Homecoming

Chapter 5

Two days later

"Nay. Nay....Nayeli!"

Nayeli's head shot up, a red imprint marking her face from laying her head on the counter for so long. Mary-May stood on the opposite side of the counter, pouring a cup of water before sliding it towards Nayeli, along with two Tylenol.

"Thanks, Mary." Nayeli murmured as she tried to wake herself up.

Ever the lightweight, Nayeli had felt herself going as soon as she finished her second beer, so she had rested her head for a bit. This was probably her fourth time ever at the Spread Eagle bar, all four times accumulating over the past few months. She and Hudson were technically on paid leave following the shooting two days prior. Whitehorse was obviously not happy when he saw his two deputies disregarding his orders, but he did reassure Nayeli that her mother would have been proud of her for protecting Hudson.

Once the investigation was closed, she could return to work. Nayeli plopped the medicine into her mouth and took a sip of water, waiting for the pills to clear past her throat before she began speaking.

"Still no word on your brother?" she asked Mary.

Mary had begun wiping down the counter, frowning. Nayeli's first visit to the bar upon her return, she had made the mistake of asking about Mary's father, not knowing he had passed.

"Not a single word. Those Peggie's are up to something I'm telling you. The way John Seed swept up in here buying out everyone. How fast Joseph's little "congregation" has grown, hell, who knows what that Jacob Seed is doing up north, running a youth camp my ass." Mary sneered.

Nayeli's heart skipped as Mary dropped Jacob's name so casually. He had to have known she was back after she got off the phone with his brother John her first day back. Other than John's insistent text messaging and notes, she had yet to have any contact with the other two Seed brother's that she could actually tolerate. But just hearing what everyone had to say about them was making her wonder if she had the stomach to come face to face with them. Joseph in particular. But Jacob. Jacob was unlike his brothers How do you know if you only knew that guy for two months, her inner monologue chastised. She wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, just because, well, she had no actual logical reasoning.

"Anyone else we know get swept up with Eden's Gate?" Nayeli inquired, continuing to sip her water.

As far as the rookie was concerned, almost half of the people she knew from her childhood growing up here were either missing or joined up with Eden's Gate. No one would come out and say it but Nayeli was beginning to realize just what this was: a cult. Mary took a moment to answer Nayeli's question, unsure how to approach what she was about to say.

"Rachel Jessop, remember her?"

Nayeli sat up straight in her chair now. Rachel.

"Hard to forget to be honest." Nayeli spoke, the image of the drug dealer holding a knife to poor Rachel's throat before Nayeli opened fire on him.

"I'd say maybe a few weeks after you had left, she got swooped up by Joseph and his family. I don't know how they did it, but she got clean within the year. After that, she started calling herself Faith Seed." Mary-May scoffed, "The little sister they call her now."

The deputy's brows raised in utter surprise, "What the fuck happened while I was gone..."

Mary-May sighed and shrugged, "No idea. But who knows, maybe leaving was the best damn thing that could have happened. Who knows what would have happened if you stayed. Just take my brother for instance."