Cat stared at the sister in shock. She had to be wrong. Isobel did exist. “If she isn’t Isobel, then who the hell is she?”
Sister Patrice tightened her lips and wouldn’t say another word. She looked down at the floor and refused to lift her head again.
Hawkins finally got pissed off and stomped over to her. Gripping her chin in his hand, he held on tight as he lifted her head to see her eyes. He didn’t give a shit if he was hurting her or not. He needed answers and she had them. He wouldn’t strike the woman, but he did tighten his grip on her. “Who the fuck in she then? We’ve only known her as Isobel McCormick, what’s her real name, Sister?”
Something flashed in Sister Patrice’s eyes, and she gritted out, “I don’t know.”
Hawkins stared at her for a long moment before he growled, “I don’t fucking believe you.”
Sister Patrice glared at him, then said, “And I don’t give a damn if you believe me or not. I don’t have to tell you anything. You and yours don’t belong here. This is a place of God and not for your kind.”
Hawkins tightened his fingers again and when she winced, he smiled. “And why would that be good Sister? We’re all God-fearing men.”
“You’re heathens, not God-fearing men. Every last one of you is a heathen.” Sister Patrice hissed. “You live side by side with the devil.”
“You don’t know the first thing about how we live, Sister.” Hawkins growled.
“You are bikers,” she spat out the word like it was blasphemy. “I don’t need to know any more than that. Everyone knows how bikers are.”
With the comment about biker’s, Hawkins looked enraged. But he was also a man who had never hurt women, so he pushed her away from him. “You don’t have a fucking clue about us and our kind.”
Sister Patrice stumbled away from him; the marks on her face stark against the paleness of her skin. “I don’t need to know your kind, I can see the evil in your eyes.”
Cat straightened her shoulders and said, “And we can read the lies you’re spouting in yours. They say the eyes are the windows to your soul and we can read the lies and deceit in yours. You are supposed to be a bride of Jesus but…” She paused and studied the other woman. “You aren’t a bride of Christ…I think… NO, I know you’re not but here you are, aren’t you? You prefer to hide behind this facade of respect.”
“What are you saying?” Kota asked, looking from Cat to his father to the other men and back to Cat.
“She is not a nun, she’s a phony,” Cat called her out. “Oh, she may wear the clothes and act the act, but she sure as hell don’t walk the walk. Not really.”
“How do you know for sure?” Hawkins wanted to know.
“Because, I know her. I know her tells,” Cat explained. “I grew up here, remember? I’ve watched her most of my life. I watched how the sisters would interact with the children or even each other. Sister Patrice was never any good at interacting with the other sisters. Oh, she had her favorites among the kids but those were few and far between. The rest of us were shit out of luck to get her to even speak to us. Like we said, she avoided me and Luna every single day.”
“We weren’t the only kids she avoided,” Luna spoke up as she recalled something. She looked over at Sister Patrice and shook her head. “Remember when we were about ten? Well, I was ten and you were twelve but think back to the time those new kids came here. Three brothers and one sister. All of them from the same family, someone from Jackson Heights over in Eau Claire. They weren’t here very long.” She looked over at Cat. “But remember, the lovely sister Patrice went out of her way to avoid them?”
Cat nodded. “Oh yes, I remember them now. They came here because their dad went to jail for dealing, but he claimed it was all a mistake. He ran that corner garage on Haskins Street. He said he was set up by the real dealer, because there was someone trying to take over the local gang. They came in and were taking over their territory or something like that.”
Luna looked over at Cat and said, “Remember their eyes? The oldest two boys and the little girl had the same color eyes.”
“Yeah!” Cat’s eyes widened and she turned to Brute. “The same color as Tatum’s eyes.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Brute growled.
“They had the same colored eyes as Tatum,” Cat told him as she thought about those kids. She turned and studied Sister Patrice and noticed how pale the other woman had become. Cat looked closer and saw the truth in the other woman’s eyes. “You knew them didn’t you? You knew those kids and for some reason, you were afraid of them. Why? Why were you so afraid?”
“I have no idea who you’re even talking about,” Sister Patrice denied it.
Hawkins could see she was lying.
Titan, Kota and Brute could see the truth in her eyes as well.
Hawkins stepped closer to her. “Oh, I think you know exactly who Cat’s talking about, don’t you Sister?”
Sister Patrice’s eyes widened as she backed into the wall behind her. Now she was trembling and she wouldn’t meet his eyes.
“Yeah, she knows.” Hawkins turned to the girls. “What else about those kids do you remember?”
Luna scoffed. “All this happened over ten years ago and those kids weren’t here very long.”
“Why?” Brute asked.
Luna looked like she was trying to remember. “I think… a family came to claim them.” She glanced over at Sister Patrice as she told them, “We didn’t get much of the news that happened outside these walls, but I do remember the oldest boy telling us, the reason they were even here was because their uncle didn’t know where they’d been taken to. He claimed his uncle was coming for them and that he would take care of their dad too. Then he’d go after the person that claimed his father took or did something.” She shook her head. “That kid always claimed his dad was framed.”
Now Cat’s eyes widened as she remembered more of the incident. “I remember now. The oldest one was named Van…Van Greenaway.” She turned her head and stared at Sister Patrice.
Patrice had paled to the point where she looked like she was going to pass out.
