by Nancy Gideon
Before she could stop herself she glanced across the sanctuary, where she was surprised to see Max and Charlotte in intense conversation.
Jimmy noticed and his displeasure grew. “Yes. Max. I don’t know what hold you have over him, Ms. Malone, but you will let him go.”
“I have no hold over him. Unlike you, I’ve always let him make up his own mind. He’s never done anything that would go against you. He’s always refused to cross that line.”
“I appreciate your telling me that. Nevertheless, you are using his particular talents foolishly, brazenly, hoping to make an example that others will respect and fear.”
“Much the same way you do.”
A tight smile. “Exactly. But he belongs to me, Sister. He’s my property. And you are trespassing.”
“You can’t own a human being.”
“You are wrong there, my dear. He may walk upright when it suits him, but there’s nothing human about Max. Don’t ever forget that. Don’t ever expect him to behave or react as one. He’s a dangerous and unnatural creature bred for only one thing: violence. That’s what he does. That’s all he is. He has no emotions, no conscience, no soul. You are not going to save him with empty promises that he can live as you and I do out here in this world. Giving him that kind of false hope will end ugly, because you can’t change what he is. You can’t put something inside him that doesn’t exist.”
“You’re wrong,” she told him with quiet force. She saw Benjamin Spratt wheeling his mop bucket across the front of the sanctuary and waited until he was on the far side. “Max is not an animal.”
Legere laughed. “That’s exactly what he is. And he belongs to me. He knows it and he doesn’t want to change it. I protect Max. I would never, ever let him come to any harm by being exposed for what he is. He is very dear to me, and that’s why your influence and that of Detective Caissie will stop now, before you confuse him into doing something I can’t forgive. And if you see a threat in those words, Sister, you would not be mistaken.”
“What can you threaten me with? I have nothing.”
“Nothing but your pride and your friendship with Charlotte Caissie.”
Mary Kate’s gaze darted to her friend, who was cozied up against Max Savoie in a rather telling pose. “You wouldn’t dare harm her.”
“She’s a policewoman in a very dangerous line of work.”
“You harm her and I’ll expose your little pet for what he is.”
Jimmy’s smile didn’t falter. “There, you see, is the difference between us. You want to use him and I love him. This is how we’re going to handle this awkward situation. You will talk to your detective friend and dissuade her from this nonsense with Max. You will let her know in no uncertain terms that if she doesn’t discourage him and give up her rather determined crusade against me, you and all your annoying little projects will suffer for it. You remember how it was to suffer for the stubbornness of a Caissie, don’t you?”
Her hand rose to her scarred cheek as fear shadowed her gaze.
“I’ll give you until this evening to think it over. You are a smart girl, a brave girl, or you wouldn’t be here today. God doesn’t need another dead martyr on His hands. I’m sure you’ll make the wise decision and save yourself a lot of unpleasantness.” He raised his voice. “Max.”
He came at a lope, wiping Charlotte Caissie’s lipstick from his mouth with his hand, then fell in behind the wheelchair at perfect motionless attention.
“Always a pleasure, Sister,” Jimmy said pleasantly. “I admire the good work you do here. A shame if you couldn’t continue it.”
Max’s gaze flickered to hers but found no answer.
CEE CEE HELD on to her frustration when Max responded instantly to Legere’s call. If only there were some way to break him free of his dependence, to keep him safely out of the way when she bulldozed down the empire Legere had built on her father’s blood.
“You’d best let him go, Miss Lottie.”
She gave a start, not realizing Benjamin Spratt was behind her. Since everyone suddenly seemed intent upon shoving their opinions of Max in her face, she asked a bit testily, “Why’s that, Ben?”
“’Cause he walks on that wild, dark side, like I used to before the doctors shocked me to my senses. He’s not what he seems, Missy. You can’t tame him, you can’t hold him, you can’t keep him. Not his kind.”
