A Perfect Evil

Chapter 98

Timmy listened for the vending machine to swallow his quarters before he made his selection. He almost chose a Snickers, but his gut remembered, and he punched the Reese button, instead.

He tried not to think about the stranger or the little room. He needed to stay focused on his mom and help her get better. It scared him to see her in that huge, white hospital bed, hooked up to all those machines that gurgled, wheezed and clicked. She seemed to be okay, even seemed happy to see his dad after, of course, she had yelled at him. But this time his dad didn’t yell back. He just kept saying he was sorry. When Timmy left the room, his dad was holding his mom’s hand, and she actually let him. That had to be a good sign, didn’t it?

Timmy sat in the plastic waiting-room chair. He unwrapped his candy bar and separated out the two pieces. Grandpa Morrelli was supposed to bring him a sandwich from Subway after the two of them had inspected the cafeteria’s meat loaf. The Subway was only across the street, but Timmy hadn’t had breakfast. He popped one whole peanut butter cup into his mouth and let it melt before he started chewing.

“I thought you were a Snickers guy.”

Timmy spun around in the chair, startled. He hadn’t even heard footsteps.

“Hi, Father Keller,” he mumbled over a mouthful.

“How are you, Timmy?” The priest patted Timmy’s shoulder, his hand lingering on Timmy’s back.

“I’m okay.” He swallowed the rest of the candy bar, clearing his mouth. “My mom had surgery this morning.”

“I heard.” Father Keller slid a duffel bag into the seat next to Timmy’s then knelt down in front of him.

Timmy liked that about Father Keller, how he made him feel special. He was genuinely interested. Timmy could see that in his eyes, those soft, blue eyes, that sometimes looked so sad. Father Keller really did care. Those eyes… Timmy looked again and suddenly a knot twisted in his stomach. Today, there was something different about Father Keller’s eyes. Timmy didn’t know what it was. He squirmed in his seat, and Father Keller looked concerned.

“You okay, Timmy?”

“Fine…I’m fine. It’s probably just all the sugar. I didn’t eat breakfast. You going someplace?” Timmy asked, swinging a thumb at the duffel bag.

“I’m taking Father Francis to his burial place. In fact, that’s why I’m here, to make sure the body is ready.”

“He’s here?” Timmy didn’t mean to whisper, but that’s how it came out.

“Down in the morgue. Would you like to come with me?”

“I don’t know. I’m waiting for my grandpa.”

“It’ll only take a few minutes, and I think you’ll enjoy seeing it. It looks like something out of The X-Files.”

“Really?” Timmy remembered watching Special Agent Scully doing autopsies. He wondered if dead people really did look all stiff and gray. “You sure it’s okay if I come along? Won’t the hospital people get mad?”

“Nah, there’s never anyone down there.”

Father Keller stood up and grabbed the duffel bag. He waited while Timmy shoved the rest of the Reese’s into his mouth, accidentally dropping the wrapper. When he knelt to pick it up, Timmy noticed Father Keller’s Nikes, crisp and white, as usual. Only today there was…there was a knot in one of the shoestrings. A knot holding it together. The knot in Timmy’s stomach tightened.

He stood up slowly, a bit dizzy. A sugar rush-that was all it was. He glanced up at Father Keller’s smiling face, the priest’s hand outstretched to him, waiting. One last quick glance at the shoe. Why did Father Keller have a knot in his shoestring?