Page 21 of Tango
“Take Dylan,” Bradyn says. “These guys are going to know you’re coming now, and it won’t hurt to have backup.”
“Will do.”
Pine Creek’s church is small, but the presence of God here is mighty. I can feel Him every time I walk through these doors, like a secure blanket closing around me. Before every mission, I make my way here to pray and just sit in the silence with God. It’s my way of filling up my soul before the darkness I will undoubtedly see tries to drain me.
We are what we surround ourselves with—I believe that.
So here I sit, surrounding myself with so much light I can cling to it even when the darkness tries to swallow me up.
This time feels different though.
I can’t place my finger on it, but Alice Sterling is weighing heavier on me than anyone else I’ve gone after. Is it the mystery? Or something else?
“Tucker Hunt. What a pleasure.” Pastor Ford comes out of the hallway that leads to the church offices and makes his way down the aisle toward the pew I’m sitting in.
“Afternoon, Pastor,” I greet.
“You doing okay?” he questions, getting straight to the point. It’s something I’ve always admired about the man. He always knows when something’s going on and won’t hesitate to help in any way he can.
“I’m struggling a bit, but I’m not sure why.”
He rests his arm on the back of the pew and turns to face me. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“I’m leaving tonight to go after a woman who’s being targeted by her employer. They claim she’s a murderer and about to commit treason. But I’m not sure I believe them.”
“Interesting.”
“She did kill a man in self-defense. He was attempting to abduct her, and she fought back. It looks as though he fell backward onto a piece of rebar, and she called 9-1-1 for help.”
“I wouldn’t say she’d be considered a murderer, then. If it was in self-defense. She took a life, yes, but not because she chose to.”
“Exactly.” I take a deep breath. “I’ve been on probably close to a hundred missions now. Not even counting the ones I went on when I was in the service, and this feels—” I trail off. “Heavier somehow.”
“Is it the woman?”
“What?”
“Have you met her before? The woman.”
“Briefly. When I rescued her parents.”
“Then is it her that’s staying with you? Or the mission details?”
“It’s her,” I admit. “She looks—haunted. But there’s this light, I just—I can’t explain it.” I smile. “I probably sound crazy. I met her for five minutes, and I can’t get her out of my head.”
“Not crazy at all.” He smiles softly at me. “God’s plan is a mystery to us all. And if you’re the one who will be bringing this woman to safety, then it makes sense that you’d feel a pull toward her.”
“Her parents insist she’s not violent. That everything they’re saying about her is a lie.”
“What do you believe?”
“Them,” I reply without hesitation. “I think she’s in more trouble than even I realize though. There’s this gnawing in my gut that things are about to get a whole lot worse before they get better.”
“They always do,” Pastor Ford replies. “After all, who can truly appreciate tranquil waters if they’ve never lived through a storm?”
Chapter 8
Alice
