Nothing To Lose Part 11

 In the middle of the night, two very unexpected visitors will throw Jonas two very different kinds of loops.

 Part 11

He woke up in bed but felt like he hadn't rested at all. The sound of heavy trucks moving through the area brought him to his feet. Jonas pulled the curtain aside. They were military transport and a flatbed, and then another. Their heavy engines roared as the drivers pushed through the flooded streets, sending waves after waves of storm runoff into the yards and driveways. He could see the waters were now near two feet high. Jonas wondered when the rain was going to stop.  

As he watched the last of the convoy pass, from what he imagined was the National Guard coming in to reinforce levees, Jonas realized the lights were all off. Even his alarm clock was blank. Power outages were getting to be the routine since the rainy season turned into an actual season. There'd been little sun over Bay City, and gloominess was spreading.  

Jonas walked to a window on the backside of the house. He could see the ground down below. At least the generator was above water. He just needed to go out and fire it up. He put on a jacket and slid his feet into some boots. Grabbing a flashlight out of his drawer, Jonas went downstairs and outside.  

The generator was full and would supply power for twelve hours. It was enough to get him through the night and until the power company restored service. He fiddled with the switch, getting the power to kick on. As the low hum of the generator purred in the dark, Jonas went back inside. There wasn't anything else he could do.  

Jonas went in, grabbed a drink, and went to his computer. After rebooting things and waiting, he watched as the browser opened his email. Things were dammed slow compared to normal. He sipped his tea as the email formatted. There were three new ones. One of them was from Danny Stevens.  

"You little shit, don't you sleep," he said to himself as he clicked on Danny's email.  

The email was a forwarded file. It was from the Diocese of Chicago. As Jonas looked at it, he wasn't surprised. The church was demanding more information before they'd be willing to share any information about one of their own. They'd been that way with law enforcement agencies around the country since the scandals with the priests and the young boys.  

"I guess we're going to have to do things the old-fashioned way," he mumbled, thinking about rousting a church or two until they stumbled on their mysterious priest.  

A noise grabbed his attention as Jonas read a couple more emails. It sounded like something moving around downstairs. He looked at his watch, realizing it was after two in the morning. Jonas felt his heart rate speed up. He tiptoed toward his nightstand and grabbed his pistol. Part of him considered calling it in. But if it was nothing, he'd be taking resources away from other areas, and on a night like that one, he didn't want to leave anybody shorthanded.  

He slowly moved back downstairs, nervously expecting looters or burglars looking for houses that had been evacuated already. It was bound to happen with flooding continuing to spread inland. First, it would be residential areas. Then, the criminal elite would try the stores. Jonas shined his light around the downstairs, noticing a window was open. The winds were blowing pretty hard as the storm outside raged.  

"Nice Jonas," he sighed, lowering his weapon. "You almost shot a curtain."  

As he closed the windows, he felt an eerie presence with him. Jonas turned, expecting to see someone or something in the house. His heart raced as he turned toward one direction, then another, almost turning in circles. He raised the light and his weapon, and slowly moved through the house, afraid he was losing his mind.  

"HELLO!"  

His yell went unanswered. As he moved from the front of the house to his living room, then to the dining room, and then to the kitchen, he didn't find anything out of sorts. Turning back upstairs, he felt a thud on his leg and nearly tripped.  

Jonas yelled, "Jesus!" Scared by the sudden feeling of something moving against his leg, he shined his light down to the floor, seeing a wet, long-haired, bland, and white cat brushing up against him. It just sat there, purring, as he shone the light into its face. As the cat purred, rubbing its wet fur against his leg, Jonas relaxed.  

"Where did you come from?"  

Jonas set his gun down and reached down to the cat. The poor thing was freezing from being soaked. He imagined it had to come through the open window.  

"You poor thing," he said to it, grabbing a towel and wrapping it up. Jonas checked it for a tag, but all it had on was a collar. He couldn't recall seeing the thing around before tonight. He actually didn't know anyone in the neighborhood with a cat. He wondered what to do with the little thing.  

"I suppose I can't very well stick you outside," he said aloud. With the unrelenting rains and the waters rising, he decided to find an empty box and put a blanket in it for the cat. He put out a bowl with some water, and opened a can of tuna.  

"Sorry little guy, it's the best I can do," he told the animal, setting it into the box with the food and water. "We'll have to figure out where you came from, but not tonight."  

Jonas left the box with his unexpected visitor next to the front door. He went back upstairs, crawled into bed, and felt the warmth of a pair of hands on him. He didn't even turn the lights on. Susan had snuck into his house enough and surprised him that he could tell it was her. As he rolled over, her lips found him. Their hands roamed over each other's bodies, and he felt his excitement growing.  

Feeling her hand on his hard member, Jonas felt her pushing him over with her other hand. Her lips returned to his, feverishly kissing, nibbling, and biting at his lower lip. She manipulated him until she could take no more, and he felt her envelope him entirely. She was like an animal, bent on having her way. There was little he could do to resist her. 

