The papers slipped from his fingers and fell onto the desk.
“The school is in New Orleans. I looked it up, along with Simon A. Matthews. Apparently he was a pastor, very famous at the time. He was murdered the same year of that school record.”
“And the boy?” Mark whispered.
“I couldn’t find a reference to him in any of the articles I read. The killer was never caught, although there was strong speculation that Simon knew his attacker because there was no sign of forced entry. He was killed just a couple of weeks before Matthew Tobias showed up in Righteousness. Also, Matthew Tobias is an anagram of Tobi A. Matthews. Not even an overly clever one at that.”
“But just enough to never raise any red flags,” Mark said.
“Exactly.”
He felt like he couldn’t think straight, like every time he tried to latch on to a thought it slipped away from him. “I don’t think there’s any doubt that Paul was this boy Andrew John.”
“Neither do I. And I’m positive Gerald wouldn’t have sent me these documents if he wasn’t also sure.”
“Okay, so, walk me through what you think happened,” he said.
Cindy took a deep breath and leaned forward. “I think Tobi had a son named Andrew. He wasn’t a good father, a criminal. Tobi’s father Simon is a pastor, an upstanding pillar of the community. He takes the boy to raise. Tobi eventually gets his revenge, killing his father and taking back his son who doesn’t want to go with him. Tobi moves the two of them cross country to Righteousness where he changes his name and keeps the boy hidden from the townsfolk, probably a prisoner since Andrew is upset that his father killed his grandfather. When he’s exposed as a criminal there, he moves again, this time to California where he just goes by the name Matthew. He and his followers move on to crimes such as kidnapping. His son, Andrew, befriends one of the young victims. When Andrew is finally able to escape, he takes the other boy’s identity, ensuring that he can never be sent back to his father, a man he knows to be a monster.”
“And people believe because they want to, because the boys look similar enough and because Andrew knows so much about Paul’s life. Only, the new Paul has grown to hate religion because of what happened to him and his grandfather and how his father has twisted it. He also is afraid of the word ‘Righteousness’ because it was the town he was taken to as a captive immediately after seeing his father murder his grandfather,” Mark said.
“Exactly.” Cindy took a deep breath and then continued. “The cult is massacred and Andrew thinks he is safe until years later when someone comes looking for the truth.”
“What made him think Gerald would find out anything about him, though?”
“I don’t think he was worried about Gerald finding out the truth about him. I think he was worried about Gerald writing too much about the cult in the same book that he was talking about the Passion Week Killer and the police involved in that investigation.”
“Because the name Paul Dryer might be noticed by someone with more than a passing interest in that cult.”
“Someone murdered those cult members and buried their bodies. That someone would have also known that the real Paul Dryer was dead.”
“And so Andrew becomes afraid that someone will put two and two together, and come back, looking for him,” Mark said.
“Exactly. And I have a pretty good idea who killed the cultists and who our friend was afraid would return to the area.”
“His father.”
Cindy nodded. “When Gerald called he had already sent these documents to me. He said he had shocking news. He didn’t say anything about Paul, what his real name was, anything. No, he said, ‘Matthew is’. I think he was about to say that Matthew is alive.”
“And if so, maybe, just maybe he’s been hiding out back in good old New Orleans where this all started.”
“Which is why Gerald is still in danger,” Cindy said. She took a deep breath. “What do you think of my theory?”
“I like it enough to almost call it fact without any other investigating at all,” Mark admitted.
“So, there’s a mass murderer in New Orleans. What do we do about it?” she asked.
He looked sharply at her. “We? We don’t do anything. I’ll hand over what I have to the New Orleans police and let them take it from there. I just got word from them about an hour ago that it looks like Gerald is going to pull through, so hopefully he can help them as well.”
“But-”
“No buts,” he said holding up his hand. “This is out of our hands now. We found out what we set out to. Thank you for that. In exactly six hours, though, Traci and I are on our way to Tahiti. I suggest you take some time off, too. We all need it. Now I’ve got to get this finished so I can get home and help Traci with the packing,” he said.
Cindy stood up. “Okay, I’ve got to meet Jeremiah for a late lunch, but I thought you’d like to see all this,” Cindy said.
“Yes, thank you. I really do appreciate it.”
She gave him a small smile before leaving.
Mark picked up the picture of Andrew, aged seven, and leaned back in his chair. He felt like he was staring into his old partner’s eyes all over again. “I’m sorry about everything that happened to you,” he whispered. “At least, now, I know your name.”
Cindy met Jeremiah at his house. When he opened the door he smiled at her faintly, but it never reached his eyes and she felt a chill touch her.
“Come in,” he said.
She followed him inside and he closed the door. “So, where are we going?” she asked.
“I decided to cook. I thought we could talk...privately,” he said.
Again, something in his demeanor chilled her. He was making her nervous and she wished she knew why.
“Sounds good,” she said, cheerily, following him into the kitchen. “You’ll never guess what I found when I checked my email?”
“What?”
“A message from Gerald. By the way Mark said he got a call and it looks like Gerald is going to pull through.”
