Mixed Messages (A Malone Mystery) (37 page)

You have a job to do, she reminded herself
.
You need to focus on what you’re doing.

She picked up one of the letters on her desk and read it. The letters were responses from area businesses to requests for donations from the church. It was heartwarming to see how many
companies were willing to donate merchandise, cash and gift certificates to St. Patrick’s fall festival
.
The proceeds from the fundraiser would provide necessities such as warm clothing and food to some of the less fortunate families in the parish
.

The phone rang, startling her
.
She pushed a strand of
her
brown hair behind her ear. “Saint
Patrick’s, Ann speaking,” she answered.

“Ann, it’s Susan Thatcher
.
I’ve been concerned about you and I wondered if you could stop by
my
office after work today?”

“Dr. Thatcher, I’m sorry
.
I … I’m not going to be able to continue seeing you
.
I, well, I really can’t afford it right now.”

“I won’t charge you for the visit
.
I owe you an apology and, if you’ll let me, I’d like to make it up to you
.
I’ll explain when I see you.”

“Could we do it another day?” Ann asked
.
“I’ve got a lot going on today and
… .
”

Her
voice cracked and she felt the tears welling up.

“What is it
?
What’s wrong?”

Ann took a deep breath.
“My husband’s in jail
.
David
got a DUI last night in Indiana
.
He called and wanted me to get him out
.
I don’t know what to do.
I’ve got to figure out what to do.”

“Ann, please listen to me. I don’t think you should bail him out. At least not until we’ve had a chance to talk.”

“But
… .
”
Ann protested.

“I know how hard this is for you
.
I
also
know
you’re
confused
right now
but I truly believe I can help you.
Let me stop by to see you
.
Believe it or not, Ann, there are answers.
I could come to your house after my last patient today
.
Please,” she added
.
“I want to do this.”

After Ann had given directions to the doctor, she hung up the phone and breathed a sigh
of relief
.
Maybe
Dr.
Thatcher
can help me,
after all
, she thought
.
But talk about mixed messages. At our meeting the other day, I felt like she took David’s side and blamed me for all of our problems and today, she’s telling me to let him sit in jail until I talk to her because she wants to help me. She sounded so sincere just now and I really want to do the right thing. M
aybe
I
should wait to see what
she
has to say
before telling
my
mother-in-law
.

She heard a noise and glanced up
.
Louise was standing in the doorway.

“I heard you on the phone
.
Where’s my son?”
she demanded.

“Louise, I was going to tell you,” Ann said
.

“I’ll ask you one more time
.
Where is my son?”

“David’s in jail
.
I
…
I didn’t want to worry you.”

“Liar!” Louise screamed, lunging toward Ann.

Ann jumped back in her seat, almost toppling over.

Louise raised a fist toward Ann
.
“You are a liar
!
My son’s in jail and you left him there
?
What’s wrong with you
?
How could you do that?”

“Louise, calm down
.
David will be fine
.
We’ll figure something out.”

“No, Missy,
we
won’t figure something out
.
I will
.
I’m his mother!”

“And I’m his wife!”

“Wife
?
Not much of one, are you?”

“How can you say that
?
I love David.”

“Love
?
Love
?
You don’t know what love is
.
You don’t let someone you love spend the night in jail
.
You have the nerve to call that ‘love’
?
You
want
David in jail
.
You want him gone, out of the way, so you can do whatever you want
.
Do you think I’m stupid?
I know what you’ve got planned
.
You think you’re going to
leave and
take his children away from him.”

“No
!
I would never do that
.
I love him!”

Louise
loomed
over the desk, hovering above
Ann
.
She was glaring at Ann;
her
dark brown eyes
,
black
and menacing
.
“I warned him not to marry you, you know
.
He deserves so much better than you
.
He could’ve had anyone he wanted
.
All the girls were after him
.
Beautiful, smart girls.”

“What’s going on in here?” Father Andrew asked, stepping into the room.

Louise stood up straight and Ann watched as her face and eyes changed
instantly
.
Louise turned to face the priest.

