Transcending Queen (3 page)

“What? When are you coming back?”

“I don’t know. Jack says it’s on a need to
know basis. It’s surprising I even have cell service. You should’ve
seen us jump when you called.”

“Shit Melissa, this doesn’t sound good.”

“Listen, after everything we went through
before, I can trust Jack. He’s proven he has my best interest at
stake.”

“I understand why you believe him, but are
you really ready?”

“Why don’t you come visit us?”

“I can’t, Maci and my parents need me. I’ve
been through enough adventure and frankly I’m over it.”

“We can plan to see each other when I get
back to Barrington then.”

“Can I get an idea where you’re at? I need to
know for my own piece of mind, give me something.”

“I’ll text the directions to your phone.
We’re only a couple hours away.”

“Take care of yourself and don’t let Jack get
carried away.”

“I think we’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, famous last words.”

“Don’t jinx me like that!”

“I’m kidding.” Alice disconnected the call
and immediately began to worry. She had a bad feeling about this,
just like the time John blindly led them into his web of deceit
wondering if now Jack was pulling the same stunt. Both of them had
aged too quickly during their time with Max and now when Alice
thought things had finally calmed down, Melissa is running off
again. “I am her best friend.” Alice said aloud. “What are you up
to, Jack? Why are you dragging my best friend into this bullshit
again?”

Chapter 4 – Out of the Blue

The next morning I promptly rang for Jack’s
room, “What’s happening today? Don’t make me sit around all day
with my thumb up my you know where.”

“We’re getting out of here for a while. Luann
told me about this neighboring town a half hour away. We could pick
up some snacks, grab a quick bite and check out the area. They
might have things were used to, like modern things.”

“Sure, let’s go.” As I hung up the phone I
had to chuckle at the idea of Jack being here for only a couple of
days and already missing his modern conveniences. It wasn’t like we
were out in the woods sleeping under the stars, eating beans cooked
over the campfire with no way to get across a river and then got
saturated in cold, wet clothes because we walked across in waist
deep rapids. We were far from that scenario, but it has seemed a
little brutal so far and Jack was already cracking.

We got comfortable and settled in for the
little journey. Jack wouldn’t shut up as he chatted about Luann
most of the way while filling in the quiet times with comments
about the landscape. A boring ass ride in a nutshell, thankfully it
would only last thirty minutes or so.

“Father Clayton mentioned this town
yesterday.” I acknowledged. “I also had an interesting conversation
with Alice, in case you care. She’s concerned.”

“About what, did she say?”

“She stopped over at my house expecting me to
be there. How could you not let her know where we were?” I
asked.

“She’s not my friend, nor is it my
responsibility.”

Even though we were all connected through
these crazy experiences, Jack was right. He and Alice never really
became friends or even acquaintances. They agree to disagree, but
for now are consistently bound together in one way or another
because of me. “I’ll give you that, but she worries I’m getting
into another investigation too soon. She thinks I should’ve taken
more time.”

“You need this little adventure to take your
mind off your worries, you chose this.” He reminded.

While Jack kept yapping, I wasn’t so sure I
chose it as much as I needed to get the hell out of Barrington. At
the same time, I couldn’t help but take Alice’s words of caution
into consideration. I was definitely caught in the middle of these
two more than I’d like to admit.

“The coffee place is on the corner here,
looks like heaven to me. C’mon, we have to get something other than
what we can get at the motel like a double espresso soy mocha latte
with some sweet latte art topping off the whole drink.”

I couldn’t help but smile, “A little
perspective please, I mean it’s only been a couple of days.”

“A couple of days too long for a caffeine
junkie like me, regular black coffee not cutting it in my
world.”

Upon entering the establishment, I couldn’t
help but notice this feeling of emptiness being accompanied by a
strange, overwhelming silence. As we looked around there was no
one. Perplexed and unsure what to do, we checked out the condiment
nook and nosed around the cash register seeing if anyone would show
their faces. “This place is in desperate need of a good surge of
energy and a hard shot of life blasted into it.” Jack admitted.

