Sweet Dreams Boxed Set (64 page)

“I think we’re good. Let’s go see what’s happened.”

Thirty-Nine

Mary Margaret was sitting on her hands, which were tied low behind her back. She had managed to scoot around a little in the confines of the confessional, but only enough to wedge her fingers under her butt.

The events of the past hours were all a blur. She remembered the man picking her up, their quick exodus to St. Catherine’s Church. She was so relieved to be indoors, away from the fury of the storm.

Father Xavier had greeted them, obviously relieved to see she was okay and thankful that her friend had delivered her safely to his door. He guided them into his office. The man she was with asked for something to drink, and the priest poured them steaming cups of his aromatic tea. She could vaguely recall the taste of the tea: amazingly bitter, despite the three spoons full of sugar she had dumped in. Regardless, it was warm and she was safe within the confines of her mother church.

Almost immediately, her mouth had gone numb and her stomach felt violently upset. She vaguely heard Father Xavier remark that he wasn’t feeling well either, and then all was black.

It seemed like hours later when she came to. She didn’t know immediately where she was. Her stomach felt like it was filled with knives, her hands were going numb. She thought hard and realized she was still in the church. In fact, she could tell that she was inside the confessor’s side of the confessional.

She had no idea how long she’d been stuck in here. The gag in her mouth was cutting off her breath, and she figured if she breathed slowly through her nose she didn’t feel she would suffocate immediately. Her stomach heaved violently. Her whole body was going numb; she couldn’t feel her limbs anymore.

She heard footsteps and listened intently. They grew closer. She could tell there were two people coming toward her. One was shuffling, one was marching with purpose. She heard muted voices, muttering and moaning. She tried to scream, but the only sound that she could manage was a tiny whimper. She felt ashamed. At the moment of her death she should be full of grace, praying to the mother Mary to give her strength and acceptance. She didn’t doubt for a minute she was dying; she felt as if she’d left her body already. Her mind was able to register what was happening, but her body was slipping away and wouldn’t respond. She couldn’t feel them, but the tears began to roll down her face.

The door to the priest’s side of the confessional was thrown open. The box shook with the force of a body hitting the wall inside. Mary Margaret could see a man’s face, dim and veiled through the partition screen. The door to the confessional slammed again. They were left in darkness.

Mary Margaret could barely make out the white collar around the man’s throat. Something told her it must be Father Xavier. She whimpered again, trying to get his attention. His head lolled to the side. She wondered briefly if he was dead. When a moan escaped his lips, she breathed a slow sigh of relief through her nose. Neither of them were dead yet.

She tried to speak through the gag in her mouth, which had loosened.

“Futther,” she whispered. “Futther, ere ou kay?”

She was rewarded with a moan, and barely made out the word “devil.”

“Futther, ere oo okay?”

She watched him carefully through the screen. His breathing was labored; he was not gagged. Mary Margaret could see a trickle of blood flowing from the side of his head. She could tell his lips were moving, though no sound reached her ears.

The footsteps came again, and the door to the confessional was thrown open briefly. A hand snaked in and ripped the gag from her mouth. She heard the voice, disembodied, as if she were hearing the Holy Ghost speak aloud.

“Confess your sins, little one. Confess and be shriven, go to your heaven with an unsoiled soul.”

The door slammed shut again, but before she could cry out, she smelled gasoline. Heard the flick of the match. Felt the heat as the flames exploded around her.

“Father,” she screamed, somehow finding the strength to cry aloud. “Father, forgive me, for I have sinned.” The flames grew around her, scorching her hair, filling the tiny grave with smoke. She began to cough, knew she would speak no more. She prayed silently.

As Mary Margaret lost consciousness, she heard one last word. A strangled whisper. She didn’t know if it was from her God or the priest being immolated with her, but the word filled her with peace, and she stopped struggling against her earthly bonds.

“Forgiven,” the voice said.

And the flames took them.

