Shadow of Death (33 page)

Though there was no signature or valid return address on the package, Troy knew it was from Lloyd. He shook his head in amusement that the dude had really quoted Barney! Of course, the money came in handy. Troy took care of some household essentials, bought a new truck, and then he and his family took a trip to Houston to visit his parents. It was a nice visit. Troy was pleased to see that his mother displayed signs of spiritual growth. She still wasn't ready to fully jump on board with the whole Jesus thing, but she admitted to praying more. In addition, her swearing had been reserved to times when someone excessively worked her nerves or violated a major superstition.

Another thing Troy and Natalie did with the money they'd received was help Will's mother set up a memorial fund in his name for kids with incarcerated parents. Sadly, Will's body was never recovered. With Chyanne dead and a lack of evidence directly tying Charlie to any murder, including Cheryl's, he refused to talk. Thus, the only charges brought against him were for abduction and fraud. Further investigation proved that Don Nugent hadn't been involved in any of the plots and could offer nothing regarding the murders of Cheryl and Will. Troy made it his personal mission to one day locate Will so his mom could get closure. Telling Nugent about the money had been Lloyd's way of testing Don's integrity. Troy suspected that Lloyd would have given Don a cut of the money if Nugent had proven himself loyal. In the end, the dumb prick lost his job and further damaged his reputation because of greed.

After all their spending, Troy and Natalie had not depleted the monetary gift from Lloyd. Instead of putting the rest in the bank, they installed a wall safe in the basement where the remaining cash, along with Lloyd's humorous note, hid behind decorations.

With the sender of one mystery package identified, the person behind the presents for Nate and the kids remained unknown and the gifts continued. Even Corrine had started to receive items for her birthday and the holidays. Natalie believed it was someone from her father's side of the family in Jackson, Mississippi and thought it was “cute” that the individual did not want to be identified. “That's how it should be when we give,” she'd argued. Troy wasn't convinced, but he promised his wife that he wouldn't do his “detective thing” by outing the anonymous benefactor, so he let it go…
for now.

Troy was intently reviewing his case notes when the doorbell rang. He'd been expecting Mario to come by and pick up some material. Troy occasionally hired the deejay to do legwork for him. Despite his criminal background, Mario proved to be a decent guy. A couple of weeks after Troy was cleared of any wrongdoing, Mario contacted him with a real apology for having any involvement with his troubles. He'd even offered to pay for the personal training sessions that had been charged to Troy's credit card. Troy listened to Mario's spiel about wanting to do “the right thing,” and felt sympathy for him. After Evans Investigations was established, Troy presented Mario with an opportunity for piecemeal work, which he graciously accepted.

“Honey, can you come up, please? Someone's here to see you,” Natalie yelled from the basement door. That's when Troy knew it wasn't Mario who had rung the bell because Natalie would have sent him down. It had to be Ann, who, after learning that he helped negotiate her and Charla's freedom, quickly forgave him for tempting Charla with food that day he was trying to get information from her. She also apologized for luring Natalie out of Lisa's house and into harm's way. All was squashed and they'd been neighborly ever since.

Charla didn't sneak over to their house much anymore because Ann had tightened security around her place. The experience with Charlie freaked her out so that she became paranoid about every new person she encountered, and Ann kept an even closer eye on her daughter than she had before. She continued to work from home, which allowed her time to have the news channels playing nonstop and peep out of her blinds excessively throughout the day, taking down license plates and descriptions of anyone who seemed out of place and passing that info along to Troy. He was certain he wouldn't miss anything that happened in their neighborhood, or all the world for that matter, as long as Ann Harrow was planted across the street.

“I'll be up in a sec,” Troy responded to his wife's summons. Since it was nearly time for dinner, Troy decided to call it quits for the day. He tried to have evening meals with his family as often as he could, which averaged out to be at least three, sometimes four, days a week. Other times, duty called in the form of interviews, leads, or surveillance missions. Troy went up the stairs, bracing himself to meet Ann with a straight face. Last time she came over, she reported that their mailman looked like a fugitive she'd seen on an old episode of
Unsolved Mysteries.
She wanted Troy to check it out and he did to appease her, only to discover that the guy featured on that show had been caught nearly twenty years ago and died in prison.

“Would you like to stay for dinner?” Troy heard Natalie ask. The real shock came when the declined invitation came from a male's voice. It wasn't Ann at the door as Troy had thought.

