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“Amen,” I said and put the wafer in my mouth.
I knelt after Communion, said my own private prayers, and tried not to fall asleep in the pew listening to one of the lectors drone on and on about news everyone could easily have read about in the bulletin.
Though the church was small and the 9:00 a.m. Mass catered to the older community, everyone wanted to chat with Father Raphael.
I could have left, but I’d come here in part to talk to my uncle. So I waited outside—Arizona spring is my favorite. It would top ninety by two o’clock that afternoon, but that was fine. Until temps moved north of the hellish one-ten, I was good. Last year we had the hottest summer on earth, weeks of temperatures exceeding 110. That was just fucked, as if a vent from Hell had opened up under the city of Phoenix. But other than those blistering days, I liked it.
The lull of voices and sound of cars leaving the lot put me into a semi-catatonic state as I leaned against my Jeep and soaked in the sun.
Ten minutes after Mass ended, Rafe approached. “You look tired,” he said.
“I am tired.”
I stretched, opened my eyes, stifled a yawn. “I was on my way home when I saw the cross and guilt had me turning left instead of right.”
He didn’t smile, though he usually enjoyed my humor.
“I’ve been avoiding you—I know. Sorry. I figured if it was super important you would have said so.”
I feared my mom had talked to him. That he would try and smooth things over, and I didn’t want to take out my anger and frustration on Uncle Rafe.
“I was worried about you,” he said.
“I told you I had everything under control.”
“I was right to be concerned. You don’t look like you’ve slept all week.”
“Juggling two cases. But Annie’s safe—or, on the road to being safe.”
He frowned. “I didn’t say goodbye, make sure she’s okay.”
“She’s fine. We need to be careful. I don’t know if her bastard of a husband will be able to trace her to you. It’s better she didn’t visit. If you see him, even if you think you see him, call me. I’m serious, Uncle Rafe,” I added when he didn’t immediately agree. “I can be here in five minutes.”
He nodded. “And she’s really okay?”
“She will be. It’s a process. You know that.” This wasn’t the first time we’d worked together to help someone disappear.
“I’ve been thinking...”
“No.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“I know exactly what you’ve been thinking, Uncle Rafe, and I’m not dragging Jack or Josie into this. Jack isn’t a cop anymore and if he knows there’s a bad cop, he’ll do something he’ll regret. You know it, I know it. And I’m not risking Josie’s career. She’s barely out of training, still on probation. This is my case. I’ll find a way to take him down.”
Rafe didn’t say anything for a minute, and that always made me squeamish. Even before he became a priest.
Then he said, “I brought Annie to you because I knew you’d help her.”
“That’s my job.”
“It’s your calling,” he said. “I feared for Annie’s life. For her kids. That was the immediate problem, but while she may be safe, her husband is still an issue. He’s in law enforcement. He has friends. He has authority. Abusing his wife may not be his only crime. You shouldn’t go after him alone. Without, um, what do the shows say? Without backup.”
“I get what you’re saying, but—”
“There is no but in this. It’s not a crime to ask for help.”
“If I need help, I’ll ask. I have friends. Taking down Carillo is the long game. I’m telling you again: if you see him, call me.”
