"You betcha," Maeva agreed with a laugh.
Once she was alone in her room, Sadie stared at the ceiling and debated the outcome of the rest of her life, or at least the next few months. She had enough savings to help her pay bills for a number of weeks, if business didn"t pick up. After that, she"d have to consider selling her house and moving into an apartment. Or going back to teaching primary school. Something could definitely be said in favor of dealing with snotty noses and tattletales instead of maggots and blood spatter.
As the drugs dissipated from her body, Sadie was left with a pounding headache and she closed her eyes. She wriggled under the blankets but the sheets were tucked too tightly around her legs and the place smelled too sterile. Slowly all the working sounds of the hospital became background noise and Sadie drifted off to sleep. Later that night she became aware someone was in her room but thought it was just a nurse because they seemed to take pleasure in waking her to check her pulse and blood pressure every hour. Her eyes fluttered open and settled on a man in a dark suit. Then Sadie spied a clerical collar.
A priest? Wait a second. That"s not a priest. It"s an ex-priest hotel manager.
"Herbert, is that you, or have the drugs not worn off yet?"
"It"s me. How are you?" he asked, smiling down on her. "I was so worried when I heard what happened over at the house."
"Word sure gets around." Sadie frowned. "That"s really nice that you took the time to visit me." She looked him up and down. "I thought you left the priesthood?"
"n.o.body ever leaves."
"So it"s like "Hotel California"?" she joked, sitting up a little bit.
He shook his head.
"I"m okay. Really."
"You"re not okay. It"s all around you."
"What is?" Sadie looked around the room.
"Evil. It"s all around you and even inside you. You"ve chosen a life where you taunt the devil on a daily basis. I thought that, given the opportunity to help me, you"d do the right thing." He frowned. "A few years ago we were on the same page and shared the same thoughts. We had a connection. An unspoken agreement."
"What are you talking about?" Maybe there were still drugs in her system, because she sure felt confused.
"When we talked after the death of our siblings and-"
"The death of our-" Sadie stopped herself short. "Oh my G.o.d. Now I remember! The support group for families who suffered through suicide. I was there because my brother killed himself and you were there because your sister-"
"Not my sister. I don"t call that whoring mongrel my sister anymore," he seethed. "I"ve spent my time trying to get rid of all like her. When Gayla told me about your spiritual calling I thought you were like me. Ridding the world of Satan"s blight . . . you spiritually, me physically, taking hookers out of commission."
Sadie swallowed nervously. His voice was low and soothing but his eyes were crazy huge. Her hands groped along the bedsheets for the call b.u.t.ton.
"Gayla? How do you know Gayla?"
"When I ran a hotel in Albuquerque she was my accounting manager and my lover. She had lots of great ideas about the afterlife that intrigued me. After too many martinis she told me how she had bought a couple spirit-infested houses and turned them for a profit. I thought we were on the same side . . . like me and you-she dealing with spirits, like you, and me dealing with those who sell their bodies for profit. I broke up with Gayla when I realized she just wanted money."
"But she bought your old house and-"
"That was my idea. I"d been keeping an eye on the house. I knew that neighbor, Roy, couldn"t afford to hang on to it forever. The minute it hit the market, I called Gayla and asked her to buy it." He rolled his eyes. "Of course she screwed that up too, having to partner with it. When she told me it was haunted, I couldn"t very well allow that b.i.t.c.h Iris to ruin everything."
"Y-you were Della"s husband . . . Iris"s father!" Sadie scooted up her bedsheets, trying to get away. "Wh-what do you want?"
"What I"ve always wanted, of course. To eliminate flaming wh.o.r.es, alive or spirited, who tempt men." He tilted his head in surprise. "Don"t you remember? You told me you understood. . . . I shared in group about my sister going into prost.i.tution and then killing herself and leaving an angry note blaming me. You said she pointed a finger at me because she was unable to deal with her own issues. That was very profound and accurate." He sighed. "They all do that. . . . They all point their evil fingers at me, forcing me to cut off their accusing pointer and-"
"I don"t remember saying any of that!" But her mind raced to connect the jigsaw in her head and then it clicked. She"d offered him consolation after the group meetings. Told him his sister"s finger pointing was wrong and that her death wasn"t his fault.
"Of course you said it! Don"t pretend you didn"t know it all along," he hissed. "The finger my sister pointed at me . . . the finger they all point at the men in order to corrupt their thoughts and deeds . . . that"s why I had to leave my family. I had to search out the offenders. They had to die!" He jabbed her angrily with his own finger. "I knew if I left you the fingers you would make the connection and you"d know what to do, but you ignored the fingers . . . the necklace to help you focus . . . all my gifts that were to help us be partners and-"
"Partners? Fingers? Oh my G.o.d. . . . Those poor women, and you . . . you even killed your own daughter. . . . You killed Iris!"
