Peril & Prayer

by Olivia Matthews

  Shari cocked a winged eyebrow. “Out back?”

  “Six o’clock?”

  “I’ll drive.”

  Sister Lou sighed. “Fine.”

  Chapter 34

  The gray outdoor lampposts were spaced equidistant along the edge of the sidewalk and across the Briar Coast County Sheriff’s Office’s front parking lot. They provided ample light for Sister Lou and Shari’s stakeout. From the passenger seat of Shari’s sage green, four-door Honda Civic, Sister Lou had an unobstructed view of the front of the sheriff’s office. They’d parked directly across the one-lane road from the building.

  “You used these binoculars when you attended the football games at your last college?” Shari returned Sister Lou’s binoculars to her. “You must have really enjoyed the games.”

  “I did.” Sister Lou held up the binoculars and adjusted them to get a better look at the building’s entrance. “They always filled the bleachers. Everyone had a great time.”

  “We’ve been here for almost an hour.” Shari shifted behind the wheel. “Do you think the deputies set the trap?”

  “I’m confident they did.” Sister Lou lowered the binoculars. “They want this to be over at least as much as we do.”

  “Especially since they’re already at least three hours into overtime.”

  Sister Lou glanced at her companion, handing the binoculars back to her. “You’ve been working long days on this investigation as well.”

  “We all have.”

  “True.” Sister Lou kept her eyes on the view across the street.

  “I’ve got to get a pair of these.” Shari returned the binoculars to Sister Lou.

  Christmas lights ringed the lampposts on the streets and in the parking lot. Sister Lou loved Christmas lights. Wide limestone steps led from the asphalt lot to the sheriff’s office’s walnut wood double doors. Bare trees and evergreen bushes bordered the parking lot. Christmas wreaths hung on the doors and front-facing windows. The well-maintained exterior matched the modern, clean, and well-kept interior of the sheriff’s office. It was an indication of a healthy investment in the community’s safety.

  They’d arrived during the office’s second shift, which explained the lack of activity around the building. Cruisers were already on patrol and other deputies had settled in for duty.

  Or so it seemed.

  A worse-for-wear brown sedan lumbered into the sheriff’s office’s parking lot. It pulled into a space toward the center of the lot. A young woman emerged from the driver’s-side door. She wore a sheriff’s deputy uniform. All of her hair appeared to be tucked under her campaign hat, which was pulled low over her head.

  A late arrival to the second shift?

  Sister Lou lifted her binoculars to her eyes and zoomed in on the recent arrival. There was something about the cadence of her walk that stirred a memory in the forefront of Sister Lou’s mind. The deputy had a brisk gait and bounced on her toes. In her mind’s eye, Sister Lou pictured pale blond corkscrew curls, large, dark blue eyes, and round features.

  “Kelsey Bennett.” Sister Lou thrust the binoculars to Shari without looking at the young reporter.

  “What?” Shari spoke on a disbelieving breath. She took the binoculars from Sister Lou and pressed them to her face. “How can you tell with her hat pulled over her face?”

  “Look at the way she walks. Kelsey bounces on her toes like that.” Sister Lou sensed their combined excitement charging the air in the cozy Civic. She watched the figure bounce up the front stairs to the office’s entrance.

  “Here we go.” Shari spoke in a singsong voice as she passed the binoculars back to Sister Lou.

  “Let’s wait in the parking lot.” Sister Lou let herself out of the car.

  “It’s cold out there.” Shari joined her despite her protests.

  “Oh, come on.” Sister Lou led the way across the street. “I’m the one from sunny Southern California. You’re from the frozen tundra of Chicago. Who should be more susceptible to the cold?”

  The parking lot was smaller than it seemed from across the street. Sister Lou stopped beside Kelsey’s battle-scarred brown sedan. Her senses were on high alert as the minutes crawled by. No one reemerged from the building and neither of their cellular phones rang. What was happening inside?

  Sister Lou checked her wristwatch again. “Shouldn’t they have called us by now?”

  “I thought I was the only one losing my—” Shari cut herself off as Kelsey reappeared in the building’s entrance. “You’ve got to be kidding. How does a murder suspect walk into a sheriff’s office, then walk back out again without handcuffs?”

