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"Did Sophie tell you where she was meeting this priest?" Sheila asked, hoping for a solid lead.
Jonah furrowed his brow in concentration. "Chester's, I think? It's a bar at the west end of town."
"I know it. Seems like an odd place to meet a priest."
"That's what I thought, too. She said he wasn't like most priests—not as strict."
Sheila made a note of that. "Did she mention the priest's name, by any chance?"
Jonah shook his head. "No, just that he was new in town. Someone she felt she could trust."
Another parallel to Laura Hastings' case. Sheila felt the pieces starting to come together, forming a picture she didn't like one bit.
"I must say I'm a bit puzzled," she said. "It's been three days since your sister went missing. How come you didn't say anything about this meeting sooner?"
Jonah sighed. "I've been racking my brain, trying to think of everything Laura said, everything we talked about. I forgot about Chester's until just recently—it seemed like such an insignificant detail at the time. I mean, I love my sister like hell, but I wasn't thinking something terrible might happen to her."
Sheila nodded, absorbing this. "One last question," she said. "When exactly was the last time you saw or heard from Sophie?"
Jonah's face crumpled, the pain of his sister's disappearance evident in every line. "Three days ago. We had lunch together. She seemed...I don't know, both relieved and anxious? She said she was meeting the priest that evening, and that afterward, everything would be okay." His voice broke on the last word. "But she never came home. I've been calling and texting, but there's no response. It's not like her, not at all."
Sheila reached out, placing a comforting hand on Jonah's arm. "We're going to do everything we can to find Sophie, Mr. Tournay. I promise you that."
He nodded, hanging his head as if he already knew something terrible had happened to his sister. Sheila caught Finn's eye as she rose from her seat. Finn broke away from hisconversation, and they joined each other at the door, which Finn held open for Sheila.
"Thanks for running interference," Sheila said as they stepped into the cool night air.
"You bet. What'd you find out?"
"Apparently Sophie was supposed to meet an unnamed priest at Chester's Bar and Grill three nights ago. She met her brother for lunch that day, and it was the last time he saw her."
They made their way toward Sheila's vehicle, a standard-issue Ford Explorer painted in the department's distinctive black and gold colors. The vehicle was equipped with all the necessary law enforcement gear, including a reinforced push bumper, emergency lights, and a siren. Despite its official appearance, however, Sheila had made the interior her own over the years. A small photo of her sister Natalie was tucked into the sun visor, and a well-worn kickboxing glove hung from the rearview mirror, subtle reminders of her past and her motivation to serve and protect.
"There's something else," Sheila added as she climbed into the driver's seat. "Sophie Tournay had an affair with a married man."
Finn slid into the passenger seat. "You think that's the connection?"
"Could be. Both victims were religious, two."
"Sounds like we know our killer's MO: He targets religious women who've committed some kind of…marital sin, I guess."
"Maybe the killer sees himself as some kind of moral enforcer," she said, pulling out onto the street.
"A vigilante priest," Finn mused, his tone skeptical. "Considering the state of marriages these days, he's not going to run out of targets any time soon."
"All the more reason to stop him as soon as possible. Come on, let's head over to Chester's. Maybe we'll find someone who remembers seeing him."
CHAPTER FIVE
Sheila's fingers drummed an anxious rhythm on the steering wheel as she guided the SUV through Coldwater's deserted streets. The clock on the dashboard read 12:37 AM, but sleep was the furthest thing from her mind. Every second that ticked by was another moment Sophie Tournay might be in danger.
If she was still alive at all.
"You okay?" Finn asked from the passenger seat, his voice cutting through the tense silence.
Sheila glanced at him, forcing a tight smile. "Just thinking about Sophie. And Laura. And how this whole mess feels like it's spinning out of control. I mean, if the man Sophie was meeting with is the same person who killed Laura, that's a gap of only three nights. Will he attack someone else in three nights?"
"You're assuming he attacked Sophie at all. For all we know, she could be safe and sound."
