Marked for Murder

by Donna Raider

  “Oh my.” Leah gasped as she grasped the reality of the situation, a priest involved with a dead prostitute. She suddenly felt an overpowering need to be alone with her wife, somewhere far away from New York. Somewhere in another universe.

  They finished their lunch in relative silence, speaking occasionally as their minds wrapped around the situation. For the first time, Mika wished she could read minds other than her wife’s.

  I love you, darling, she thought to Leah.

  I know. I am so sorry to ruin your lunch. I love you too. Leah’s brown eyes searched Mika’s, hoping this turn of events wouldn’t further worsen the church situation Mika was already wrestling with.

  “I have shared classified information with you,” Carlie told the priest. “I trust you will keep it to yourself.”

  ##

  Father Jerry Halcyon laughed as Mika told him of her children’s antics. He found he genuinely liked Mika Cross and hoped they could find some way to resolve their differences.

  “I am not saying I don’t believe in the sanctity of marriage,” Father Jerry picked up their discussion. “I just think one should choose. Either be a priest or be a spouse.”

  “Why?” Mika asked stubbornly. “I love God and I love my family. I wouldn’t want to give up either. I feel that God has led me to individuals and has let me be instrumental in bringing them into the church. Some of those individuals have literally fought heaven’s battles against evil. I know that God has allowed me to have children that will change the world. I know He has entrusted them to me to raise them to love Him and teach them to serve Him. Everything I do in the church and in my marriage is for the glory of God. The fact that He has allowed me the love and devotion of a wonderful wife in no way diminishes what has been accomplished in the Lord’s name. The word celibacy doesn’t even exist in the Bible. Christ did not teach celibacy. It is a man-made idea, and quite frankly, I believe it is the cause of some of our worst scandals in the church. It’s archaic and wrong to cling to it. It’s unnatural!”

  Father Jerry was dumbstruck. He had no rebuttal against the priest’s obvious heartfelt argument. For the first time in his life, his own beliefs were shaken. He shook his head, driving the thought that Mika might be right from his mind.

  “I have never shirked my duty as a priest or as a wife,” Mika continued. “When my Lord has called me, I have always been ready to serve, as has my wife. She and I together are so much more than either of us alone.” Mika glanced at her watch. It was getting late.

  “Perhaps we can finish this discussion over dinner.” Father Jerry began placing his files into his briefcase.

  “I can’t.” Mika smiled apologetically. “My children have a birthday party tonight. We can pick it up in the meeting tomorrow.”

  “No, let’s stay with the agenda for tomorrow.” Jerry smiled. “I rather enjoy wading into unknown waters with you, alone. Keeps me from being embarrassed.”

  ##

  Father Branch approached the Arms Apartments with his head bowed, watching his feet carry him forward one step at a time. He frowned at the mud on his slacks. He was glad he had become comfortable enough with her to leave clean clothes in Ellen’s apartment. He was deep in thought and looking forward to her releasing the pent-up tension in his body. Maybe next week I will begin to do without her, he thought.

  The short whoop of the squad car’s siren made him jump back at the corner and observe the scene across the street from him. There was a tremendous amount of police activity around the entrance to the Arms. He watched from his vantage point in the shadows of the alley. A coroner’s van backed up to the doorway and a dolly carrying a black body bag was shoved into the back. Probably a druggie, overdosing. I could perform the last rites for the poor soul, he thought. Then he decided against it, condemning the soul to hell. Sometimes priests were like gods.

  He briefly thought of Ellen. He would call her when he got home. He couldn’t chance seeing her today. There was too much activity around the usually quiet apartments.

  He was still upset that Mika had adjourned their meeting at noon today. He was particularly angry to learn that she had done so to meet privately with Father Jerry.

  His own meeting with Father Jerry had not gone as planned. He had found the younger priest to be too open minded and more than willing to have one-on-one discussions with Mika. He might have to request a replacement for the young priest.

