Gone Before Goodbye (Love &Mystery in the--6-oh-3 Book 1) (31 page)

Teagan tapped her fingertips on her knee. “None of this sounds like Matt.”

“I’m sorry. Lucy identified him as the driver who hit her.”

“I can’t believe Matt would hurt anyone.”

“We believe he and Seth worked together. Matt was the brains, and Seth the brawn. How long they’ve been a team, we don’t know yet. We studied timelines, opportunities. First we questioned how Seth would know Lisa went to the park that night. Travis could have told him, but since he wasn’t going to meet her, probably not. Lisa might have mentioned it to Matt when they spoke after lunch. Either one of them could have picked her up. The key will be Lisa.”

Lisa held the missing pieces.

He rose and moved to the couch. His knee pressed against her, reminding her of how much she wished they were together.

“We collected a lot of items for the lab from his underground lair. Forensics will help us with convictions. We found one of Father Matt’s half-smoked cigarettes in the chamber. It’s at the lab, but it’s his brand. Seth doesn’t smoke.”

Her head ached with doubts. “Matt and Seth seem a strange duo to me.”

“We learned Matt was paying Seth’s mortgage under the guise of the church’s help. I’m sure that’s how the relationship began. Now no one has seen Matt. He’s been missing since he left his meeting at noon, the day we found Lisa.”

Teagan let the reality sink deeper into her mind. “Matt pointed out to me that my aunt wasn’t perfect. I bet he was referring to her threat to reveal the affair.” He’d been her trusted friend and family.

“Why would Sophia hurt Matt by revealing the truth about his illicit relationship?” Noah asked. “She and your priest were close.”

“He betrayed his vows. It was that simple.” At least she understood her aunt’s actions. “I’m still processing Matt hurting Lucy and possibly Lisa and Kara. He did know where to get Jake’s car and his keys.”

“We’re looking into other missing girl cases to see if there are connections.”

“Others?” Her stomach did a flip, and her jaw dropped in shock. She rose, stopped a few feet from him, and threw out her hands. “The nightmare never ends.”

Noah crossed the floor to her. He took her hands and held them still. “I’m sorry, Teagan, but there’s more. We discovered a notebook hidden in the floorboards of Matt’s bedroom. The book contained years of news clippings of girls who had disappeared within a hundred mile radius of Father Matt’s churches. Almost all of them were homeless, making them difficult for the police to track. I’m afraid these saved articles are Matt’s trophies of his victims. We’re re-investigating all of them.”

Matt. Monster. Lisa’s words burst into Teagan’s head. The man she’d known was good and kind. Who was Matt the Monster?  “You think he sent me the death threat. Why?”

“He used the threat to tighten his power and control over you. You’d be surprised at how these types of organized predators interject themselves into an investigation. They do it for different reasons. Father Matt used you to find out where the investigation was headed and keep himself in the center of the activity.

She frowned. “I wanted him with me.”

“The priest took advantage of your relationship.  He knew there’d be no ransom call and believed the investigation would slow down or change. He wanted to kick the excitement back up a notch. Teagan, for your own safety, do not allow him in your home or aid him in any way. Call 9-1-1 immediately if you hear or see him.”

“I’ll try.”

He lifted her chin and forced her to look at him. “Denial will not protect you. Promise me you won’t let him inside, and you’ll phone me the second he contacts you.”

Lisa had returned, but she had lost Matt.

“Teagan.” Heat darkened his eyes, and her heart slammed against her ribs.

Did she have another chance with Noah? She’d prayed for one, and instinct warned her that in their mixed up lives of death, threats, and stalker, this was it. She ignored the panic filling her mind with doubts and locked onto his gaze. “I promise.”

He released her and she blurted, “I-I told you we should take a break.”

He stared at her with such concentration. Her thoughts threatened to desert. She should stop now before she looked like a fool.

“I’ve respected your decision.”

“Noah, I was wrong.”

He raised one brow.

