Bad Habit by JD Faver Read Free Book Online Page B

watching them.
    “ Sorry, Bernie,” Clem said. “We were
heading out and didn’t want to interrupt.”
    “ Is everything okay?” Miriam
asked.
    “ Can we help you?” Connie
asked.
    “ No, I—” Teri began.
    “ Nothing we can’t handle.” Angel
stood and held out his hand to Teri, pulling her to her feet.
“There’s been a development in the case and Bernie is returning to
New York.”
    The nuns rushed down the stairs and
surrounded them. They hugged Teri and assured her they wanted to
help and would pray for her safe return. They departed and Angel
escorted Teri upstairs.
    “ Gather whatever you want. You
won’t be coming back.” He watched Teri take a blue bag from under
her bed and stuff underwear and a nightgown inside. She packed the
prepaid cell phone, jeans and a knit shirt as well as a photo of a
young blonde woman who must be the real Bernie. She tossed in a
tube of lotion and shampoo.
    “ That’s it?” he asked. “What about
your paintings?”
    “ I’m really not very good,” she
said.
    “ You’re wrong about that.” He sorted
through the stack of paintings leaning against the wall. “You could
make a living selling your work.”
    A flicker of a smile materialized
and vanished. “I think you’re being very kind. I just started
painting again. I hadn’t lifted a paintbrush since I was in
college. Bernie has all the real talent in the family.”
    “ Not so. At least I’ll take your
painting supplies. You might change your mind.” He collapsed her
easel and looked around the apartment. “Is this all you’re taking
with you?”
    “ It’s more than enough.” She picked
up a blank canvas.
    “ Let’s go then.” He tucked the
easel under his arm and took the blue bag from Teri. He picked up
the metal tackle box that held her paints and brushes.
    “ Wait! I have to talk to Mother
Immaculata.”
    “ We don’t have time. You can call
her.”
    She looked like she was going to
cry again, but pressed her lips together hard. “I guess
so.”
    Angel led her from the apartment
and around to the rental car he’d left on the side
street.
    When she was buckled in, he started
the car and headed away from the convent and school. He checked his
rear view mirror, alert for a possible tail, and made a wide arc
that brought him back to the Alamo Motor Lodge. He invited her
inside and noted the maid had made up the king-size bed.
    “ What are we doing here?” she
asked.
    He tossed the blue bag on the bed
and switched on the television. “We’re chilling out. You can change
to your jeans if you want to be more comfortable.” A plan was
forming in his brain. The trace of a smile crossed his
lips.
    Teri took the jeans and knit shirt
out of the bag and changed in the bathroom. When she emerged she
found he’d brought her a cold drink from the soda machine. “Thanks,
Angel.”
    He always smiled when she said his name.
    “ Now what?”
    He popped the top on her soda and
handed it to her. “Sit down. I need some answers.” Angel watched a
series of emotions play across her face. “Don’t be afraid of me,
Teri. The whole reason I’m here is for you.”
    She sat down on one of the chairs,
averting her eyes. “Why do I feel so scared of you?”
    “ You’re the witness. I’m the cop.
What we’re both feeling has nothing to do with those
roles.”
    She met his gaze briefly and then
looked away. “Yeah, I think you’re right. Somehow, being alone with
you in a motel room doesn’t make me feel any safer.”
    “ My job is to protect you. We’d be
at the airport right now except, I think the men who killed your
boyfriend are here in San Antonio looking for you.”
    She looked up sharply. “Here?”
    He nodded. “I don’t intend to
endanger you, but I would like to hang around long enough to
identify them.”
    “ And you can do it here in San
Antonio?”
    “ This isn’t their home turf. It’s
mine. They can’t hide here as easily as they can in New York, and
we know where they’ll