9

Nick watched Hope through the kitchen window. “All she needs is a chance.”

Nate kept his steel blue gaze on Hope. “I can’t let her see Angel or have her back without an investigation, you know that. She could be putting the child at risk. Am I to assume she was the woman and child from the other night? And you’re the bloke who played hero?”

“Yes. And I know David Painter is undercover there right now, as it’s his nick that’s handling the case. Tori told me so I didn’t blow his cover when I recognized him. Hope keeps Angel well away from everyone else now. She’s so careful.” He paused. “Hope made the effort to go straight for Angel. Only now she’s lost her job and her home. You can’t take her daughter away as well.”

“I have to do what is in the child’s best interests.”

Frustration curled Nick’s hands into fists and he shoved them into his pockets. “She loves her, anyone can see that. You love your kids, right? So much so, that you’d do anything for them, right?” He watched the woman sob outside. “She’s Grace’s and Faith’s missing sister. She’ll have all the help she needs.”

And me. Because there is something about her that draws me to her. Despite her background, I want her. And I will do everything I can to help her get back on her feet again.

“Will she accept the help?” Nate asked. “She strikes me as a proud woman.”

“I believe she will, yeah. Especially if we give her back her family.” Nick glanced at the officers. “If she can ID the bloke who threatened her and tried to hurt Angel, would that work in her favor? Could she see her daughter then?”

“I’m doing this by the book,” Nate told him firmly.

Dane elbowed him. “I think your new rank has gone to your head, partner,” he teased. “It is Christmas.”

“I’d be remiss if I put that kid back in her care and something happened. She can’t live on the streets or in a temporary shelter with a child.” He pulled out his phone and dialed.

Nick sighed and headed outside into the cold. He sat on the grass beside Hope and handed her a tissue. “It’s cold out here.”

“Cold in here, too,” she sobbed, touching her heart. “I have made such a mess of things. I can’t fix it.”

“I know Someone who can,” he said gently.

“Who?”

“God. Really, He can,” he insisted as she shook her head. “Sometimes we can’t see how, but He takes the mess we’ve made and flips it over a little so we can see the silver lining to it.”

“God won’t want me, not after what I did.”

“He can and He does. Whatever happens in the next few days, you’ll still love Angel, just the way you do now. Just the way your parents and God love you no matter what you do.”

Hope rubbed her eyes. “It’s too late. I haven’t seen my family in years. They won’t want me back.”

“You don’t know that until you’ve tried. They might surprise you yet.”

“I don’t suppose they are even in Ely anymore.”

He looked at her, the desire to tell her how close Grace and Faith really were almost overwhelming. But he had to know if she was willing to try. “Would you like to see them?”

Hope nodded slowly and twisted the tissue in her hand. “Is it too late?”

“Is what too late?”

“To put things right with God? Have I pushed him away too much? I mean I’ve broken half the Ten Commandments, I’m a single parent, not honored my parents...” She shrugged. “I—can I tell you something?”

Nick nodded, aware that Nate and Dane were standing behind them listening. “Sure.”

“The bloke on the phone last night. It’s the same bloke from the shelter, the one who put a knife to Angel’s throat. He works for the bloke I used to. He’s the muscle, only we could never prove it. I could never tell work how I knew him, without the paperwork to prove it and he’s too clever for that.”

Nate moved in front of them and sat on the wall of the fish pond. “Hope, does he have many girls working for him?”

She nodded. “Yeah. He holds stuff over them so they have no choice.”

Nate scribbled in his notebook. “I need their names.”

“Eddie Blackmore. He runs the Mistletoe off South Street. He’s Angel’s father.”

“I know where that is,” Dane muttered.

“I also need the name of the bloke who threatened you.”

“Tommy Ackerman.”

Nate nodded. “Hope, make a formal statement for us about him.”

Terror etched on her face. “I can’t. He’ll kill me. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s tried.”

“Not from a cell he won’t,” Nate told her firmly.

“Help us and it might just work in your favor,” Dane added. “The DI isn’t the ogre he makes out he is. He may decide to drop any other charges if you help us get Eddie.”

Nate didn’t let up. “Right now I could haul you in and charge you with solicitation, you’ve admitted as much, along with every other charge the DSS want to throw your way. But I’d far rather get these men off the streets; especially if he is responsible for the death of one girl and has threatened you and Angel. Chances are he’s behind these allegations to the DSS.”

Hope rubbed her face. If doing this meant she’d get Angel back, along with justice for all the women whose lives that man had ruined, then that far outweighed any risk to her. “OK.”

Nate rose. “Dane and I will go pick up the both of them. Nick, can you bring Hope to the station about twelve?”

“Anyone home?” An American accented voice called over the gate.

“Sure Dr. Parker, one minute,” Nick yelled back. He got up. “We’ll be there, Nate.” He took hold of Hope’s hand, leading her back into the kitchen. “Stay there and I’ll be right back. And once this checkup is done, I’ve got stuff planned for the two of us.”

“I’m sure you have better things to do,” she objected.

“I have a sermon to finish, but it can wait. I want to spend the day with you and show you that things will get better.”

“OK.”

Nick nodded and headed to the front door to show Nate and Dane out and let Jackson Parker in.

“If she doesn’t come and make an official statement, I’ll arrest her,” Nate said.

Nick held his gaze. “She’ll be there.”

****

Just after three, Hope stood by the duck pond with Nick, chucking bits of bread at the ducks. The doctor had told her she was underweight, dangerously so, and given her a diet to follow with a set number of calories per day. He’d also given her antibiotics for a chest infection.

