CHAPTER TWELVE

 

Teri accepted Angel’s outstretched hand, allowing him to lead her upstairs and out onto the screened balcony that opened off the central hallway.

Three wicker chairs were arranged in a companionable circle across from a wooden glider placed close to the outer banister. Each seat was equipped with a worn quilt or crocheted throw. An orange and white kitten was curled up on top of one of the quilts. A romance novel with a page turned down had been left on top of an old wooden trunk being used as a table. Teri thought this porch must serve the family well as a place for communicating secrets and maybe for keeping some as well.

“I need to tell you something.” Angel gestured to the glider and, when she was seated, dropped down beside her. “Remember the Private Investigator who was watching your apartment? He was killed last night or early this morning.”

Teri drew in a sharp breath. “Where?”

“They found him about fifty feet from the stairs to your former place of residence.”

Her stomach roiled as the realization set in. The killers had followed her and they had killed again. “What happened to him?”

“It was dark and I couldn’t tell if he was shot or stabbed but there was a lot of blood.”

Teri winced, her gag reflex working overtime. “He’d be alive if I had stayed in New York.”

Angel frowned at her. “Don’t think that way. Maybe you’d be dead if you’d stayed in the City. Did you ever consider that?”

She nodded, her throat constricted. “Many times.”

“Whoever killed him cleaned out his pockets and took his ID. My card was probably in his pocket.”

“Why would they do that?” She fought down the taste of bile rising from the pit of her stomach.

“Probably looking for this.” He flipped out the memory card from Marcel’s camera. “We need to see what’s on it.”

Angel drove Teri to view Marcel’s memory card. The nearest place with the capacity to print photos was a large discount store. Angel used the equipment and Teri looked on as he flipped through each shot. There were quite a few photos of various nuns, some taken from the back of the chapel.

Teri recognized herself in several shots walking with Clem and Connie and going up the stairs of the apartment. She saw herself leaving with the paper bag of cash when she had taken it to the bank. She drew in her breath but Angel didn’t seem to notice.

“Marcel seems to have done a good job of keeping you under surveillance but I don’t think he knew who he was looking for.”

“Why not?”

“He has as many pictures of Clem, Miriam and Connie as he does of you. He was taking photos of every female who entered or left the convent and school. He followed the four of you when you went to the apartment but he was shooting wild.”

“I hope so.”

“What I don’t know is if he sent any of these photos to the man who hired him.”

All the blood rushed from her head as she stared at the photos. “There!” Teri stopped Angel’s progress through the file. “That’s one of them!”

Angel stared at the photo under Teri’s finger and clicked to enlarge it.

“It’s him! It’s him!” Teri jumped up and down and then glanced around at the people who looked her way. She lowered her voice to a whisper. “It’s the man who killed Colin.”

Angel printed out the picture. The man in the photograph loitered by the entrance to the convent, leaning against the low stone retaining wall surrounding the grounds. Above the local limestone, wrought iron was woven ornately into a semblance of privacy and shelter. The man peered through the wrought iron so intently he hadn’t noticed Marcel.

“Marcel must have shot this from his car,” Angel said.

Colin’s killer was stocky with his graying hair cropped short. Reflective sunglasses hid his eyes. High, flat cheekbones and a ruddy complexion offset his mouth, more like a gash cut into a stone face.

“Do you need anything while we’re here?” Angel pocketed the memory card and took her hand.

“Like what?”

“Do you need something else to wear? Shoes? Underwear?”

“Yes.” A grin spread across her face. “Yes, I do.”

He handed her a credit card.

Teri was astonished. Other than her grandfather, no one had ever done such a thing. Teri Slaughter had always paid her own way. She looked up into Angel’s eyes and realized he was once more taking care of her. “Thanks.” Her voice came out husky as her fingers closed around the card.

He accompanied her as she went to the department with female clothing. She selected a sundress, another pair of jeans, a pair of shorts and a couple of knit tops. She proceeded to the shoe department and added a pair of sandals to the pile. Finally she grabbed a couple of lacy bras and panties that were not cotton. She took a short pink satin night gown and tossed it over her arm.