  He ducked into a small bar and grill and ordered a beer and a sandwich. The television above the bar was on. “If anyone knows this woman, please contact this number.” A phone number and a photo of Ellen flashed on the screen.

  He choked on his beer as he watched in horror the news coverage of the apparent murder of his prostitute. Panic racked his body. He had clothes in her apartment. He often stayed overnight. He swiftly ran through the apartment in his mind. Had he left anything there that would identify him? Could they tie him to her in any way? Perspiration covered his forehead as he ran through a dozen scenarios that could connect him to the woman. He pushed his food away from him, threw money on the table, and scurried out the door.

  He never once thought about Ellen or who might have killed her.

  From his bar stool, Watcher observed Father Branch’s loss of appetite and gloated inwardly at the hypocrite’s discomfort. He wondered how long it would take the idiots in the police department to discover the single clue he had left for them.

  ##

  Mika had stopped at the bakery to pick up the birthday cake for Regina and Matt. She could tell by the noise in the dining hall that Cook had the children helping set the table. She slipped into their apartment without the children seeing her and placed the cake on the counter. She wanted a few minutes alone with her wife.

  “Mika.” Leah’s voice was a whisper as Mika entered their bedroom. She closed and locked the door behind her. Leah was in her arms before she could move toward her. Leah kissed her frantically. Mika knew Leah was trying to erase the image of the dead woman from her mind. She picked her up and carried her to the oversized chair. She sat down, holding Leah on her lap, stroking her back, comforting her.

  “She was so young, my age. Someone just killed her,” Leah whispered.

  Mika kissed her lightly. “I’m so sorry you had to witness that.”

  She laughed a self-deprecating laugh. “Once upon a time I saw much worse.” Leah locked her gaze with Mika’s. “Did much worse.”

  “Queen Mommy, Mika, Cook has dinner ready.” A dozen hands were knocking at their door.

  They herded their children to the dining hall. Mika followed with the birthday cake.

  Everyone except Adam had made it home for Matt and Regina’s thirteenth birthday. After dinner, the children carried the dishes to the kitchen and turned down the lights in the dining hall. Cook marched out with the birthday cake. Thirteen blue candles and thirteen pink candles lit up the night.

  “Oh no, not the terrible teens.” Adam’s head peeked around the doorjamb. The children squealed and ran to welcome their big brother. Everyone sang happy birthday and the twins blew out the candles.

  Mika pulled Adam aside. “How did you get here?” he asked.

  “I am the son of Mika and Leah Cross.” He smirked. “How do you think I got here?”

  “Teleport?” The priest raised her brow as her wife smiled from across the room.

  “Pretty cool.” Adam grinned. “Why didn’t you tell us we could do that?”

  “We weren’t certain you could,” Mika said honestly.

  “We’re pretty sure we know Mom’s story.” Adam studied Mika. “What’s yours?”

  “I’m a being of God that was allowed to marry your wonderful mother,” Mika answered truthfully.

  “Mika, when I return to the dig, I want you to come with me. I have something to show you,” Adam whispered secretively.

  “Can Sara—” Mika started.

  “Yes. We have pretty much learned everything together,” Adam answered. “We will fill you in
after the others go to bed tonight.”

  Mika, Leah, Sara, and Adam tucked everyone in, kissing them goodnight, then returned to the living room.

  “I guess you know about our children,” Mika whispered to her wife as they carried tea into the living room.

  “Sara told me.” Leah nodded.

  “We began to discover that we could do… I don’t know what you call it… magic? It was on our senior year of high school,” Sara explained. “We had pretty much figured out Mom’s story because she was the one the legends were about and from what Bro told us.”

  “When you two didn’t age a day, we quickly figured out you were immortal,” Adam added.

  “What we can’t figure out is you,” they said as they both looked at Mika.

  Standing, Adam and Sara took their parents’ hands and formed a circle. Instantly, they were transported to a desolate dig in the deserts of Africa.

