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 take 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.

Angel raked his fingers through his hair. “Okay, Bernie. Tell me what happened.”

“Colin was dead when Teri found him. She hid in the closet when the killers returned.”

Angel’s heart rate increased, but he tried to keep his expression neutral. “You’re telling me she can identify the killers?”

The waitress set large glasses of iced tea in front of them.

She squeezed her lemon in no apparent hurry. The spoon tinkling against her glass sounded unnaturally loud as it echoed against the hard surfaces in the confined space.

“Go on, Bernie,” he urged, struggling to keep his cool.

She leaned forward in a conspiratorial manner. “Apparently, one of the men killed Colin over money. Then, in the parking garage, the killer shot at her. They know who she is. She’s terrified.”

He frowned at her. “Your sister found the body and saw the killers?”

“Only one of them. The other man was yelling about where Colin might have hidden the money.”

“Ah, the money,” he said. “How much money are we talking about?”

She studiously wiped the sweating iced tea glass with a paper napkin.

“Colin didn’t tell her about it?”

She shook her head adamantly. “Teri didn’t know anything. She never even had a chance to unpack.”

He spread his hands. “Why the rush? She could have stayed home and returned the bag another later.”

A tinge of color appeared high on her cheeks. “I don’t have the answer, Angel.” She turned the blue eyes on him. “May I call you Angel?”

He had to stop himself from saying, ‘Yes, Sister’. “Of course, Bernie.” He had to grin at the way she pronounced his name. Such a little gringa. “She wasn’t tired of him after two weeks of togetherness?”

“They were in love.”

“I see,” he said, with a smile. “I didn’t realize you knew so much about love, Bernie.”

“I know my sister.” She leaned forward, entreating him with her baby face.

This little one doesn’t have the skill to lie convincingly. She’s been holding back out of loyalty, but now she’s spilling her gut. Angel tried not to stare at her lips. He gazed at her for a long serious moment. “She needs to come in. I can protect her.”

She caught her lower lip between her teeth, causing a tightness in his chest. He reached for his iced tea and drained the glass. He welcomed the stab of pain to his head since it chased away all impious thoughts.

She sipped her tea and answered a few more questions for him. He paid the check and held the door for her as they stepped outside into the liquid heat.

“I forgot how hot it is here,” he said. “I’ve been melting since I got back.”

She turned sharply, looking up at him with something like fear in her eyes. “You’ve been here before?”

“I grew up here. My parents, aunts and uncles, sisters, brother and cousins all live here.” He opened the car door for her, indicating she was to get in.

“But you live in New York City now?” She slid onto the seat as he went around and got in.

“Yes. I joined the Navy after high school. I was on a battleship in the Gulf. I fell in love with The City during Fleet Week. I was the kid who walked around staring up at the tall buildings.”

“Me, too.” She bit her lower lip again.

“You lived in New York City?” Angel’s attention riveted to her eyes. She was holding something back.

“Just to visit Teri.” She gnawed her lip. “She gave me the grand tour.”

“What did you like best?” She was definitely nervous but this information seemed inconsequential. What would make a nun misrepresent the truth?

“Everything.” Her brow furrowed. “The harbor. The Statue of Liberty. Central Park. China Town. Little Italy. Broadway.” Her face puckered like she was going to cry, but she pressed her lips together and drew in a breath.

Probably worried about her sister. “It’s a lot cooler there.” He smiled, hoping to put her at ease. Something I said set her on edge again.

“Try to wear cotton,” she said. “For the heat. Cotton breathes and keeps you cool.”

“I’ll try to remember that, Bernie.”

He drove the short distance to the convent, but she redirected him to on aging brick apartment complex.

“You don’t live with the others?”

“I live with three nuns,” she said. “We’re all in our twenties. Mother Superior thought we would be happier with our own place.”

“That’s pretty radical,” he said.

“For a nun, you mean? It’s because the nuns here are mostly pretty old. Mother didn’t want to lose us so she’s made our environment youth friendly, as she says.”

“She sounds like quite a lady.”