  Sister Lou wanted the answer to that riddle as well. She watched in disbelief as Autumn’s killer trotted down the front steps. She is empty-handed. What happened inside?

  Kelsey bounced down the steps and started toward her car. She was perhaps twelve feet away from Sister Lou when she glanced up—and froze. Sister Lou sensed the second Kelsey recognized them.

  “We’ve been made.” Shari’s whisper seemed to come from Sister Lou’s mind.

  Kelsey spun from them and took off running in the opposite direction. In reflex, Sister Lou gave chase.

  “What are you doing?” Shari’s question flew after her.

  I don’t know.

  She was literally chasing down a murder suspect, one almost half her age. What made her think she could do this? But since she’d engaged in this folly, she couldn’t see her way clear to stopping. Her muscles settled into her jogging stance: leaning forward from her waist, bending her arms, and stepping heel to toe. She lengthened her strides as Kelsey weaved her way across the grounds of the sheriff’s office. If she made it to the sidewalk, Sister Lou would lose her. Her arms pumped. Her muscles strained. Her breathing came faster.

  She’d been jogging since she was a teenager, half a century ago. But she needed more than physical ability to stop Kelsey. She needed her wits.

  Sister Lou tightened her grip on her oversized navy purse. She drew a deep breath—and aimed for the back of Kelsey’s knees. Bull’s-eye! Her target tumbled like a house of cards.

  Sister Lou stood over the fallen suspect. Now what?

  “Sister, you’ve got some brass ones.” The voice behind her was surprisingly familiar.

  Fran gasped. “Ted!” She knelt to cuff Kelsey. “Shari called.”

  “Sister Lou!” Shari was panting after running the length of the parking lot. She was carrying her stilettos.

  Sister Lou caught her breath. She was shaking more from reaction than exertion. “I’m all right.”

  Shari threw her arms around her in a don’t-ever-scare-me-like-that-again embrace. “You’re amazing. I’m going to start jogging with you and Sister Carm.”

  Sister Lou hugged her back. “Carm and I are training for the marathon.”

  “Oh. Never mind, then.” Shari stepped back. “Does Chris jog?”

  * * *

  The calico was waiting for her as Sister Lou hurried out of the motherhouse on her way to meet Chris Monday morning. Her nephew was driving them to the sheriff’s office to meet with Fran and Ted. Sister Lou wasn’t looking forward to yet another confrontation with the defensive deputies. She’d rather spend the morning with the cat. The calico was lounging again, this time stretching out on the single concrete step at the end of the red brick walkway that led to the motherhouse’s front door. She scanned her surroundings like a queen surveying her realm.

  Sister Lou paused on the walkway beneath the step and hunkered beside the cat. She extended her right hand toward the calico, seeking permission to pet her. The cat sniffed her fingertips before her pale green eyes met Sister Lou’s. She inclined her head in royal approval. Sister Lou lifted her chin in acknowledgement.

  “How ya doin’, cat?” Her voice was soft and playful. Sister Lou stroked her index and middle fingers in a long, slow line back from the bridge of the calico’s little cat nose. The cat closed her eyes as though in bliss. Her fur was so smooth and soft.
“I should give you a name,” Sister Lou whispered.

  The calico’s eyes popped open as though in surprise at the idea that Sister Lou would presume to name her.

  Sister Lou’s lips twitched in amusement. “I apologize. What was I thinking to assume I could take such liberties?” She continued her slow, measured strokes from the calico’s brow to the back of her head. The cat’s eyes slid closed again as she relaxed. Sister Lou could feel herself relaxing, too. Tension she hadn’t realized she was carrying in her back and shoulders eased away. “It’s so cold out here. I wish I could invite you to live with me. Then I could take you in from the cold, but pets aren’t allowed in the motherhouse. Would you like me to find someone who could take you in?”

