Saints & Sinners Ball

by Stacy M Jones

  Edna and Fr. Borger detailed that information. Granger added, “Bring home copies of those emails and anything else you think is relevant. When will you be back?”

  Harper turned to Jackson and he whispered to her that tomorrow would be best. She told Granger, “Given the storms and the hour, we will head back in the morning.”

  “Come on in as soon as you get back. We can get your formal statements.”

  Harper and Jackson agreed. The group picked up their things in the conference room. As they were leaving, Harper leaned in and hugged Camille. She said sweetly, “I’m sure Fr. McNally cherished your friendship. I know all of this is probably unbearable right now, but you were very brave to help us.”

  Camille gave a weak smile. She gave Harper a big hug and thanked her. Then she walked off with Edna while Harper, Jackson and Fr. Borger stepped out into the night air.

  “You did good,” Fr. Borger said. He shook Harper’s hand and then Jackson’s. “It was a good idea for Hattie to have called me. I’m glad I was there for you. I’ll keep following up with the diocese here to make sure they take care of what they need to. I’m available if anyone needs anything else.”

  “Thank you for all of your help,” Harper said. She reached out and gave him a hug. “If you’re ever in Little Rock please let us know.”

  “I will. I definitely want to catch up with Hattie.” Fr. Borger turned to leave. He made it a few feet, then stopped and called over his shoulder, “Harper, don’t forget to cut your father some slack now and then. He means well. He just always seems to make the wrong decision.”

  Harper and Jackson walked to his truck. Once inside, Harper rubbed a spot on the back of her head. It still hurt, and she wasn’t sure why. Maybe the weather was giving her a headache. She tried to call Hattie, but there was no answer.

  “You okay?” Jackson asked, as he started the truck and pulled out of the parking spot.

  “I don’t know,” Harper said unsure. “I feel weird. My head still hurts. I can’t reach Hattie either. You think we can just drive back tonight?”

  “Sure, honestly I thought tomorrow would be better, but I’d like to get back, too. It feels like we’ve been down here for days. At least we accomplished what we set out to do.”

  They sat in silence for a few more minutes. “Hey, Harper,” Jackson started. She turned and looked at him. “You did a really good job with this. No one believed you at the start but you kept following your instinct and you figured it out. Hattie would be proud of you.”

  They rode back to the hotel in silence. Once there, Harper tried Hattie again and got voicemail. They gathered up their belongings, checked out of the hotel, and started their trip back. It was uneventful until they were about fifty miles from Little Rock. It was close to two in the morning, but Harper’s ringing cellphone broke the silence in the truck.

  It was Det. Granger. Harper answered and listened. She grew frantic with each word he said. Harper asked all the questions she could, but Granger didn’t have many answers.

  “What happened?” Jackson asked concerned as Harper ended the call.

  “Hattie is missing,” Harper said, her voice sounded hollow even to herself. “Det. Granger said that one of the neighbors called the police. The house is dark, but the back porch door was swinging wide open and the dogs were in the yard barking like crazy. They went out, but didn’t see Hattie so they called the police. She’s not in the house, but her car is there. They’ve started a search.”

  Jackson hit the gas and they sped towards home. The streets were eerily quiet at that time of night so they had a clear path. Although they were going at least twenty over the speed limit and miles were flying by, Harper counted nearly every second. She felt completely paralyzed to help. She turned over in her mind every place Hattie could be. Then it hit Harper like a flash.

  She picked up her phone and called Det. Granger. She shouted, “Hattie’s in the storm shelter with Paul! I know it. Go there now. We will be home in less than thirty minutes.”

  Granger didn’t even argue with her. He assured Harper they were on their way.

  Chapter Sixty-Four

  Hattie flinched at the dead man’s words. That was all it took for Paul to come over to her. He demanded, “What are you seeing?” Hattie looked beyond him, and he spun around the room. “Is he here now? What’s he saying?”

  “No, Tucker isn’t here,” Hattie said honestly. Hattie didn’t want to give away what she was seeing. She assumed it would only enrage Paul. She needed to stall him. Frustrated and tired, Hattie added, “I’m cold. It’s uncomfortable down here.”

