The Devil You Know by Richard Levesque

could act as an
intermediary. Talk to the priest for me. See if he thinks there’s any hope for
me, if God will let me back into the fold.”
    Marie
thought about it for a few seconds, then shook her head. “You’re telling me
that you’re helping these…monsters, that you don’t have the backbone to stand
up to Julian Piedmont and tell him you want out? But you want me to help you? Out of what? The
goodness of my heart? My sense of Christian duty? No. I’m not going to make it
that easy for you, Colin. That’s your problem, anyway; things have always been
too easy for you. Not this time. You want absolution? Go see Father Joe
yourself.” When she had started speaking, Colin had looked afraid but hopeful,
and she had watched his expression slowly become more pathetic and devoid of
hope. “He’s a good man,” she added. “He’ll listen. That’s the best you’ll get
from me.”
    Colin
looked hurt, but nodded his understanding. “I see,” he said as he looked down
at the ground. “I don’t deserve any more than that. I’ll try to go see him.
But…” He looked up at her, making eye contact for the first time in several
minutes. Then he reached into the pocket of his coat and took out a business
card, saying, “If you change your mind?”
    Against
her better judgment, she took the card. It had his name and a phone number, but
no business name or other indication of his profession. Without acknowledging
that she would call him, she turned to leave, but stopped short, looking back
at Colin once more. “I don’t know what Father Joe will tell you. But you want
to know what I believe?” Colin nodded meekly. “If you want to get right with
God, you won’t do another thing else to help them. Julian Piedmont won’t like
it, but it’s about time you told him to go to hell.” Then she strode away, not
looking back or paying any attention to the famous footprints she walked across
on her way to her car.

Chapter Six

 
    Laura
Tremaine never had a problem juggling plates and trays of drinks as she worked
her way across the floor of the Brown Derby. Tall and blonde with a wide smile
and gentle eyes, she had waited tables at the restaurant for more than a year
and had never made a mistake more serious than the occasional switched order.
But as she carried two glasses of iced tea toward a table along the back wall,
she stumbled in the middle of the restaurant, and both glasses flew out of her
hands. The tea, the ice, and the glasses all fell across the back of a man
seated before her. She gasped as the man jumped from his chair and spun around
to face her. Mortified at what she had done, when she saw the man’s face, she
wished she could just disappear.
    She
had just spilled tea all over Cary Grant. Apparently in shock, he simply stared
at her, tea dripping from his jacket and ice scattered around his shoes. Laura
could feel the eyes of everyone in the restaurant on her, and for several
seconds she could do nothing more than stand there, her hand covering her mouth
and tears welling up in her eyes. Though the Derby had been abuzz with
conversation and laughter moments ago, it was now completely silent with every
diner and employee taking in the spectacle.
    “Oh
my God,” came her manager’s voice from behind her as he flew across the floor
with a towel in his hand. “Mr. Grant, I’m so sorry.” He handed the actor the
towel and then turned to Laura. “Out!” he barked. “Get your things and go!”
    Shocked,
she turned away from Cary Grant and toward her boss. “But Jerry, I—”
    “I
don’t want to hear it, Laura!” Jerry said. He waved a thumb toward the door.
“You’re through!”
    “Now,
now, now,” the actor said in his distinctive accent. He held up a hand like a
cop stopping traffic. “The young lady made a mistake. It could happen to
anyone.”
    “Not
at the Brown Derby, Mr. Grant,” Jerry said. “There’s a hundred other girls just
as good at what she does just waiting for this