Page 15 of The Death
you were free of me, bitch? I told you, I’d make you pay.
Celine stiffened as she read that first line scrawled on the notepaper. “My God,” she muttered. “Be quiet, Jean Paul. This isn’t what you think.”
“Of course it is,” Jean Paul said. “You should at least let me talk to you about—”
But she was no longer listening. She was reading that damn letter.
But it seems I can’t reach out and bloody you as you did me yet. You have that to look forward to, and it will come. But that doesn’t mean that I won’t punish everyone around you to show you that you can’t expect help from anyone. Did you really think that I’d be scared of that stupid rentacop? It’s too bad you can’t ask him if he was scared of me. I made certain that he was before the end…
The signature was a scrawledJossland.
Before the end…
Perhaps he’d only meant to frighten her.
But she stood there remembering every line of that bastard’s face. Celine felt ice-cold. His meaning couldn’t be more clear… or fatal.
Barnaby!
Jean Paul was frowning at her. “You’re not listening to me, Celine.”
“You’re right, dammit. I’ve got to go talk to Barnaby.” Sheturned and whirled toward the door. “I didn’t see Barnaby when I came into the studio. Did you, Jean Paul?”
He shook his head. “I’m busy. I don’t keep track of the help.”
“Maybe somebody should.” She was already darting out of the studio and down the hall toward the back entrance. There was a uniformed policeman on duty there, but it wasn’t Barnaby. What was his name? Charlie… Something. “Charlie, isn’t Barnaby on duty tonight? I forgot to tell him something.”
Charlie was shaking his head. “He called me because he wanted to trade shifts tonight. He said he had something important to do.” He grinned at her. “I think it probably had something to do with those mug shots he was trying to track down for you. Didn’t he tell you that he’d zeroed in on the bastard? He warned me to keep an eye on you until he could get the cops to bring him in for questioning.”
“Oh, shit,” she whispered. She closed her eyes for an instant. This was a nightmare. “Look, I have to call Barnaby’s wife, Judy, and see if she has any idea where he went tonight. Will you do me a favor and call the local police department and ask the same thing? He told me he used to be a rookie cop at that precinct before he resigned because he wanted to spend more time with his wife and kids. But he knows most of those officers, and he’d probably talk to them if he got a lead about that mug shot.”
“Sure,” Charlie said. “But I don’t want to get Barnaby pissed off with me. He really wanted to help you. He said you both were working to get that guy off the streets. Should we wait and see if we hear from him?”
Jossland promised he’d made sure the guard became afraid of him, she thought to herself.Before the end.
“No, we shouldn’t wait.” She shook her head as she reached for her phone. She was terrified it might already be too late. “Let’s just make those calls. Okay?”
DOMINIC’S GULFSTREAM
SOMEWHERE OVER THE ATLANTIC
FIVE HOURS LATER
“I’ve found Celine Kelly, Dominic,” Sam Rashid said when Dominic picked up his call. “And I have to admit I’m finding this particular job very interesting. You do like to keep me on my toes, don’t you?”
Rashid was definitely sounding amused, which automatically made Dominic wary.
“I wouldn’t want you to get bored,” Dominic said. “What’s wrong? All I asked for was information. Couldn’t you find out enough about her to give me a decent report?”
“Oh, I found out quite a bit. According to the people around her, the woman is usually very understated and hardworking, but her life appears to be an open book. She grew up as an army brat. She earns her living as an artist’s model and is also working part-time as a physician intern. She shares an apartment with two other models who also work at the art institute. But she appears to have no close friends or lovers, probably because she’s so busy.”
“Then why do you find Celine Kelly so interesting? Not much to keep you on your toes from that report.”
“I didn’t tell you the best part,” Rashid said. “The interesting part is that you said you wanted to interview her as soonas you landed, and that I’m supposed to make her available to you.”
“That’s what I said. What’s the problem?”
“The problem is that I’m having difficulty doing that,” Rashid said. “Because at the present time she’s being held for questioning by the Boston Police Department, and I can’t even get to see her.”
