“Yeah, right.”
“It was. My buddy was visiting from the mainland. He said I needed to get out more. He said he’d meet me there, that I needed a life. He didn’t show. I was about to leave, but then there was you.”
“And I was cheaper than a hooker.”
“You made an offer I couldn’t refuse. Sue me.”
Fury burned into the cool mist between them. Palpable. Thick. Crackling with power and sexual tension. Darkness was also creeping in. The strains of an organ reached them outdoors, and the rain pattered down louder on her umbrella.
“Dad!” Both of them spun around.
“Ginny?” Maddocks had expected to see his daughter here, given her involvement with the choir, but not in the presence of her current company—Lara Pennington. Lara shot a hot glance at Maddocks, then Pallorino. She whispered something into Ginn’s ear and went on ahead into the church.
“What are you doing here?” Ginny said to him, but while looking at Pallorino.
“It’s my case—”
“It’s a funeral, Dad.”
“How long have you known Lara?” he said, trying to keep an eye on the thinning crowd at the same time. “Howwelldo you know her?”
His daughter’s brow lowered. “Why?”
“Just answer the question, Ginny.”
“I just met her on the bus over here. She was a good friend of Gracie’s. She’s at UVic, too, and part of the choir. We—”
“Ginny, I don’t want you mixing—”
“Excuse me?”
“Just until this is sorted. I want you to steer clear of her”
Her mouth dropped open, and she stared aghast at him. Pallorino also cast him a sideways glance.
“Ginn,” he said quietly, “there’s a bad guy out there, preying on—”
“Oh, and you think he’s suddenly going to come aftermenow? Jesus.” The cathedral doors were being closed. The service was about to commence.
“Listen, when this Mass is over, when you’re done singing, please wait for me out here. I’m going to drive you home. Okay?”
“Sometimes,” she said quietly, with a hot flick of another glance at Angie, “I really wish you hadn’t come to live in Victoria.” And with that, Ginny turned and disappeared up the stairs and into the church.
“You should cut her a break,” Pallorino said softly.
“Oh, that’s rich, coming from someone who’s never had kids.”
“I was seventeen once, and female. I have a father who was as paternalistic and overprotective as you are.”
“And look how you turned out.”
She glowered at him, then turned and marched up the stairs and into church. The door closed behind her.
Rain came down harder, almost turning to sleet now, but Maddocks chose to wait alone outside to see if anyone suspicious arrived late. Or whether that blond Adonis returned. As the minutes ticked by and the temperatures continued to drop, he turned up his collar and stuffed his hands deep into his pockets. And he cursed himself for the way he’d handled Ginny again.
He’d been distracted by his task at hand. Worried. She looked so much like the victim whose funeral they were attending. Same age range. Similar interests when it came to singing in the choir. And Lara Pennington was a nexus. She’d been Drummond’s closest friend since elementary school. She was hiding something and scared of something. She was also possibly being watched by someone in a black Lexus. So how wrong was he, really, to want his daughter to steer clear of her?
THE BAPTIST
