Chapter Twenty-Six

“Look at your boobs. Look at them! Can I touch them?”

I swatted Juan Carlos’s hand away. “No, you can’t touch them.” My breasts were so high I could practically rest my chin on them. They sure didn’t make dresses like this anymore. All the boning and stays carved curves in my figure I hadn’t known existed.

“So you think I look good?” I turned to the side, trying to see what the back of me looked like in the full-length mirror.

“I think Detective Delish is going to have a hard time fitting into his slacks. Get it? Hard time.” He snickered at his own joke.

I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes so I didn’t dislodge one of my false eyelashes. “I got it. You really think I look good?”

“Honey, you look so good I’m almost having a hard time fitting in my slacks. Speaking of. I’d better go and get myself dressed.” He kissed me on the cheek. “You’re beautiful. Perfect. I’ll meet you in the hall in ten minutes. Be ready.”

After he left, I smoothed my hands down the front of the dress. The midnight-black satin was cool and smooth beneath my touch. In the classic fifties style, the dress fit snugly down my hips, then flared at my thighs. The sweetheart halter framed my bust, leaving my back bare. A built-in sash wrapped across my hips, tying where the dress began its flare. It was feminine to the extreme. Taking advantage of the skin left exposed by the dress, Juan Carlos had pulled my hair into a simple French twist with a low sweep of bangs off to one side.

Sitting down, I slid my feet into a pair of black-satin stiletto evening sandals. Just as I buckled the last one, Alex walked in. Surprised, I jumped up.

He froze when he saw me, his mouth slack, eyes glazed over. He stared at me so long I grew nervous, twisting my fingers behind my back. His eyes were everywhere, taking in every detail, from the top of my sleek twist to the tips of my silver-painted toes and back again a dozen times.

“Wow.” He infused that one word with so much heat, my heart skipped a beat and I got that warm, tingly feeling he’d generated in the cab.

“Yeah?”

He swallowed hard, his eyes twinkling in that way that could make a good girl go bad. He nodded. “Oh, yeah.”

“So we’re okay?”

“What?” He looked confused, like his brain couldn’t quite make the subject leap.

I motioned back and forth between us. “You and me.”

His brows bunched, and he shook his head.

Disappointment washed over me and it took all my strength to act like I didn’t care. “Are you still going?”

“What?”

“To the awards? We’re leaving in ten minutes. After that I assume you’ll be at the wedding.”

“Wait a minute.” He put his hands up in a stop gesture. “Back up.”

“To where?”

“To right after I came in and we started talking.”

I grabbed my earrings and evening bag. “Why?” I brushed past him and pulled my white faux-fur wrap, which was more for show than warmth, out of the closet. “What’s the point? If you’re going, you’d better get dressed. We’re leaving—”

“I know, in ten minutes. What did I miss? What just happened here?”

“Are you kidding me?” I spun around and tried to open the door.

He reached over my shoulder and slapped his palm on the door, preventing my escape. “Azalea, talk to me.”

Tipping my head back to glare at the ceiling, I huffed out a frustrated breath.

He dipped his head. His breath whispered over the contours of my neck, sending shivers through me. “Mmm, you smell as good as you look.”

I spun around and found myself pinned between his big body and the door. “Stop it!”

“What? What did I do?”

“It’s what you’re doing. Hot, cold, hot, cold, hot again. I can’t keep up.”

“Please tell me what you’re talking about.” He brushed his thumb over the pulse in my neck.

“Alex, stop.”

Taking a step back, he raised his hands in surrender.

“I can’t think when you do that. Stop it. Stop giving me go-ahead signals and then pushing me away. And stop looking at my breasts!”

“But they’re so—” He made a helpless gesture. His voice deepened, sending little vibrations through me. “There. So very, very there.” He tipped his head to one side. “What do you mean pushing you away? When did I push you away?” It took him a moment while I stood there fuming at him, forcing him to maintain eye contact with me and not let his gaze drop, for him to come around to it. “You’re talking about what happened after what happened in the cab?”

I nodded.

“You said you were okay with taking it slow. Although seeing you in that dress sure makes a liar out of you.”

“You did not just call me a liar.”

He started to say something, shook his head, and started again. “That was a badly timed joke. Sorry.”

“Apology accepted.”

“Back to what happened earlier. Vivian told me a little bit about your past.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “She shouldn’t have done that.” I couldn’t believe Vivian talked to him about me.

