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Danny rushed away from the fireplace, arms reaching out as if he wanted to cradle her against him. Then he stopped, expression a mixture of sorrow and frustration. “Hug her, damn it,” he snapped at me. “Because I can’t.”
I got up from my chair and put my arm around Kimberly, pulling her close. “It’s all right,” I said gently. “I know you didn’t mean anyone any harm.”
“It’snotall right!” she cried. “I killed him. I loved him, and I killed him.”
What in the world was I supposed to say to that?
“Tell her I’m not angry,” Danny urged me. “Tell her I know she made a mistake and that I don’t blame her.”
“You don’t?” I replied, startled. True, he’d seemed pretty chill about the whole situation, but….
“You don’t what?” Kimberly echoed, pulling away from me and giving me a startled glance.
“Oh, sorry,” I said. “I was talking to Danny.”
At once, she stared wildly around the room. “He’s here?”
“Yes,” I replied. “But you won’t be able to see or hear him. It seems I’m the only person in town who can — a couple of customers walked right through him the other day.”
Despite this explanation, Kimberly kept looking around, as if she expected him to materialize if she just stared hard enough. “I’m so sorry, Danny,” she said at last.
“I know,” he said. “And I’m fine.”
“He says he’s fine,” I told her.
Danny came over and settled himself on the couch on the other side of Kimberly — or rather, he paused there, floating an inch or so above the sofa cushion. “Tell her I wish things could have been different, and that I only hung around so I could learn the truth about what happened to me.”
I relayed this information. Tears still glittered in Kimberly’s big brown eyes, but she seemed a bit more composed after hearing that Danny didn’t intend to haunt this plane indefinitely.
“I wish it could have been different, too,” she murmured. “I wish I’d been brave enough to say something to you.”
He reached out to touch a tendril of hair that had escaped her ponytail. Maybe it was just the breeze coming in through the open windows, but I could have sworn I saw it move a fraction of an inch.
And then he disappeared.
“He’s gone,” I said. “I think he’s at peace.”
Kimberly nodded, sniffling a bit. Without saying anything else, I reached into my purse and pulled out the little pack of travel-size tissues I always kept there, then handed her one. She blotted her eyes and pulled in a deep breath.
Sounding much more composed, she asked, “What happens now?”
“I think you need to turn yourself in,” I told her. “I honestly don’t know how far along in his investigation Chief Lewis is, but he’s going to unearth the truth eventually. It’s probably better if you go to him yourself.”
Her mouth tightened, but I could tell from the dark blue waves of resignation that flashed through her aura before it disappeared again that she’d already come to the same conclusion. “Can I wait until Monday?”
“I suppose so,” I said, my tone uncertain. “Why?”
“Because I want to go to Danny’s funeral first.”
How could I deny her that? Danny had gotten his closure, but Kimberly needed hers, too.
“I think that would be fine,” I replied…and hoped I was right.
* * *
I stayed with her for a little longer, making sure she was okay and wasn’t going to do anything rash. But that aura of resignation still hung around her, and I knew she wasn’t about to go on the run or do something else that would get her in even more hot water.
In fact, I offered to go with her to the funeral, and she immediately agreed. I think it helped her to know there was someone else in Globe who knew the truth and hadn’t rejected her.
