42 Father Adair Visits Joy
Dr. Steinman no longer cared about the money. The sooner this patient was on her way out of his hospital the better. He had hoped the call from Mr. Hesburgh was to tell him his people would come get the woman, but he was shocked to hear about this new visitor. An exorcism perhaps?
He waited just inside the main door watching as the Father exited an SUV. My God, but that Jane was with him. The Father was showing a little grey probably just into his fifties. He walked easily and with confidence. He and that Jane were friendly, too friendly. An odd couple if he ever saw one. Did the Father understand what she was? They walked through the front doors.
Giving his best smile he stepped forward to take the Father's offered hand. "Welcome, Father. And, Jane."
Jane smirked at him like she knew something. The woman scared the shit out of him.
The Father said, "So glad to meet you, Dr. Steinman."
"And I you, Father. I understand you wish to converse with a patient of ours."
The Father looked to Jane and back to him. "I do. If it wouldn't be too much trouble. Mr. Hesburgh called and asked if I might stop by and check in on Ms. Lass."
"No trouble at all. Please come this way."
He led the way directly to the room where Joy was waiting. He entered first and the Father followed. He noticed Jane followed too. He wasn't about to tell her where she could or could not go. He was sure now she operated with Mr. Hesburgh's full authority. There were hidden dimensions to the man. He sat down and the Father took a seat across from Joy. Joy was quiet. She looked Jane over but said nothing this time. The Father smiled at Joy and then they both looked at him.
Jane smiled again and said to him, "Shall we let them have their talk?"
He didn't take it as a question. He got up and took as much dignity as he had left out with him. Jane followed and shut the door behind her. She pointedly took the only seat at the equipment station in the alcove, and then smiled, again, at him. She pointed at a chair too close to her. "Why don't you sit with me while we wait Doctor?"
He decided the safest course of action was to regard that question as not a question at all and took the seat. He was very afraid that they had figured out what he had done during their last visit. Her behavior shouted he needed to be very careful. Before today she seemed coldly indifferent to him. This visit, with no Mr. Hesburgh in sight, she seemed to be fermenting hostility, suspicious, and unfortunately not indifferent. Maybe she suspected that there were means to listen in on that room other than the equipment she was nonchalantly and…deliberately occupying. He smiled back. God he hoped she wouldn't try to talk to him. He looked the other way.
Eyes fixed on him she asked, "You ever treat a serial killer, Doctor?"
Oh God help him. "Ahem, yes, yes I have." He wished she would stop looking right at him.
"And what did you conclude, any generalizations you might like to share, Doctor?"
She used the title Doctor in a mocking way.
"They're insane."
"All of them? What about the ones that never get caught? You know, like Dexter on that TV show?"
.
.
Joy said, "Well, Father, I would offer you tea or coffee but as you can see I'm not in charge here."
"Please, Joy, I'm here because Trip called and asked me to pay a visit, but I'm happy to come without his call. I didn't know where you were."
"I bet."
"I understand your ex-husband was told and he was brought out for a visit."
She rolled her eyes.
"And Reggie and John made it out here, so I'm just sorry I'm so late."
She smiled. "Why are you here?"
"I'm not sure. Trip didn't say what I was to do or say. He just asked me to come visit."
"He offered me a job." She seemed to be watching for his reaction.
"A job? May I ask doing what?"
"Keeping track of and moving money in connection with his hiring a bunch of dead people."
He nodded. "Ahh, yes, George at his request has encouraged me to screen ghosts that come to me for counseling for candidates…"
"Isn't that breaking some sacred law or something?"
"Well, mind you, I'm breaking some new ground and as you know not in a position to discuss the situation with my superiors, but I'm keeping within the spirit…no humor intended there…of the confessional."
"What exactly are you doing?"
"Some of the more recent deceased, say within the last few years, maybe a decade or two at most, still have living relatives and they have…unfinished business involving a living relative. Say a young mother died early and left behind children she's desperate to help. She has refused to cross over and may be watching over them, but can only watch. Well, I explain a loophole, an option, that the power governing these things seems willing to allow that will enable that young mother to give aid." She didn't respond. He continued. "Of course, no one will explain the real reasons to the living relatives, but Trip intends to provide a monthly stipend, a lost insurance policy is found as an explanation might work, and will be paid over to the person, or persons, the deceased wants to aid."
