The next morning, Friday, Apr. 25, Aiden was still asleep on the couch. The team had also let Master Naka sleep through the night, rather than waking him to take a ‘watch.’ And Fr. Jerzy slept like the dead.

In fact, the only person who didn’t sleep well was Leigh. When she finished her ‘shift’ watching over Fr. Jerzy, she spent the rest of her night having nightmares. She dreamt she was a little girl, wearing a Catholic school uniform. She was in church...alone? No, there was someone else there. The priest. But when he approached her, and she looked up at his face....

She ran from his demonic red eyes. She ran between the pews, hoping to slow him down. But he moved through as if they were parting before him. She crawled beneath them, and he picked them up and flipped them out of the way. She didn’t understand...weren’t churches sacred spaces? How could a demon move so freely within one?

She ran down the aisle and hid behind the holy water font. From here she could see him searching for her, his mouth open as if he was calling out to her, checking behind each pew.

Strange. The demon didn’t look like Fr. Jerzy’s description of Berowski, she thought to herself. Then the demon priest spotted her, and the chase was on again. She ran, hiding behind pillars, the pulpit, pews. The confessionals looked so inviting. She could rest in there, if only she could get inside one without tipping him off.

She crawled beneath a pew for its entire length, until she was only a couple feet from the row of confessionals. She listened. She looked around, but didn’t see his legs anywhere. This was her chance. She crept out from under the pew and slipped under the curtain that covered the confessional doorway. She huddled in the corner, afraid to breath, afraid to move....

The curtain was torn from its rod and the light from those evil red eyes pierced the darkness. Leigh screamed....

And sat straight up in her bed, dripping with sweat. It was 6:30am. She got up and took a shower, the hot water stinging her face as she tried to wash away the red eyes. When she got downstairs, only Justin was up, sitting outside his uncle’s cell in the basement. They hadn’t bothered strapping him to the bed, since he wasn’t possessed right now. But they did lock him in, in case something happened during the night.

Leigh went to the kitchen and began cooking and baking. She was determined to have all of Aiden’s favorite foods available for him when he woke up. Then there would be no way he could refuse to eat. Thinking about that reminded her that it was possible the hospital could page him. It was time to call in some favors.

First, Leigh carefully searched Aiden’s pockets and belt, and got his pager and cell phone. She turned both off and put them on chargers on the bar. Then she called the hospital. “This is Leigh Sorensen,” she told the receptionist who answered. “I was calling to check when Dr. Aiden Carter was due back at work.” The receptionist forwarded her call to the administrator who scheduled the ER staff.

Leigh had met this woman one morning when she was dropping off some fresh bread and muffins. When Leigh told her that Aiden was actually sleeping for a change, and that she was hoping she didn’t have to wake him yet, all her food deliveries paid off.

“I think we can manage to avoid paging him for a while,” the woman told Leigh. “Things are pretty quiet anyway, so I’ll just spread the word.”

Soon, the smell of bacon and biscuits and coffee began to draw the others into the kitchen. Downstairs, Justin opened the cell door. “Uncle Jerzy?” he whispered.

“Hmmm? What? Justin?” Jerzy rolled over and rubbed his eyes. The smells from the kitchen made him sit up. He hadn’t felt this hungry in...well, he couldn’t really remember how long. This was going to be a glorious day!

“I think Leigh’s making breakfast,” Justin told him. “Interested in having a little something to eat?”

“A little something? I’m starving!” His pajamas were rumpled, but his face was fairly glowing as he stood and hugged his nephew. “I haven’t slept that well since....” He let the thought go. He wasn’t going to let memories of the last month and a half ruin today.

He hugged Justin again, then grabbed his bag from the chair outside the cell. “A shower first, I think!” He practically sprinted up the two flights of stairs, Justin right on his heels. Justin sat outside the bathroom door, listening to his uncle hum as he undressed and showered. Leigh brought Justin a cup of coffee, to hold him until Fr. Jerzy was ready to come to the kitchen.

Karen woke feeling much better than when she’d crawled into bed. Leigh was just handing Justin his mug when Karen came out of her room. David must have heard them, because he poked his head out of his room and waved them inside conspiratorially.

“So, are we doing like the Church, and just letting him walk away now that he’s ‘cured’?” he asked the three.

Leigh and Karen looked to Justin. Both of them knew what they thought about it, but weren’t sure how Justin would feel about treating his uncle like a criminal.

“No,” Tony said, poking his head into the room.

“No,” Justin agreed.

The women let out the breaths they’d been holding. “We don’t know that the thing won’t come back,” Karen told him. “But I figured he could at least move freely around the clubhouse. We just need to stop him if he gets near any of the exits.” The others nodded.

“Then we need to have him sign this,” David said, holding up a sheet of paper crammed with text. “It’s a basic release form, saying that he’s here of his own free will, he won’t hold us responsible for anything that happens to him while he’s here, and he won’t press any charges against us after he’s released.”