“Don’t be mad at her. She only told me as a warning. I won’t get into the ways she threatened to disembowel and dismember me if I ever hurt you.” He shuddered. “For such a small thing, she sure is violent.”

“What did she say?”

“She said you’d been through a lot. She didn’t tell me exactly what, but I could guess from what little she said.”

Shifting from foot to foot, I averted my gaze. I didn’t like anyone talking about me behind my back. I especially didn’t like Alex knowing about my past. It highlighted all of the defects I’d been so carefully trying to conceal. But most of all, I didn’t want his pity. I folded my arms over my chest, hugging myself.

“I’ve been cheated on, too.”

That brought my head up. Who in their proper mind would cheat on Alex?

“It’s easy to cheat on a cop. We work lousy hours and aren’t always attentive. At least I wasn’t.”

“I told myself that, too. That it was my fault. He was very convincing on that point.”

“Yes, they can be very convincing.”

I rubbed the spot on my finger where an engagement ring once sat. There were times when I thought I could still feel its weight. Every once in a while I’d have a brief moment of panic, thinking I’d left it somewhere or had lost it. And then everything would come crashing back down around me.

“We obviously have something going on here. Between you and me. And setting aside Vivian’s castration threats, I don’t want to hurt you. Or scare you off.”

“Okay.”

“That’s what I meant. You know, before.” Now it was his turn to look uncomfortable. “I like you, Azalea. A lot. And I want you to like me.”

“I do.”

“Do you?” He took a step toward me, his face breaking into the grin that got me every time. “Really?”

I bobbed my head, not trusting my voice.

“So if we take it slow, you’re okay with that?”

I nodded once more. I needed slow and cautious, but mostly I needed a reason to trust again.

“You’re killing me with that dress.”

“Do you really qualify for Mensa?”

“Yes.”

“Then I suppose we’re even.”

He took a couple more steps that brought him right up against me. “I really want to kiss you.”

I lowered my gaze to his lips. “So why aren’t you?”

He eased his arms around my waist as I slipped mine around his neck. We were millimeters from kissing when Juan Carlos banged on the door.

“Azalea! Time to go.”

Alex dropped his forehead to mine. “I hate him. I really, really hate him.”

“He’s the one who made me look like this.”

“I suppose I can forgive him just this once.”

We broke apart, and I went to answer the door, while Alex took his suit into the bathroom to change.

“Your timing sucks,” I told Juan Carlos.

He examined me, touching a finger to his lips. “Not one hair out of place. You should be smudged, smashed, and thoroughly smooched up by now. He’s not smooshing you right. I had him pegged all wrong. I figured him for the type that takes his time, wrecking everything in his wake. Very disappointing.”

“We weren’t… We’re not… What the heck is smooshing?”

“Bumping uglies, knocking boots.” He made a rude gesture. “Smooshing.”

I slapped a hand to my forehead. “Gah.” I couldn’t come up with a more coherent response than that.

“Where are your earrings? You’re not even all the way ready.”

I held out my palm, showing him my earrings. “Come in a minute while I put them on. Alex is changing. Where’s Richard? Isn’t he going, too?”

He waved my question away. “He’s watching some sport with tight pants—football maybe. I told him he had some time because I knew you wouldn’t be ready.” He did a little pirouette for me. “How do I look?”

I scrutinized his appearance. He’d gone for classic with a charcoal suit, cut very close, reminding me what a great body he had. His snowy-white shirt brought out his olive complexion, while the deep gold stripe on his tie was very nearly the color of his eyes. Funny, when you see a person every day you forget to really look at them. Juan Carlos was a very handsome man.

I brushed an imaginary speck of dust off his shoulder. “You’re gorgeous.” Winking at him, I put a little flirt in my voice. “Sure you don’t want to come over to my side?”

Alex came out of the bathroom and I forgot to breathe.

“Ab-so-freakin-lutely not,” Juan Carlos murmured, fanning himself. “Gawd, why can’t I look like that in a suit? Those shoulders, that waist, the way it tapers right on down to… Honey, if you don’t jump him tonight, I just might.” He jiggled his leg. “I need a cold shower. I should have worn bigger pants.”

I smacked Juan Carlos in the arm.

“Thanks, Juan Carlos,” Alex said. “Are we ready to go?”

