Touched by Death (16 page)

The young man rubbed a weary hand over his face. "I
can't do this anymore. You don't even know us. So you won't miss us,
will you?" He looked around at the mess on the floor and the tiny
kitchen. "We'll have to burn this place after you're gone."

"I'm not going anywhere. If you can't keep this
place clean, then go get one of those women and have her do it."
He muttered to himself. "Your mother would die if she saw this
mess."

"She's dead, remember? From cancer. Made Tasha
and I promise to look after you."

"Well, you haven't, have you? Look at this place.
Where's Tasha? She should be here taking care of me. The least you could
do is bring me a damn broom so I can sweep if you're too lazy to do
so."

"Right. Tasha is in a bad way. She can't come.
And as for your request for a broom, as you are leaning on it right
now, that doesn't make a whole lot of sense."

"I am not. Don't you try to make out like I'm
crazy?" he screamed. "I will not tolerate that kind of disrespect
in my own home. Do you hear me?"

"Absolutely. So you don't want this rice and
chicken then huh? Cause if you're going to start your screaming fits
again, I'm not going to leave them. In fact, I'll just walk away and
hope you're not breathing by the time I check back in. Got it?"

The two men glared at each other, fury and stubbornness
etched on matching faces.

And just like that, the storm blew over.

His face wreathed in smiles, Peppe asked, "I
love chicken. Thanks. What's in the jar?"

Emile groaned and held them out. "Your favorite
– peanut butter."

B
efore Tony left, he pulled Jade aside in the hotel
lobby. The heat from outside penetrated through the large double doors.

"If you are having trouble handling this project
or staying focused on the job, I will pull you off. This isn't a holiday,
no matter what you think with your sightseeing tours and dates. We have
a job to do and I want it done right. I'm not a fool. Just because I
can't be here all the time, realize that there is someone keeping an
eye on you. I need to make sure you're handling yourself here."

He walked away leaving Jade staring at his retreating
back in shock. "What the hell was that all about?"

"What?" Bruce walked in the other door.
"Did you say something?"

"I'm not sure what just happened." She motioned
to the direction Tony disappeared. "Let me ask you something. Have
I ever given you the impression that this job was too much for me mentally?
Or that my social life is stopping me from doing my job?" At the
astonished look on his face, some of the panic calmed and she added,
shaking her head, "Anything at all that made you consider I don't
belong here?"

"No, of course not. Not a thing. Why?" An
understanding settled into his eyes and he glanced out the empty door.
"Was that Tony by any chance? Warning you? I am sorry. He's a bit
of an overkill kind of guy."

"Ya think?" She studied his face. Would
Bruce be honest? "He didn't ask you to keep an eye on my mental
state?"

Bruce shook his head. "Absolutely not. I don't
understand where he'd have gotten that idea in the first place."
Bruce frowned, scratching his chin.

"I do, unfortunately, and you'd have to have
been there at the time to understand fully but..." She gave him
a quick rundown on how she and Tony had met and the possible reasons
behind his trepidation now. "The thing is, I've been here for over
three weeks and I hardly think I've let anyone down."

He patted her shoulder. "No, you haven't. Tony
is nothing if not thorough. But I wouldn't let that worry you. There
is always a team member assigned to keep an eye on the team – physically,
emotionally and mentally. So let them, and just be your normal happy
self. Don't let Tony upset you."

"Are you going to be as happy to see him leave
as the rest of us will be?" She shouldn't have asked. Bruce was
the team leader. It wasn't fair to put him on the spot like that.

Bruce laughed. "Have to remember that people
like Tony make the money flow. Either to us or away from us. We need
them and they need us. The partnership usually works." He grinned,
more relaxed than she'd seen him in days. "It's still nice to see
the boss leave for a while. Everyone will relax again and work that
much better."

"Unless we find another bunch of skeletons whose
deaths appear a little suspicious."

"But he doesn't know about those, so it doesn't
matter." He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Right?"

