A Prayer for the Devil (22 page)

LUKE LOGGED ON TO
the computer again and printed out a new list of the mosques built around 2004. While it printed, he formulated a plan. He decided that the best way to give the information to Lori was to be nonchalant about it. He was happy that her husband was out of town, hoping that one of his assistants could handle the request without Richard’s knowledge.

Walking back into the family room, Luke asked, “Going shopping again today?”

Lori smiled and said, “Not sure, but we are definitely going back to that restaurant for lunch!”

Deborah replied, “We are not!”

With everyone laughing, Luke walked over and handed the mosque listing to Lori. “What’s this?” she asked.

“Nothing important. I’ve just been doing some research on mosques in the area. I was hoping you could ask Richard to find out the names of the construction companies that built them by looking up their building permits.”

Lori glanced at the list. “But he’s out of town for a few days.”

This was the opportunity Luke was looking for. “Maybe his assistant could help?”

She laughed. “That’s a good idea; she seems to be the only one in his office who works. When do you need it?”

Not wanting to appear overanxious but hoping to get the information as soon as possible, he joked, “Well, it can wait until after you visit your boyfriend at the restaurant.”

When they finished laughing, Luke was relieved when Lori said, “How about I just call her now?”

She went to make the call while Luke sat and talked with Deborah. Returning a few minutes later, she handed Luke his list and asked, “Can you fax or e-mail this information to her?”

Not wanting it to print on a fax machine where someone else might see it, Luke said, “I’ll e-mail it to her right now.”

Hoping to get a quick response, Luke typed a polite note to the assistant, ending it with the words: “Thank you very much for your help; your work ethic is inspiring! Lori.” After reviewing it with Lori, he sent it.

Luke decided to take a ride instead of remaining at the house, anxiously waiting for the reply to come. Pulling up to Aaron’s building, he saw his truck parked in the back. He smiled. John must have washed and waxed it. Luke couldn’t recall it ever looking so good.

He entered Aaron’s office, where he found Margaret and John in a storage room, trying to organize several large file cabinets. Luke helped them for a few minutes, until the phone rang and Margaret hurried to answer it. Putting down a box, John said, “Can I talk to you alone for a minute?”

“Sure, let’s go into Aaron’s office.”

Luke sat behind the desk and John pulled up a chair. “Father, I just finished talking with Jim Hathaway. He told me that he was going to add me to Deborah’s payroll.”

When he didn’t continue, Luke asked, “Is that a problem? I thought you already knew that.”

“Yes, but there must be a mistake.”

“Why is that?”

“He told me that I’m going to be paid sixty grand a year.”

Smiling to ease the tension, Luke asked, “What? It’s not enough?”

John laughed. “Are you crazy? I didn’t want to embarrass Jim, so I didn’t say anything. I wanted to talk to you first.”

“John, I’ve discussed this with Deb and she approved your salary. Did Jim talk to you about your house?”

“Yes. He asked me questions about the bank lien. I hope you don’t mind that I used the phone to call my wife to get some of the information he needed. When I asked him why he wanted the specifics, he said I should talk to you.”

“I want to see if there’s any way we can get your house back.”

John’s eyes filled with tears as he struggled to hide his emotions. When he started to speak, he couldn’t, so he looked down while trying to regain his composure. Luke saw a tear hit his shoe. With John still looking down, Luke said, “I can’t promise you anything, but if there’s a way to work with the bank, we will.”

Unable to control himself, John finally looked up with tears streaming down his face and said, “I can never thank you enough for what you’ve already done for me, but you have to promise me something. You need to promise me that whatever happens, you will let me repay you. I don’t want any charity.”

Luke stood and shook his hand. “You have my word.”

“OK. Now, let me get back to work!” Still emotional, he hurried out of the office.

After John left the room, Luke sat at the computer and signed into his e-mail account. He was excited to see a note with the subject line that read “Info requested by Lori.” Quickly clicking on it, he
saw three construction company names and addresses. After sending a quick thank-you note to Richard’s assistant, he printed the list. Saying good-bye to Margaret and John, he headed to his car.

LUKE SPENT THE NEXT
two hours driving by each construction company. He stopped in front of the buildings, watched, and waited, looking for trucks with crescent symbols or anything else that looked out of the ordinary. At the first two locations he saw nothing unusual. The employees all appeared to be normal, hardworking men, and the trucks looked as expected. The third company, which was the farthest away, had built two of the mosques.