They heard the shower shut off, and they all went back to what they had been doing. Fr. Jerzy bounded out of the bathroom and practically ran into Justin and Karen. He wrapped Karen in a bear hug, then hugged Justin again. The three met up with Leigh, Tony, David and Master Naka in the kitchen. Jerzy hugged Leigh, and shook the hands of the men vigorously. Then he went to the counter and began piling food onto his plate.

When Jerzy had settled at the kitchen table, Justin took the release form from David and sat beside his uncle. “We think you should sign this,” Justin said, holding out the sheet of paper, “in case anything happens.”

Jerzy took the paper and began reading through it as he shoveled food into his mouth like a starving man. And he didn’t just skim through it. It was clear he was actually reading every word carefully. “I think you’re right,” he told Justin. “Do you have a pen?”

David stepped up and handed the priest a pen. “You have a video camera here, right?” he asked Justin. “Because I think it might be good if we tape him reading it aloud, too.”

“Ooo! I could pud a pillowcase over my head, and stand behind 'im holdin' a gun!” Tony suggested. David stared at him and frowned. Master Naka simply raised an eyebrow.

“No.” Justin, Karen and Leigh all said it simultaneously.

Tony pouted and went to the counter for more food.

When Jerzy had finished eating, he carried his plate to the sink. Then he hugged or shook hands with everyone again. He was so happy to be relieved of the burden he’d been bearing, even if it was only for a little while.

David and Justin led Jerzy to the office, where Justin set up the video camera. It didn’t take long for Jerzy to read through the release form, and when he was done, he hugged Justin again and shook David’s hand. “I truly do appreciate what you’re doing for me.”

“Would you like to know what we’ve discovered so far?” Karen asked him as he came out of the office.

“Everything.”

Karen stared for a second. “But, that would mean...”

“I’m serious. I want to know everything.”

Karen looked at the others. If she told him everything, he’d have to be given The Speech. He already knew more than Justin and Karen would have liked, and they’d been trying to keep him at arm’s length from the whole truth for the past 3 years.

Justin shook his head. He wasn’t ready to drag his uncle into the thick of this. When it was all over...then, if he still wanted to know, he would be able to make a fully informed, rational decision.

“Da t’ing is called an Apostate,” Tony told him. “It’s da spirit of a devout person who renounced ‘is fait’ an’ died in a state ‘a sin. It’s pissed off an’ tries ta make udder people do da same t’ing.”

From behind his uncle, Justin glowered at Tony and made a cutting motion across his neck.

“An’ dat’s about all dere is ta tell right now,” Tony said, getting the message.

David was sitting at the big table in the front room, playing solitaire with a deck of ‘corner cuts’ from the casino. “Anyone up for some poker?” he asked the others.

“Absolutely!” Tony said, pulling out a chair.

“What kind?” Justin asked, sitting down too.

“Can you play in the kitchen?” Karen asked quietly, nodding toward the couch where Aiden was still sleeping.

The guys nodded and stood, David collecting the cards from the table and shuffling them quietly.

“Texas Hold’em,” David answered Justin’s question as they moved into the kitchen. The three joined Master Naka, who was sipping tea at the table. “Are you in?” David asked Naka.

“Thank you, but no,” he replied politely, standing.

“Deal me in,” Leigh told David.

“What’s da stake?” Tony asked, pulling a gold money clip stuffed with $20s from his pocket. The other three stared the clip. “Oh, right.” Tony slipped the clip back into his pocket, then pulled out a wad of singles.

“Strip bar cash?” Justin chuckled. Tony just grinned.

Karen and Uncle Jerzy were leaning against the counters, watching David shuffle and deal. Karen could see that the initial adrenalin rush of being free from his burden was wearing off of Uncle Jerzy, and the month and a half of little or no sleep was catching back up to him now. It was almost 8:30. “I think I’d like to get a little more sleep,” he said. “Downstairs?” He looked at Karen.

“It might be best,” she told him gently.

“At least it’s comfortable, even with all the straps.”

“We try,” Justin said over his shoulder. “If the Zombi Apocalypse does happen, come here.”

Jerzy looked at Karen. “He’s joking. It’s just one of his little obsessions,” she told him. She led him out of the kitchen, and they met Master Naka in the front room.

“I will sit with him, if you wish,” Naka told Karen. “I am quite well rested.”

Karen nodded and the two got Uncle Jerzy settled into his cell. Then Karen went up and started straightening up the kitchen before she had to leave to conduct some of her final exams. Poker wasn’t her thing.

Justin, David, Tony and Leigh seemed to be enjoying themselves, though. Justin, of course, wasn’t doing as well as he’d hoped. He couldn’t bluff at poker any better than he could lie.

Leigh got up and went to the fridge for a beer. When she closed the fridge door, she bumped the cluster of magnets holding notes to the front of it. It was strange how magnets on refrigerators seemed to mysteriously multiply like empty hangers in closets. Another one of the oddities of nature.

