Judging Judas (Tarnished Saints Series Book 3) (14 page)

“Where is he?” he spat.

“Where’s who?” she asked.

“That dirty, rotten, traitorous brother of mine, that’s who.”

“If you’re talking about my husband, he’s in the kitchen.”

Levi stormed off
into the kitchen and she was about to close the door when J.D. pulled up in Laney’s car. She got out of the car with a smug look on her face and climbed the few steps leading up to the cabin.

“What are you smiling about?” asked Laney.

“Huh?” That seemed to catch her by surprise. “Nothing. Can’t a girl just smile once in a while?”

“Not
you. And not without me thinking it’s suspicious.”

“Where’s . . . you know,” she said, entering the house. Shouting was heard from the kitchen and she looked over.

“His name is Judas,” said Laney, closing the door. “And I’d appreciate you showing some respect for your father.”

“He’s not my father,” she spat, heading for the kitchen.

“Yes he is, whether you like it or not,” Laney told her, both of them stopping in the doorway witnessing two brothers in the midst of a quarrel.

“I’m not going to ask you again, now where are they?” growled Levi.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Judas, finishing up his food and walking to the sink with the plate. He was bare-chested and looking fine. Laney found herself warming just thinking about the night they’d shared together. It was so hard to believe that this man was really her husband.

“You know damned well what I’m talking about
,” Levi continued. “And had I known you were going to backstab me right after I agreed to step in as minister to marry you and Laney, I never would have done it.”

“If I’d have known you’d be over here ranting and raving like a lunatic the next morning, I’d never have agreed to it either.”

The door to the cabin opened, and Candace rushed in and joined them.

“I was out there knocking but no one could hear me over all the shouting so I just came in, sorry,” said Candace to Laney.

“No problem,” said Laney. “But I’m not sure what this fight is all about.”

“The goats are missing,” said Candace, looking over
to her husband and just shaking her head. “Calm down, Levi, I’m sure there’s an explanation.”

“That’s what this is all about?” asked Judas,
chuckling, drying his hands in a towel and throwing it over his shoulder. “You barged in here ruining my breakfast because you think I stole your damned goats?”

“Quit
laughing because I don’t find this amusing. And stop trying to deny it,” shouted Levi. “You were the only one who really wanted the goats gone, so it had to be you.”

“Well, it wasn’t. I was here all night with Laney,” he said looking over to her and winking. “Ask her if you don’t believe me.”

“Gross,” said J.D. noticing the wink. “I’m going to bed.” She made it only half-way across the room before Laney stopped her.

“Just a second, J.D.”

“What?” She tried to give her that innocent look she’d always used when she did something wrong but Laney could see right though it.

“Did you have anything to do with Levi’s
missing goats?”

“
What the hell would I want with damned goats? Of course not,” she said, rolling her eyes and sounding less than convincing to Laney.

“Watch your damned language, young lady, or you’ll have hell to pay with me,” Judas ground out.

“Judas, honey, that’s not helping,” Laney told him, realizing J.D. was a lot like her father. At least where the swearing came into play.

“I was with my friends at a bonfire. If you don’t believe me, then go ask them.” She stormed out of the room and into the second bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

“Do you think she had something to do with it?” asked Levi.

“Well, I told you it wasn’t me, brother. Now why don’t you start over and this time tell me exactly what
happened and I’ll initiate an investigation.” Judas crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the kitchen counter.

“I’m telling you, I don’t know.” Levi threw his hands in the air. “If I knew what happened, I’d know where they were. Damned, this
is going to suck. The local TV station is coming to film them today on the roof. It’s a promotion for the big car show coming up. Shit, this is going to ruin any kind of chance of getting noticed for the right reasons and also make me look like a fool. And damn it all, I’m the mayor. I have an image to uphold, Judas.”

“Honey, you may want to stop the swearing too,” Candace told him
softly.

“Judas,
if I find out it was you pulling those goats off my roof after all, I’ll make sure to give you problems as sheriff, I warn you. And you know I can do it.”

“Stop with the threats, Levi. Remember you’re talking to an officer of the law.”

“Stop it, both of you,” Laney said, walking between them before they started slugging one another. “Now, Levi, tell us how and when you noticed they were missing.”

“I’ll answer that,” said Candace, walking over to join them. “We always take the goats off the roof at night. There’s a ramp they use with a gate at the top and a pen at the bottom. They were in the pen last night when we left the restaurant but this morning when Margery opened
the restaurant, she said the goats were gone.”

“That’s right,” said Levi. “She called and woke me from a sound sleep to tell us.”

“Well, then maybe they just got loose on their own,” said Laney trying to be helpful.

“Was the gate open?” asked Judas.

“No,” said Levi. “Margery said she didn’t touch and thing, and when we got there the gate was closed but the lock was cut with some kind of wire cutters.”

“Sounds like vandals
,” said Judas. “Was anything wrecked or broken, or anything else missing?”

“No,” answered Candace. “Just the goats were missing and everything else seemed fine.”

“What are you going to do about it?” Levi asked Judas.

“I told you, I’ll start up an investigation,” he answered.

“But that could take days or even longer,” Levi complained. “I need those damned goats back on my roof by this afternoon when the TV station shows up or it’s going to severely hurt my business, I tell you.”

“Now, Levi
, you know as well as I that it’s probably not going to happen. After all, we don’t even have any clues to go on yet.”

