My deepest apologies to everyone who has been asking for the next installment in this series. A number of events, ranging from computer problems, to working too many hours, (thus having very little writing time) to a temporary case of writer's block, got in my way. I hope this installment makes up for the delay. I promise to try my best to get future episodes out as quickly as possible.
*******
When I woke up the next morning, I immediately took in the aromas of coffee and frying bacon, and the sounds of birds chirping outside. As my consciousness kicked in more, I also heard music playing.
After I took my wake-up piss and brushed my teeth, I walked quietly downstairs. As I turned into the kitchen, I saw Roxy standing at the stove, in just an apron and her panties, frying up some bacon and dancing to music playing from my iPod.
I leaned against the doorway and watched, until she turned and saw me. Yelling in surprise, Roxy picked up a piece of bacon from a plate on the counter and threw it at me.
"You scared the hell out of me!" she yelled, laughing. "Why didn't you say something to let me know that you were there?"
"I didn't want to interrupt your dancing," I told her as I picked up the piece of bacon and started eating it.
"I hope you don't mind, I thought I'd make some breakfast," she told me. "I'm starving after last night!"
"That's fine," I told her as I poured myself a cup of coffee.
A couple of minutes later, she set our plates at the table.
'Oh, my poor butt!' I heard as she sat down.
"Thank you for last night," she said as we started eating the omelets. "I needed that."
"It was my pleasure," I told her.
"I'm really glad that we worked everything out," she continued. "That makes me feel better."
"Good," I replied. "Me too."
"I would really like to thank you in the best way that I know possible, but you really gave me a work out!" she told me. "I'm sore ALL over!"
I laughed, and replied, "I'm just glad that you enjoyed it all."
"Oh yeah!" she said. "You are a wonderful lover! You're teaching me things that I didn't know about myself!"
We continued talking as we finished off breakfast, and then my phone rang as we cleaned off the table.
"How do you know this son-of-a-bitch?" I heard as soon as I picked up the phone.
"Give me a second," I told him.
I excused myself, telling Roxy that this was an important call that I needed to take, and she replied that she had to head home, and would talk to me soon.
"So what did you find out?" I asked my gravelly-voiced friend.
"You owe me at least a bottle of Scotch," he told me. "The good shit!"
Knowing Rat as well as I did, I knew that he must have had to do quite a bit of work digging up dirt on the preacher.
"Not a problem," I replied. "So quit flapping your gums and tell me what you found already."
"This bastard doesn't exist," he told me. "He's not on any data base until five years ago."
"He's a minister," I replied. "He had to have gone to some kind of divinity school, somewhere."
"Not in this country, or any other country on this planet," he said.
"Interesting," I replied.
"Do me a favor," I continued. "Keep digging. I'll do some recon and get a couple of pics and send them to you. Now I'm really intrigued. Find something good, and I'll send you a case of Single Malt."
"Now you're talking!" his voice boomed. "What'd this piece of shit do to piss you off?"
"Long story," I told him. "I have a feeling that it's going to get ugly before it's all said-and-done."
"Well, as your partner-in-ugliness, I expect a phone call before the fun begins!" he replied.
"There is no one else I'd rather get ugly with," I said.
We hung up without saying anther word, and I called my son.
To my surprise, he told me that he was engaged, and that they were getting married in a couple of months. I congratulated and told him to send me the details as soon as he could. We talked for a little while longer, catching up on each other's lives, and I then promised him that I would see him soon.
Replaying my conversation with Rat in my head, I decided to head over to Holy Hell. Since it was Sunday, I knew that the pastor would be busy with church all day, and that gave me plenty of time to do some snooping around.
I knew the basic layout of the property, but I had to find a way to sneak in without being seen so I pulled up a view from Google Earth. A few minutes later, I had my plan laid out and was on my way.
I parked my truck at the park where I met Sarah and walked through the woods toward the church. Staying in the tree line, I quietly walked around the perimeter of the property as the congregants filed in to the building. As I did my recon, I noticed a big man who looked suspiciously like security standing on the Pastor's front porch keeping an eye on matters.
'Why would a pastor, especially of this church, need security?' I wondered.
A few minutes later, everyone was inside the church and the security guy walked over to the church and stood on the steps after closing the doors. I then started making my way around the back of the property.
When I got to the back of the house, I was surprised to see no one.
'Ok, this just gets stranger and stranger,' I thought. 'Why have security at the front of the house, and then move him to the church, but have no one at the rear?'
After watching the backs of the buildings for a few minutes, I quietly snuck up to the house. Looking carefully at the house, and especially the windows, I was again surprised to realize that he had no alarm system on his house.