Leigh glanced at the notes. Some of them were months old, since no one ever bothered to clear them off the fridge after reading them. But one in Justin’s handwriting appeared to be new. “NOTE TO SELF–Call Gramma N.”

“Justin? Is this note yours?” Leigh asked, tossing the note onto the top of the pot in the center of the table.

Justin picked it up. “Shit! That’s right! I was thinking last night...”

“Too bad you didn’t keep it up, Moose,” David teased him, raking in the pot he’d just won.

Justin flipped ‘the finger’ at David. “My Gramma Nadjosinski has been around for a long time. She’s, I think, ninety-something. So I figured she might know something about Fr. Berowski. I was gonna take her to lunch today....”

“Want me to give her a call before I leave?” Karen asked him, hugging him around the shoulders from behind and giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

“I’ll do it,” he told her. “I’m losing spectacularly anyway. You’ll come, too, right?”

“Of course,” Karen replied. “My first exam is over at 11:30. So if you can make the reservation for noon?”

“I was just gonna take her to Roma,” Justin said. “Anyone else coming?”

“Sure. You payin’?” Tony asked.

“With what? You guys...and gal...are cleanin’ me out.”

“I’ll come,” Leigh said. “I like your grandmother.”

“I’ll just hang out here,” David told them.

“Are you sure?” Justin asked. “The food’s really good, best Italian in town.”

“OK. Well, I’ll think about it,” David finally conceded.

“I wonder if...” Justin started to say, getting up from the table. He went to the front room.

Leigh realized his intent before Karen did, and she got up to try to stop him from waking Aiden. But she couldn’t move fast enough, and shouting would only have woken Aiden anyway.

“Aiden, do you wanna....”

“Hunh?! What?!” Aiden sat bolt upright and began frantically searching for his pager. He’d been sound asleep, and when he didn’t find the pager in his pocket, he rolled off the couch and began pulling off the cushions.

“They haven’t had any work for you,” Leigh told him, coming into the front room a few steps behind Justin.

“Very funny. Why didn’t you wake me?!” He couldn’t find the pager, so he started patting down his coat, looking for his cell phone.

“No, seriously,” Leigh said. “There hasn’t been a single call. We’d have woken you.”

“They’re on the bar, dude,” Justin told Aiden.

“What?”

“Your cell and pager. They’re on the bar, plugged into their chargers.”

Aiden vaulted over the back of the couch and sprinted for the bar. He checked both, but there were no missed calls or pages on either one. He checked back in the memory for the last incoming calls on them, thinking maybe someone had answered for him then forgotten to mention it. There were no pages since the one he’d gotten while he was eating a breakfast burrito in the cafeteria yesterday afternoon. And no phone calls since Justin called him...wow...was that yesterday evening?

Aiden ran his hand through his hair, thinking. That meant he’d been sleeping for over 12 hours. That couldn’t be right. There must have been people coming into the ER during that time. He opened the phone and speed-dialed work.

“It’s Dr. Carter,” he told the nurse who answered. “I think there’s something wrong with my cell and pager. I haven’t gotten any calls on them since yesterday evening. But I’ll be there right away.”

“But, we haven’t called you, Dr. Carter,” the nurse told him.

“What do you mean you haven’t called me? It’s been almost 18 hours since I left on a break. You can’t really expect me to believe no one’s come into the ER in that whole time.”

“I didn’t say that. But we haven’t needed you.”

“How could you not have needed me? I was the physician on call last night.”

“Look...HR said we weren’t supposed to call you in unless there was a massive disaster and every ER in town was full.”

“Funny. Is this someone’s idea of a joke? Or is someone trying to get me fired?”

“If you don’t believe me, then you can talk to HR. Hold on a second while I transfer you.”

Aiden was put on hold, then heard a click as he was transferred.

“Rebecca Gonsalves, Human Resources.”

“Becky, it’s Aiden Carter. Did you really tell the ER not to call me in unless there was a massive disaster?”

“Aiden, hi! Actually, yes, though I didn’t put it exactly that way. When I was reviewing payroll records for the quarter, I noticed you’re at your vacation accrual cap. Do you have any idea how many OSHA regs that violates, you not using any vacation time in that long?

“Personally, I don’t care if you never take a vacation. In fact, I kind of wish all our staff were as dedicated as you. But, first of all, until you use as least 3 days worth of your vacation hours, you won’t be able to accrue any more.

“Second, the regulations for the maximum continuous hours a hospital physician can work without at least 24 hours off were written for a reason. We don’t need you here if you’re going to screw up because you’re so worn out you can’t think straight.

“But, Becky, I....”

“Aiden, don’t make me write you up.... Look, just use your 3 vacation days and I’ll be off your back for another few months at least. Harper’s on call, and since you trained him....”

“Yeah, yeah. Alright. When am I allowed to come back?”

“Monday. Have a nice weekend!”

