by Amber West
I pushed my plate away. “What do you think the pictures are then?”
“That’s what I was hoping you’d tell me. Where did they come from?”
I hesitated, then decided to take a risk.
“An old camera I bought at the rummage sale. There was an unfinished roll in it.”
“And you think the pictures were taken somewhere around here?”
“I know they were. You can see the designs from the church tapestries in some of them. The ones with the…” I paused looking around at the empty diner and whispered, “bones, one of them has a stone bench in the corner that looks like the one in the garden. And the concrete floor with the stain, it looks exactly like the floor in the convent.”
“Does anyone else know about the photos?”
There was something in Father Mike’s eyes I hadn’t expected. Not anger or rage. Fear.
“Not anyone in town.” I immediately regretted my answer and quickly added, “But I sent copies to a safe place.”
I wished that were true, feeling the confidence I walked in with starting to wear off. Lightning flashed outside, thunder rumbling soon after, the roar of rain following right behind.
“You can’t tell anyone in this town about those photos. No one. Not Emma, not Jack. Absolutely no one.”
The lightning flashed again, this time the thunder shaking the diner, causing the lights inside to flicker and die.
Father Mike slid closer, grabbing my arm. The storm and lack of power left us in the darkest shadows of the diner, discretion no longer a concern.
“I’m serious. You need to forget about the pictures. And you need to leave town. You don’t know what you’re getting into here.”
“Let go of me, Father.”
“Promise me that you’ll do what I say. I need to know that you’ll walk away from this.”
I pulled my arm away, hitting my elbow against the table. “I have to use the restroom,” I mumbled, sliding out of the booth as quickly as possible.
There wasn’t much light to maneuver towards the back of the diner, but it was enough. When I was sure I was far enough in the shadows, I made a break for the rear exit.
Lightning flashed around me, as I ran for the house, praying that a moving target would be harder to strike.
Chapter 37
“Is this normal?”
Jack and I sat on the front porch swing, looking at the bright pink and purple sky as the sun disappeared for the day. If it wasn’t for the soggy ground, you wouldn’t know it was storming violently a few hours earlier.
“Not unusual. We get crazy storms in the afternoon, then everything calms by the evening. It’s pleasant, if you don’t have to be anywhere.” He threw his arm over the back of the swing and scooted closer, pressing his cheek against my forehead. “It’s too bad I wasn’t around this afternoon to enjoy it with you.”
I smiled back, leaning against his chest while I clasped both hands around a cup of tea. “Well, this is nice, too.”
I closed my eyes, enjoying a moment of comfort and normalcy.
“Any grand plans for the week?”
I shrugged, keeping my eyes closed, careful not to tip my tea. “Nothing too exciting. I think I’m going to go see Joan. I feel awful that I haven’t really been very helpful at the bookstore, being out of commission for so long.”
“Oh, you didn’t hear?”
“Didn’t hear what?”
“Joan and the boys moved.”
I opened my eyes and sat up. “What?”
“Packed up and left. Didn’t tell anyone she was going. I’m surprised you hadn’t heard.”
I shook my head, frowning.
“I’m sure she’s fine, James. Probably got tired of all the gossips sticking their noses in her business.”
“Probably,” I nodded, unconvinced.
“You ok?”
I nodded again, leaning against Jack’s chest. “Why?”
“You’re quieter than usual.”
“I’m just a little tired.”
“I had to drop something by the diner on the way home.” I tensed up, but didn’t change position. “Heard you had lunch with Father Mike? How was that?”
“Fine.”
“Emma said he seemed out of sorts.”
“Yeah, I think he might be coming down with something.”
“Is that all? She said you ran out early.”
“Something I ate didn’t sit well with me.”
“What were you two having lunch together for anyway? I thought you didn’t like the Father.”
I shut my eyes and sighed, “He’s not my favorite person, but I figured if I’m going to stay in this town, I better start making nice.”
“Well, while I don’t love the idea of you taking too many meals with him, I do like the sound of you stickin’ around.” I shifted in my seat so I could look up at Jack’s face. He leaned in close. “In case I haven’t been too clear, I like you. More than a little.”
“Me too. I mean, I like you, not I like me. Not that I don’t like me—“
Jack put two fingers to my lips. “You talk too much, James.”
As his lips replaced his fingers, my phone started to ring, a rare occurrence since I moved to Ruth Valley.
I pushed back from Jack with an apologetic smile and answered.
“Jameson?”
My breath caught in my throat.
“Dad?”
Chapter 38
I looked at the clock next to the bed and dragged myself to the shower. After a long night obsessing over the call with my father, I was exhausted even though I had slept in way later than usual.
The call itself was brief. Dad knew where I was and was calling to get me to come home. He didn’t order me. He didn’t threaten to cut me off. It was all very odd. My normally temperamental father was calm, almost nervous, pleading for me to stay with him and his wife for a little while.
