At last the Fallen Angel would head out to Isla Codo—after Father Ortega, the village priest, blessed the mission. Moved by the tradition established by early CEDAM founders, she’d also asked the local Protestant minister to pray over the expedition that morning at breakfast. Now she, Reverend Hanks, and the others participated in Don Pablo’s ceremony. Having brought a small statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe from Mexico City, Don Pablo handed it over to the priest. “Talk about being blessed to the hilt,” Gabe muttered under his breath, as Father Ortega and Don Pablo took the lead of the small procession and headed across the central plaza toward the cathedral where it was to be placed. “We all need blessing,” Jeanne replied without looking at him. “Some of us more than others.” She quelled a pang of guilt. No, it wasn’t her place to judge, but aside from his paranoia and having it in for Remy, the man was moodier than a Kansas sky in tornado season. And he’d been in an ominous funk since the diving incident.
