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"That boy died because of me," she said quietly.
"He died because Oren Starks shot him in the heart."
She let go of the stir stick, propped her elbows on the edge of the table, and buried her face in her hands. "I'll never forget the sound of his parents' weeping. And it's my fault, my fault."
"How is it your fault?"
She said nothing.
Caroline was staring at her, offering silent compassion and support.
Finally Dodge cleared his throat of a terrible rattle and said, "She, uh, she thinks it's her fault because--"
"I called him."
Ski turned toward her. "Excuse me?"
She took a shuddering breath and squared her shoulders. "I called Oren."
CHAPTER
13
SKI STARED AT HER FOR SEVERAL MOMENTS, THEN LOOKED AT Caroline, who purposefully avoided looking back. He settled on Dodge, who mumbled unintelligibly and patted his pocket in search of a cigarette.
Ski asked him, "What's she talking about, she called Starks?"
"They told me about it while you were..." He gestured to indicate Ski's business outside the small room, then, using his former cop's verbal shorthand, explained the nature of the telephone conversation as Caroline and Berry had described it to him.
Ski assimilated it, searched for the logic behind it, and came up dry. He wanted to ask Berry what the hell she'd been thinking but figured he should contain his incredulity and soften the language a bit.
"This call. Was it to his house or a cell phone?"
"House phone," she replied. "Why?"
"We hoped we might locate him using GPS to track his cell phone signal. But the phone has to be on. Each time we've called his number, we get a recording saying it isn't in use."
"He would know better than to leave his cell phone on."
"Right." He paused for a moment, then asked the question he really wanted the answer to. "Why did you feel an apology was necessary?"
"Dodge just told you."
"I want to hear it from you."
"I'd said horrible things to him. I'd told him he was pathetic. I'd called him a creep."
"He is a creep," Ski said.
"I know, but maybe if I hadn't been so cruel to him that day, he wouldn't--"
"You are not responsible for his actions."
She didn't refute him, but nor was she convinced. "I wanted to make amends. I was trying to be nice."
Again Ski looked toward Caroline to gauge her reaction, but she averted her eyes. Dodge's opinion, however, was plain. He raised his shoulders and gave Ski a look that said, Women. What can you do?
When Ski came back to Berry, she was staring vacantly at a point in the center of his chest. "I never would have guessed that an apology could have such awful consequences." Her gaze moved up and connected with his.
