Eve shook her head. “Seven years old?”
“Years don’t make a difference. I was ready.” She said gently, “You kept me safe, you gave me love, you made my stay beautiful.”
Bonnie was the one who had made their time together beautiful. As she stood looking at her, Eve could feel the golden haze of those seven years enveloping her. She could remember every moment, every word, every touch. “I love you, baby.”
Bonnie nodded. “I know. In the end, that’s all there is, Mama. No regrets, just the love.”
“Is that why you came to see me today?” Eve asked unevenly.
“I felt I had to be here. I wanted to come before. I knew there wasn’t a threat yet, but I could feel your pain. But there are things I can do on that other level that I can’t do for you yet. Wonderful things … It took me a little while to break away. Here, everything is confusing, and I can’t see what’s going on. I just have to work my way through it. But I had to do something to help you.”
“You did help me.” She cleared her throat. “Though I can’t see things as you do.” She made a face. “And don’t tell me that I will someday. I have to do what I have to do. So unless you can offer me a little nudge toward getting that priest to give us a little assistance, I’d better go and see what I can do.” She had to leave before she lost her resolve. This time with Bonnie was too precious, the love too strong. She turned and moved toward the church. “And I won’t cause Father Barnabas any distress about—well, maybe a little distress. But not enough to worry you.”
* * *
BONNIE DIDN’T ANSWER.
Eve didn’t have to look back to know she had left her again.
CHAPTER
10
IT WAS THE CHILD AGAIN.
Danner’s heart was pounding with fear as he stared at the little girl standing by the fountain. He had been hovering in the garden house, waiting impatiently for the chance to approach Father Barnabas, when Eve Duncan had appeared. It had shocked and disturbed him, but he had not been terrified.
Until the child had appeared when the priest had left.
Danner staggered back and leaned against the wall of the garden house, trying to fade into the plaster. He was sweating, his palms cold and wet.
It was the child again. What was the little girl doing here?
Had she known he would be going to Father Barnabas and meant to stop him?
Hide.
Hide.
Don’t let her see you.
He had to keep hidden until he was sure she had vanished, then go find the priest. Talk to him, and perhaps the priest would be able to tell him what he needed to know.
What do you want from me? he thought in agony as he stared at the child. I’ll do anything. Just leave me alone.
The sweat was causing his palms to slide down the wall behind him.
He drew a shaky breath as he realized that the child had now vanished. When her mother had followed Father Barnabas into the church, she had faded away. The threat was gone … for now.
Why had she followed him here? How had she known he was going to see the priest?
But she had not seemed to be aware he was here. She had not turned to him, called his name. She had spoken to Eve Duncan, then gone away.
Perhaps he had not been the child’s target. She had seemed to only want to be with her mother. When they had been speaking, the two had been totally absorbed, and even he could see the intense love that radiated between them.
He felt a jolt of pain as he remembered the way they had looked as they gazed at each other. Loneliness.
Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.
But it did no good to have regrets. The child would not accept it. She would keep coming until she got what she wanted. She would torment him until the day he died.
I’ll give it to you, he thought in agony. Anything you want. I just have to go to Father Barnabas and have him help me find out what it is that you want. Stop following me and let me alone.
He suddenly stiffened as a thought occurred to him.
Follow?
He inhaled sharply as the thought began to grow and formulate.
Yes, that was it!
That had to be it.
He had been wrong. It wasn’t the Delilah demon he had to kill at all.
The great load was being lifted from him.
He pushed away from the wall and opened the door of the garden house. He didn’t have to wait to see Father Barnabas. He had the answer now.
The little red-haired girl had not been in pursuit, following him to this garden.
She had led him here.
* * *
FATHER BARNABAS WAS NO longer with Gallo when Eve came into the sanctuary.
Gallo whirled to face her as she came toward him. He was clearly not pleased. “What the hell? I couldn’t do anything with Donnelly. He’s hard as nails.”
She nodded. “Frustrating. And I’m sure I didn’t find out anything more than you did. I was hoping that he might lean a little toward confiding in you since he has a relationship with your uncle.” She grimaced. “And it’s not as if we can physically ‘persuade’ him to tell us anything. He’s presumably doing what he believes is right. It’s his duty to keep his silence.”
“Presumably. Providing he’s not more of a criminal than my uncle. And if he is doing what he thinks is right, hell, someone may get killed while he does his damn duty.”
She tilted her head as she gazed at him. “You’ve been fighting desperately against believing that your uncle is guilty. Now you’re suddenly worried that he may go on a killing spree?”
“I’m still fighting,” Gallo said. “Father Barnabas said that he’d had years when he’d lived a good, productive life. Jacobs was a son of a bitch. My uncle may have had reason to kill him.”
“And the man at the alligator farm?”
“It was a struggle. Maybe it was self-defense.”
“And he was close to murdering Catherine.”
“What do you want me to say?” Gallo said tersely. “So it looks like he’s not sane. I can’t give up on him until I find him and know for sure.”
“He spoke to the priest about a child.”
