Touched by Death (17 page)

"Be that as it may, you can't leave Peppe like
this. If it were our father, how would you feel?"

John snorted. "That old soldier boy would have
walked off a bridge before ending up like Peppe."

"I highly doubt any of us would choose to live
Peppe's not-so-golden years. I do know that we all deserve respect and
to keep our dignity at times like this – and Peppe, if he really knew
and understood, would be horrified."

John stared down at the tray and then back at his
brother. "Do you want to come with me? Let's take a look and see
how bad it really is."

"Hell no. I don't want to. But I will."
Dane grinned at the dark look shooting his way. "Come on. Let's
go face the Devil himself."

Susan cornered Jade in the computer room in the late
afternoon. Jade had barely managed to get back to her charts after the
euphoria and relief she felt after Tony's departure. Still the work
had to be done and now that she didn't have anyone watching over her
– at least no one sitting there in the room watching over her –
she wanted to plow through the charts.

"Hey. How is the paperwork going?"

Susan dropped her bag on her computer station and
took a tissue out of her pocket. It seemed she'd brought dozens of small
packets with her from home.

"Are you getting sick?"

"I'd better not be. Tony asked me the same question."
Susan grimaced as Jade twisted her face. "Yeah, he made a good
impression on all of us, huh? Anyway he reminded me that there were
no sick days negotiated into the contract and if I wasn't capable of
working because of an illness he'd be forced to replace me."

Jade gasped. "What an asshole." She slapped
the chart down on the desk beside her and turned to face Susan. "Did
he just come here to upset everyone? 'Cause he succeeded. I am so glad
he's gone."

"I second that. What did he do to you?"
Susan asked curiously, pulling back her chair and sitting down heavily.

"He made a similar comment about my mental health,
afraid that all these deaths were going to send me off the deep end…or
some such bullshit."

Susan snorted. "Isn't this a fine time to worry
about that?"

"I know. We're almost a month into this. If I
were going to lose it, I'd have done so when we first found those bones
and chains."

Susan shivered and then sneezed. After a moment, Susan
added, "Maybe I should go lie down. I'd hate to have this get any
worse."

"Yes, you should. It's Friday. We've put in lots
of overtime already. Go. Rest and come back on Monday happy and healthy."

With a watery grin, the woman picked up her bag again.
"Okay, you've convinced me. Besides, it's not as if we haven't
worked on this every weekend so far."

"True enough. And this weekend won't be any different."
Jade watched as Susan made a hasty exit, sneezing several times on the
way. She returned to her workload.

Meg walked in five minutes later.

"So are you excited?"

"Hmmm." Jade stared at her. "What did
you say?"

"I asked if you were excited. About tonight?
Your hot date with Dane?"

Jade flushed. She's been trying to keep the date out
of her mind all day. She found it a little hard to function with the
butterflies rolling around inside. She didn't know what to expect and
her clothing choices were beyond limited. But then she didn't want to
get hung up on that either.

"I'm happy to be going out. Just not so secure
in the whole 'date' thing."

"Aha. If you haven't been dating for a while
I can see that might be a little daunting. Still you must get a lot
of male attention. You're gorgeous."

Jade stared at her. Then laughed. "Aren't you
a comic?"

Meg walked over and sat down beside her. "You,
my dear, need to work on your self-esteem. What happened to knock that
down?"

The question caught Jade sideways. She leaned back
to look at the woman she'd come to view as a friend. "I'm not so
sure that it's been knocked down as much as knocked back a pace or two.
I had a bad breakup close to year ago and haven't ventured into that
realm since."

Tilting her head sideways, Meg smiled compassionately.
"That's a decent amount of time. You don't appear to be too upset
over it now."

Was she?
Not heartbroken, at least not now. In fact, she could
honestly say that she'd had a lucky escape – at least from him. Other
things that happened at the same time were more painful.

"No. I was angry for a long time, but that's
dissipated." She shrugged. "I'm saddened at the way everything
ended."

"And now there's Dane in your life."