“And what kind would that be?” How much had he witnessed, heard? Perhaps she was as guilty as most others in thinking Benjamin harmless, in believing him simple, in forgetting he had ears to hear and eyes to see. And a mouth to reveal things best kept secret.
“A wolf in sheep’s clothing. Look to the scriptures. Heed the Word. Remember the warning. He has no soul. He can’t be redeemed.”
But Cee Cee no longer saw Max Savoie as evil and soulless. Distressed, she snapped back at the sweet, simple man. “If you were the same as he is, how is it that you have a soul, Benjamin Spratt? How is it that you’ve been forgiven?”
He smiled at her sadly. “I don’t have one, Miss Lottie. And haven’t been. I’m hellbound, and so is he. Pray for us, Miss Charlotte, but don’t trust us. Don’t love us. Only our Shepherd understands us. Only He can show us the way to escape the darkness without pulling in others behind us.”
His gaze flickered up nervously. When he saw Mary Kate approaching he scuttled away, disappearing with his mop and bucket into the back chambers.
“What were the two of you discussing?” Mary Kate asked, catching the distress her friend was trying to hide.
“Souls or the lack thereof. And speaking of soulless, what was that all about with Legere?”
Mary Kate smiled. “Just a business call. Nothing for you to concern yourself with. Now, what did you want to talk about?”
Cee Cee took a deep breath and smiled. “Nothing important. I just wanted to spend some time with you, that’s all.” She reached out for Mary Kate’s hand and squeezed it tightly.
She squeezed back. “Let’s go eat. I’m in the mood for some étouffé. Benjamin,” she called to the back of the church, “I’ll be back in an hour or so.”
“Okay, Sister. Good-bye, Miss Lottie. Don’t forget to watch out for the sheep.”
Forcing a smile, Charlotte waved a hand and then let it settle upon her friend’s shoulder.
“What’s this about sheep?”
Cee Cee tried to laugh it off. “You know Benjamin. You never know exactly what he’s talking about.” But she was very afraid that this time, he did.
The lunch was pleasant, a relaxed conversation discussing the better memories, the long-forgotten dreams. Cee Cee wanted to talk to her friend about Max, about the way he made her heart pound and her body hum. About her worries, her desires, her fears concerning him. But Mary Kate was no longer the one to whom she could spill those kind of secrets. She was a bride of the church. She’d pushed away all things carnal—all things terrifyingly intimate—when she’d taken her vows. Charlotte wanted to believe Mary Kate’s vocation was sincere, but sometimes she wondered if her surrender to God wasn’t simply a way to escape the will of Man. Of any man who might attempt to use her body in that same way they’d both been abused.
Would telling Mary Kate she was wrong in that fear be a good or a bad thing? Maybe it was best to keep that conversation for another time. When she’d had a bit longer to examine her own feelings and phobias. Maybe she should think about talking to Dr. Forstrom.
When Charlotte hugged her good-bye, her mood grew bittersweet as she saw Dolores Gautreaux, her bruises fading, smiling at Benjamin Spratt, who balanced her baby cautiously on his knee. Perhaps there was someone for everyone. Perhaps Max Savoie was that someone meant for her.
When she returned to the station and saw the custodian blocking off the ladies’ room, she darted inside to dig into the waste can, pulling out Max’s slightly-worse-for-wear leather jacket.
And as she shook it out to rid it of any litter, something else fell out of its folds. Cee Cee bent to p
ick up the small electronic device, looking it over with a frown. It was state of the art, way too expensive for their department to ever requisition, but she recognized it immediately for what it was.
It was a bug.
Ten
MAX, COME OUT here for a minute.”
Jimmy waited for the sound of his light steps. He took a deep, regretful breath for what he was about to do, and suddenly, he remembered an odd snippet of the past. He’d been sitting on the porch on an evening like this one, and nine-year-old Max had come out of the house, his expression troubled. He passed Jimmy a book he’d been reading. “Tell me,” was all he’d said.
The book was The Island of Doctor Moreau. Jimmy had thought he was asking him to explain the concept of a novel far beyond the grasp of his young mind. But that’s not what he was asking at all.
