UnCatholic Conduct Read online

  Table of Contents

  Synopsis

  Acknowledgments

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  About the Author

  Books Available from Bold Strokes Books

  Synopsis

  Private investigator Jil Kidd is finding life too damn complicated at the moment. The P.I. firm belonging to her mentor, Padraig, is in a financial mess, and to help him, she must take this latest assignment—which couldn’t be more offensive. When Jil is sent to St. Marguerite’s Catholic School to investigate teachers breaking their contracts of Catholic conduct, her investigation takes a dramatic turn after a student winds up dead on campus. To further complicate matters, circumstances keep throwing her together with the hot blond principal, Jessica Blake, at the center of her investigation. Decades-old secrets run deep through the veins of this traditional school, and Jil has to find answers to some chilling questions—like what really happened to those two boys in the old gym forty years ago—before another student pays the ultimate price. Difficult, when all she can think about is getting Jessica into bed.

  UnCatholic Conduct

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  eBooks from Bold Strokes Books, Inc.

  http://www.boldstrokesbooks.com

  eBooks are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.

  Please respect the rights of the author and do not file share.

  UnCatholic Conduct

  © 2014 By Stevie Mikayne. All Rights Reserved.

  ISBN 13: 978-1-62639-281-6

  This Electronic Book is published by

  Bold Strokes Books, Inc.

  P.O. Box 249

  Valley Falls, New York 12185

  First Edition: December 2014

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

  This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

  Credits

  Editor: Cindy Cresap

  Production Design: Susan Ramundo

  Cover Design By Gabrielle Pendergrast

  Acknowledgments

  The birth of a novel is similar to the birth of a child. If you’re lucky, as I’ve been, a community stands around cheering and handing out champagne, and saying “It’s about freaking time!”

  This novel required particular patience from my community because I literally lost the plot about 50% of the way through, and had to shelve the novel for three years so I could decide who the bad guy was…

  Thanks go to my tutor from Lancaster University, Sara Maitland, who didn’t scold me for handing in chapters of this book in lieu of the creative nonfiction novel I was supposed to be working on for my MA thesis.

  To my wife and daughter, who have spent a lot of time at the park while I’ve finished rewrites and edits.

  To my supportive and keenly observant beta readers: Pavarti, Jo Ellen, Roxie and Jessica, and the team of experts who received two a.m. e-mails with random what-if questions and answered without ever asking, “Why do you want to know?”

  And to the fantastic ladies involved in the final step of this process: my meticulous editor Cindy and the rest of the BSB team who has worked behind the scenes to bring this manuscript into book form.

  Dedication

  To Nancy,

  It’s about time I dedicated a book to you…even if you’ll probably never read it. Even if you’re so shocked by the sex scenes that you blush scarlet and slam the laptop shut, wondering out loud what will happen when our daughter grows up and realizes that when her mother “goes to work,” she’s actually writing about murder, sex and scandal…

  All my love.

  Prologue

  1999

  At ten o’clock in the morning, Megan and Reggie slipped up the musty old stairwell that had lain vacant ever since the new wing had been built. Long ago, the spiders had made cities out of cobwebs in this abandoned part of the school. Dusty light filtered in through narrow windows, disturbed by the movement on the creaking wooden stairs.

  The girls darted past the third floor, up to the landing where the door stood shut tight. A green tie hung on a hook by the wall, and Reggie grabbed it, her young girlfriend pushing her into the doorway, kissing her hard.

  Reggie slipped the green tie over the door, giggling a little as they pushed the door open.

  The smell of old dust and petrified sweat still lingered among the gym equipment, decades old.

  Megan laughed as Reggie tucked an old chair under the rusty door handle. “Nobody even remembers this place exists.”

  “Just in case.”

  Megan drew her close and kissed her deeply, running her hands along Reggie’s shoulders, down her back to her pockets.

  “Damn your buttons,” Reggie said as she struggled with each tiny disc and hole on Megan’s fitted blouse.

  Soon, they both stood topless, giggling and shivering.

  Behind the wall, someone stepped away from the crack in the wood, and crept down the outward scaffolding.

  Chapter One

  Jillienne Kidd stood behind her long wooden desk trying to gather piles of reports, folders, and scraps of paper into some semblance of order. A short rap sounded on her door, and she spun around, sending a precariously balanced folder skidding to the floor.

  “Hey,” she said as she ducked to retrieve it. “What’s up?”

  “Assignment,” said her boss, Padraig O’Hanagan.

  Jil’s heart sped up. “Yeah?”

  Padraig didn’t wait for an invitation, just stepped right over the mess on the floor and settled himself on the window seat.

