Stumped by Emily James

Author:Emily James [James, Emily]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Cozy, Crime, Fiction, Mystery & Detective, Thriller, Women Sleuths
ISBN: 9781988480428
Google: dKldzQEACAAJ
Publisher: Stronghold Books
Published: 2020-03-04T00:00:00+00:00

11

Vivienne’s voice and Father Jesse’s voice alternated back and forth behind the closed door of his office. I caught a word here and there. Lawyer. Confidentiality. Catholic. Please.

Sitting out here, letting Vivienne show my hand to a suspect without me even being in the room to see his reaction, felt wrong on every level. But I had to trust her. She knew the importance of reading reactions and all the other reasons I wouldn’t have wanted to tip Father Jesse off to my suspicions of him, but she still insisted on doing it this way.

The door to his office opened. “Please come in, Mrs. Cavanaugh.”

I hoisted myself to my feet. The baby felt like it’d shifted around today somehow, even since this morning. My hips ached from the pressure, and I felt like I waddled more than walked. I both wished the baby was already here and was glad I had a few more days before he or she was.

Father Jesse—thinking about a priest by his first name still seemed wrong, but that’s how Vivienne introduced him—motioned to the chair next to where Vivienne sat.

“You’ve forced me to lead one of my congregation astray,” Father Jesse said in a way that might have been teasing but also might not have been.

He seemed to have one of those senses of humor where you could never quite tell if they were serious or not, and if they weren’t serious, whether they were laughing at you or good-naturedly ribbing you.

“Not intentionally.” I took the offered seat. At this point, my body ached so much all over that I didn’t care what my dad would say about properly placing myself to control the interview. We’d lost that advantage anyway with the way Vivienne had insisted on doing this. “I wasn’t recording whatever he was saying in the confessional. I wasn’t here for him at all.”

“Nor are you Catholic.”

Guilty on that one. “I am a Christian.”

He went around his desk and sank into his own chair. For a second, he looked a little less polished, a little less trained, and a little more like a man who had faced more stress than any person should have to bear lately. It was strange to see the human being behind the clerical robes. Watching a minister of any denomination on Sunday mornings made it easy to feel like they must be perfect.

“You’ve created a problem, though,” he said. “The penalty for breaking the sanctity of confession is excommunication. Excommunication means nothing to you. Vee has vouched for you, but I know how lawyers are. You’ll promise anything so long as you get the information you need to win your case.”

Now that was downright insulting.

My parents were proof that it was also accurate at times. They would have had no trouble wringing information from a priest and then using it however they needed to.

I’d fought for a long time to prove I wasn’t like my parents. Apparently, I’d have to re-fight this fight with every new person I met.

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