Righteous Obsession (20 page)

“I told him I was so miserable at home I’d thought a
lot about running away, but he talked me out of it.  He said if I’d stay in
school until I graduated, he’d come to my graduation.  He gave me his cell
phone number and his email address and told me to call him any time I needed to
talk.”  Debbie sighed.  “He sure is nice and if he didn’t already have a
girlfriend…”

“Never mind the girlfriend, Deb!  Does he fuck good?”

Debbie smiled and lifted her eyebrows.  “Does he
ever!  I’ve never had orgasms like I had last night, Din and I came ever time!”

“Every time?”  Diana asked skeptically.

“Yes!  Colin really knows how to fuck!  What about Jake?”

“Fucking with Jake was wild and crazy – just how I
like it!  We fucked on the bed, on the floor, against the door and in the
shower this morning!  I’ve got hickeys in places you wouldn’t believe, Deb!”

“Is Jake well hung?”

“About average, I’d say, but he really knows how to
use his equipment!  What about Colin?  Are the rumors about his endowments true
or false?”

“Definitely true, Din, trust me on that!  His
girlfriend’s sure lucky!”

“What’s she like?”

“She drop-dead gorgeous!  Colin said she used to model
but now she writes for Rock Hard magazine.”

“Yeah?  What’s her name?”

“Alethea Ford.”

“Sure.  She did the interview with Megadeth in the
most recent issue.”

Debbie nodded and fell silent.  Despite her seemingly
lighthearted chatter, she still worried Father Michaels had seen her last night
and would try to keep her from revealing it.

Diana giggled suddenly, breaking the silence.  “I
wonder if Father Chuckles got his rocks off picketing at the concert last
night.  I’ll bet he did!”

“I just hope the creep didn’t see us,” Debbie said. 
“I don’t need any lectures from him!”

“Don’t worry about it, Deb.  He’s leaving town this
week, I think.”

“To go to Rome?”

“No.  Didn’t I tell you? Father Michaels dad was
telling mom that Father Chuckles is moving back home for a while before he goes
to Rome.  I guess he’s taking classes at the University or something.”

Debbie breathed a sigh of relief that he’d go soon. 
She dropped Diana off then drove home, immediately went to her room and quickly
wrote a letter to Colin. She couldn’t email him because her mother always
checked the computer.  She identified the driver of the hit-and-run vehicle as
Father David Michaels and apologized for her fears that forced her to stay
silent.  Feeling much better, she put the letter in her purse, vowing to mail
it first thing tomorrow.

Colin was lying on his bed after Unforgiven’s concert
in Omaha.  He was leafing through the current issue of Rock Hard and some of
the other rock magazines, but he couldn’t keep his mind on what he was reading
and finally tossed them aside.  He had called Alethea when he’d gotten back to
his room and they’d talked for an hour, but he still felt restless and unable
to sleep.  He checked his voicemail and so far he hadn’t found any more
threatening messages and that gave him one less worry.  There was a knock on
his door and Liam peeked inside.  “Do you feel like some company, Colin?”

“Sure, come on in,” Colin replied, rearranging his
pillows and making an effort to sit up as Liam came in and sat down on the foot
of the bed with his legs crossed underneath him.  “I see you’ve made quite a
splash,” Colin teased him, pointing to the rock magazines scattered on the
bed.  “You’ve even got your own fan club now.”

Liam blushed.  “I’m flattered, but I’m not sure what
they expect of me.”

“Just stay your unspoiled self and you won’t have to
worry about it,” His brother advised.

“I’ll try.  Colin?”

“Yeah?”

“Is it possible to be in love with somebody even
though you’ve only recently met them and only once?”

“I don’t see why not.  I knew I was in love with
Alethea after we went out that first time.  Who are we talking about anyway?”

“Alison.”

“The girl you met in Atlanta?”

Liam nodded.  “We just went out that one time.  We
didn’t sleep together.  She wanted to, but I liked her and I didn’t want her to
think I was using my “status” to take advantage of her.  She gave me her cell
number and we’ve talked several times.  She’s smart and funny and really cares
about people, too.  She’s completely different from the girls I know at home.”

“I think it’s smart to get to know each other well
before you jump into a sexual relationship.  There’s always time for that later
on.”

“What about that red-haired woman you slept with the
other night?”

Colin looked at Liam in surprise and raised his
eyebrows.

Liam snorted.  “Come on, Colin!  I’ve known for a long
time I don’t have a monk for a brother!”  He laughed suddenly.  “I remember
when you’d have to baby-sit me and you’d invite your current girlfriend over
after mom and dad left.”