"I don't know about what?" Tony stood in
the doorway, his suitcases in his hand. "Are you taking about me?"

"No," said Jade, a calm smile on her face.
"We were talking about Dane and the fact that he doesn't know any
charters or tour guides in this town."

Tony's face lightened "Good. Well then I'm off.
Should be back in a few weeks to a month depending on problems and progress."
He gave a perfunctory smile. "Good-bye and good luck." Then
he disappeared.

Jade stared at Bruce who stared back. Afraid Tony
might be still around the corner, he mouthed back,
Thank you.

"You're welcome."

They watched from the lobby as Stephen drove to the
front of the hotel in a company SUV. Tony got in. While they watched,
Tony was driven way.

"Thank God for that," she said.

"Amen."

When Dane finally made it back to his brother's house
the next day, he asked himself once again if it were time to leave Haiti.
The sense of finality had been growing steadily. The hospital wing he
was working on wasn't complete, yet it wasn't that far off. The interior
finishing always took longer than expected. Much of the stuff they needed
had to be ordered in. Dane's Seattle office was handling most of that.
Dane had a good foreman here. He might be able to go home and fly back
and forth until the job was done. He'd originally hoped to remain long
enough to see his niece or nephew born. Now he didn't think he'd make
it that long.

He wouldn't mind being gone from this family scene.
And as much as he enjoyed rustic living, he would appreciate running
water again. He'd been told the property used to be a lively and profitable
farm until the soil was overworked and the creek running through the
property dried up. He didn't think the property had provided Peppe's
family a living in a long time. He'd learned that Peppe had been employed
as a builder at one time and unlike many other natives, his kids had
gone to school – at least for a while.

John didn't go into too much detail as to how he'd
met Tasha or what they lived on. Tasha had worked in one of the bed
and breakfasts in town and he suspected that had been the extent of
their income. Except for stuff she made and sold to tourists. And since
the earthquake a year ago, John's business had failed. As much as he
loved his brother, John didn't appear to be bringing in much – if
anything. And that was yet another area John wouldn't discuss. His brother
took on mostly small jobs now to pay the bills – not that he'd seen
John go to work much.

At this point, Dane figured that the money he paid
them to stay in the cabin at the back of the property was what the entire
family was living on.

His brother seemed happy enough, at least on the surface
– only Dane didn't know how he could be. Was it the pregnancy
that had turned his sister-in-law into a crazy shrew or something else
– like this damn grave thing? He didn't know. At this point, Dane
made a habit of staying late at work and leaving for work early in the
morning. And ate out often and showered at the hospital. He'd made arrangements
to shower there, to avoid going home. Money bought almost anything here.
Dane would have spent a lot more to minimize the time he spent listening
to her berate his brother.

Tasha's appearance had started to slip as well. Her
hair was unkempt instead of contained in the long braid she'd worn when
he first arrived. Her face was unwashed, more often than not. And her
clothes... Had she changed them in the last week?

He immediately felt guilty for not being more understanding.
He'd heard pregnancy could do things to families and that pregnancies
could be incredibly stressful. Dane just didn't understand why, because,
according to John, she'd been fine for the first three and even four
months. These days it was as if whatever control she'd had over herself,
had come loose. He felt sorry for her. But even sorrier for his brother.

Dane shook his head as he walked to the kitchen door.
She was at it again. Their argument carried easily in the clear air.

"Damn it, John. Emile says he can't look after
Peppe. I need you to go and give him his food. Emile did it yesterday."

"And why can't Emile give him his meal today?
Peppe's his father."

"I'm sure he has a reason. What's your reason
for not wanting to help out? I do all the cooking here, as it is. You
don't work anymore… You could start doing that again, too. When was
the last time you cooked a meal?"

John's long-suffering sigh didn't go unnoticed. She
started in on him again. "Oh don't start that again. You are not
hard done-by. I hardly ask you to do anything around here and the minute
I do, you start complaining. Well stop, damn it. Emile isn't home and
Peppe needs food."

