A Touch of Murder

by Donna Raider

  “Does she know what you are? What we are?” Mika watched her daughter’s eyes.

  “No,” Sara replied. “She has queried me about you and Mom. She has noticed that we appear to be almost the same age.”

  “Are you going to tell her?” Mika asked.

  “I have no right to jeopardize my family.” Sara frowned. “But I trust her. I would trust her with our secret. She’s very honorable, Mika.”

  “That is up to you, sweetheart,” Mika said. “Now, how about that dinner you promised me?”

  They placed their order and continued to talk.

  “Mika, I know this is going to put you in an awkward position with the church,” Sara said. “Honestly, I’m surprised you haven’t been thrown out of the church.”

  “That is my problem.” Mika smiled. “Don’t worry about it. I am first and foremost a woman of God. I know I am doing the Lord’s work.”

  “You won the celibacy battle,” Sara continued. “Now you’ll have a daughter that is married to a divorced woman and working with the World Health Organization to curtail population growth. I shudder to think of how history will treat you.”

  Mika laughed. “History is always written by the survivors. I believe we will have some say in how that is chronicled.”

  Sara laughed aloud. “Yes, I guess we will!”

  As they walked back to Cross Tower, they discussed Sara’s employment offer. “When do you have to give the WHO an answer?” Mika asked.

  “By the end of the month. I wanted to discuss it with you and Mom.” Sara replied.

  “What does Jennifer think?” Mika asked.

  “She wants me to do whatever will make me happy,” Sara assured her.

  “Will you work in Geneva or somewhere else,” Mika inquired.

  “I’m not certain.” Sara shrugged. “You know research. They are trying to get some university to take on the research. Harvard has indicated some interest. Since I have my PhD from there and my research is responsible for several profitable patents for them, they are familiar with my work.”

  “Sara.” Mika stopped and turned to face her. “You know our family is exceedingly wealthy. Wealthier than most governments.”

  “No, I didn’t know that.” Sara looked at Mika questioningly. “I honestly thought Mom supported us.”

  “She does,” Mika agreed, “but we have wealth that has been accumulated over two thousand years. The point is our family trust could underwrite the cost of any research you wish to undertake. You can set up your own research facility, select the scientists with whom you want to work, and oversee the research and use of the results. Our research facility would own all the patents on what you produce. You would have full control over your discoveries. You could work with the WHO, but your work would belong to you.”

  “Mika, we are talking about five or six billion dollars,” Sara explained, “I don’t think—”

  “No problem,” Mika interrupted. “We would never miss it. I promise.”

  It was after ten when they reached the door to Sara’s apartment. Sara threw her arms around Mika and hugged her tightly. “I understand why Mom adores you.” She smiled. “You are so much more than you seem.”

  “Thank you, I think.” Mika laughed.

  Sara’s cellphone dinged in a text message from Jennifer. “Just finished an emergency surgery. Terrible wreck. Do you think Mika could give last rites for one of the patients? I don’t see her lasting much longer.” Sara showed the message to Mika. The priest nodded.

  “Let me get your mother,” Mika said, and disappeared.

  Leah was propped on pillows, against the headboard, reading one of her romance novels. She jumped slightly as her wife appeared beside their bed. “It’s about time you got home.” She smiled. The little dimples playing at the corners of her lips made her look devilishly pleased.

  Mika fell to her knees beside the bed and buried her face in Leah’s soft breasts. “I love you,” Mika said against Leah’s softness.

  “I love you too,” she responded as she stroked Mika’s hair.

  Mika stood. “We must go to the hospital. One of Jennifer’s patients has requested last rites.”

  In an instant Mika found Leah dressed and standing beside her in an empty hospital supply closet. She opened the door and they stepped into the hospital hallway.

  They found Jennifer in intensive care, checking the vital signs of her patients. The weariness drained from her face as she saw them enter the room. “Thank you so much for coming,” she said, smiling tiredly.

  “What happened?” Leah asked, noticing the female patient was very pregnant.

