When Jill had failed to find Celia at Aunt Aggie’s, or anywhere else, she’d been ready to erupt. She had finally given up and come home. The classical music CD piping through Jill’s house calmed her spirit somewhat, though the questions of the day still churned in her mind. She made herself a sandwich in the kitchen, a dollop of peanut butter between two slices of bread, then realized that she needed something healthier, something warm. But she’d had no time to go to the grocery store, no time to do any cooking.
Again, she walked to her answering machine and checked the messages to see if Dan had called. There was nothing there. Had he forgotten her in her busyness, she wondered? Was he still mad at her for the things she’d said last night? Was he waiting for her to call him?
He certainly had a reputation for arrogance, yet she couldn’t help wondering after spending so much time with him if it wasn’t a reputation built on fear. Something told her that Dan was afraid of rejection and abandonment, that his detachment from women had more to do with his own insecurities than with his desire to be alone. It was an insight that had come after a great deal of thought. She wasn’t sure he would agree with her. She wasn’t even sure she was right.
But she supposed that she should be thankful that they had been out more than his usual three times, and that he continued to show interest. At least, he had until last night.
She went back to her briefcase and looked at the notes she had taken today when she’d visited Celia. She had been working around the clock to solve this case, racking her brain to figure out who could have poisoned Stan and Nathan. Now to learn that Celia was sneaking around, hiding things from her, was more than Jill could stand. She needed to talk to someone.
She thought of calling Allie, but she didn’t want to cast more bad light on Celia. Besides, she had no business sharing the case with anyone.
She needed a friend. Just someone to eat with…
Deciding to swallow her pride and take a chance, she picked up the phone and dialed Dan’s number. He answered quickly.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Dan. It’s Jill.”
She could hear the sigh in his voice. Was it relief, or dread? “Jill.”
“I hope I’m not bothering you,” she said. “I wanted to apologize for last night. You’re right. I was strung a little too tight. I was edgy, and I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”
“No, you shouldn’t have.”
She sat there for a moment. Was he going to make her grovel? She began to get angry. “That’s what I said.”
“Okay.”
She sat there a little longer, holding the phone to her ear and seriously considering hanging it up. What did he want from her?
“So…did you get any sleep?”
The question seemed gentler, and her anger cooled a degree. “No, not really. And I’ve had a really rough day.”
“Uh-oh. Then I guess I’d better not suggest a late dinner. We might butt heads again.”
That balloon of anger seemed to deflate in her chest. “If I promise to behave better, would you go ahead and suggest dinner? I was just about to eat a peanut butter sandwich.”
“You can do better than that, Jill,” Dan said, all anger gone from his tone. “Let me take you out to eat.”
She hesitated a moment. “It’s after nine, and I don’t know if I’m really up to going out. I thought maybe you could come over and I could make something—”
Before she could finish the sentence, he cut in. “You’re not making anything, Jill. You’ve been working around the clock. I’ll tell you what. I’ll pick something up at Maison de Manger and bring it over. What would you like?”
She couldn’t think. Her brain was too tired. “Surprise me.”
“Will do,” he said. “I’ll see you in about half an hour.”
She smiled. The night was looking up after all.
Jill spent the next half hour in a whirlwind, cleaning the mess that had accumulated in her house since Celia’s arrest. She was not known for being a neat person. On a good day, she left her bed unmade, clothes thrown over a chair in her bedroom, and dishes in the sink. But in the past few days, dust had collected, dirty laundry had gathered in a heap on her bedroom floor, and stacks of unread mail spilled over her kitchen counter. She rushed as fast as she could to get the place clean before Dan showed up.
By the time he arrived, her house was passable, though not spotless by anyone’s standards. They ate together, talking quietly, and she enjoyed the warmth and sustenance of the food he had brought, for she hadn’t had a real meal since the last time she’d eaten with him. She’d have to watch it, she thought, or she would start associating comfort and well-being with his presence.
“So how’s the case going?” he asked.
She sighed. “Not good. I’m hitting a lot of dead ends. I’ve spent most of today going over depositions from the first trial and making phone calls, trying to track down people who knew anything about the Nathan case. It’s slow going.”
He touched her hand and fondled her fingers, sending a jolt through her body. She wasn’t used to affection of any kind. But she told herself that she could get used to it from Dan.
“You’ll be fine,” he said. “I have a lot of faith in you. Your instincts are great.”
She sat there a moment, letting the words sink in. Her instincts. Weren’t those what were pulling her down now? She wasn’t sure whether her instincts were urging her toward trusting in Celia’s innocence, or sending up alarm signals in her brain. To her, doubting Celia meant failure. Celia had been a good enough friend to her to deserve her trust.
“What’s wrong?” Dan asked.
She met his eyes and wondered how much he could see. “I guess this case has just got me down.”
“You’re not worried, are you?”
She averted her eyes. “A little. There were some new developments today. I can’t really discuss them, but it doesn’t look good for Celia.”
Dan frowned. “You’re not starting to think she did it, are you?”
“No, not at all. Of course not.”
“But what?” he asked.
“But Sid does, and that’s important. It’s important for me to stand behind Celia and to do everything in my power to make Sid think twice about keeping her on the suspect list. But it’s getting harder all the time.”