When I asked how he knew I wasn’t in Brooklyn, he changed the subject. Finelli wouldn’t have betrayed my trust. I guessed it could have been Dylan, but there was no reason for him to sidestep the question if that had been the case.
There was a knock downstairs as I pulled a shirt over my head. I vaguely remembered hearing Jack’s Jeep leave earlier, so I grabbed my bat before heading downstairs. Peeking through the window I spotted the blurred figure pacing outside the door and caught sight of the black and white collar.
I tightened my grip on the baseball bat at my side and opened the door. “What do you want?”
“Why are you still here?”
“I live here.”
“Not for long you don’t.”
Father Mike pushed his way inside, slamming the door behind him.
“Don’t take another step forward, I’m serious.” I raised the bat in a white knuckled grip above my shoulder.
“Come on, James, put the bat down. You’re gonna hurt someone like that.”
“That’s kind of the idea.”
“Let me rephrase. You’re gonna end up hurting yourself.”
“Don’t be so sure. You know, my dad really wanted a son, but ended up with me. Fixing cars, hitting a ball, throwing a punch; I do it all. Really well.”
“Look, I’m sure you’re tough, now will you put the bat down so we can talk?” He took a step forward and I swung. He jumped back, rolling his eyes. “Really? Do we really have to do this?”
He stepped forward again, this time grabbing the bat at the end of my swing, yanking it and me with it toward him. He spun me around, tossing the bat out reach, both arms wrapped around me, pinning my arms against my body.
I struggled, but he was strong, surprisingly so. My upper body was useless. I found myself facing a wall and tried pushing off of it with both legs, hoping to throw Mike off balance and break free. We both toppled, the Father still holding on as we crashed into the floor.
He quickly rolled on top of me. I was face down on the floor now, in a worse position than before. My legs were pinned, his kn
ees digging into the back of mine, his hands pressing my arms against the cold, wood floor. I squeezed my eyes shut.
His face was next to mine, his voice calm in between labored breaths.
“I am not here to hurt you, do you understand me? I’m trying to protect you.”
“This isn’t a very convincing approach,” I groaned.
“Well, you aren’t giving me a whole lot of options right now. You just tried to bust my head open with a baseball bat.”
“I gave you fair warning.”
“True. Look, this really isn’t the most comfortable position for me and I’m sure it’s not doing much for you either, so I’m gonna let go. I need you to promise you won’t try to beat me with a lamp or anything when I do. I swear to you, I’ll tackle you the second you make a move.”
“Fine.”
The pressure on the back of my legs eased off, his hands released my arms, then the entire weight of his body lifted. I quickly rolled away, pushing myself into a sitting position. Father Mike sat across from me, catching his breath.
“Lord, girl, you don’t make things easy.”
“I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to make it easy for someone to attack you.”
“That wasn’t an attack, that was self-defense. You attacked me.”
“You came into my home, uninvited.”
“You came at my head with a baseball bat!” Father Mike started to grin, then broke into a laugh, shaking his head.
“This is funny to you?”
“No. It’s really not.” He pushed himself off the ground, then walked over and held a hand out in front of me. “Come on, let’s get you packed while we talk.”
I slapped his hand away, and got up. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“You get that stubborn streak from your dad?”
“What did you say?”
“Must make family get-togethers a blast. How’s the old man doing these days?”
I looked around for something to throw, furious. “What do you know about my father? How did you...did you call him? Threaten him? I swear, if you did something—“
“You always assume the worst about me. No, I didn’t threaten your father. I didn’t even speak to him. Not directly anyway. Called in a favor to a friend, who let him know I was worried about his little girl’s safety. I thought, mistakenly it seems, there might be one man on this earth you’ll listen to.”
That explained my father’s demeanor on the call. Calm. Pleading. He was afraid for me. And my dad didn’t scare easily.
I sat down on the coffee table next to me, defeated and sore, my head in my hands. I looked over as Mike sat next to me, leaning forward, hands folded, arms propped up on his knees.
“I need to ask you something. Something you said about those photos has been bothering me.”
“What?” I grumbled, exasperated.
“How do you know what the floors inside the convent look like?”
“What?”
“When we were talking about the photos, you mentioned the stains on concrete reminded you of the floors in the convent.”
Jack was right. I did talk too much. Father Mike didn’t wait for an answer.
“That day I caught you in the garden behind the church, had you been in the convent?”
I shrugged. “Maybe.”
He rubbed his forehead then scratched his head, messing up his already tousled hair. “James, we really need to get you out of here. I’m sure you know something about this town is off, the church more specifically, but you are in way over your head. It’s more dangerous than you know.”
“That’s what you think.”
I shifted to one side and rolled up my shirt, exposing the slashes across my side.
Mike leaned forward and whistled. “Just like Andy.”
“And this was no hunting accident.” I rolled the shirt down and sighed. “Look, let’s say you are looking out for me, albeit in a weird way. I still can’t leave. There are people here I care about. Trusting people, who think that everything is fine when that couldn’t be further from the truth. Horrible things are going on in the place they trust most. I have to do something.”
