Chapter 28
Since Barnaby had suddenly lost the capacity for speech, Gabby took over for him. “How do you know this?”
“I put a few things together, from John and others. Carson said the relevant NDAs are in the safe here, but I don’t think he’s seen them.
She died at the hospital down the street, you know.
They said it was during childbirth, but that was just the cover story.
It wasn’t natural causes. Your father paid to bury the whole thing.
Why do you think there’s a Carmichael wing of that hospital?
” She jabbed a finger toward Barnaby, as if he was the one responsible.
Barnaby’s face paled behind all that dark scruff. Celine was hitting her marks.
“You should ask John yourself. You never know when you’re going to catch him without his filter on.” She spun on her heel and marched to the front door. Bombshell delivered, damage done.
Gabby hurried after her onto the landing. “Who did it? Do you know?”
“How would I know that? It was all covered up. Whoever it was, John was trying to protect them. Protect a murderer. I just bet the lawyers won’t want that getting out.
” The elevator doors opened and she stepped in.
“Come to think of it, you should look into this for your podcast. Covering up a murder for thirty years, that’s some dirty rotten bastard shit.
So there you go. My gift to you. Hot tip?
Start with the hospital. And sorry if that gets you in trouble with your new boyfriend. Too bad, so very sad.”
After she was gone, Gabby waved her hand to dispel the too-strong scent of lily of the valley. It was too much on an empty stomach. She went back inside the condo to find Barnaby bracing his hands on the kitchen counter, staring down at an espresso machine, tension riding in every line of his body.
“You okay?” she asked gently.
“I’m not sure.”
She came up behind him and rubbed his back, those ridges of muscle alongside his spine as tight as guy wires. “She could just be saying any old thing to keep hold of her share of the money.”
“Yeah. But Tamara suggested something had happened to Sophie. She told me she never believed the official story.”
The kitchen fell silent except for the perking of the espresso machine. She couldn’t hear anything from outside; he hadn’t been kidding about that soundproofing.
Finally he lifted his head. “I heard Celine say you should do a podcast on it. Are you going to?”
From his neutral expression, she couldn’t tell what he wanted her to say. “I don’t know. I’ll talk to Heather about it. We have a lot going on right now.”
“It could be a good story for you guys. People love true crime, right? Especially when it involves rich people?”
“That’s true. But that doesn’t mean—”
He straightened up. “I want you to do the story. If it’s true, I need to know.”
“That doesn’t mean other people have to know. We don’t have to get ahead of ourselves here. This could be nothing, just Celine making trouble.”
Barnaby didn’t seem to hear her, or maybe his mind was still caught up in his own thoughts. “She said the hospital down the street. That’s the Maine Medical Center. It’s the same hospital where Safiya was taken after Harbortown. Does that seem like a coincidence?”
Actually, yes. “There are only two big hospitals in town,” she pointed out. “Fifty percent chance it would be the same one.”
Again, her words didn’t seem to penetrate whatever thought bubble Barnaby was in. “Let’s go. That hospital’s close enough to walk. I need to move.” And then he was moving, at lightning speed, it seemed, snagging the pair of jeans he’d left on the living room couch. In moments, he was fully dressed.
“Hold up, I need a minute.” She didn’t have her bag, her phone…
“I’ll go ahead. I could use a minute to clear my head.”
“Are you okay? This is a lot. Maybe you shouldn’t be alone right now.”
His blank expression finally eased as a ghost of a smile came across his face. “Come here.”
She went to him and kissed him full on the lips. He gripped her hard, like some kind of lifeline. She felt the fast beat of his heart against her ribcage. What would it be like to learn that the mother you’d never known might have been murdered?
“Thank you,” he murmured when he finally drew away from her. “I needed that. Make yourself at home here. The door locks automatically. I’ll see you at the hospital.” And then he was gone.
Alone in the condo, she let out a long breath and dropped onto the couch.
That encounter with Celine had left every single one of her nerves on edge.
Poor Barnaby, who had to deal with her, and people like her, all the time.
No wonder he preferred hiking in the Himalayas.
Piranhas were probably safer than people like Celine, whose only mission was to hang on to her position in the world as tightly as she could.
After a few moments, she got up to pour herself a cup of espresso—the most delicious she’d ever tasted—and called Heather.
