Deadly Gratitude

by Lori Donnester

  Don waved off her comment and they walked in.

  Many, many people were there already, and Don, Luke, and Sabrina found themselves sitting shoulder to shoulder with others mourning the loss of Alicia Kendrick. The soft lighting illuminated prominent focal points not only on the altar, but throughout the church. Candle stands with twenty flickering candles were situated behind the many lovely flower arrangements that were placed in the front. Don kept looking around watching the attendees. The music began and Father Tim started the service.

  Don settled back to try to absorb the culture as much as he could in the hopes he might get some sort of an insight into the case to help him figure out how to make those devil worshippers talk. After some prayers, there were three Bible readings. Father Tim stood at the lectern, speaking to the congregation as he read the last reading. He then looked up and spoke about Alicia.

  “I knew Alicia for years. She was a wonderful woman. She loved her family, loved her neighbors, and she loved God. I also think she had a special gift with children. I once heard a child ask her why Jesus came down to earth and I want to share her answer with you.

  They happened to be near one of those five gallon aquariums filled with colorful fish and rocks. Alicia asked the boy if he could swim. I remember how his eyes lit up when he thought about swimming. ‘Yes,’ he answered.

  ‘How did you learn?’ Alicia asked him.

  ‘My mom taught me how.’

  Alicia directed the boy’s attention to the fish swimming in the aquarium. ‘Do you think you could have learned by watching a fish swim?’

  The boy giggled so hard he could hardly talk. ‘No, silly! I’m not a fish!’

  Alicia smiled at the boy. ‘Of course you’re not. You had to learn from another human, right? That’s one of the reasons Jesus came here. Even though Jesus was God, he understood that we humans didn’t really understand what God was trying to tell us through those prophets who were in the Old Testament. He knew we needed to hear it from God himself, but he had to be a human for us to understand. Just like you needed to learn how to swim from another human.’”

  The priest paused and smiled. “I’ll never forget the boy’s face as the lightbulb flipped on. Then the boy asked, ‘But he knew people were going to be mean to him, right?’

  ‘Yup. But he recognized that many of the people would love him and learn from him and teach others what God wants us to know. And that they would carry it on after he rose up and went to heaven.’”

  Father Tim looked around the church. “That little story gives good insight into Alicia’s heart. We’ll miss her. But take comfort in knowing that she helped to make her part of this world a better place.” The priest walked back to his chair near the altar and sat down for a few minutes. The room was silent as the congregation absorbed his message.

  Don leaned over to Luke. “The devil worshippers would definitely have a problem with Alicia.”

  Soon the service was over and the attendees were invited to dinner in the church’s social center. As Don, Luke, and Sabrina stood near the Crown Vic, Kate walked up.

  “Hi, it’s nice to see you. Thanks so much for coming. Are you going to the social center to grab a bite?”

  Don shifted weight from one foot to the other. “Well…”

  Luke butted in. “Yeah, I’ll eat!”

  Sabrina rolled her eyes. “Luke Malone!”

  Kate laughed and extended her hand towards Sabrina. “I’m going to take a wild stab and guess that your name is Sabrina Malone. I’ve heard great things about you. I’m Kate Fitzgerald.”

  Sabrina took Kate’s hand and returned the smile. “Good guess, Kate. I’ve a lot heard about you, too.”

  Kate clasped her hands together and looked at Sabrina with pleading eyes. “Please don’t judge me on my police car stunt alone! Please give me another chance.”

  Sabrina waved her hand. “It’s nothing. It just sounds to me like you have some spunk, girl. I like that.”

  Luke watched everyone head over to the social center. “Do you think there’s going to be enough food for all of these people?”

  Sabrina scowled at her husband.

  Kate giggled as she fell into step with Don, while Luke and Sabrina walked behind them. She found a table for them, and she and Sabrina held places for Don and Luke as they went to get the food.

  Don looked around and noticed that at one end of the room there were pictures of Alicia throughout her life. A small crowd gathered around them, and Don watched as some of them laughed and some wiped their tears.

