I Will Fear No Evil Read online

  I Will Fear No Evil

  Other Books by Debbie Viguié

  The Psalm 23 Mysteries

  The Lord is My Shepherd

  I Shall Not Want

  Lie Down in Green Pastures

  Beside Still Waters

  Restoreth My Soul

  In the Paths of Righteousness

  For His Name’s Sake

  Walk Through the Valley

  The Shadow of Death

  The Kiss Trilogy

  Kiss of Night

  Kiss of Death

  Kiss of Revenge

  Sweet Seasons

  The Summer of Cotton Candy

  The Fall of Candy Corn

  The Winter of Candy Canes

  The Spring of Candy Apples

  Witch Hunt

  The Thirteenth Sacrifice

  The Last Grave

  Circle of Blood

  I Will Fear No Evil

  Psalm 23 Mysteries

  By Debbie Viguié

  Published byBig Pink Bow

  I Will Fear No Evil

  Copyright © 2014 by Debbie Viguié

  ISBN-13: 978-0-9906971-1-4

  Published by Big Pink Bow

  www.bigpinkbow.com

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Dedicated to my darling Schrödinger, and all the other black cats out there in need of loving homes. I pray they find them.

  Thank you to Laurie Aguayo for her costume suggestion for Mark and Traci (Dick Tracy and Breathless Mahoney). Thank you to Kristi Hirtzel for her costume suggestion for Mark and Traci (Dick Tracy and Tess Trueheart). Thank you to Chrissy Current for her costume suggestion for Geanie and Joseph (Morticia and Gomez Addams). Thank you to Serena Webb, Pam Weger, Katie Armistead, and Kylie Marie Bates for their suggestion of a Zorro costume for Jeremiah. Thank you also to my husband, Scott, my parents Rick and Barbara, and my dear friend Calliope for all their love and support.

  1

  Rabbi Jeremiah Silverman always felt a bit invigorated on Mondays. The beginning of his workweek always seemed rife with possibilities for both good and bad, and that always had him on his toes and feeling alive. Occasionally it also left him frustrated because he couldn’t choke the life out of someone who deserved it.

  This particular Monday was starting out with a bang, and it wasn’t a good one at that. Already Marie had lectured him on three separate topics, none of which seemed of the least importance to him, even though they seemed to represent the end of the world to her. Four members of his congregation had come in to complain about the forthcoming Halloween festivities at the church next door. A father had dragged his son in for counseling after the boy had told his parents he didn’t want to be a grown up and therefore was going to refuse to participate in any Bar Mitzvah activities. Lastly was the fact that Cindy seemed to be angry with him and for the life of him he had no idea why.

  So when his phone rang and he discovered Detective Mark Walters on the other end he wasn’t sure whether to view it as a welcome respite or a natural progression of the morning’s chaos.

  “Detective, what can I do for you?” he asked. He knew that it upset Mark that he was using his title lately, but it was hard since the events that had happened in Israel to let down his guard enough to express the intimacy of friendship by calling the man by his first name.

  “Rabbi,” Mark growled, clearly in a worse mood than usual. “I have a bit of a problem and I find myself in need of your particular expertise. I need your professional opinion on something.”

  Jeremiah hesitated. It was also more than a bit awkward now that Mark knew that his previous employer had been the Mossad. Now he was truly unclear if Mark was hoping to talk to the rabbi or the assassin.

  “Which professional opinion are you needing?” Jeremiah asked cautiously.

  “Both of them,” Mark said, sounding even more upset.

  “That can’t be a good thing.”

  “It isn’t. It’s probably one of the worst things I’ve seen in my entire career and I need you to get down here now.”

  “Alright, where are you?”

  Mark gave him an address and Jeremiah wrote it down.

  “Do you need me to bring anything?”

  “Yeah. See if you can pick up one of the pastors from next door. I might need their opinion, too.”

  “What has happened?” Jeremiah asked, now growing alarmed.

  “I can’t explain it. You’ll see for yourself when you get here.”

  Mark hung up the phone without saying anything else.

  With a sigh Jeremiah got up from his desk. Whatever was going on, it couldn’t be any crazier than things had been around there that morning.

  “Are you okay?” Geanie asked as Cindy Preston slammed her desk drawer shut.

  “Fine,” Cindy grumbled.

  Geanie snorted. “Really? That’s the best you can do?”

  Cindy turned toward her. “No, I’m not fine.”

  “Better. Care to tell me why?”

  “The Halloween party,” Cindy managed to spit out.

  “Okay, the one here at the church or the one Joseph and I are throwing?” Geanie asked cautiously.

  “The one at your guys’ house,” Cindy said.

  “You have a problem with our Halloween party?” Geanie asked, sounding a bit bewildered and staring at her with huge eyes.

  Cindy sighed and rubbed her forehead with her hand. “It’s not that I have a problem with your party. I’m just having a problem because of your party.”

  “Okay, now you really need to explain,” Geanie said.

