Andy dropped to a knee and sat her gun on the concrete before my brother could even start his countdown. She backed away from it without being told to, too. Instead, she held her hands high and turned on the tears.

Marshall gave her his back and aimed his gun at the Elis. “Coy, grab that gun and get outta that hole. Gimme some backup up here.”

I knocked the preacher to his knees, kicked him in the back, and commanded him to lay flat on his belly. He turned his head to glare at me with his one working eyeball. Its pale blue flame almost stopped me in my tracks, but I stepped over him and did like my brother asked, and grabbed the shotgun, and swung it in the direction of the Eli brothers.

They’d never seen an obstacle they couldn’t muscle their way through, and I wasn’t sure they didn’t believe a bullet wouldn’t slow them down.

Marshall said, “Get y’all’s big asses down in that hole ’fore I put a bullet clear through both of you.”

The Elis weren’t used to being threatened. They didn’t do what Marshall told them. Instead, they stood there and dared him to pull the trigger. If the first bullet didn’t take them down, they’d be coming after us. But the preacher butted in again.

“Boys,” he said, “don’t test this man’s willingness to do what he says. We already know he won’t hesitate to break his word to the Lord. He is capable of all sorts of evil. Don’t be a victim of him. Let the Lord deal with him.”

Without question, the Eli brothers moved toward the hole, and we got out of their way so they could hop down inside. Cory helped the preacher stand and Cody checked on Old Harp.

Andy was the only one who was left. When Marshall raised his shotgun at her, I put my hand on the barrel.

“What the hell?” He said.

“You ain’t gotta aim that gun at her. She’ll get down in that hole without you doing that. Ain’t that right, Andy?” She’d already been traumatized enough, and I felt sorry for her.

Without answering my question, she walked over to the hole and the preacher’s outstretched hands. Once she took her place next to him, he turned to us and said, “The Lord saw fit to take my eye from me when I was overseas fighting for my country in Afghanistan. He did that so I would lean on him and rely on my spiritual sight. Y’all can’t understand the kinda gift that was. The Lord shows me all kinds of things. And right now, He’s showing me the kinda vengeance He’s going to take on y’all.”

Before the preacher could describe that vengeance, Marshall walked over to the door and kicked one of the hinges. It fell shut on Randy Jessup’s words, and I slid the lock through its loop.

“Coy, let’s get outta here before the Lord lights that crackpot sumbitch up with fire from Heaven.”