  The cat’s pretty green eyes popped open again. This time, if possible, they stretched wider and expressed even greater shock than before. The calico cat abruptly hopped off the step, startling Sister Lou. Gaining her balance on the brick walkway, she met Sister Lou’s gaze over her shoulder. After one final look of disdain, she marched away from the motherhouse. Sister Lou tracked the cat’s progress as she headed toward a tree-lined path that was a shortcut to the college’s campus.

  Message received, cat.

  The calico cat valued her freedom far too much to ever become someone’s pet. Don’t we all?

  * * *

  “We made the decision to keep you out of this sting operation for a reason.” Fran moved her scowl from Shari to Chris, then finally settled on Sister Lou. “The situation wasn’t safe. This time you were lucky. Hopefully, there won’t be a next time.”

  “I still can’t believe you ran down a perp.” Ted regarded Sister Lou with renewed respect. His expression was making her uncomfortable. She wanted the grumpy deputy back.

  “Neither can I.” Chris’s tone was tense. Sister Lou sent him another apologetic look.

  It was early Monday morning. Sister Lou, Shari, Chris, Fran, and Ted were in the familiar small meeting room in the back of the sheriff’s office. The atmosphere in the comfortable room was markedly different this time. The tension of grudging cooperation was gone. In its place was relief, satisfaction, and pride in a job well done.

  “How did you know it was Kelsey in the fake deputy’s uniform?” Ted asked.

  Shari arched an eyebrow. “The costume couldn’t have been that fake. It fooled your coworkers.”

  Fran and Ted had alerted their office to the sting. The entire office had been on the lookout for suspicious strangers. Unfortunately, it hadn’t occurred to anyone that Kelsey would try to sneak into the sheriff’s office dressed as a deputy. Something must have alerted her, though, because she never made it to the bullpen. Instead, she left the building almost immediately.

  Ted scowled at the reporter. “We’ve already explained that most people hadn’t been paying attention to her because they were busy working.”

  Sister Lou sipped the coffee the deputies had offered them, which highlighted another difference between the two meetings. The deputies hadn’t offered refreshments last time. “Has she said anything that would give us insight into why she killed Autumn?”

  Fran swallowed a mouthful of coffee. “Not yet, but the investigative services company was able to give us more background on her. Kelsey Bennett isn’t her real name. That identity only showed up about two years ago. Her actual name is Angelica Webb.”

  “Yeah.” Ted picked up the tale. “Angelica was serving a twenty-five-year sentence for murder when she broke out of prison.”

  Shari interrupted the deputy. “She must have realized her cover would be blown when the investigative services company did the employee background checks for Autumn.”

  “That’s right.” Sister Lou was amazed. “It’s starting to make sense now. Urban and Gary weren’t keeping secrets. They’d told Autumn about their criminal backgrounds when they first applied for their jobs with her. She stepped out on faith and hired them anyway.”

  Chris set his coffee mug on the table. “Kelsey—I mean Angelica—was the only one with something to lose because of the background check. Has she confessed to the murder?”

  “She asked for a lawyer. I think she’s going to take her chances with a trial.” Fran turned to Shari. “I enjoyed your article in this morning’s Telegraph, wrapping up the investigation.”

  “Yeah, you did a good job,” Ted’s praise came grudgingly.

  Shari grinned at the deputies. “Thanks. This one was especially gratifying to close.”

  “I agree.” Fran switched her attention to Sister Lou and offered a smile of friendship. “Now you should be able to relax and enjoy your retreat this weekend.”

  Sister Lou returned her smile. “Absolutely. I’m looking forward to it. And I’m glad we were able to work together on this case.”

  Fran nodded in agreement. “Thanks for your help. I admit your input was invaluable.”

  “Yeah.” Ted sighed. “And let’s hope it never happens again.”

  Sister Lou exchanged a look with Chris and Shari. She remembered a similar promise they’d made to each other after they’d identified Maurice’s killer. “We’ve tried that before.”

  Chapter 35

  Sister Valerie Shaw sat back on the chair behind her large desk late Monday morning. She looked like the proverbial cat who’d downed the entire bowl of cream. “I’m very pleased to report that all of the donors who’d left us after hearing rumors of the congregation’s involvement in poor Autumn Tassler’s murder have returned to the flock. That’s thanks in large part to today’s Telegraph article that credited the congregation for helping to catch Ms. Tassler’s killer. I also want to thank you, Chris, for all of your exceptional work in reaching out to our donors.”

