The vision of her father being spanked made her laugh.
“I think I can see who wears the pants in that relationship,” she smiled.
“She wants only the best for me, but she can be hardheaded when she wants to be.”
“Like Mom,” Sin said.
He took another long drag and exhaled. “They are a lot alike.”
“Back to Heap,” she said. “If it isn’t the church, what drives Heap and his actions?”
“I’m not sure. If I had to hazard a guess, I would say it’s greed.”
“The root of all evil.”
Her father’s mouth curled upward. “I see you haven’t forgotten all of your Biblical training.”
“Some things stay with you,” she responded. “What else can you tell me about him? When I first saw Carmelita, she mentioned something about an orphanage. Does he have his hand in that also?”
Her father snubbed out the cigarette in an ashtray. “To answer your first question, I’ll tell you that he is not a man to be messed with. He may come across as a man of God, but he is a snake―a slimy, slithering snake.” He pointed a finger at Sin. “Stay away from him. Whatever is going on here will be going on long after we’re both gone.”
Sin bit her lip. If you only knew.
“And the orphanage?”
“He built it three years ago.”
“Where is it? I didn’t see it when I rode up and I haven’t seen any sign of it since I’ve been here.”
“Did you notice that the fishing company had a new addition?”
“It’s hard to miss. The building is huge. I saw another, smaller building by the pier here on Tumbleboat.”
Thomas nodded. “When the Tumbleboat Fishing Company built their new facility, Heap had them build an annex. A separate building adjacent to it. Now he claims he’s outgrown the building and wants to construct a brand new one next to his church.”
“Where is his church?”
“Right next to the cemetery.”
“No wonder he wants the property where the plots are,” Sin said.
Her father raised a hand and motioned in front of him like he was reading a marquee. “The Prophet Heap Orphanage for Young Girls.”
Sin’s flesh began to crawl when she heard her father’s words. “Only girls?”
“He told his flock, that’s what he calls his parishioners, that before he settled in the Keys, he had been a missionary in Central America. He told them of the atrocities he had witnessed with the young girls in that region and that God had told him to build a safe haven for them. He made them all sign an agreement that the first ten percent of their income would go straight to the church and the second ten percent would go to establishing and running the orphanage.”
Sin rolled her eyes and sucked in her bottom lip.
“What are you thinking about?”
Sin’s eyes darted toward her father. “How did you know I was thinking about anything?”
He smiled. “You’re always thinking,” he chuckled, “but whenever you are in deep thought, you bite your bottom lip.”
Sin’s eyebrows rose and her lips pouted. “I didn’t know you paid that close of attention to me when I was younger.”
Her father’s shoulders slumped forward. “Sin, I . . .”
She raised her arm to signal stop. “Don’t. I’m sorry, I—that was inappropriate. Let’s stay on topic. I’m surprised to hear that everyone agreed to Heap’s demands.”
“They weren’t given a choice,” Thomas said, “if they didn’t agree and sign the proper documents, their catch would not be purchased by the fishing company.”
“Unbelievable.” She looked at her father and pulled her hair back. “Dad when I was at the hospital last night to sign the paperwork, I saw Troy in the emergency room. He said that a young girl had been found dead, washed up on shore. Does that have anything to do with the orphanage?”
Her father shrugged. “Heap and the chief of police say word of the orphanage has spread throughout Central America. They say that the parents of the girls who can’t afford to feed them, put them in boats or rafts or anything else they can muster up to try to get them here where they can be taken care of. Some of them don’t make it. They have been finding the bodies of the ones that don’t make the trip washed up on the shoreline along the Keys.”
“Your words say one thing, but your body language says another.” She lit another cigarette. “What does your instinct tell you?”
He was about to answer when there was a knock on the front door.
“Anyone home?” It was Troy’s voice.
Sin remembered inviting Troy for lunch. “We will continue this conversation later,” she said as she stood to answer the door. Before she did, she whispered. “Is Troy a member of his church?”
Her dad shrugged. “Not sure, he told me that he had been meaning to go―to check it out, he even asked my permission.”
“Your permission, why?”
“He said it was a matter of respect.”
Sin’s respect meter rose a bit higher as she opened the front door.
He was dressed in a pair of jeans and a Guy Harvey tee-shirt. He held a bouquet of flowers in his hand as he walked in. White roses. He handed them to her saying, “A welcome home present,” he said, “and a white flag of truce.”
She arched her eyebrows.
“I was kind of hoping for a fresh start.”
She took the flowers and said, “It will take a lot more than some flowers to wipe the slate clean.”
His smile disappeared.
“But it’s a nice beginning,” she smiled. “Dad is in the den. Go say hello and I’ll put these in some water and start lunch.”
“Troy, nice of you to stop by,” she heard her father say as she walked into the kitchen.
“Sin invited me for lunch,” Troy replied. “I guess she forgot to tell you.” He said it loud enough for Sin to hear him.
“I didn’t forget,” she called back from the other room. “I just didn’t think you would have