  Kate spotted a television camera and a reporter making her way through the crowd. She grimaced. “I don’t think this is the place for a television crew.”

  Sabrina turned to look and there was Sarah Snow. Sabrina watched as Sarah spied Don and Luke as they finally started to make a path back toward their table.

  Placing Kate’s plate in front of her, Don said, “I don’t really know what you like to eat so I just got a little of everything. I brought you a glass of white wine, too. One of the ladies there thought you might like one.”

  Kate laughed. Her plate was piled with food. “Wow. This looks great. Thanks.”

  Sarah burst upon them, grabbed Don and gave him a hug and a kiss. “How is my favorite detective?” She smiled warmly at him.

  Don took a step back. “Good, Sarah. I’m good.”

  Sarah moved between Don and Kate. “Tell me about the investigation. How is it going?”

  “No news for the media right now.”

  Sarah flipped her curls and batted her eyes. “Oh, Don Layden, we are more than just friends talking here,” she said. “You know me. I wouldn’t betray a confidence from you.”

  Don held up a hand. “Sorry, Sarah, no news.”

  She frowned and turned to Luke. Somehow, she managed to wedge herself in between Luke and Sabrina.

  Kate watched as Sabrina’s face tensed. Kate got up and talked to someone near Sarah and waved her glass of wine around. Some of the wine spilled on Sarah.

  “Oh! Oh! My sweater!” Sarah glowered at Kate.

  Kate turned. “Oh, I’m so sorry.” She dabbed Sarah’s sweater with a napkin. “Here, let’s run to the bathroom and get some water on that pretty sweater.” As she turned to leave, Kate looked over at Sabrina and winked. Then Kate coaxed Sarah to follow her to the rest room.

  Standing next to a sink, Kate dampened a paper cloth and turned towards Sarah. “Let me get that cleaned up for you.”

  Sarah snorted. “Not only is it a new sweater, but I can’t be on camera with a wet spot like this! I wish you would have paid attention to what you were doing!”

  Kate kept her eyes on the sweater. “I apologize again. There is no need to worry because it’s coming right out, and it will dry in no time in this arid Rocky Mountain air. No one will ever know what happened.”

  “But I’ll certainly know!” She narrowed her eyes at Kate. “So, how do you know Don Layden?”

  “He’s investigating the murders of my friends.”

  Sarah’s eyes widened. “You knew both of the victims?”

  Kate stiffened. “I’m sure there are others in the city who knew both women.” Her voice sounded tinny in her own ears as she struggled to keep the annoyed tone at bay.

  “How did you know them?” Sarah started digging.

  “Oh, I’d see one or the other of them at various places.” Kate threw the towel away. “There you go. Give it five minutes and you’ll be good as new.” She spun around and exited the restroom as fast as she could.

  Kate hurried back to the table. “I think I just screwed up.” She described what happened in the bathroom. “I don’t think Sarah knows the Bible study connection between Gail and Alicia, but thanks to me she’s probably going to figure it out pretty quickly.”

  Luk
e scrunched up his nose and shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. It’s only a matter of time before the media figures it out anyway.”

  Sabrina stretched her arms over her head and looked at Luke. She poked him teasingly. “Hey you, since we have a babysitter, your wife is thinking she might want to go out and listen to some good music.” She snapped her fingers and danced in her chair. “Maybe Don and Kate should come too.”

  Don sat up straight. “Sabrina, Kate is mourning the loss of her friend. She may not feel like going. Besides, I just don’t do that sort of thing anymore.”

  Sabrina wagged a finger at Don. “And that is exactly why you should go.” She turned to Kate. “Kate, I hope that you don’t think that this is disrespectful. I just thought that it might be nice for you to go out instead of being by yourself tonight.”

  “Actually, it would be a good way to remember Alicia. She loved to go listen to music and dance.” Kate’s smile was small. She blinked back tears. “Actually, I think Alicia would approve.”