Becky hung up before Aiden could argue anymore. He flopped onto the couch dejectedly. “They’re forcing me to take the weekend off. Something about ‘I have to use some of my vacation days,’ or something.” He was practically pouting.

Justin dialed his grandma’s number. “Gramma? It’s Justin.”

“Well, it’s good to know you haven’t actually died.”

“No, ma’am.”

“So you decided to actually call me.”

“Yes, ma’am. But I didn’t know it was my turn.”

Karen and the others cringed. They could only hear Justin’s end of the conversation, but smarting off to his grandma wasn’t a good idea. She was a tough old lady, and it might come back to bite him on the ass.

Justin spotted the reaction. “Sorry, ma’am. I just mean...well...you hadn’t called me, either.”

More cringing from the others made Justin stop talking for a moment.

“I haven’t seen you at Mass,” Gramma said.

Justin didn’t say anything this time. He managed to stop the thought that was forming, ‘That’s because we don’t get up that early,’ from coming out.

“And you haven’t stopped by my house.”

More silence from Justin. Gramma N. was enjoying this. She smiled on the other end of the line, waiting to hear what her grandson had to say for himself.

“Are you doing anything for lunch?” Justin finally asked her.

“I think I can clear my busy social schedule.”

“Well, we could have dinner, if you’d rather....”

“Lunch will be fine. I have trouble staying awake for supper these days.”

‘That’s because you’re up at the crack of dawn, usually,’ Justin thought to himself. “Yes, ma’am. I was just thinking of Roma Café, if that’s OK with you.”

“That will be fine. And you should bring that nice Italian boy from New York.”

Justin paused for a minute. Nice Italian boy? “You mean Tony? He’s the only Italian guy I know from New York.”

“Yes, that’s the one. He’s so nice. Weren’t we going to introduce him to Marie?”

Justin quickly changed the subject. Tony was a nice enough guy and all; but he didn’t want him dating Marie. “I wanted you to meet a couple new friends of mine, and it’s kind of a business lunch.”

“But I don’t need a new car....”

“No, Grams, you need a driver.”

“Why would I need a driver when I have family?”

“Technically, family can say no.”

“What world do you live in?”

Justin sighed. She was right, of course. He couldn’t think of anyone in his family who was brave enough, or stupid enough, to say ‘no’ to Gramma N. “Do you want to be picked up, or should I send a car?”

“Actually, can you bring Karen’s Jeep? It feels so adventurous riding in that.”

“She’ll be there about 11:45. See you at Roma. Love you.”

“I love you too, dear.”

Justin closed the phone. “Karen? Can you pick up Gramma? She wanted to be picked up in the Jeep. She thinks it feels adventurous.”

Karen grinned. “Sure. I’ll head over to get her as soon as I can get away." She grabbed her jacket and bag, and headed for the garage.

“One ‘a these days I’m gonna take Gramma for a bike ride,” Justin declared.

“You’re gonna put your grandmother on a ‘donor-cycle’?” Aiden asked

“Why not? I think she’d like it. Besides, I wouldn’t go far...or fast. Just a slow ride around the block. Anyway...Tony, Gramma told me to make sure you come to lunch with us. She thinks you’re a nice boy.”

Tony grinned. “I am. And I’ll even shower.”

“I’m going to the dojo to do katas,” Leigh told Justin. “I’ll be back here in time to clean up for lunch.”

“Are you coming, Aiden?” Justin asked.

“I’m not really hungry,” Aiden replied.

Leigh crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him, tapping her foot.

“What? I ate before I went to sleep,” Aiden said.

“That was last night,” Leigh countered.

Justin came around the couch and straddled Aiden’s knees. Then he leaned forward and tipped Aiden’s head back.

“You’re not my type,” Aiden told him.

“I’m not here to give you tongue,” Justin replied.

“Hold on! I’m gonna go get my camera!” Tony said.

David just shook his head. This place really was just a glorified frat house.

Justin was actually studying Aiden’s face for signs of malnutrition or any stress-related illnesses. He didn’t look great, but the only real problem was the lack of skin elasticity, a sign of dehydration.

Justin went to the fridge to get Aiden a bottle of water. He noticed that Leigh had put several containers of food marked with Aiden’s name in the fridge. At least one of them looked like it had soup in it.

He took the water, and dropped it on Aiden’s lap. “Drink this. And there’s soup in the fridge, too, with your name on it. Eat it.”

Aiden frowned, but opened the bottle of water and took a sip. “I’m just gonna hang out here. If I go along to lunch...your gramma knows me and she’ll wanna know what’s going on, what’s wrong.”

Aiden had a point. Justin realized it was gonna be hard enough to keep from spilling the beans himself. “When this is all over, I’m takin’ you out and gettin’ you drunk so you’ll talk about whatever’s wrong.”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Aiden insisted. “It’s nice that you guys care, but...”

Tony coughed out the word “Bullshit” into his hand.

“I agree with him,” Justin said, nodding at Tony.