“He wouldn’t kill an innocent child. He wouldn’t kill Bonnie.”
“You’re sure. I can’t be certain of anything connected to him. I was hoping that we’d be able to persuade Donnelly to break a rule of confidentiality when we found him.” She added dryly, “But that rule of confidentiality has suddenly become almost impossible to breach for more reasons than one.”
“We’ll get beyond it.”
“Maybe we should call Catherine back.” Her lips twisted. “She could probably get a very sophisticated truth drug from her friend, Hu Chang. It’s a thought.”
He suddenly went still. “Not a bad one.”
She quickly shook her head. “I was joking.”
“I’m not. We get what we want. If Father Barnabas is telling the truth about his devotion to his vows, then his soul and conscience would be clear. He couldn’t blame himself.”
“How do you know? He might feel as if he should be able to resist the drug.”
“He’s a priest, not a saint.” He paused. “And he might not be doing a good job at being either one.”
“No, Gallo,” she said firmly.
“Catherine would agree with me.”
Eve knew he was probably right. “Then you won’t ask her, will you?”
He was silent. “It would be the most efficient way to handle it.”
“Gallo.”
“I’ll think about it.” He looked at her. “If you can suggest another way that we can get what we need from him.”
“He seemed confident he could reach Danner. We keep close to him and follow him.”
“But he said he didn’t know for certain where my uncle was.”
“Then he might be expecting Danner to come to confession. We just have to be patient for a little while.”
“With the emphasis on little,?
?? he said. “I’ll play it your way for now, but if it appears to be going nowhere, I’ll call Catherine and ask if Hu Chang has given her anything that would be—”
“No.”
He smiled faintly. “I may not have to call her or do anything at all. When I talked to her on the phone, she said she and Quinn would be on their way here. She’ll analyze the situation and make her own decision.”
Eve should have expected that to happen. “You told her that we had a lead on Donnelly.”
He nodded. “They had already found out that Donnelly had become a priest at that college in Valdosta and taken the name of Father Barnabas. We just combined info and came up with this church as a reasonable meeting place. Quinn is going to be very suspicious. He isn’t going to be any more inclined to understanding the priest’s reluctance than I am.”
No, three warriors with a practical mentality about getting what they want. She might be fighting this battle alone. There was a certain logic to their argument, and she was tempted to go along with their reasoning.
But she had promised Bonnie that she would be careful with Father Barnabas. In her daughter’s eyes, that would include the possible disturbance of the priest’s conscience.
“Then I’ll have to explain my point of view.” She met Gallo’s eyes. “We have to find another way. There has been enough hurt to the innocents. I’m just as eager as you to find Danner, and we will.” She added crisply, “Now what’s the most efficient way for surveillance of Father Barnabas?”
He frowned. “I don’t like—” He broke off. “The most practical method is observation and maybe to bug his car.”
“And how can we do that? Where can we get the equipment?”
“We can call Quinn and get him to contact the local police and get them to help.” He shook his head. “But that would probably mean dealing with red tape. It would be quicker to get the equipment ourselves from one of those local spy-and-surveillance stores you see in some of the malls.”
“They can’t be that popular. Do you think they’d have a store here in Rome?”
He shook his head. “I’ll check on the Internet, but a small town would probably not be worrying too much about spying on nannies or checking to see if their kids are on drugs. But they’d have them in Chattanooga, and that’s right next door.”
“Then go get what we need.”
“You think our good priest is lying about knowing where my uncle is right now?”
“No. It’s hard to judge, but I don’t think he lied to me. But I don’t want to take a chance that he might make a good guess. Do you?”
He slowly shook his head. “We’re getting too close. Let’s go.”
She shook her head. “No, you go. I’ll stay here.” She held up her hand to stop him as he opened his lips to protest. “Observation, remember? One of us has to keep an eye on Father Barnabas.”
“And who would keep an eye on you?”
“Do you actually think Father Barnabas is going to attack me in this church?” She gave him a steady glance. “It’s not likely. He told me he had an appointment with a young couple who are going to be married. You’ll probably be back before he’s even finished with them.”
He didn’t move. “And you won’t try to follow him if he takes off?”
“I won’t do it without calling you.”
“And what if my uncle decides to show up for confession?”
“Then I’ll have to play it by ear.” She smiled faintly. “So stop borrowing trouble and get back here so that you don’t have anything to worry about.”
He hesitated, then turned on his heel and strode toward the door. “It shouldn’t take me more than a couple hours. Stay here.”
She didn’t answer.
He glanced back over his shoulder at her. “I don’t like this,” he muttered.
Then he was gone.
She was relieved that he had actually left her. The suggestion she had made was reasonable, but Gallo was very protective.
It must be because her argument about the safety of the sanctuary was reasonable and the time involved so little.
She did feel safe here.
She gazed around the sanctuary.
Peace. Beauty. Stained-glass windows depicting St. Francis and the animals. The crucifix over the altar.
She was not a Catholic, but there were many things she liked about the religion. The confessionals. Releasing guilt and pain by voicing them could only be healthy, both physically and mentally.