"And what services will these deceased provide to…Trip?"
"His intention is to have them spy on the team that was sent out by the group you ran into at that warehouse last year. That Dave character and Meigan Hesburgh are apparently trying to finish that original contract."
"And once they're taken care of, after that purpose has been served, then what, Father? Will Trip lose the insurance policies, or will he put practiced spies to new tasks? He could make a lot of money having them spy on his business competitors, couldn't he? A modern Dr. Faustus. An undetectable listening device with a built in enforcement."
"I hadn't considered that, Joy, no I hadn't. Might the loophole have an expiration date? I don't know."
.
.
Jane said, "Dr. Steinman, Mr. Hesburgh would like you to understand that any stray information you might pick up from Ms. Lass, or even the fact that she's here now or ever was here, you must keep to yourself."
Panic gripped him. Hesburgh knew. They knew. "I will keep all information strictly to myself. I feel offended that he might think it could be otherwise."
Jane smiled. "He doesn't want to offend you, Doctor. He asked me to make sure you understand because, well, he doesn't want anything to happen to you." She stopped and raised her hands. "And I know that could be construed as a threat, but it is not. Really it is not. He wants to protect you from accidents. He has learned about some of your other dealings. And, well, you might be tempted to do something that could in fact have serious repercussions."
Oh my God. He's been investigating him and somehow he knows. She had a cold lock on his eyes as she talked. He said, "I…would…never do anything unprofessional…"
She softened her look. "I know, Doctor. I don't believe you would do something so dangerous…so stupid intentionally. Our concern is that you could allow something to slip by accident, not understanding the full context of some fact you let slip and then, well, it could get nasty rather quickly. Because we, or worse, a higher power would find out and…"
.
.
"So tell me Father, how did you get drawn into this?"
"A young girl I ministered to was killed last year in Los Angeles. She was hit by a car as she walked home. I went with her mother to identify the body. And I buried her in the local cemetery. Then not long after she died she showed up at her mother's door."
"That was the reaper they tried to retrieve from LA, then?"
"Yes. Maria Estrada. A wonderful young lady cut down before her life really could get started. George came down with John and knocked on the same door and…well…"
"Dead girl risen must have gone over well."
"At first it did go well. It was a miracle. The mother called me and I came right over. Maria looked as she did the day she died - before she was hit. But it turned into a nightmare. Did you know a reaper cannot speak of a shared memory with someone they knew when alive?"
"Yes, I had that explained to me. They lose it, right?" Joy remembered George tried knocking on her door, but that attempt to return home didn't go well. It wasn't Halloween and she couldn't get a coherent word out.
"Yes, they do. In Maria's case the process was carried to extremes and I watched as she lost all memories of her mother and two brothers. She lived under the same roof but apart." He frowned and bowed his head to study his hands.
She could see he was deeply troubled by the experience. "Why did she run away?"
He came back to the here and now. "George and Daisy took her on a difficult reap, of a girl murdered by that serial killer of last year. The soul was horribly disturbed and poor Maria. In the early morning hours in a dark forest the three had to approach the cabin where the man was torturing the last life out of the poor girl. And when she died she appeared close to Maria and…and…Maria decided she had had enough. Soon after she stole some money and flew back to LA and home."
"I wonder why she was left so long down there?"
"I really don't know, but then George and John showed up. The girl's mother had already arranged a seance with a local medium."
Joy hadn't heard these details. She was always so busy making sure they knew how much she disapproved of them that she never listened. And the gap between Reggie and her had been growing daily. They were living past each other. Reggie never told her anything about reapers - because she would always get so upset. "A seance?"
"Yes, I, the family, George and John, all sat down that evening for talk with the other side." He smiled broadly. "The medium wasn't a fake. She had three ghosts in tow, but…she couldn't see them. She could only hear them. And there was a clash of personalities."