Bringing her up to speed meant telling on herself and Barnaby. That was okay; she could use the perspective. Were they moving too fast? Was she making a mistake?
“I knew it!” Heather exclaimed. “Luke and I have been arguing about how long it would take for you both to see how good you’d be together.”
“I don’t know about all that. Right now he just got a bomb dropped on him.” She told Heather about Celine’s suggestions of foul play and a coverup.
“Wow, I’ve never even heard a rumor about that. They must have buried it under an avalanche of NDAs.”
“Oh, I bet they did. It hit Barnaby hard. He’s out prowling the streets right now, trying to get his head straight. He says Tamara always suspected something had happened.”
“Tamara is a wise woman.”
“Then why didn’t she ever say something before?”
“Maybe the time wasn’t right. Maybe she was waiting for two annoying podcasters to come along.”
Gabby smiled and swirled the foam on top of her espresso. “Did you visit her today?”
“Not yet, but I will. Luke says she’s doing just fine. Hooper wants to let her go home, but Chen is resisting.”
“Really? Why?” Gabby frowned and got to her feet to enjoy the third-floor view from the perfectly pristine window. Did they hire someone to clean the windows regularly? What about all that sea spray off the ocean?
“Chen keeps saying ‘two words—police business.’ It’s very irritating.”
Gabby smiled at that. Amazing how talking to Heather could always cheer her up.
“But I do think something’s going on. She used to be a lot chattier. I’m just worried that she’s holding back because it’s bad news for Tamara.”
“I might have some good news for her.” Gabby told Heather about the lab results from Safiya’s untouched package of tea. “Barnaby and I thought about sharing the report with the Harbortown cops. What do you think?”
Heather was quiet for a moment as she considered the question. “Not yet,” she finally said. “Unless it’ll get us into trouble not to? Can you check with your brother?”
Gabby groaned. “I was hoping to keep my family out of this. It’s a sensitive topic in an election year. Besides, you know he’s going to lecture me about not getting in the way of the police.”
“Big girl panties.”
“Now you’re just making it worse because you know I hate that phrase. It’s the word ‘panties.’ Why are women’s underwear called panties but not men’s? It’s the same damn piece of clothing.”
“I know, right? Fuck literally everything.”
They both burst out laughing at that reference to one of Gabby’s most memorable journalism school rants—inspired by a misogynist professor, but applicable to so many situations.
“I’ll call him if you get your ass over to check on Tamara.”
“Yes ma’am. I’ll text you. Maybe we can FaceTime from jail.”
“The category is, things my mother would never want to hear me say,” Gabby joked before ending the call.
As she’d expected, Chris was no help at all with her “hypothetical scenario.”
“What are you into? If you don’t tell me, I’m calling Mama on you.” She heard police chatter in the background, which was the usual soundtrack for their calls.
“The big bad cop is calling his mama?”
“Don’t think I won’t. Tell me what the story is or I’ll do it right now.”
Sighing, she gave him the sketchiest of outlines. Surprisingly enough, this time his tone changed. “My advice is, don’t rock any boats, Gab.”
“Does that mean keep this to ourselves for now?”
“How many people know about it?”
“Just me, Barnaby and Heather. I just told her.”
“Good. Small circle. Keep it that way. If it’s a bad cop, one thing about them is they’ll do anything to protect themselves. This Barnaby, do you trust him?”
“I mean…yes? I think so. He’s been solid so far. He just wants to protect his grandmother.”
“Can he handle himself if things go sideways?”
Cold fear filtered into her belly. She’d never thought about this situation getting physically dangerous.
“You still remember all the moves I taught you, right? Do you have a firearm?”
“You’re overreacting. Take it down a notch, please. Of course I remember all those janky self-defense moves. I’m pretty sure Barnaby can fight. He’s strong and he’s traveled to some sketchy places.”
“Better watch your back, sis. Don’t count on any man for that. Also, give Mama a heads-up if you don’t want her going nuclear.”
On that encouraging note, the call ended, leaving Gabby about a hundred times more alarmed than she had been before.
Call her mother? Her thumb hovered over her mom’s number, but she finally decided that she might as well wait to see what Safiya’s blood test results had been. Until she knew that, this was all speculation.