Bonnie - Iris Johansen [77]
Joe shook his head. “It’s not going to happen. Not if he killed Bonnie Duncan. Not if he hurts Eve.”
“But what if he didn’t do either? He has a chance.”
“All I care about is Eve’s chances.” Joe’s lips tightened. “And I’ll be the one who shoots Danner if he even touches a strand of her hair. You turned Eve down, but you’re not going to refuse me, Father.”
His brows lifted. “Are you threatening me?”
“If you don’t show me a way to find Danner, I’ll regard you as an accomplice. I don’t care if you’re a priest or the Dalai Lama.”
“And you love Eve Duncan very much.” His gaze shifted back to the shimmering spray of the fountain. “Love is a wonderful thing. Through all his torment, Danner still feels love. That’s why I think he can still be saved.”
“Then you should have saved him when you had a chance instead of shunting him off to another psychiatrist and joining the priesthood.”
Father Barnabas flinched. “Do you think I haven’t thought about that? I wasn’t vain enough to think that I was the only competent psychiatrist in the country. I thought I was doing the right thing. I’d come to a point with some of my patients that I’d tried every skill I’d learned to bring them back to the human race. I couldn’t do any more. I couldn’t perform miracles. But God can do what I can’t. I decided to quit claiming I was brilliant and all-knowing and give Him a chance.”
“And you’re not sorry?”
The priest shook his head. “Why? Occasionally I get to even be present for one of his miracles. Sometimes they’re small, sometimes they fill me with wonder. No, I’m not sorry.”
Dammit, I like this man, Joe thought with frustration. He might be conning him and hiding his real agenda but, if that was what he was doing, he was a superb actor. Ignore that warm charisma and force him to do what he needed him to do. “Then you can get God to keep Eve safe and deliver Danner to me, Father. Either that, or it’s up to you.”
The priest chuckled. “It doesn’t work that way. I’m permitted to observe, not orchestrate. But you’re right, it is up to me. You’re not going to have to damage your conscience by harassing a priest.”
“My conscience isn’t in danger. Not if it concerns Eve.” He met his gaze. “And I regard you as damaged goods in the clergy department. You may be very dirty.”
“And I may not. You’re not sure.”
“Evidently, the court wasn’t either. I can see you’d be a very believable witness. But your obsession with finding Danner could be—”
“Not what it seems,” the priest said. “But you’ll have to accept that if you want to find Danner yourself.”
He tensed. “You’re going to tell me where I can find Danner?”
“I’m going to tell you where we can start.”
“We?”
“I told you, I’m going with you,” Father Barnabas said quietly. “I’m not going to give up my chance of saving Danner. But I can’t run the risk of having him hurt Eve Duncan if I can prevent it, so I’ll permit you to accompany me. You have that right. But I have the right to try to keep Danner alive if I can and try to end his torment.”
Joe frowned. “It’s a lousy idea. You could get hurt. You’d get in my way.”
“Your concern is truly touching. It’s a possibility, but just because I wear a white collar is no sign that I haven’t lived in the real world. I was in the army myself when I was a kid fresh out of high school. I know how to survive.”
“But not how to attack. Or if you did know, you chose to forget it. I don’t believe in turning the other cheek, and I don’t like the idea of having to protect you when you do.”
“Get used to it. I’m going to be with you until we find Danner.”
Joe