As she began to grind herself into him, riding him with a feverish vigor he didn't know she had in her, Jonas felt his way up her body with his hands, grabbing at her flesh. In the heat of it, he pulled her to him, unable to resist the feeling of his friend. The two were practically one person as he rolled her to his side and kissed her softly, slowly beginning to take control of their gyrations. As heated as they were, and as good as she felt next to him, it wasn't long before he couldn't hold back.  

Meeting in the same explosive place, she began to claw at him, her body arching as his tensed. He felt the pain in his back as her claws ripped into his flesh. Her arms stiffened, her back tightened, her legs wrapped tightly around him as she threw him onto his back and took control from him. He just lay there and let her have her way, as she animalistically finished, bringing both her nails into his body, dragging them into his chest.  

Finished, satiated, and exhausted, they both fell into each other. She laid her head on his chest, softly kissing his body. And while he could feel her tongue making little circles in spots, Jonas knew she'd exhausted him. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he succumbed to her wildness.  

When Jonas's alarm went off, he opened his eyes, looking for Susan. She was nowhere to be found. He looked down at his chest, seeing the deep claw marks running down both sides of his torso. Jonas laughed it off, wondering eventually what had gotten into his old friend. Whatever it was, he wouldn't be able to figure it out right away.  

He rolled over and grabbed his cellphone. One message. That's all. He expected it to be another hectic morning. To his surprise, there was only one thing waiting for his attention. When he opened the message, Jonas felt a bit disappointed. It wasn't from Susan, but rather from Danny. He typed back to him, 'See you in an hour.' 

Danny was meeting with Father John at St. Catherine's Church. Jonas pulled up next to Danny in the parking lot. They were going to have to find their witness the hard way, and Danny had a list of possibilities. St. Catherine's frequently housed visiting members of the church, and Father John had been awarded a special service award once for assisting with grief counseling. He had worked with the department in the past, so Danny thought if there was anybody who might be of help, it would be Father John.  

"What do we know about our mystery priest?"  

"Nothing yet, but if there's a visiting priest, or one that's not affiliated locally, this is the guy I was told to see."  

The two walked into the church, Jonas sore from his experience with Susan. Danny noticed his partner walking funny. As they got to the door, he asked if he was good.  

"Yeah, I'm just feeling a little worse for wear," explained Jonas.  

"Meds still kicking your butt?"  

Jonas laughed. He told him it was something like that. Jonas wasn't one to kiss and tell or engage in locker room talk about a woman. As crazy a night as he'd had, part of him wanted to share the story with a guy friend. But it wasn't his thing.  

They walked inside, and Jonas stopped at the entrance. He stared at the large crucifix hanging behind the choir stand. Jonas said a little prayer in his head, ran his finger across his chest, and whispered, "Amen."  

"I didn't know you were religious," Danny commented.  

"I'm really not," admitted Jonas. "But, all things considered, it might be good to get right with the man upstairs."  

As they walked between the rows of pews, Father John came out from behind the altar. He looked at the two detectives approaching and offered them a greeting and a smile. Father John was surprised to see them.  

"Can I help you," he asked.  

Danny held out a photo from the airport surveillance cameras. He asked Father John if he had any idea who the man in the picture was.  

"Why, certainly, that's Father Michael Carruso," admitted Father John. "He was visiting here on a tour of the area churches."  

"Does that mean he's not here," asked Jonas.  

Father John shook his head. "I'm afraid so, gentlemen. He's been gone a day or so."  

Danny and Jonas sighed. They were just a little too late to catch their mysterious witness. Jonas took out a business card and handed it to the priest.  

"If you should happen to hear from him," he said, showing him the card, "Please have him call us. He may have been a witness at a murder scene."  

"Sure, I'll let him know," sighed the priest.  

"Have a good day, Father."  

"And you as well. Go with God, my sons."  

Jonas and Danny walked back out the front doors. When they got to the bottom of the stairs, Jonas stopped, looking back at the church. He knew the gut feeling he had was right. Father John was lying. Danny was on his phone already, calling the district attorney's office.  

"What are you doing?"  

"Calling to see if I can wrangle us up a warrant. Father John needs to get into confessional and confess to what a lying priest he is."  

Danny began talking to one of the district attorneys and was asking about getting a phone warrant for St. Catherine's and associated numbers. From what Jonas could tell, the attorney he called was more than just an acquaintance. He sort of chuckled when he heard Danny say, " Thanks, babe. I owe you. His young protégée wasn't beyond mixing business with pleasure.  

"Enjoy it while it lasts, kid. Because that's got a shelf life," explained Jonas.  

"Probably, but if it gets me what I need, it works for now."  

Hmm, thought Jonas. As they walked away, both of their phones began to buzz. Jonas was getting a call from Amanda. Danny was getting one from the city dispatch center. Danny told someone to send him the info.  

"This is Quinn."  

Jonas listened as Amanda told him there was another victim. He nodded his head until Amanda told him to let Danny take the lead on the scene. Jonas didn't understand why. When he tried to get her to open up, Amanda told him she was sorry.  

"Jonas, this was only a few blocks from your place."