That had been followed by a trip to the police station, where she’d picked Eddie out from an ID parade, and then given a statement. Tommy was still on the run, but they had assured her he wouldn’t be for much longer.

Even though Eddie hadn’t been able to see her through the glass mirror of the ID parade room, he’d looked directly at her and mouthed several expletives and one derogatory term he knew she’d understand.

Nick had seen them too.

As she remembered, her cheeks once more burned.

Nick handed her another slice of bread, making small talk and cracking the worst jokes she’d heard in years as he broke the bread. His breath hung in the cold air. His brown eyes twinkled and his hair poked out from under his peaked cap. “What are you thinking?”

“Other than only old men wear peaked caps? You look nothing like a pastor.”

“Thanks, I think.” He grinned. “In what way do I look young and nothing like a pastor?”

“Pastors are unapproachable, stuffy, and never do anything wrong. They stand there on a Sunday, preaching, and being something no one else can attain.”

Nick chuckled. “Oh, boy, do you have a lot to learn.”

“Don’t laugh at me.”

“I don’t mean to, but honestly, pastors are just the same as everyone else. We get scared and we laugh and cry and lose our tempers. We have two pastors, other than me. Jack, you already know. He’s pretty normal most of the time. Carson, on the other hand, rides a Harley Davidson, wears biker leathers, and is as far from your pastoral description as you can get.” He paused. “He has a criminal record.”

“Seriously?”

Nick nodded. “He did eight years for something pretty major. And as for me? Well, I may not gamble or drink or swear, but I get short with people, especially when I’m out of coffee. I lose my temper when driving, especially when the bloke in front is going twenty in a forty zone.”

Hope tossed some more bread to the ducks. Angel loved the ducks and doing it without her almost tore Hope in two. “But none of that holds a candle to me. Nick, I was a prostitute. I’ve gone too far.”

He glanced at her. “Did you know that Rahab in the Bible was a prostitute? God used her in an amazing way. And so was Hosea’s wife. Actually, if you read the genealogy at the start of Matthew, Rahab is a direct ancestor of both David and Jesus. Besides, that part of your life is in the past, you said so yourself. You know, you can never push God away too far. Doesn’t matter how many times you break His heart, if you ask Him to forgive you, He will.”

“Break His heart? I never thought of it that way.”

Nick nodded. “By turning our backs on Him, doing what we want instead of what He wants and breaking His laws, that’s exactly what we do. But all we have to do is ask and He’ll forgive us.”

“Every time?”

He nodded. “Every time. There is nothing you can do that stops Him from loving you. Remember the story of the prodigal son? As soon as he saw his son on the road, the father ran to meet him. All you need to do is turn and come, and He’ll meet you on the way.”

“But what do I say?”

“Sorry is a good place to start. It’s like a child; say Angel does something naughty over and over again. How many times would you make her say sorry before you stopped loving her? Can she push you too far?”

“She can push me to far only when she doesn’t mean it. But I never stay mad at her for long. I love her too much. And I always will.”

“Exactly. True repentance is saying sorry and turning your back on that particular lifestyle or attitude or whatever sin it is. It’s not easy—take that from one who knows, but with God’s help it can be done.”

“I’ve got a lot to think about.”

Nick nodded. He glanced at his watch. “And while you’re thinking, we should get a wriggle on and start dinner. We’ll go buy something and cook for the others. Just don’t say chips, because Jack has this big issue with ‘junk food’ and kids.”

“Salad, then.”

He roared with laughter. “Not in December. How about shepherd’s pie and veggies?”

“Sounds good.”

Later, Hope peeled potatoes as Nick banged pans around before tossing the mince onto the stove top. “This will sound silly,” she began. “But it feels as if I’ve known you ages.”

“It’s been over a week.”

“I didn’t mean that.”

“Then what?”

“I like being with you.” She frowned at the potato in her hand. “But I don’t deserve your friendship—”

“OK, that’s enough.” Nick’s voice turned harsh. “You deserve as much nice stuff as everyone else in the world. Forget what that scumbag Eddie said at the station, and the way he and those other men treated you. You didn’t deserve it then or now.”

Shock flooded her. “Scumbag?”

“What? Aren’t pastors allowed to use words like scumbag and jerk, because I can think of a few more colorful words to describe him? And it suits him. You are beautiful, Hope. And not hopeless, either.” He turned her to face him, running his hands over her arms. “Under this beaten down, scared, frustrated, and weary figure is a strong, determined woman fighting to get out. Someone who did what she thought was for the best, albeit in the wrong way, in regards to those men.”

“Nick…”

“Let me finish.” His eyes bored into hers, his fingers grazed her lips.

Shivers ran down her spine, but not fear or loathing. Nick’s touch made her feel safe and secure and she wanted so much more from him.

“This whole mess escalated from a single wrong. The older man you dated while you were still in school.”

“Yeah,” she whispered, picking up another potato.

“And as wrong as that was, and your career choice after that, you have a beautiful daughter who needs you. And you will get her back. Once this whole mess is straightened out, you will find somewhere to live, a job…”

“Yeah, right, like that’s going to happen.” Hope carried on peeling. “No one is going to hire an ex-social worker who was fired for, well fired, no matter if they do prove the charges are false.”

“Nate will get to the bottom of it. He’s really good at his job. Just remember that you are a very important person to a lot of people around here. So just give him a couple of days. Keep in mind that God loves you.” Nick stirred the meat in the pan. “And I love you.”

“You what?” Hope looked up, shocked. The knife in her hand slipped, cutting into her wrist and she cried out in pain, blood spurting everywhere.