Bad Habit

by JD Faver

  She removed two crisp hundred-dollar bills from the bag and stuffed them in her pocket along with her keys. Unfolding a brown paper grocery bag from the pantry, she placed the rest of the money inside.

  Teri walked to the Wal-Mart two blocks from the apartment. She purchased a pair of jeans and a yellow knit shirt and changed in the restroom. Adding a San Antonio Spurs baseball cap and pair of hot pink sunglasses as accessories completed her outfit.

  People who lived and worked near the convent could spot the nuns even in lay clothing. Teri didn’t want anyone to connect a nun with what she was about to do. She stuffed her conservative skirt and shirt in the plastic store bag. Another two blocks took her to a branch of a local bank.

  She went inside and rented a safe deposit box, using Bernie’s social security number and her St. Pius School identification. When the banker left her alone, she took the money out of the bag and neatly arranged it in the drawer. She regarded it solemnly. Teri Slaughter had not wanted this money, nor had she done anything to deserve it but she was positive the men who killed Colin didn’t deserve it either. She folded the paper bag on top of the rows of bills.

  The last thing she placed in the safe deposit box was a list of numbers written in Colin’s handwriting. She’d found it in a pocket of the carry-on bag. The list contained ten sets of numbers, in no sequence she could recognize. It had to be important so she’d saved it. She locked the drawer and put the key on her ring. If forced to take flight again she might not be able to go back to the apartment to get the money.

  Teri immediately felt lighter, as though having all that cash hidden under her bed had been a huge burden.

  Walking as fast as possible without drawing attention to herself, she returned to the apartment and then folded the jeans and knit shirt in the bottom of her bureau drawer. After pulling on her previous attire, she returned to the convent in time for supper.

  Mother Imaculatta caught her eye when she entered and Sister Clement waved gleefully. Teri took a chair between Clem and Sister Constantine or Connie as she was called.

  “Oh, Bernie,” Clem said. “I was going to make you a sandwich if you didn’t make it to the dining hall in time for dinner.”

  “Thanks, Clemmie,” Teri flashed a smile and picked up her napkin.

  “We have food at the apartment,” Connie said. “You could make something there.”

  “Not as good as this,” Teri said. The delicious convent meals were the cause of her weight gain.

  After supper they went to the chapel for evening prayers. Mother Superior drew her away from her friends and knelt beside Teri on the kneeler.

  Teri was sure that Bernie would have been earnestly praying for her and she tried to apply herself to the task but found her mind wandering. She prayed for Colin, picturing his handsome, tanned face with the bullet hole in his forehead. She finally settled on a silent mantra begging for deliverance from her pursuers and a return to her former life.

  #

  CHAPTER TWO

  The Chapel of St. Cecelia’s Convent, Bridgeport, Maine

  “Lord, please forgive me for my recent grievous transgressions. Please protect my little sister Teri and guide her home safely.” Sister Bernadette crossed herself and rose from her knees.

  She had strong feelings about arranging for Teri to impersonate her at St. Pius. On the one hand, she had been afraid for Teri’s safety since Colin’s brutal murder and also terrified to learn that a policeman had somehow been involved. But she was grateful to God that she had been able to provide a haven when her baby sister was in such desperate trouble. She was also wracked with guilt for incubating a whopping big deception. She had confessed her sins but the lie was still out there hovering over them.

  Bernie was anxious about Teri, but trusted that God would make everything turn out right. She dipped her fingertips in the holy water and crossed herself again before leaving the chapel. She’d said a nightly rosary for Teri since she first learned of her sister’s troubles.

  She stepped out onto the walkway and inhaled the cooling early evening air. It was Sister Bernie’s habit to take a walk every evening. She started her tour with a stroll through the rose garden and circled the entire convent grounds. She rested a moment under the ancient elm with branches spreading as wide as the chapel itself.

  She remembered growing up in North Carolina with Teri always tagging along after her. Every summer the two towheads turned golden in the sun.