  Jil eased herself into her office chair, her back still feeling the effects of the last assignment.

  “This one should be easy, Kidd.” Padraig smiled a little through his gruff beard.

  “Easy? Who said I wanted easy?”

  “Your back said it for you. That last one really knocked you out—literally.”

  “Not my fault!”

  “Who said anything about fault? I’m not punishing you, Kidd. I’m promoting you. Comes with a pay raise and everything.”

  “Yeah, right. We can’t afford a pay raise, Padraig, and you know it.”

  The old PI sighed and knitted his bushy brows. “Why don’t you let me worry about the books, and focus on keeping yourself on the stable side of balconies, got it?”

  She gritted her teeth but nodded.

  “Listen, this assignment is a little unusual.”

  Jil leaned forward, interested in spite of suspecting Padraig of sticking her somewhere safe just to get her out of harm’s way.

  “What is it?”

  Padraig rubbed the back of his neck. “
Now before I tell you, I just want to be very clear…you’re the only one who can believably do this assignment, and that’s why you’re going. If I could send Chet or Rick, I would, but they’d make lousy covers.” He squinted.

  Jil crossed her arms. That squint was Padraig’s tell. He swore he had a poker face, but she’d known him long enough to see trouble coming. “What’s my cover?”

  Padraig’s gaze darted to the door, and a bead of sweat formed between his thick brows. “You’ll have your phone and access to e-mail. You’ll also be able to go home at the end of the day, and to check in here if you need to. It’s a local job.”

  “Am I getting a disguise?”

  Padraig exhaled. “Doubt you’d need it. Don’t think you’d run into anybody you know there.”

  “Where, Padraig?”

  He sighed. “St. Marguerite’s.”

  “The high school?” Jil said incredulously. “You want me to go undercover as a teacher? Are you serious? What the hell for? Someone’s going over their limit on the photocopy machine?”

  Padraig frowned as he handed her a folder.

  “What? We need to root out the person who’s raiding the cafeteria at midnight?” Jil was enjoying herself now. This had to be a joke. Still, Padraig remained silent.

  “C’mon. Don’t tell me this is an actual assignment.”

  “Somehow I knew you’d say that.” Padraig stepped back. “But believe me, it’s no laughing matter. Superintendent Giovanni DiTullio visited me today. He’s very concerned about that particular location.”

  “And he’s seriously willing to pay for a PI undercover?”

  Padraig stopped. “A paycheck is always serious. Especially these days.”

  “Sure it is.”

  Jil knew their agency, Padraig O’Hanagan Investigators, had hit some hard times lately. People just didn’t have the money to spend on private investigations with the global economy tanking. Padraig had been forced to cut a few jobs at the agency in the last few months, and the bills continued to pile up.

  If things kept going this way, the PI firm would close, she’d be out of a job, and then…

  She stopped as shivers ran down her arm. She was not going to think about that possibility.

  What if…the insidious whisper started. What if you lose your job and you can’t get another one? What if you can’t pay the mortgage and you lose your house? You have nobody. Nobody to count on. You’d be living on the street again.

  She clenched her jaw. At the age of sixteen, she’d slept in her last cardboard box. That was before Elise.

  Elise would always let her come home…wouldn’t she?

  “I apologize in advance that it’s going to be hard on you.”

  She flipped open the folder and scanned it quickly to find out what the hell could be so difficult. Her incredulity rose as Padraig actually got up to leave before she could read the pretext.

  “Are you serious?” Jil raised her eyebrows. “You’re really going to sneak out of here?”

  Padraig chuckled. “I’ll be in my office. And when you’re about to ask me to take you off this case, please try to imagine Chet or Rick going undercover as a first-year teacher in a high school.”

  He stepped back over the piles in front of the door.

  “Okay.”

  Chet and Rick were brothers, both pushing fifty, and although they were fantastic investigators, they’d be completely unbelievable. Whatever this assignment entailed, clearly, she was the woman for the job.

  “And before you go, see if you can’t get the GotJunk boys in here to haul some of this stuff away.”

  Jil shot him a withering look as he left. This office, running from an old 1920s house in the ritzier area of Rockford, suited her well. She had the attic space—sloping ceilings, beaten leather furniture, an old desk that could have belonged to Elizabeth Barrett Browning. And a window seat she’d upholstered herself. And which Padraig had wrinkled. Again. She might not have cared about piles of paper, but she hated her window seat to be disorganized.

  Frowning, she got up and straightened the cushions. Then she settled herself in the spot Padraig had just vacated and opened the folder. On top of the pile sat a letter from Giovanni DiTullio, sent on letterhead from the Rockford Catholic School Board. What on earth could the superintendent possibly need a PI for?

