The Priest (The Original Sinners #9) - Tiffany Reisz Page 0,86

out.”

“What about soon? Like before the end of the year?”

“He wouldn’t take a trip in fall. He had to work. Why?”

“He paid a deposit on a house on Grand Isle. But I don’t know when his reservation was.”

“Maybe the owner of the house will tell you, if you let them know it’s an emergency.”

“That’s a good idea. Thank you, Sister.” Before he hung up, Cyrus decided to ask one more question. “Did Father Ike go to Grand Isle alone on his vacations?”

“As far as I know. He talked about how much he liked the peace and quiet of going down there.”

“Do you know where he stayed?”

“I have the address somewhere. In case of emergency. I’ll try to find it and get it to you.”

“I appreciate that. Thank you, Sister. I’ll call again when I know something.”

“Mr. Tremont, you said Ike paid a deposit on a place on Grand Isle?”

“Yes, Sister. A big one.”

“The place he stayed in the past, it’s owned by a member of the parish. Ike paid for the place by check.”

“You sure?”

“I’m certain. A very devout family owns the place and offers it to clergy at a decent rate. A sort of ministry of theirs.”

“Yeah,” Cyrus said, “I’ll definitely need that info.”

“I’ll get it for you right away.”

A few minutes later, Sister Margaret called back with the address. Cyrus jotted it down along with the name and phone number of the people who owned it.

As soon as he got done speaking with Sister Margaret, he called the owners of the house. Since nobody answered their phones anymore, he had to leave a voicemail message. Not wanting to tip his hand, Cyrus lied and said he had heard from a friend at St. Valentine’s that their Grand Isle vacation home might be available for rent.

Since he’d posed as a potential customer, the owner called him back immediately. A man, a Robert Hill, said the house was available for most of October and all of November. December was booked, however. Cyrus pretended to take the dates and prices down and promised to call Hill back.

So. What did that tell Cyrus? He could only guess at Father Ike’s motivations, but, as a detective, half of his job was guesswork. Father Ike had a place he could’ve rented pretty cheap, cheap compared to the Honeymoon Cottage he did rent. So why rent that place instead of his usual place? Maybe Father Ike wanted to go back to Grand Isle, but for some reason, he didn’t want anyone to know exactly where he was on Grand Isle. But if he didn’t want anyone to know where he was…why go back to a place he’d visited before?

Because there was something there he wanted to see again?

Something? Or someone?

Someone…yeah, maybe someone was there. Maybe someone he’d met in June when he’d gone there for his vacation.

Cyrus turned that over in his mind.

June. Father Ike heads down to Grand Isle for a three-week vacation. He’s been there before. Only wants some R and R. But. Maybe. He meets somebody there. A woman, let’s say, on vacation herself. She and Father Ike hit it off. He’s on vacation, right? No priest collar, no black jacket, no clerical shirt. He’s wearing khakis. He’s wearing flip-flops. He’s a good-looking sixty. She’s forty, fifty. And maybe she’s kinky. And maybe she’s from New York City. And maybe she knows the “legendary” Mistress Nora.

People from New York came down to Nola all the time on vacation. Why not Grand Isle? Beautiful place.

All right. So Ike meets a lady. Maybe a man, but Nora got a straight sort of vibe from Ike. So did Sister Margaret. Maybe this kinky New Yorker lady and Ike have an affair. Happened a billion times before, right? Solo vacations were made for getting laid by strangers you never meant to see again.

So Father Ike went for it. Had a grand old time on Grand Isle. The lady’s heading back to New York at the end of her trip. Bad news. Sad news. She tells Ike, “Hey, don’t worry. I know a local gal who might give you want you want and need, just like I could. You don’t even have to go all the way to New York to get it. Mistress Nora. Here’s her card. We used to party together before she moved down here. It’s a cell phone, so that’s probably still her number.”

Father Ike takes the card and keeps it.

And later on in June, maybe he starts getting notes or threatening phone