  Paul ran a hand through his dark hair. “I don’t care about that. You have to connect with that lawyer now.”

  Hattie sighed. “I told you, that’s not how it works. I don’t have control over it. Let’s go back to my house or even the yard. That’s where I’ve seen him before. I don’t know that he’ll know where to find me.”

  “No, call him. Get him here now!” Paul shouted.

  “Tucker, Tucker,” Hattie called, her voice flat. “I need to talk to you.”

  Hattie had to figure a way out. There were three of them though, and Paul had a gun. She wondered who the pregnant woman was so she asked, “Who was that woman? She looks too pregnant to be hanging out down here.”

  “My wife, and she’s fine. That’s none of your concern. You just need to get that lawyer here now,” Paul said clearly frustrated with her.

  “All we can do is wait to see if he shows up. I called him. I told you I can’t just summon him.”

  The dead man, who was dressed casually in shorts and a polo shirt, started to tell his tale. He came over to Hattie and stood by her side. His voice was quiet, pleasant and solemn. “I’m the real Fr. Patrick McNally. This guy is my half-brother. I was searching for my birth family and found him. I sent him a letter to introduce myself. It was after that I found out he was a criminal in the middle of a trial. He must have noticed how similar we looked and hatched a plan.”

  Hattie tried to stare straight ahead as the priest told his story. She was watching Paul who was frantically pacing around the room. His wife was still nowhere to be seen. The other man, Evan, sat across the room watching the scene play out.

  “Call him again. Now!” Paul shouted at her.

  Hattie closed her eyes. She willed with all the energy she had left in her body for Tucker to show himself. Then she yelled his name loudly one more time and then again. When she opened her eyes, she was relieved to see Tucker standing across the room. He had a confused expression on his face as he looked from Paul to her and then he noticed the other spirit.

  Tucker looked at him carefully, and as if finally connecting the dots, Tucker said to Hattie, “I remember now.”

  Tucker walked over to the real Fr. McNally and said with conviction, “You’re the real priest, aren’t you? I know from photos I saw. I knew the other guy was a fake. I just couldn’t figure it out in time.”

  The priest asked, “What tipped you off?”

  Tucker admitted, “My brother-in-law, Drew, is a real bum. I knew he was up to no good when he got out of prison. Then I saw him meeting with that guy.” Tucker pointed to Paul.

  Then he continued, “We aren’t Catholic so it piqued my curiosity. I started following Drew. Everything about you checked out so I thought maybe Drew was seeking advice. Maybe he was trying to reform himself, I thought. I gave Drew the benefit of the doubt.”

  Hitching his jaw at Evan, Tucker added, “But then I saw Drew meet with that guy. I did my research on him. Found out his name, what he went to prison for. Found the connection in Chicago. Low and behold, I saw a photo of him with his brother, Paul. I was just starting to put the pieces together. Then I saw the articles online about Paul’s arrest and trial and his escape to South America. I had heard rumors that my brother-in-law was burglarizing houses. I was so close. I was just trying to fit the last pieces together but then he killed me.”

  “Drew killed you,” Hattie corr
ected and then quickly realized her mistake.

  Paul advanced on her. “He’s here. What’s he saying?”

  “He just wanted to know who killed him. He doesn’t have a lot of memories from around the time he died,” Hattie explained.

  “I didn’t kill him. Does he know that?” Paul asked. He was moving around the room, trying to figure out where Tucker was.

  “He’s right there,” Hattie said, pointing to a spot a few feet directly in front of her.

  “What do you mean Drew killed me?” Tucker asked confused.

  Hattie looked at him sympathetically. “They found the gun in his storage unit. Drew was burglarizing homes that night, and they think he killed you right after.”

  Tucker rubbed at his chin. “That doesn’t feel right. I still can’t remember the details of that night, but that doesn’t feel right to me. Why would Drew be at the Saints & Sinners Ball?”

