The Priest (The Original Sinners #9) - Tiffany Reisz Page 0,114

past the sitting room, and when he saw them in there, came inside. Nora had to smile. Céleste was passed out on Kingsley’s shoulder. She had a habit of falling asleep on any drive that lasted longer than five minutes.

“What’s going on?” Kingsley asked, his voice half a whisper.

“Just talking about the case,” Nora said, wiping her face.

Juliette followed him into the room, with S?ren close behind. Nora saw Cyrus sit up a little straighter when Juliette made her entrance.

“Evening, ma’am,” Cyrus said to her, with a wide smile. Nora lightly punched him in the shoulder. Juliette pretended not to see Nora’s reprimand, though there was a twinkle in her eyes.

“I can take our daughter to her room,” Juliette said to Kingsley. Kingsley had sunk into the big armchair. Céleste, still on his shoulder, hadn’t stirred a muscle.

“She’s out, she’s fine,” he said to Juliette. “What’s the news?” Kingsley asked Cyrus and Nora.

Nora looked at Cyrus, who nodded. She told everyone everything.

S?ren sat on the edge of the love seat, elbows on knees, hands clasped between, and head down as if praying. Juliette sat next to him, arm over her stomach like it was a shelf, head on her hand, elbow on the back of the seat. Kingsley listened intently and made no comment and showed no emotion. But Nora saw him drop a kiss onto his daughter’s sleeping head while they quietly recounted the events of the week.

“So it’s over,” Nora said at the end. “We figured it out but the police can’t do anything with it.”

“Would you want them to?” Kingsley asked.

“Maybe,” Nora said. “Like Cyrus said, Archbishop Dunn had told the police not to bother with an investigation. That’s why they asked Cyrus to look into it. What if they knew something?”

S?ren raised his head. “Even if Father Isaac had confessed his plan to the archbishop, he wouldn’t be allowed to tell anyone or act on that knowledge.”

“That’s crazy, you know,” Cyrus said. “No offense, but doctors, shrinks, teachers, they’re all mandatory reporters. Why not priests?”

“Seal of the confessional,” S?ren said. “You have to have someone in this world you can trust with your secrets.”

“Not when the secret is that you’re planning to—” Cyrus didn’t finish that sentence. He shook his head. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter if Dunn knew or didn’t know. The police aren’t going to look into it. As far as they’re concerned, this was a lone priest planning a bad act. He killed himself before he could do it. The end. They sure as hell don’t have the resources, the manpower, or even the desire to go up against the Church in this town, not without any proof there’s some bigger conspiracy involved.”

Juliette said something softly in French.

“No,” Kingsley replied.

“What was that?” Cyrus said.

“Juliette said, ‘Call the press.’”

“The press?” Cyrus repeated that like he was thinking it over. “Could work. I know a couple investigative reporters in this town been looking for any excuse to go after the Church. I could leak the story to them.”

“Why?” S?ren sat up straight and held up his hands. “A man is dead and the child is safe. No crime was committed. You’d only be leaking salacious gossip, not actual news. You can’t possibly want that little girl’s story in the papers.”

“Or your name,” Kingsley said to Nora. “You’re part of this. It gets out that priest called you before he shot himself… Ah, this isn’t the old days, Elle. I can’t protect you like I used to in New York.”

“As far as that little girl knows,” S?ren said, “a priest from her school broke a rule and offered to take her to a park she wanted to visit. If the story gets in the news, and she finds out what Father Isaac was planning to do to her? Or what he did to himself because of that… Do you have any idea how much that could traumatize her?”

“A lot,” Cyrus said, nodding.

Kingsley said, “I vote ‘no’ to getting the press in on the story. If I get a vote.”

“If I get a vote,” S?ren said, “I also vote ‘no.’ Twice. This could blow up and I don’t want you getting hit by shrapnel, Eleanor.”

Juliette stood up and went to Kingsley. Without a word, she took Céleste from his arms and carried her out of the room. Nora heard her footsteps on the stairs.

“Excuse me,” Nora said and left the three men in the sitting room. She followed Juliette up the stairs, and found her standing in the