  “What we don’t understand is this.” Both Sara and Adam unfurled their wings and rose to the full height of Mika as an angel. They retracted their wings and turned to their parents for an explanation. “Which one of you did we get these from?”

  Instantly, Leah took them back to the living room. “This is a long story.” She smiled as she began pouring tea.

  The children sat transfixed as the witch and her angel related their story to them.

  “Apparently, our offspring are the best of both of us.” Mika smiled. “Obviously, no one can know of this. It would put all of us in grave danger.”

  “It is our calling to do all we can to improve the state of mankind,” Leah added. “Basically, the continued existence of man hinges on our family.”

  “What about Rachel, Jacob, Leah, and Matt?” Mika asked. “Do they have the same abilities?”

  “Yes.” Adam nodded. “That is why they wanted to be where you are all the time. They are confused. They have questions too. They don’t have wings yet, but we have shown them ours and they know to expect them. Our wings didn’t manifest themselves until we were in our early twenties. I have to admit, that was a shock.”

  “We have been very remiss in talking to you about your, ah, powers.” Leah frowned. “We didn’t know if you would be like us or not. We still don’t know about your mortality. We just have to live one day at a time and see what happens.”

  “A word of caution,” Mika added. “Do not fly! There are too many satellites tracking anything that moves. Transport invisibly, but do not unfurl your wings and fly.”

  “Now you can come home more often,” their mother said gleefully.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “Do you think they will be immortal, too?” Leah asked her wife later that night, as she snuggled into Mika’s arms.

  “I don’t know,” Mika whispered. “Probably.”

  “The only mates available to them are mortals. What will they do?” Leah worried. “It would be awful to lose the one you love and spend eternity without them.”

  A shiver ran down Mika’s body. She couldn’t fathom living without Leah.

  ##

  Confusion was running amok when Mika arrived at her office. Detective Carlyle was questioning priests, one at a time, about the death of Ellen Anthony. Leah was riding with her for the experience.

  “Mika Cross.” Father Branch rushed to her. “You must put a stop to this travesty. No priest would murder a prostitute. Priests don’t cavort with prostitutes. I’m getting security.”

  “Mika,” Carlie called to her from across the hall.

  Mika unlocked the door to her office and motioned the detective and Leah to enter with her.

  “Let me set up an office for you to use,” Mika offered Carlie. “We also have a bank of fingerprints for all the priests attending this meeting. If you find a fingerprint, we can help.”

  “So far, we’ve struck out on fingerprints and DNA. We found hairs, but no follicles to pull DNA from. Apparently, all the hairs we found on the priest’s suit were a fresh haircut.” The detective frowned. “How many priests are at this meeting?”

  “Nine hundred and forty-eight,” Mika answered. “They are from all over the world.”

  “What is this meeting about?” Carlie frowned as Leah moved to sit on the priest’s desk. Carlie couldn’t help noticing Mika’s appreciative glance at her wife’s long legs.

  “Celibate priests.” Mika smiled at her wife as if they were sharing a joke.

  “And you are chairing it?” The incredulous look on Carlie’s face was priceless.

  “Not just me,” Mika explained. “Father Darius Norton and I represent the side arguing for priests to marry. The tall, thin man you were talking with—Father Timothy Branch— and Father Jerry Halcyon are proponents of celibacy.

  “Obviously, they have never met a creature as lovely as my wife.” She smiled at Leah again, her eyes dancing mischievously.

  “Nine hundred and forty-eight.” Carlie shook her head. “It will take forever to interview each of them.”

  “What if you just interview the ones over six feet tall?” Leah suggested. “That should narrow it down.”

  A broad smile danced across Carlie’s face. She was impressed with her pupil’s quick mind. “Excellent idea. Actually, I have the exact measurements on the suit hanging in the dead woman’s closet.” She flipped through her notebook. “Here it is. Six feet, two inches, approximately a hundred and seventy pounds. Add the dark, coarse hair and we have a good place to start.”