“What kind of twilight zone did we walk
into?” I questioned.

Jack shook his head when we heard a voice
speaking from behind the counter, “Welcome, what can we get for the
two of you?”

“Coffee?” Jack said moving his attention from
me over to the gentleman speaking.

“Yes, but what kind? We’re your typical
coffee house with all different brews and concoctions you can think
of.”

Once the order was taken and some of the
shock wore off Jack politely asked, “Pretty quiet in here. Is it
usually like this?”

“We have a morning rush and an evening
gathering of customers. The business just opened a couple months
ago, so we’re still trying to win people over. These small areas
tend to think our prices are too high for coffee, but the younger
generations love it. It’s the older crowds we’re still working
on.”

“Ah well, you’ll probably see me in here a
lot. I live on this stuff.”

“That’s music to my ears, you live around
here?”

“Just visiting, but we’ll be around for a
while.”

“We hope to see you back as many times as you
like and if there’s something you don’t see on the menu, tell us
and we’ll try to cater best we can.”

“See there, my anxiety is already melting
away.” Jack quipped with a wink. I smiled and nodded still not
ready to let my worries go yet.

Finding a seat was the least of our problems
considering we were the only customers there. “So, what do you
think Jack, which table?”

“I’ll let you do the honors of picking out a
good one.” He said in his mockery.

“Well, a window seat without too much sun
beating down on us and a bonus view of the parking lot it is then.”
I pulled the chair out from under the table when an ear piercing
screech filled the café like nails on a chalkboard as I scraped it
across the floor. Jack shot of glare my way with a disappointed
frown, but it was better than deafening silence which had been our
other choice. Being the gentleman he can sometimes be Jack
delivered our order table side, but in typical male tradition he
forgot to get me a plastic to go cup and lid so I can take it with
upon leaving. I glanced to the counter and it sat empty again.
“Where the hell did that guy go?”

“I have no idea, but this is an amazing
blend.” Jack stated as he sipped savoring each black gold mouthful.
I, on the other hand, kept an eye on the register not sure what to
expect next as my anxiety level crept higher and higher.

“Good day.” Someone whispered from behind
forcing a knee jerk reaction causing me to spill coffee on my pants
when I immediately placed the accent. I abruptly turned around to
confirm my initial thought.

“Father, for some reason I didn’t expect to
see you here.” I admitted sheepishly perturbed by his actions.

“I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“Not at all, I mean, it’s the coffee winding
me up.” I excused.

“Again, I apologize. I have some members of
the congregation in the hospital. One was an all-nighter, so I
dropped in for a pick me up. Who’s the caffeine addict between the
two of you?”

“That would be me, Father.” Jack
interrupted.

“Wait, you have a coffee already? I’ve been
searching for someone and can’t find a soul since we last ordered.”
I questioned.

“Yes, I can’t get enough of this brew.”
Father Clayton expressed.

“And you got that here?” I asked curious.

“I came in the front door and went to the
counter to order just like everyone else, they are prompt.”

“Everyone else, there were others?”

“Not today, but I meant other times when I
have stopped by.” Father Clayton said glancing at me as if I was
daft because he wasn’t seeing the problem.

“Did you see us sitting here when you ordered
your coffee?” I asked.

“I did come over to talk to you, did I not?”
He offered unapologetically.

Baffled, I shot a look over to Jack knowing
full well we had been the only ones here.

“So Jack, are you just here for coffee?”
Father Clayton asked.

“We thought we’d pick up a few items, do some
looking around and generally get an idea of what we have to work
with.” Jack said.

“Sounds good, hope you both enjoy the day.
Melissa, can I talk to you alone?”

I followed still trying to piece together
what just happened when I felt his arm feeling its way around my
shoulder pulling me in close, “Will I see you later tonight for
another session?”

My eyes grew big as he stood much too close
when I whispered back, “Unless you’re too tired, I don’t want to
intrude, we can reschedule.”

