Chapter 43
Chapter
Forty-Three
Thomas was waiting in the lobby of The Havens when Kate came in.
She was still wearing the clothes the stylist had put her in, even though the outfit was obviously worse for the wear.
Her hair had rebelled from the hairspray treatment she’d had earlier, reverting to their usual riotous state.
She’d taken the contacts out too, her squared off glasses back on.
Her tie was loose and askew, too. And for whatever reason, she looked like she was ready to tear a couple of strips off of him.
The way he was feeling right now, he’d let her.
She pushed the glasses up on the bridge of her nose and glared at him. “Is this going to take a while?” she asked. “Because you and I really need to talk.”
“Words every man loves to hear,” he muttered. “We’ll talk after. Right now, we’re headed up to Ginny’s.”
“Oh, hell no,” she growled. “You’re not making me tell her she’s fired and she has to move, are you?”
“No.” He took her to the elevator, and drew a deep breath. “Kate, Ginny’s dead.”
“What?” Shock smacked the scowl from her face. “How? When?”
“Couple hours ago,” he said, taking a minute to remember which floor Ginny’s condo was on. He’d made sure to keep it fairly far from his own penthouse suite, but it was still on one of the higher floors. “The police finally cleared the scene. She jumped from her balcony.”
“Why?” Kate asked, then bit her lip. “I’m so sorry.”
She was thinking of what he’d told her, about Elizabeth, he just knew it. Her face was the definition of sympathy. He cleared his throat, trying to stay business-like.
“The police said they didn’t find a note,” he said.
They were still going to be investigating, he realized.
And since he was the closest person to Ginny, he got the feeling they’d be crawling up his ass any moment.
Well, that’s what he had lawyers for. “But they cleared me to go through her apartment.”
“Do you think there was, I don’t know, foul play?” she said, then grimaced. “I don’t think I’ve ever used that seriously in a sentence before. I mean, did somebody murder her?”
Is this related to Victor, and all of that? She was saying it without saying it.
“No, I’m pretty sure she just jumped.” He felt pressure on his chest. “Because I was firing her and evicting her.”
“No,” she said sharply. “This wasn’t your fault.”
“You keep saying that,” he countered, unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice. “Funny, though. I keep doing things, and these women keep dying.”
“So what are you supposed to do? Just let her stay on, enabling her, letting her run rampant through your life because you’re afraid she might off herself?
No,” Kate said, with surprising vehemence.
“This was not your fault, Thomas. If it were anyone else, she’d have been out on her ass months ago. Probably years. Am I right?”
He thought about it. “Years,” he agreed. “Elizabeth said that Ginny had trouble managing on her own. I never mentioned that Ginny was Elizabeth’s sister, did I? First Elizabeth, now Ginny.”
And that was the real sticking point, wasn’t it?
How many women was he going to fail at saving?
Kate poked him hard in the chest. “Knock it off. You couldn’t save Elizabeth, but that wasn’t you—that was cancer. You did whatever you could, and then some.”
He swallowed hard.
“You signed your soul,” Kate continued relentlessly.
“I didn’t follow through when it counted.”
“Do you really think she wanted you to damn yourself? To do what this guy obviously wanted you do?” Kate asked.
“This guy sounds evil. But if somebody loves you, really loves you, then she’s not going to ask you to sacrifice your life and your principles, and basically ruin your own life, just to save hers. ”
Thomas turned, anger almost blinding him. “You didn’t know Elizabeth, so don’t you fucking judge her.”
“You’re right, I didn’t know her,” Kate said, her gentle voice a counterpoint to his furious one. “But I think I’m starting to know you. Would you have asked Elizabeth to do what you did?”
“Of course not!” he said automatically. “I...”
He found the words freezing in his throat.
“You loved her,” Kate said. To her credit, she stayed gentle, when she could have just as easily been smug.
The elevator dinged, opening up. Down the hallway, he saw Ginny’s door, replete with police tape. He found himself walking slowly. Kate paced him, probably just as reluctant. He finally pulled the tape aside and used the master key he’d gotten from Ronald to unlock the door.
He pushed it open. He then stopped short in the doorway, unable to stop himself.
Kate glanced in around him, then let out a low whistle.
“Wow. That’s… something. A whole lotta something.”
Thomas let out a surprised bark of laughter, then immediately felt guilty.
“That sounds judgy as hell, and I should be sorry,” Kate said, remorse and laughter warring in her voice.
“I mean, your décor should make you happy, screw what anybody else thinks. It’s just a lot.
She’s got a leopard print couch, zebra print throw pillows…
and I don’t know what animal gave it up for those curtains.
And it’s all in 80s neon. It’s just a lot. ”
“I’ve never been in here,” he said, feeling weirdly invasive and unnerved. “The police have already been through it. I guess we’re going to have to get rid of this. She didn’t have any family or anything left. I don’t think she was close to anyone else.”
Kate didn’t have the same reticence. She was looking through things. “She liked old movies,” Kate mused, looking through the massive entertainment center. “On VHS, no less. And by old, I mean the sixties and seventies. Why does it not surprise me she liked disco?”
That didn’t surprise Thomas, either. “Elizabeth seemed to have gotten most of the taste in the family,” he said. “Of course, they grew up in foster homes, so there’s that.”
“Her kitchen’s like her desk,” Kate said. “Lots of take-out. I do not know how she managed to consume this much fast food and still stay skinny as a stick. Seriously unfair.”
Then she wandered into the bedroom, and let out a startled gasp.
“What?” He started to rush over, only to have her put up a hand.
“Um...you probably don’t want to go in there,” she said, laughter tingeing her voice.
“Why not?”
“Remember that screen saver she had on her computer?”
It took him a second. Then he recalled it – the stupid shirtless photo. That was one of the last interviews he’d ever done, with good reason. “What, she’s got it framed?”
“Blown up,” Kate said gleefully.
“Jesus.”
“Beyond poster size.”
He covered his face with his hands. “No.”
“And it’s on the ceiling.”
“Okay, that’s it,” he said. “I’m leaving.”
He started to head for the door, then glanced back. “I’ll have Ronald take care of it. I don’t know what I was thinking,” he said. “I guess I wanted to think that maybe somebody killed her, as twisted as that sounds. So I wouldn’t feel responsible. This was a terrible idea.”
Kate looked at him, her humor disappearing. She patted his arm. He liked that. She often stroked his arm, without thinking, he realized.
He could use some physical contact.
“Don’t worry. I’ll talk to the manager,” she said. “And go through Ginny’s computer, too. I’ll make sure that anything that needs handling is taken care of. Okay?”
He nodded, feeling grateful.
“Anything else I can do?”
“Yeah,” he heard himself say. “You said you want to talk. Wanna come up? I probably shouldn’t drink by myself.”
She paused, and he realized he’d crossed the line yet again. But before he could rescind the offer, she surprised him.
“Sure,” she said. “I could use a drink.”