  “It’s Jeremiah. I thought maybe we could coordinate our costumes.”

  “Do a couple costume, yeah, sure. And the problem is?”

  “Not only is he not that into the idea of dressing up, but he also doesn’t seem to be interested in choosing a costume that would be conducive to me wearing something to match.”

  “He doesn’t want to do a couple’s costume and you’re mad at him for it,” Geanie said, the light dawning in her eyes.

  “Yes, well, no, but yes,” Cindy said, frustration flooding her.

  “Or are you more mad that you’re not actually a couple?” Geanie guessed.

  “I’m upset because things have been hard since we got back from overseas,” Cindy said, still feeling cautious about mentioning that they were actually in Israel. Which in and of itself was weird. Everyone at Jeremiah’s synagogue knew he’d been in Israel in July. They all thought he’d been dealing with family issues. And while they had dealt with family issues after all, that wasn’t a good excuse for where Cindy had been and what she’d been doing. Most people knew that she’d had some sort of emergency in July and that’s why she had disappeared, but only those close to them knew she’d been in Israel with Jeremiah helping to stop a terrorist plot.

  Even then there was so much she wasn’t allowed to talk about with other people. There had been a swarm of government agents for both Israel and America that had sworn her to secrecy in every way possible. Still, a few people at least knew something about the truth. Geanie knew more than most. After all, she was the only one Cindy had confided in about the kiss between her and Jeremiah. Kisses. There had been multiple.

  Now that they were home, thing
s were awkward, though. Jeremiah clearly didn’t want to talk about what had happened in Israel and maybe that was how he coped with it, but she needed to be able to talk to him about everything that had happened. Since they’d been back they’d only kissed a handful of times, too, and usually when they did Jeremiah managed to have a guilty look on his face which just made her more upset.

  They couldn’t talk about Israel. They couldn’t talk about them as a quasi-couple. Frankly, anything they could talk about was boring and shallow seeming in comparison. If she had one more polite meal with him she thought she might throw a fit.

  Not that it was entirely his fault. Back home it had been easy to slip into old habits and see the events in Israel as a far-off dream at best or someone else’s life at worst. She certainly hadn’t been as outspoken or aggressive with him since their plane had touched down on U.S. soil.

  She told herself that she was trying to give him space to re-acclimate to life as a rabbi instead of a spy. In reality she was scared that he had changed his mind about them and he didn’t know how to tell her.

  “Earth to Cindy.”

  Cindy realized she’d been completely lost in her own thoughts. “I’m sorry, Geanie, what were you saying?”

  “I was asking what kind of costumes you wish you and Jeremiah were wearing.”

  “Something fun, maybe a bit romantic.”

  “Sexy?” Geanie asked.

  Cindy was furious at herself for blushing when Geanie said the word. “A little wouldn’t be bad, although I have a feeling you’re probably going to take the prize in that category. What are you and Joseph dressing up as for the party?”

  “Gomez and Morticia Addams.”

  “Why Gomez and Morticia?” Cindy asked.

  “Because in my opinion they are one of the absolute sexiest screen couples,” Geanie said with a grin. “Raul Julia and Angelica Houston were so hot together. The dialogue was amazing, the passion was tangible.”

  “Clearly I’m going to have to see the movies,” Cindy said with a small chuckle. She had always admired Geanie’s passion for things.

  Geanie’s eyes widened. “You mean you haven’t?”

  “No.”

  “How were we roommates for all those months and I never knew this? I would totally have made you watch them on movie night.”

  “Okay, now I’m curious who you think the other hot screen couples are,” Cindy said with a laugh.

  “My other fave is Batman and Catwoman in the Michael Keaton and Michelle Pfeiffer version. When she had him pinned on that roof and they had the discussion about mistletoe and kisses both being deadly and then she licked his face? I thought I might die.”

  Cindy laughed at the expression on Geanie’s face. She couldn’t help it. The other woman was so clearly enraptured by what she was saying. “I must say that I’m pretty fond of Zorro,” she admitted after a few moments.

  “Zorro’s always good, very handsome and exciting. He was one of my heroes growing up. I used to love anything with him, the Lone Ranger, or Robin Hood,” Geanie said. “So what kind of costumes has Jeremiah suggested?”

  “Let’s see, his first choice was rabbi,” Cindy said, unable to contain the sarcasm in her voice.

  Geanie winced. “I’m not sure what’s worse, the idea that he’s threatening to basically not dress up or that he thinks that the rabbi is a costume and not the real him.”

  Cindy went very still. She hadn’t thought of that. She had just thought he was trying to get out of dressing up. It had never occurred to her that he could be having so many problems fitting back into this life that he saw the rabbi as a character he was putting on and not something real that was part of him. She felt suddenly very sad.

  The door opened and she blinked in surprise as Jeremiah walked in.

  “Speak of the devil,” Geanie said softly.