“Eric!”
Eric Freeman was someone whom Troy kept in contact with occasionally because he was eternally grateful for how the pastor had helped him out. The two had become friends in an extremely loose sense of the word. Troy could only take Eric in small doses. Whenever being around his spiritually eccentric pal became too much, Troy would distance himself from him. It was sort of like Natalie did with his mama's phone calls whenever she started to get on his wife's nerves. Sadly, Troy didn't know who was crazier sometimes—his wildly superstitious mother or his over-the-top, Bible-thumping buddy! “What brings you by this evening?” Troy asked after the astonishment wore off.

“Something bad has happened. I've been praying all day for the Lord to bring clarification and my spirit has led me to you. I hope you will hear me out and take my case.”

The
Pastor Eric Joshua Freeman of the Tabernacle of Jesus was coming to him for help.
Did his Bible go missing?
Troy swallowed the laugh that tried to fight its way out at the thought. After the way Eric had been there for him, Troy felt obligated to indulge. “Sure thing, my friend. Have a seat and tell me what's on your mind.” As Troy also sat down, he took a deep breath and braced himself for the details of a case that was sure to be like none other.

1. Robert mentions that one should never keep secrets of his/her spouse? Would you agree or disagree? Why or why not?

2. Is “the Lord works in mysterious ways” a scripture or something that has been passed down orally as scriptures such as “clean liness is next to godliness?”

3. Money issues can play a huge part in marital strife. Do you think that a couple's decision not to combine their income is rooted in mistrust? What are some pros and cons of couples combining their income?

4. Were you a working mom or stay-at-home mom? What factors influenced the decision that was made for your household?

5. Have you ever been jealous of the attention that someone else is showing your spouse or vice versa? How was that handled in your relationship?

6. Do you know what scripture in Romans Natalie is referring to in
Chapter 2
?

7. Do you agree with how Troy handled things Saturday morning in
Chapter 4
? What would you have done differently?

8. Do you think Troy was really protecting Natalie in
Chapter 5
as he claimed or was he protecting himself from having to fully disclose everything?

9. Do you think Natalie handled the situation well in
Chapter 6
? Why or why not? Is there anything you would have done differently?

10. If you're not familiar with the Betty Broderick case, google her name and click on any of the links that display. Do you think her ultimate reaction to her husband's betrayal was over the top?” Is there any part of you that empathizes with her story?

11. Do you have a friend on whom you can call in times of despair? If so, what makes that person trustworthy?

12. In
Chapter 9
, Troy and Natalie have an argument and he accuses her of running away instead of facing the issue. Do you agree with his assessment? Why or Why not?

13. How do you feel about Troy's actions in
Chapter 10
? Do you think it was a natural response considering the circumstances or should he have handled things a different way?

14. Also in
Chapter 10
, Natalie is tormented by negative thoughts, reminding her of her past mistakes. How do you combat such reminders about things you used to do or be?

15. Have you ever heard of Prader-Willi Syndrome?

16. In
chapter 14
, Natalie talks about how karma is coming back to get her while Aneetra tries to encourage her to remember God's grace and that she's been forgiven for her past behavior. Do you believe in the concept of karma
after
salvation? What's your take on the reaping and sowing principle mentioned in the Bible? (See Galatians 6:7)

17. Do you think Troy's tactics for getting information from Charla were too much? Why or why not?

18. Have you or anyone you know ever been a victim of identity theft?

19. Cheryl is found dead and Troy is suspected of her murder. Do you have any idea who really killed her?

20. Have you ever disliked someone so much that you secretly wished he/she was dead? How did you get past those feelings?

21. Lloyd is introduced in
chapter 22
. What do you think of him so far? Do you believe his story about Cheryl?

22. Do you have rules for your house guests? If so, what are they?

23. Under what circumstances, if any, do you think it's okay for Christians to disobey the law?

24. In
Chapter 27
, Troy connects the dots of his conspirators. Did you see these connections before he did?

25. Troy attributes his situation to his lack of honesty with Natalie about all that happened before. Do you agree? Why or why not?

26. Do you have a favorite gospel song? If so, what is it?

27. Do you think Natalie was too soft on Nate's misbehavior at pre-school? If so, what would you have done differently?

28. Were you surprised at who the culprits were that conspired to set up Troy?

29. What do you think about Troy's decision mentioned in the epilogue?

30. Do you have any speculations about why Troy's help was requested in the epilogue?