Dane opened the door, wondering when Tasha was due?
Another six to eight weeks? Dane shook his head as he studied the beaten
look on his brother's face through the open door.

"I'll tell you what, Tasha. I'll go with you
and you can introduce me to your father," Dane offered, stepping
through the doorway.

Horror flicked across her face. "What? No. No.
I can't. I mean I'm not feeling well." She dropped the tray onto
the table beside John and fled.

Dane stared, open-mouthed at the empty doorway. He
turned to face his brother who looked equally surprised. "Well
that didn't go as expected."

John stood. "That's the story of my life right
now. Nothing I say is received the way I expect it to." He glared
down at the tray. "This Peppe – Emile thing is driving me nuts.
Emile is Peppe's son. He should be the one to do this."

Dane didn't have an argument for that. He didn't know
how bad the situation really was. He'd only seen Peppe a couple of times
since he'd been here and the old man appeared more or less normal each
time. Apparently things had deteriorated. "True enough. There has
to be something going on here if neither child wants to help the parent."

"I want him in a home. I haven't been able to
find a place and Tasha fights the idea, but neither will she deal with
him." John ran a weary hand down his face. "You even suggest
that she should go see her father, and she bursts into tears."

"Perhaps she can't stand to see how badly he's
deteriorating?"

"I don't know what the problem is. She won't
tell me." His hands fisted, then relaxed on his hips.

Dane looked around the small kitchen. Pots sat on
the table. He didn't know if there was food in them or not. He was glad
he was taking Jade out tonight.

He glanced down at the plate prepared for Peppe. It
looked like rice and beans. Looking around the kitchen he realized how
old and faded everything was. Definitely in need of a new coat of paint
and new flooring. Another sign their financial troubles might be bigger
than he'd initially believe. There'd been money here at one time. Not
for a while though. Probably not since the death of Tasha's mother.
They weren't at the level of poverty he saw rampant all over the rest
of the country but things hadn't been good here in a long time.

How had John made a living here before? And as much
as Dane would love to help, how could he? He given his brother money
when he'd first arrived to help him rebuild his business and help out
when the baby came. He gave them money for room and board – and didn't
eat here.

So, if things were that tight, there'd be no money
for Peppe's care either. "How expensive would it be to hire a local
to care for him? Surely that would be a minor cost, given the economy
right now?"

John's mouth twisted. He walked over to stare out
the window. "I don't know. I mentioned something about hiring a
woman to come and help out, only Tasha just got a weird look on her
face and said, 'No women.' Now I've seen for myself that Peppe can be
in tough shape from one day to the next and I know that Emile has lost
his temper more than a couple of times when he found his father had
soiled himself – apparently his father hadn't even noticed. Some furniture
had to be thrown out one time."

Dane tried hard but couldn't quite contain the wrinkle
of disgust. It wasn't Peppe's fault. He needed help and shouldn't be
living alone. Usually in a case like this, the job fell to the family
members, but if they wouldn't or couldn't then someone had to be hired
to do the job.

"I don't think you have much choice. You can't
leave him like that. If Emile and Tasha won't do it, then hire a man.
Let him go there once a day and clean Peppe – give him a shave and
a hot meal. I don't know what all else he needs. Surely, with so many
out of work, you could find a brawny man with the right disposition
to help out?"

John turned to face him. Dane hated his brother's
whipped-puppy look and the glimmer of hope sliding into the back of
his eyes. He could understand the situation John faced but sometimes
hard decisions had to be made. John was going to be a father soon. He
needed to step forward and be a man.

Dane couldn't resist pushing the point home. Not that
John would listen. "John if they aren't capable of making a decision,
then you have to step in and make it for them."

Straightening his back, John sighed. "I know
that. Really. It's just not that simple. I need the pregnancy to be
over and have my Tasha back. I don't know what's eating away at her.
It's most likely just hormones, but she's so volatile right now."