Angel watched her with a wide grin on his face.

“What?” she asked.

“You’re such a girl.”

She fought down the warm rush that filled her chest. “You sound like that’s a bad thing.”

He shook his head. “It’s definitely a very good thing.”

“There’s something else I need.” She went to the fragrance counter and spritzed several samples. “Which one do you like?” She offered her wrist for Angel to smell.

Angel grasped her wrist and held it to his lips sending a tingling sensation to her inner core. He pulled her to him and pressed his lips against the side of her neck.

“This one,” he said. “Whatever is right here.”

His tongue traced a line on her throat, causing her pulse to throb.

She almost dropped the tester bottle. “I can’t believe you can make me feel this way in the middle of a store with a million people walking around.”

“What way?” He held her against him.

“You know,” she said.

Angel gave her the smile he seemed to save for her.

They went through the checkout line and Teri asked Angel to get her a bottle of water from a vending machine. When he stepped out of line she handed the cashier money from her pocket. Angel met her with the water as she waited for him by the exit.

She handed him back the credit card and he tucked it in his pocket. “Thank you for everything,” she said.

“My pleasure.”

Teri thought about the large cash balance in her New York bank account and the many assets she had accrued over the years. She thought about her spacious well-furnished condo filled with expensive investment art objects. She thought about the stacks of hundred dollar bills stashed in a safety deposit box here in San Antonio. And yet, this cop thought he should buy her whatever she needed. She couldn’t stop smiling.

“Where are we going now?” she asked.

“To the library.”

“You want to read?”

“I want to use their anonymous computer. I didn’t want to use the ones at my parent’s house.”

The central library was a large granite edifice. Angel parked in underground parking and they walked two blocks to the cool building that smelled like libraries everywhere. They perched on stools while Angel logged on and sent the photo of the unknown man who had killed Colin. Teri smiled as he used two fingers to peck out a brief note to his boss. He wrote that he was following up on several leads and that this man had been identified as one of two involved with the death of Colin Dowd. He requested any information on the man as well as known associates.

“Now what?” Teri looked around at the other users. Most were students using the computers to look up subjects for term papers and printing out copious amounts of research material.

“I’m sure my boss will be calling me once he has the photograph. Usually these thugs hang out with the same crowd during their entire career. They also end up making friends with other thugs they’ve served time with. We’ll see if this guy is in the system.”

“So what do we do while waiting?”

“We try to stay cool,” he said. “What do you want to do?” He smiled encouragingly and reached for her hand.

Suddenly, she knew exactly what she needed. “I want to call my sister. I feel so far away from her.”

“Let’s go.” They retraced their steps back to the car and Angel turned the air conditioner on full blast.

Angel opened his door and stepped out of the vehicle.

“Wait,” she said. “You don’t have to go.”

“I’m sure you need some privacy. A lot has happened since the two of you last talked. I’ll be right outside.” He closed her inside the car and leaned against the fender.

Angel Garcia continually amazed Teri with a world of large and miniscule considerations. He was caring and sensitive while thoroughly masculine and protective. Not a bad combination.

Teri punched the number of the convent in Maine into her new cell phone. She asked if she might speak to Sister Bernadette, hinting that it might be an emergency so they would pull her out of class.

When Bernie picked up the line she sounded slightly breathless.

“I’m sorry if you had to run,” Teri said. “There’s no emergency. I just needed to hear your voice.”

“That sounds like an emergency to me.” Bernie could convey a picture of happiness using only her voice. “Have you been painting? How are your classes going? Do you like teaching?”

“Slow down,” Teri laughed. “I loved teaching and the classes went well. The girls and the nuns were absolutely wonderful. I could almost forget about all the terrible things that happened.”

There was a long silence. “That sounds as though you’re not teaching now. What happened?”

“A New York police detective came after me. He saw right through me. I fooled everybody else but not this guy. He’s pretty amazing.”

“This sounds like it’s going to be interesting,” Bernie said with a laugh. “Let me sit down and you can tell me all about him.”

