Melinda had turned out to be a blessing. Rachel had been concerned that the reporter would grow weary of her, but Melinda had returned Rachel’s call in less than an hour. And once Rachel had filled her in on everything, she had been more than willing to help—again.
“Thank you so much for agreeing to come back out. I know I have worried the mess out of you this week,” Rachel said. “But you just don’t know how grateful I am.”
“Well, I told you I owe you, and to call on me anytime.”
“Yeah, but I’m sure you didn’t think that call would come over and over.” Rachel chuckled.
“It really is no problem. Actually, you’re doing me a favor because there’s nothing like some juicy item to lead the five o’clock news.”
“And there’s nothing juicier than some good ol’ church drama.”
“You ain’t never lied.” Their laughter died down and Melinda spoke again. “So, look, I’m just gonna call Cecelia myself so she doesn’t think something is up. I’ll give her some spiel about needing to redo the interview.”
“Yeah, and if you tell her you’re going live right before the election, she’ll eat that up. You just can’t let her know you’ve talked to me. She might get suspicious.”
“Trust me, I’ve got this under control.”
“Okay, but, Melinda, don’t make the organization look too bad, all right? You know I’m about to be first lady.”
Melinda let out a laugh. “I got you. As long as you promise I get the scoop if any drama does jump off at any time.”
“The exclusive scoop!”
“Great!” Melinda exclaimed. “So, I’ll see you tomorrow. Pray we don’t have any breaking news that I get called away to.”
“What?” A flash of panic swept over her. Melinda had to show up. They had to follow through with this plan—it was the only shot they had at bringing Cecelia down.
“Calm down,” Melinda said. “We have a full staff, so it shouldn’t be an issue. I’ll be there.”
“Whew, okay. I’ll see you then.”
Rachel had just pressed the end button on her cell phone when she heard, “What in the world are you up to now?”
She spun around to face Lester. She had been so caught up in her conversation that she hadn’t heard him enter the suite.
“Are you eavesdropping on me now?” she asked.
Lester loosened his tie as he walked over and kissed her on the cheek. “No, I’m not. I just walked in to hear you using your conspiratorial voice.”
“I don’t have a conspiratorial voice.”
He chuckled. “Okay, darling. I’m sure that was the pizza man.”
Rachel didn’t have time for a lengthy debate with her husband. She’d handled Cecelia, but she still had to contend with Jasmine. Sure, they were working together, and while she actually made a great ally, she didn’t trust Jasmine one bit. Jasmine thought she was some young, dumb country hick. (For the life of her she couldn’t understand why people considered Texans country. She’d never in her life owned a pair of cowboy boots!) Rachel might not have been educated, but she dang sure was smart. And she knew all the “Kumbaya” coming-together mess was just a front. At the end of the day, Jasmine wanted to win as bad as she did, and that wasn’t about to change just because Cecelia had stepped in the ring.
The game was still survival of the fittest. And Rachel was the queen of the jungle.
That meant she needed a plan B, for after she implemented plan A.
“And I’m taking the kids and moving to China.”
“Huh?” Rachel said, snapping her attention back to her husband.
He pointed an accusatory finger at her. “That right there is how I know you’re up to something. I’ve been talking to you for five minutes and you haven’t heard a word I said.”
“Babe, I’m sorry. I’m just nervous about tomorrow, and thinking about Cecelia.”
“Well, don’t be nervous and definitely don’t think about Cecelia.”
“Did you guys ever figure out what she was up to?” How Rachel wanted to tell Lester what they’d uncovered. But Jasmine was right, he wouldn’t do anything about it. In fact, he’d say something to Hosea, who would probably say something to the Kings. And right about now, Rachel wasn’t trying to tip her hand.
“No, I think she just wants the position. I don’t buy that whole ‘this was a last-minute decision.’ I think she’s lying about that.”
“Ya think?”
“Regardless, I still am not going to stress over it. In Cecelia’s own words, what God has for me is for me.” He turned and walked toward the bedroom.
Rachel made a choking motion in his direction. After they won this thing, she was going to work on that we-are-the-world, can’t-we-all-just-get-along mentality. He was definitely going to need some backbone, some aggression, if he planned on leading one of the most powerful religious organizations in the country.
She reminded herself of the pending merger. “Make that one of the most powerful religious organizations in the world,” she mumbled.
“What did you say?” Lester called out from the bedroom.
“Oh, I just said I’m going to go get the kids from that children’s event so we can have a lovely dinner as a family. Tomorrow, our lives will change drastically and it’s going to be hectic from then on.”
Lester stuck his head out the bedroom door. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, darling.”
“Oh, we got this, baby,” she said sweetly. Cecelia was taken care of. As for Jasmine, well, Rachel had one last trick up her sleeve for that one. She wouldn’t use it unless she absolutely had to. Rachel actually hoped that she didn’t have to use it. But Loretta Jackson hadn’t raised no fools, so just in case Jasmine wanted to pull some type of last-minute dirty trick, Rachel was ready. And if Jasmine did double-cross her, she’d definitely leave LA wishing that she’d never met Rachel Jackson Adams.