Chapter 10

Huck kicked his chair away from the table and to the side, putting him squarely between Laurel and Zeke Caine. "Pastor Caine, we have questions for you."

Zeke kept his gaze on Laurel and walked toward them with a coffee pot in one hand and several Styrofoam cups in the other. "Yes, I assume you do." The now bald pastor had apparently once had the same auburn-colored hair as Laurel and Abigail, as well as their heterochromatic eyes, but he wore blue contacts to mask them.

Kohnex stilled. "You're Agent Snow's father?"

"I am," the pastor said.

Kohnex looked from one to the other. "There's bad blood between you." His dog whined, and he leaned down to pet him again, for the first time appearing uneasy.

"Laurel, it's good to see you." The pastor ignored Kohnex. "I know you've called several times to speak with me, but I needed space after our first rather unfortunate interaction."

Huck kept his face expressionless. He hadn't realized that Laurel had reached out to her father. There was no doubt in his mind that she planned to put the man in prison, and he believed she'd eventually succeed.

"Yes. Last time we spoke, you were in the hospital after being brutally attacked," Laurel said. "Yet, for some reason, you won't tell me who assaulted you."

They all knew who'd stabbed him. Abigail Caine, his other daughter, had attacked him.

A calculating smile lifted the pastor's lips. He probably stood a little under six feet tall and appeared broad and in fairly decent shape for his age.

Huck wondered how many punches he could take before he fell. Probably two. Maybe one if Huck aimed perfectly. "Where were you last night?"

The pastor finally looked at him. "Captain Rivers, it's good to see you. We should probably go out and have a drink since you're dating my daughter, don't you think?"

Huck had faced predators his entire life, and until now, he'd considered Abigail Caine to be the most dangerous of them all. This guy could give her a run for her money. At least it explained where Abigail had inherited the crazy gene. "I'm not going to ask you again. Where were you last night?"

The pastor placed the coffee pot and cups on the table, stepping between Huck and Kohnex. "I worked here until about nine at night, and then it's absolutely none of your business where I spent my evening."

"There was a body found out by the river behind your church," Huck drawled, standing to his full height. "So you can either come into the office with me for a more formal interview, or you can stop being a jackass."

Kohnex gasped. "I feel dissent here," he said. "Maybe we should all take a deep breath."

Oh, yeah, there was definitely dissent here.

Laurel cleared her throat. "Where were you, Pastor Caine?"

He honed in on her. "You mean ‘Father,' don't you?"

"I absolutely do not," she said.

He sighed. "Fine. I was with a friend all night."

"Does your friend have a name?" Huck asked.

Zeke sighed. "I really wish to leave her out of this, if you don't mind."

Huck just stared at him and crossed his arms.

"Very well," the pastor said. "Her name is Uma Carrington, and she owns the Little Tin Box, which is the antiques store right around the corner from the Center Diner."

Laurel didn't so much as move. "Is she older than eighteen?"

Zeke smiled again, all charm. "I believe she's in her late twenties. You can't believe every story your mother tells you."

"No," Huck said before Laurel could get in a word. "We're not going there, and we're not talking about anything other than this case. If you have a problem with that, I'll put you in cuffs and take you out of here right now."

Zeke drew in air and focused on Huck. "Aren't you the overprotective lover?"

Towering over the man, Huck stepped closer. "You're going to want to watch yourself, Pastor Caine. You really are." He let his voice lower to pure threat. "Now, we would like her phone number."

The pastor easily rattled it off, taking a discreet step away from Huck.

Huck remained in place. For now. "What do you know about the woman found frozen on your church grounds?"

"I arrived here in time to be told to stay inside the church," Zeke said. "I didn't even get to see who's out there."

"It's probably Teri Bearing, the mayor's wife," Kohnex said suddenly.

Huck twisted toward him. "How did you know that?"

"I was listening at the door," Kohnex said. "But I had a feeling she was somebody prominent in town. Even though she hadn't been turned over and I couldn't see her face, there was something about her. I don't think you'd call it an aura, more like an essence." He tapped his bottom lip and stared off into the distance. Then he looked back at Laurel. "Like you two. I knew before the pastor used that unfortunate word that you and the captain were tied together. Strong bonds there."

Huck didn't have time for this bullshit.

"You've been through chilly storms together, haven't you?" Kohnex asked.

