which we could work without being noticed.”
“St. Bartholomew’s.” Cee Cee’s contempt could hardly be contained. “Who’d suspect a priest was really a very clever actor?”
He didn’t shy away from her withering glare. No trace of guilt or regret was evidenced in his words. “I’m not a complete fraud. I did attend seminary school. My own personal Creationist theories are just slightly different, is all.”
“Is that what you call trying to play God? I’d call it something else.”
He did look slightly uncomfortable then. “I know I’ve disappointed you.”
“Disappointment doesn’t even come close to what I think about you using the church to experiment on the unsuspecting. On those who trusted you.”
“I’ve done good here, Lottie. For this parish. For these people.”
“At what cost?”
“None. I’ve never demanded anything from those I’ve helped. None have been harmed.” A flicker of indignation tightened his features, making him look less benign. Making Cee Cee wonder how he’d ever fit in with the elegant Chosen. But a more pressing question surfaced.
“What about Ben Spratt?”
Benjamin Spratt, St. Bart’s quiet, simple janitor. He’d attended to every tiny detail to bring a glow to the church, and he’d adored Mary Kate Malone in her sanctified robes as Sister Catherine. Cee Cee’d been stunned when his past suddenly surfaced on the eve of a murder investigation implicating Max Savoie. While she’d grabbed gratefully at facts that would free her lover from suspicion, the cooler, analytical part of her never quite accepted Ben’s availability as a scapegoat. Even if he hadn’t been human.
Michael Furness’s gaze softened. “I did everything I could for him. I gave him a safe sanctuary. He was a tortured soul, yearning to make peace with what he’d done. I gave him purpose. And that peace he deserved.”
Her accusation denied his claim. “You sacrificed him. You gave me those reports that linked him to Victor Vantour’s murder.”
“For Max.” Impatiently, he waved off her look of outrage. “Don’t pretend with me, Lottie. You knew Max had killed those animals who abused Delores Gautreaux, and that Mary Kate sent him to see it done. You knew he killed those men who attacked you practically outside our walls. And how he did it. Is that the truth you’d have rather had surface? Would you have arrested Max and Mary Kate and locked them away? Ben was an unfortunate casualty for the greater good. He was more than willing to be used. It was the penance he’d been searching for. His life for Max, for Mary Kate.”
Cee Cee took a shaky breath. Tears pooled at the thought of the poor, gentle giant on his knees blissfully scrubbing the tiles in the narthex, whose only crime was that of twisted Shifter genetics.
“You told him about Vantour.” Grief and guilt squeezed about her ribs.
“Yes. I knew what he’d do. Vantour was scum. He’d violated the young woman Benjamin loved. It was a long overdue wrong that needed righting.”
“At your convenience and direction.”
“Yes. I won’t apologize for it. As I once told Max, dark things are sometimes necessary to prevent a greater evil. Max understood that.”
A defying heat fired in her eyes. “He did not. You used him, just like you used Ben, with your pious sentiments and greater goods. Who gave you the right to decide those things? Not those robes you’re masquerading behind.” When Furness stared her down unblinkingly, she continued.
“What about Mary Kate? Did you use her, too? Did you prey on her pain and fear to manipulate her? To allow her to hide here where she never had to heal or face her demons? You might as well have put that gun to her head and squeezed the trigger for her, the way you probably did to Ben’s to cover up your transgressions in that fire Legere’s men started.”
A soft gasp alerted them to the presence of another in the room. Mary Kate Malone stood in the doorway, frozen
“St. Bartholomew’s.” Cee Cee’s contempt could hardly be contained. “Who’d suspect a priest was really a very clever actor?”
He didn’t shy away from her withering glare. No trace of guilt or regret was evidenced in his words. “I’m not a complete fraud. I did attend seminary school. My own personal Creationist theories are just slightly different, is all.”
“Is that what you call trying to play God? I’d call it something else.”
He did look slightly uncomfortable then. “I know I’ve disappointed you.”
“Disappointment doesn’t even come close to what I think about you using the church to experiment on the unsuspecting. On those who trusted you.”
“I’ve done good here, Lottie. For this parish. For these people.”
“At what cost?”
“None. I’ve never demanded anything from those I’ve helped. None have been harmed.” A flicker of indignation tightened his features, making him look less benign. Making Cee Cee wonder how he’d ever fit in with the elegant Chosen. But a more pressing question surfaced.
“What about Ben Spratt?”
Benjamin Spratt, St. Bart’s quiet, simple janitor. He’d attended to every tiny detail to bring a glow to the church, and he’d adored Mary Kate Malone in her sanctified robes as Sister Catherine. Cee Cee’d been stunned when his past suddenly surfaced on the eve of a murder investigation implicating Max Savoie. While she’d grabbed gratefully at facts that would free her lover from suspicion, the cooler, analytical part of her never quite accepted Ben’s availability as a scapegoat. Even if he hadn’t been human.
Michael Furness’s gaze softened. “I did everything I could for him. I gave him a safe sanctuary. He was a tortured soul, yearning to make peace with what he’d done. I gave him purpose. And that peace he deserved.”
Her accusation denied his claim. “You sacrificed him. You gave me those reports that linked him to Victor Vantour’s murder.”
“For Max.” Impatiently, he waved off her look of outrage. “Don’t pretend with me, Lottie. You knew Max had killed those animals who abused Delores Gautreaux, and that Mary Kate sent him to see it done. You knew he killed those men who attacked you practically outside our walls. And how he did it. Is that the truth you’d have rather had surface? Would you have arrested Max and Mary Kate and locked them away? Ben was an unfortunate casualty for the greater good. He was more than willing to be used. It was the penance he’d been searching for. His life for Max, for Mary Kate.”
Cee Cee took a shaky breath. Tears pooled at the thought of the poor, gentle giant on his knees blissfully scrubbing the tiles in the narthex, whose only crime was that of twisted Shifter genetics.
“You told him about Vantour.” Grief and guilt squeezed about her ribs.
“Yes. I knew what he’d do. Vantour was scum. He’d violated the young woman Benjamin loved. It was a long overdue wrong that needed righting.”
“At your convenience and direction.”
“Yes. I won’t apologize for it. As I once told Max, dark things are sometimes necessary to prevent a greater evil. Max understood that.”
A defying heat fired in her eyes. “He did not. You used him, just like you used Ben, with your pious sentiments and greater goods. Who gave you the right to decide those things? Not those robes you’re masquerading behind.” When Furness stared her down unblinkingly, she continued.
“What about Mary Kate? Did you use her, too? Did you prey on her pain and fear to manipulate her? To allow her to hide here where she never had to heal or face her demons? You might as well have put that gun to her head and squeezed the trigger for her, the way you probably did to Ben’s to cover up your transgressions in that fire Legere’s men started.”
A soft gasp alerted them to the presence of another in the room. Mary Kate Malone stood in the doorway, frozen
Similar Books