  “I want to speak to Adam,” Don stated. “He’s been swamped with people throughout the evening, but not as much now.” Don turned to Luke. “At first I wasn’t sure the devil worshippers were the killers. But Father Tim’s talk made me rethink that. I can see devil worshippers going after someone like Alicia. She would be an enemy.” He squinted. “I guess, anyway. Hard to imagine what they think.”

  “It’s possible some of them might want to get rid of the real holy rollers. Okay Cheeto, let’s speak to the people here and see what we find.”

  Sabrina folded her arms. “Then it’s settled. Let’s meet at the door in thirty minutes.” With that, Sabrina gathered some plates and headed towards the kitchen to help clean up.

  Don’s jaw dropped and he turned to Luke. “How does she do that? I never even agreed to go.”

  The corners of Luke’s mouth turned up as he watched his wife. “I don’t know, but she sure is cute while she’s doing it. Come on, let’s go talk to these folks.”

  Kate went over to greet two friends, Wanda and Vicki, who stood near the photos of Alicia. “Hello. You guys hanging in there?”

  Both ladies took turns hugging Kate. “As well as can be expected, I guess,” Vicki answered for both of them. “It was a beautiful service, don’t you think?” Kate agreed and the women spoke together for a few moments.

  Before long, Wanda stretched and groaned. “All right, I think I need to go home and take a long bath. Pete’s out of town for a couple of days and I’ve been going to bed early and getting up early while he’s been gone.”

  Vicki looked at her friend. “Be careful with Pete not being home. Maybe you should come and sleep over at our house while he’s out of town. Mark won’t mind.”

  Wanda ran a hand through her close-cropped, blonde hair and then adjusted the black jacket she was wearing to cover her short, somewhat plump shape. “Thanks for the invite, but I’ll be okay. My neighbors are watching out for me.”

  Vicki looked hard at her friend. “Okay, but like I said, be careful. Sleep with one eye open. Kate says those people in jail haven’t talked yet and she isn’t sure they were all caught.”

  Near the kitchen, Sabrina was still gathering plates. As she took another stack to the sink, she accidentally bumped into a man wearing a black trench coat with a black wool hat pulled down, not quite hiding some unruly straggles of hair the color of fire. A red plaid scarf hung loosely outside of his coat. “Excuse me,” Sabrina murmured. The man grunted and walked away from her. She stared after him. There was something about his arctic, icy blue eyes that made her shiver. She shrugged her shoulders to rid herself of the feeling, but she couldn’t stop watching him as he made his way close to where Kate had just been standing.

  The strange man stopped and looked at a poster that encouraged participation in the Christmas toy drive. Then he peered at some of the ladies Kate had mentioned were good friends.

  Just then, someone jostled Sabrina from behind. Sabrina turned and realized that the cameraman had backed into her. She saw Sarah Snow interviewing some parishioners, then scribbling notes. Sabrina put the plates down and approached Sarah. “Excuse me, may I talk with you for a second?”

  Sarah backed away from the parishioners. “Yes?”

  Sabrina drew herself up to her full height causing Sarah to look up even farther since the top of her head was only about as high as Sabrina’s mouth. “How do you know the deceased?” Sabrina demanded.

  Sarah flipped back her blonde curls. “I don’t. I’m a reporter.”

  “You’re a reporter,” Sabrina repeated. “Did it ever occur to you, Miss Reporter, that people are grieving here and maybe they don’t want to be interviewed right now?”

  Sarah blinked. “This is news. The citizens of Denver deserve to know all of the details.”

  “Miss Reporter, I do believe that you have your news. You have pictures of the hearse in front of the church, you have pictures of this social hall and you have spoken to friends of the deceased who are in mourning right now. I think you’ve gotten what you came to get, and I think you should have the decency to leave now.”

  Sarah’s face darkened. “You think I should have the decency to leave.” Her voice rose. “And who made you the gatekeeper of this service?”

  Father Tim appeared. “Is there something I can help you with?”