Laurel barely kept from rolling her eyes. It was close. Huck saw her lids twitch, but she managed to restrain herself. He liked that about her a lot.

She removed her gloves. "Pastor Caine, you were with Ms. Carrington from nine last night until when?"

"Until I got the call from Timmy," the pastor said. "He said he found a body, and I came here right away. This is not good for me or the church. Tonight was supposed to be our first live service. I'm taking the church national. It's going to be a megachurch, Laurel. But we can't hold a live service when there's a dead body out back, and now it seems it's the mayor's wife? What a disaster."

"Well, gee, Pastor," Huck drawled. "I'm real sorry to ruin your day."

The pastor put both hands on his hips. He wore black slacks and a white button-down shirt, even though he'd been called out of somebody's bed to get to the church. Did he always dress up?

Laurel cleared her throat. "Let's all remember that we do not have a positive identification for the victim yet."

Zeke focused once again on Huck. "Didn't you have an altercation with the mayor's wife recently?"

"How do you know that?" Laurel asked quietly.

The pastor kept his gaze on Huck this time. "I pay attention when one of my girls is dating somebody. I try to learn everything I can about them. I've got more Google alerts on you than you can imagine, and I quite enjoy The Killing Hour . That Rachel Raprenzi is fascinating. I think she still is enamored with you."

"Ah, Rachel," Kohnex said. "I watch her, too. Yes. I can see a connection between the two of you." He gasped suddenly and grabbed his throat, turning toward Laurel. "Something's coming for you. Oh, my. It's a force. A force that wants just you. You're in grave danger."

Huck might actually have to hit this guy. "She's an FBI agent. Stop making things up."

"I'm not. I can see it. I can sense it from two different directions actually. And one . . ." He leaned in. "Is very close to you," he whispered. "Do you have a sibling?"

"No," Laurel said shortly.

Kohnex looked down at his dog. "I think that you do. There's a familial essence, a connection to the danger." He peered into the distance again, and his tone deepened. "Somebody wants to harm you, Agent Snow. You need to be very careful."

Yep. Huck was going to have to clock him. He sighed. "Do you have any connection to Teri Bearing, Pastor Caine?" He emphasized the " Pastor" this time.

Zeke shrugged. "The Bearings attend the church, so I know Teri and the mayor and their kids. They joined long before I left on my sabbatical, and they're still members now. I think they were actually looking forward to the live sermon tonight. The mayor wished to give a brief talk about the community, you know, to bring in people."

"Where is Pastor John?" Laurel asked, referencing the pastor who'd taken over for Zeke when he'd disappeared for years.

"Oh, my. Did I forget to call him?" Zeke asked. "I saw him when I left last night, but he may have stayed here all night. I don't know."

There was no doubt in Huck's mind that Zeke Caine knew Pastor John's location at all times. Pastor John had been the one to set up this live national sermon service. He couldn't have been too happy when Zeke had returned and taken over. "Does Pastor John still live in the church cabin to the west?"

"No," Zeke said. "John purchased one of the cabins farther down to the east, a distance from Timmy's place. There's a series of them that were built by a family named Bollington at least thirty or forty years ago. They've each been individually sold through the years."

Huck glanced toward the outside door. "Just down this river?"

"Yes. He purchased it a month ago, I think. But I have no idea what time he left the church last night." Zeke pressed one hand against his cheek. "You don't suppose Pastor John killed Teri, do you?"

"Why would I suppose that?" Huck asked.

Zeke looked away and then back. "I don't know. But they were seeing each other."

"Define seeing ," Huck said.

The pastor shook his head. "I really shouldn't. I'm not one to engage in gossip."

"This is a murder investigation, Pastor Caine," Laurel said.

"You mean ‘Father.'" Zeke's tone sounded indulgent.

Her voice remained sure and strong. "I really don't."

Huck cleared his throat. "How long have Pastor John and Mrs. Bearing been seeing each other?"

"Maybe for a couple of months, from what I understand." Zeke looked properly somber.

Huck lowered his chin. "Are you breaking the confessional right now?"

"Oh, no, no. This is just normal gossip," Zeke said. "I'm not breaking the confession at all. I wouldn't do that."

"All right. From whom did you hear this gossip?" Laurel asked.