We all filed out into the hall. I glanced up and down, expecting that man I’d seen earlier to still be making his rounds. Thankfully, he didn’t make an appearance. Alex and I waited while Juan Carlos rounded up Richard. I kept sneaking glances at Alex. I couldn’t help it. It was wrong for him to be prettier than me.

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You keep looking at me, but not really looking. I thought we were okay.”

“You’re like the sun.”

“The sun?”

“Yeah, I can’t look too long at you. Your beauty…it blinds.”

He tucked his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “I don’t think I’ve ever been called beautiful. Or been compared to the sun.” His mouth kicked up and he gave me a look that filled my head with visions of sweaty bodies and twisted bedsheets.

I blew out a breath. This was going to be a long night.

“Azalea.” Richard grabbed my hand and twirled me around. “You’re stunning. Absolutely breathtaking.” He held his arm out for me. “May I?”

The taxi line was long, but it moved quickly and before I knew it, we were pulling up to the Raine Hotel where the awards were being held. Juan Carlos gawked like a backwoods hick, his head swiveling side to side like a pendulum.

Alex leaned down to me. “Are you all right? I know it must be difficult being back here.”

“I’m fine.” But I wasn’t really. That feeling of being watched sat like a Circus Circus elephant on my shoulders.

I glanced around, pretending to look for someone I might know. If I was being watched, they were invisible, blending in with the other hairstylists, which was difficult to do. A woman—no, a man—dressed in a jumpsuit made of peacock feathers stood next to a woman wearing a skin-colored dress anatomically painted to make it appear as though she were nude. They were chatting with a man in a kilt and a woman in a tuxedo complete with top hat and cane.

“Oh, there’s Black Jack,” Juan Carlos said. “Let’s go say hello.”

We followed him across the room where a very large black man leaned an elbow on the bar, looking bored.

“I’m constantly amazed at how he gets away with saying the things he does,” Alex whispered to me.

“I know what you mean, but in this case that man’s name really is Black Jack.”

We chatted with Black Jack and a few other friends who wandered over. Everyone was libationaly lubricated yet somber, speaking in hushed tones about Dhane’s and Trinity’s deaths. From aliens, to cults, to a murder-suicide, to a hoax that they’d faked their own deaths, theories abounded, each one more bizarre than the next. By the time the doors to the awards ballroom opened, my head spun. Somewhere in there, amongst the crazy speculations, assumptions, and downright manipulations was the truth about what had really happened to Dhane and Trinity.

I looked up from swirling my straw in my piña colada to see Sora slip into the ladies’ room. I suddenly had the urge to use the facilities.

“I’m going to go freshen up,” I announced.

Thankfully Alex only nodded and didn’t offer to escort me. I pushed through the door, nearly colliding with another woman on her way out. Sora wasn’t at the mirror or the sinks, so she must have gone into a stall. I jockeyed for position at the mirror with two other ladies and pretended to take great interest in the minutia of my appearance just as they did. Finally Sora came out and bypassed the sinks for the mirror. Eww. I made a mental note to never shake hands with her again or eat at her house.

She edged into place beside me, dislodging another woman in the process. My opinion of her slid another couple of notches.

I affected a happily surprised expression and turned toward her. “Oh, hi, Sora.”

It took her a moment, where I imagined she weighed the options of admitting she knew me or pretending she didn’t. Fortunately recognition won out. “Azalea, right?”

“Yes. I was so sorry to hear about your husband and now Trinity. My condolences. How are you holding up?”

Sighing, she returned her attention to her reflection. “Barely.”

Yeah, she looked a frightful mess. Was that a hickey on her neck?

“How’s Tenchi doing?” I asked. “I heard he was so distraught he had to be taken to the hospital.”

“He took Trinity’s death hard, as we all have.”

Right. “How’s Mac taking it? She and Trinity were cousins, right?”

Her gaze snapped to mine in the mirror. “How’d you know that?”

How would I know that if Vivian hadn’t told me? I was so leaving Viv’s name out of this. “I, ah…think I heard somebody say something about it at Dhane’s memorial.”

“No they didn’t.”

“In the crowd. I was sitting near a group of Hjálmar employees.”

“Gossiping monkeys,” she muttered.

“It must be difficult for Mac…and for you, losing two relatives so close together.”

“I suppose.”

O-kaaay. “Is Ace helping you with the funeral arrangements?”

She angled her body to face me. “You sure do ask a lot of questions. You writing all this down to sell to the tabloids?”

