The Devil You Know by Richard Levesque

Author:Richard Levesque [Levesque, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Published: 2014-05-25T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Monday at St. Lucy’s was essentially business as usual. Father Joe had letters for Marie to go through, others for her to type, accounts to be balanced, and calls to be made. She performed as always, but thoughts of Tom and Elise and Julian Piedmont’s handsome monsters were never far away.

At ten o’clock, Father Joe walked into the outer office after having been at his desk for some time with his door closed. He passed by her desk on his way out. It was his habit to get a cup of coffee around ten and take a walk around the church grounds. He usually went with a quiet word or two, but today he stopped at the door and gave Marie a searching look.

“That friend of yours that was sick,” he said. “How is she?”

Startled at the question, it took Marie a moment to answer. “Not well,” she said. “Not at all.” His question and the look on his face had left her momentarily flustered.

Father Joe looked at her, nodding his head with some concern. Then he said, “And you? Getting enough sleep and all? Not letting her problems tear you down, I hope.”

“No,” she said, trying not to let her confusion show. Father Joe was always kindly to her, and in the first few months that she had worked for him, he had taken special care to offer counseling in getting through the ordeal of being a new, young widow. But since then, he had kept out of her business, contenting himself with pleasant conversation of very little substance. This concern for her and the situation with Elise struck Marie as extremely odd, especially as it came a week after the only other time she had mentioned Elise. Where did this come from? she asked herself. “Just trying to be a good friend to her, but I don’t think there’s much that can be done.”

“You can pray, of course.”

“Oh, I have been,” she said with a forced smile.

“Good girl,” he said, returning her smile. The piercing gaze he had fixed her with upon starting the conversation faded as he smiled. Unsettled, she felt as though he had transformed for a few minutes and was now back to his normal self. As if to confirm her feelings, he slipped back into the casual manner that he always addressed her with, nodding at her as he said, “Be back in a bit.”

She had been waiting for him to leave the office so she could use the phone, but instead of reaching for the receiver she simply sat at her desk for a few minutes trying to make sense of what had just passed between herself and the priest. After a few minutes she could do no more than shake her head and tell herself to forget it.

After driving back to Hollywood the night before, she had talked with Tom and Jasper about the next best step to take in dealing with the incubi. Jasper agreed with her that something must be done and that they were on their own in doing it.

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