Forty

He stood watching the flames, a small smile playing on his lips. He raised his eyes to the dark and boiling skies. “
And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven…
”

Forty-One

The skies were still roiling with gray and black clouds, and rain continued to pour down. Lightning reached out a fiery hand toward the earth. Nature wasn’t finished with her punishment, but the winds had lessened.

Downtown Nashville looked like a war zone. Trees, trash, metal; all were strewn around in the streets like litter after a celestial concert, carelessly dropped by receding waves of humanity. People were venturing into the streets to survey the damage, their eyes wide with the excitement and fear that accompanies every natural calamity. The sense of awe was palpable; it was dazzling to be involved in something that they had no control over.

Workplaces were left with flickering lights or no electricity at all, so many had shut down for the rest of the day. It was better for the people not directly involved in the cleanup to get out of the way. The tornado had cut a swath two hundred yards wide right down the main downtown streets of Nashville, but most of the outlying areas had only suffered superficial damage. There were no reports of deaths.

Fitz, Marcus and Lincoln had snuck off to their respective homes to see if they had taken a hit from the storm. Price had to deal with the law enforcement aspects of helping with the cleanup. He wasn’t very popular with the rest of the detectives in the CID at the moment. After a brief meeting with the chief of police, he’d called in all the off duty detectives. They weren’t happy to find they needed to go help Patrol work the roadblocks that had been put up around Nashville to help NES get the power back on.

With everyone gone, Taylor finally felt like she had some breathing room. She and Baldwin stayed in the homicide office, planning their next steps. The storm damage was impeding their ability to cross town to Vanderbilt to interview everyone again, and the phones were all down. The school had been evacuated, the student and administration scattered.

After a frustrating hour of waiting, they gave up, decided to take a break and get some food. She was glad for a momentary respite from the case to clear her head and recharge her batteries.

As they drove out on Interstate 40, circling around downtown, they were impressed at how quickly the clean up was progressing. Many of the streets had already been cleared. The damage was not as severe as it had initially looked, but many trees were uprooted and power lines were strewn across the streets.

Taylor decided it would be best to get out of the way, so she suggested they head back to her side of town to get some dinner. She lived in Bellevue, a small community just west of Nashville. It didn’t take them long to make the drive. The tornado had been confined to downtown. Once past the exits for West End, the streets were relatively clear.

She pulled into a neighborhood restaurant called Jonathan’s, and they went inside. The place was packed, a beehive of activity. It seemed no one wanted to stay at home; they’d all come out to share the day’s excitement. They made their way through the throng of people waiting for tables at the front door and went into the back bar.

They’d been making desultory chitchat on the ride over, mostly about the weather. The memory of her outburst had faded away. More comfortable together now, they ordered beers. Taylor brought out a pack of cigarettes and offered one to Baldwin.

Baldwin gave her a grateful grin. “I’d love one, but I quit a few years ago.”

Taylor gave him a smile and lit the cigarette. “So did I.” She took a couple of drags, crushed it out and rose.

“Will you order me some fried clams? I need to go to the bathroom.”

“No problem.” He watched her walk away and saw many heads turn as she pushed through the crowd. He started berating himself. He knew now why he was interested in staying on this case, and it wasn’t only the murders themselves.

Taylor wove her way to the bathroom, grateful to find it empty. She stood in front of the mirror, pretending to smooth down her hair. She could have easily let Baldwin head to his own home, but instead she’d invited him to dinner. There was something about him that made her want to stay in his company. She’d lashed out at him earlier more from fear than anything else. When he’d offered to be there for her if she needed him when they were out on the steps, she’d had a yearning so strong it felt like a blow to the chest. Something about Baldwin had gotten under her skin, and she was furious at herself for letting that happen.

At the same time, she wanted to crumble into his arms, cry on his shoulder, try to explain the frustration, the pain she was feeling. She was lonely. He was the nearest attractive warm body, even if he was screwed up.