Colin chuckled.  “Hell!  Nothing ever happened because
I’d lose them to you the minute they got in the door!  They all thought you
were so adorable!”

“Yeah, they were always hugging and kissing me!  Do
you suppose mom and dad knew?”

“Probably – not much gets past them.  They probably
weren’t worried, though because they probably figured you were the best
contraceptive around!”

Liam joined in the laughter.  “Mom and dad were always
straight with us about sex.  Colin?”

“Yeah?”

“How old were you the first time you had sex?”

“I was sixteen.  Mom and Dad had told me that they
didn’t think it was a good idea for a teenager to be involved in a sexual
relationship.  They said it put a lot of adult emotions on somebody who might
not be ready to handle them.  They did leave it up to me to decide when I was
ready.”

“I was eighteen,” Liam admitted.  “If you had it to do
over, would you have sex at sixteen?”

“I doubt I’d do anything differently.  I will say mom
and dad always supported my decisions even if they didn’t agree with them.”

“Liam nodded.  “They never acted betrayed or
threatened by their kid’s sexuality.”

“Yeah, after some of the stories I’ve heard…”  Colin
shook his head, thinking about Debbie.  “I know we really got the luck of the
draw when it comes to parents!”

“Amen!”  Liam replied fervently then changed the
subject.  “What about the other night?”

“We both had a good time and that’s all there was to
it.”

“Well, I think Alethea would be hurt if she found out
about it.”

“I know she would and that’s why she’s never going to
find out,” Colin replied quietly. He looked up as Liam got up and stretched.
“Thanks for the talk and thanks for being my brother,” He said, looking a bit
embarrassed at his surge of sentimentality.

“I didn’t exactly have a choice,” Liam joked.

“I know and if you’d had a choice, you’d have been Jon
Bon Jovi’s brother!”

“No, I like the brother I already have even if he’s a
slob and he snores loudly!”

 “Yeah, ain’t life grand?”

Debbie and Diana were preparing to leave the mall for
the evening.  It was a little after eleven.  Diana had gotten off at ten, but
Debbie didn’t get done until eleven.  She usually waited for Debbie then the
girls rode home together.

“I don’t believe this!”  Diana exclaimed as she
glanced out the theater entrance.  “It rained again!  I just bought this sexy
bikini today and if this weather keeps up, it’ll be too cold to swim.  Wait
until you see it, Deb – shit!”  She looked at Debbie.  “Can you believe it?  I
left it at work!  Do you mind if I run back and get it?  It’ll just take me
about ten minutes.”

“No problem, Din.  I’ll get my car and wait for you
out front.”

“Okay.  Thanks, Deb,” Diana called over her shoulder.

Debbie walked outside.  She didn’t worry about walking
to her car alone even though the mall’s parking lot had dim lighting.  There
had never been any trouble reported in the year she’d worked there.  She walked
through the nearly empty lot to her car while fumbling in her purse for her
keys.

“Hello, Debbie.”

Startled, Debbie gave a small scream and dropped her
purse, its contents spilling all around her.  “Father Michaels, you scared me! 
I thought you’d left town.  What are you doing back here?”  She noticed
immediately that he was wearing dark clothing and saw, feeling a surge of fear,
that he also wore gloves.

“I came to see you, Debbie.  We have some unfinished
business.”  He bent over to retrieve her purse when he spotted the letter she’d
written to Colin, but still hadn’t mailed.

“What’s this?”  He pulled the letter out of the envelope.

“Give that to me!  It’s personal and none of your
fucking business!”  Debbie yelled, attempting to grab the letter from him.

He shoved Debbie aside and quickly scanned the
letter’s contents.  Suddenly he lashed out at her, striking her and knocking her
into the side of her car.  “You whore!”  He hissed.

Debbie moaned in pain and slid to the ground, dazed. 
Father Michaels grabbed her and jerked her to her feet again.  “Please don’t
hurt me,” She begged.  “I promise I won’t tell anybody you tried to run down
Colin!”

The use by her of Colin’s first name angered Father
Michaels and he slapped her across her face.  “You little tramp!  Do you think
anybody would believe you if you told?”  Debbie tried to scratch his face, but
he struck her again and fastened his hands around her throat.  “You obviously
enjoyed fornicating with that pervert, Matthews!  Screaming and letting
everybody within hearing range know how much you were enjoying your lewd
pleasures!   Now it’s time for both of you to pay the price for your sins!”

Debbie struggled fiercely but she couldn’t break his
grip.  Her vision started to turn red.

“Don’t worry, Debbie,” he crooned.  “Your lover will
soon be joining you in hell!”

She suddenly quit struggling and went limp, hoping
he’d think she was dying.