  Bernie rubbed her fingers over the rough bark, recalling their climbing tree in their grandparent’s backyard. Bernie had delighted in climbing to the highest branch to look down at her little sister and taunt her for clinging to the lower branches.

  A shiver caressed her spine as she thought of the day Teri reached for the limb overhead and missed. In Bernie’s memory it always happened in slow motion. Bernie watched in horror as Teri fell backwards snapping through layers of twigs and small branches. She could hear the sound of Teri hitting the ground even now.

  A fractured arm had put Teri in a cast for the entire summer. All the kids signed it and Teri wore it proudly. Bernie remembered feeling a bit of jealousy and a lot of guilt.

  “How could you let her fall? You’re the big sister. You’re supposed to look out for her.” Grandma shook her finger at Bernie as though it was her fault.

  “Hush now, Ruth,” Grandpa said. “The girls are going to get a few bumps and scrapes now and then. Don’t make ‘em into bystanders. Let ‘em get in the game.”

  ‘Bystanders’ was the code word the sisters used when talking to each other. They always ended letters and phone calls with, “Don’t be a bystander.”

  On Teri’s last visit, when she’d been so frightened, she had clung to Bernie tearfully.

  “I’m afraid,” Teri said. “Colin’s dead and I miss him so much. I’m all alone now.”

  Bernie wrapped her arms around her. “I’m always here for you.”

  “I know.” Teri smiled tremulously. “But you’re locked up here with God and your other family.” Tears rolled down her cheeks unnoticed. “I’m afraid to go back to my place. This is a nightmare. My boyfriend was murdered and my entire life evaporated.” She brushed away her tears. “I miss him so much.”

  Bernie felt totally useless in the face of her sister’s tragedy. “I’m supposed to leave for Ireland in two days, but I’ll cancel. I want to help you.”

  Teri straightened. “You can’t help me. I just needed to see you before I leave.”

  Bernie felt her chest constrict. The pain was purely selfish because she was losing the last remnant of her pre-convent life. “Where are you going?”

  “I don’t know yet. The men who killed Colin saw me. If they find me, I’m dead.” She sighed. “I wish I could hide out with you at the convent in Ireland.”

  Bernie clapped her hands, joy surging in her heart. “San Antonio! You can go to San Antonio and be me at St. Pius.”

  Teri laughed, seeming to forget for a moment all her misery. “I couldn’t be you on my best day.”

  “Sure you can. I’m easy. It’s hard to be Teri Slaughter. It’s a snap to be me. You can become Sister Bernie.”

  “I don’t understand.” Teri shook her head.

  “I’ve been praying about a decision. Perhaps this is the reason I wasn’t able to choose.” Bernie squeezed Teri’s hand. “I’ve been offered a transfer to our sister convent in San Antonio. They have a beautiful campus and I could teach all art classes. We have fewer students here and I have to teach freshman English as well, but this is a much smaller convent and we’re all very close.”

  Teri wrinkled her brow. “What are you thinking?”

  “In a few days, I’ll go to Ireland and when I return I’ll come back here. You go straight to San Antonio now and pretend to be me.”

  “And how could I do that?” Teri bit her lip as she always did when she was scared.

  “We look so much alike,” Bernie said. “Take off your make-up and cut your hair. St. Pius will be
thrilled that Sister Bernie transferred and they won’t guess that you’re not me. Call the Mother Superior at St. Pius and tell her you’re coming. How could you be safer than behind convent walls?”

  Teri gazed at Bernie in awe. She looked like the same little girl who’d grown up idolizing her big sister. “Won’t you get in trouble, Bernie?”

  “Not a problem. I can be reprimanded but it’s difficult for a nun to get fired.” Bernie hugged Teri and laughed. “Not for protecting my baby sis. I think this is God’s way of letting me off the hook. Maybe He had this in mind for you all along.”

  Teri had made a scoffing noise in the back of her throat. “Somehow, I find it difficult to believe that God would kill my boyfriend just to make me a better person.”