Jade grinned. "Right. At least for tonight."

"Hey, he lives in Seattle and he packs a load
of sex appeal into that lean rangy body, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, he does that." She'd had a hell of
a time going to sleep last night because of it. Damn he looked good.
That just brought back another worry. "Sex isn't an issue on a
first date, is it?"

Meg raised her eyebrows. "Sex should never be
an issue. It happens on some first dates if everything is hot, hot and
hotter. If that's the case, then go for it. Otherwise, it shouldn't
even come up." She grinned. "Although, it's a good sign if
it does."

Jade grinned. "It's been a few years since my
last relationship started. I'd forgotten the initial heat of attraction."

"That should have been a sign about the relationship
if the heat didn't last long. So Dane has got your juices flowing, has
he?"

"Hell, he's probably gotten every female in Haiti
paying attention to him." Jade said it with humor but didn't know
how she felt about that.

"Hot males don't make bad mates. They are often
very loyal. My partner and I have been together for a decade now. I
still love him and he's still the best looking guy I've ever seen."
Meg's smile saddened. "That's the only thing about this job. I
hate being away from home."

"No wish to settle down and start a family?"

"We've discussed it, but it's never the right
time."

Meg slouched back on her chair, seeming to be unaware
of her own natural beauty. Then that was probably one of the reasons
Jade had clicked with her so fast. She was natural, without pretention.
Jade shook her head. "Don't think there is any one right time.
If you have a strong foundation, you may want to think on it. You're
what…thirty-three or thirty-four?"

"Thirty-seven and turning thirty-eight in a few
months. I know the clock's ticking but that's not the best determining
factor. I'd rather know that gallivanting off on these jaunts is out
of my system so I'm content to stay home as a mom. I want to look forward
to that stage of my journey instead of feeling tied down by it."

"That's reasonable. At least then you'll be ready
inside." Jade looked down at the stacks of charts in front of her.
She might have to work all weekend to get caught up at this rate.

"Hmmm. What about you? No desire to have kids?
Although you have more time than I do?" Meg smiled.

Inside, Jade winced. "Yes, I still have time.
I've thought about it a lot. I was engaged, looking forward to starting
a family. It's amazing how much your perspective changes after a breakup."

"Breakups are always tough. If you didn't make
it to the married part, chances are you're much better off without him."

Jade agreed. She
was
so much better off. "I know that now. But that's the
thing, when you're in a relationship it's hard to see what you really
do have. You're too close, so to speak."

"True enough. Just don't take that kind of baggage
to your date tonight. Dane looks like he's the kind of guy who gets
out and enjoys life a little. Sounds like you could use the extra attention."

Jade nodded. "I'm looking forward to that."

The trek to Peppe's cabin took only a few minutes.
They walked past a clump of spindly trees, their steps sounding loud
on the hard-packed dirt path. Dane stopped and turned around. "I
thought he was a lot further away. Although that's a good thing."
He grinned. "I actually have plans for tonight."

John stared at him in astonishment. "Really?
Who is she?"

Dane shook his head. "Not sure I want to say.
I haven't let a lady get close like this in a long time. I'm taking
her out tonight."

"Really? Wow!" He might have been planning
to say more but they'd reached the cabin door. There was no sound from
within. John climbed the first and then the second stair before turning
back to his brother. "All joking aside…" He hesitated. "Peppe
isn't quite right. I know I haven't said too much about him. It's complicated.
He has good days and bad days but his good days are often hard to distinguish
from the others."

John looked behind him quickly, uneasily. "I
don't know what shape he's going to be in.

Dane looked at the cabin door behind his brother.
There was a wide porch out front but the cabin had to be decades old.
If it was sound, age was no problem, but this building could also use
some help.
Damn.
He needed to have a serious talk with his brother. "My question
is why is this such an issue?" He strode in front of his brother,
opened the door and reeled backward. "Oh for Christ's sake."

