“I was giving you a blow job and you were fucking thinking about Ember?” Her next words echoed off the walls. “Why her?”
“I have information that might help them uncover who killed Heidi.”
“And we care about that why?”
“Because maybe they’ll find the killer before he comes after me.”
Confusion moved over her face and words didn’t follow for a few minutes. “Why would the killer come after you?” she managed.
“Heidi and I shared in a little activity for a while and if it got out I was her accomplice, the killer may think I was still working with her when she died. If they killed her to keep their secret, there’s no reason to believe they won’t kill me.”
The fight just drained out of her. “I’ll call her.”
Lucien was in the kitchen making lunch when his cell phone rang. Seeing it was Trace again, and knowing he had been off the grid for two days not taking calls or e-mails—hell, he wasn’t even paying attention to current events—he answered it.
“Trace.”
“I’ve been trying to call you for two days. I’m guessing things are not going well with Darcy?”
“She’s pigheaded and stubborn, but so am I.”
“Ain’t that true. Listen, Heidi’s been murdered.”
“What?”
“Yeah, and right now they’re looking at Seth as a suspect.”
“That’s bullshit.”
“You don’t have to tell me. You mentioned she fucked with you and Darcy back in the day?”
“Not just her. There was a man who came to see Darcy to get her out of my life. Whoever it was told her he’d watch out for me. Heidi helped get him past visitor sign-in and kept me distracted so he would have time to intimidate Darcy.”
“What the fuck? Who was he?”
“That is what we’re trying to figure out. I got Josh looking into it, but the man is like a fucking ghost.”
“Why the interest?”
“Same question we’re asking ourselves.”
“Man, I’m sorry. Especially knowing what Darcy means to you, that’s fucked up.”
Lucien’s voice was icy cold when he said, “Yeah, which will make bringing that fucker down oh-so enjoyable.”
“Count me in. Do you ever recall Charles or Vivian coming to St. Agnes when I was there?”
“No, not that I recall, but Sister Margaret would know. Why?”
“Ember made me think about Charles and his connection to Heidi and how far back exactly they’ve known each other.”
They had the thought at the same time: “You don’t think Charles came to see Darcy?” Trace asked. “What would be the point?”
“I don’t know, but it’s easy enough to find out. I’ll show her a picture of him.”
“Even though she isn’t speaking to you.”
“I can be persuasive.”
Trace was silent for a minute. “If it was him, you get first crack.”
“And you’ll finish him off.”
“Fucking straight. He has a lot to atone for.”
Darcy wiped her hands on her pants and stopped in the doorway of Lucien’s office. He looked up and immediately rose.
“Darcy.”
“Do you have a minute?”
“Yeah.” He walked around the desk and gestured to the sofa. She settled herself on the edge while she worked out in her head what she wanted to say. Her eyes met his and she could see what she was feeling staring back at her: love.
“I shouldn’t have walked out at the party.”
“I understand why you did.”
“It was just that hearing my nightmare being spoken out loud and hearing the censure in your voice . . . it was too much. I should have told you about the baby. I wanted to, but every time we were together, I found an excuse to delay because I was so happy and I didn’t want to ruin that.”
“Why would telling me ruin that?” he asked.
“Because I was afraid you would hold me responsible. If I hadn’t fallen, our baby would be alive. I’ve lived with that guilt for so long.”
“Jesus, Darcy. It was an accident. How the hell could I hold you responsible?”
Tears filled her eyes and she managed a small, sad smile. “Because I hold myself responsible and so I just assumed you would too.”
“Will you tell me what happened?” he asked.
“I found out right before we were going to leave together that I was pregnant. I had planned to tell you that day. When I found myself alone and pregnant, I was terrified, but I was excited too, because I was going to have a family. I was pretty far along when I fell. I don’t really remember much after the fall, except that it was Sister Margaret who took me