The idea that worshippers had followed the same rituals for centuries.
And the soothing silence of this sanctuary that closed out the present and brought back the past.
She sank down in the pew to the left of the aisle and closed her eyes.
Memories were flooding back to her.
Not bitter but gentle, precious memories.
Bonnie that moment in the hospital when Eve had first seen her.
Bonnie singing her special songs with Eve before she went to bed.
Joe holding Eve, smiling at her, tilting his head thoughtfully as he listened to something she said.
“Are you waiting for Father Barnabas? You did find him, didn’t you?” She looked around to see Father Dominic coming down the aisle. “You and Mr. Gallo seemed to be very intent on talking to him.”
“I found him.”
The priest’s brows rose. “Not a satisfactory meeting? It doesn’t surprise me. He’s pretty well rejected the life he led before he entered the seminary, but he’s very protective about his former patients. He can be very stubborn.”
“Yes, he can. But so can I. Where is he? He told me he had an appointment with a young couple.”
Father Dominic nodded. “He should be done now. I saw their car leaving about ten minutes ago. He’s probably still in the office.”
“And where is that?”
He nodded at a door to the right of the altar. He shook his head. “I know you must be in distress, but you’d be wise to accept Father Barnabas’s decision,” he said gently. “He won’t change his mind.”
“Thank you, I know you only want to be kind.” She headed for the door. She smiled over her shoulder. “And maybe also to protect a fellow priest from having to deal with an annoying person from his past. I’m not going to cause him any trouble … at the moment.”
The priest chuckled. “Father Barnabas can handle trouble. It’s what we’re taught to do in the seminary.”
“And what I was taught growing up on the streets. So we have that in common.”
“Though I doubt you’d handle it in the same way. You won’t talk to me instead? I can’t help you with information, but I’m a good listener.”
“And you’d like to defuse any situation for him.” She shook her head. “You’re a good friend to him. But you can call him and warn him I’m coming if you like. He might be able to escape out the back door.”
He shook his head. “He wouldn’t thank me for that.” He turned away. “If you change your mind, I’ll be in the confessional.”
“Waiting?”
He smiled. “Not for you particularly. We always hold confession at this time.”
He was a nice man, she thought as she moved toward the arched opening, and very loyal to Father Barnabas. It was interesting to know that Father Barnabas could inspire that kind of loyalty. But it also pointed out what an enigma was this man who had been Kevin Donnelly.
The oak door of the office was closed, and she hesitated before knocking.
She didn’t really think that questioning him again would do much good. She had principally wanted to make sure where he was in the church so that she could keep an eye on him as she’d told Gallo.
But she wasn’t sure that he was still in the office as Father Dominic had guessed.
She knocked on the door.
No answer.
“Father Barnabas.”
No answer.
Check to make sure.
She had been joking about him slipping out the
back door, but he might have done that. She started to open the door.
“No! Get out!”
“Don’t be rude, Father. Let her come in.”
That last was not Father Barnabas’s voice.
Yet she recognized it.
She pushed the door open.
Father Barnabas was sitting on a green-padded office chair at a desk across the room.
Ted Danner was standing behind him, a knife to the priest’s throat.
“Run!” the priest said. “Out! Now!”
“But she won’t do that,” Ted Danner said. “Because she knows that it might save her but not you, Father. I knew the moment I met her years ago that she was one of the givers, not the takers.”
Eve had been frozen, but now she took a deep breath. “Perhaps I’ve changed, Danner. It was a long time ago that you came to see me when I was pregnant with Bonnie. People do change.” She continued meaningfully. “Events change them. Murderers take away everything that makes life worth living. That can twist their lives and what they are.”
He flinched but quickly recovered. “You haven’t changed. Not really. You’re not going to go anywhere as long as you think that I may hurt the priest.”
And Eve couldn’t deceive him that she would be that hard. She could only try to go around the situation from another direction. “But you don’t want to hurt him, Danner. Why would you? He’s been your friend. He’s been trying to help you for years. Why are you here anyway?”
“Because you’re here. You’re the one who is causing the problems for the priest.” He said jerkily, “Do you think I want to hurt him? I thought he could save me, but now I know that’s not going to happen. I only want to do what’s right, but you’re against me. You came here to turn him against me. If you hadn’t shown up here hunting for me, he would have been safe. But I know now that’s the way it should be, how it’s meant to be. I should have guessed it.”
“I did come to ask his help, but he refused me.”
“But you wouldn’t stop, you’d keep after him. You’re determined, and you’d have convinced him to trap me.”
“Put the knife down, Ted,” the priest said quietly. “It’s you who will be hurt if you keep this up.”
“I can’t put it down. It’s all up to me now,” Danner said hoarsely. “You wouldn’t help me, you wouldn’t tell me what I needed to know. I asked you and asked you. You were probably protecting her and hoping I wouldn’t know. Now I have to do it all myself.” He stepped back and gestured with the knife. “Come in and close the door, Eve. Throw your handbag on that couch and come forward with your hands raised.”