“I’m a hairstylist, not a reporter. Also, my curiosity borders on pathological.”

“Just a curious hairstylist?”

I decided to go for broke. “I noticed that Ace seems to have a…fondness for you.”

She dropped her lipstick in her bag and snapped it shut. “We’re done.”

She walked away from me, but not before I’d seen the way worry crinkled her brow and flattened her lips. I got the feeling she was afraid, but not for herself. Could she be covering for Ace?

If I had to place a bet on who killed Dhane, I’d bet on Ace. His relationship with Sora gave him a motive, which would also give him the means and opportunity. Wouldn’t a wife have a key to the suite she shared with her husband? Wouldn’t that same wife cover up the fact that her lover killed her husband?

Sora could’ve even helped him afterward. Putting Dhane’s head in that bin of doll heads was a particular bit of genius by someone who knew how important Dhane was in the hairstyling world. It would’ve been a very effective way of demeaning him in front of his peers. Yup. My money was on the Ace and Sora combo.

I waited another moment before I made my way out of the bathroom, in case Alex had been watching the door. When I reached his side he put his arm across my shoulders and bent so he could whisper in my ear.

“What did Dhane’s wife have to say?”

I batted my eyelashes up at him. “Dhane’s wife?”

Juan Carlos came over to us with Richard trailing behind. “Let’s go before all the good seats are taken.”

“You’re going to tell me what happened in there,” Alex warned as we followed them into the ballroom.

I pretended I didn’t hear him.

We found our seats and the awards ceremony began. The MC this year was that guy from that show about fashion nightmares who get made over in the style of their favorite star or famous person. His face had been made over so many times it looked as though the last time they’d forgotten how all the pieces went back together.

“He needs bigger veneers,” Juan Carlos whispered. “Where’d he get those, a party store? They come with a fake nose and glasses? Were they left over from his Austin Powers costume? I bet horses get jealous when they see his teeth.”

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing.

“Don’t even get me started on the hair. Didn’t his agent tell him he was hosting a hair awards show?”

I felt Alex chuckle next to me.

“Shh, I want to hear this,” I told Juan Carlos as the room grew dark and the video tribute for Dhane began.

It started with an interview Dhane had done on a morning talk show. His face filled the screen. His lightly accented voice rolled over me, and his piercing gaze speared me to my seat.

The interviewer asked him how fame had changed him.

“Fame is the bridge that delivers my work to the people. It shifts, crumbles, gets rebuilt, but it stands. The work?” Dhane turned fully to the camera to deliver the punch. “It is everything.”

I felt the energy of the crowd change. Dhane’s power and passion came through on video every bit as much as it had in person. He had been made for the spotlight, for fame and fortune. He’d had that intangible star quality that couldn’t be taught or bought. Knowing he was gone too soon, cut down so cruelly, shifted something in me. I got angry. I fisted a hand in my lap, wanting to strike out at something, do something to change what couldn’t be undone.

But all I could do was sit in that darkened ballroom with all the others, watching Dhane prowl the stage in the video taken on the opening morning of the hair show. His pale hair flowing out behind him, he delivered what no one else could: the bridge that brought his work to the people. It was his last performance on the last day of his life.

My phone vibrated inside my evening bag as the screen went black, only to relight with a Hjálmar publicity photo of Dhane and the words REST IN PEACE. I took out my phone and looked at the display. Vivian. I clutched my phone to my chest, glad she wasn’t here to see this.

I leaned to whisper to Alex. “It’s Viv. I’m going to step out and take this.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“No, I’ll just be outside. I’ll be fine.”

I edged past him and answered the phone as I made my way out of the ballroom.

“Viv. I’m so glad you called.”

“I tried you earlier. Did Juan Carlos tell you? Oh, what am I saying? Of course he did. I’m getting married!” she squealed. “Can you believe it?”

Hearing the excitement in her voice had me grinning, too. She deserved her happiness. “Oh, Viv. I’m so happy for you. And James, too. Where are you?”

“In a limo. We’re on our way to get the license!”

Music from the ballroom drifted out, making it difficult to hear. I wandered away, finding a small hallway to duck into. “Did he get you a ring?”

“We just came from the jeweler’s. Wait till you see it.”

“I can’t wait.”