She gave herself a once over in the mirror.
Knock it off, Taylor. This isn’t right.
She nodded to herself in reluctant agreement and went back to Baldwin.

The kitchen had worked quickly; there was a plate of fried clams in front of her seat. She sat, noting that Baldwin had not started eating his cheeseburger.
Manners. Hmmm.

Suddenly shy, she dug into her food. The clams were perfect, crunchy and smooth. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was. She noticed Baldwin was eating his burger as a man condemned, savoring each bite as though it was his last. It brought her up short, and she started laughing.

“You know, they’ll make you more if you want.”

“I feel like I haven’t had a chance to relax and eat in months. You know the other night at Mulligan’s was the first time I’d been in a restaurant for almost six months. I thought I’d savor the moment.”

Taylor saw the opportunity. “I’ve been wanting to ask how you were feeling. You seem to be, what’s a good way of putting it…”

“Better?”

“Yes. Better.”

He took a careful bite of his burger, giving himself a moment before he had to answer. “I guess you could say this case has caught my interest. I have a gut feeling it’s not over by a long shot.”

“The case. Of course.”

He gave her a long look, and her stomach tightened. What the hell was she doing?

“Or maybe I felt like you saved my life, and I owed you one.” He looked straight into her eyes, marveling at their chameleon qualities. In the darkness of the bar, they were lavender, her pupils dilated. She had a sexy, come-hither quality that he was having a hard time denying. He’d never seen anything so exquisite in his life. Realizing it probably showed on his face, he hastily turned away and shoved some fries in his mouth.

But Taylor had caught the moment of unguarded emotion. She didn’t know if it was gratefulness or attraction, but she reached over and touched his arm.

“I’m glad you stayed with it.” She left it at that and finished the rest of her meal.

They sat quietly, not feeling the need to talk. They’d come to some tacit agreement in their silence. Yes, the attraction was there. Yes, they both felt it. No reason to push anything.

Taylor ordered another round of beers. As they were set in front of them, her cell phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and frowned.

“Price,” she told Baldwin, who nodded. He knew their brief idyll was just that, though he was sorry they couldn’t spend a little more time together away from the case. Maybe they’d found Jill Gates.

“Hey, Captain.” He could see the muscles in her shoulders tense. “Where? Okay, we’re on our way. Yeah, I’ve got Baldwin with me. He’ll come along.” She hung up, took a last swig of her beer.

“Price wants you to come with me to a scene.” She was frowning, her attention already pulled away, and he felt the lack of it keenly.

“What scene? Did they find Jill?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. St. Catherine’s Church caught on fire. They thought it was a lightning strike from the storm until the firefighters found two bodies shoved into a confessional. They were burned to death.”

Forty-Two

They pulled into the parking lot at the church, weaving their way through the fire engines. Large crime scene lights showed the church exterior. It was made of harled white stone and had only suffered superficial damage, but curls of smoke were still drifting through the air, a smoldering perfume clinging to the parking lot. Taylor saw Sam standing by the entrance of the church looking grim, giving directions to two men with a heavy gurney between them, and went to join her.

Sam gave the two a long look. “What took
you
so long?”

“So long? Price only called me ten minutes ago. We came immediately.”

“Oh. Sorry.” She frowned, nodding. “I’ve already pulled them out and we’re taking them back to the office.”

“Want to fill me in? Price didn’t give me any details.”

Sam kept nodding. She was smudged with soot and had a faraway look on her face. “Yeah. Let’s go over there.” She pointed to Taylor’s car and started walking. Taylor and Baldwin followed. “Sorry to be short, but this is freaking me out.”

“Sam?” Taylor said sharply. She was getting a little freaked out, too. Sam never got flustered at a scene.

“I’m okay, T, just a little rattled. Baldwin, are you Catholic?”

“No. I’m Episcopalian. At least I used to be. Why?”

“Just wondering. I’m Catholic. This isn’t the way I’d like to go. I don’t think I’ll make it to confession for a while. Taylor, do you have a cigarette?”