“He’s from San Antonio and his family lives here. He took me to his parent’s house and I met all of his family. They’re all so loving and kind. I understand why he’s the way he is.”

“And how is that?” Bernie asked.

Teri heard the grin in her sister’s voice and remembered the times in college when she would come in from a date to talk to her big sister. “He’s smart and handsome and affectionate and caring...”

“Hold on,” Bernie said. “I’ll get the Vatican on the other line and nominate him for sainthood.”

“No, he’s way too sexy to be a saint.”

“So while I’ve been up here worrying about you, you’ve been socializing with this sexy paragon of virtue?”

“I’m sorry if you’ve been worried about me. There has been some trouble here. A man was killed.”

She heard Bernie’s sharp intake of breath. “Please be careful.”

“Angel is doing a great job of taking care of me.”

“Angel?”

“That’s his name. Detective Angel Garcia.”

“If anyone ever needed an angel, it’s you.”

“And Bernie,” she added. “I was painting. I did one of the farm and I painted you swinging in the apple tree.”

“I wish I could see it.” Bernie’s voice sounded soft, as though she was on the verge of tears. “I wish we could paint together again like we used to.”

Teri felt the rush of tears gathering, and fought them off by pressing her nails into her palm and taking a deep breath. “We’ve had some really great times, haven’t we?”

“I was just thinking of when you fell out of the tree and broke your arm. I felt so guilty for letting you get hurt.”

“Silly Bernie,” Teri said. “I was a clumsy little monster trying to do everything you did. I shouldn’t have tried to climb that high. It wasn’t your fault.”

“You’ll never convince me of that.”

“I better let you get back to class,” Teri said reluctantly. “Don’t be a bystander.”

Bernie laughed. “Maybe I should advise you to start being a bystander. It would be safer.”

Teri swallowed hard. “Yeah, but we’re not bystanders, are we?”

“We were raised to be participants,” Bernie said. “I wish you were here. My students are working with clay. It’s so much fun. You’d love to get your hands into it.”

Teri felt a pang of regret. “I wish I’d completed my degree in Art and gotten a teaching certificate like you did. The teaching really was fun, but I wasn’t completely armed for the task.”

“Most women would rather be you than me,” Bernie said. “You’ve done some amazing things and I’m sure you’ll do many more amazing things. Just stay safe. Stick with this Angel and I’ll send another one to watch over both of you.”

“Thanks Bernie.” Teri hung up with a huge lump in her throat. She knocked on the windshield and Angel joined her in the air conditioned car.

He took inventory of her appearance and offered a tissue from the console. “Are you okay?”

She blew her nose “Sure, I’m fine.” She looked up to find Angel gazing at her with a concerned expression. “Really, I’m okay.”

“If you say so.”

“I’m saying so.” She fastened her seatbelt as Angel’s cell phone rang.

He glanced at the caller ID before answering it. “Yes, Lieutenant.”

Teri sat quietly as he listened to the caller.

Angel’s responses were cryptic before he flicked the phone closed. “It was my boss. They’ve got a name for the man you identified as one of the killers. My boss is sending me information on his known associates so I guess we’re going back to the library.”

Teri nodded.

Angel shifted the car into gear and drove out of the parking garage. “By the way,” he said, glancing at her. “Your boss is driving my boss crazy. He said Kelso is demanding results.”

“That sounds like Martin Kelso.” Teri smiled. “He always wanted everything to be accomplished by yesterday.”

“When I was still in New York I had the good fortune to be the recipient of many of his phone calls. He said you were like a daughter to him and he was worried sick about you.”

“Mr. Kelso is a very nice man,” Teri said. “He’s always been supportive and I tried to make sure he didn’t regret giving me an opportunity in such a competitive position.”

“Kelso was the one who hired Marcel Farmer to find you.”

Her stomach clenched at his words. “I wonder if Mr. Kelso knows his investigator is dead.”

“I don’t know.” Angel located a parking space on the street close to the library. “If he does know, I would have to wonder how he found out.” He gave Teri a long look as he turned off the ignition.

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