“Tell me. Am I like the beasts in this story? Is that what I am?”
“I don’t know,” Jimmy had replied, too surprised to think of what else to say beyond the truth. So he’d lied. “I don’t know what you are, Max.”
The boy’s eyes had filled up with tears of upset and dread, and before Jimmy could catch him, he’d bolted. For three days he hid somewhere in the big house, not appearing at meals, not sleeping in his bed. Jimmy had no fear that he’d run away; he’d still been afraid to be outside after dark. He could hear the boy late at night, the soft whisper of those strange sounds he made, that mournful, eerie wail that was not quite sob, not quite howl.
It broke Jimmy’s heart to hear him and not call to him, to not coax him out and comfort him. Jimmy knew he should have done so instead of letting him huddle alone in the dark, shaken by fear and weeping. But he didn’t because that fear gave him power. And he didn’t want to lose the boy he’d come to love but needed to control.
He’d been eating a sandwich in his office at dusk on the fourth day when he heard the click of toenails on the hardwood floor. He glanced up to see a low, sleek silhouette just inside the doorway. Max only assumed that simplest of his forms when he was distressed and didn’t know how to express himself with words. Jimmy held out the other half of his sandwich and finally Max came to him, creeping, practically crawling to take the food from his hand, slowly, carefully, as if he wasn’t close to starving. It disappeared in two quick bites. Jimmy continued to read through his paperwork in preparation for a morning meeting, ignoring Max until he came up onto the couch—keeping his distance at first, then gradually easing his head across Jimmy’s knee, pushing his nose under Jimmy’s free hand with a plaintive sound. He rumpled the soft fur, petting gently until the shivering creature lay down and curled close, until the sharp muzzle became a boy’s smooth, damp cheek.
“Don’t be afraid, Max,” he’d said quietly, firmly, covering the trembling figure with his jacket. “I’ll take care of you and keep you safe within these walls. What you are doesn’t matter here. What matters is that you belong to me and I value all that you are. Don’t ever forget that.”
And he hadn’t. Nor had he ever asked that question again.
Max now moved to the porch rail, head tipped back, tasting the breeze. “Storm’s coming in.”
“Not for a while yet. Max . . .”
“What is it, Jimmy? Just tell me. You’ve been hedging around it all day, all week. Whatever it is, tell me.” He waited, his gaze so sincere, so unmasked and vulnerable.
“It’s not something either of us is going to like.”
Max stiffened slightly. “I didn’t think it would be.”
“Max, where’s your leather coat?”
He blinked, knocked offtrack for a moment as he thought, and then thought of how best to answer. Truth won out. “I left it at Detective Caissie’s. Why?”
“I’m not proud of this, and if you want to be angry, I don’t blame you. It’s just that this fondness you have for this woman . . . You know who her father was and what he was trying to do. He wanted me behind bars and so does she. I got worried for the both of us, and I did something I probably shouldn’t have.”
“Tell me.”
“I had a listening device planted in your coat.”
Max blinked again. Behind his flat stare, his mind raced frantically to recall all the things that he and Charlotte had said to each other, and with deeper horror, considered all the things they’d done to each other. Things not intended for an audience. He swore softly, still too shocked to be angry.
“I apologize for invading your privacy. But there’s something I want you to hear.”
“I was there, Jimmy.”
“Not for this. She must have been wearing your coat this morning. I’m sorry, Max. This is going to hurt.” He said that as if he were preparing to rip a bandage from a half-healed wound.
Braced for the worst, Max heard Charlotte’s partner’s voice.
“Cee Cee, this guy is bad news. If you want to fuck him, fuck him. But don’t fall for him.”
“I am not in love with Max Savoie!”
“Ceece, you don’t know this guy. You don’t know what he is.”
“I know exactly what he is. He’s my way to Legere. That smug bastard killed my father, and I’m going to get him. I don’t care who I have to sleep with. Savoie can get me in close. He can give me Legere.”