“I’m sorry, Father,” Louise said, a penitent expression on her face
.
“Just a little family disagreement
.
I’m sorry we disturbed you.”

Father Andrew
took a few more steps
into the room
.
“Is everything
all right
now, Ann?”

“Yes, Father
.
I’m sorry too,” Ann said.

“Well, let’s all get back to work, shall we?”
He
turned and
walked out
of the room
.

Louise turned around and pointed a finger at Ann. “This isn’t over. You’re going to pay
for this, Missy
.”

When she was finally alone, Ann got up and
went
over to close the door
.
As she reached for the knob, she realized that her hands were shaking
.
She could hardly believe what she had just witnessed
.
She’d
seen
Louise turn from a raving maniac into a contrite, subservient
housekeeper
in
only
seconds
.
She’d seen the look in Louise’s eyes
.
It was the same look she’d seen in David’s eyes when he was in a rage
.
One of
Nana
’s favorite expressions popped into her head, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

The phone rang and
she
reached for it, willing her hand to stop shaking
.
“Saint Patrick’s
.
Ann speaking.”

The call was for Father Andrew
. It was
a priest
from
one of the neighboring parishes
.
He said it was urgent
.
She
put the call on hold and hurried to find the priest
.
She ran down the hall to his office but he wasn’t there
.
She dashed from one room of the church to the other, looking for him but he was nowhere to be found
.
She rushed back to her office.

“I’m sorry, Father,” she said, picking up the receiver, “but Father Andrew seems to have left the building
.
He probably just stepped out for a minute
.
If you’ll give me a message, I’ll make sure he gets it as soon as he gets back.”

After she hung up,
she
remembered that Father Andrew lived in the rectory, a on
e
-
story red brick house behind the church
.
Making a snap decision, she grabbed her coat and rushed out the door
.
She made her way through the fog to the back of the church and followed the cement path that led to the rectory
.
There was no doorbell so she knocked lightly on the front door of the house and, when she got no response, she pounded the door with her fist
.
She had to find Father
Andrew as soon as possible so that he’d have time to get to the hospital. One of his former
parishioners, Doris Schweitzer, was on her deathbed.

Maybe he’s in a back room and can’t hear me,
she
thought
.
She walked around the outside of the house, stopping at every window but she couldn’t see into any of them because the shades were all pulled down
.
Not
knowing what else to do, she went back to the front door and tried turning the doorknob
.
Surprised to find it unlocked, she opened the door
.
She hesitated for only a few seconds before
stepping
into the living room
.
“Father Andrew,” she called out
.
“It’s Ann Kern
.
Are you here?”

There was no answer
.
She walked down
the
hallway toward the back of the house
.
“Father
!
Father, are you here
?”
There was still no
response
.
She glanced into
each
room as she passed
it
.

The door to the last room at the end of the hall was closed. She knocked on the door and
called out to the priest
before
hesitantly
opening the door
a few inches
.

When she
pee
p
ed
into the room,
she saw a lamp and a phone on a desk cluttered with papers. I’ll leave him a note here and I’ll also leave one on his desk at the church, she
decided
.
That way, if he doesn’t come back before I leave, he’ll be sure to get the message.
I hope he gets it in time.

She opened the door the rest of the way and
went straight to the desk
. She looked in all of the drawers, rummaging through them. until she
finally
found a pad of paper and a pen
in the bottom drawer
.
She
carefully copied the name and phone number on the note in her hand
.
As she turned to leave, she glanced around the room
.
It was obvious that it was Father Andrew’s bedroom
.
The room was sparsely furnished with
the desk,
a twin bed, a nightstand and a four
-
drawer dresser
.
There was a table on the far wall with a photograph of a
young
girl in
a shiny, silver
eight by ten frame
.
Next to the
photograph,
there was a large scrapbook, lying open
.

Curiosity got the best of her
.
She
went
over to
the table.
I wonder who this is
,
she thought,
stooping down to examine the
photograph
of the girl.
The girl looked to be in her teens; she had light brown hair
,
brown eyes
and a beautiful smile
.