  “There are approximately two thousand priests in New York,” Mika added. “Three hundred and sixty deacons and about fifteen hundred religious brothers. Any of these could wear the clerical collars. So you are looking at almost five thousand men.”

  Carlie shrugged. “It is the only place I have to start.”

  “I will have our computer people pull a printout of any priests fitting that description.” Mika nodded. “I would like to bring Fathers Darius, Branch, and Halcyon up to date on this, if that is okay with you.”

  “I would like to share only the broad details,” the detective said. “I would like for people to think we have more information than we do.”

  “I need to inform them of our use of the church fingerprint database and the data search for priests fitting the description we have. They don’t need any further details,” Mika said.

  Carlie nodded as the priest left the room. “I have my guys canvassing the Arms Apartments right now,” she informed Leah, “hopefully someone saw the priest coming or going from the victim’s apartment.”

  “We are looking at the victim’s bank records too. It appears she hasn’t plied her trade in over a year.” The detective grinned as if about to make a joke. “Apparently she found a customer she really liked and gave up her night job to service him.”

  Leah flinched at her humor. Did all law enforcement officers think the same? She bowed her head. She realized she would be required to repeat the comment on Marked for Murder. She was certain this case would make it to television.

  ##

  Father Branch paced the floor of his office. He was almost hysterical. He knew it was just a matter time until the dark-haired detective tied him to Ellen. Ellen Anthony? He hadn’t even known her last name. He had always been careful to pay her in cash, even after she agreed to provide her services to only him for a certain amount of money, paid weekly.

  He racked his brain, trying to remember if he had ever met anyone in the apartments. He had always been careful to leave his collar in his pocket until he was inside the church.

  He briefly thought about coming forward and explaining his situation with Ellen, so the police could focus their search in another direction. He couldn’t risk the scandal. If it ever became known that he was not truly celibate, it would destroy his credibility and his arguments against Mika Cross. He had heard rumors that he and Cross were being considered to fill the opening for bishop. The resolution of their ancient argument would surely determine who won the title.

  When Cross had informed him and Father Jerry o
f the diocese’s cooperation with the police department, he had briefly objected, but didn’t want to protest too much.

  A knock at his door pulled his thoughts away from the chaos in his mind. “Father Branch,” a young deacon said as he opened the door. “Detective Carlyle would like to speak with you now.”

  “I will be right there.” Father Branch walked into his bathroom, threw up, washed his face, and prepared to lie.

  “Thank you for your cooperation.” Carlie smiled at the priest. “This is just a cursory interview. We are speaking with everyone who is six-two.”

  “I understand.” Father Branch smiled nervously. “It is very disconcerting to be interviewed by the police.”

  “I promise it will be as painless as possible.” The detective smiled again, trying to put the priest at ease. “Do you know this woman?” She slowly slid a photo of Ellen toward him.

  “I don’t think so.” He frowned as he studied the picture. “Was she the one murdered?”

  Carlie nodded her head.

  A movement in the corner of the room caught Father Branch’s eye. For the first time he realized there was another woman in the room. He tried to distract the detective.

  “Are you going to play good cop, bad cop with me?” He inhaled deeply, trying to steady his hands.

  “No.” Carlie laughed. “This is Leah Redman. I am sure you know her from her television series Marked for Murder.”

  “I’m sorry,” Father Branch said, ducking his head, “I don’t watch much television.” Marked for Murder had been Ellen’s favorite TV show. He had watched it every Monday night with her, but Detective Carlyle didn’t need to know that.

  He had great difficulty keeping his eyes off Leah Redman. She was indescribably beautiful. She was even prettier in person than on TV. He smiled shyly at her.

  “Why are you here?” he asked her, true concern reflected in his voice.

  “Detective Carlyle is my technical advisor,” Leah explained. “I was riding with her when the call came in. I’m trying to learn more about her job so I can more accurately play the part of her in the series.”