Part 16 (2/2)
”I fear you are right.”
”What do you know?”
”Monsignor Hatch was never supposed to be at the Santa Louisa Mission. He returned to his home parish in D.C. after Guatemala and then one day asked his local bishop for a sabbatical. He asked if he could spend time at the Santa Louisa Mission, but the bishop felt he'd be better served at a retreat in Canada. He never showed up, and the bishop filed a missing persons report with the police department.”
”How'd he get into the mission?”
”You know they were very reclusive. They wouldn't have turned away one of their own who was hurting.”
Hurting.
”What about Hatch's childhood?”
”I spoke with the Mother Superior at Sisters of Mercy and she couldn't find his records.”
”Missing records?”
”It happens, Anthony. But-”
”It's suspicious, given what we know now.”
”It's a theory.”
”How did his parents die?”
”I don't have that information.”
”It should be in his seminary records.” The same seminary where Rafe was studying. Had he learned something about Jeremiah Hatch? Or had he been ignorant up until the final hour?
”I'll check, but they may not talk with me.”
”This is important, Father. Maybe Cardinal Ciccoli can ask.”
Silence again. While Father Philip was satisfied to be considered a relic in the church who saw demons on every corner, Cardinal Ciccoli wanted to uphold his image as a statesman. He had helped Anthony on several occasions, though as quietly and discreetly as possible.
”I will ask him,” Father Philip finally said. ”If it is truly important.”
Anthony watched as Skye left the sheriff's department with a uniformed deputy. They jumped into her Bronco and left. He followed.
Anthony couldn't say for sure Hatch's past was important, but the more information about how Ianax had been summoned from h.e.l.l, the better. He already feared he wouldn't be able to save Skye.
”It's important, Father.”
”Very well.”
”a.s.sume that Hatch was a willing partic.i.p.ant for the demon, but the ritual couldn't be completed. What would Ianax do? He didn't go straight back to h.e.l.l. I felt him in the fire.”
”He must have a human body. The longer he is without one, the weaker he becomes.”
”But he needs a willing partic.i.p.ant.”
”He needed three people to draw him out of h.e.l.l, but now that he's here, he'll take anyone he can. And remember-he can move in and out of souls at will. He may have used people without them knowing it. Protect yourself.”
Anthony watched Skye turn toward the coastal highway. Fear gripped him. He stayed far back. He now knew where she was going; he couldn't let her see him.
”I have more important things to protect.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
SKYE HAD TAGGED Deputy Tommy Reiner to join her in the stakeout of the Davies house that night. Though it was only nine when they settled into their hiding spot in a cove of trees to the north of the house, she was beat. There was a connection and she kept circling her mind around possible answers. Everything went back to the Davies and the poisonings. But why? Was Corinne Davies a serial killer? One of those mercy killers? Women serial killers were more likely to use poison or another less ”violent” method of death. Male killers usually stuck with knives and guns and hands-on strangulation.
She watched the house and sipped lukewarm black coffee from a thermos she had picked up at Starbucks earlier in the evening. The house was dark and the car registered to Corinne Davies wasn't in the carport. More than that, the place felt as empty as it had when she'd been here this morning with Anthony. Was she wasting her time?
What was Anthony up to? Was she wrong to have put an APB on him? How else to explain his fingerprints all over her coffeepot?
He'd checked the grounds when you came back from the cliff.
Whoever poisoned the coffee would have worn gloves, wouldn't they?
Was Anthony himself in danger? Dr. Wicker was fighting for his life. Perhaps the killer would go after Anthony if he-or she-thought Anthony had damaging information. She should have put him in protective custody instead of sending him off.
She rubbed her head. It was going to be a long night.
Anthony hid in bushes on the far side of the Davies house. Skye was in a grove of trees, but he could barely make out a glint of moonlight reflecting off the Bronco. He could, however, see the road. He needed to get into that house without Skye knowing, before the Davies women returned home. But first he had to break the spell protecting the cottage.
His cell phone vibrated in his pocket. He answered with a quiet, ”Yes, Father.”
”Twelve-year-old Jeremiah Hatch found his parents murdered in their bed. Stabbed to death.”
”Did they catch the killer?”
”A drug addict claimed demons made him do it. He committed suicide his first night in jail.”
”And?”
”He choked on his own tongue. He'd apparently smuggled in a razor blade, severed his tongue, and attempted to swallow it.”
”A razor blade. Are American prisons that poorly monitored?”
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