Beverly Barton - Silent Killer

“I know, but times have changed. And words can and do hurt.”

“Tell me something-how can she take care of your mother if she can’t take care of herself?”

“She can take care of herself,” Kim assured him. “She’s perfectly capable of cooking and cleaning, and she can read and write. Besides that, she’s young and strong and…and she needs a home. She needs you and Mother as badly as y’all need her.”

Bruce sighed. “Then why don’t you bring Mirabelle to dinner this coming Sunday, and we’ll see how she and your mother interact.”

“Thank you, Daddy. Thank you. This will be good for Mother and for Mirabelle. Just you wait and see.”

Felicity hated sharing a room with her older sister. Charity was such a neat freak. She loved pastel colors and ribbons and lace and disliked everything Felicity liked, especially her music and her clothes. Charity was such a goody-goody, Mama and Daddy’s perfect darling. If Grandma didn’t live with them, she could have her own room. But her mom’s mom had lived with them as long as she could remember. It wasn’t that she didn’t love Grandma. She did. Even if the old lady disapproved of everything about her, from her dyed hair to her violet contacts and dagger tattoos.

“Are you going to stay up all night?” Charity, who was curled up in her twin bed, looked over at Felicity, a frown wrinkling her forehead.

Felicity, still wearing her black jeans and dark purple T-shirt, eased the earphones connected to her iPod down to hang around her neck. “I can’t sleep. I’m worried.”

“What are you worried about? Afraid Seth Cantrell likes Missy better than he does you?”

“What a hateful thing to say. Besides, Seth can like whoever he wants to like. It’s not as if I own him or anything.” Felicity glowered at her sister. “And for your information, I’m worried about Daddy.”

“Why would you be worried about Daddy?”

“Because of what happened today. You know, they found that priest’s body in the park, and he was burned alive just like Seth’s father was.”

“What has that got to do with Daddy?”

“Somebody has murdered three preachers-well, two preachers and a priest. Daddy’s a preacher. What if that person tries to kill Daddy?”

“Nobody is going to hurt Daddy. He’s a good man. There’s no reason why anyone would want to harm him.”

“Everybody thought Seth’s father was a good man.” Felicity laid a pillow against the headboard and sat up straight. “And I’m sure everybody believes that those other two men were good, too.”

“Maybe they weren’t as good as everyone thought they were,” Charity said. “You never know about people.”

“Do you think whoever murdered them did it because he thought they had done something wrong?”

Charity groaned. “How should I know? I just said that to get you to shut up and go to sleep. I have to get up at six in the morning. I start my summer job tomorrow.”

“It would make more sense, wouldn’t it, if they’d all done something terrible, something that made the killer think they deserved being punished.”

“Oh, shut up, will you, and go to sleep. You’re talking nonsense anyway.”

Felicity stuck out her tongue at her sister.

Charity just rolled her eyes and shook her head, then reached out, turned off her bedside lamp and closed her eyes.

Sometimes Felicity wondered how she and Charity could be sisters. They were so different. But when she’d mentioned this to her father, he’d smiled indulgently and told her that Charity took after Mama and that she took after him.

“I was quite the rebel in my day,” he’d told her, a statement she found difficult to believe. But his comparing her to him when he’d been a teenager had made her feel better about herself.

She wished she were prettier and smarter and a nicer person. And she wished Seth Cantrell liked her as more than just a friend. Charity had been right-she was jealous of Missy. If she possessed special powers like the heroines of the books she read and movies she watched, she’d make Missy vanish and put a spell on Seth to make him love her and only her.

Felicity laid her iPod and earphones on her nightstand, then turned off her lamp and scooted down in her bed. She closed her eyes and thought about how she could stop Missy from stealing Seth away from her.

Mike Birkett, barefoot and wearing only a pair of well-worn gray sweat pants, opened his front door, took one look at Jack and asked, “Do you know what time it is?”

“I know it’s late, but I need to talk to you.”

Mike stepped aside. “Come on in, but be quiet, will you? M.J. and Hannah are asleep.”

“I’m sorry about stopping by at this time of night.”

“Is it something to do with the new murder case?”

“Not really,” Jack said as he followed Mike into the kitchen. “Maybe indirectly.”

“Sit down.” Mike pointed to a kitchen chair. “I was fixing to get myself a glass of milk, but if you’d like I can put on some coffee or get you a beer.”

“Nothing for me, thanks.” Jack pulled out a chair from the table and sat.

Mike turned a chair backward, straddled the seat and rested his crossed arms over the back. “I’m listening.”

Jack fidgeted. “I took Cathy out to dinner tonight. We went to the Catfish Shack.”

Mike didn’t respond verbally. He just sat there staring at Jack.

“Say something, will you.”

“What do you want me to say?” Mike asked.

“Chew my ass out. Tell me again to stay away from Cathy. Remind me that I’m not good for her. Just handling my own baggage is a full-time job without having to deal with hers.”

“What did you do, go over to Lorie’s and ask Cathy out?”

“Nope. We just happened to meet up.”

“Is that right? How did you two just happen to meet up?”

“I was on my way home, and I took a detour by Lorie’s,” Jack said. “I don’t know why. I didn’t plan on stopping or anything. I had Cathy on my mind and wondered how she was taking the news about the burned body found in the park this morning. And lo and behold, there Cathy was walking down the sidewalk about half a block from Lorie’s.”

“Let me guess-you stopped, asked her for a date and she said yes.” Mike shook his head. “She never could resist you, could she?”

“She needed to get away, to escape and not think about what happened to her husband and the possibility that he was the first victim of some lunatic running around killing clergymen.”

Mike nodded. “I see. You were playing white knight, huh?”

Jack shoved back the chair and shot to his feet. “Damn it, Mike, I don’t want to hurt her. I swear to God, I don’t. But I’m not sure I can keep my distance. She’ll be helping me with the house renovations, so we’ll see each other quite a bit. If something develops between us…I know I’m a screwed-up mess and not fit company for any woman. But as crazy as it sounds, I think maybe Cathy and I might be good for each other.”

“Kind of like the blind leading the blind.”

“I trust you, Mike. I trust you to be honest with me, to tell it like it is.”

Mike looked up at Jack. “You can’t go back. You can’t be the two people you once were. Believe me, I know. Usually you get one grab for the brass ring, and if you miss it, that’s it. You’ve always been a pretty tough son of a bitch, but it still hurt like hell when you found out she’d married Mark Cantrell. And don’t try to tell me it didn’t.”

“Okay, I won’t.”

“I think you’d be taking a big risk for yourself and for Cathy. Don’t forget that she has a son to think about. It wouldn’t be just her life you’d be messing with, but Seth’s, too.”