“Thank you for what you said to me about telling the truth. It was hard, but we worked through it and now here we are, getting married. I still can’t believe it.” She sniffed a little and I heard James mumble soothing words to her. “Azalea? I wanted to ask you something. Will you be my maid of honor?”

“Oh, Viv. I’d love to. I’m so happy for you. I really am.”

“Thanks. We’re here. I have to go. I’ll see you at midnight at the Little White Chapel. I’ll be the bride in the red dress and black veil.”

We clicked off and I had to laugh. Leave it to Vivian to do things her way.

I turned to head back to the ballroom, feeling genuinely happy for the first time in days, and froze. Tenchi stood a couple of feet away, blocking my exit. At first I was glad to see him because of Jun, and then I realized he wasn’t standing right, leaning a hand against the wall to steady himself.

“You,” he snarled.

I blinked. The hatred poured off him, scorching hot, obsessively loathing. I put my hands up in defense and took a step back. He matched my move, but his stride was longer, so when we came to a stop he was even closer than before.

“You couldn’t stop. Didn’t stop. And now she’s dead. My Trinity’s dead.”

“I know you’re upset, but it wasn’t me, Tenchi.” I shook my head. “It wasn’t.”

He inched closer, his hand dragging along the wall, leaving a red smear in its wake.

“You’re bleeding. Let me get you help,” I pleaded, making a move to go around him.

A low sound rumbled from deep in his chest, part growl, part moan. He continued to advance, backing me farther down the hall. I took in everything about him, trying to gage my next move, and that’s when I noticed the knife in his other hand, tip down, resting against his thigh.

“I loved her.” His knife hand twitched, the point catching on the material of his pants, cutting cloth and skin. There was blood there, too, on the knife and running down his leg. “She was everything,” he whispered, the words wrenched from him. “Everything.”

I weighed my options, which were quickly running out. Reasoning wouldn’t work here—the look in his eyes told me that. I wouldn’t get past him. We were too far down the hall now, too far to shout. I had my phone, but I didn’t know what he would do if I tried to make a call. I was afraid he’d take it, and then I’d really be out of options. I slipped my hand holding the phone behind my back, disguising the gesture in a glance around.

His movements were stilted, sluggish, as though he were under the influence of medication or had taken a hard knock to the head. His self-inflicted wounds didn’t seem to cause him any pain. He pulled his hand from the wall, ending the streak of blood abruptly, and pointed a finger at me. “You took her from me.”

I shook my head. Somehow I had to get him to believe me. “I didn’t. Remember? I was with you when she died. It wasn’t me, Tenchi. I swear.”

“You swear?” His face grew ugly, twisting with grief and anger. “You killed her! She died because of you. You…you pushed her off that balcony!”

“I didn’t.” He’d backed me into a door. There was nowhere else to go. I pushed my fear down deep, reaching for the words I’d need to get him to believe me. “Trinity was beautiful, wasn’t she?” It took everything I had to keep my voice from shaking, to keep it soothing, and him talking.

“Yes.” His eyes filled with tears. The knife turned in his hand. “So beautiful.”

“She was precious and special.”

“Yes.” He brought his hands up, the blade slicing his shirt through to the skin as it brushed his side and came to rest clutched over his heart. “She was everything.”

I kept my gaze off the red stain blooming where the knife had made its mark. “She was everything. Everything good and wonderful.” I felt for the buttons on my phone, tried to make a call.

“I loved her.” He tilted his head up and to one side, as if searching for something. “Why’d she leave me? Why’d she have to leave?”

“I don’t think she wanted to. If she’d had a choice, she would have stayed with you. I’m sure of it. She loved you, too.” I didn’t know any of this for certain, but what else was there to say?

He relaxed his stance a little, a small smile playing around his mouth. “She did. She loved me.”

“She did love you, Tenchi. She loved you very much, and she wouldn’t want to see you hurt. You’re hurt. Let’s get out of this hall. Let me help you.” I reached a hand out, hoping he’d place the knife in it and not stab it straight through.

“I hurt so much.” The knife wavered in his hands as he fingered the hilt, the point snagging a spot just above his navel. “So very, very much.”

“I know you do. I want to help you. Let’s go back down the hall where the people are. We’ll get you that help.”

“It hurts,” he wailed, shaking now. He brought his hands up to his head, squeezing. “It hurts. Make it stop. Make it go away.”

