A Prayer for the Devil (11 page)

“I really don’t need the card,” Luke argued, but his father insisted.

“Luke, you never know when you might need it. Please, just take the card.”

Not wanting to upset his father, Luke followed the lady to one of the ATM machines, where a security guard was standing. As he walked through the bank with his head down, he saw faint flashes of light from cell phone cameras. Once he arrived at the machine, the guard did a good job of making sure that no one could get close to him. Looking toward the exit, he saw a crowd forming outside. After following the ATM’s instructions, he entered his new password: “temptation.” Soon he was back in the office with his family, preparing to leave.

Trying to protect Abel and Alessa from the reporters, Luke thought it would be a good idea if the children left the building with
his parents, since most of the onlookers had no idea who they were. What they really wanted was to see Luke and Deborah. “Mom, no matter what happens, go to the car, get into the backseat, and lock the doors. Deborah and I will leave a few seconds after you, but we’re going to stay in the bank until we’re sure that you are safe inside the car.” His parents agreed. Deborah bent down and said to the children, “We’re going to play a game. You go with Grandma and Grandpa, and walk to the car as fast as you can.” Trying to lighten the mood so that the children weren’t scared, she continued, “Uncle Lukey and I are going to give you a head start, then we’re going to try to beat you there. Don’t let anyone distract you. Whoever gets to the car first wins a prize.” Abel and Alessa laughed, hearing their mom say “Lukey.” “Do you understand?” They both shook their heads in agreement.

Luke opened the door, and his parents walked out quickly with the kids. A few seconds later, he and Deb walked into the lobby. To draw attention to himself, Luke said in a loud voice, “Thank you so much, Mr. McMahon, for all your help.” In an instant, every person inside the bank was focused on Luke. He saw his parents exiting the building, while the customers and employees turned their attention to him. Estimating that it would take his parents twenty seconds to reach the car, he and Deb looked down and waited. After counting, he took her by the arm and they walked briskly, with Jim Hathaway leading the way. Getting to the front door was a breeze, but none of them were prepared for what happened next.

Looking outside, Luke could see that a tremendous crowd had formed. There were reporters with cameras waiting, along with a horde of spectators. Luke assumed that someone who saw them in the bank had contacted the press. It was lunchtime in downtown Boston, and also an unseasonably warm day, so many people who worked in the nearby offices joined the gathering, not even knowing who they were
waiting for. Stopping near the security guard who had locked the bank doors, Luke looked at Deborah and said, “I’m not going to leave you. Just stay by my side and try not to look up.” She smiled nervously and nodded.

Seeing the crowd of people pressed against the glass, the guard looked at Luke and said, “Are you sure you want me to unlock the door?”

Luke joked nervously, “We’ll be OK; we have God on our side.”

The man smiled and replied, “I hope you’re right.”

The heavy glass doors opened outward, which was the first sign that someone was watching over them. As the guard pushed the door open, the people on the other side had to back up, thus creating a temporary void for Luke and Deb. Seeing the size of the crowd, which was getting bigger by the minute, Luke quickly maneuvered Deborah so that she was directly behind him; she wrapped her hands around his waist and clasped them. Putting his head down, he walked forward as flashbulbs and shouts erupted. After the first ten feet, he had no choice but to become somewhat aggressive as he began pushing his way through the crowd. He hated doing this, but he told himself he had to protect his family. He began making headway, considering the circumstances. He realized that people were tripping and falling as he forced his way, but he told himself that he couldn’t be concerned with that right now. He could hear people yelling, but he didn’t listen to their words because he was focused on just getting to the car.

Luke went directly to the driver’s side, opened the door, and shoved Deborah inside. While she was moving into the passenger seat, photographers pushed their cameras inside and snapped pictures blindly. Once Luke got in, he slammed the car door, not realizing that a reporter’s arm was still inside. As the man screamed, Luke’s first instinct was to be compassionate and get out to check the man’s
condition, but instead he opened the door to release the arm, slammed the door again, and locked it. Edging the car forward, it took more than ten minutes before he was able to leave the crowd behind. Only after the security guard at Aaron’s house waved the Mercedes SUV through the electric gates could Luke feel his pounding heart and high blood pressure begin to normalize.

GRATEFUL THAT HIS FAMILY
was now home and safe, Luke decided to tackle another unpleasant task that had been weighing on his mind for the last several days. Leaving once again from the woods behind the house, he drove to Roxbury and eventually pulled through the black iron gates of a small, secluded cemetery. He eased the car down the winding road leading to Aaron’s grave and parked on the grass that lined the narrow lane. Mesmerized, he stared at the headstone in the distance without blinking, wishing that this was a bad dream and that he would eventually wake up.

He emerged from the car, relieved to see that there was no sign of the press. Weeks had passed since “the incident,” so he figured most of them had quit stalking the cemetery and had moved on to other places in hopes of getting pictures of his family. As he knelt in the freshly excavated dirt and read the name on the headstone, he started to cry.

