Part 25 (2/2)
A nurse came running in and Zack ordered her to call the cops. Then he wrapped his arms around Sadie and pulled her into a strong hug. He smelled faintly of soap and cologne and home.
Chapter 19.
The doctor wanted to keep Sadie in the hospital another day because of the trauma, but Sadie claimed she'd be more traumatized by the bill and insisted on going home. Later that morning she was discharged but not before Detective Petrovich stopped by to give her an update.
”You've probably figured it all out by now,” Petrovich said. ”Eddie Prior is Herbert Sylvane. Guy changed his name when he walked out on his family, and we suspect that's when he started on his mission to get rid of working girls one at a time.”
”And working for hotels . . .”
”Yeah, that just made the pickings easier.” He nodded. ”So did helping out at places that offered street support for hookers.”
”Like WATS?” Sadie asked.
”Right. While wearing a clerical collar.”
”But he wasn't a priest?”
”He was on the road to becoming a priest when he met and married Della. He still fancies himself a pretty holy guy.”
”Saving the world one hooker at a time,” Sadie spat.
”Yup. He's confessed to everything. Crazy as a loon. I'm not a shrink but he talked about his sister. . . . I'm guessing he snapped when she killed herself and blamed him.”
”We met at a support group that offered help for families struggling with loss through suicide,” Sadie said. ”I hardly remember him. Thought I was just offering sound advice by telling him his sister's finger pointing wasn't right and that he wasn't to blame.” She dragged a shaky hand through her hair. ”I really gotta start watching what I say.”
”I'm thinking a little nugget of crazy was always inside of him. You weren't the one who released it. You just gave him words he obsessed about. Nothing you could've done about that.” He tilted his head. ”Do you know he really believes he was doing the right thing and thought you were going to help him?”
”He brought crazy to an entirely new level.” Sadie wearily rubbed the crease between her eyebrows. ”And speaking of crazy, I know you don't want to hear about paranormal stuff, but I need to get that necklace so that Rosemary and Maeva can do a cleansing on it.”
Sadie thought that he was going to balk at that, but maybe her supernatural friends were finally beginning to wear him down, because Petrovich promised to see what he could do about getting the necklace out of evidence to make sure that happened.
Petrovich stayed for a few more minutes to answer her questions and then left to take care of the mountain of paperwork involved in the case.
Zack drove her home. He set her up on her sofa with a comforter, a remote control, and Hairy for snuggling. He served her soup from a can and beer from a bottle and let her watch all the sappy sitcoms she could handle.
”The job I agreed to take is only twenty minutes away. I'm going to find an apartment nearby.”
”You don't have to keep that close an eye on me,” Sadie remarked, although her heart skipped a happy beat.
”It'll make dating you easier.” He slumped into the chair next to her with his own beer and offered her the lopsided grin that she'd missed so much. ”Give me some time to get settled back in Seattle and we can start doing the normal things couples do on dates . . . necking in the back of movie theatres . . . holding hands across restaurant tables.”
”I can't wait.”
After a few hours Maeva and Rosemary stopped in to check on her.
”I'll leave you ladies to make sure she doesn't get into any trouble,” Zack announced. ”I've got some things to do around town.”
He came over to Sadie, lifted her chin with the tip of his finger, and kissed her thoroughly with a fiery pa.s.sion that would've had her collapse in a heap if she hadn't been sitting down.
Once he left the house Maeva let out a low whistle.
”I'm guessing we're back to hot and heavy with the two of you.”
”We'll see,” Sadie said, wanting to believe but still needing to protect her heart.
Rosemary said, ”Don't you find it ironic that he asked us to make sure you don't get into any trouble?”
”Oh, give her some peace for a few minutes.” Maeva rubbed Rosemary's s.h.i.+ny bald head and chuckled.
”Uh-oh. Why do I get the sneaking suspicion you two aren't just here to check on my well-being?” Sadie asked. ”Isn't it enough that I was almost murdered twice in one day?”
”That's not my fault,” Maeva said.
”Actually, at least part of it is your fault. You mentioned me at a convention that Gayla Woods went to in her search to grow her medium powers. She was wowed when you said that your friend Sadie helped the dead go over to the other side.”
”I spoke to a large group in Los Angeles. I had no way of knowing someone would take the time to connect Madam Maeva's in Seattle to you in the same city.” She paused. ”But you're right. I never should've mentioned your abilities. Particularly when Scene-2-Clean relies on trauma clean, not ghosts, to stay afloat.” She looked pointedly at Sadie. ”However, you were supposed to go and stay with Rick. Not go back to the house on Halladay Street.”
”There was a tracking device inside my purse. Remember, we talked about that at the hospital? I thought a tree branch broke my door frame, but it was either Gayla or Herbert who broke in using the branch and placed the tracking device during that windstorm a few days back. If I'd gone back to Rosemary and Rick's place, all this would've played out endangering you. Herbert had Gayla buy the house but when she didn't side with him in destroying prost.i.tutes and their spirits, he killed her. He probably would've killed all of you if you stood in his way.” Sadie shuddered.
”You keep calling him Herbert.” Maeva waggled her finger at Sadie. ”He's Eddie Prior. Iris's dad, right?”
Sadie told them all that Petrovich said about how Eddie changed his name to Herbert Sylvane when he left his family here in Seattle and took up hunting down hookers as a pastime. ”Working at a hotel chain where he could move around the country. Volunteering at places like WATS while pretending to be a onetime priest. He never became a priest. Petrovich said he left the seminary to marry Della Prior and then left her and Iris.”
”Could be he really believed he was holy and saving the world from demonic wh.o.r.es. That's sad,” Rosemary added.
”No. The sad part is that when he returned to Seattle a few years ago and was volunteering at WATS, he saw his own daughter was attending an acting camp he thought was reserved for prost.i.tutes, and he somehow killed her,” Sadie said. There's no proof he actually killed Iris. It still could've been Della who did it.”
Sadie didn't want to think about how unlucky it would've been for Iris to have two messed-up parents, but she knew it was entirely possible that was the case. After all, birds of a crazy feather did tend to flock together. Eddie (a.k.a. Herbert) and Gayla were proof of that.
”So, tell me why you're really here,” Sadie said.
”To help Iris, of course.”
Chapter 20.
”We can't go back to the house. It's a crime scene,” Sadie reminded her friends.
”You're right.” Maeva nodded. ”We wouldn't want to cross a crime scene just to help a spirit get the peace she so justly deserves. I couldn't ask you to do something like that.”
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