Seconds later, I was walking through his basement, having pried open a window. Knowing that anything helpful would either be stashed away in the basement or the attic, I started looking around downstairs.
Again thinking about my conversation with Rat, I knew I shouldn't be surprised when I found little relating to the minister going back more than a couple of years. There were a few boxes of things belonging to Sarah, including her High School yearbooks. Doing some quick mental math, I estimated her to be in her mid-30's, much younger than I thought, or than she looked.
I looked through those, gaining some insight into her past. At the bottom of one box, I found some old love letters which included some very steamy passages from her then boyfriend.
As I was closing up the last box, I noticed an envelope stuffed inside another, larger manila envelope. Opening the smaller envelope, I found a stack of pictures.
I pulled out the stack and was surprised to see old photos of Sarah in her late teens or early twenties. Quite a few of them were of her in a bikini, something the good Reverend would definitely not approve of! I realized that I was also correct in my guess that Sarah was hiding quite a body under her dowdy, baggy clothes.
I went up to the first floor and looked around. I quickly noticed that there were a lot of pictures of him, but very few of Sarah, and none of them together. Using my cell phone, I took pictures of a couple of the photos of him before moving upstairs.
A search of the attic turned out a little better, as I found a few papers dated ten years ago, as well as some pictures of the Reverend with long hair and a beard. A couple of the pictures were with him and other people, and there were names written on the backs. I slipped those pictures into my pocket and continued my search.
After pocketing a few more pictures and a couple of documents, I closed everything back up and went back downstairs.
Walking through the second floor, I quickly realized that the minister and Sarah slept in separate bedrooms. The minster, true to his ego, commanded the larger room with Sarah down the hall in a much smaller room.
I knew that I was running out of time, so I did a quick search of his room, figuring that I wouldn't find much about him in Sarah's.
As I opened the top drawer on his nightstand, I saw a .45 cal pistol.
'What the hell does a preacher need a .45 for?' I asked myself.
I picked up the gun and briefly inspected it and, smelling the fresh oil, I realized that he kept it in good condition. As a safety precaution, I removed the round from the chamber and slipped it into my pocket. I then replaced the gun where I found it and continued looking around.
I did a quick search through his dresser drawers and his closet and found nothing significant or incriminating. I was contemplating whether to try and break in to his office in the church later when I heard noises outside.
I quickly walked to the window and peeked out. I realized that I must have spent a lot more time in my search than I realized, because there was a crowd forming as people streamed out of the church. I watched as Sarah talked with some congregants while the preacher held court at the top of the steps, just outside the front door to the church.
I quickly made my way to Sarah's room to look out the windows there, when I saw people walking around back there, also.
Knowing that I was trapped, I quickly started looking for a place to hide in the house until I could sneak out when I heard the front door open. Thinking that it would probably be safer to hide in Sarah's room, I quickly slipped into her closet.
Immediately, I heard the preacher's voice as he barked at his wife.
"That is part of the duties of a minister's wife," I heard him say. "Those people are part of my flock, and you will be nice to them!"
I couldn't read what Sarah was thinking, but she was clearly not happy. Her anger though, had nothing to do with her husband's "flock", but something else.
"Now, I'm going to visit Betty Parson. She's still feeling down after Bob passed, and she needs some comforting. I'll be back in time for supper," he then told her.
I heard the front door shut, and Sarah started walking up the stairs. The closer she got, the more I felt her anger.
' ... HOW you're going to comfort her!' I caught as she reached the top of the stairs.
I quickly slipped to the back of her closet, ducking behind some long clothes hanging on the rod. Seconds later, I heard her step in to her room.
Squatting down. I was able to peek between the clothes and see a portion of the bottom of her room. From that angle, I wasn't able to see much more than her ankles and feet, but I watched as she stepped to the foot of her bed, and then her dress fell to the floor.
'It would be nice if your wife was comforted once in a while!'
I saw her blouse join her dress on the floor, and she then bent down and picked up her clothes. Slowly and quietly, I stepped out from behind her clothes and up to her door. Peering through the slats into her room, I got quite an eyeful.
Even in her conservative bra and panties, Sarah looked very good! She had filled out a little since the days of the bikini pictures hidden in the basement, but time had been quite good to her!
Sarah then turned toward a mirror hung behind her dresser and looked at herself. From where I was hiding, I could see her back and her reflection in the mirror.
'What's wrong with me? I don't think I look too bad! Why doesn't he show any interest in me?'
'There is nothing wrong with you at all!' I thought to myself. 'You look damn good!'
She continued looking at herself and let out a low sigh. After a few more seconds, she started to turn away, looking down at the floor.