  Cindy could tell from the way Jeremiah’s eyes flicked toward the other woman that he had heard her. He had frighteningly good hearing and she had only just recently started to figure out how good it really was.

  She forced a smile on her face. “Are you here for lunch?” she asked.

  It was a bit early, but she didn’t know what else to think.

  He shook his head. “Actually Detective Walters called and he wanted me to come down and give my opinion on a crime scene. He asked me to see if any of the pastors here were available to come as well.”

  “That sounds ominous,” Geanie said.

  Cindy couldn’t help but agree. “Why does Mark want to see one of the pastors?” she asked.

  “He didn’t say, but I gather he wants a religious perspective on whatever it is he’s run across.”

  “All of them are actually tied up the rest of the day,” Cindy said.

  “But you know, I’m sure Cindy could offer some religious perspective on it,” Geanie said quickly.

  Cindy was about to object. She was in no way as schooled in theology as a pastor. She did know more than Mark, though, and she found herself burning with curiosity. Plus, she had to admit that she wanted to spend some more time with Jeremiah. It was possible that she’d been overly harsh in her estimate of his costume choosing skills.

  “I could certainly try,” Cindy said. “I can take my lunch break now and go with you,” she said, grabbing her purse and standing up.

  “Yes, you two have fun solving crime,” Geanie said brightly.

  Cindy bit her lip to keep from saying something obnoxious. Jeremiah was staring at her oddly, but he wasn’t objecting.

  “Let’s go,” she said, heading for the door.

  Once she was settled in the passenger seat of his car Cindy forced herself to take a deep breath, trying to flush out the hostility she had been feeling earlier. She smiled at Jeremiah as he put the car in drive.

  “How are you doing?” she asked.

  “It’s been a busy morning. Marie just kept going on and on. I’m not even sure about what,” he said with a sigh.

  “I’m sorry to hear that, but I meant more in a big picture sort of way.”

  She could see a muscle clench in his jaw. Normally that would have been answer enough, but she pressed on. “It’s been hard, not being able to talk about everything that happened,” she said. “I know I can’t talk about it with other people, but I was hoping you and I could at least discuss things.”

  “What do you want to discuss?” he asked.

  “Everything. Anything. A lot changed a couple of months ago. For me. For you. For us.”

  “I know. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t apologize,” she said, trying to keep the anger that flared up within her out of her voice. “I’m glad. I’ve grown so much as a person and I could never go back to being the scared child that I was when you first met me.”

  “You were hardly a child.”

  “Not in years, but I felt like one. Lost, alone, terrified of everyone and everything in the great big world. You set me free from that. I would not change it for anything in the world.”

  “You set yourself free,” he told her.

  “Even if I did, I couldn’t have done so without you and God helping, pushing, encouraging.”

  She reached over and put her hand on his knee. Even that simple act caused her heart to start pounding and a part of her said that she was being too brazen, that she had no right to touch him like that.

  But she had every right. He had given her the right. She remembered what he’d told her back in Israel, even if he had forgotten. He didn’t say anything and she left her hand where it was. The intimacy felt forced, but she refused to budge.

  “I need you,” she said softly.

  “I know,” he said, with a slight catch in his voice. “I’m sorry I haven’t been there for you. What happened, everything you’ve gone through. It had to have been traumatic.”

  “Life altering,” she interjected.

  “And you’re right, I’m the person you need to talk to, should talk to, and I just haven’t been ready to talk about any o
f it.”

  “I know, and I’ve tried to be patient, but things can get pretty noisy in my head when I’ve just got myself to talk to,” she said, trying to keep her tone light.

  He let go of the steering wheel with his right hand, and before she knew what he was going to do he had picked up her hand and kissed her fingers. Gently he set it back down and she felt a thrill of triumph when he put her hand back on his knee. What was the saying about victory being won in inches instead of miles?

  She was content to let the rest of the ride pass in silence. As it turned out it was only a couple more minutes. Jeremiah turned onto a street that seemed vaguely familiar. All the houses were incredibly rundown, but none of them compared to the house at the end of the street. Weeds had overtaken the front yard and the glass panes in the windows were jagged and broken. There were steps leading up to the front porch and three were sagging, one was broken, and another was missing altogether.

  The police cars parked outside were the only indication that there was life somewhere on the premises.

  “Okay, this gets my vote for creepiest haunted house,” Cindy said. She was trying to joke, but something about the structure, its walls stained a dark color that was nearly black and two dormer windows on the third floor staring like eyes, made her blood run cold. Her stomach twisted and she had a sudden, overwhelming urge to stay in the car.

  She felt embarrassed by her unreasoning terror. Here she had been talking to Jeremiah about how much she’d grown and changed from the terrified creature she had once been and not ten minutes later she wanted to cower in the car while he went into the spooky house without her.

  Snap out of it, she told herself sternly, as she pushed open the car door and forced herself to get out.

  “This feels...wrong,” Jeremiah muttered.

  “I couldn’t agree more,” she admitted.