“I’m sorry I hurt you; I can’t believe we weren’t talking to each other. Aaron, I love you with all my heart. I really don’t know what to do about Deborah and the children, but you have my word that I’ll always stay close and watch over them. Dad and Mom are getting stronger, but they miss you so much.” He smiled, tears rolling down his
face. “You’re not going to believe it, but Dad and I are friends again. I never wanted to hurt you or the family. If I thought that being a priest was going to drive us apart, I never would have done it. If I wasn’t a priest, I wouldn’t have known about the homeless shelter in the middle of your project, and we would have never stopped talking. Maybe you wouldn’t have been on that stage with Brad Thompson.” Burying his head in his hands, he pleaded, “God help me!”

After walking back to the car, he got in and sat, drained. He didn’t know why, but he couldn’t leave. Maybe he just wanted to be close to his brother, but he had no desire to be anywhere else. Nearly an hour passed before he looked at the clock on the dashboard and decided it was time to go. Putting his hand on the ignition key to start the car, he instinctively looked in his rearview mirror and saw something that made him stop.

A white Cadillac inched down the narrow road. Hoping that it was just another mourner, but wanting to be cautious, he moved his hand from the ignition to the side of his seat, pushing the recline control. The seat inched slowly backward as the white car got closer. Luke realized that the tinted windows would make it hard for anyone to see him, but he wasn’t taking any chances. As the car passed, he couldn’t see inside from the position he was in, but he noticed the license plate, “LS 1.” The car slowed and parked about fifty feet ahead of him on the same side of the road.

Curious, Luke waited. After fifteen minutes, he returned his seat to its normal position in anticipation of starting the car, but he stopped when a tall blonde woman wearing high heels emerged from the Caddy and walked down the row where Aaron was buried. Luke was dismayed when she stopped in front of his brother’s grave. Determined to find out who she was, he quietly got out of the car, not wanting to be
noticed. Walking silently on the grass, he moved closer. When he was about fifteen feet away, she looked up, obviously startled, and began to cry. Luke continued walking toward her.

By the time he was standing next to her, she was hysterical. Raising her hands to hold her face, she dropped her purse. When she bent down to get it, her sunglasses fell to the ground. Luke bent down to pick them up and noticed that her heels had sunk into the loose dirt. When he stood, they were standing face to face, looking into each other’s eyes for the first time.

“I’m Luke, Aaron’s brother,” he said, while handing her the glasses. She opened her purse, placed them inside, and fumbled for a tissue. Sobbing, she extended her hand and said, “I’m Lori Simpson.” When she didn’t continue talking, Luke asked, “Have we met before?”

She turned to face him. “No, I’d only known your brother for about nine months. But I know a lot about you.” Realizing that she was very upset, he didn’t prod further but stood silently while she attempted to compose herself. Uncomfortable after several minutes of silence, he turned to leave. She looked up and said, “Please don’t go. I was a very close friend of your brother. We need to talk.” She slowly began walking and Luke followed.

“As I’m sure you know by now, Aaron was planning to run for senator in the next election. I was going to be his campaign manager, press secretary, and eventually, once he was elected, his chief of staff. We met while working on Brad Thompson’s presidential campaign after his first manager quit and Aaron reluctantly accepted the job. For the past several months, we spent an enormous amount of time together, working seven days a week, fifteen hours a day.” She continued walking, while dabbing her eyes with a tissue. “We were very close, and I can’t tell you the impact his death has had on my life.”

Feeling he should say something, Luke stated the obvious. “Mine also.” He wanted to ask her if they were having an affair, but he didn’t want to embarrass her.

She continued, “I just keep asking myself, why? Why did this happen?”

Now Luke had his opening. He stepped in front of her and she stopped walking. He asked, “Do you have any idea who did this?”

“I don’t know. There are rumors in political circles that it had something to do with Brad Thompson. I’ve heard allegations about everyone from pro-choice groups to Mexican drug lords. I understand that the FBI has questioned Steve Hinkley.”

“Who’s he?”

“A local pro-choice activist who made threats on the Internet.”

Luke asked in disbelief, “How could a local guy like that have the resources to pull off a bombing of that magnitude?”

She raised her voice and said, “I don’t know. I’m just telling you what I’ve heard.”

Sensing her frustration with his questioning, Luke said softly, “Who did you hear this stuff from?”

“I have a connection in the governor’s office.”

“Who’s that?”

“My husband is the lieutenant governor.”

Without thinking, Luke said, “You’re married?”

Agitated, she replied sharply, “Regardless of what you’ve been thinking, Aaron and I were only close friends. It wasn’t my choice, since I would have left my husband in a second for him, but unfortunately he was completely committed to his wife. Everyone seemed to assume that we were having an affair. Your brother was one of the best people I’ve ever known. Be sure to let his wife know that he loved and admired her. He talked about her all the time. And when he wasn’t
talking politics, or about his wife and children, he was talking about you.”

Luke remained silent and she continued. “The day Aaron was killed, I lost everything: my best friend, my career, and my future. All I have left is a loveless marriage.” She began crying again.

Not knowing what to say, Luke asked gently, “Do you come here often?”

“Just about every day. I have no place else to go.”

Realizing how close Lori was to his brother, he bluntly asked, “Why did Aaron have a gun?”

“There were constant threats from people who disagreed with Brad and Aaron’s political views. None were specifically directed at Aaron that I know of, but just about every day we would receive an intimidating letter or voice mail message.”