He released Debbie’s throat and she dropped.  He knelt
beside her and listened closely.  Her breathing was coming in ragged gasps and
sounded very faint.  He felt for her pulse and found it was faint.  He yanked
up her T-shirt, unfastened her bra then unzipped her jeans, pulling them and
her panties down to her knees.  He smiled in satisfaction.  She looked as if
she got raped and strangled.  He picked up Debbie’s letter to Colin, stuck it
back in its envelope and slipped it into the pocket of his windbreaker.  He
strode quickly to his rental car and drove off fast.

Diana came out the theater entrance, expecting to find
Debbie parked at the curb, waiting for her.  Surprised that she wasn’t there,
Diana peered out into the lot.  From where she stood she could see Debbie’s
car.  “Shit!”  Diana muttered.  “Deb must be having trouble with it.”  She
walked to the driver’s side and suddenly tripped.  She looked down, horrified
to see Debbie’s unmoving and partially clad body, lying on the driver’s side of
the car.  Diana screamed loudly.

At the sound of Diana’s scream, Debbie regained
consciousness.  Her eyes flew open and she tried to take a breath but nothing
happened.  It felt as if cotton was packing her throat.  She thrashed from side
to side, trying to draw her breath.

Diana ran back to the theater entrance.  She screamed
and pounded on the door until a security guard appeared.  “My friend’s been
attacked – over there!”  She cried and motioned frantically to where Debbie’s
car was.  “I think she’s dying!  Call an ambulance and tell them to hurry!”

The guard quickly summoned the police and an ambulance
then followed Diana to where Debbie lay.  She was no longer conscious so he
knelt and began administering CPR.  Diana knelt beside him.  She wanted to straighten
Debbie’s clothing so she was at least partially covered.  She would die of
embarrassment when she found out about her complete exposure!    Her fear of
destroying evidence which might lead to Debbie’s assailant convinced her not to
touch her.  It felt an eternity, but it was really only five minutes, before
Diana could hear the sirens and see the flashing lights of the police and
ambulance coming into the mall’s parking lot.

Father Michaels, once again in his clerical garb and
Roman collar, got out of the elevator on the intensive care floor.  He saw
Diana Conrad being comforted by an older woman and Mr. and Mrs. Simpson talking
to a strange man.

“Father!”  Theresa Simpson rose to her feet as she
caught sight of him.

The man they’d been speaking to nodded at Father
Michaels and smiled, “Father.”  He turned back to the Simpsons and said, “I’ll
be in touch.”  He watched as the man walked over to where Diana sat.

“Thank you for coming, Father,” Mrs. Simpson said.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner.  I’ve been studying
at the University library all evening and my mother told me about your call
when I got home.  I can’t believe it!  How is Debbie?”  He asked, taking hold
of Mrs. Simpson’s hands.

“She’s unconscious and they have her on a respirator
because she’s unable to breath on her own.  The doctors think she will be
permanently brain damaged if she does regain consciousness.”  She sighed.  “I
know this is God’s punishment of me for not being stricter with Debbie.”

“I don’t believe that at all!”  Father Michaels
declared.  “You’ve been an excellent mother and I wish there were more women,
following your example.”  He glanced over at the man who was talking to Diana.
“What happened?”

“They think she was—” Mr. Simpson swallowed as if the
subject were extremely distasteful to him then continued, “Violated.  They
found her partially disrobed.   Her attacker also attempted to strangle her.”

“I’ll pray Debbie makes a full recovery.”  Father
Michaels stated, patting Mrs. Simpson’s hand.  “Has she had the last rites?  Just
in case, you understand.”

“Yes.  There was a priest in the ER when they brought
her in and he administered them immediately.”  Mrs. Simpson assured him.

“Debbie must have led some boy on and he did this in
anger,” Mr. Simpson declared.

Father Michaels assumed an uncertain look.  Mrs.
Simpson noticed immediately.  “What is it, Father?”

“I believe I might know someone who had a reason to
harm Debbie.”

“Who?”  Both of them echoed.

“Colin Matthews.”

“You mean the lead singer of that horrible band we
picketed at the Target Center?  But why?”

“Do you recall Jonathan McDonald who helped us with
the picket?”  Mrs. Simpson nodded.  “He stayed overnight in Minneapolis and the
next morning he was passing by the hotel where that band was staying when he
saw Debbie and Colin Matthews coming out together.  He described Debbie as
being dressed very lewdly and said it was obvious from the way they were
behaving what had occurred.  I’m sorry to have to tell you this.”

