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The Saint(29)

By:Tiffany Reisz


He flipped through the pages and glanced at the scraps of paper inside. They all appeared to have writing on them but not in English. Finally he flipped to the very back, ripped out a blank end page and slid it across the table to her. From inside his coat he produced a pen, a heavy black one.

“Write.”

Eleanor eyed the pen and paper. She looked at Søren.

“I will answer your questions,” he said. “Eventually. In the meantime I wouldn’t want either of us to forget any of them.”

On the end page she wrote What’s the third reason that being with me is problemmatic? and What’s the second reason you’re helping me? She furrowed her brow as she studied the paper.

“Something wrong?” Søren asked.

“I think I misspelled problematic.” She held up the note and Søren narrowed his eyes at it.

“One m.”

“Can I answer your two objections?” she asked, rewriting the word problematic with only one m this time. “I don’t care if you’re a Catholic priest. Forcing priests to be celibate is the stupidest rule ever. Why would God invent sex and then tell people not to have it? And second, so what? You’re older than I am. I’ll be sixteen in a couple days.”

“I can’t believe I’m even discussing this with you, Eleanor,” Søren said.

She smiled at him.

“I can.”

Søren turned his head and stared at nothing for a moment. He smiled a little and turned back to her.

“Very well, then.”

“Very well what?”

He held out his hand, waiting for her to shake it.

She stared at his hand, his perfect hand.

“You’re kidding, right?”

“I want you to obey me forever. It is a high price, and I realize that. If we have to negotiate, then we have to negotiate. I accept your terms. Can you accept mine?”

Eleanor slowly raised her hand off the desk and put her fingers into his.

“Okay,” she said. “You got me. I’m yours.”

He wrapped his much larger hand around hers. She expected his hand to be cold for some reason. He had such cold eyes, such an icy demeanor, but no, his skin was warm and she couldn’t help but imagine him touching her in far more intimate places than her hand.

“Forever,” she said.

And he said, “Everything.”

The deal was done. They released each other’s hands and Søren stood up.

“I’ll leave you now. Do not answer any questions until you speak to an attorney. The church will pay your legal fees. Rest assured you will pay us back for them in time.”

“Okay.” The fear had returned. She didn’t want him to leave her. Not now. Not ever.

“When your lawyer arrives, tell her the entire truth and leave nothing out. Your father was involved, no doubt. You need to tell the lawyer the level of his involvement.”

“Rat out my dad? No way.”

“Eleanor, less than one minute ago you promised to obey me forever. These are your orders. Your father is the reason you are here in this police station in the middle of the night with your entire future hanging in the balance. You are here. He isn’t. You will tell the lawyer and the court everything you know about your father and his illegal enterprises. You should be able to parlay that into a plea agreement or a very reduced sentence. In the meantime, I’ll meet with my friend who has useful connections. I will leave nothing to chance where you are concerned.”

He took two steps toward the door.

“Eleanor?”

“Yeah?”

He gave her a smile, this one showing his kindness and concern.

“I will take care of you. Forever.”

She returned his smile as best she could.

“This friend of yours, he’ll really help me?”

“He will.”

“How come?”

“Add that question to your list.”

Eleanor rolled her eyes and exhaled heavily as she wrote Why will your friend help me?

“I’m gonna need legal-size paper for this freaking list. Anything else?”

“Yes. You’re missing a question on your list.”

“I got them all. What am I missing?”

Søren returned to the table, took the pen and paper from her and wrote nine words. And without a word, he slapped the cuffs back on her wrists and left her alone in the room.

Eleanor looked down at the paper and read the question he’d written in his elegant, masculine handwriting.

Why would a priest have his own handcuff key?





9


Nora

NICO DROPPED HIS HEAD AND LAUGHED, RUBBING the back of his neck in consternation and amusement. Nora put her toe under his chin and lifted it.

Nora put on her best dominant face.

“Young man, do you think it’s hilarious that I stole cars for my father and got arrested? I promise you I didn’t find it funny.”