  Bernie gasped in shock. “I don’t believe that was what happened. God knows all things. Perhaps He provided this means for protecting you until the murderers can be brought to justice.”

  “Justice,” Teri echoed.

  The plan was hatched. Bernie would go to Ireland and quietly return to Maine for the school term and Teri would go to San Antonio and hide among the good sisters of St Pius School and Convent.

  #

  Angel Garcia checked into a nearby motel. He always returned to visit his family at Christmas but never in the summertime. He didn’t remember the San Antonio from his childhood being so hot. In late August, it was humid and he might as well have been in the tropics for all the heat. He cranked the air conditioning down and hung his damp New York City suit in the closet.

  Opening his briefcase, he spread the case files on the king-size bed, arranging them in chronological order.

  Colin Dowd, young ad agency executive had been shot to death. His office and apartment had been turned upside down and the girlfriend, Teri Slaughter, was missing.

  No signs of foul play at her place. Everything was in apple pie order. Her suitcases were stacked in her dressing room, still packed from the trip.

  Colin had apparently dropped her off and gone by his office. A bad decision, as it turned out.

  The cleaning crew discovered his body at approximately seven-fifteen that evening, narrowing the time of death to a two hour window of opportunity. Security tapes showed several people getting off the elevator on Colin’s floor after hours.

  Teri Slaughter entered the elevator close to six and came back down thirty minutes later, carrying a dark zipper bag on both trips. The difference in Teri’s demeanor in the two sequences was monumental. When she rode up she looked almost gleeful but on the trip down, she appeared to be in a daze. Either her boyfriend was dead when she got there and she hung around for thirty minutes before leaving or they got into a fight and she killed him.

  The recovered bullet showed evidence that a silencer had been used, making it premeditated. Teri might have brought the gun in the bag and carried it out the same way.

  Angel rubbed the back of his neck. If Teri Slaughter didn’t kill Colin Dowd, then why hadn’t she called the police? What was she afraid of?

  Her car was located at the airport with a bullet hole in the door. The bullet had been matched to the one recovered from Colin Dowd’s head, silencer markings and all.

  But Teri hadn’t boarded any commercial airline. She just disappeared. Has she been abducted? Was she forced onto a private plane?

  Angel had searched her apartment and talked to her neighbors. He sifted through a mountain of photographs, admiring a beautiful young woman who appeared to be on top of the world. He noted the labels in her clothes. She was a rich girl who liked expensive things. He couldn’t understand why she would kill her lover, abandon her successful life and disappear?

  He held a color photograph taken of her at the helm of her boyfriend’s sailboat. Her hair was blowing in the wind and she was grinning. Her slim tanned body was encased in a sleek white bathing suit. Teri’s cheekbones were more pronounced than her sister’s but it might be because she was thinner. The hair was the same color, just much longer. And the eyes were the same, almost an aquamarine color with a darker ring around the iris. Sister Bernadette was also a beauty, though not a glamour girl like Teri.

  Angel replaced the photos and reports in his briefcase. He was no closer to a solution than he’d been in New York. He’d thought that keeping tabs on Sister Bernadette might bring him closer to Teri Slaughter. She was his only lead.

  He’d readily accepted the assignment. Angel had a lot of family in San Antonio and he thought he might get a chance to visit them if he could wrap this case quickly.

  He had no local back-up nor technical support. He was way out of his league, but he could hardly admit it when the trail led him home and to the convent of the enigmatic Sister Bernie.

  #

  Being around the students was a delight. Some of the girls had real talent though most were taking Art as an easy elective. Teri followed the curriculum and figured out how to write lesson plans. Her education and artistic abilities gave her the basis to slide into Bernie’s persona. Thankfully, most of the girls were highly motivated and Teri only had to introduce a new medium for them to take off with it.

  Teri looked up from the computer she shared with her apartment mates. She had been completely engrossed in writing her lesson plans and hadn’t heard the door open.

  Sister Clement placed a large cookie on a paper napkin beside her.

  “Clemmie!” Teri shouted in delight. “You really shouldn’t have. I’m way too fat and my clothes don’t fit.”

