Eleventh Hour by Catherine Coulter Read Free Book Online Page A

She was shaking so badly she spilled some of the water on the woolen cap in her lap. She stared at it, and swallowed.
    “You okay?” Father Michael Joseph’s brother said.
    She nodded. “Yes, I think so.”
    “Do you think he saw you?” Dane asked.
    She shook her head. “I was in the shadows, down under the pew. No, he didn’t see me.”
    “Okay, when you’re ready, tell us the rest,” Delion said.
    “When I heard the gun fire, I slipped down beneath the pew. I was terrified that he’d come out, see me, and kill me. He looked around, but like I said, I’m sure he didn’t see me. I watched him unscrew a silencer off the end of the gun—he did it very quickly, like he was really proficient at it—and he slipped both the silencer and the gun into his coat pocket. Then he did something strange, and it nearly scared me to death. He pulled the gun back out of his pocket. He held it pressed to his side. I think he was whistling as he walked out of the church.
    “I didn’t move for a real long time, just couldn’t, I was just too scared that he was waiting behind the side door to see if anyone would come out, and then he’d kill me, quick and clean, just like he killed Father Michael Joseph.
    “I finally went to the confessional.” She swallowed, closed her eyes for a moment. “I looked at Father Michael Joseph’s face. His eyes were open wide and I could see that he was gone. Oh God, he had such beautiful eyes, dark and kind, he saw so much. But his eyes were blank, vague in death, and there was a small red hole in his forehead. It looked so harmless, that little hole, but he was dead. There was something else, something in his expression. It wasn’t fear or terror, you know, from knowing in that instant he was going to die; it was something else. He looked somehow pleased. How could that be possible? For God’s sake, pleased about what?”
    “Pleased,” Delion said. “That’s odd. You’re sure?”
    She nodded. “Or maybe like he was finally satisfied about something. I’m sorry, I’m just not sure.”
    “Okay, go ahead.”
    “Then I heard someone coming out of the vestry off to the left. I froze. God, I thought it was the murderer and he was coming back. I thought he’d see me because I wasn’t hiding in the shadows anymore. He’d know that I saw him kill Father Michael Joseph, he’d believe that I could identify him, and he was coming back to kill me, too.
    “I ran as fast as I could to the side door, flipped up the dead bolt, and managed to slip outside without making much noise. I waited there, it seemed like forever, but I didn’t hear or see anything. Then I ran to try to find a phone.”
    “Where’d you go after that?” Delion asked.
    “Back to the shelter on Ellis, near Webster, Christ’s Shelter.”
    “That’s a long way from Saint Bartholomew’s,” Delion said.
    “Yes, it is. Father Michael Joseph was very involved in the shelter’s activities and the people who stayed there. That’s where I met him. He, ah, was very fond of history, particularly the thirteenth century. His hero was Edward the First.”
    “Ah, you know about that,” Dane said, and felt his voice seize up. He swallowed, knowing they were looking at him. “He loved history. I never had the knack for remembering dates, but Michael could. I remember he’d talk me into a coma, going on and on about the Crusades, particularly the one with Edward.”
    “That’s all well and good,” Delion said, “but let’s get back to it, all right?” He watched Dane collect himself, and lightly gripped his shoulder.
    “Are you sure you didn’t see more?” Delion said. “Anything else?”
    “No, I’m sorry. The man was in the confessional when he shot Father Michael Joseph. The light was real dim—you know how the light is really soft and almost black at midnight? And the shadows, they were thick, deep, all over the church.”
    Dane nodded.
    “It was like that. I’m sorry, but I got only a vague impression