  “Auto accident,” Jennifer answered. “She is just over nine months pregnant. She should deliver any time. I am keeping her alive to save the baby. She’s brain dead, but I think the baby is fine.”

  Leah caught Mika’s hand and they stepped toward the woman. Mika placed her hand on the woman’s head and her wife laid her hand on the woman’s abdomen. The priest and her wife began to pray. As they prayed, the woman’s brain activity began to register. It went from an almost flat line to small, irregular rises and then finally reached the reading for normal brain activity. The couple continued to pray. The woman gasped and opened her eyes. “Where am I? My baby! Is my baby okay?”

  “I believe she is about to go into labor,” Leah informed Jennifer as she stepped out of the way. “She’s all yours, Dr. Jordon.”

  Leah and Mika ran into their daughter in the waiting room. “I had to come give her moral support.” Sara smiled tentatively. “She was very upset when I spoke with her.”

  “I think she’s fine now.” Leah hugged her daughter. She wanted to ask how the mother-daughter dinner had gone but decided to let her wife tell her.

  The door burst open as an obstetrician and a team of delivery doctors arrived to take the woman to their area of the hospital. An exhausted Dr. Jordon followed them from ICU.

  “Sara.” A smile of absolute adoration crossed the young surgeon’s face. “Thank you for coming.”

  Sara rushed to her and put her arms around her. “Are you okay?” she asked as she hugged Jennifer.

  “I am now.” Jennifer smiled. She raised her eyes to Leah and Mika. “Thank you.”

  “You look exhausted,” Sara fussed over the doctor. “Come home with me. I bet you haven’t even had dinner, have you?”

  Leah and Mika watched as their daughter led Dr. Jordon from the room. Mika took her wife’s hand and looked around the deserted waiting room. Instantly they were back in their bedroom.

  “Now,” Leah put her arms around Mika’s waist and leaned back to look up into her face, “why don’t I make us a cup of hot chocolate and you can tell me about your dinner?”

  Mika pulled Leah in slowly and lowered her lips to Leah’s. “I missed you,” she murmured.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Watcher located Latimore Cruzar. He was following his prey to see where he lived. The man was walking alone when three thugs jumped him. Cruzar quickly incapacitated one of the men, but another struck him from behind, sending him crashing into the pavement face first.

  Cruzar rolled over just in time to see a baseball bat flying toward his face. Suddenly the bat and its owner went flying sideways as the thug was struck hard by something Cruzar couldn’t see because of the blood in his eyes.

  Cruzar heard a scream, a dull thud, and then the breaking of the bat. The third assailant scampered away.

  Cruzar’s savior knelt beside him. “You all right?” The man’s accent was Irish. Watcher helped the injured man to his feet and handed him a handkerchief.

  “I’m okay.” Cruzar wiped the blood from his face and hands.

  “Sean Bonner.” Watcher held out his hand to the man. “Those fellows were about to give you a bloody good belting.”

  “Yeah, thanks.” Cruzar shook Bonner’s hand. “Latimore Taylor.” He nodded. “My friends call me Lat.” If I had friends, that is what they would call me, he thought.

  “Come o
n, Lat, I’ll buy ye a beer.” Watcher smiled.

  The two men talked for several hours, sharing lies with each other. Watcher knew who Lat was, but the hired killer had no idea about him. Watcher reverted to his wealthy author persona and regaled Lat with tales of his adventures with women and the authorities in his quest to chase down facts for a story.

  They fell into the habit of meeting each evening for a burger and beer. Lat was good at pool. Watcher let him win enough to keep him interested in playing him. Darts and pinball were Lat’s passions. On Friday nights, they ordered in pizza and watched Marked for Murder together in Lat’s apartment. Latimore was smitten with the woman playing Detective Candice Carter.

  “I have been looking for a good Catholic church,” Lat said casually as they ate.

  “There are a couple thousand Catholic churches in New York,” Watcher answered idly.

  “Where do you go to church?” Lat asked.

  “Me?” Watcher held up his hand. “Avowed atheist.”