Luna glanced at Hawkins and the others. “Yes, that was his name. Van said his dad was innocent and that the police were railroading him into prison under a false charge. There was a battle gearing up to happen and the first strike was against his father. The other side claimed that his dad broke into their bar and wrecked the place then he took their crest or medallion thing. I think he called them the Devil’s Minions or something like that.”
“The kids were brought here,” Cat added. “But Van kept telling us they wouldn’t be here long. His uncle would come for them and his uncle would make things right.”
“And did he?” Hawkins asked. “Did his uncle come for them and make things right?”
Luna shrugged. “I’m not sure. Like I said we didn’t get much outside news behind these walls.” She turned and motioned toward Sister Patrice. “She would know what happened.”
Kota growled, “Well Patrice, what happened?”
“How the hell would I know?” Sister Patrice yelled at them. “It happened a long time ago like Luna said. I didn’t keep track of the kids once they’ve left here.”
Hawkins grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer to him. He studied her eyes for a moment then pushed her back against the wall. “I think you know what happened to those kids. I think you kept track of them for some reason. Were you there the day their family found them and came for them?”
“I remember that happening,” Cat whispered. “A big long black limo pulled up to the gate and Mother Superior didn’t want to let them in. She and the Headmaster walked to the front entrance. The Headmaster was arguing with her to do what was right for the children. He kept telling her that the kids who had family should be allowed to go with them but Mother Superior kept telling him that some families shouldn’t have custody of their children. She didn’t want to let the limo in.”
“What happened?” Brute asked.
“Yeah that’s right! The police showed up,” Luna replied. “Mother Superior and the Headmaster had to speak to the police as well as the man in the limo. She was not happy. I don’t know what happened but suddenly the front gates opened up. Then the limo and the police were allowed in. So then, they stood there and watched as the man in the limo collected the four children. The man in the limo spoke to the boys and he marched up to Mother Superior and said something to her that she didn’t like. I think the cops had to get between them at some point. Anyway, the limo finally left and the police stayed a while to speak to the Mother and the church had to send the Cardinal from Eau Claire to the Abbey to speak to her as well.”
Cat nodded. “Yeah, she was not a happy woman for a very long time.”
Titan checked his watch and said, “We need to get out of here before we’re caught behind these walls.”
Hawkins agreed as he watched the supposed Sister. “We may not have found Isobel and we have more questions now than answers but I think we should bring the good sister with us. I’m willing to bet she has some of the answers we need.”
Sister Patrice went white. “You can’t take me from behind these walls, that’s kidnapping!”
Hawkins shook his head. “I didn’t say we were going to keep you or hurt you, we just need some answers. So since you are not sharing, we know the right place to get them from you.”
“You can’t be serious?” Patrice shook her head. “I don’t know anything you need to know. Like Luna said, we didn’t get much outside news here. We don’t want to know what happens outside these walls.”
“Oh, Sister…” Hawkins tisked. “You know a hell of a lot more than you’re willing to share with us but that will change. Once we get you outside these walls, I think you’ll talk to us.”
“Don’t bet on that,” Sister Patrice mumbled under her breath. Then her voice got louder when she protested, “It’s still kidnapping, you’re taking a member of the church from sacred walls. That will make the sentence even worse!”
Hawkins shook his head and his lip curled as he glared at her. “I’ll take my chances with the church. My conscience is clear Sister, is yours?”
Sister Patrice snarled at him but didn’t say anything as she glared at Hawkins. “Go to hell.”
Hawkins laughed at her outburst, not at all surprised. He looked over at Cat and Luna. “You girls might be right about her. She ain’t no real nun.”
Cat stared at her as she spoke in almost a whisper, “She doesn’t want to give us anything that would prove us right about her, but she also does not want to be forced outside these walls. Someone is giving her orders and she is very afraid of whomever that is. She is too afraid to talk.”
Sister Patrice stared at her in shock and shook her head. “You are truly an instrument of the devil. Just like Mother Superior always said.”
Luna stepped up to her and asked, “Why? Because she knows things, she shouldn’t? Like the fact that you are a fake. You are the one working for the devil. I just know it. You never acted like the other nuns. So how did you get in here? How did you get past the church officials to pretend to be a freakin’ nun?”
Pressing her lips tight, the ‘supposed’ Sister said not a word.
“She has too much to lose if she talks,” Cat stated. “You can see the fear in her eyes but it isn’t because she is afraid of us. She is more afraid of whoever she’s working for.”
Luna cocked her head to one side again. Then she tried to push Sister Patrice toward Hawkins. “Someone is coming. Keep her quiet.”
The lights went out just as Hawkins’s hand clamped over Patrice’s mouth while his other arm held her close to him, despite her struggles to get away.
The group hardly dared to breathe as they all heard footsteps coming toward the shed. Then they heard the door open and someone swearing. “Dammit, Patrice, Isobel, are either one of you in here?”
Luna reached out and snapped the light on.
Everyone was more than surprised to find themselves looking at another nun. One who was much older.
Cat stared at her as she whispered in shock, “Mother Superior?”
The woman frowned as she took in the whole group standing there. She turned abruptly and went to step back out.
Brute grabbed her from behind and hauled her further into the shed.
Luna glanced outside quickly then shut the door. She shook her head and said, “I don’t see anyone else out there.”
“What the holy hell is going on here?” Mother Superior growled out. “Who are you people, and how the hell did you get inside these walls?”
