Alex Kava Bundle - Alex Kava [622]
“Of course, she’d be crazy to not keep you involved.” She wasn’t sure she could guide Racine as easily as she had hoped to guide Maggie.
“I’ll keep you posted,” Maggie said as she stood. “Gotta go.” And she opened her arms, waiting for Gwen to stand so she could give her a hug. “Thanks for taking care of Harvey.”
“Harvey and I have a good time. He takes me for nice long walks in Rock Creek Park. I find so many more interesting things with him along.” Gwen tried not to think of the scribbled map that had led them to the second skull on one of the park’s trails. Instead, she hugged Maggie, then stepped back and smiled. “Hey, I forgot to ask what the case was about in Nebraska.”
“Ironically, it’s priests getting killed instead of doing the killing.”
“Really?” Gwen knew Maggie well enough to recognize that this feeble attempt at morbid humor was only to disguise her own anxiety. She had been too wrapped up in her own mess to even consider what Maggie might be going through. Her friend avoided eye contact as if expecting Gwen’s next question, “Are you okay about going back there?”
Maggie frowned at her like it was a silly question. Another failed disguise, because Gwen could see the lie even before Maggie said, “Of course I’m okay. That was what, four years ago?”
“Some scars take longer than four years to heal,” Gwen told her, this time meeting and holding her eyes. “Especially when there’s unfinished business.”
Maggie just shrugged then reached out and gave Gwen’s arm a gentle squeeze. “Don’t worry about me. You’re the one who looks tired. Get some rest. I’ll call you tonight.”
And then she was off, down the long ramp with that confident stride that she used to fool everyone. Almost everyone. But Gwen wasn’t fooled. This time she’d let Maggie get away with it only because it allowed her to disguise her own secrets. Selfishly she was relieved that Maggie didn’t seem to have a clue about the knots twisting in her stomach, or even suspect the mental time bomb wreaking havoc with her conscience.
CHAPTER 35
Our Lady of Sorrow High School
Omaha, Nebraska
Nick Morrelli hoped his sister, Christine, didn’t make him sorry he had come along for the ride. It was Timmy’s first day of the Summer Explorers’ Program at what would be his new high school in the fall. The school was just one of the changes resulting from Christine’s divorce and recent move from Platte City to Omaha.
She said Timmy was excited about the new school, although Nick couldn’t help thinking that it might just be Christine putting her positive spin on it. Just the other night she had complained about Timmy spending too much time in his room on his computer and not out with his friends. Nick wasn’t sure that sounded like a fourteen-almost-fifteen-year-old boy excited about much of anything.
Yet when they arrived, Timmy left them behind, racing up the steps, knowing exactly where he needed to be. Maybe he really was excited, though Nick suspected that Timmy might not want his new classmates seeing him with his mother. It didn’t take long and Nick was wishing he had kept up with Timmy. At the bottom of the stairs Christine pointed to an office door with Monsignor O’Sullivan’s nameplate. He nodded and kept walking, hoping she’d follow. She didn’t.
Nick was halfway up the stairs when he heard her confronting someone inside the office. She started a full-blown interrogation and by the time Nick made it to the doorway the tall, pale man dressed in black was explaining—or rather it sounded more like an announcement—that he was Brother Sebastian, assistant to Archbishop Armstrong and that he had been sent to collect monsignor’s personal effects.
Christine was asking if the Omaha Police Department knew Brother Sebastian was contaminating what she insisted could be valuable evidence in an ongoing investigation. She was threatening to call the OPD just as Nick grabbed her arm and coaxed her out of the office and up the staircase. She was still ranting about the nerve of the archbishop when they found the classroom for the Explorers