  Confronting Hattie, Paul demanded, “What’s he saying?”

  “Tucker’s just confused about how Drew could have killed him. He said it’s not making sense.”

  Waving the gun, Paul said, “I don’t care about all that. What does he know about me? And more importantly who did he tell?”

  Hattie looked to Tucker. She had no idea what to tell him. She felt like her every word was going to determine whether she lived or died. Since she felt like she didn’t have much left, Hattie opted for the truth. “Tucker saw Drew meeting with you and Evan. He figured out who Evan was, then figured out who you are. He knew about your arrest and that you took off for South America before your trial.” Hattie was connecting the dots herself. She locked eyes with Paul. “Is that when you killed Fr. McNally when he was in Brazil?”

  Paul rubbed a hand across his head. “How do you know that? Did Tucker tell you that?”

  “No,” Hattie said, shaking her head. “Fr. McNally came from a mission in Brazil. If you escaped to South America, and now you’re here assuming his identity, it makes sense.”

  Paul didn’t confirm nor deny what Hattie said. He pointed the gun at Hattie and punctuated each word, “Who did Tucker tell about me?”

  Hattie looked to Tucker again. “No one,” he said. “I didn’t have all the pieces together. Roxy knew I was looking into the priest. I still don’t know why I let it slip, but I did. Lizzie knew I suspected her brother and was looking into the priest, but not any detail. I thought the priest was up to no good, but no one knew what I knew. I was still building my case. You don’t drop a bombshell like that on the church and community without having all your evidence line up.”

  Hattie relayed the message to Paul.

  Paul looked relieved. Then he coldly smirked at Hattie, “You know, now that you know, I’m going to have to kill you, right? I was hoping I wouldn’t have to, but now I do.”

  For the first time, Hattie stood and so did Evan across the room. She knew she couldn’t outrun them, but Hattie wasn’t going to sit there and let Paul kill her.

  Fr. McNally stood next to Hattie. “Ask Paul why he wasn’t man enough to shoot me. Instead he waited until we were on his boat and my head was turned. He bashed me in the skull and pushed my body into the ocean. He watched me sink like it was nothing.”

  Hattie asked Paul the question and watched his eyes grow wide with fear. “How do you know that? No one would have known that!” Paul spun around the room frantically.

  Hattie said quietly, “Even if you kill me, his spirit lives on. He’ll tell someone else. He’ll make his story known.”

  Paul turned back to Hattie and steadied his gun at her. Hattie counted the seconds. She wondered if it would hurt to be shot. At least she knew there was an afterlife.

  A crash at the top of the steps disrupted Hattie’s thoughts. They all turned their attention to the top of the stairs. Hattie wasted no time. She lunged for Paul’s gun, knocking it out of his hands. Paul shoved her and Hattie fell to the ground as heavy-booted reinforcements clamored down the steps.

  Hattie looked up to see Det. Granger followed by several uniformed officers. Hattie breathed a sigh of relief and looked up at Tucker and Fr. McNally. The priest said to her, “Thank you for telling my story. You’re safe now,” before his spirit vanished.

  Chapter Sixty-Five

  Two days after Hattie was taken by Paul Davidson, Harper was still reeling from what happened to her aunt. Harper had incredible guilt that she hadn’t figured out who Paul was sooner and that she had left Hattie alone in the house. Hattie had assured Harper several times there was nothing more she could have done, and had Harper not gone to Dallas, the real identity of the man posing as Fr. McNally would have never been unmasked.

  Harper knew her aunt was right but that didn’t make her feel any better. After Det. Granger and his team stormed in and rescued Hattie, they had arrested Paul, his pregnant wife, and Evan. Carrie, the wife, was taken to the hospital under police custody, and Paul and Evan were taken directly to the station and then to jail.

  During a thorough search of the storm shelter, way back in the multitude of rooms that Hattie had been held in, the police found millions of dollars in loose gemstones and jewelry, which given time would have been cut down. It turns out that Paul and his brother Evan had been running a regional operation. Drew was only the local thief. Paul and Evan were running the same across Texas and Tennessee. They carried all the stolen jewelry in the suitcases that Harper saw them bringing in.

