Paul advanced.
Keren moved away. “If you back me into that frog pond I won’t be responsible for the damage I do to your… uh… ego.”
Paul stopped. He crossed his arms firmly to keep from reaching for her. “You’re an aggravating woman, Keren.”
She held her hands up as if to surrender. “I know. Believe me, I’ve heard it before. Let’s go. I’ll call in this location and have patrols stepped up overnight, then tomorrow I’ll put it under constant surveillance.”
“Not good enough,” Paul said, shaking his head.
“It’s the best I can do. Arranging full-time surveillance takes time.”
He thought he might be pouting. It was humiliating. Still, he refused to budge. “Just go. I’m staying here.” He shoved her barrette into her hands.
“What about tomorrow?” She clenched her fist around the hair tie.
“What about tomorrow?” Paul asked.
“Sunday? You’re a reverend? Don’t you have somewhere you need to be?”
At her teasing, he felt the worst of his turmoil ease. How had he ended up kissing her anyway? “You know I haven’t kissed a woman since my wife died five years ago.”
Keren’s eyes widened. “Really? Five years?”
“Yup. And I didn’t do much of it then, ‘cuz my wife wasn’t overly fond of me. I wasn’t overly fond of her, either. I wonder what it means.”
“That you weren’t fond of your wife?”
“No, that I abandoned five years of peace and quiet to risk kissing a woman.”
“It means you should have waited a little longer. I’m not a candidate to break your fast, buddy.”
“Tell me about it,” Paul said. “Now go home. I’ve got this covered, and I have someone preaching for me tomorrow.”
“Ah, yes, I remember. Murray, the fire-and-brimstone specialist. Rosie wasn’t thrilled.” Keren latched onto Paul’s arm and hauled him toward the car.
“Murray does okay.” Paul didn’t tell her, but he was just escorting her. He was going to plant himself by this pond until he got his hands on Pravus or somebody came up with a better idea. “And there are others almost as good, although Murray’s the only one who does any preaching. Buddy is a good guy when he takes his medication, and Lou does okay. And we’ve got a Catholic priest who pitches in a lot, though there’s a Catholic mission he’s mainly involved with.”
Keren opened her car door.
Paul said lightly, “I’m staying.”
Keren narrowed her eyes at him. If they hadn’t been so close to a streetlight Paul might not have known how much danger he was in. An extended silence grew between them. Paul suspected she was trying to assess her chances of beating him into submission.
She must have thought her chances were poor because she pulled her keys out of her pocket and held them out to him. “Get in.”
He took the keys. “What are these for?”
“I figured you wouldn’t get in if you didn’t have them.”
“Because kidnapping me is so obvious?”
“Right.” She dropped onto the seat behind the wheel. “I’ll call around and get someone over here as soon as possible. In the meantime I’ll wait with you.”
“No, you don’t have to.”
“Of course I don’t have to, moron.” Keren snorted. “If you ordered me to do it, I’d be out of here like a shot, but since I thought of it myself, I’ll stay.” She slammed the door in his face.
Paul thought about arguing with her. Instead, he went around the car and got in. “Thanks, it’s kinda spooky out here.”
Keren laughed then looked across the front seat at him. Paul looked at her. He managed to get his thoughts together enough to keep from reaching for her… again. “So, you were trying to say something back there, back before”—Paul waved in the general vicinity of the pond—”whatever madness that was. I’ll listen. Fairest in the land?”
“Oh yeah, right. It’s my name.” She looked forward again and twisted her hair into a coil with such ease Paul knew she’d done it a thousand times before.
“Keren?”
“Yeah. Keren, with an e instead of an a. Only that’s not all of it. My whole first name is Kerenhappuch. My parents named me after one of Job’s daughters.” She anchored her hair with the bulky contraption she used as a barrette.
Paul sat up and turned to face her, “Do you have sisters named Kezia and Jemima?”
“Not that many people know the names of Job’s daughters. Well done. Nope, I’ve got two younger brothers.”
“Named Kezia and Jemima?”
Keren laughed. “Wrong again. Anyway, I never use it, the Happuch part. Out of respect for my parents, who really are terrific people—the evidence of my name to the contrary—I haven’t changed it. I’ve signed everything for years ‘Keren H.
Collins.’ There was a time when having Happuch as part of my name was almost too much to bear.”
“When you were twelve, I’d bet.” Paul settled back into the seat and stared out at the night with a smile.
“And thirteen and fourteen and fifteen. We moved the year I turned fifteen. We lived in a small town where everybody knew my name was Kerenhappuch, to the big anonymous city of Chicago. I insisted my folks enroll me in school as Keren, and no one was ever the wiser. I actually have a little affection for the whole name now. Anyway, when Pravus said, ‘Fairest in the land,’ I came to the conclusion that he knew what my real name was, which means he’s dug pretty deep. It’s not on any records that don’t absolutely demand a full name. And those are usually private documents.”
Paul quit relaxing. He remembered the ominous way Pravus had spoken of Keren, wondering if she was one of those who wouldn’t let his people go. “Why didn’t you say something? Keren, he’s probably already looking for his next victim. He’s picking people I know.”
“I hope he comes after me,” Keren said with grim satisfaction. “I’d like to see what he’d do with a woman who was expecting him. No, I don’t think he’ll pick me. He’s a coward. He’d avoid me.”
“Except he’s crazy as a loon. There’s really no way to predict what he’ll do next.”
“I’m being careful. I haven’t gone home except to change clothes since this started, and I’ll be doubly careful now. He’ll have trouble catching up with me. If we really begin to think he might target me, we can set my apartment up and lure him in.”
“Keren, have you seen the pictures of LaToya and Juanita? I promise you, if you even think about doing such a dangerous thing, I’ll parade up and down in front of your building shouting, ‘Run, Pravus, it’s a trap!’“
Keren laughed. “Well then, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, because I’d hate to have to arrest you, and I’d do it in a heartbeat if you got in my way.”
Paul relaxed again. “Tough talk.”
“You bet. And it’s not just talk.” Keren reached for her radio. “Let me get someone out here to watch this pond so you can get some sleep and preach your sermon in the morning. Rosita didn’t sound that excited about Murray. I’ve been sleeping in the precinct, and I think I’ll do it again tonight. Pravus was definitely trying to sound threatening toward me, like he was targeting me. If he decides to turn his attention my way, I don’t want him to find me before I’m ready.”
Paul sat quietly while Keren called for backup. “It’s going to be at least a half hour before anyone can get loose from what they’re doing.”
When she spoke, her voice woke Paul. He said, “Talk to me, Kerenhappuch. This stakeout isn’t worth much if I’m napping.”
“Okay.” She was quiet for so long that Paul wondered if she hadn’t dozed off. The only reason he doubted it was because he could feel tension coming off her in waves, even with two feet of car seat between them. “You believe in spiritual gifts, don’t you, Paul?”