"Iris was weak. . . . She sold her body just like my sister . . . like her aunt! It was in her blood. I made sure her mother saw the truth. I didn"t have to kill her." His smile was cruel. "I just needed to convince her mother to do what had to be done."
"She wasn"t a prost.i.tute. She only wanted to be an actress. Not everyone that went to that acting camp was from the streets! Get out! Y-you need to leave!" Sadie said with a strength she didn"t feel. Her hands still searched the side of her bed for the call b.u.t.ton.
"I"ll go," he said. "Let me just pray for you first." He raised his hands in the air. "Carnalem concupiscentiam est insatiabilis," he murmured.
"The words from the necklace," Sadie whispered.
He looked down on her with a frown.
"You were supposed to recognize the calling. You saw their spirits. It was a message that He called you to rid the world of wh.o.r.es. I saw a medium who had the necklace empowered with a spell that would drain energy from anybody unless they were ridding the spiritual world of tramps and wh.o.r.es while I worked on those in the physical here and now." His voice was tight with anger. "You ignored the messages I left. We were supposed to work together . . . then die together. Once you"re gone, maybe you can finally rid the spiritual dimension of those tramps."
Herbert put his hands on his hips and his black jacket fell open. Hanging on a clip from his belt were sharp pruning shears. The kind that would be perfect for snipping off fingers!
Sadie opened her mouth to scream but Herbert pressed his palm over her mouth and nose with such pressure her teeth cut into her lips.
"Luke eleven verse twenty, Sadie," he snarled. ""If I drive out demons by the finger of G.o.d, then the kingdom of G.o.d has come upon you.""
Sadie tried to push him off, but his entire body weight was pressed into her. Only a small amount of air managed to slip between his fingers into her nose, and her lungs began to burn.
"My daughter was slipping into the world of wh.o.r.es," he hissed furiously in Sadie"s face. "And her useless mother was blind to the demons! Leviticus twenty-one declares that if a priest"s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prost.i.tute, she must be killed!"
Sadie kicked up her feet but they were bound tightly with the sheets. d.a.m.n hospital corners!
With one hand still pressed forcefully against her mouth, Herbert used his other to quickly slip a gold chain from around his neck. Then he released her mouth and swiftly tugged the long chain over Sadie"s head. She went to scream but had so little breath in her lungs that it came out a mere squeak.
Herbert grabbed the chain and began twisting. Sadie felt the gold cut into her neck as she writhed and thrashed, trying to throw him off balance. It was no good. He was too strong.
Abruptly, Herbert stiffened and tensed. His body vibrated and his face drew into a grimace as though he were having some kind of a seizure. He fell to the floor. Zack stood behind him holding a Taser gun.
Zack rushed to her side and pressed the call b.u.t.ton her fingers had been desperately trying to reach.
"You okay?" Zack asked.
Sadie coughed and gasped but managed to nod.
Herbert Sylvane moaned softly on the floor and Zack pressed the Taser trigger and jolted him a second time.
A nurse came running in and Zack ordered her to call the cops. Then he wrapped his arms around Sadie and pulled her into a strong hug. He smelled faintly of soap and cologne and home.
Chapter 19.
The doctor wanted to keep Sadie in the hospital another day because of the trauma, but Sadie claimed she"d be more traumatized by the bill and insisted on going home. Later that morning she was discharged but not before Detective Petrovich stopped by to give her an update.
"You"ve probably figured it all out by now," Petrovich said. "Eddie Prior is Herbert Sylvane. Guy changed his name when he walked out on his family, and we suspect that"s when he started on his mission to get rid of working girls one at a time."
"And working for hotels . . ."
"Yeah, that just made the pickings easier." He nodded. "So did helping out at places that offered street support for hookers."
"Like WATS?" Sadie asked.
"Right. While wearing a clerical collar."
"But he wasn"t a priest?"
"He was on the road to becoming a priest when he met and married Della. He still fancies himself a pretty holy guy."
"Saving the world one hooker at a time," Sadie spat.
"Yup. He"s confessed to everything. Crazy as a loon. I"m not a shrink but he talked about his sister. . . . I"m guessing he snapped when she killed herself and blamed him."
"We met at a support group that offered help for families struggling with loss through suicide," Sadie said. "I hardly remember him. Thought I was just offering sound advice by telling him his sister"s finger pointing wasn"t right and that he wasn"t to blame." She dragged a shaky hand through her hair. "I really gotta start watching what I say."
"I"m thinking a little nugget of crazy was always inside of him. You weren"t the one who released it. You just gave him words he obsessed about. Nothing you could"ve done about that." He tilted his head. "Do you know he really believes he was doing the right thing and thought you were going to help him?"
