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Wow, she was tired of taking no for an answer. Ignoring his hint, she continued forward, the hot coffees serving as a kind of battering ram. Inch by inch, she forced her way into the room.
“This won’t take long,” she insisted.
He looked ready to argue, but then his expression softened. He led the way into the bright breakfast nook.
“What’s on your mind?” he asked the instant she sat.
“Jason.”
“Right. Of course.” He took a seat himself. “I thought his teammates were helping?”
“They are. I’m more interested in your case. I’m not convinced it doesn’t have something to do with my brother’s disappearance.”
The pastor shook his head. His complexion seemed pasty in the early morning light. And there was something around his eyes. Fear, maybe? “Doesn’t seem like it.”
“Even so. It’s worth looking into.”
He raised the cup to his lips. “What can I do to help?”
The man really did look pale. Gray, even. “Tell me what you told Jason. How does the blackmailer contact you? Where do you leave the money?”
“He contacts me by text. A different number each time. I drop the cash at a different location every time, too.”
“When was the last time you paid?”
The pastor fingered his thick beard. “A month ago. That’s when they said the next payment had to be a hundred thousand. They said they’d leave me alone after that, but if I didn’t come up with the money in a month, they’d hurt Vangie.”
“And you have no idea who it is?”
He shook his head.
“It has to be someone who knew you at your previous posting. The one you stole from.”
“I thought of that, but until your brother offered to help, I had no way of investigating. The church council back in Pennsylvania knew, of course, and the youth pastor.” He stared out at the brightening landscape with dead eyes. “Folks gossip. Lots of people in the church could have known.”
“What about here? How did you get the post in Redemption Creek?”
“Only Mr. King knew. He was in charge of the hiring committee. The chair of my old church council told him everything. He was straight up with me, said that except for my indiscretion, I had a fantastic record. He figured Redemption Creek wouldn’t be a desirable posting. They’d be lucky to find someone like me.”
He stared down at the table, cheeks pinking. “Not sure I agree, but I wasn’t about to turn my back on a sign from my Savior.”
The old rancher had been a wise, steady soul. More of a listener than a talker, he probably knew more about the people in town than anyone. And he’d been dead over two years now.
She could imagine the man hanging onto the information, and watching his new hire closely, but she couldn’t picture him as a blackmailer. “Did you give Jason a list of potential contacts?”
“First thing.”
“I want it.”
He hesitated.
Anger, and a deep disappointment tightened like a band across her chest. Really? After all this, the man was more concerned with saving himself than helping find Jason?
She swallowed her anger. It wouldn’t get her what she needed. “I’m not going to spill your secret.”
The pastor met her gaze. The intensity in his red-rimmed eyes was unmistakable. “I’m not trying to save myself. Believe me. I’m going to confess. The Lord is guiding me to it. I just need to make sure Evangeline, and your brother, are safe before I do.” He pressed his forearms into the table and leaned close. His bulk obscured the window behind him. “As soon as they’re safe, I’m coming clean.”
She believed him. And it made sense. If he destroyed the blackmailer’s leverage too soon, there was no telling what could happen.
