Page 22 of The Death
“Bullshit.”
He chuckled as he nodded goodbye as he headed for the door. “And that remark exactly illustrates my point. Goodbye, Celine.”
“Wait.”
He looked back at her.
“I should probably say thank you.”
“Not if it particularly pains you.”
“Oh, be quiet. I’m trying to say something.” She met his eyes. “I was hurting last night. I would have felt really alone and sad if you hadn’t stayed with me. That was a good thing that you did. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He grinned. “Since you’re obviously destined to be a phenomenal brain surgeon, perhaps you can return the favor someday. Rashid is always telling me that I don’t think like other people and I need some serious work up there to straighten me out.”
She smiled faintly. “You’ll have to wait a bit before I qualify.”
“I’m a patient man.”
She frowned. “And besides, I’m not sure that what you did for me will make up for how rude you were when you virtually threw me into that limo with Rashid.”
“Then that’s another thing you’ll have to decide, isn’t it?” he said. “What a lot of decisions.” He paused. “And here’s another one for you. I checked and found that Barnaby’s wife has arranged for his funeral, since his body has been released. It’s going to take place three days from now. Why not stick around here in the hotel until after his funeral to honor him and perhaps comfort his wife?”
He opened the door and the next moment he was gone.
Celine didn’t move for a long time after Dominic had left. She stayed sitting there, staring at the door and remembering everything he had said and all the agony and bewilderment those words had brought. She wanted to reject all of it, but how could she when she was living with the thought of Barnaby’s death and her own part in it. Dominic’s s explanation was no more crazy than a complete stranger attacking her that night for no reason and what had followed afterward. And somehow Alex Dominic had made his explanation about the involvement of Caldwell seem almost logical with his knowledge and documentation of the man. For heaven’s sake, he’d even given her a blasted photo! Of course, Dominic could be rigging some kind of scam, and there was no doubt he was the most unusual individual she had ever run across. But shecouldn’t accept that the man who had sat with her all night in that morgue just to keep her company would be anything but what he presented himself to be.
Oh, she just didn’t know, and she was too weary and depressed right now to figure anything out. As Dominic had said, there were too many decisions to make, and she wasn’t capable of facing them right now. She’d go to bed and try to sleep; maybe in the morning she’d be able to put everything together and come up with answers.
Dominic had said something about answers, she remembered, as she climbed into bed and closed her eyes. He’d said that he could better help her because he knew things she didn’t… Was he right?
CHAPTER
6
BOSTON MEMORIAL CEMETERY
THREE DAYS LATER
The tears were stinging Celine’s eyes and running down her cheeks as she moved quickly down the road toward the cemetery gates. Just a few more yards and she’d be on the street and away from this place. She passed a white marble tomb with a huge angel statue guarding the doors. So sad… It seemed the entire world was sad today.
“Do you need a lift?”
She looked up to see Dominic, who had pulled his Lexus to the side of the road and stopped. He reached over and opened the passenger door for her. “I know I promised you wouldn’t hear from me if you didn’t call, but Rashid phoned me from the church and said you might be having a bit of a tough time.”
“So you decided to come to my rescue again?” She was wiping her eyes with a tissue as she got into the car. “Well, I’ll let you. I just want to get out of here as quickly as possible.” She was still wiping her eyes as he started the car. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and shook her head. “Lord, I look hideous.”
“I don’t believe hideous is possible for you. And it doesn’t matter to me how you look. Just sit back and relax and push everything away while I complete this rescue. You wouldn’t want to spoil my technique.”
“Heaven forbid. But you can let me out in the next block after we leave the cemetery. I just didn’t want to run into Judy or the kids again.”
“Am I allowed to ask why?”
She didn’t answer for a moment. “Judy didn’t want me there. She was very… cold. She looked at me as if she hated me. Whenever the kids came over to talk to me she’d call them away. It was as if she didn’t want me to touch them. I think she blames me for Barnaby.” She swallowed, hard. “Who could blame her?”
“I could,” he said sharply. “Do you want me to go and talk to her about the fact that you had nothing to do with it, and it was Barnaby who took the action that killed him?”
“No, stay out of it. She’s suffered enough. And those kids are all she has left. I shouldn’t have even come here to the funeral. I just wanted to say goodbye and tell her to call me if I could help.”