Aiden just gave up and drank some water, then fell asleep again. Leigh left for the dojo, and Tony went upstairs to shower. Justin called a mobile auto-detailing shop and made an appointment for someone to go detail Karen’s Jeep, so it was spotless when she picked up Gramma. He called Karen to let her know they were coming, then went back to work on Aiden’s old truck. Master Naka sat and meditated outside the cell door as Fr. Jerzy slept.

When David got tired of playing solitaire, he went in the office to check his email. He’d cleared out his mailbox and was about to log off when a single email popped up. Finally It was an email from Angie:

“Thanks for the legal advice.

“I never buy a bike before I’ve kicked the tires and driven it around the block a couple times.

“A”

Well, that wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. It sounded like she’d at least have dinner with him. But, with the way everyone else was worrying about Aiden, David couldn’t help but wonder what the message meant as far as Aiden was concerned.

When Leigh got back, Justin realized he’d lost track of time working on the truck. He followed Leigh in, and he showered in the locker room while Leigh went upstairs and took over the bathroom Tony had been using.

Tony, Leigh and Justin met up in the front room, all ready for lunch out. Tony was wearing a casual suit, perfect for lunch with Gramma N., right down to the gold chain shown off by having his top two shirt buttons undone. He’d even managed to achieve that slightly unshaven look, though he’d clearly shaved.

“So, Justin...ain’t yer gramma gonna wonder why ya ain’t working?”

“She knows I’m the boss. And if you bring up the stripper pole in front of her, I’ll kill you.”

“Do I haf’ta let her run her fingers t’rough my chest hair again?”

David came out of the office, and he could see Justin trying to decide between throwing something at Tony and laughing. Tony was obviously entertaining himself by pushing Justin’s buttons today.

“You comin’?” Justin asked David.

“I don’t have anything to wear,” he replied, looking Tony up and down. “And unless there’s some reason I need to be there....”

“Dude, free lunch,” Aiden said, sitting up.

“It’s great Italian,” Justin told him. Then he shrugged. “But...it’s an open invitation. Come or don’t, it’s your choice.”

“Dere’s a can ‘a Chef Boy-ar-dee in da cab’nit,” Tony said over his shoulder, heading for the garage door.

“There’s also food that Leigh made, in the ‘fridge,” David retorted.

“But dat’s Aiden’s,” Tony countered.

David looked at Leigh.

“I just wanted to make sure Aiden got some of it before it all disappears,” Leigh said.

“Wait. Wouldn’ it be an insult in your culture, ta refuse an invitation to a meal?” Tony challenged David.

“First, I try to be adaptable to the culture in which I’m living,” David explained. “Obviously joining the group for a meal isn’t required, since Aiden and Master Naka were allowed to refuse. Second...” David grinned broadly, “I wouldn’t want to interfere with any designs you have on Justin’s gramma.” This game of pushing Moose’s buttons was pretty amusing.

Justin stuck a forefinger in each ear. “La la la la.”

Leigh crossed her arms over her chest and stared at David.

“What? I thought Tony was going for making Justin call him ‘grandpa.’”

“And you weren’t the one who had to drag him away from the cheerleaders,” Leigh told him.

“And you’re not the one Tony’s fantasizing about, either,” Aiden added.

“Wait...Tony’s fantasizing about you, Aiden?” Justin asked, confused.

“Not me ” Aiden replied, nodding toward Leigh.

“Well, you know, since Angie left, I suppose Aiden’s needed some consolation,” David said. “And, well, Tony IS so compassionate....”

At the mention of Angie, Aiden got up from the couch and headed briskly for the basement. “I’d better check on Fr. Jerzy and Master Naka.”

As Aiden disappeared around the corner and down the stairs, David followed him.

“Does this mean we need to get Angie drunk, too?” Justin asked, looking from Leigh to Tony.

“Next time I’m out there, I intend to,” Leigh told him.

“Don’t try to match her,” Justin warned. “She’s a Marine.”

“What kind of idiot do you think I am?” Leigh asked.

“The rest of the group is freaking out about you and Angie,” David said, approaching Aiden. “I figured you might have an easier time talking about it in front of two people who you don’t really know.” David nodded at Master Naka, sitting on his zafu beside the cell door.

“Why would I need to?”

“So you can get it off your chest, and then I can let the others know so they stop talking behind your back.”

“No, thanks. I don’t think so.”

David could see the ‘shutters’ going down behind Aiden’s eyes. In fact, his whole posture changed, his body language telling David to just let it go. David shrugged and headed back upstairs, pulling out his cell phone. He dialed Karen’s number.

Karen was just getting in the freshly cleaned Jeep. “Hi, David. I was just going to get Gramma. Wha’ did’ja need?”

“About lunch, Essiban...it feels like Justin and Leigh are pressuring me to come along. Is this some initiation ritual? You know, ‘go meet Gramma and get her approval’?”

