone paid her not only to start the fire, but to start an argument at the church,” Shade concluded.
“Why start an argument at the church?”
“I think to try to rattle Lily into running out of the church. A month ago… hell, two weeks ago, it would have worked. Whoever wants her dead is getting desperate to try to get to her. We don’t leave her alone, so someone was trying to make their own opportunity.”
“I’ll call Knox to come here and pick these papers up. I’m not going to leave the church from now on when Lily’s here,” Dean’s voice was grim over the phone line.
“I’ll call you if I find anything else out. Once Knox has the proof from the bank, he’s going to arrest Georgia. I took him her coffee cup, so if the DNA matches the evidence found from the fire, we have her ass, and we may be able to find out what the fuck is going on,” Shade’s anger carried through the phone line.
“All right, I’ll talk to you later, Shade.”
“Later, Dean.”
* * *
Lily locked the door to the church store, surprised to see Shade had picked her up from the store in Rider’s truck. He always picked her up on his bike unless the roads were slick with snow or it was pouring rain.
It had been a long week and she was looking forward to the weekend to get some chores finished. She and Beth needed to clean out their house so it could be put up for sale. Almost all of the furnishings were going to be donated to the church store. They were both going to keep the few items that held sentimental attachment to them, though.
“Why the truck?” Lily asked, climbing inside.
Her husband’s sunglasses stared back, hiding his expression. “I wanted to talk to you on the way home,” Shade said, making no effort to put the truck in gear.
“Is something wrong?” Lily questioned, becoming worried.
“Knox arrested Georgia this afternoon.”
“Why? What did she do?” Lily’s breath caught in surprise.
“She’s the one who set the basement on fire.”
“What? Why would she do something like that?” Lily asked. She knew the woman hated her, but she’d never dreamed it had been enough to kill her.
“Someone paid her fifty thousand dollars. The same person who probably tried to run you down on the street and attempted to break into your house.
“Who?” Lily tried to think of someone who could possibly want her dead.
“I don’t know. Knox is questioning her now. He’s going to be at the club tonight so we can find out more then.”
She sat in shock while Shade drove them home. She and Georgia had attended the same church for years. The whole community would know she had been arrested. That would be a hard bit of humiliation for Georgia to bear.
“You better tell Knox to keep an eye on her. When she was younger, she tried to kill herself twice. This is going to humiliate her, Shade,” Lily warned.
As soon as he parked the truck, Shade made the call to Knox. They went to their house to get changed before going over to eat dinner at the clubhouse. This was their first party since they had gotten married, and she wanted to look pretty for him.
Tonight she had dressed in one of her few short skirts. It came barely above her knees. Sex Piston had picked it out so it was tighter than she usually wore, as well. She had teamed it with a soft pink sweater that showed a faint hint of her breasts.
She had felt pretty and sexy until she walked into the clubhouse. Her sister was wearing a cute red skirt and a black vest.
“You look pretty tonight,” Lily complimented her.
“You do, too. I might have to borrow that sweater,” Beth said with envy.
“You can have it. It won’t quit sliding down my shoulders.” Lily pulled it back up in frustration.
“That’s what makes it so pretty,” Winter said, coming up behind her.