Okay, say it.
She inhaled and forced the words out her tight throat. “I want you and me to be together. I’ll understand if you don’t or have doubts. I know I have a lot of flaws. I can be impulsive. I have the whole guilt trip thing down to perfection, and I worry too much about what people think of me. I even agonize over what my aunt thinks about me and she’s gone.”

“Thinking about your aunt isn’t strange.”

“I guess it’s normal for someone who has lost family. But I’m going to make my own decisions and not stress over the opinion of others. I should have kept my faith in you, and I understand if you have doubts about us. I—”

He tugged her close, crushed his mouth against hers, and then let go of her. Shocked, she put her fingers to her tingling lips.

“I’ve no doubts.” A smile spread across his face. “It feels right.”

Felt right. Sometimes it was that simple. 

“Listen, Teagan. How we live our lives is our decision, no one else’s. Agreed?”

“Hmmm, I might need more convincing.”

He leaned down and captured her lips in one of his mindless, drugging kisses that left her shaking, breathless, and wanting more. He grinned. “Did I convince you totally?”

“I don’t know, Detective. I think I need more persuading.”

His phone buzzed. “Hold onto the idea.” He stepped into the hall.

She stood, afraid to move, or talk and ruin the moment. It was too much like a dream. They were going to be together. If only his phone hadn’t rung.

He returned in seconds. “I’m sorry, Teagan. I have to leave. The parents of the Meter Feeders want a meeting at the Station. They seem ready to talk and make sure their kids will have clean slates for their college applications. I’m just happy we’ll be able to settle back to normal. I’ll be back. I give my word.” He pulled her into his arms and held her.

She leaned into him, buried her face in the hollow of his throat, and soaked in the hardness of Noah Cassidy. The boy, now the man, she’d loved. Raising her head, she said, “I wish you didn’t have to go.”

“Me too.” He slung in his arm around her shoulders, and they walked to the door where she faced him.

“Noah, I’ve one more question. How did you find me with Seth?”

He sighed. “I interviewed your homeless man about the vehicle he saw Lisa get into the night she vanished. He drew a box for the car or truck and added a bunch of Xs. After Lucy confessed her affair, I thought maybe the Xs were crosses and headed to the church to question Father Matt. That’s when I spotted your vehicle in the parking lot and went to look for you.”

“Seth and I had an argument. I threatened to shoot him.”

“What?”

“I guess he was following me.”

“He never will again, but in the future, remember to let the police handle these type of incidents.” Noah moved closer and brushed his fingers over her cheek, heightening the beat of her pulse. “I wish I’d found Lisa and saved you the terror of Seth.”

“I got a miracle,” she whispered. “Few people can say that.” An idea flashed in her mind. “Just a minute.” She ran to her purse, fished out her gift, and ran back to him. “Take this.”

She pressed her St. Jude’s medal into his hand. Would he accept it or laugh at her? “It’s not a rabbit’s foot, but the medal is better.” She bit her lip and waited for his response.

He closed his fingers around her present. “I’ll keep it over my heart.” He tucked it into his shirt pocket and laid his palm over it for a second.

Teagan’s throat clogged with emotion.

“Stay safe, Teagan.”

She watched him jump into his vehicle and drive off to work. He’d come back to her, not because of the case, because he cared about her.

The mailman’s truck pulled to a stop in front of her house. She waited for him to give her the letters and bills. She should call Noah and tell him they’d meet at the hospital.

The uniformed carrier handed her the envelopes. She closed the door.

A piece of mail caught her attention. The printed label was familiar. She tore open the flap. A holy card was inside. Oh, no, not again. Nausea cramped in her stomach. Under the picture of Mary Magdalene, she read, “To err is human, forgive divine.”

She flipped the card over.
Vale, Matt
.

Lisa woke. Where was she? She sat up. A plastic tube ran from a vein in her hand to a hanging bag by the bed. Oh, she was in the hospital. She was free!

Happiness flowed through her. Inhaling the fresh scent of laundry detergent, she snuggled into the clean sheets and blanket. Bright electric lights burned in the ceiling. The blackness was gone. Teagan had kept her promise and found her. Soon she’d bring her home. They’d be a family. Finally, Lisa’s dreams would come true. Except for Travis.