“Drop the knife and step away from her.” Kennedy stood, feet braced apart, holding a gun on Tenchi. He’d angled himself so I was out of the line of fire. Alex and the wandering man from my hallway flanked him. “Drop the knife.”

Tenchi whirled to face them. “Please kill me. Kill me like I killed him. It was me. My fault. I killed Dhane to stay with Trinity. Oh, God, did I kill her, too?” He curled in on himself, holding his head as though it would explode. “I want to die.”

“Nobody’s dying.” Kennedy made a lowering motion with his hand. “Put the knife down now.”

“I just wanted it to stop,” Tenchi howled. “I wanted her to hurt like me. You should all hurt like me. It hurts so much.”

Before any of us could move, Tenchi reared up, bringing the knife down hard into his stomach. He bent over and backed into me, then collapsed into a pile at my feet. I screamed—short, sharp bursts. The next thing I knew, Alex was holding me, ushering me away as Kennedy barked orders into a walkie-talkie.

He brought me out to the main hallway and held me at arm’s length, examining me from head to toe, then yanked me back into arms. “Are you all right? God.” He kissed the top of my head. “You don’t know how frustrating it was to hear you through the phone and not be able to get to you.”

I shook so hard it was painful. My mind couldn’t wrap around what had just happened, what Tenchi had done. I clung to Alex, balling wads of his jacket in my fists. “Did you hear him? Did you hear what he said about Dhane?”

“Yes.”

“Why’d he do that? I just wanted to help him. I just wanted to help.”

“I know.” He placed shaky hands on either side of my face and brought my head up. “God. Don’t do that to me again.” And then he kissed me and I felt everything and nothing. I threaded my fingers through his hair, bringing him closer. Drawing strength from our connection, I was swamped with the need for more. More of everything, him, this moment, and answers. I really needed answers.

I broke the kiss. “Tenchi said he didn’t kill Trinity.”

“No. Kennedy told me her death was ruled a suicide.”

“Suicide.” I could barely get the word out. “But how? How’d she get my flower?”

Alex wrapped me in his arms again as though he never wanted to let go. “Kennedy didn’t give me specifics, just that he was certain she wasn’t murdered. He thinks she might have found your flower or taken it from you.”

I remembered what Jun had said about Trinity taking things from people she was obsessed with. Poor Trinity.

So it was over. All of it. Trinity had likely killed herself over the death of her brother, a death Tenchi was responsible for. No wonder he’d been so distraught. He loved Trinity and was inadvertently responsible for her death. I hoped Tenchi lived. I hoped he paid for what he did, what he took. My sadness boiled into anger. Tenchi had caused so much pain, so much suffering. I wanted him to live a long, terrible life, burning with the misery he’d caused so many others.

“Oh my God, Azalea!” Juan Carlos jumped me from behind, locking me in a double hug.

“Let her breathe,” Richard said.

Juan Carlos pulled away suddenly and I turned in Alex’s arms to see that Richard had plucked him off me and still had him by the back of his jacket. Instead of being upset with him, Juan Carlos transferred his hug to Richard.

“Hold me, big daddy.” He pressed his face into Richard’s chest. “I can’t believe our Zee was nearly cut to shreds by a deranged killer.” Richard patted him on the back, murmuring soothing words. “What is this world coming to?” Juan Carlos sniffed.

“I’m fine,” I said to him. “Look.”

Juan Carlos quit his histrionics and eyed me closely. “Not even a scratch? You’re really okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“What happened? Tell me everything and don’t leave one bit of it out.”

At that moment, we were all distracted by the arrival of uniformed police and paramedics. The wandering man from my hotel directed them down the hall, then came over to where we stood.

“We’re going to need a statement from you,” he told me.

“Who are you?”

“Detective Bolger. When Detective Kennedy is finished with the suspect, he’s going to want a conversation with you. We’re setting up a room now. Hang tight until I come and get you.” At my nod, he went down the hall to where the paramedics worked on Tenchi.

Tenchi. I couldn’t stop picturing over and over in my mind the look in his eyes, the way he’d moved. Why’d he do it? Why had he killed Dhane? And then I remembered what Jun had said about Dhane sending Tenchi away. Had he killed him to stay with Trinity, only to have her die, too? The pain and grief had hollowed him out, carved chunks as the blade of his knife had cut his flesh. He’d loved Trinity with a manic fierceness I couldn’t imagine. What it must have been like to be loved like that.

Did Trinity know? Did she think of him when she died?