Alex Kava Bundle - Alex Kava [699]
“Yes, Timmy’s here with me. Where did you say you were?” He glanced at Timmy still standing by the door. He was far enough away he would never hear the desk clerk on the other end.
“The front desk, sir,” the caller repeated.
“How long will that take?”
“Excuse me? How long will what take?”
Keller ignored the poor clerk’s confusion. “Well, okay. We’ll wait here for you.”
“I’m sorry, sir, but I have no idea what—”
He hung up on him in midsentence, finished and pleased with his side of the conversation. Then to Timmy he said, “They’re going to be a few minutes late. Something your uncle has to take care of.”
He needed to come up with something, anything that would relax the boy, that would stop his goddamn fidgeting.
“In the meantime, why don’t you help yourself to the minibar.”
That got his attention.
“Really? Are you sure?”
“Oh yeah, go ahead. Grab me a Coke, too.”
That was it. Evidently sharing his minibar was like opening a whole new avenue of trust. Suddenly Timmy was grinning and down on his knees, opening the fridge and evaluating the treasure inside.
Yes, this would be easy. Almost too easy.
CHAPTER 84
Washington, D.C.
In her mind Gwen tried to assess her escape route. Her instincts told her to make a mad dash. What was she waiting for? Why did she dare try and talk sense into him? Was that even possible? The last time she had been in a room with a madman, Eric Pratt had attempted to drive a freshly sharpened lead pencil into her throat.
This was different. There was no uniformed officer right outside the door ready to come running to her rescue. R. J. Tully wouldn’t be racing in to protect her either. Not this time. She’d never make it to the door let alone the hallway or the elevator without Campion overpowering her. Her only available weapon was talk. She needed to control him with her voice and her words. She glanced around the room one more time in search of anything else. No, there wasn’t anything else. At least not until she settled him down. Maybe then she had a chance of catching him off guard.
James Campion’s rage came in bursts then quieted almost as quickly. He stood between Gwen and the doorway, quiet now but glaring at her with a new distrust that she was attempting to dismantle. She had to convince him she was on his side, that she wasn’t the enemy.
“I’m on your side, James. Father Paul Conley abused you in a way no boy should experience. He deserved to be punished,” she said, stopping herself from adding that ripping his head off and placing it on his own altar may have been a bit much. She needed to win his trust. He needed to believe she understood. “He won’t be able to hurt any more boys ever again.”
“That’s right,” he said, nodding. “Playing the game and pretending to kill him wasn’t enough. It didn’t stop him.”
“But, James, what about the others?”
“The others? The other priests?”
“No, the young women. There were four of them, weren’t there? Tell me about them. Why did you hurt them?”
“Oh, you mean the whores.”
“Excuse me?”
“I met them over the Internet. We talked, got to know each other. You told me that I needed to try to have normal relationships with women. Remember? You told me.” He was getting anxious again.
“Yes, that’s right. I did tell you that.” And she had.
It had been a major concern to him that he couldn’t have an ordinary relationship with a woman. She remembered their conversations. She knew his abuse had left him with an immature attitude about sex. He always seemed anxious and concerned about it but never angry. He had talked about it all so calmly. How he wanted to take it slow and get to know and trust a woman before it turned to sex. It was the sex that seemed to worry him, to almost frighten him. Of course it did. It all made sense to her now even before he started to explain.
“We would talk on the Internet. It was comfortable, enjoyable.” Campion’s eyes were somewhere else as if remembering. This was good. Get his mind on something else so she would be able to catch him off guard.
“You could get to know each