If only Travis had been her hero. But that detective, he’d appeared in her tomb to take her home like a super hero from Comic Con. Fighting tears, she glanced out the window. Green grass grew beyond the parking lot, and trees with leaves lined the sidewalk. She sighed in awe and wiped her face with the edge of the sheet.

The sky. She wanted to see more of it. She slipped her feet over the side and fought the wooziness until her legs felt steady. She stood. Her IV didn’t reach far. She managed another foot forward and tilted her chin upward.

Blue heavens with soft fluffy clouds stretched overhead. She smiled and her gaze fell to Earth. A figure dressed in black had stopped in the middle of the walkway and stared up at her.

She froze. The man raised his palm and made the sign of the cross in the air. Her mind zipped to the night at the park.

She’d hurled herself into the front seat of Father Matt’s car. Her savior had worried she’d snuck out to meet Travis. He was here looking for her, making sure she was safe.

Only he wasn’t here to help.

She hadn’t wanted to go home right away, and he’d brought her to the rectory where he insisted she drink and eat. She had woken up in her tomb, the torture chamber with Seth and his tools, and Matt, not the girl, watching her suffer.

Lisa stumbled backward, knocking a cup off the rolling tray. The goblet crashed to the floor and bounced with several plops.

“What are you doing?” A nurse in her flowered uniform appeared in the doorway.

“I was looking out the window.” Lisa climbed into the bed and tugged up the blanket to her chin. Would he come hunting for her in the hospital?

“Rest for now. You’ll be up and walking around later.”

“I saw a priest outside. He was making a big cross in the air.”

“Oh, that’s not a priest. It’s a man whose daughter died here a few months ago. He prays for the sick and blesses the patients. They won’t let him in. Don’t worry, he’s harmless. I feel kinda bad for him.” She took Lisa’s vitals and scribbled on her chart.

After she left, Lisa closed her eyes, but visions of the father dressed in black prevented her from sleeping. He’d looked like Matt.

Matt. She shook as she remembered her last normal afternoon. Matt tried to calm her down from her fight with Travis. She’d poured out her problems to him in the church parking lot.

In return, he’d preached to her about goodness and virtue. He’d told her Travis was not for her. Then he’d really ticked her off by listing her faults as reasons they weren’t a good match, until she blurted it out. She’d read Aunt Sophia’s texts about his affair, and she’d announce his faults, his big sin to everyone.

“Don’t.” His voice was flat and cold.

She’d laughed. “And I can meet with Travis anytime or anywhere. In fact, I’m meeting him late tonight at the park. And you can’t stop me or tell anyone or I’ll tell on you.” She’d walked away, feeling his angry stare on her back. What would he do? He was a priest. Matt was harmless.

But she had been wrong. He was clever and evil.

****

Two blocks from Teagan’s house, Noah’s phone rang. He pulled to the side and answered. “Hey, Hines. I’m on my way to the meeting. What’s up?”

“You need to hear this now. Matthew Hastings is dead.”

“You found him?” Noah’s hand tightened on his cell.

“Oh, we found Matthew Hastings all right. The problem is he died after graduation from Seminary School. He’s been buried for over twenty years in a cemetery in the Bronx, which means Father Matt of All Saints Church—

“—doesn’t exist.” Couldn’t be. “Hines, the man changed his name when he became a priest.”

“Wrong, that was his legal name. The birth certificate he used matches the man’s in the grave.”

Noah let out a whistle.

“His DNA from the cigarette doesn’t show up on CODIS either.”

“You’re full of good news, Hines. I can’t wait to join you.” Noah clicked the off button and sat with his thoughts spinning until he landed on the big questions.

“Who are you, Matt Hastings? Where are you?”

Gone Before Goodbye
is Nora’s first book in the series— Love and Mystery in the 6-oh-3.  She’s hard at work on book two. She lives in New England where the changing seasons inspire her story ideas and her family keeps her grounded.

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Gone Before Goodbye
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