Path Of The Wicked Part 6

As you're gazing at the stars

Take me with you, take me with you

At your desk, standing in line

Making lists, wis.h.i.+ng for time

Take me with you, take me with you

Turn your face toward the sun

Mine is not a lukewarm love

I am with you

I'm always with you

When you're dancing in the rain

When you're huddled up in pain

Take me with you, take me with you

With your toes dug in the sand

As you journey through the land

A day of work, of joy or strife

When you kiss your child good night

When you laugh, when you cry

When you bid a friend good-bye

Take me with you, take me with you

I am here, touching your skin

I am knocking, now let me in

Turn your face toward the sun

Mine is not a lukewarm love

I am with you

I am always with you

Cooper folded the paper and sat back down. Her group offered Quinton a smattering of applause.

"I could almost hear a melody in my mind," Nathan said. "Too bad we don't know someone who could put your words to music."

Jake, who had been strumming invisible guitar strings with his eyes closed, sat up and gave his friend a thumbs-up. "It could use a bit of tweakin', my friend, but I like it. I 'specially like that line about the lukewarm love, 'cause real love ain't lukewarm one bit."

"Genuine love is more like a hearth fire," Savannah agreed. "That steady warmth of home."

Bryant reached over his desk and clapped Quinton on the back. "Thank you for the song. Can I keep a copy?"

Looking pleased, Quinton handed him another piece of paper. Cooper folded her copy and placed it inside her workbook.

"I sure hope old Mrs. Davenport felt someone with her at the end," Bryant said, his tone noticeably less despondent than at the beginning of their meeting.

"I'm sure she did," Nathan gave Bryant's shoulder a comforting squeeze.

As the group finished off their coffee and threw away their trash, Cooper returned to her desk and absently began to cut a plantain into tiny pieces.

"You look like you're planning to feed a toddler. Or do you just like your food smashed into little bits?" Trish asked wryly. "You don't have to eat it, you know. I won't be offended. I didn't even cook this stuff."

"The food's delicious, Trish. It's not that," Cooper answered with a start. "I'm just wrestling over whether to tell you all something."

"Well, it's too late now for sure!" Jake declared. "You can't say somethin' like that and then go all quiet. No way. Come on, out with it!"

Cooper hesitated. Her friends grew silent, gazing at her with a mixture of expectancy and impatience.

"Service is gonna start," Jake reminded her. "Do I have to go out to the Mr. Faucet van for my toolbox and torture the secret outta you?"

"Hey, I've got a toolbox, too, buddy." Cooper tried her best to look tough.

"Yeah, but have your tools been where my tools have been?" Jake countered.

"Okay, you win!" Cooper held out her hands in supplication. "It's just that I overheard some things both times we were at Door-2-Door's headquarters," she confessed. "And what I heard was kind of awful. I wasn't sure if I should say anything but . . ."

Reluctantly, she told her friends about the thefts and the similarities between Mrs. Davenport's and Mr. Manningham's deaths.

"So what are you implying?" Trish asked dubiously when Cooper was done. "That someone deliberately harmed these elderly people?"

"Seems clear as gla.s.s to me!" Jake roared. "Stealin' from folks who've got no one livin' with them for protection! Findin' the one or two precious things they've tucked away like a crow hidin' a piece of tinsel." He balled his meaty hand into a tight fist and the cross on his bicep rippled. "That's a lowlife sc.u.mbag to take from the helpless. I'd like to meet him in a dark alley."

"Lali said that both clients died suddenly, in their chairs? With no signs of illness the previous day?" Nathan asked Cooper, his long face sorrowful.

Cooper nodded.

"And they were both victims of the Door-2-Door volunteer burglar?" Quinton inquired.

"Wait a minute," Bryant interjected. "We don't know that the thief is a volunteer. I mean, other outsiders must go inside these people's homes."

"Like who?" Trish demanded. "You heard what Lali told us during orientation. Door-2-Door arranges for food delivery, light housekeeping, yard work, and home repair. They even take care of driving their clients to important appointments and seeing to their pets' needs. That's why I wanted to sponsor a route. Door-2-Door does so much more than provide nutritious meals."