  Det. Granger said that he hadn’t searched that far back when he was in the shelter the first time. He had no idea how complex the maze of halls and rooms was. Granger also said they found a key that Dan identified was to his office. They suspect it was Paul or Evan who planted the jewelry to distract away from them, and possibly to get Dan to stop digging deeper into the fake Fr. McNally.

  The feds in Chicago fought for extradition to bring Paul back for his federal case there, and the Little Rock Police Department allowed it. Little Rock would be allowed to prosecute for kidnapping Hattie once the feds were done with him, if they so desired. Federal charges would also be brought against Paul, Evan and even Carrie in Little Rock federal court. It was likely the local Little Rock kidnapping case would be on hold for a long time.

  Brazil was also talking to Det. Granger about what, if any, criminal charges they could levy against Paul. But with no body and no witnesses, the case was slim. The feds in Chicago assured Harper and Hattie that Paul and Evan were looking at what would amount to life sentences anyway. Justice would be served one way or another.

  The most curious thing to Harper though was that as Hattie was giving her statement to Det. Granger, she had indicated that Paul told her the details of how he had killed Fr. McNally. She was clear that they had gone out on a fishing boat that Paul rented. Once far out in open water, Paul hit Fr. McNally in the head and shoved him over the side of the boat. Paul had insisted, screaming in fact, that he hadn’t told Hattie a single word. That instead Hattie had talked to the priest’s ghost and got the story. It amounted to a confession, Det. Granger said, either way. Paul was essentially admitting that it was true just that he hadn’t told Hattie.

  When Harper had pressed her aunt, Hattie, with a wry smile on her face, had simply put her hands up and said, “You have your interview skills and I have mine,” and left it at that. Harper knew there was more to the story, but she wasn’t going to press for now. Harper was just glad the case was solved.

  There were still many unanswered questions, but Harper assumed as Det. Granger laid out the case of Tucker’s murder and more details became public, it would start to make sense. It seemed though that Paul had no idea that Drew had killed Tucker and Roxy. Paul was actually terrified that it would blow up his whole operation, and he was right, it did. That’s why Paul went back to the spot so many times, he was trying to figure out who the killer was, too.

  Today was Hattie’s first day back to the shop. She gave herself a day to rest and then was back at it. Hattie had to go in, the shop was still brimming with more customers
than before. And poor Beatrix couldn’t handle it all. Many people were coming in to hear the details directly from Hattie. Harper promised that as soon as she went over to check on Lizzie Reese that she’d come help out. Harper still wasn’t sure how she felt about Hattie’s witchery. But Harper was at least starting to accept there were things she couldn’t explain rationally.

  Harper gave Sparkle and Shine a quick pet and a thanks for saving Hattie. It was them escaping and barking that brought attention to a missing Hattie. Once in the driveway, as Harper was getting in her Land Rover, she heard a man whistle seductively at her. She looked around and saw Jackson coming down his driveway.

  “Is that your way of flirting?” Harper teased him. “Don’t you know that catcalling women like that isn’t allowed?”

  “Not women, just you, and you love it,” Jackson countered. He came over and wrapped her in a big hug. “Dinner tonight?” he asked.

  Harper agreed and let herself enjoy Jackson’s warm embrace. They weren’t dating. They were friends who flirt and spend time together, which seemed silly at their age to have that many qualifiers. But it was what they had agreed upon. Neither was in a position to move any faster than that.

  Harper assured Jackson she’d be ready for their dinner after a quick stop to check on Lizzie. Harper felt bad for the woman. First losing her husband and then her brother. It would be just a quick stop before getting ready for the evening.

  Chapter Sixty-Six

  Harper pulled up to Lizzie’s house and patted the tin of chocolate chip cookies next to her. She had baked this time instead of making the faux pas of bringing store-bought. Harper really identified with Lizzie. There was something about Lizzie that struck close to home. If Harper hadn’t left New York, she was sure this was how her life with Nick would have ended up.