A Prayer for the Devil (42 page)

Dempsey looked around, smirked, and said, “I thought we were all on the same side.”

Romo positioned himself behind Luke’s wheelchair and replied, “I doubt that.”

Dempsey motioned to his friend from the Justice Department and said, “Detective, just wanted to let you know that Joe will be stopping by the police station to talk to you about the way Fatih was handled the night Father Miller was rescued.”

Romo stopped, turned, and threatened, “If you want to prosecute me for saving a man of God before a mass murderer, I look forward to it. But please, make sure the trial takes place in Boston.”

Tanner spoke up. “All people are equal under the law.”

“Not everyone,” Romo retorted, watching them leave.

When Romo backed out of the church door with Luke, hundreds of cameras snapped and thousands of people screamed. Police officers on horseback now lined the congested street. Surrounded by cops, Luke was ushered into a waiting limo. Once away from the crowds and back on the main road toward Aaron’s house, he tried to relax.

He felt his phone vibrating and looked at the display. Despite the fact that it was a private number, he decided to answer it anyway.

She was in a panic. “Luke, are you all right?”

He immediately knew who it was. “Yes, Jami, what’s wrong?”

“I only have a few seconds. Fatih’s mother and father have been killed.”

“I know; two FBI agents just told me. I can’t believe that Layth had them executed. I thought they would get a fair trial. Fatih’s mother was innocent.”

She broke in. “Luke, that’s why I’m calling. Layth didn’t have them killed. He thinks it was someone in the government.”

“Why would your Saudi government want them dead?”

“Not
my
government. Yours!”

LUKE LOOKED THROUGH THE
etched glass windows and watched the falling snow. He could see the security guards at the front gate and knew that others surrounded the entire property. Although he realized that it was for his own good, he felt like a prisoner. For the past week, police had set up roadblocks, only allowing residents who owned homes in Aaron’s neighborhood to enter the area.

This time, living at Aaron’s house was different. There was closure. Luke’s parents had moved back, and his mother babied him like an injured child. He walked with a slight limp, but his doctors assured him that over time he would walk normally again. The combination of
no rigorous exercise and his mother’s home cooking had caused him to gain a little weight.

Almost overnight, Luke had become one of the most recognizable religious figures in the world. Hordes of terminally ill people traveled long distances in hopes of seeing him and being miraculously healed by the immortal priest who was anointed by God himself. This legendary status was a blessing and a curse. While it brought multitudes of people to churches all over the world, there were many Muslim extremists who wanted to see Luke dead, or better yet, kill him themselves. Trying to protect their star priest, the Vatican assigned two undercover guards to shadow him when he was in public.

The pope’s assistant had traveled to Boston to meet with Luke personally. Luke agreed to go to Rome for Christmas as long as his parents, Deborah, and the children could come along. Luke was scheduled to be introduced by the pope to the crowd in Vatican Square during the celebratory blessing. They would be the honorary guests of the pope himself and stay within the confines of the Vatican, where he and his family could be protected. Fearing for his safety, the Church had offered sanctuary to Luke and his family for as long as they wanted.

Luke had promised Detective Romo that he would meet with him before leaving for Rome. He now waited for a police car to pick him up. Seeing the gates open, he told Deb, “I’ll see you in an hour.”

She hugged him. “Be careful.”

This was the first time Luke had been out of the house since Vincent’s funeral. The crisp winter air felt good as he took several deep breaths, then walked deliberately with a cane toward the unmarked police car in the driveway, the snow crunching under his boots.

A young officer jumped out of the car, bowed in respect, and said, “Right this way, Father.”

He opened the door and Luke got inside. There was another, older police officer sitting in the front. After introducing himself, he said, “Detective Romo is going to meet you at the cemetery—the same place you met before.”

Luke wondered why they needed to be secretive again, but he only nodded.

Once they passed several impromptu police roadblocks, Luke was convinced that no one could have followed them. Arriving at the cemetery gate, Luke pulled up his hood and got out of the car, along with the two plainclothes officers, who remained in the street. The two Vatican guards that had followed in another car flanked Luke as he proceeded up the path. Approaching the bench, he saw Romo waiting. Luke asked the guards to stay in the distance as the detective wiped the snow away so he could sit down.

Looking straight ahead, Romo chuckled and said, “Father Luke, you’re amazing. You’re the only one who would have believed that Franklyn Hennessey had the answer to the bombing in Boston.”

Luke smiled ruefully. The detective reached under his coat and pulled out a folder. He handed it to Luke without saying a word. Opening it, Luke saw more pictures of himself on the ice with Fatih, but he hadn’t seen these particular photos before, and he wondered why not. In the first photo, Luke was standing on the thin ice pointing the gun at Fatih’s head. In the second one, he could see the smoke at the end of the barrel after he had shot, and the petrified look on Fatih’s face. The next one showed Luke passed out on the snow-covered ice in a puddle of his own crimson blood.

The detective broke his silence. “I thought you might want these. The medical photographer who took the pictures from the helicopter is a friend of mine. No one else has copies, and the chip has been destroyed.”

Luke thanked him.

Romo smiled. “I can’t believe you missed him when you were standing so close.”

Luke looked up. “I didn’t miss. I couldn’t kill him. I wanted to, but at the last minute, I moved the gun and shot into the water. How could I ever expect to be forgiven for my sins if I didn’t forgive him?”

Surprised, Romo replied, “So you’ve forgiven him?”

Luke sighed. “Let’s just say I’m working on it.”

Then Romo reached into his outside coat pocket and handed him Aaron’s gun. “This was found on the boat. I thought you might want it.”

“No thanks, you keep it.”

Turning to look at him, the detective reminded Luke of the danger he was in. “There are more death threats against you than almost anyone in the world. I think you should keep it.”

Luke thought for a few seconds and reluctantly put the gun in his coat pocket. “Thanks, I’ll hide it in the closet.”

Romo added, “But that’s not the reason I wanted to see you.”

“There’s something else?”

“Yes, I have a confession to make.”

“What’s that?”

“Luke I’m going to tell you something, but you can’t say you heard it from me.” Luke agreed, and Romo continued. “When that Muslim guy, Fatih, was brought to the police station after being pulled from the water, but before he went to the hospital, he was read his Miranda rights and he immediately refused to talk. He knew the law very well and demanded his one phone call. Well, after he made his call, let’s just say, we got the number.”

“What do you mean, you got the number?”

Romo hesitated. “Well, it’s not exactly legal, but we had a trace on
the phone he used. Sometimes we use the phone numbers that criminals call to help us solve cases. We don’t record their conversations or anything like that, but we trap the numbers.” He handed Luke a piece of paper. Luke looked at it, not understanding.

Detective Romo asked, “Don’t you recognize that number?”

Puzzled, Luke read it again and replied, “No, should I?”

“Look again,” the Detective demanded.

Luke said out loud, “202-456-”

Romo interrupted. “Luke, 202 is the area code, and all of the numbers to the White House start with 456.”

Luke looked at him in disbelief. “He called the White House?”

Detective Romo nodded.