STALKING SAPPHIRE (Sapphire Dubois: Book 1)

Chapter 14

Other than Sapphire's directions, not a word was spoken until they got to the cliff overlooking the dry California forest lying beneath. She motioned him out of the car and tossed Father O’Riley a rope, directing him to wrap it around his waist and then the tree behind him.

“What are you doing, Sapphire?”

She stayed silent. She kept the gun aimed at him as she took the remainder of the rope and tied it tight around another tree two feet behind the first, making it impossible for him to get loose until the cops came.

“Sapphire,” he said calmly. “What on earth are you doing?”

“This is not about me. It’s about what you have been doing.”

An odd expression fell over Father O’Riley. He stared at her trying to figure out what she knew. “I think you are confused.”

“I think you didn’t expect me to find out as soon as I did. I think you can drop the charade now to make it easier for the both of us. What did you do with her?”

Father O’Riley’s eyes filled with panic. “How did you know?” he whispered.

Sapphire tried to swallow the sadness that gripped her chest. Yes, she had believed it was Father O’Riley, but a part of her had hoped she was wrong. Over the past year, she had grown to trust him more and more, and she had felt as if there was an unspoken bond between them. Obviously, she’d been the only one.

“Oh, please, you left tracks all over the place. I went to her house and your name was in her journal.” Sapphire could feel the tears burn at the back of her eyes. “How could you do it?”

She and Father O’Riley locked eyes and to her surprise, his were full of remorse.

“I...I...it just happened. I just felt like something wasn’t right for a long time and one day I just acted on it. I knew it was wrong, but it was the only thing I could do to make the world make sense again.”

“I really didn’t want it to be you,” Sapphire said holding back the tremble in her voice.

“I know I’m heading straight to hell for what I’ve done.” He shook his head, going into some sort of panic. “I’ve ruined everything; the Lord will never forgive me, in this life or the next. This is the sin of all sins and I justified it somehow.”

Sapphire hated that she felt bad for him. When she read his name in the journal, she imagined him like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Now she realized it wasn’t like that. He had been Dr. Jekyll all along. The same man she had poured her heart out to. It made it so much worse. She wanted him to be evil. Being purely evil was the least he could do for her given the situation. At least curse at her and tell her how he wanted to kill her.

“What did you do with her?”

“Oh, please; do we really need to go into the details about it?”

“Was there another man involved?”

Father O’Riley looked up at her and the tears ceased momentarily. “Of course not! What kind of sick bastard do you think I am?”

They looked at each other. Something was wrong.

“Did you or did you not send me body parts?” Sapphire asked and held her breath.

Father O’Riley’s face wrinkled in confusion and disgust. “What? What are you talking about?”

“What are you talking about?”

“The woman I had sex with. The reason you brought me out here. Which frankly surprises me. You aren’t exactly the epitome of religion.”

Sapphire held her gun aimed straight as she stared at him, now a little less sure. “Please. You expect me to believe that?” She sneered, actually starting to believe it.