If the Fates Allow

2:30pm, St. Timothy's Church

After a brief discussion between Dante, Lulu and himself, Nathan left the station in one of the PCPD cruisers. Lulu had suggested a handful of places Maxie might have gone if she were afraid or didn't want to face something. All of them sounded like good bets to Nathan. Instead of trying to hit all of them himself, the three of them had split up, each taking a location to check. Dante headed to The Floating Rib and Mac Scorpio while Lulu planned to stop in and see Maxie's mother before heading back to her own apartment just in case.

For his part, the one place that made the most sense to him was St. Timothy's. Lulu explained that it was where Maxie's sister was buried and that she had gone there before when she felt lost. Nathan knew the feeling. When his sister was in a coma and he was feeling down or troubled, Nathan would visit her and talk it out. She might not have responded or heard him, but just saying out loud what was bothering him helped.

He parked the cruiser on the street. The cop in him paused to gauge his surroundings before making the trek to the church. There was no sign of Maxie on the front lawn but he spotted the gate to the cemetery off to the side of the church. He trudged up a slight slope to the steps and paused again, scanning the cemetery briefly. Snow had been falling for a while now and seemed to be coming down faster. If Maxie had come to see her sister, she might have gotten cold or wet and gone inside for shelter. He would check there first. If she wasn't inside, he would head out to the cemetery to look.

It was quiet inside but exceptionally warm. Nathan shut the door behind him and walked into the nave of the church. A priest was walking up and down the pews placing hymnals in the holders. He straightened when he saw Nathan and smiled benignly.

"Good afternoon, Officer. May I help you?"

"I hope so. I'm looking for a friend. I thought she might be here. Has anyone been here today?" Nathan asked.

"Possibly. I spent the morning in meetings with various parishioners in my office. Does your friend have a name? Perhaps she was one of my visitors."

"Her name is Maxie Jones but pardon me for saying but I don't think she would have met with you." Nathan shrugged lightly. "Her sister is buried in the cemetery. I think she might have gone to see her."

"Ah. Understandable. Well, then I don't think I can help you in the way you had hoped." He bent to place another hymnal in the pew holder. Nathan watched as the priest moved to the next aisle with another stack of hymnals. "This is interesting," the priest murmured setting the books down. He bent over, retrieving something off the floor. He turned to Nathan holding the object up to show him. "Someone left their coat behind. You did say your friend was a woman didn't you?"

It was his jacket. She must have taken it with her when she left the station. Which meant, he realized, Maxie had been here. He nodded and held a hand out for his coat. "I did. But she had that coat with her."

"Ah!" The priest handed the jacket over with a pleasant smile. "I see I was able to help in some small way after all." He glanced down at his watch. "Oh no. I'm afraid I have to leave. I hope you find your friend."

"Thank you." Nathan watched the priest leave, feeling hopeful that he would find Maxie. He wanted to reassure her that he was fine and reassure himself that being a cop wouldn't scare her off. He couldn't guarantee that he would never get hurt on the job. No cop could do that. But he could promise her that he would be careful and do his best not to worry her. He hoped that would be enough to convince her not to give up on him. Because this time when he found her, he wasn't going to let her go. He'd said that once before but then been stymied by Judge Walters, and his own mother as it turned out. But that was now in the past. He would make certain that Maxie would never have to worry about them any more.