Sacred Sins

such high standards in men. She poured him three fingers of scotch.

    He looked over at the desk piled with papers and folders and notes. That was his Tess, he thought as he took the glass from her. Always one to dig in her heels and get the job done. He didn't miss the half-eaten sandwich either. That was also his Tess. “So.” He tossed back scotch. “What do you know about this maniac we've got on our hands?”
    “Senator.” Tess used her most professional voice as she sat on the arm of a chair. “You know I can't discuss this with you.”
    “Bullshit. I got you the job.”
    “For which I'm not going to thank you.”
    He gave her one of his steely looks. Veteran politicians had been known to cringe from it. “I'll get it from the mayor anyway.”
    Instead of cringing, Tess offered her sweetest smile. “From the mayor, then.”
    “Damn ethics,” he muttered.
    “You taught them to me.”
    He grunted, pleased with her. “What about Captain Harris? An opinion.”
    She sat a moment, brooding as she did when gathering her thoughts. “Competent, controlled. He's angry and frustrated and under a great deal of pressure, but he manages to keep it all on a leash.”
    “What about the detectives in charge of the case?”
    “Paris and Jackson.” She ran the tip of her tongue along her teeth. “They struck me as an unusual pair, yet very much a pair. Jackson looks like a mountain man. He asked typical questions, but he listens very well. He strikes me as the methodical type. Paris…” She hesitated, not as sure of her ground. “He's restless, and I think more volatile. Intelligent, but more instinctive than methodical. Or maybe more emotional.” She thought of justice, and a sword.
    “Are they competent?”

    “I don't know how to judge that, Grandpa. If I went on impression, I'd say they're dedicated. But even that's only an impression.”
    “The mayor has a great deal of faith in them.” He downed the rest of his scotch. “And in you.”
    She focused on him again, eyes grave. “I don't know if it's warranted. This man's very disturbed, Grandpa. Dangerous. I may be able to give them a sketch of his mind, his emotional pattern, but that isn't going to stop him. Guessing games.” Rising, she stuck her hands in her pockets. “It's all just a guessing game.”
    “It's always just a guessing game, Tess. You know there are no guarantees, no absolutes.”
    She knew, but she didn't like it. She never had. “He needs help, Grandpa. He's screaming for it, but no one can hear him.”
    He put a hand under his chin. “He's not your patient, Tess.”
    “No, but I'm involved.” When she saw the frown crease his brow, she changed her tone. “Don't start worrying, I'm not going to go overboard.”
    “You told me that once about a box full of kittens. They ended up costing me more than a good suit.”
    She kissed his cheek again, then picked up his coat. “And you loved every one of them. Now I've got work to do.”
    “Kicking me out?”
    “Just helping you with your coat,” she corrected. “Good night, Grandpa.”
    “Behave yourself, little girl.”
    She closed the door on him, remembering he'd been telling her the same thing since she was five.

    T HE church was dark and empty, but it hadn't been difficult for him to deal with the lock. Nor did he feel he'd sinned in doing so. Churches weren't meant to be locked. God's house was meant to be open for the needy, for the troubled, for the reverent.
    He lit the candles, four of them—one for each of the women he'd saved, and the last for the woman he hadn't been able to save.
    Dropping to his knees, he prayed, and his prayers were desperate. Sometimes, only sometimes, when he thought of the mission, he doubted. A life was sacred. He'd taken three and knew the world looked on him as a monster. If those he worked with knew, they'd scorn him, put him in prison, detest him. Pity him.
    But flesh was transient. A life was only sacred because of the soul. It was the soul he saved. The soul he must continue to save until he'd balanced the scales. Doubting, he knew, was a sin in itself.
    If only he had someone to talk to. If only there were someone to understand, to give him comfort. A wave of despair washed over him, hot and thick. Giving in would have been a relief. There was no one, no one he could trust. No one to share this burden. When the Voice was silent, he was so alone.
    He'd lost Laura. Laura had lost herself and taken pieces of him with her. The