“That’s great news. So, what did the message say?”
Cindy spent the next several minutes filling him in while he finished up making lunch which was salmon with an amazing smelling sauce and Caesar salads. By the time they were sitting down to eat she had brought him up to speed.
“So, one mystery solved,” he said.
“And another one revealed.”
He gave her a fleeting smile.
They began to eat and as the meal progressed Cindy became more and more uncomfortable. She made small talk, chatted about the crazy things at the reception, but it was hard to get more than one word answers out of Jeremiah.
Finally she pushed her plate back and turned to him. “Okay, what’s wrong? You’re starting to scare me.”
He turned his chair to face her. “I need to tell you something,” he said.
“Okay.”
“We know that Amanda hired Sonja to kidnap Joseph.”
“Yes.”
“But that doesn’t explain the attacks on Geanie, the car, the bridal shop, etc.”
“I figure Sonja just saw it as a bonus.”
“That man you saw at the bridal shop and then again at Rue de Main, you remember him?”
“Of course. I figure he was one of the people that Sonja hired, just like those tailors.”
He shook his head. “No, he had nothing to do with Sonja or Amanda.”
Cindy blinked in surprise. “Then who was he?”
Jeremiah took a ragged breath. “That’s not important. What’s important is what he was doing. He was the one responsible for the bridal shop, the car, the snake, and the black rose.”
“Why?” Cindy asked bewildered. She couldn’t figure out who would want to harm Geanie and why Jeremiah hadn’t told Mark any of this.
“He was never after Geanie,” Jeremiah said, his face contorting slightly.
“What are you talking about? Of course he was.”
Jeremiah shook his head. “No, he was after you.”
Cindy stared at him as his words sunk in. The first time she’d seen him she had been the one wearing the wedding dress, not Geanie. Was it possible he had thought she was getting married? But that still made no sense. “Why?” she finally asked. “I’ve never seen him before. I don’t even know who he is. Why would he possibly want to hurt me?”
Jeremiah dropped his eyes to the ground and it was as though she could literally see him struggling to answer her. Finally he looked back up and there was an intensity in his eyes she’d only glimpsed a couple of times before. “He thought that hurting you would hurt me and he was right.”
“I don’t understand.”
“He believed that you and I were...together. He planned to kill you because of me.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m not the man you think I am,” he said, standing abruptly and pacing across the room.
Cindy felt like she couldn’t catch her breath. “This has something to do with your past, doesn’t it?”
“It has everything to do with it,” he said, and she noticed with a start that his voice was suddenly heavily accented. She knew he’d grown up in Israel, but he’d never really spoken with much of an accent. It often made it easy to forget that he was from a different country, a different culture. Hearing the accent now just brought it back home that she knew almost nothing about his past, nothing from before that day they’d met over a dead body in the sanctuary.
She stood even though waves of fear were rolling through her and she walked over to him. She grabbed his hands and forced him to face her. “You need to tell me the truth,” she said. “I’ve known for a long time you were hiding something from me, and I was okay with that. I figured you’d tell me whatever it was when you were ready. Clearly, though, in light of what you’ve just said you need to tell me now. You must think so, too, otherwise we wouldn’t be here.”
“You have to understand, I never expected any of this. I never expected...you.”
“I know, but I’m here, and clearly there’s something we need to deal with.”
“It could get you killed,” he said, his voice dropping to a whisper which was hard to understand with the thickness of the accent.
“And apparently, not knowing can get me killed as well. Jeremiah, you have to trust me.”
He laughed, a hard, bitter sound.
“What’s so funny?” she asked.
He looked her in the eyes for the first time since she had gotten to his house. “That’s not even my name.”
She felt the world coming apart around her, but she forced herself to stand there, holding his hands, looking into his eyes.
“What is your name?” she asked, her voice trembling so hard she could barely get the words out.
“I can’t tell you that,” he said, shaking his head.
“Why did you choose that name?” she asked.
“I didn’t. It was chosen for me.”
“By who?” she asked, her heart pounding in her chest. Somehow she knew that what he was going to say next was going to change everything.
He took a deep breath and she could see the conflict, the struggle in his eyes. Finally, he said, in a clear, strong voice, “HaMossad leModiʿin uleTafkidim Meyuḥadim. Or, as you would know it, the Mossad.”
.
Cindy and Jeremiah will return.
Look for more Psalm 23 Mysteries coming soon!
Look for
KISS OF REVENGE
The final book in the Kiss Trilogy
Coming October 2013
Debbie Viguié is the New York Times Bestselling author of more than two dozen novels including the Wicked series, the Crusade series and the Wolf Springs Chronicles series co-authored with Nancy Holder. Debbie also writes thrillers including The Psalm 23 Mysteries, the Kiss trilogy, and the Witch Hunt trilogy. When Debbie isn’t busy writing she enjoys spending time with her husband, Scott, visiting theme parks. They live in Florida with their cat, Schrödinger.
For His Name's Sake (Psalm 23 Mysteries) Page 20