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Tanner smirked at the older man, nodding.
“I’m going to set explosives on the other end of the tunnel, then close the tunnel at this end by removing the support beams. It should help to alleviate some of the mess that comes through into the basement. Once that’s done, we can let the explosives do the rest. I suggest you go upstairs and pretend that all is just fine.”
“What about the drugs? Where will they go?” he asked.
“The military will take them to Fort Bliss, catalog, and confiscate them. They won’t be out on the streets of El Paso. Not this time.”
“Very well,” he nodded.
Father Mike followed the others back up to the church, watching as the military vehicles pulled away. A few moments later, Eazee and Tanner came running upstairs, pushing Father Mike to the floor. A loud rumble, then a thunderous sound echoed in the church, dust falling from the rafters.
“Oh, my,” he said, grinning at the men. “That was exciting.”
“We’ll be going now, Father. You can expect that someone from the city, and perhaps even the fire department, will come out to investigate what happened. If you need anything, call the base, and they’ll come out. When Mr. Sutton arrives, and believe me, he will arrive, just play it cool.”
“Play it cool. Yes, I think I can do that,” said the old man.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Sutton was not having a good day. Every direction he turned, something was going wrong. The apartment building was nothing except a pile of rubble. He couldn’t reach anyone at his home, and he’d just heard from someone that there was another explosion caused by a gas leak.
Racing inside the church, he found Father Mike standing with a group of people discussing upcoming nuptials. The happy bride and groom looked at one another dreamily while the mothers discussed flowers and the fathers discussed just how much this wedding would cost them.
“Excuse me, Father. May I have a word with you?” he asked politely, his face a fine sheen of sweat and anxiety.
“Of course, Mr. Sutton,” he smiled. “I’ll be right back. Go ahead and walk around. Think about how you’d like your wedding to look in the evening light. Mr. Sutton, how may I help you?”
“There was a gas leak earlier,” he said, trying to remain calm.
“Yes. Terrible thing. It didn’t damage the church of course, but it did rumble and cause dust downstairs. The city came by to ensure that the building was safe. There was a collapse in the basement, but it appears everything is fine. We’ll just have to patch the hole in the wall.”
“A collapse? A hole in the wall?” asked Sutton, gasping for air.
“That’s right. Unfortunately, it crushed the boxes of clothing, but I don’t think it damaged them.” Father Mike was proud of how easily the lies were coming to his head. After each one, he begged forgiveness, hoping that the Lord understood his reasons for deceit. He knew it wasn’t okay, but he wanted Sutton to suffer a bit for what he’d done.
“May I, may I go and look?” he asked.
“Of course, Mr. Sutton. You know the way.” He smiled as Sutton practically sprinted down the steps. He let him have a few moments, then he followed him.
“As you can see, it’s not all that bad. We’ll have it all cleaned up in no time,” said Father Mike.
“There were other boxes down here,” he said.
“Other boxes? I’m afraid the only boxes I’ve ever seen are those that got crushed by the debris.”
“Was anyone else here? Someone other than the city?”
“Well, the fire department, obviously. And some men from Fort Bliss. They said they were checking to be sure there were no more gas leaks.”
“Dear God,” whispered Sutton, gripping the priest’s shirt with his fists. “Did they take anything out of here?”
“Mr. Sutton, you’re acting irrationally. I was upstairs the entire time with my first communion class. Everything is just fine. We’ll replace the clothing in no time. Please, release my shirt,” said Father Mike.
Sutton glared at him, and for just a moment, Father Mike thought he might do him bodily harm. Finally, releasing the shirt, he quickly went back upstairs. When he left, Father Mike sent a text to the Sgt. Major at Fort Bliss, who then relayed the message to Eazee.
By the time Sutton got to his home, he was ready to kill everyone in his path. Unfortunately, someone had already done that for him. Men were lying across his lawn, covered in blood. Not one of them left alive.
Two of the regular guards from the shed tunnel were standing over them, kicking them with the toe of their boot.
