Page 62 of Retribution
He shakes his head and glares at her like she’s an idiot.
Big mistake.
“You are a layperson. You cannot confer absolution.”
She squats down in front of him and stares into his eyes, her fury increasing by the second.
“Well, you’ll have to take your chances. You are the only priest here, and you cannot absolve yourself of your sins. Tell us what you’re responsible for in regard to Carter Bonetti. What did you do to him while you were supposed to help him?”
He glances at me for help and swallows hard.
“You could stop this.”
I shrug my shoulders as I glare at him, feeling as much hatred for this man as Heather does.
“Maybe. Maybe not, but I won’t bother trying. I wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire.”
Heather rises to her feet, her patience visibly dwindling.
“Confess your sins before you die.”
His eyes bounce from me to Killian as if hoping we will intervene.
“I was responsible for creating Carter's spiritual treatment plan. He had demons and obviously still does. His refusal of simple touch is a result of that demon wrapping itself around his soul. Everything I ordered was to save his charred soul from eternal damnation.”
This man doesn’t know it, but Heather is far angrier about what was done to me than what he did to her. That’s who this woman is. Hurting those she loves is worse than doing anything to her.
“Carter made you a gift. Wasn’t that nice?”
He glances at me, his gaze filled with fear as he trembles. This man knows from experience what I am capable of if you push me to a dark place. Human beings are resilient and can get through almost anything, but they can also turn into vicious animals if they are pushed too far. When I was in St. Dymphna’s, that’s exactly what happened. I was mostly a peaceful young man until they tied me to a bed as several of the staff touched me repeatedly as I begged and pleaded for them to stop. They didn’t listen to my cries. Nobody cared. Nobody intervened. Instead, theylaughedat my agony.
Heather walks over to the metal shelf with supplies that Bones dropped off for her.
She picks up the wooden paddle with nails through it that I made for her and swings it in the air, a laugh bubbling out of her when the priest flinches, anticipating her hitting him.
“Not yet, Father.”
She walks over to him and strokes the nails over his cheek.
“Where is Jedediah?”
Tears fall down his cheeks, as his bottom lip quivers.
“I can’t tell you. He will kill me.”
She pulls the paddle back and swings it forward. He flinches as he cries out expecting the hit. We can visibly see the artery in his neck throbbing from his racing heart.
“Do you think I won’t?”
He shakes his head as he stares at her with a hopeful gaze.
“There’s good in you. Everything I’ve done is for money. I’m not an evil man—I’m greedy, but not inherently bad. I have never had sex with a child.”
I arch an eyebrow as I scratch my head, deep in thought.
“Is greed not one of the seven deadly sins?”
Heather walks around to his naked back and taunts him as she rubs the paddle up and down, the nails grazing his bare skin.