"Let me guess. George and the medium."
"Yes, yes. You know her well. I find the fact that we were sitting in this circle talking to ghosts when two of the people in the circle were themselves ghosts…of a sort…"
"Undead, I believe is the term."
"Yes, yes it is. Maria was deeply offended by the medium's saying - something told to her by one of the ghosts - that she had been taken over by some dark force, very offended. I have to say I was impressed with how George took charge and handled the situation."
"Really. What did she do?"
"She has powers above the average reaper, you know. And wisdom. She was able to make the three ghosts visible to everyone there and then force them to come closer and into our circle. There she gave them a choice. Two stayed and one crossed over. She let the two go. Believe me it impressed the family."
"And the family is still alive?"
"Yes. I talked at length afterward and they don't understand every detail but they understand it was a miracle, a special miracle, that they can never speak of."
"Maria didn't come back? Instead they got that Marsha woman, right?"
He was eager to move on from Maria. "Yes, you know about Marsha, then. It a horrible thing what happened to Maria."
"What happened? I noticed it wounded George deeply. No one ever talks about what really happened to her."
The Father put his hands to his face and bowed his head. He made the sign of the cross, muttered some prayer, and seemed to be praying. She left him to it. She wasn't going anywhere and had plenty of time. But then. Time issues aside her patience was reaching its limit. She coaxed him to emerge. "I did hear from John you were there…when it happened."
"I was, I was. God forgive me for my role in that. I had talked to her Thanksgiving morning about what she wanted to do. She did not want to come back and resume her duties as a reaper. She remembered that another reaper, I believe a woman who predated Daisy's arrival to Rube's family, I forget her name now, but George had told Maria how this other reaper jumped into the lights of a soul crossing over. Maria…couldn't face coming back to Seattle and the several decades ahead reaping violent deaths. I think that God made a mistake calling her to serve in that capacity."
"You believe that God calls…"
"Yes, yes I do, Joy. I do not believe it is a punishment. It's a calling to serve a higher purpose to help souls find their way to the other side."
"Daisy is your grandmother?"
The Father was taken aback. He was reliving his grief, she guessed, over Maria, whatever happened. She hoped he would get to his point before she had to go to the restroom.
"She is. Once I found out from George that she was a reaper here in Seattle, well, I decided since she couldn't come to me, then I would come reside close to her. My transfer was approved in record time, I must say, very unusual."
She couldn't help it when her eyes narrowed. "What a blessing. And Maria?"
He sighed and found his hands interesting again. She had to lean forward to hear him speak in a small voice, "She decided she wanted to get her lights, that she would not, could not, escort souls any longer. She told George she would not reap. George tried her best to explain the need to do it, how she also suffered through so much trouble in the beginning, but…Maria…said no. And then. And then, thank God I could not see it, but John described it to me, a black cloud rose from behind her and engulfed her. And then she was gone."
"I've seen that up close and personal." Yes, she had seen it up close and George was a part of it and controlling it.
He raised his eyes to the ceiling. "Dear God, I believe that with more patience and understanding Maria could have been brought…or maybe not. George took charge and told the mother and brothers that Maria ascended to Heaven. Then we left them." He locked his eyes on hers. He smiled as he rushed toward another direction. "Since I've come to Seattle, I've not only been counseling ghosts, but also a great many from among the reaper community."
She hadn't heard this. Perhaps that was her own fault. She did not encourage discussion about things reaper with Reggie or John, and she avoided talking to any of the reapers, most especially her…ex-daughter. "So you counsel reapers. That's allowed by their…boss?"
"Indeed. I do not know how they can do what they do every day every night year after year. Some of those I've talked to have been witnessing death for more than a hundred years. And it wears them down. Many take to drink…or worse."
"I thought they were impervious to physical harm."
"They are, but they desperately seek refuge in drink or drugs, and then there's the toll on their minds, their mental health. Every one I've talked to was a normal person who died and then was drafted to stay on this side of the lights. None were asked. They had no choice. Failure to cooperate has consequences…as Maria discovered."