“Cee Cee, you’re dreaming. He’ll never give up Legere.”
“Yes, he will. He’ll do it for me.”
Max took a shallow breath, just to see if anything inside him still worked. He made an awkward circle to face the night, his hands lacing behind the back of his neck, standing motionlessly for long minutes. When he turned back to Jimmy, it was to say just one thing.
“It’s not true.”
“I know, Max.”
“I would never take a step against you. Not for any reason.”
“Is that the truth, Max? Then how is it that this woman, who could destroy you, destroy us, knows exactly what you are, unless you told her? Unless you showed her?”
Cornered, Max could no longer back away from the reality of what he’d done. Away from the magnitude of his betrayal. There was no excuse, so he put it plainly. “Those men were hurting them, these girls who’d done nothing wrong. I couldn’t walk away from it. I wasn’t thinking.”
“Max, that’s not true, is it? You never do anything without thinking. You knew exactly what you were doing when you killed those men. My men.”
“Yes, I did,” he answered softly, as guilt, and a whisper of defiance, curled through him.
“And you still say you’ve never taken a step against me?”
He opened his mouth, then shut it. He had no reply to that obvious truth.
“I’m not angry with you, Max.” Jimmy spoke calmly, watching Max’s expression to make sure his careful handling of the matter was having the desired result. Surprise, then relief flickered in the steady stare, and he knew he was taking the right approach. Defuse the situation, manipulate the emotions from rebellion and worry to relief and regret. And gratitude. As furious as he might be over what had been done and hidden from him, it was done. Now, to turn it to his advantage.
“I’m sorry, Jimmy,” Max said quietly.
Not quite the apology Jimmy was hoping for, but a start.
“For what you did? Don’t be. I never ordered those girls to be harmed in any way. They were just hostages, pawns for leverage. What my men did was inexcusable. I would have punished them myself if you hadn’t done it for me.” A pause and a heavy sigh. “It’s what you didn’t do that hurts me, Max. You didn’t trust me. You didn’t come to me first with what you saw. You didn’t think I’d do anything about it.
“So you acted on your own, and then you hid what you’d done from me. You hid the fact that you interfered in my plans. You hid the fact that two outsiders knew your secret and used it against you to make you afraid and ashamed to come to me with that truth. Did you think I would kill them, after you’d risked so much to go to their rescue?”
He could hear Max swallow that down hard.
“Were you afraid I’d punish you? Is that why you didn’t come to me? Have I ever, ever hurt you, Max? Have I ever given you a reason to be afraid?”
“No.” Just a whisper.
“Then why? Tell me where I failed you. Tell me what I did to make you not trust me, to make you believe I wouldn’t forgive you, to make you doubt how I feel about you.”
Max’s expression didn’t alter as he took a shaky breath. “I don’t know. I’m sorry, Jimmy. I didn’t know what to do, how to make it right with you.”
“You could have come to me and told me the truth at any time.”
The intense stare wavered, then flashed back to meet his. “I’m sorry.” Said firm and strong, with everything Jimmy needed to know behind it.
The old man held in his smile, knowing he’d staked his claim right through Max’s heart. The illicit connection Max had with the two meddlers was broken; the uncomfortable wedge shoved between them was gone. He’d uncovered Max’s duplicity, and he’d been magnanimous in his charity. And Max would never forget that. All the guilt and misery he’d carried for all these years was absolved.
“I should have come to you,” Max said at last, very softly.
Gotcha, you bitch.
“So,” Jimmy began silkily, “how are we going to keep you safe, now that they know what you are?”
Alarm showed on Max’s face before he got it under control. “What do you mean?”
“You’ve given some very damaging information to two unreliable sources. Information that could hurt you—badly. I know you want to trust them, but do you think that’s possible? Do you think it’s wise?” Seeing those stoic features tense and grow still, Jimmy proceeded with caution. “I know you cared for her, Max, and I know you wanted to believe she cared for you.”