Pulling up to this last location, Luke stopped the car and looked around. Seeing no sign of a construction company, he parked and verified the address with the car’s navigation system. Either the address was wrong or the company was no longer in business. Since this wasn’t in the best part of town, he waited in the car and thought about what he should do next. When he saw an elderly man walking a dog, he got out of the car and asked, “Excuse me, sir, was there a construction company somewhere around here?” The man moved closer, and Luke bent down to pet his friendly dog.

“Did you say a construction company?”

Luke smiled. “Yes, sir.”

“There was one here years ago. I’ve lived in this neighborhood for over sixty years. Seems to me that they’ve been out of business for at least five or six years. Corner Stone Builders, I think?”

Looking up from his list, Luke extended his hand. “That’s right, Corner Stone. You have a great memory, Mr.—”

The man switched the dog’s leash to his left hand and said, “Flanagan,” while shaking hands.

“Well, Mr. Flanagan, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Before the man could ask Luke his name, he purposely continued talking. “Do you remember anything about their trucks or sign?”

The man looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“I’m just trying to verify that this was the company that worked on a building I’m researching.”

“Are you some kind of bill collector or something?”

Luke laughed. “No, not at all. I heard from a friend that this company’s trucks had a green moon on the side. Do you remember anything like that?”

The man thought for a few seconds and replied, “I’m sorry, but I can’t recall.”

Luke thanked him and got back into the car. Thinking that he may have missed something when he looked at the Yellow Pages, he dialed his mother’s number and, after a few pleasantries, asked, “Can you look something up in the 2004 phone book for me? In the Yellow Pages under construction companies, can you find the ad for Corner Stone Builders?”

She happily agreed. As he waited, he could hear her flipping pages. Finally, she said, “It’s not here.”

Disappointed, Luke replied, “Thanks for looking.”

She continued. “No, Luke, the page is not here.”

“What do you mean?”

“Someone tore the page out of the book that would have had that listing on it.”

Luke smiled and explained to his mom that he tore out the page.

Not understanding, she asked, “Then why did you have me look it up?”

He laughed. “Because I forgot that I had that page!”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the pages. Looking through them, he found the one that contained the listing and ad for Corner Stone. He examined it closely but didn’t notice anything unusual. It looked like any other ad.

While he was still parked, his cell phone rang. Picking it up, Luke was happy to hear the voice of Jim Hathaway, the financial adviser. He told Luke about his conversation with John, adding, “When I told him the salary, he cried.”

“Did you find out anything about his house?”

“Not yet. Remember Mr. McMahon from the bank?”

“How could I forget?”

“Well, unfortunately, John’s loan is owned by another bank, but McMahon is friends with the president. I gave him the information, and he promised to see what he could do. I made sure to let him know that you and Deb were involved and have given John a job.”

“Did he say when he would get back to you?”

“He said he would give me an update sometime tomorrow. I’ll call you right after I talk to him.”

As Luke headed home, he drove past the Common. Thinking of Blade, he said a few prayers. He worried that the homeless man had used the money to drink himself to death. Luke made a mental note to ask John to try to find Blade and make sure he was OK.

In retrospect, he wondered if visiting the mosques was a good idea. He wasn’t completely surprised that the first imam he met recognized
him; the entire country had seen his face by now. But he questioned why the man didn’t acknowledge that he knew who he was until after he found out what Luke wanted. Was it a coincidence that he was greeted almost immediately by the imams of every other mosque he visited?

He had a sobering thought. If Blade’s story was true and if the imams were somehow connected, whoever was responsible for the bombing probably now knew that Luke was onto them. Could his anger about Aaron’s death and his unrelenting need to find out who was responsible be putting his family in danger? Luke had seen what these extremists were capable of during his time in Africa: beheadings, amputations, whippings, and electrocution. These tortures that most Westerners in America couldn’t even comprehend were not only commonplace in many Islamic states; they were accepted as part of Sharia law.

AS LUKE PULLED INTO
the driveway, he was surprised to see a black Town Car parked next to Lori’s Caddy. Worried, he hurried into the house to see what was going on. Hearing voices coming from the family room, he entered and saw a man in a dark suit sitting across from Deb and Lori. When he saw Luke, the man stood, and Deborah introduced him. “This is Mike Dempsey. He’s the lead investigator from the FBI.”