  Chris unsuccessfully fought the flush of embarrassment rising up his neck. He was very conscious of Lorna Alexander, vice president for finance, staring at him as she sat on the matching guest chair beside him. “Thank you, Sister Valerie. I’ll share your praise with my team.”

  “Please do.” Her brown eyes glittered with excitement behind her tortoiseshell glasses. “Because of you and your team, we have the foundation to pursue our fund-raising campaign to freeze the college’s tuition for four years and increase the number and value of our scholarships. I couldn’t be happier.”

  Because she was happy, so was he, although the estimated dollar amount needed to fulfill their ambitious goal was still somewhat daunting.

  “Yes, Chris, very impressive work.” Lorna was short on sincerity. “All of that while helping to solve a murder. Amazing. How were you able to find the killer?”

  Lorna’s silver nail polish nearly matched her gray pantsuit. Chris looked into her pitch-black eyes. Was that envy or jealousy lurking in their depths? “As the article explained, it was a group effort with my aunt, Shari Henson, and me working with Deputies Cole and Tate.”

  Lorna arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow. “But that’s not the real story, is it? Rumors are that your aunt is a super detective.”

  Sister Valerie’s interruption saved Chris from having to respond. “Sister Barbara and I already spoke with Sister Lou. But we’d like to thank both of you, and Shari Henson, for all you did to prove the congregation’s innocence.”

  Chris took a deep breath, catching the scent of the hazelnut coffee that was constantly brewing in Sister Valerie’s office. “We were glad to help.”

  Lorna folded her arms and crossed her legs. “I’m surprised that you were able to get those donors back and pull in new ones. Obviously, I was wrong.”

  Chris nodded his appreciation of her admission. “Hopefully, they’ll support our campaign.”

  Sister Valerie touched the Hermionean cross affixed to the right lapel of her chocolate blazer. “Ah, but Chris had faith in the success of this project, Lorna.”

  Lorna shrugged. “I’m sorry, Sister, but I’ve never been one for blind faith.”

  A gentle smile curved Sister Valerie’s lips. She exchanged a look with Chris before addressing her vice president
for finance. “Chris’s faith isn’t blind. That’s why he and his team spent so many hours on rebuilding existing donor relationships and building new ones.”

  His faith was definitely not blind. Experience had taught him that when sisters like Sister Valerie and his aunt put their minds to a project—whether it was raising money to freeze college tuition or solving murders—that project will get done. He could either get on board or get out of the way. Getting on board was much more interesting.

  * * *

  “So you solved the murder.” Mayor Heather Stanley stood in the doorway of Shari’s cubicle at the Telegraph ’s office late Monday morning. She displayed the latest edition of the newspaper.

  “It was a team effort.” Shari tried to read the mayor’s expression as she sipped her coffee from her white porcelain mug. Perhaps it was petty of her to taunt the mayor by turning the text screened to the mug toward her: CAN I QUOTE YOU? But it also was kind of funny. A private joke between her and her coffee.

  Heather entered Shari’s spacious cubicle and settled uninvited onto the faded gray guest chair. “Autumn Tassler’s killer turned out to be an escaped murderer. What the hell? That must’ve added to your adrenaline rush.”

  Where was the mayor going with this impromptu chat? The muscles in Shari’s back stiffened as her defenses went up. “The deputies have gotten a lot of well-deserved kudos from the sheriff for their role in her recapture. He gave them written commendations for their files.”

  “I know. I left congratulatory messages for both of them this morning. I’ll try to reach them in person again later.” Heather’s power outfit of the day was a belted amethyst A-line dress. The color complemented her violet eyes. The hem ended just beneath her knees. “Based on the deputies’ quotes in your article, you seem to be getting along now.”

  Shari’s gaze dipped to the newspaper in Heather’s possession before lifting again to the mayor’s eyes. “It helped that Sister Lou gave them equal credit in solving the case when we all know she’s the one who caught the killer. Literally.”