“They’ve found more evidence?” he asked.
She stared at him, knowing she couldn’t elaborate, but needing so badly to talk. Thankfully, the doorbell rang.
She got up and hurried to it, wondering who it could be, dreading the bad news that seemed almost inevitable. She opened the door and saw Nick Foster standing there. “Nick, hi.”
He looked worried, distracted, as if he hadn’t come to pay a social visit. “Jill, can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Sure,” she said. She ushered him in, and he saw Dan and reached out to shake his hand.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I’m worried about Celia.”
Jill’s expression changed. “What do you mean?”
He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “Stan called me a little while ago,” he said. “He wanted me to go by Aunt Aggie’s and tell Celia to call him, because he really wanted to talk to her and they weren’t answering the phone.”
“Really?” Jill asked, her eyebrows rising. “That’s a good sign.”
“Of course it is,” Nick said. “Stan doesn’t think Celia had anything to do with this. In fact, as weak as he is, he had plenty of energy to lambaste me for not being there for her. And he’s right. I just…I don’t know what to think about her, Jill.”
Jill understood more than he knew. She touched his shoulder gently. “Nick, we all have to keep an open mind and just pray hard for Celia.”
“I know. And sometimes I really just have a hard time following the Spirit, and I wonder if I ought to even be in this profession at all.”
Dan got up from the table and set his hand on Nick’s shoulder. “Nick, you’re a good fireman, but you’re the best preacher I know. Don’t start getting all down on yourself.”
“The best preacher?” Nick almost laughed, but he obviously didn’t find it amusing. “You haven’t had much experience with them, then, have you?” He sighed. “Well, anyway, that doesn’t matter. The reason I came is that I went by Aunt Aggie’s, and no one’s home.”
“Still?” Jill asked. “Are you sure?”
“That’s right,” Nick said. “I knocked on the front door, went around to the back door. There were lights on in the house, but no answer. I went to a pay phone and called, still no answer. Finally, I went over to Celia’s, thinking maybe she’d gone home, but there was no one there, either.”
Jill frowned. “Where could they be?”
“I don’t know,” Nick said. “But I thought she might be over here.” He glanced at the food on the table. “I guess I was wrong. I don’t know what to do now. I guess I should call Stan back and tell him I can’t find her.”
Jill didn’t like what she was hearing. She thought of Lee Barnett, then quickly tried to squelch the thought. But it hung on. Celia had already gone to see him once—what was to stop her from going again? No, certainly not. Just because Celia had gone to him once didn’t mean she’d do it again. She went to the telephone and dialed Aunt Aggie’s, then waited as it rang and rang and rang. No answer.
“Where could she be?”
Dan thought for a moment, then met her eyes. “The hospital?”
Jill froze. “No. No way. She knows better.”
“If she wanted to talk to Stan as much as he wanted to talk to her,” Nick said. “I wouldn’t put it past her.”
Jill closed her eyes. “It’s the worst thing she could do right now. I don’t think she would have tried it without talking to me first.” But hadn’t she gone to see Barnett this morning without talking to Jill? That had been self-destructive, but Celia hadn’t cared. Right now, Celia was desperate, and she was only interested in the bottom line. Jill just wasn’t sure what that bottom line was.
“Maybe I’d better call Stan and see if he’s heard from her.” She went to the telephone, but before she could pick it up, it rang. Quickly, she snatched it up. “Hello?”
“Jill, this is Sid Ford.” The words were rapid-fire, distant, as if he was calling from a cellular phone.
“Sid, what’s wrong?”
“I’m on my way to Slidell Hospital,” he said. “Your girl was just caught in Stan’s room.”
“What?” Jill asked. Then rallying, she said, “Sid, don’t jump to conclusions. She just wanted to see him.”
“Jump to conclusions?” he shot back. “Jill, they found arsenic in his IV bag. Somebody put it there.”
She was speechless.
“Jill did you hear me?”
“I heard you,” she said.
“Use your head, Jill. Think. She breaks the court order to come there in the first place, finagles a way in usin’ a disguise, and when she’s caught they discover that arsenic is in her husband’s bag. Nobody else could have put it there, Jill.”
Jill sank into a chair. Dan and Nick stood over her, waiting to hear what was going on. “Where is she?”
“Vern’s haulin’ her in right now,” Sid said. “But I’m goin’ there to talk to Stan.”
“I’ll meet her at the police station,” Jill said.
“You do what you want,” Sid said. “But don’t expect bond tonight. I’ve already been in touch with the judge and given him an earful. Louis is with us on this.”
Jill closed her eyes.
“I thought you’d want to know,” Sid said, and cut off the phone.
Jill lowered the phone but kept holding it in her hand.
“What is it?” Dan asked.
“You were right,” she said. “That’s exactly where Celia was.”
“At the hospital?”
“Yeah. And she got caught.” She didn’t tell him about the arsenic. That was something that he wasn’t going to hear from her. “It’s gonna be another long night,” she said. “I’ve got to get to the police station, guys.”
“Of course you do,” Dan said. “I’ll follow you there.”
She didn’t have any energy to argue as she grabbed her briefcase and headed for the door.