  “I have heard tell of a female priest, Mika Cross, who is supposed to be a fantastic priest,” Lat continued. “Do you have any idea where she delivers her sermons?”

  Watcher shook his head. “You could probably make a few phone calls and find out,” he added.

  Although Watcher never missed one of Priest Cross’s sermons, he wasn’t about to make it easy for the killer to find his target.

  Every Sunday, Watcher donned a wig of thick, black hair that came down just below his ears. He wore a full beard and dark-rimmed glasses. He looked more like an old-world Amish man than a Catholic. He never missed Sunday Mass.

  He always sat in the last row, just behind the Cross family. After his encounter with Sara on the airplane, he had felt personally responsible for the family’s safety.

  While Sara was extremely beautiful, he had found himself infatuated with Rachel Cross. A student at Harvard in Cambridge, MA, Rachel was already being pursued by corporations and government research facilities to sponsor her advanced work in physics. Working with a Harvard research team, Rachel had pushed the known limits for space telescopes, making it possible to get a good look at planets never seen. From her findings, it appeared there was a planet like Earth that could support life. She had been allowed to name the planet, since her inventions had made its existence known. She had named it Regina Madre, ignoring the custom of giving planets single names. “Regina Madre means Queen Mother,” Rachel had explained as she dedicated the planet to her mother.

  At twenty-five, she had advanced degrees in astrophysics and quantum physics from Harvard. Both Harvard and the University of Texas had offered her fellowships and her own research team. She had already been accepted as a member of the first team of astronauts to make the trip to Regina Madre. She was currently working on a faster way to traverse outer space. Basing her research on work that had been done by an international team of scientists studying ultrafast physics, she had invented a process that allowed for instantaneous travel. The team had found that quantum tunneling was an instantaneous process. Coupling her findings with theirs on quantum tunneling, she now held the knowledge to design a spaceship capable of traveling a thousand light years in seconds. Working alone in a lab her family’s trust fund had underwritten, she had fine-tuned her control equipment. She now held the key that made it possible to enter any distance from a few feet to a thousand light years and travel that distance instantly. She reportedly had invented a safe nuclear fuel source that never diminished, making it possible for spacecraft to travel forever without refueling. Rachel was consumed with the universe and all its secrets.

  Occasionally, Rachel would present some of her findings to upperclassmen at the university in sponsored presentations. Watcher always managed to wrangle a seat at her presentations. She was brilliant, eons ahead of her time in her thinking and concepts of outer space. The beautiful physicist often haunted his dreams.

  “Hey,” Lat pulled him back to the bar. “Man, how many miles away were you? I know that look. Men only get that look when they are thinking about a woman.” Latimore enjoyed teasing his friend.

  “Actually, I was thinking about my dog.” Watcher laughed. “I really must get home and walk him.”

  “I’ll walk with you.” Lat grinned. “You shouldn’t be out alone this late at night.”

  “Not necessary.” Watcher shook his head. “I can take care of myself.”

  “I insist.” Lat laughed. “Besides, I’d like to meet this dog that you are mooning over.”

  ##

  When Watcher opened the door to his apartment, Jax assumed his attack stance, waiting for his master to give the word for him to remove the evil Watcher had just allowed into their apartment.

  Watcher motioned for him to lie down, and the dog dropped to the floor, never taking his eyes from Latimore Cruzar.

  As his master snapped his leash to his collar, he swallowed the growl that was building deep in his chest. For some reason, his master wanted him to remain calm.

  The two men walked the dog and talked of their plans for the summer. “One more month and school will be out,” Watcher told Lat. “Do you ever get a vacation from your job?”

  “Not really,” Lat answered absentmindedly. He was thinking of ways to locate Priest Mika Cross.

  As they reached the park, Watcher leaned over and unsnapped Jax’s leash.

  “Won’t he run away?” Lat asked anxiously.

  “No.” Watcher smiled as he thought of how perfectly trained Jax was. “He will rejoin us when he is ready.” Watcher knew a soft “come, Jax” would bring the dog to his side immediately.

  “Where are you going on vacation?” Lat inquired.