“Damn it, do something about it,” Levi said, knocking over a c
hair to get closer to Judas. “You’re the sheriff, so live up to your name and enforce the law around here already. After all, you put me in the slammer without batting an eye. But now that we all know the culprit is probably your own daughter, you are bending all the rules in your favor. For God’s sake, Judas, you are such a bigot.”

“Shut your mouth, Levi, or I’ll do it for you.”

“Go ahead,” he said, getting his face closer to Judas’s. “I beg you to take the first swing at me so I can lay you out the way I should have the day you came back to Sweet Water in the first place.”

“Levi, don’t say things you’ll regret,” said Candace with her hand on his arm.

“Candy, stay out of this,” he said, shaking her arm off of his. “This fight is between me and my brother. My backstabbing brother who will put me behind bars but won’t lift a finger to discipline his daughter who is nothing but trouble.”

“Quit talking about my daugh
ter like that, Levi, I warn you.” Judas’s face came closer to his in challenge.

“I’m talking about you, Judas. You earned your middle name more than once now, and Pa was right in saying you were the one who was going to ruin this family.”

With that he stormed out of the cabin and stomped down the stairs.

“I’m so sorry about his behavior,” Candace apologized and ran out of the house after him.

Judas made his way to the bedroom.

Laney looked up to see J.D
.’s bedroom door cracked. It slowly closed, and that told her that her daughter was not only listening to the conversation, but like she suspected, was probably also guilty.

“Judas, can I
talk to you?” Laney followed her husband to the bedroom and closed the door behind her.

“I don’t have time, Laney. I’ve got to drop off the marriage license and then get to work.” He buttoned his shirt
, finishing dressing in his uniform and then opened his duffle bag and started pulling out all his equipment. He fastened on his duty belt that had his nightstick, handcuffs, magazine pouch, flashlight, mace, and a few other things as well attached. Laney knew it probably added an extra ten pounds to him it was so full. Then he pulled out his gun, loaded it and added it to his collection.

“I’ll take the marriage license to Paw Paw so you can get started on the investigation,” she offered.

“Levi’s an ass. And he can wait til I get good and ready to do something about it.”

“Thi
s isn’t really about goats, is it?”

Judas
was silent as he hooked up his radio and fastened it to his shoulder, and then pulled out a small gun and put his leg up on the chair and fastened that to his ankle beneath his pant leg.

“No, it’s not about goats,” he admitted.
“Not really.”

“What did Levi mean when he said you earned your middle name? And why did he say your father said you’d be the one to ruin the family?”

“It doesn’t matter,” he said in a low voice, not bothering to look up.

“It matters to me. You’re my husband now,” she told him, taking him by the hand.

He sighed and then sat on the bed and pulled her to sit next to him.

“Laney, I’m sorry you had
to get in the middle of this family quarrel.”

“Family or brotherly quarrel? Are there other brothers angry with you as well?”

“Not that I know of. Just Levi. And I don’t think he’ll ever forgive me for what I did to him.”

“How could it be your fault
? If he didn’t pay his taxes, the IRS would have caught him eventually.”

“But I’m the one who made it happen faster. I could have told him his accountant was screwing him in more ways than one and he could have possibly fixed the problem before it got too bad. But I didn’t. I was so angry with him that I wanted to hurt him, and I did.”

“Over a girl?” she asked.

“Over many girls,” he answered. “You see, Levi always had a way with the women and it made me . . . ok, I’ll just say it, I was jealous.”

“But you’re just as charming as him, even more so,” said Laney, reaching out and brushing down a wild lock of his hair.

“He’d stolen girlfriends from me more than once in the past and I was determined to pay back the favor when I . . . hooked u
p with his accountant, Teresa. That’s when I realized she was doing a number on him and even hiding the letters from the IRS and filtering phone calls. Then she convinced me to make the call to turn Levi in, though I knew it really wasn’t all his fault. Teresa had me under her thumb as well, but luckily it didn’t last and she paid for what she’d done in the end when she lost her life in a car accident trying to get far away from all of it. Anyway, if Levi had been a responsible businessman none of this would have ever happened.”

“I think your rivalry went a little too far that time, Judas.”

“I agree, and I wish I could make up for all the damage I’ve done, but I can’t. The past is the past and I need to look forward now. Levi needs to move on and just forgive me as well.”

“And would you forgive him if the tables were reversed?”

“Hell no.”

It was her turn to raise an eyebrow this time and he obviously realized just what she was saying.

“All right. I get it.”

“Tell me why you hate the middle name of Silver.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Please. I’m your wife and I want to know you better.”

He let out a breath. “It seems my mother almost died birthing me I was such a problem, being born breach and all. And my father was naming all his boys after apostles. So because of that he decided to not only name me after a traitor, but also to give me the middle name of Silver. He said he knew I was trouble since I drew my first breath and that I’d sell out my own family some day for thirty pieces of silver.”

“How horrible. Why would he say that?”

“He said God told him. He thought he had some direct link to the man upstairs. Anyway, he was right. I did sell out my own brother more or less, so I guess I earned that name.”

Just then they heard the front door slam and the sound of an engine starting up.

“What was that?” asked Laney.

Judas walked over to the window and looked out. “There goes our own little Judas,” he said.

“What do you mean?” Laney rushed to the window and looked out to see J.D. driving away at breakneck speed in the Volkswagen. “Where’s she going?” She rushed to the front door and threw it open, but it was too late. She was gone.