His arm came up to protect his nose. He stumbled backwards
and down the stairs, coughing. After a moment, he bent over his knees
and took several deep breaths. "What is that smell? Jesus, John.
Please tell me the old man isn't living in that."

"The place has been cleaned several times, but
that damn smell never goes away." John winced. He stood with his
back to the door, staring back the way they'd come. "That's why
I can't do this. I'm standing here now because I can't force myself
to go inside. How sad is that?"

Dane took several deep breaths, trying to clear his
head. "Damn it, John. Leaving someone to live in that sewer is
criminal. If you won't do something about this, then I will." He
fisted his hands on his hips. "But you won't like my methods. I'll
call in the authorities over this."

John snorted. "Like they're going to give a shit.
This isn't the U.S., Dane. There aren't the same regulatory bodies there
are back home." He grunted. "Besides Tasha would never forgive
you. Or me. They look after their own here."

Home?
That's the first he'd heard his brother refer to the
U.S. as home. Did his brother want to return to Seattle? Take his family
with him? Dane would have to give that some thought. In the meantime,
this mess had to be dealt with. "That's fine, if they do look after
their own. Living in this cabin can't be good for anyone. Damn it, John,
stand and be a man."

John shuddered, releasing a deep breath. His shoulders
sagged and he closed his eyes briefly. "Fine. I will look for someone
tomorrow and I just won't tell her."

"You're going to have to hire more than one person
or you won't keep the first one. This place needs to be burned. It's
unbelievable."

John turned to face the open door and frowned. "I
wonder why Peppe hasn't come out. He never misses a good fight."

"Then go in and see. For all you know the old
man died from the rot in there."

Shooting his brother a dark look, John took a deep
breath and raced inside. He came out several minutes later gasping for
air. "He's not here. I wonder if he's taken off again?"

Dane snorted. "Hell, I wouldn't stay in there
either. Does he go out much?" Dane spun around wondering where
the hell the old man could have disappeared. If he carried the aroma
of this cabin they should smell him miles away.

"He's been on his own for a long time so I have
no idea. I've avoided coming here for months. But from what Emile and
Tasha have said, he used to take off for weeks on end."

Dane hopped up, took a deep breath, pinched his nose
and walked into the small cabin. There was no sign of the old man. His
bed was empty, the one chair in the place… Empty. There was nothing
but dirt, trash, waste.

He shuddered. Unable to hold his breath any longer,
he bolted outside.

"Whew. That is beyond rank, John."

"Tasha said Emile had been shaving and washing
the old man." John turned back to stare inside the small cabin.
"I wonder if Tasha knows Emile hasn't been looking after him?"

"He's her brother. She has to know what
he's like."

Dane stepped several steps further away, gasping for
clean air. "Hell, I know what Emile's like and I can tell you he
does the minimum at every turn. If he can get out of a job, he will
and if he can get away with a half-assed job – then consider that
done too."

John shuddered. "I wonder if he's even been feeding
him?"

"I'd say chances are, he started out with good
intentions a few months ago, whenever Tasha quit looking after him and
then he's done less and less each trip back here. That's probably why
Peppe's taken off."

John's face twisted.

"What?" Dane puzzled why John wouldn't meet
his gaze.

"Tasha quit looking after her father a long time
ago. She's using her pregnancy as an excuse to get out of coming to
help with her father for right now, but she had a broken leg before
that, remember? Anyway I don't think she's cared for him for close to
a year not since the big quake, I think."

Staring at the woods around them, Dane shook his head.
"Why? I don't understand. I'm trying, John but your new family
is a little weird."

"I know. The thing is you don't realize just
how weird until something happens. It's like the earthquake changed
things. She wasn't like this a couple years ago. I loved her so much
then."

"
Then
?" Dane jumped on that one word. It went along with
John's earlier comment about back home.

John ran his right hand over his short dark hair.
"I didn't mean that. It's just that she was more loveable back
then. I feel like I live in a war zone. Each day I have to work hard
at being tolerant and patient. Sometimes, I'm not sure I'm going to
make it to the end of the pregnancy."