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her. Look her up and see what she might know.”
    So Pastor Cole had a daughter that the world didn’t know about. Every man has his vices, and every man has his secrets.
    â€œAnd before I forget,” Bryant goes into his jacket and hands me an envelope. “Make sure you hand this to her. I would do it myself, but since you’re going to see her first . . .”
    More than likely there is a check on the inside of this envelope. The question is, is this check for a grieving daughter, or is this hush money?
    â€œOkay, I will probably start there and ask her a few questions.”
    Pastor Bryant shakes my hand before he heads toward the door.
    â€œWhat are you going to do?” I ask.
    â€œThe conference must go on. The devil can’t win.”
    He’s right; the devil can’t win, but to continue with a conference in the midst of Pastor Cole’s death is bad form.
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    I thought about Pastor Bryant’s words on the flight home. I arrive at Adele’s place to hear her engage in a playful conversation. I don’t want to be rude and not say anything so I go into the kitchen and there in the middle of the living room is Victory. Victory has finally arrived, and her timing couldn’t have been worse.

Chapter Four
    Victory’s hair looks like it’s been kissed by fire. Her hair is also stringy like I remember. She wears a cream sundress that fits her slim frame to a tee, and the scent of cucumber melon permeates from her skin. In short, Victory’s presence is both refreshing and breathtaking.
    â€œBoy, if you don’t pick your mouth up off my floor, I’m going to kick it closed,” Adele says.
    Victory covers up her mouth in laughter to avoid adding to the embarrassment that Adele’s comments causes. But she doesn’t have to cover up for my sake; I love to see her smile, even at my own expense.
    â€œYou look good, Nic,” Victory says.
    I’m glad I don’t look the way that I feel. “Thank you. You’re beautiful, as always.”
    â€œLord Jesus, gets this boy some game. I swear!” Adele says.
    Victory tries to cover up her laughter again, but can’t. I understand Adele is quite a character.
    â€œI’ve been comparing notes with Adele,” Victory says.
    â€œHopefully, she hasn’t been beating me up too bad,” I reply.
    â€œNo, but I did tell her how you’ve been out here watching the planes as they come in like Tattoo on Fantasy Island . It was starting to get embarrassing, if you ask me.”
    Now that statement is a blow to my ego. Whatever swagger points I earned while in Sacramento has just been lost in a matter of seconds. Adele sits there and dares me to challenge her on her accusations. Of course, I have a weak defense, so I must continue to take the blows.
    â€œSorry to keep you waiting. I didn’t know I was in such high demand,” Victory says.
    â€œYou have no idea,” Adele states.
    â€œExcuse me,” I say to Adele, and I extend my hand to Victory. She takes my hand and grabs her purse. Victory leaves her suitcase behind and follows me. Out of my peripheral vision, I can see that Adele wants to protest, but she decides to just let us go. I’m sure Adele will have plenty of time to compare notes with Victory, but since I arrived at this island, I couldn’t wait for Victory to show up so that we can walk along the sand. I wonder if she will get the same pleasure from feeling the warm sand between her toes.
    â€œI didn’t think you’d come,” I say.
    â€œI must’ve thought about getting on that plane a million times, but I didn’t.” Victory takes her sandals off and holds them in her free hand.
    â€œAre you going to spare me the suspense?”
    â€œI don’t know. I guess since things went well in Sacramento, I thought that it might be better to leave it be. You know how they say some people come into your life for