“Mother Immaculata is very dear to us.” She opened the door and stepped out onto the curb. “Thank you for the tea, Angel. Please forget about Teri and find the men who killed Colin. When she knows they’re in custody, she’ll be able to go home.”

“And you’ll get the word to her when I do?” Angel looked at her skeptically.

Large blue eyes assessed him. She shrugged. “Perhaps.”

“It would be easier if I could talk to her in person. I could use a description of the killers. If she comes forward I can protect her as a witness.”

“She doesn’t know anything more than I’ve told you.” Closing the car door, she turned, stepping onto the sidewalk leading to the maze of older apartments shrouded in overgrown shrubbery.

He watched Bernie disappear into the shadows. Although he hadn’t gone to church in some time, he thought he could still go to hell for staring at a nun’s ass.

“What a waste!” He put the car in gear and pulled away from the curb.

His only key to this murder was a hot nun. He couldn’t treat her as he would anyone else who withheld information. He couldn’t threaten her with incarceration. He couldn’t sweat her. No good cop/bad cop.

But he could keep her under surveillance because he knew she would eventually lead him to Teri.

Angel pulled into the Alamo Motor Lodge and parked in front of his room. He went inside and gathered the case files from his bed. He felt restless and dissatisfied with his progress. Another shower cooled him off.

He tried to sleep, but the photographs of Teri Slaughter tormented him. Teri Slaughter, rich young professional with power in every molecule. They had lived in the same city, but might as well have been on different planets.

Then there was Bernie. Angel knew if he’d tracked her, the killers could, too. She took chances. Keeping her safe would be difficult. She was too naïve to realize there were bad people out there.

He closed his eyes, visualizing her translucent skin and eyes the aquamarine color of sea glass. Bernie’s hair was the same color, but Teri’s haircuts cost a fortune. Bernie’s hair was cropped at the nape of her neck. There was a hint of curl but it looked wash and wear. The two women were poles apart though there was a strong bond between them.

He needed to question Teri. If she was as innocent as Bernie claimed, she needed protection. She could describe the killers, talk to the police artist, look at mug shots. She needed to do it soon if she was to stay alive. If Bernie was to stay alive.

#

Quietly, Teri slipped inside the darkened apartment. She locked the door behind her and twisted the deadbolt into place, feeling a little more secure for having done so.

From the kitchen, the clock on the stove cast an eerie illumination. She made her way to her bedroom, thankful that Clem had the A/C cranked down.

Teri sat on the edge of her bed and slid out of her shoes. Pushing them under her bed, she took off the rest of her clothes. She pulled her cotton gown from under her pillow and sat holding it against her breasts.

She didn’t like the way Detective Garcia made her feel, especially when he smiled. Teri Slaughter knew the look he was giving her. She’s known it all her life. Even with the extra pounds, she knew he was attracted to her, no matter how unlikely the pairing.

That didn’t bother her as much as the incredible attraction she felt to him. He stirred something deep inside her that she didn’t want stirred at the moment. Sitting beside him in the restaurant had felt dangerous, like she was being drawn down into a vortex. Where would she land if she let herself fall?

A single tear slid down the side of her nose and dropped onto the cotton gown. In her previous life, she’d slept between the finest Egyptian cotton sheets with a thread count so high they’d felt like silk against her skin. She had rested her head on plump down pillows and slept in an array of lovely silk gowns.

She stood and let the stream of cool air from the window A/C blast over her nude body. Inhaling deeply, she swallowed her tears and pulled the gown over her head before she slid between the coarse cotton sheets.

It was ten-fifteen on a Friday evening. Friday was the night she and Colin always went out to dinner. They should have been dining at a trendy restaurant and laughing and enjoying an excellent wine.

She could hear Clem breathing over the whir of the A/C.

Teri felt so alone. Another tear blazed a trail from the corner of her eye to her ear. She wiped it away.

Colin was dead and Teri had given up her entire life just to stay alive. She hoped she’d been right in trusting Angel and that he would find the killers soon. She hoped his handsome choirboy face masked a nimble brain and Superman’s heart.

She wondered if she was going to hell for lying while impersonating a nun.

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