  “Yes!” Sarah turned towards the priest. “This woman just told me to leave. Exactly who is she to tell me what to do?”

  “I am merely a fellow human being who thinks people have a right to grieve without a camera in their face for hours on end.” Sabrina wasn’t quite successful in withholding the growl in her tone.

  Father Tim inclined his head and looked at Sarah. “Jesus Christ would say that we should treat others the way we would like to be treated ourselves. I’m just curious. Have you ever lost a loved one? Not only that, but have you ever lost a loved one in such a grisly way?”

  Sarah’s mouth opened but no words came out. Hearing the exchange, the cameraman stepped in and touched Sarah’s arm. “Come on, Sarah. Let’s go.”

  Father Tim watched the news team gather up their equipment and leave. The priest turned to Sabrina and extended his hand. “Hello, I’m Father Tim. Welcome to St. James Catholic Church. I appreciate your concern for Alicia’s relatives and friends. Thank you.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  In the parking lot, Kate stood next to Wanda’s car chatting and shivering.

  Wanda poked Kate. “You go on and get back inside. I’m fine.”

  Kate hugged her friend goodbye. “Okay. Take care of yourself.” She then scurried back into the social hall.

  The killer’s eyes followed Kate as the door closed behind her. Only then did he move out of the shadows, his red plaid scarf flapping in the winter wind. He looked up and watched Wanda’s taillights pull out of the parking lot as he hurried to his own car with a grim expression of anticipation on his face.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  As Wanda drove home, she passed by a toy store. At the last second, she swerved into the parking lot and got out. Hugging herself with excitement, she ran towards the entrance.

  The killer pulled in a minute later and parked in a spot about five spaces away from Wanda’s car. He sat and watched the front doors of the store.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  At St. James, things wound down. Don and Luke walked over to Sabrina after they finished trying to get information and Kate soon joined them.

  “I didn’t have any luck. How about you?” Don asked Luke.

  “Me neither. But it was worth a shot.” He turned to Kate. “Now, are you sure you don’t want to ride with us?” Luke asked her. “We all know how much you love to ride around in police cars.”

  Kate blushed and shook her head before she turned to go to her own car holding the address
that Sabrina wrote down for her.

  Before long Kate, Don, Sabrina, and Luke found a table in a jazz bar and sat down to listen to the music.

  “Now, isn’t this nice?” Sabrina turned to Kate. “Do you like it, Kate?”

  Kate twisted her hair with her finger as she nodded. “Yes, I do. It’s definitely a good change to be out listening to music. Normally I’d be at home reading Sports Illustrated.”

  “Oh no,” Sabrina groaned. “Don’t tell me you like football, too.”

  Don spoke up, “She actually has some really good knowledge.”

  “Hmm…that comment is telling. You think just because I am a woman that I couldn’t possibly understand football the way you do, don’t you?” Kate frowned.

  Don held up his hands and sat back. “Sorry, I meant it as a compliment.” He looked to Sabrina for help.

  Sabrina drained her water glass and motioned to the men’s empty beer mugs. “Will you two gentlemen please go get me some more water when you go get another brew?”

  Sabrina drummed her fingernails on the table for a minute after the men left. “Don’t be too hard on Don. He lost his wife a year and a half ago. He’s been in a fog ever since. Sometimes he doesn’t know what he’s saying.”

  Kate’s face fell. “Oh, that’s awful. I’m so sorry for him.”

  “He really loved that woman.” Sabrina’s voice softened. “He still does.”

  “That is really sad. I’m so sorry to hear that.”

  Motioning towards the necklace around Kate’s neck, Sabrina cocked an eyebrow. “Change of subject. What’s up with the necklace?”

  Kate grabbed the chain around her neck, a little off balance by Sabrina’s question. “This is my reminder to myself about how awful men can be. My fiancé cheated on me during our engagement.” Kate folded her hands. “And that led to my decision to blow men off for the rest of my life.”

  “I see.” Sabrina pursed her lips. “Stereotyping. Always a good option.”