  “You’re all bones,” Clemmie said. “Sister Paul made a fresh batch and I snagged some for us.” She bit into a cookie and smiled. “They’re still warm.”

  “You’re the best, Clem.” Teri bit into the fragrant cookie.

  “Are you about finished with your lesson plans?” Clem kept her naturally curly ginger-colored hair swept back in a pony tail in a valiant effort to control it.

  “Just about,” Teri said. “This is my least favorite task. Mother Immaculata wants them turned in every Friday. I’m usually late so I thought I’d try to get done early for a change.”

  Clem crinkled her freckle dappled nose at her. “That’s the spirit! It’s best to tackle the job you like least and get it over with.”

  Teri had always believed that. At the agency she took on the worst accounts and made them love her. She had the reputation for making their lemons into something beyond lemonade. More like lemon cream pie.

  “How come you don’t have to struggle with lesson plans, Clemmie?”

  “I’ve taught the same classes for the past three years. History is history. It doesn’t change. I have lesson plans all written out for two semesters of American history and two semesters of World history. I change the date on the computer and print out a fresh copy for each week.” Clemmie smiled and brushed the cookie crumbs from her slight mustache. “Don’t worry. Next year you can recycle all your work from this year.”

  Teri looked back at the computer screen. Surely she wouldn’t have to be here next year. Surely she would be able to go back to her real life soon.

  Perhaps this Angel Garcia wasn’t associated with the killer cop and would honestly look at some other clue besides the missing Teri Slaughter. She sighed heavily. I have to trust someone sometime.

  #

  CHAPTER THREE

  When Angel’s cell phone rang he recognized the caller as local. He answered quickly.

  “Detective Garcia?” She sounded fearful.

  “Sister Bernadette, this is a surprise.” Angel recognized her voice immediately. “Have you heard from your sister?”

  “No, Detective,” Teri said. “I do have some information for you. I’d prefer to discuss it with you in person.”

  “Of course,” he said. “Do you want me to come to the convent?”

  “No. There’s a small café a couple of blocks from the convent. It’s on Martin Street at Fifteenth. Can you meet me?”

  “Of course, Sister,” he said. “When can you be there?”

  “It will t
ake me about ten minutes.”

  “I’ll meet you in ten.” Angel grinned. At last this case was going to break. He’d known she was holding something back.

  True to her word she walked into the Riviera Café ten minutes after she hung up the phone.

  Angel stood up as she neared, experiencing a clutch in his chest as he took in her appearance. She looked trim and attractive in jeans and a knit shirt. She flashed him a grin, startling him with its resemblance to the famous Teri Slaughter smile. All the white teeth and a quick spark of dimples.

  “Detective,” she breathed. She held out her hand and he clasped it warmly before pulling out a chair for her. She was relaxed and self possessed, not like she’d been earlier. She must have talked to Teri.

  “I could have picked you up,” he said. “I didn’t realize you had to walk. It’s almost nine-thirty.”

  “I like walking.” She dropped into the chair and lifted her chin to gaze at him.

  “It’s dark outside, Sister.” Angel pulled out the adjacent chair and sat down beside her. “It’s dangerous for a woman to walk alone at night.”

  “I’m not a woman,” she laughed. “I’m a nun.”

  “The person attacking you might not know that.”

  “You’re right. I didn’t think.” Her wide innocent gaze stirred some deeply hidden desire to protect her. He reminded himself that this woman was way off limits.

  A waitress approached and offered menus.

  “I’ll just have iced tea,” she said.

  “Make it two.” He stared at her encouragingly.

  “I may have mislead you, Detective,” she said.

  He grinned. Knew it! Come to Daddy.

  “It was a sin of omission.” She looked down at her hands with a shy expression. “I knew about the murder. My sister contacted me just after Colin was killed. She’s been hiding since then.”

  “For God’s sake!” He bit off his words. “I’m sorry, Sister, I mean, please go on.”

  “Call me Bernie.” She flashed the smile again.