“Most likely, yes.” No. Because Mercy and Gideon weren’t dead yet. “When my father is ready to be discharged, will you transport him to a safe place where I can pick him up?”

“Of course. We’ve done that in the past. You can stay here tonight, but tomorrow you’ll have to make other arrangements.” She walked away, making notes on her cell phone.

DJ dropped his bags on the floor of Pastor’s suite, next to the sofa in the sitting room. The couch was nowhere near as soft as the bed in Smythe’s spare bedroom, but it wasn’t awful. He figured that Coleen was either with Pastor or asleep. Either way, he’d deal with her later.

He was almost asleep when he heard a gasp. Bolting upright, his eyes narrowed when he saw Coleen standing in the door to her room.

“What are you doing here?” she asked him.

“I came to visit Pastor,” he lied. “How is he?”

“Better. But his blood pressure is really high, so don’t make him mad.”

DJ rolled his eyes. “Why would I make him mad?”

“Because you’re supposed to be in Eden.”

“I was,” he lied smoothly. “I left Brother Joshua in charge because the community wanted an update on Pastor’s condition. I just got here.”

She studied him for a long moment that became uncomfortable. “I saw you on the news. You’ve been here all day. You’ve been here all weekend. They say that you’ve killed people.”

Fucking bitch. DJ’s hands fisted. “I was protecting our investments.”

She paled but was unconvinced. “Did you kill people?”

“Did Edward? Did Ephraim?”

Her lips thinned. “I’m not talking about them. I’m talking about you.”

He suddenly realized he didn’t know how she’d come to Eden. He knew when she’d joined—she’d been one of the original members. But he didn’t know how or why. All the founders had been running from something. Pastor and Marcia had been running from fraud and embezzlement charges. Edward and Ephraim, bank robbery and a triple homicide.

Waylon was the only one who hadn’t had a warrant against him at the time, and DJ still didn’t know why his father had joined Pastor and the others. The same was true for Coleen.

“Have you? Killed someone, I mean?” he asked. “Answer me, Sister Coleen.”

She went rigid. “Not your concern.”

She has. How fascinating. “Then you have no room to talk. Has Pastor seen the news?”

“No. I’m trying to keep him from getting upset. Which is why you can’t stay here. He left his room for the first time today. He got to go to the solarium, where the other patients gather. If someone sees you, they might mention the news, and he’ll know. His health is very precarious.”

Hell, that was the first good news he’d had all day. Not that Pastor was leaving his room, but that his survival was iffy. DJ could do a lot with iffy.

“I’ll go tomorrow,” he promised to shut her up. He’d leave when he was ready and not before.