Shoot the Lawyer Twice
Page 21
“I didn’t get those details,” Sanchez said.
“You need some time to digest this?” Kuchinski asked.
His words and his tone were thoughtful and sensitive, but predation gleamed in his cold blue eyes. He was really asking Sanchez if she were tough enough to handle the situation, and both of them knew it.
“No,” she said, and then repeated, “No,” as if the answer required confirmation.
“A pampered punk is one thing. A grieving orphan—well, I might could do something with that.”
“I know that. Look. Make it six-hundred hours of community service and no drugs or alcohol during the probation, and if the victim consents I’ll recommend it.”
Chapter 36
The Fourth Saturday in March, 2008
“Thank you all for coming,” Bleifert said to the cluster of people scattering from the porch outside St. Josephat’s. “And especially thank you, Mr. Pennyworth. I know this isn’t your religious tradition. It was very thoughtful of you to join us.”
Rep glanced at the people now trudging away: Jimmy Clevenger, Father Huebner, Terry Finnegan, Kuchinski, and a couple of UWM students.
“I’m pretty eclectic,” Rep said. “I’m one of those ‘a prayer is a prayer’ types. And seeing you produce eight people to pray in a Catholic church for an atheist who committed suicide was worth the price of admission all by itself.”
“The way she killed herself left her time to repent even after she was under water,” Bleifert said. “All things are possible with God. After all, Saint Dismis was a career criminal who saved his soul in the last hour of his life.”
“Saint Dismis was the thief who was crucified beside Christ,” Melissa said in response to Rep’s blank look.
“Well, thanks again. I’ll see you on Monday, I guess.” Hands buried in the pockets of her jacket, Bleifert nodded and walked away.
“I guess that’s that,” Rep said.
“Smiles don’t come easily to her and she managed one,” Melissa said as they began walking toward their Taurus. “Give her credit for that.”
“I give her credit for a lot more than that. I meant what I said. But please tell me that you don’t buy the eleventh-hour conversion theory.”
“I think Clevenger was a pagan who died a pagan’s death. When push came to shove, though, she gave her life to save her son.”
“You got that part right,” Rep said. “She knew exactly what she was doing when she walked into that lake. I’m not qualified to say whether it was a mortal sin, but it was certainly a first-rate litigation tactic.”
Rep opened the driver’s side door of their car and then clicked the button that opened the passenger door for Melissa. Before he slid behind the wheel he gave her a long and intrigued look over the car’s roof.
“I noticed that you didn’t genuflect when we left church. I’d been wondering whether you were like some of those con-men who fall in love with their spiels and end up buying into their own scams. I thought maybe you were so convincing when you told Tereska about feeling drawn back to the Church that you ended up believing it. Since you didn’t genuflect, though, I’m surmising that Tereska’s prayers for you haven’t been answered yet.”
“Yesterday was Good Friday, dear,” Melissa said, her green-flecked brown eyes glinting. “The altar was stripped after Holy Thursday services. The tabernacle is empty, to symbolize Christ in the tomb. Even for the most dogmatic Catholic in the world, genuflecting in church today wouldn’t make any more sense than genuflecting in our condo’s entryway.”
“Beloved,” Rep said, as if he’d caught her elbow-deep in the cookie jar, “you’ve been brushing up.”
“Busted.” She blushed and grinned.
End Note
The headlines cited during the colloquy at Villa Terrace are actual quotations from the referenced newspapers and other sources cited. See J. Bottum and D. Dalin (eds.), The Pius War, 108-109 (Lexington Books 2004).
More from this Author
For other books, upcoming author events, or more information please go to:
www.poisonedpenpress.com/michael-bowen
Contact Us
To receive a free catalog of Poisoned Pen Press titles, please contact us in one of the following ways:
Phone: 1-800-421-3976
Facsimile: 1-480-949-1707
Email: info@poisonedpenpress.com
Website: www.poisonedpenpress.com
Poisoned Pen Press
6962 E. First Ave. Ste. 103
Scottsdale, AZ 85251