“No. Honestly. You don’t have to come if you don’t want. We’re just gonna be grilling Justin’s gramma for info about Berowski, since she’s been in town forever and going to St. Lad’s for about as long. But the food really is good, too. It’s entirely up to you.”

When Karen got to Gramma’s house, she got hugged, and kissed on both cheeks. Then Gramma took Karen’s arms and held her out at arm’s length. “Let me look at you, dear.”

“Sorry, not pregnant yet, Gramma.” Karen smiled.

Gramma N. grinned back. “I’m sure it will happen in God’s own time. But it doesn’t hurt to check.”

Karen had meant every word she’d said to David, so she was a little surprised to see him there with the others, when she pulled up to let Gramma off at the front door of Roma.

Gramma hugged and kissed Leigh. Then she turned and pinched Tony’s cheeks before kissing him. Justin got hugged and kissed, and if his grandmother had been stronger, there might have been broken ribs from the hug.

Justin and Tony each took one of Gramma’s arms and helped her inside to the private room Justin had reserved. When she was seated, she asked, “And who’s this young man?” looking up at David. She looked at Justin first, but then at Leigh, anticipating that he might be Leigh’s new beau.

“He’s a friend of mine from the Tribe,” Karen said, coming in after finally finding a parking space. “Gramma, I’d like you to meet David Red Elk. David, this is Justin’s Grandma Nadjosinski.”

“Pleased to meet you, Grandmother,” David said, standing and shaking her hand.

“Please, call me Gramma. Everyone does.”

“Of course, Grandmother.”

Food and drinks were ordered, and were brought to the table. And Gramma N. kept up a steady stream of conversation throughout the meal. She asked about David’s family, asked Leigh about her trip home, talked about Justin’s family. She didn’t ask Tony anything, as if maybe she was a little afraid of what his answers might be.

“I’m doing some research on comparative religions,” David told her when she asked if he lived in Detroit now or was just visiting. “Moose and Essiban suggested I talk to you about the Catholic Church.”

Gramma smiled. “One of the great pleasures of old age is being able to share the stories of the past with others.”

“And one of the pleasures of youth is getting to listen to them,” David replied.

Gramma smiled even more broadly. “What a nice young man! Are you married?”

Justin cringed.

“Not yet,” David answered.

“Well, I have several young family members I’d like you to meet sometime.”

The group had a very pleasant lunch, with Gramma N. guiding the conversation, clearly aware that her grandson and his friends had an ulterior motive for inviting her. She let that fact slide in the interests of digestion.

Finally, when all the dishes had been cleared and a plate of cannolis had been brought to go with everyone’s choice of after-dinner beverage, Justin mentioned the elephant in the corner. “Grams, there’s some other, not so pleasant, business we wanted to talk to you about.”

She simply folded her hands and waited for her grandson to spit it out.

“Do you remember Fr. Berowski?”

“Oh! The priest who...” she looked around, then leaned in and whispered, “committed suicide. Yes, I do remember. My! No one’s asked about that for years.”

“Some things have come up recently...” Justin pushed ever so slightly.

“It was quite the scandal. It’s not going to give you a very nice picture of the Catholic Church, dear,” she said, looking over at David. “But he certainly wasn’t typical. Now, my nephew Jerzy.... You should meet him.”

Justin started choking. Karen poured a glass of water for him.

“Is there something wrong, dear?” Gramma asked.

Justin took a sip of water and suppressed more coughing. “No, ma’am,” he squeaked out.

Gramma raised one eyebrow, dubious.

“He’d already suggested that to me,” David said, taking her attention off Justin before he broke.

“You should play poker with him,” Gramma replied.

“I have.” David grinned. “He suggested inviting you next time.”

“Oh! I haven’t had a good game of poker in years! All the old ladies want to play canasta or bridge. I haven’t played poker since my husband died.” She didn’t mention that that had been almost 20 years ago.

“About Fr. Berowski, Grams?” Justin said. Karen caught David’s eye and nodded her thanks.

“Jerzy was very upset about that,” she told them. “He was so young then, and full of ideals. He never talked to me about it. He’s a better liar than you are, dear.” She eyed Justin. “But he wouldn’t admit anything was wrong. He found the body, you know.”

She could tell from the looks on their faces that they hadn’t known that. The Envoys all wondered why he hadn’t mentioned it, and if it might make any kind of difference.

“The young priests get the dawn duty, you know. He tried to revive Fr. Berowski, but it was too late. The only thing he ever said about it...it was the oddest thing...he said it was ‘a shame that he evaded what he so richly had coming.’ He never explained what that meant. So I assumed Fr. Berowski was one of those priests who abuses little boys.”

Justin’s face darkened.

“Ah! So I was right,” Gramma said, seeing the change immediately.

“It was little girls,” Justin mumbled. That didn’t stop his grandmother from hearing him.

“He smoked cherry tobacco...nasty-smelling stuff. The smell just clung to him. It smelled like if you soaked your socks in Kirsch and burnt them.”