Zeke lifted his hands. "I really don't know. I can't say. Besides, if I did hear something in confession, and it wasn't about the confessor, then I'm not breaking the confessional."

Huck tried to hold on to his patience. "Somebody in confession told you about Pastor John and Teri Bearing?"

"Yes. I can't reveal the identities of those persons because I gleaned the information during confession, although I can tell you about the actual affair because that wasn't what was confessed."

Huck glanced at Laurel. She shrugged.

He didn't know either. "I thought just Catholics have confession."

"No, not at all. I think it's important to lift sins off the chest, and we hold confession here once a week," Zeke said. "Although, Tim, I do note that you haven't been to confession recently. Should you attend?"

Kohnex shook his head. "No. Anything I've done is between me and God."

Laurel focused on Kohnex. "Tim, did you know Mrs. Bearing?"

Kohnex nodded. "I did. We attend the same church, but outside of church we weren't friends. She had a darkness around her, an aura of . . . I don't know. If I had to pick one word, it'd be ‘melancholy.' But in the last couple of months her aura had lightened to a pink, almost a sparkling-champagne pink. So I figured whatever had been weighing on her had lifted. Maybe she had fallen in love."

"Did you hear that she was dating Pastor John?" Huck asked.

Kohnex scratched his chin. "I did not. But I don't hear confessions. At least not formally."

"Formally?" Pastor Caine asked.

Kohnex shrugged. "Sometimes the wind whispers her secrets to me, and then I know."

"So you and the wind, huh?" Huck asked.

Kohnex nodded solemnly. "Yeah, my talent used to help with basketball games. I would know which players to put where and which plays to call. Then the wind murmured to me when I invested in that oil company. Lately, I've got to tell you, she's been crooning a lot."

"Saying what?" Laurel asked.

"Beware," Kohnex whispered, his eyes widening.

Laurel tucked her gloves into her jacket pocket. "Beware of what?"

Kohnex looked back at his dog. "She hasn't told me yet."

What was this guy's deal? "Where were you last night?" Huck asked.

"I told you. I was home, and then I took my dog for a walk." Kohnex smiled at the dog.

"I see. What about Sunday night?" Laurel asked.

Kohnex pursed his lips. "Same. I don't go many places, Agent Snow. I was home with my dog. We had macaroni and cheese. I watched the television and went to bed. That's pretty much what I do. Every once in a while I get online and play around with the stock market, but all I seem to do is make more money."

The pastor frowned. "We really do need to get you involved with the church's basketball team, Tim. It's not good for you to be out in your cabin with your dog at all times."

"How close is your cabin to Pastor John's?" Laurel asked.

Kohnex shrugged. "I don't know, maybe a mile. We can't see each other, you know? We're in the middle of the woods, but he's the next home to the east of me, I believe."

Laurel glanced down at her phone. "Officers report that Pastor John is not present at his cabin. Where is he, Pastor Caine?"

Zeke held out both hands in a helpless gesture. "Heck if I know."

Huck kept his focus on Kohnex. "Do you like blondes?"

A small smile played over Kohnex's face. "Yes, I like really athletic blondes, you know? Ones who golf and are tall. I wouldn't want to waste this frame on a short girl."

"Do you have a girlfriend?" Huck asked.

Kohnex scratched a mark on his neck. "No. I've been talking to this really hot chick from Arizona named Jeanie, but we've only talked and Zoomed. She's not looking for anything serious, and neither am I."

Huck needed to do a deep dive on this guy. "I need her number."

"Absolutely," Kohnex said. "She knows you're calling."

"How would she know?" Huck asked. This guy lived in his own universe.

Kohnex shrugged. "She knows things, too."

"Great. We'll be in touch with both of you," Huck said.

Laurel pushed back her chair and stood. "Pastor Caine, where have you been the last several years? It's my understanding that you took off five years ago, showed up a year ago for a short time, and then left again. Where did you go?"

"I was on walkabout," Zeke said. "I believe I told you that before."

"Yes, and I would like to hear more details now." Laurel faced her father squarely.

Huck took a step back so he wouldn't obscure her line of sight.

Zeke's superior smile might get him punched. "I really can't go into details. I went on a personal spiritual journey, and where I was doesn't matter to you."

"You didn't take a phone with you?" Laurel asked.

"No, I did not." He winked. "Sometimes a man just doesn't want to be found, Laurel."