Heartbreaker

'He’ll explain in a minute,' he promised, repeating Tommy’s exact words to her.

In other words, be patient, she thought.

Nick pulled a chair out for her and took the seat adjacent to her. Tommy couldn’t seem to get settled. He sat down, then immediately jumped back up to get a notebook and pen from the linoleum counter. He was as jittery as a June bug.

Then Nick drew her attention when he stood up. His demeanor was just as serious as her brother’s. She watched him loosen his tie and unbutton the top button of his shirt. The man oozed sensuality, she thought to herself. Was there a woman back in Boston waiting for him to come home? She knew he wasn’t married, but he could be involved with someone. Surely he was.

Then Nick removed his jacket, and Laurant’s fantasies came to a screeching halt.

As Nick draped the coat over the back of the empty chair next to him he watched the abrupt change in Laurant. Her back was now pressed against the chair as though she were trying to put as much distance between them as possible. He also noticed she was staring at his gun. Just a few seconds ago, she had been open and friendly, bordering on flirtatious. Now she looked guarded and uncomfortable.

'The gun bother you?'

She didn’t give him a direct answer. 'I thought you were an investigator.'

'I am.'

'Then why do you wear a gun?'

'It goes with the job,' Tommy answered for his friend. He was shuffling through his papers, his head downcast while he tried to get organized.

Laurant’s patience had run out. 'I’ve waited long enough, Tommy. I want to know why you’re acting so strange. I’ve never seen you this nervous.'

'I have something to tell you,' he began. 'It’s kind of difficult to know where to start.' Looking past her, he said the last to Nick, who nodded.

'I think I know what it is,' she said. 'You did get your lab results, didn’t you? And you’re afraid to tell me about them. Did you think I’d make a scene, and that’s why you waited? They weren’t good, were they?'

He let out a weary sigh. 'I got the results last night as a matter of fact. I was going to tell you later… after I explained what happened yesterday.'

'Tell me now,' she said quietly.

'Doctor Cowan felt real bad that the lab had screwed up the first time and so he made them rush the second blood work. He called from a wedding reception to let me know he finally got the results and everything’s fine. Now will you relax?'

'So there’s definitely no chemo this time?' Her voice sounded like that of a child, and she had so wanted to be adult about this. If anything happened to her brother, she didn’t know what she would do. It seemed to her that she had only just found him and now this horrible illness was trying to take him away from her. 'If everything’s going so well, then why are you so nervous? And you are nervous, Tommy. Don’t tell me you aren’t.'

'Maybe you ought to just let her listen to the tape,' Nick suggested.

'I don’t want her to hear it yet. It’ll be too much of a shock.'

'Then let her read the transcript the police made.'

Tommy shook his head. 'I think it would be better if I just told her what happened first.' He took a deep breath, then plunged in. 'Laurant, this man came into the confessional just as I was about to close up.' He paused for a few seconds while he collected his thoughts and then began again. 'After I talked to the police, I made some notes, and while I was writing down what he said-'

Her eyes widened in disbelief, and she couldn’t stop herself from interrupting him. 'You wrote down a man’s confession? You can’t do that. It’s against the rules, isn’t it?'

He held up his hand to stop her. 'I know what the rules are. I’m a priest, remember?'

'You don’t need to snap at me.'

'Sorry,' he muttered. 'Look, I’m just edgy and I’ve got a hell of a headache, that’s all. This guy… all the while he was talking to me, he was making a tape.'

She was astonished. 'He recorded the conversation? Why would anyone want to tape his own confession?'

'He probably wanted a keepsake,' Nick suggested.

Tommy nodded. 'So anyway, he must have gone right out and made a copy of the tape. We know it isn’t the original because of the whirling sound in the background,' he explained. 'He dropped the copy off at the police station. Can you believe it, Laurant? He just sauntered inside and left it on a desk.'

'But why would anyone go to so much trouble?'

'He wanted to make sure I could talk about it,' he explained. 'It’s all part of a sick game he’s playing.'

'What’s on the tape?' She waited for him to answer, and when he hesitated, she demanded, 'Tommy, just spit it out for heaven’s sake. It can’t be as bad as you’re making it sound. What did the man say that was so upsetting?'

Her brother pulled his chair closer to hers before he sat down again. Taking both of her hands in his, he said, 'This man told me he’s planning… he wants…'

'Yes?'

'He’s going to kill you.'

Chapter 5

Laurant didn’t believe him, not at first anyway. Tommy recounted what the man had said to him in the confessional. She didn’t interrupt, but with each new detail she could feel her body stiffen. For a second or two, she was actually relieved that she was the target and not her brother. Tommy had enough to deal with now. 'You’re taking this awfully well.'

Her brother had made the remark in an almost accusatory tone of voice. Both he and Nick were waiting for her to absorb the information, watching her intently as though she were a butterfly trapped under a glass.

'I’m not sure what to think,' she responded. 'I don’t want to believe it’s true… what he said.'

'We have to take the threat seriously,' Nick cautioned.

'This other woman he talked about… Millie. He told you he killed her a year ago?' she asked.

'He bragged about it.'

A shiver ran through her. 'But was her body ever found?'

'He said he buried her deep, where no one will find her,' Tommy answered.

'We’re running the name through VICAP,' Nick interjected. 'Their computer system stores information on unsolved homicides that have been reported. It looks for possible matches. Maybe we’ll get a lucky break.'

'I believe what he told me. I think he did kill that poor woman. He wasn’t making it up, Laurant.'

'Did you see him?' she asked.

'No,' he replied. 'I ended it when he told me you were his next victim. I jumped up and ran out.' He paused to shake his head. 'I don’t know what I thought I was going to do. I was pretty shook up.'

'But you didn’t see him? He had already gone? How could anyone move that fast?'

'He hadn’t left.'

'He cold-cocked him,' Nick told her.

'He what?' she asked, unfamiliar with the term.

'He knocked me out,' Tommy explained. 'He was waiting for me and he got me from behind. I don’t know what he used, but I’m lucky he didn’t crush my skull. I went down hard,' he added. 'And the next thing I knew, Monsignor was leaning over me. He thought I’d passed out from the heat.'

'My God, you could have been killed.'

'I’ve taken worse hits playing football.'

Laurant made Tommy show her where he’d been struck. When she touched the lump at the base of his skull, he winced. 'It still stings,' he said.

'Maybe you should let a doctor look at that.'