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She’d seen all of it Witnessed horrors she could barely recall because herthe visuals so deep even she couldn’t find them No one really understood why she did what she did, not even her really In college when she decided to major in journalism, her advisor told her she had the looks to be a top-notch weathergirl Her iet her far, he’d said But a face and body as choice as hers could take her anywhere she wanted to go And he’d grabbed her ass and told her exactly where he wanted her to take it Instead she took it to the dean and got the tenured, ainning professor canned As he cleaned out his office, she knocked on his door, smiled at hi off Weathergirl her ass A man who couldn’t keep his hands to himself had been the death of her brother Adam Her advisor had been the first abusive ht be next

"Afghanistan," she repeated She’d been in war zones She could do this Suzanne changed into a reasonably nondescript black dress and pulled her long red hair back into a knot Earlier that day when she’d hit yet another brick wall atte on Father Stearns, she’d decided she had no choice but toSacred Heart’s website she found that Father Stearns presided over Thursday evening mass Purposefully she hadn’t told Patrick about her trip to Wakefield He worried about her, worried she’d get hurt "Afghanistan," she told hi politicians around the Upper East Side She covered war zones That usually shut hi, Suzanne slipped into a pair of plain black flats At five-nine in bare feet, Suzanne stood as tall as most men she knew The priests of her childhood were all small men, old and weak She wanted this priest to feel co hi a city girl to the core, Suzanne didn’t own a car Luckily Patrick did, and he trusted her just enough to let her borrow it Either that or he really did want her back and would use any le Maps she found Sacred Heart Catholic Church a scant fiveMass was due to start She raced fro a seat near the back where she could lurk unnoticed Once inside and seated, Suzanne took the opportunity to look around and get her bearings Digging in her bag, she pulled out her little steno pad and flipped it open

Beautiful sanctuary, she wrote Stained-glass s depicting Christ’s miracles, traditional architecture--Richardsonian Romanesque maybe? Choir loft above hate it here

She hadn’t sat in a Catholic Church in years, not since Adaiven up on the church, on her childhood faith, on prayer Any God who could let the sort of evil she’d witnessed happen on His watch wasn’t a God she wanted any part of And since there didn’t see any better, she’d just given up on the concept altogether She didn’t miss Him or It one bit

Suzanne stiffened with nervousness as a hyan and filled the sanctuary For a 5:30 p mass, an impressive number of people were in attendance, almost a hundred by her estimate Well, if Father Stearns had , hefor hiians who did a lot of social work Or roup or music ministry Or maybe…