“Nonsense, after a couple cups of this stuff
I’ll probably be up all night again anyway. Come by tonight, I
insist.”

“We’ll keep the original schedule then.” I
concluded.

“Yes, I think you made the right decision.”
He stated before jetting out of the establishment when I heard a
bell stopping me dead in my tracks. The door had swung open and
closed as he pushed his way through creating a jingling sound. I
turned staring at the bell above the door thinking this is a bad
omen.

“Jack?” I questioned as my voice cracked.

“C’mon, if you’re done with Father Frisky, we
have to get going.” Jack stated not even paying attention. I pushed
him out needing to get away from there as soon as possible. We
piled back into the car and drove to our next destination.

“Was it me or did he seem to appear out of
thin air?”

“The bell on the door”, I stated
horrified.

“What did you say?” Jack asked.

“Did you notice a bell on the door when we
entered the coffee house? We would have heard him come in the first
time with that bell. No one else around, I kept my eyes on the
register. How could he order his drink when I couldn’t find anyone?
I didn’t hear it jingle.” I rambled in a rapid fire manner trying
to process these oddities as chills made their way up and down my
back.

“What did he say to you?” Jack
questioned.

“Just about our session tonight, I don’t know
why he insisted on whispering.”

“Because he wanted a cheap feel, his hands
know no boundaries.” Jack joked.

“My shoulder is hardly a cheap feel.”

Jack didn’t say a word as my mind twirled
with the idea that maybe we were dealing with more than we
bargained for.

“Say again.” Jack insisted.

“I didn’t say anything, but you know why we
didn’t notice him? We were consumed and a little obsessed to
finally get some comforts of Barrington.”

I could tell his mind started to churn that
notion around, not really buying it though.

“It’s ok, Jack. We’re on the right
track.”

“Here’s our problem…we’re investigating him
because someone hired us to do so, but he might already know why
we’re here and if he does then he’ll always be one step ahead of
us. Can we get to the bottom of this if he already knows?”

“Here’s a better question. Are these people
comfortable taking down their only beloved priest in the area, if
it comes to that?” I asked.

“They want to know the truth about him.”

“The truth is always complicated and is never
what it seems.” I stated.

“What if these people are wrong? All I know
is if he’s not the guy, then he has a good idea who is since he has
full access to the confessional.” Jack acknowledged.

I shook my head, “Even if he is our guy, he
could lead us on a wild goose chase because of the
confessional.”

Back at the coffee house the man behind the
counter asked, “Was that them?”

“Most definitely, thanks for all your help.
We might’ve already spooked them off.” Father Clayton confided.

Later that night, I headed over for another
session. As half of me tingled uncomfortably scared of what could
possibly happen, the other part almost looked forward to it.

I considered the notion he has just as much
need to confide in someone as I did, but there’s something about
getting privileged information and juicy scandalous tidbits direct
from a priest behind closed doors not many people get a peek into.
However, I still thought about our run in at the coffee house.

“So tell me what it was like, your marriage
to a man like John?” Father Clayton asked.

“In the beginning, it was us against the
world. He wined and dined me, dealt with issues in my life so I
didn’t have to and really made me feel like a princess. Later in
the relationship, came the extreme highs and lows with nothing in
between, like a rollercoaster.”

“Do you care to expand on that?” he
asked.

“I’m not really sure. He ended up being
everything to me, the security I never experienced as a kid. He was
my lover, husband, best friend and taught me a great deal about the
business world. But Jack is always eager to point out he’s not the
guy I have built him up to be in my head. He had his own problems,
sometimes putting me into precarious situations for his own
benefit. It’s hard to know how or what to feel about him anymore,
confusing.”

“This could be part of the grieving process,
several stages are involved. It’s understandable you still love him
but you need to start thinking about moving on. I can get some
handouts to help and then somehow you have to make peace with it,
even with all this controversy surrounding your relationship, you
still lost him.”