“What?” Justin asked.

“It’s a cherry-flavored liqueur,” Leigh explained.

“I remember a lot of the young mothers all avoided him. A lot started going to the early Mass. I went because Jerzy officiated; and I thought maybe they were following my example. But...thinking about it now...they all had little girls. Maybe they were just avoiding Fr. Berowski.”

“How long was he a priest there?”

Gramma thought for a minute. “Eight years. He’d come from another parish, and I remember, especially the first few years, one of the older priests was always with him when he was serving Mass or hearing confessions. Maybe about three years before he died, that stopped. But, of course, they had started mentoring Jerzy, who’d just been assigned there.... I don’t know why they didn’t just retire him.”

“It would make the Church look bad,” Justin suggested, a hint of disgust in his tone of voice.

“I suppose Jerzy knew something about it. Hanging himself over the altar wasn’t a very nice thing for him to do, though,” Gramma said.

Justin leaned toward Karen. “Isn’t that where Uncle Jerzy said he saw him?” he whispered in her ear.

Karen nodded. Gramma didn’t show whether she’d noticed the exchange.

“You said he smoked cherry tobacco, Grams. Did you ever notice if he had a favorite pipe, or anything else that he always kept with him?”

“Why, now that I think about it, he did always seem to use the same pipe. I believe he’d gotten it overseas somewhere. He was quite fond of it. It was dark brown, heavily carved. I don’t really know if it was made of a very dark wood or if it was one of those very old Meerschaum pipes. Yes...he was very fond of it.”

“I suppose you know where all the ‘skeletons’ are buried, huh, Grams,” Justin said.

She smiled slyly. “I suppose.”

“Do you know where Fr. Berwoski’s things would have gone?”

“I remember that the parish could find no family. And, oddly, none of his previous posts wanted any of his things. So, unless someone else has cleaned out the attic of the rectory, I expect it’s all still up there. When I was younger, and my knees were better, I was up there often, cleaning, taking things up or down. Ask your Uncle Jerzy, though. He’d know for sure.”

Justin was drawing on the table with his finger, trying to remember the layout of the rectory. When he was a kid, he’d been all over the place, when his mom took him and Marie along to visit her cousin. But it had been years since he’d been beyond the first floor.

“Grams? How do you get up there?” he finally asked her.

“The stairway is hidden behind a panel at the top of the stairs to the second floor. You’d find it very interesting up there, dear,” she said, turning to Leigh. “The building is old enough to have a real attic with a full stairway.”

“Do you know if Berowski was his real name, Gramma? I know that sometimes religious people take different names when they take their vows....” Justin asked.

“Yes. It was...Peter...I think.”

“Did you happen to save any of the newspaper clippings about the incident?”

“Heavens, no! It never made the papers! It was a terrible scandal, and papers back then didn’t write about that kind of thing. Everyone knew about it, though.”

“And I don’t suppose you know where he was buried, do you?”

“I’m afraid not, dear. Certainly not in the Church graveyard.... But enough about that whole sorry event. I haven’t talked to your sister lately. How’s Olivia doing in school?”

The conversation turned back to family, with Justin, Karen and Gramma trading gossip. Justin and Karen were pleased to hear that Marlene had been released from Rehab, and was walking with just a cane now.

“So, David...is what Shina told me true, that the Tribe is just like any other large family?” Gramma asked.

“Yes, ma’am. I....”

“Who’s Shina, Grams?” Justin asked, instantly confused.

“Weeping Sparrow, of course,” she replied.

“Wait...she told you her real name?” Justin was flabbergasted. He didn’t even know she had a ‘real’ name. “I thought....”

“Of course she told me her name,” Gramma laughed. “We chatted for quite a long time. What else were we supposed to do at your wedding? Neither one of us dances much anymore. We had a lovely chat. I like her a great deal, and she likes me, too, I think.”

Justin leaned over to Karen. “See...I knew there was some sort of ‘old lady conspiracy’ controlling the world,” he whispered.

He didn’t whisper quietly enough, though. Leigh looked at him with exasperation. Gramma just laughed. “There is not an ‘old lady conspiracy,’ dear. Don’t you think we’d be doing a much better job with this world if there were? In fact, that’s not such a bad idea....” She laughed again.

“So...do you have a real name, too? I mean, I know you....” Justin asked sheepishly. In all his years, he couldn’t ever remember hearing Gramma called by anything else. Well, except by Grandpa. He’d always called her Mother, at least whenever Justin and his sister or any of his cousins were around. He never understood that.

Gramma burst out laughing. After a minute, she took a sip of her coffee. “Of course! It’s Olenka.”

“Anyway, to answer your question, Grandmother,” David finally said, “yes, it’s exactly like any other large family. For instance, when my cousin Susan took the name Mankiller, out of respect for the Cherokee chief Wilma Mankiller...”

“Whoa...she’s your cousin?” Justin asked.

