Three Times a Lady

Chapter 41

Quiet as a church mouse, Nicholas emerged from the bathroom of the sanctuary at Ascension Catholic Church just as Father Lance Middleton completed his disrobing following Mass, revealing pressed black clothing complete with a stiff white Roman collar around his wrinkled neck.

To pass the time while he’d waited, Nicholas had spent the majority of the service working the bottom portion of a handheld crucifix back and forth against the concrete floor in the bathroom, honing the metal until the bottom edge had sharpened into a gleaming point.

To the priest’s credit, Middleton didn’t surprised to see Nicholas standing there with the crucifix balanced in his right hand. The old goat probably thought Nicholas was just another lost parishioner seeking some sort of guidance from above.

Boy, was he ever mistaken.

Middleton smiled at Nicholas, showing off crooked yellow teeth. ‘Well, hello there,’ he said. ‘Can I help you with something? The public restrooms are located in the back of the church, if that’s what you’re looking for, but I certainly don’t mind you using mine. Share and share alike, that’s what I always say.’

Nicholas smiled back at the man. ‘Thanks for the offer, Father. That’s awfully generous of you. But, no, there isn’t anything you can help me out with. I, on the other hand, can definitely help you out with something.’

The priest lifted his bushy eyebrows. ‘What’s that? What can you help me out with?’

Springing forward, Nicholas jammed the sharp point of the crucifix deep into the right side of Middleton’s neck. Blood erupted from the priest’s throbbing jugular vein in a powerful explosion of red. A fine crimson mist of it sprayed across Nicholas’s face and clothing.

‘Help you out with understanding that Dana Whitestone belongs to me, Father,’ he said calmly. ‘As a matter of fact, she’s always belonged to me.’