“I can’t make you leave.” Father Mike shifted and rubbed the back of neck. “You’ve made that painfully clear. And I know you have no reason to trust me, but I need you to believe me, I have nothing to do with what you saw in those photos. I have nothing to do with what happened to you or Andy. I’m trying to figure it all out too, trying to help. I’m on your side.”
I stared at him, trying to determine if he was telling the truth. He was calm, his tone sincere and if his goal was to hurt me, he could have done it by now.
He continued, “If you won’t leave I think the smart thing would be for us to work together.”
“So, just like that, you go from trying to force me out to wanting to join forces?” I frowned, skeptical.
“You do have more invested in this than I realized. Plus, sneaking into the convent by yourself? That was, well…”
“Ballsy? Awesome?”
“I was gonna say ‘stupid’, but whatever makes you feel good about yourself. Either way, I think you’re better off with back up.”
“Jerkface.”
“Hey, respect the collar.”
I let a smile escape.
“There we go. Speaking of back up, what does your boyfriend think of all this?”
I shook my head. “I never showed him the photos. He knew about the attack, but he thinks I got in the middle of something Andy was involved in. Wrong place, wrong time sort of thing.”
“And you let it go?”
“He would have worried too much.” I looked toward the door. “Speaking of which, you should go. If Jack gets back and finds you here…”
“Go on.”
“He doesn’t like you much.”
“Well, the feeling is mutual. Something about him doesn’t sit well with me.”
“Says the creepy priest.”
Father Mike held a hand to his chest, as if he was taking offense. “I’m not creepy.”
“You kinda are.”
“I’ll work on that. And since you asked, I’ll get going. See? Not creepy. But we need to talk more soon. Very soon. I think it goes without saying to keep this to yourself.”
“And yet, there you are, with the saying.”
“I like to be thorough.” He made his way to the door and turned to face me. “By the way, watch the PDA with Sheriff Jack.”
“Is this for my protection?”
“Of course,” he grinned.
“Creepy.” I turned him back towards the door. “Go.”
He peeked out the window before opening it. “Confession. Tomorrow morning.”
I nodded. “Fix that mop of yours. You look like you’ve been in a fight or something.”
Father Mike ran his fingers through his hair as he walked away, calling over his shoulder. “This is going to be fun.”
Chapter 39
My pace quickened as I neared the house. I had been to the diner to grab dinner and visit with Emma. Jack was gone most of the day and I didn’t feel like cooking for one. The day started out cool and crisp, but as it went on, the temperatures dropped drastically, and practically running home was all I could do to keep the food and my body from turning to ice.
I opened the door to my little place, wishing that it had a better heating system than the wood burning stove. It did its job, but it took forever to get the place warmed up. I flipped on the lights, setting my food on the kitchen counter when I saw drawers in the kitchen open and dumped. My bat was still lying on the floor from the morning’s encounter with Father Mike, so I grabbed it and crept slowly up the stairs.
As I peered into the room, there standing by my dresser was Jack.
“What’s going on?”
Jack jumped back and put his hand to his chest. “Geez, James, you about gave me a heart attack.”
I stood there, still holding the bat above my head, star
ing.
Jack explained, “I pulled up and saw a light in your place. Found the door was cracked open. Came in to make sure you were ok and found your place like this. I’m assuming this isn’t your mess.”
I let the bat fall to my side, and looked around. I ran for the closet and stepped inside, feeling around the floor.
“What are you looking for?”
“My camera. It’s pretty much the only thing of any real value in here.” I sighed as my fingers curled around the handle of my camera bag, unzipping it and feeling the cool curves of the body and lenses inside. Copies of the photos I gave Father Mike were buried in the bottom, still there. “That’s a little bit of relief, I guess.”
“Well, you can’t stay in this mess tonight. Come on up to the house.”
“I should probably stay and clean up.”
“But if these thieves or whoever didn’t find what they wanted, they might come back. I’ll take a closer look in the morning, dust for prints, and see if we can’t find a clue as to who was here.”
I shrugged. “Let me grab some clothes.”
As we walked into his kitchen, he flipped the light switch. Nothing happened.
“That’s odd. Wait here, let me go check the breaker.”
I stood in the kitchen, tapping my foot and feeling more anxious as each minute passed. I jumped as something hit the ground in the living room with a thud.
“Jack?”
I walked into the living room, slowly, hoping my eyes would adjust enough that I wasn’t tripping over furniture. My hand brushed against a side table and searched for the lamp. The power might not be on, but I figured I could at least use the lamp as a weapon.
I swiveled around towards sound of fabric being scratched together, but saw nothing.
As I opened my mouth to call for Jack again, a rag was shoved against my face, being held over my mouth and nose. I breathed in, catching a hint of a sweet smell.
Not again, I thought.
~~~
I opened my eyes, lids heavy, seeing nothing but the backside of a blindfold. My mouth was taped shut and my arms and legs bound.
Again.