  Mr. O’Hanagan,

  I would like to retain your services for a private investigation regarding uncatholic conduct in several members of staff at St. Marguerite’s Catholic High School. This is an ongoing and increasingly serious matter in our board.

  Staff members in the Catholic School Board are required to uphold Catholic standards in their personal as well as their professional lives while teaching in the Board. This comes in the form of a morality clause. They sign a contract to this effect before being hired. They require a signed note by a priest saying they are a practicing member of a parish before they can officially become employees of the board. Unless they can meet these conditions (and meet them willingly), they are not hired or retained.

  Catholic conduct must be a priority for staff members working in a Catholic school. Without it, we are in danger of hypocrisy, and subject to public scrutiny from Catholic parents and families who send their children to us for a Catholic education. Accusing a staff member of uncatholic conduct is a serious matter, as it could result in termination of a teacher’s position. As one of the superintendents of the board, it is my duty to uphold the Catholic Standards set for the staff and the principals. Deliberate breach of contract is a serious problem for me, for the board, and for the community.

  In recent years, this issue has been allowed to lapse. The result has been flagrant disregard for Catholic conduct in the community and a don’t ask, don’t tell policy adopted by many principals. This is unacceptable. Worse, I am now experiencing pressure from various parents’ associations whose fundraising efforts we depend upon to fund many of our co-curricular programs.

  We have never taken a decision to “look the other way” when staff members are flouting their Catholic responsibilities, and we must not begin now.

  Unfortunately, this system works on an honor basis. We operate over eighty schools within Rockford Board alone. St. Marguerite’s has over ninety-five staff members. And this particular school is under heavy scrutiny. We have a serious problem there, which warrants investigation. These teachers are in violation of their contracts. The principal is ignoring the problem. Students are being influenced. Parents are angry, and we cannot afford bad press at a time when amalgamation is an ever-looming threat. We need to do something.

  Please let me know at your earliest convenience if you would be willing to dispense an investigator for this purpose—if possible, for the purposes of credibility, a younger female would be best. I will provide all necessary documentation for her to begin her “employment” with the board.

  Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

  Sincerely,

  Giovanni DiTullio,

  Superintendent

  Jil put down the file, exhaling as if she’d just walked away from a heated argument—no doubt how the writer had felt by the time he’d finished the note—and walked over to the phone.

  A younger female, eh? Why not just go to the meat counter at the butcher and select the side of pork you’d like, Mr. DiTullio? Perhaps you’d prefer to go to the Investigator Fair, and pick out your PI for a date night on the town.

  “You’re hilarious,” she said when Padraig answered.

  “Why so funny?”

  “Uncatholic conduct? That’s what I’m investigating? There’s no such thing.”

  Padraig said nothing.

  “C’mon!” Jil exploded. “How twelfth century can we get here? At the very least, I’m sure it goes against the Charter!”

  “Believe me, if it wasn’t paying the bills, I’d be laughing too. But this is a real assignment, and we’re not exactly in the position to be turning away work right now.”

>   Jil managed—with effort—to hold her tongue.

  “Listen.” Padraig sighed. “If you decline, I understand. This was never supposed to be a full-time gig for you, and I know that.”

  “Padraig…”

  “No, listen to me, Jil. I told you I would give you a job and pay you until you finished your schooling and got a real career. And I know you’ve been sticking around because the cases are interesting and you’re young and foolish enough to want to risk your life. But this wasn’t for keeps. You’ve got your papers now and you can go and work a real job if you like.”

  “Padraig, c’mon. I’m not going to leave you just because things are tough.”

  “You might be smart to,” he said. “I don’t think I’m doing you any favors, keeping you around this sinking ship.”

  “Hey.”

  “What?”

  “I’m not cut out for desk work, and we both know that.”

  “Yeah, well, you’re probably not cut out for this case either.”

  “It’s not a case. Asking people to sign that kind of contract can’t be legal. It certainly isn’t moral.”

  “Whether or not the contract is moral is not our problem. The fact is that it exists, it has been signed, and there are people in violation of it. We’re private investigators here—not political advocates. Our job is only to investigate whether or not staff members are in violation of their contract. Which, for this period of time, includes uncatholic conduct in a personal or professional capacity. Period. Full stop.” It sounded like Padraig had rehearsed for this conversation.

  “How can someone ask us to investigate uncatholic conduct? What the hell am I supposed to write? ‘So-and-so is living in sin? The secretary has a child out of wedlock’?”

  “That’s exactly what they’re asking.”

  “And they would fire somebody over it?”