"He brought crazy to an entirely new level." Sadie wearily rubbed the crease between her eyebrows. "And speaking of crazy, I know you don"t want to hear about paranormal stuff, but I need to get that necklace so that Rosemary and Maeva can do a cleansing on it."
Sadie thought that he was going to balk at that, but maybe her supernatural friends were finally beginning to wear him down, because Petrovich promised to see what he could do about getting the necklace out of evidence to make sure that happened.
Petrovich stayed for a few more minutes to answer her questions and then left to take care of the mountain of paperwork involved in the case.
Zack drove her home. He set her up on her sofa with a comforter, a remote control, and Hairy for snuggling. He served her soup from a can and beer from a bottle and let her watch all the sappy sitcoms she could handle.
"The job I agreed to take is only twenty minutes away. I"m going to find an apartment nearby."
"You don"t have to keep that close an eye on me," Sadie remarked, although her heart skipped a happy beat.
"It"ll make dating you easier." He slumped into the chair next to her with his own beer and offered her the lopsided grin that she"d missed so much. "Give me some time to get settled back in Seattle and we can start doing the normal things couples do on dates . . . necking in the back of movie theatres . . . holding hands across restaurant tables."
"I can"t wait."
After a few hours Maeva and Rosemary stopped in to check on her.
"I"ll leave you ladies to make sure she doesn"t get into any trouble," Zack announced. "I"ve got some things to do around town."
He came over to Sadie, lifted her chin with the tip of his finger, and kissed her thoroughly with a fiery pa.s.sion that would"ve had her collapse in a heap if she hadn"t been sitting down.
Once he left the house Maeva let out a low whistle.
"I"m guessing we"re back to hot and heavy with the two of you."
"We"ll see," Sadie said, wanting to believe but still needing to protect her heart.
Rosemary said, "Don"t you find it ironic that he asked us to make sure you don"t get into any trouble?"
"Oh, give her some peace for a few minutes." Maeva rubbed Rosemary"s shiny bald head and chuckled.
"Uh-oh. Why do I get the sneaking suspicion you two aren"t just here to check on my well-being?" Sadie asked. "Isn"t it enough that I was almost murdered twice in one day?"
"That"s not my fault," Maeva said.
"Actually, at least part of it is your fault. You mentioned me at a convention that Gayla Woods went to in her search to grow her medium powers. She was wowed when you said that your friend Sadie helped the dead go over to the other side."
"I spoke to a large group in Los Angeles. I had no way of knowing someone would take the time to connect Madam Maeva"s in Seattle to you in the same city." She paused. "But you"re right. I never should"ve mentioned your abilities. Particularly when Scene-2-Clean relies on trauma clean, not ghosts, to stay afloat." She looked pointedly at Sadie. "However, you were supposed to go and stay with Rick. Not go back to the house on Halladay Street."
"There was a tracking device inside my purse. Remember, we talked about that at the hospital? I thought a tree branch broke my door frame, but it was either Gayla or Herbert who broke in using the branch and placed the tracking device during that windstorm a few days back. If I"d gone back to Rosemary and Rick"s place, all this would"ve played out endangering you. Herbert had Gayla buy the house but when she didn"t side with him in destroying prost.i.tutes and their spirits, he killed her. He probably would"ve killed all of you if you stood in his way." Sadie shuddered.
"You keep calling him Herbert." Maeva waggled her finger at Sadie. "He"s Eddie Prior. Iris"s dad, right?"
Sadie told them all that Petrovich said about how Eddie changed his name to Herbert Sylvane when he left his family here in Seattle and took up hunting down hookers as a pastime. "Working at a hotel chain where he could move around the country. Volunteering at places like WATS while pretending to be a onetime priest. He never became a priest. Petrovich said he left the seminary to marry Della Prior and then left her and Iris."
"Could be he really believed he was holy and saving the world from demonic wh.o.r.es. That"s sad," Rosemary added.
"No. The sad part is that when he returned to Seattle a few years ago and was volunteering at WATS, he saw his own daughter was attending an acting camp he thought was reserved for prost.i.tutes, and he somehow killed her," Sadie said. There"s no proof he actually killed Iris. It still could"ve been Della who did it."
Sadie didn"t want to think about how unlucky it would"ve been for Iris to have two messed-up parents, but she knew it was entirely possible that was the case. After all, birds of a crazy feather did tend to flock together. Eddie (a.k.a. Herbert) and Gayla were proof of that.
"So, tell me why you"re really here," Sadie said.
"To help Iris, of course."
Chapter 20.
"We can"t go back to the house. It"s a crime scene," Sadie reminded her friends.
"You"re right." Maeva nodded. "We wouldn"t want to cross a crime scene just to help a spirit get the peace she so justly deserves. I couldn"t ask you to do something like that."