Alex Kava Bundle - Alex Kava [147]
They stared at each other. The obvious left unsaid, settling between them and stirring up the same disappointment and panic that had driven them to this point.
“Did he try anything with you?” Nick finally asked.
“What do you mean?”
“You know… Did he…”
“No,” she said, cutting him off, rescuing him. “No, he didn’t.”
Maggie remembered the killer fishing her gun out from inside her coat, accidentally grazing her breast. He had snapped his hand back instead of letting it linger. When he whispered into her ear, he never once touched her skin. He wasn’t interested in sex, not with men and certainly not with women. His mother was a saint, after all. She remembered the images of tortured saints on Father Keller’s bedroom wall. The priesthood and its vow of celibacy would have been an excellent escape, an excellent hiding place.
“We need to question Keller one last time,” she said.
“We have absolutely nothing on him, Maggie.”
“So humor me.”
“Ms. O’Dell?” A nurse peeked around the door. “You have a visitor.”
“It’s about time,” Maggie said, expecting the perky, blond volunteer.
The nurse held open the door and smiled flirtatiously at the handsome, golden-haired man in the black Armani suit. He carried a cheap overnight case, and a matching garment bag was slung over his arm.
“Hi, Maggie,” he said, walking into the room as if he owned it, throwing a look at Nick before smiling his expensive-lawyer smile at Maggie.
“Greg? What in the world are you doing here?”
CHAPTER 98
Timmy listened for the vending machine to swallow his quarters before he made his selection. He almost chose a Snickers, but his gut remembered, and he punched the Reese’s button, instead.
He tried not to think about the stranger or the little room. He needed to stay focused on his mom and help her get better. It scared him to see her in that huge, white hospital bed, hooked up to all those machines that gurgled, wheezed and clicked. She seemed to be okay, even seemed happy to see his dad after, of course, she had yelled at him. But this time his dad didn’t yell back. He just kept saying he was sorry. When Timmy left the room, his dad was holding his mom’s hand, and she actually let him. That had to be a good sign, didn’t it?
Timmy sat in the plastic waiting-room chair. He unwrapped his candy bar and separated out the two pieces. Grandpa Morrelli was supposed to bring him a sandwich from Subway after the two of them had inspected the cafeteria’s meat loaf. The Subway was only across the street, but Timmy hadn’t had breakfast. He popped one whole peanut butter cup into his mouth and let it melt before he started chewing.
“I thought you were a Snickers guy.”
Timmy spun around in the chair, startled. He hadn’t even heard footsteps.
“Hi, Father Keller,” he mumbled over a mouthful.
“How are you, Timmy?” The priest patted Timmy’s shoulder, his hand lingering on Timmy’s back.
“I’m okay.” He swallowed the rest of the candy bar, clearing his mouth. “My mom had surgery this morning.”
“I heard.” Father Keller slid a duffel bag into the seat next to Timmy’s then knelt down in front of him.
Timmy liked that about Father Keller, how he made him feel special. He was genuinely interested. Timmy could see that in his eyes, those soft, blue eyes, that sometimes looked so sad. Father Keller really did care. Those eyes…Timmy looked again and suddenly a knot twisted in his stomach. Today, there was something different about Father Keller’s eyes. Timmy didn’t know what it was. He squirmed in his seat, and Father Keller looked concerned.
“You okay, Timmy?”
“Fine…I’m fine. It’s probably just all the sugar. I didn’t eat breakfast. You going someplace?” Timmy asked, swinging a thumb at the duffel bag.
“I’m taking Father Francis to his burial place. In fact, that’s why I’m here, to make sure the body is ready.”
“He’s here?” Timmy didn’t mean to whisper, but that’s how it came out.
“Down in the morgue. Would you like to come with me?