She had been the only one in her family to attend church. Their love for her was now overcoming their recalcitrance. Her family had varying degrees of belief in God, but the one thing they did believe in was that they could count on each other.
Evil had touched her, and through her, it touched both her church family and her biological one. It was only going to leave a stain on her soul if she let it, and she couldn’t let that happen. She couldn’t do any less for her family than they were willing to do for her.
Her thoughts went back to her pastor’s sermon, realizing he was leading them in prayer as she heard the last word he spoke. Bowing her head, she repeated it.
“Amen.”
19
Dustin walked behind Willa and Lucky as the congregation started to leave, silently waiting for them to say goodbye to Beth. When she finally left, he shook Lucky’s hand.
“I appreciate you organizing this service.”
“No, thank you for bringing to Willa’s attention why she hadn’t been coming to church. I was one of the few she would accept calls from, but when I mentioned her attending service, she said she wasn’t ready. Now I know why. We’ll be here for her until she’s ready to come back.” Lucky waved at two women as they passed. “After the next deacon meeting, it might be the only service I’ll be giving.”
Dustin didn’t understand, and he could see that Willa looked unhappy at his last statement.
“Dixon Wells has taken over as head deacon, and he’s trying to convince the elders and the congregation to revert back to the denomination our church was before,” Lucky explained. “Angus had always been able to keep Dixon in check, but when he moved to Bangladesh, he slowly convinced several of the congregation to agree that we should.”
While Dustin didn’t attend Lucky’s church, he knew Dixon. He wasn’t one of his clients. He was considered well-off, owning a restaurant in Treepoint and another in Lexington that his son Charles ran for him.
“If there is anything I can do, let me know. I don’t go to church often enough that any of the elders would listen to me, but I don’t mind putting in my two cents.”
Lucky narrowed his eyes. “Actually, there is, but it doesn’t involve the church. You and your brothers could quit giving Drake a hard time about belonging to The Last Riders.”
“Pastor”—Dustin nodded to a woman as she passed, recognizing her as one of Jessie’s neighbors at her apartment complex—“that’s asking too much.”
“From me or God?” Lucky asked wryly.
“Both,” Dustin said, putting an arm around Jessie’s shoulders as she joined the small group.
“Excuse me, Pastor.” Jessie shrugged away from his possessive hold. “I have a quick question. I can’t place that woman who just passed. I know I’ve met her, but I can’t remember where.”
Dustin’s eyes went to the woman he had just nodded to, frowning as Willa answered her question.
“That’s Victoria Carsen. She’s new in town and doesn’t attend the church. She’s the new school librarian. Drake introduced her to me when I went to King’s to drop off some cakes. Drake must have told her that I was organizing the women coming today, so she asked if she could attend today’s service. She acted like she knew you.”
“I almost spoke to her, but I didn’t want to be embarrassed that I didn’t know her name. I don’t know where I’ve met her before.”
Dustin didn’t want to upset Jessie by bringing up the night she had been kidnapped, but his heart raced at her mentioning how Victoria seemed familiar to her. Could brief memories be coming back?
“She was the last one to see you in the laundry room.”
As Jessie went pale, Dustin bit off a curse, already regretting telling her, but he didn’t want her finding out that he had been the one to first talk to her.
“I saw her that night? Did she see anything? I need to ask her—”
“She’s been interviewed by Knox and the state police. She didn’t see anyone other than you.”
“I still want to talk to her.”
“Then go ahead. Kaley saw you going to the laundry room, too. She’s not here today, but if you want, I can call and ask her to stop by to talk to you.”
“You know Kaley’s number?”
The jealous sparkle that entered her eyes had his lips twitching.
“Only because I saw her when Knox asked for help canvassing your neighbors. She offered me her number in case she remembered something.”
His explanation didn’t make the sparkle disappear.
“I’m sure Asher has her number. I’ll call her myself.”
Dustin took out his phone, wagging it in front of her face. “I’m standing right here. I’ll send it to you.”
Giving a disdainful sniff, she gave him a cold shoulder. “Excuse me. I want to catch Ms. Carsen before she leaves.”