The Daughter She Used To Be by Rosalind Noonan

Author:Rosalind Noonan [Noonan, Rosalind]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780758274533
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp
Published: 2011-10-25T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 31

The church service was ending as the aggravating buzz began in Keesh’s suit pocket. Amy gave him a look, but he shrugged.

“At least I put it on vibrate,” he whispered.

She rolled her eyes as he checked the message.

It was a text message from his friend Clive in the Queens District Attorney’s office.

Coffee shop killer suspect in custody at Queens Hospital. Keesh frowned. Freaky timing, but Bernie would want to know.

He texted back a thanks and asked Clive for more info. Then it was time to rise for another hymn, the last one it seemed, since the pallbearers were rolling the coffin out the door. The priest and the accompanying boys in puffy white blouses stood at the altar as the family filed out, and then the rest of the crowd broke and scattered to different exits.

Another buzz in his pocket, and he took a quick look at the message.

“We need to find Bernie,” he said to Amy.

“No duh.” Amy had always been impatient with idle chatter.

“No, really. I just heard from my friend at the Queens DA. They’ve got a suspect in custody for the coffee shop killings.”

Amy blinked. “That’ll be a relief for her. For a lot of people, actually.”

The overflow crowd dissipated quickly, and the seemingly impossible task of finding Bernie began to seem feasible.

The stone steps wrapping the front entrance of the church were still cluttered with people, but it was easy to make out faces along the staggered platforms. Bernie was near the bottom, talking with a handful of uniform cops. Young, buff men.

He tucked his necktie in and buttoned the jacket of his suit, trying to bite back jealousy. They were probably just friends of Brendan.

He joined the group, listening as one of the cops finished a story about Brendan.

“He had a wicked sense of humor at times,” Bernie said. She suddenly noticed that she was flanked by Keesh and Amy. “Hey, guys. I saw you there in church.”

Amy gave her a hug. “It was a very nice tribute,” she said. “I’m so sorry.”

Bernie nodded, then turned her big brown eyes up at Keesh. “What do you have to say?”

“A lot, actually.” He reached for her for the perfunctory hug, but she moved up against him and buried her face into his jacket, just under his neck. Her desperation surprised him as she clamped on tight, in front of those young cops and everyone else on the church steps.

His arms pulled her closer, and for a moment he closed his eyes and pretended this was all okay, in the name of reassuring a friend in grief.

When she let go and slipped out of his arms, Keesh felt the other people in the circle watching them. Never one to put his personal life out there, he knew it was time to cut out.

“We need to talk,” he said. “Can you ride to the restaurant with me?”

“I’ll just tell them in the limo.” The group of cops began to break up as Bernie gave the message to her older sister Mary Kate.

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