"How Father, are you able to talk to ghosts? I know John was…ghosted."
"No, I was not. A lot of trouble that is. George comes to the Church, which is a sanctuary…"
"A sanctuary?"
"Yes, George… We're not totally agreeing on this mind you. She has been aggressively hunting ghosts and…encouraging them to cross over so that Meigan can't use any of them to hurt John or Tommy, or plot against Reggie or the Hesburghs. She is quite the terror among the ghost community, or was, she seems to be softening on this lately. Anyway, I persuaded her to sit in the Church pews and allow me to hold confession for any and all ghosts that wish to come. She reads a book and keeps her back turned to the gathered ghosts. But her presence allows me to hear and talk to the poor souls…"
.
.
He rolled his wrist just enough to discretely see his watch. Joy and that Priest had been going at it now for more than an hour. Even Jane was starting to fidget. Perhaps she was bored of tormenting him with her insinuations. Or once she was satisfied she had communicated her message she reverted to a waiting mode. He suspected all predator types could do that in one form or another.
At 90 minutes even Jane said, "Seriously. How many sins can one divorced housewife have to confess? I think I could get through all mine in less time."
.
.
"Have you ever talked to George? I mean sat down with her and discussed what's happened to her since she died?"
No Joy hadn't. The Father was a smooth talker. It was part of his job description. Unlike the Father she had seen that other side of her ex-daughter and she well knew that whatever memories it retained it was not really her daughter any longer and it remained a very real threat to her still living daughter. "I can't say that I have. I suppose you're going to tell me…"
"Joy, please. There are very few people who can converse with a loved one lost to death. It really is a miracle. For whatever reason that God has brought you two back together, perhaps…"
"My daughter was a lost aimless teen. Maybe someday she would've gotten herself together and gone back to college, and then…who knows. But she died."
The Father seemed to be regrouping. He paused. She knew he was frustrated at the backsliding. She suspected she needed to pass some test if she was to get released and back to where she might do her living daughter some good.
He said, "She was a lost aimless teen, but she's not that girl anymore. She's done a lot of growing up. She's gone to hell and back…"
Joy chuckled, "I couldn't say it better…"
"What I mean is that…well she said it to me once that for her dying was a wake up call. She really didn't feel alive until after she had died, because as she put it…" He narrowed his eyes trying to remember the words. "She didn't have a purpose in her life, but in death God handed one to her, an important one." He seemed to detect her skepticism. "Did you know, Joy, that she often visited your house after she died?"
"I know she stole a number of things. I couldn't imagine that my daughter had come back from the dead though."
"Did you know that Reggie not only could, but was well aware that her sister had come back from the dead?"
Joy frowned. She did indeed remember. She had sent her daughter to more than one therapist trying to wring that nonsense out of her brain.
"Didn't Reggie have some amount of trouble adjusting to her sister's death? I believe it revolved around toilet seats and a tree."
Joy tried hard to keep a straight impassive face, but listening to this Priest reveal how much he knew her brow tied itself in knots. He knew too much of her family's personal matters.
"I…I'm sorry to seem intrusive…"
"Seem?"
"I think you should know that George was well aware of Reggie's troubles. Do you remember Rube Sofer coming to her funeral reception at your house?"
"No."
"He was there. And he was not alone. She's told me some amazing stories. About how despite Rube's fulminations to stay away she adroitly interfered at several steps of Reggie's early problem phase to nudge her in better more healthy directions. And if you talked to Reggie, she would tell you how very much aware she was of George's help. I believe there was a dog, JD, and then the frog." He paused and added, "And I believe she took up drums and even horseback riding."
The dog and even the frog were obvious now, but George, helping Reggie? How? What? That was something she hadn't suspected. She wasn't sure which was worse. That this stranger knew these details of her family, or that her dead daughter was watching and…did what? Or that this man had such intimate discussions with her daughters…daughter, and she hadn't. Did she want to know? This evil subverting her living daughter was more subtle than she ever dreamed possible. If she was to somehow win against it, she had to know as much as possible. "Really? I'd like to hear…everything."