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“Not worse than Rain. Remember she walked in on us yesterday.” She straightened, shook herself as if she was still half undressed like she had been when Rain discovered them.
“I’ll get the door,” he said, but she was already striding toward it.
He drifted to the computer again. With a click of a button, he brought up the doorbell camera he’d temporarily installed while they stayed here. While the big threat was over and the sisters were safe, he would never, ever take another chance.
By the time he saw who was calling on them, it was too late. Dove cracked open the door.
“Hi there,” she said.
He moved swiftly to join her and pushed the door open wider. When he smiled down on the shorter man who served as a pastor in the church they’d been investigating, Quaide felt his teeth meet with a gnash.
“Can I help you?” he asked in his most pleasant voice.
The man beamed. “Good afternoon. I’m Pastor Miles Orion. I’m from the local parish.”
Dove took over. “What can we help you with today?”
He looked between Dove and Quaide. “I live right up the street. Just there.” He pointed at a huge white house at the end of the cul-de-sac. “And I wanted to personally welcome you to the neighborhood. I hope you don’t mind that I did some asking about you before paying this visit.”
Quaide tensed. Dove grasped his fingers and squeezed.
The pastor went on. “I know about the fire that took your home.” His forehead creased all the way up to his receding hairline.
Quaide’s alarms had already tripped, but now they were blaring. It could be said that people knew everyone else’s business in a small town, but he didn’t like it. At all.
“Thank you for your attention to detail.” Quaide widened his smile.
The man continued to beam at him, but Quaide saw through the farce. His own grandmother had been a woman who emanated genuine love for mankind, so he knew the difference between real and a fake.
“Well, I won’t keep you. As I said, I want to welcome you to the neighborhood and invite you to services Sunday at ten.”
“We appreciate it. Thank you for stopping by.” Dove gave him a smile of her own. While not as wolfish as Quaide’s, the expression definitely had a tension that it never did normally.
Pastor Orion stepped away with a small wave, and Quaide closed the door.
As soon as it was shut, a hot whisper came from behind them. “What was that!”
He’d forgotten that Lark was even in the house. She’d been in the kitchen all morning long, working diligently with the city of East Canon to get the building permits in place so they could break ground as soon as possible.
The redhead rushed across the room and whipped the curtain back to look outside. “What is that man doing here?” she demanded.
Dove’s eyes rounded as she met his stare. “Lark, what is going on? Why are you so upset about the pastor—”
She released the curtain, letting it swish back into place, and whirled to face them. “He’s crooked. He’s involved with a lot of crimes around here. I heard his voice and…” She raised her shoulders to her ears as if giving a shiver. “I know his voice. I heard it when they drugged me and put me in that coffin.”
“Coffin!” Dove clapped a hand over her mouth.
“I’ll tell you all about that another time. The issue right now is—that man? Is trouble. He is involved in some seedy things that we have yet to prove. But did you see his clothes? Why is a pastor wearing—”
“Designer clothes? I wondered that too. But he pointed out that white house at the end of the street was his,” Dove broke in. She lifted her hand in a nervous gesture he knew too well since he got her back in his life.
Lark’s eyes bugged. “The huge mansion? I see how the church donations are allocated now. Knowing we’re right down the street from him lights a fire under me to get these permits so we can break ground this week.”
“I believe if anyone can get it done, it’s you, Lark.” Quaide gave her a pointed look and then shifted his eyes toward Dove. He saw the nerves popping out on Dove like hives. If he didn’t know her so well, he wouldn’t pick up on her small tells that revealed her feelings.
Lark gave him a small nod. “I’ll just be in the kitchen.”
As soon as she bounced away, he caught Dove’s arm and swung her to him.
