Chapter 2
A month later, Steven finishes another funeral before taking time to shower in his little house behind Holy Trinity church. It is an older church, not falling a part, but one day it could. Once clean, he heads for the local coffee shop to get a coffee and breakfast. He walks into Beans to the Rescue. Steven glances around until he spots Trisha sitting by herself, sipping her own coffee.
Steven says hi to a few people he had met the past few weeks, before he walks to the counter and orders his coffee and a breakfast platter. He pays and heads over to Trisha’s table. He places a hand on the back of the empty chair across from her. Steven clears his throat. “Good morning, Trisha. May I join you?”
Trisha looks up and smiles, waving to the chair. “Oh yes, please.”
Steven sits just as someone brings his food and coffee. The two talk for a few hours, getting to know each other better since they haven’t seen each other since the funeral. They laugh and share stories about their past, Steven lying, of course. He can’t let her know the real Steven or David or Larry or Kyle, whoever he claims he is when he moves to a new town after crypt robbing. After an hour, he looks at his watch and makes a face.
“You have to go, don’t you?”
“Afraid so. I have to do my rounds at the cemetery. I have to clean up and make sure no one has done any graffiti on the tombstones. The crypts are looking a little dirty, so I plan to wash those off,” Steven says. “Father Miles has me doing a lot of things here and there. Also need to clean around the church, too.” He quickly finishes his coffee and food before standing. He collects his trash and looks at her. “Maybe we can do this again sometime.”
“I’d love that,” says Trisha, a smile creeping on her face. She grabs a napkin and a pen from her purse. “Call me.” She hands the napkin to him after writing her number.
Steven grins, shoving the napkin in his pocket. “I will.” The man dumps the trash at the trash can and leaves the coffee shop. He gets back to the cemetery feeling like is walking on clouds after talking to Trisha. He shakes his head, snapping himself out of it. Steven can’t let himself fall for anyone. He finds a smallish town with great crypts, robs them, and disappears to sell his findings in other towns or cities along the way, enjoying life.
Ignoring his thoughts about Trisha, he makes his rounds. He cleans up dead flowers, dusts the fake ones, cleans off a few headstones, and makes sure no one is lurking around. Steven washes the crypts, wanting to go inside and take what he wants, but he knows he has to do it at night, that night. After he cleans up the cemetery, he moves onto his little chores around the church. At lunch, he enjoys a meal with Father Miles in a small restaurant that is only a mile away from the church.
Steven makes another round at the cemetery before he locks it up for the night, the sun sitting on the horizon when he finishes all his chores. He heads to the house, slipping the gate key in his pocket. Steven’s fingers touches something, the napkin. As soon as he gest into the house, Steven pulls out the napkin and looks at Trisha’s number for a moment. He walks into the small kitchen to make food, and tosses the napkin into the trash can as he walks past it.
That night Steven lays in bed, staring at the ceiling, planning which crypts to hit first. Steven looks at his watch every few minutes, growing impatient. Finally, everything outside is still. Steven gets up and dresses in all black, his bag already packed with all of his items, always traveling light. He drops the bag next to the front door so he can grab it and run after he steals from the crypts. Steven pulls out a big bag from a zipper on the side of his bag and leaves the house. He takes the gate key with him, unlocks the gate, and Steven heads straight for the crypts.
