“More than you know, old man.”
“Oh, you’d be surprised what I know,” Pops said.
Tessa felt a tear leak from the corner of her eye and slide down her cheek.
Edwards said, “Leave that shotgun in the hall and come take a seat with the lovely Tessa.”
“Thought you wanted the envelope.”
Tessa gasped. Was he just going to hand it over?
Edwards shifted in his seat. “You know where he put it?”
“Like I said, you’d be surprised what I know.” He paused. “Let Tessa go, and I’ll get you what you want.”
“How about you get me what I want in the next two minutes, and I’ll keep from shooting her?” Edwards sounded deadly serious.
Tessa inhaled sharply.
“Even if I get you the invoice and the photo, we still know. You can kill me and destroy those papers, but Caleb isn’t here. He won’t keep quiet. Senator Colin Chathers might be the guy Kessler picked to put in the White House, someone who’ll do what Kessler wants, but that’s not a plan’s gonna succeed, son.”
She bit the inside of her lip, then said, “You’re backing a losing side, Special Agent Edwards, so you can just cut your losses and go. I’m sorry, but you aren’t going to get Kessler what he wants, and whatever you try doesn’t matter. Caleb already beat you. He won.”
His eyes flared.
“All that’s left is for you to surrender your life to Christ. To admit that you’re a sinner. You’ve broken God’s law and, just like any of us, there’s no way you can be holy enough to live up to His standard. We all fall short. We can’t keep all the commandments, because we fail all the time. But God’s grace means He gifts us salvation in spite of the fact we don’t deserve it. That’s how good He is. And in His kindness He sent his Son. That’s what Christmas is all about.”
Tessa didn’t know where on earth all that had come from. She knew it all inside and out, but had she ever shared her faith like that before?
Edwards stared at her. “Are you people for real?”
“You’re fighting a losing battle.” Pops still held that shotgun, but low and pointed at the floor. “Unless you get on the right side. Doesn’t mean there won’t be consequences for your actions, if you’ve broken the law then you need to face justice. But you’ll have the peace of God in your heart.”
“I’m gonna kill you both.”
She wanted to tell him the verse that said to live was Christ and to die would be gain, but Tessa couldn’t voice the words aloud even if she believed them.
Every day was a gift of God. It was Christ working in her life so that she could return that gift and live for Him in her small way. If she died here and now, she would gain everything she’d ever wanted. Heaven, and the presence of God for eternity.
She’d never thought she’d have peace about dying. She certainly didn’t have it when it came to the death of someone she loved. They were stronger than her.
Tessa wasn’t sure she would live through a loss like that. Not after watching her mother die.
“Killing us won’t change the truth,” Tessa said. “God loves you. No matter what you’ve done. He died for you.”
More tears rolled down her cheeks.
She had no idea how this situation would turn out but whatever happened, God had her in His hands.
No matter what.
Chapter Seventeen
Caleb hit the gas on the spare patrol car the sheriff had let him borrow as soon as Pops had called. No one else was close enough to respond and the sheriff had to go to the hospital and get stitches. The guy had fallen short of deputizing him, though Caleb figured he’d wanted to. Neither of them had addressed the legalities of Caleb driving this car with no authority to act on the department’s behalf, let alone run the lights and sirens—which he would until he got near the ranch.
Then he’d shut them off so Kessler didn’t know he was coming.
Caleb gripped the wheel and instinctively employed all the defensive driving skills he’d been taught, holding on with both hands and going around the bend in the highway without slowing down.