  “I don’t know.” Watcher frowned. “My publisher is scheduling a book tour for me.” He wondered if the Cross family would vacation somewhere out of town.

  Like a silent shadow, Jax reappeared at Watcher’s side. Lat jumped as he realized the dog was walking beside them. “He did come back.” Lat grinned. “Where can I get a dog like this?”

  “My cousin gave him to me,” Watcher lied. “He seems to be fairly smart.” Smart enough to know how dangerous you are, he thought.

  “Not much of a guard dog, though,” Lat noted. “He didn’t even growl at me—a complete stranger—when I entered your apartment.”

  “He wouldn’t bite a cold biscuit.” Watcher laughed. But he would tear you limb from limb if you entered my apartment without me, he thought. It was best that Lat think Jax was harmless.

  After Lat left for the evening, Watcher began planning how to kill him and Abusir. He knew he had to act before Lat could assassinate the Pope. He had been very pleased when he had learned the Pope had insisted on coming to New York in October. That meant he could take his time gaining Lat’s trust. A devious plan was coming together in his mind. Ever one to seize the opportunity, he began planning how best to take advantage of Cruzar’s death.

  ##

  Dr. Jennifer Jordon watched her friend as she prepared breakfast. She wore panties and a pullover shirt of Sara’s. Sara had insisted that Jennifer come home with her and get some rest after her exhausting night at the hospital.

  Jennifer’s phone rang, and she glanced down at it. It was Carlie. She hadn’t seen her ex in several months and had no desire to talk with her. She declined the call, waited a moment, and then called the hospital nurses’ station. “Hi, this is Dr. Jordon. Yes, I am much better.” She answered concerned questions from her head nurse. “I just wanted to see how things went with the mother and baby.

  “That’s great.” A smile lit the doctor’s beautiful face. “No. I am scheduled off today. I believe Dr. Lane is on today. You too.” She hung up the phone as Sara placed a steaming cup of coffee in front of her.

  “Umm, you make the best coffee in the world.” Jennifer smiled as she placed the cup back on the breakfast bar. “I noticed you were dressed up last night. I hope I didn’t interrupt anything with my call for help.”

  “Oh, no.” Sara smiled. “Mik
a and I were just finishing a mother-daughter dinner.”

  “That’s nice.” Jennifer watched the other woman as she walked around the bar to stand in front of her. Her movements were fluid and sensual. Jennifer had a feeling that Sara had no idea how much sex appeal she exuded.

  “We had a very long dinner,” Sara added as she stood beside Jennifer, her hand resting on the doctor’s naked leg. Jennifer fought to keep from grabbing the girl and dragging her into the bedroom.

  “You two always seem to have a lot to talk about.” Jennifer sipped her coffee then placed her hand on top of the one still resting on her leg.

  “I wanted to know how she would feel if I fell in love with a divorced woman.” Sara kept her eyes on Jennifer’s face.

  “What did she say?” Jennifer whispered, suddenly unable to find her voice.

  “She asked me who I’d fallen in love with.” Sara shrugged.

  “What did you say?” Jennifer said hoarsely. Please let it be me, she prayed.

  “I told her I was in love with you.” Sara’s eyes never left Jennifer’s face. She frowned as Jennifer’s eyes began to glisten and tears streaked her cheeks. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.” She continued quickly, “It’s okay if you don’t love me. If you don’t feel the same way as I.”

  “Foolish woman.” Jennifer caught her love’s face between her hands and kissed her slowly, freely. “I love you more than you can even imagine,” she mumbled against Sara’s soft, full lips. “I have loved you for a very long time, Dr. Cross.”

  Dr. Jennifer Jordon stood and slowly pulled Dr. Sara Cross into her arms. Their embrace and kiss spoke volumes about their feelings for one another. “I will always love you,” Jennifer swore as she reluctantly pulled her lips from Sara’s.

  “There is much we need to discuss.” Sara smiled shyly.

  “I’m sure there is.” Jennifer kissed her again.

  ##

  “Darling,” Leah called her wife just because Mika had wandered from their bedroom and she wanted her with her.