Retribution

Chapter three - It was never your fault.

Sunday,

November 7.

And so it began, the front page headline belonged to crime enquirers and not a newspaper as respectable as the Nexus journals.

From the front page first column, the serial killer Mr Lambert Kara still grips the town with six heinous murders and of course today's Sunday edition would attract more readers. The information was continued on page five, column one. The entire page was filled with connecting articles. Sarah Hara read the section aloud.

"Mr Lambert Kara has been charged for six heinous murders..."

She went down to paragraph ten.

"The CMD experts has found out his present hideout. Miss Tapper, the spy of the team played an important role in getting this information from one the CMD agents "Mrs Sarah Hara" and the agents are on a trip"

"Miss Tapper, you are a criminal. You will surely regret this"

She walked up the aisle to her room, her kids were still asleep. On the nightstand stood the most elaborate of her furnishings, an ornate lamp. She jerked to the bed and the throbbing began invading her otherwise quiet and standard life. Maybe she could retire, she's fed up with all these. She glanced back at the paragraph and was heart throbbed again.

Sarah pointed out the similarities to the murder of her mum, that was ten years ago. How her strangled and stabbed body was discovered a day after her murder in an isolated area over there in hill crave woods. She sighed, she stood up and went down to the kitchen. She's got to prepare breakfast, silly!

"Winston! Carmen! breakfast is ready!"

Almost immediately loud footsteps were heard rushing down the stairs, a young boy was the first to walk in.

"Good morning mum" Winston and Carmen greeted in unison.

"Good morning sweetheart. You've got to brush your teeth and take your bath now, we are almost late"

"We've done that mum..." Carmen said.

"When?"

"This morning - just now" Carmen said enthusiastically.

"Alright, I made cream tea, would you mind taking a gulp and get ready for today's mass"

"I don't want tea" Winston said.

"Then what's that you want baby?"

"Sugar coffee..."

"Alright, I've got to prepare that for you. Just go get ready right away"

____

The scent of burning incense and candle wax filled Sarah's nostrils. Should she be carrying a gun in a church? Of course she was being ridiculous.

She sighted Mr Scraps, kind of ironic. She never expected a thief like him in church. He was an old school friend, he hardly recognized her. He wore a white long sleeved shirt over a crisp blue jean, a black tie and a shiny black cowpoke boots.

"Mr Scraps, Mr Scraps!"

He turned to look at her direction. "Do I know you?"

"Am Sarah Hara, school friend..remember?"

Mr Scraps quickly fell into thoughts as he tried to remember Sarah. His face brightened as soon as he remembered her while he snapped his fingers "Oh my goodness, Sarah! its been really long. How have you been?"

"Am fine... "

"Sarah 1952 to 1954 school friend. Where do you work right now?" Mr Scraps asked while eying Sarah suspiciously and keeping his distance.

"Am a CMD agent..."

OK that kinda made him uneasy, Sarah had noticed.

"Oh - k" Mr Scraps managed to reply while he was still conscious of the distance between them.

"I want to see father Jacobs" Sarah quickly changed the topic when she realized how uneasy he was.

Mr Scrap signalled one of the altar boys who approached them.

People began moving out of the hall, the mass has just ended. The altar boy shoved his hands into his pockets and stared off over their heads.

"You folks need some help?" the boy asked.

"We're looking for Father Jacobs" Sarah said without offering anymore explanations. The altar boy eyed Mr Scraps suspiciously.

"Please ma'am, one at a time"the boy said.

"Alright, see you Mr Scraps" Sarah finally greeted him before leaving with the boy.

Father Jacobs, the gray-haired priest glided onto the altar in his black floor-length cassock.

"Hello, Father Jacobs. Sorry I didn't call before I dropped in on you"

Sarah offered her hand, the old priest took it in both of his and held it tightly. Thick blue veins protruded from his thin brown skin. A slight shiver slid down her back as she held his gaze.

Father Jacobs grasped the nearby podium, depending on it for strength.

"Its a pleasure to meet you" he signalled the altar boy to give them some minutes of brief conversation.

Sarah took her seat opposite him and began narrating her past experiences with Lambert Kara, her secret lover. How she met him and how they began a relationship, down to the petty crimes he committed in the past and the ones he got away with before he finally became an assassin now tagged a serial killer.

"The police are after him, the CMD agents are after him. Am afraid am going to be sanctioned because am a CMD agent who harboured the serial killer and even covered up for him when I should have turned him in to them. He is the father of my son, but we broke up when I realized he couldn't stop drinking. My secretary, Tapper has percolated the news in town. Please father, I feel resented "

Sarah's raspy monotone made the priest startled.

There was a silent gaze at each other, tears betrayed Sarah's eyes as it slid down her cheeks unnoticed. The priest was flustered as to what to do at the moment.

"You have to stay calm Sarah, it was never your fault that he got himself into this mess..."

A click-clack rattle was heard outside interrupting Father Jacobs.

Mr Scraps has just been arrested by the local police. Sarah hid her face in disgrace as she wept. Soon she will become the bait to lure Lambert out, she was mostly horrified.