“Yes. Anyway, my father considered it scandalous, even though most everyone approved of it. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard him say anything really nice about her, though he’d never say anything to her face. But he’s not exactly a misogynist. I think he’s mostly afraid she’s going to eventually try to live up to her namesake’s example and take over.

“Now, if he could get her to be his protégé, you know, so that it looked like she was following in his footsteps, that would be different. That’d be great, as far as he was concerned, and he’d probably have nothing but good to say about her then. But she’s a little too independent-minded to fall for that.”

“By the way, Grams, Weeping Sparrow is doing much better now,” Justin blurted out.

“Much better than what, dear?”

“Since she...um...didn’t you know that...uh...” Justin fidgeted. “Uh, I have to...I’ll be right back.” He practically bolted for the door, and turned toward the bathrooms.

Gramma looked suspiciously at Karen. “What’s going on?”

Karen sighed. “A few months ago, Weeping Sparrow was with a bunch of us visiting another friend at the hospital when some guy went crazy, grabbed her and tried to slit her throat. She’s still building up her strength, but she’s out of the hospital now and doing much better.”

“Oh! I wish I’d known sooner! Well, I’ll have to write her a letter.”

Justin finally came back from the bathroom, and pointedly avoided looking his grandma in the eye. “I took care of the bill,” he told everyone.

Karen glanced at her watch. She had to get going soon if she was going to make it back to campus for her next class.

“Well, I think I should be getting back home,” Gramma said, noticing Karen’s movement. “Leigh, dear, would you mind taking me home? I know that Karen has to get back to her classes soon, and Justin’s truck is so big. I’ll admit, it’s a little bit scary riding up so high over everything else.”

“Of course, Grandma,” Leigh replied. Everyone stood, and Tony appeared behind Gramma N., holding her chair and helping her stand, then holding her coat for her.”

“Such a gentleman! If only I was 30 years younger....” She grinned and Tony returned the smile, putting his arm out. She took his arm and patted it with her other hand.

David came around to her other side and offered his arm. “It was very nice to meet you, young man,” she told him, taking it.

“Yes, you too,” David replied. “And thank you for the history lessons.”

“Oh, my pleasure, dear. And if you’re looking for a girlfriend, I know a few very nice young ladies.”

David just smiled.

Outside, as Justin and Karen hugged Gramma goodbye, Leigh ran to bring her car around. David and Tony helped Gramma into the passenger seat, then followed Justin over to his truck. The three went back to the clubhouse, while Karen went back to campus, and Leigh took Gramma home, then stayed for tea and a chat.

The main floor was silent when Justin, Tony and David came in from the garage. Justin went to the security monitor. Both Aiden and Master Naka were sitting on cushions outside Uncle Jerzy’s cell door. Justin couldn’t tell whether they were awake, asleep or dead. So he went downstairs to check. On his way past the kitchen, he noticed a bunch of the plastic containers from the fridge were now on the counter near the sink, empty.

Tony followed him, and Master Naka opened his eyes when he heard the two men coming. He looked up at Justin, then over at Aiden, who was sound asleep. Naka shrugged. “I was teaching him Waking Mindfulness. It is a meditation technique which I thought he might find useful for refreshing himself at work.”

Justin grinned. He quietly explained what they’d learned from his grandma. He peeked in the cell window as he talked. His uncle was sleeping peacefully, a smile on his face. Then he checked the pockets of his uncle’s coat and pulled out the keys to the church and rectory.

“Dr. Carter did check your uncle’s medications,” Master Naka told Justin. “I believe he said they were for treating high blood pressure, high cholesterol and...G..E..R..D?”

“At least there were no little blue ones,” Justin said.

“Nex’ confession,” Tony told him, “dat bedder go on yer list. Id’s a sin ta even t’ink sump’in like dat about a priest, ya know.”

“What? There’s other things it’s used for...” Justin objected.

Tony just shook his finger at Justin. That was true, but it wasn’t what Justin was thinking about when he made the comment.

Tony and Justin went upstairs, and Master Naka picked up the book that had been lying on the floor beside him.

“So, are we supposed to be breaking in and stealing the pipe?” David asked, looking up from the solitaire game spread out on the table. He’d been through enough of the old ‘case’ files with Karen to have an idea of the way this group worked, and to know the sorts of things they keyed on when trying to solve their ‘cases.’

“It’s not breaking in if we have the key,” Justin said, holding up the key ring he’d taken from his uncle’s coat pocket.

“Right.”

“Why don’ we have yer uncle write a note dat says he wanted us ta pick stuff up for ‘im?”

David’s head sagged. These people didn’t know much about the law. He was surprised they weren’t all in jail by now.

“We aren’t doing anything until Leigh and Karen get back, anyway,” Justin told the guys. “And that’ll give us a little more time to let Aiden sleep before we go.”

"Up for more poker?" David asked the two.

He gathered the cards and began shuffling as Justin and Tony pulled out chairs....