Mrs. Simpson’s face went white, but she held her head
up high.  “It’s all right, Father.  We’ve always known Debbie had sluttish
tendencies.  I’ve tried every way I could to eradicate them, but it seems I was
unsuccessful.”

“I believe he thought Debbie was the legal age when he
became carnally involved with her and then discovered she wasn’t.  He may have
decided to kill her to protect himself from a statutory rape charge.”

“It doesn’t matter, Father.  God has chosen a fitting
punishment for Debbie for her sinful behavior and for me for my failure to
correct it,” Mrs. Simpson stated firmly.

“I don’t believe you have any reason to blame yourself
for what happened,” Father Michaels comforted her, patting her hand again. 
“You did your very best with Debbie and God does not hold you responsible
because she chose not to follow your instructions.”

“Thank you, Father.  You’re a great comfort to me.”

The man who had been talking to the Simpsons walked
over and stood in front of Diana and her mother.  “Mrs. Conrad, Miss Conrad?”

They looked up at him and he extended his hand.  “I’m
Detective Paul Madison and I’m investigating Miss Simpson’s case.  Diana, I
need to ask you some questions about tonight.  May I sit down?”

Monique Conrad stood up and shook his hand. 
“Certainly, Detective.  We want to do everything possible to find Deb’s
assailant.”

Detective Madison sat down next to Diana.  “I
understand you and Debbie have been friends for a long time?”

“Since the first day of kindergarten,” She replied
softly.

“Can you tell me what transpired this evening prior to
your finding Debbie injured?”

“I got off work at ten.  Deb works at the Cineplex so
she doesn’t get off until eleven.  I always wait for her then we ride home
together.  I realized that I’d forgotten a package at work and I went back to
get it.  Deb said she’d get her car and wait for me out front.”

“Do you recall how long it took you?”

Diana frowned, trying to recall.  “Well, the boutique
where I work is on the other side of the mall.  I’d guess it took me at least
fifteen minutes.  I went outside, but Deb wasn’t waiting.  I could see her car
was still where she’d parked it when we came to work.  I thought maybe she was
having car trouble so I walked over there and I tripped…”  Diana burst into
tears and it was a few minutes before she was able to continue.

“Its’ okay, Diana.”  Madison assured her soothingly. 
“Take your time.”

Diana got herself back under control and continued, “I
saw Deb lying by her car with her clothes half pulled off.  I think I screamed
and she opened her eyes and started making these horrible choking sounds.  I
ran back to the mall and I screamed and pounded on the door until a security
guard came.”  She started to cry again.  “Who’d do such a horrible thing to
Deb?  She wouldn’t hurt a fly!”

“We’re going to find out, Diana.”  Madison promised.  
He took a sheet of paper encased in a plastic evidence bag from inside his
jacket.  “Did Debbie have any enemies or disgruntled ex-boyfriends?”

Diana shook her head.  “Deb doesn’t date much.  She
thinks the boys in our class are total nerds, jerks or dumb jocks.  She didn’t
have any enemies that I know about.”

“This sheet of hotel stationery was found among the
spilled contents of Debbie’s purse.  I’m hoping you might know something about
the information written on it.”

Diana glanced at the sheet of paper then looked up at
her mother who nodded encouragingly and said, “It’s all right to tell Detective
Madison about Deb’s problems with her parents, Diana.  I’m sure she’d want him
to know everything.”  Monique Conrad looked at Madison and explained, “Deb was
always so ashamed of her relationship with her parents that we could hardly
ever get her to talk about it.”

“Why kind of problems?”  Madison asked, glancing over
at Mr. and Mrs. Simpson.

“Deb’s parents, especially her mother, are super
religious and they’re constantly criticizing her appearance, her interests -
just about everything about her!  They never show her any affection at all,”
Diana answered.  “She’s sworn lots of times that she was going to run away!”

“What’s the connection with the information written on
this sheet?”

“Deb and I went to the Unforgiven concert in
Minneapolis and we got to meet a couple of the band members after the concert. 
They were really nice.  Deb told me she’d told Colin Matthews, the lead singer,
about the problems she was having at home.  I guess it’s easier for her to talk
about it to a stranger.  I guess he felt really concerned about her talk of
running away so he gave her a way she could keep in contact with him.  He told
her to call him if she needed help or just to talk.”

“Can you think of any reason he might want to kill
her?”

Diana shook her head.  “I only met him briefly, but he
seemed like a nice guy and from what Deb told me; he seemed honestly concerned
about her welfare.”

The Michaels were sitting down to supper when they
heard the front door open and close.

“That must be Dave,” Caitlin remarked.

Father Michaels walked into the kitchen.  “Sorry, I’m
late, Mother,” he apologized.