Topaz Heat (Christian Romance) (The Jewel Series) (18 page)

Sarah looked at Maxine and took another sip of heavenly vegetable soup. She wiped her lips on the napkin and nodded. "I know, right?"

"So what are you going to do now?"

Sarah sighed and put her spoon down. "I don't know. He wasn't coming here to ask me to dinner Friday night. He had a ring in his pocket!"

Fighting a surge of panic, Sarah pushed the bowl away and took another sip of water. Maxine leaned across the table and patted her hand. "It's Derrick, honey. Just talk to him. He's like your brother."

"Is that remark designed to make me feel better?"

Maxine laughed. "I guess not." She stood and took the bowl to the sink. "Listen. Just go talk to him. Tell him you need time to get your feelings in order but would be open to dating him."

"You're assuming I would be open to dating."

Maxine turned and looked at her. "Tell me you're not. Be serious."

Sarah felt the heat that tinged her cheeks. "Maybe I am."

"Of course you are." Her sister came back across the room and knelt by her chair. "Listen. Derrick has loved you forever. He went to New York to try to forget you, but it didn't do him any good. He loves you like Tony loves Robin, like Barry loves me. But I'm sure he'll be able to tone it down a notch so that you can see if you reciprocate that love."

"I've never talked to him away from absolutely having to. There was a decade between private conversations. I don't really know how to approach him."

"He's waited for you forever, honey. His entire life, in fact. I have no earthly idea why you would want to make him keep waiting but he'll wait as long as you need, I imagine." She stood and rubbed her hands together. "In the meantime, we have to finish the final preparations for your thirtieth birthday party." She clapped her hands. "Hey! I know! Let's go look at the hotel ballroom and make the final plans. It's just four days away."

"I don't know –"

"Oh come on. How many times are you going to have your thirtieth birthday, anyway? I was doing this without you, but you might want to see what we have planned."

"Well –"

"And you can talk to Chef Rupert about your vegan cake. You can probably even convince him to let you sample it."

Her stomach rolled. With a hand pressing against it, she shook her head. "Uh, might be a little soon for tasting."

"Of course. You're right. But you can still talk to him about it."

Sarah pressed her lips together and fought an internal battle that lasted about two seconds. Then she nodded. "Okay. Let me take a shower and get dressed and I'll go with you."

Maxine clapped her hands. "Wonderful! I'll call Chef Rupert now and reschedule the meeting I'd set up for tomorrow."

DERRICK
signed the letter in front of him and set it in his OUT box on the corner of his desk for his secretary to mail. As he reached for the next piece of correspondence requiring his attention, his phone beeped. “Mr. DiNunzio? A Detective Wilson and Detective Beaumont are here to see you.”

With a quick flip through his mind seeking anything hotel related that might have recently warranted two detectives showing up, he looked at the phone quizzically. Nothing immediately came to mind, so he said, “Please send them right in, Andrea.”

He stood and walked around his desk as his door opened. The first man who walked through the door wore black jeans, a black leather jacket over a white turtleneck, and boots. He had blond hair and a face that looked drawn and tired. Derrick guessed he was maybe fifty. The man held his hand out and smiled a smile that barely showed teeth and did not reach his eyes. “Mr. DiNunzio. I am Jerry Beaumont, Boston PD. This is my partner Nick Wilson.”

Derrick shook his hand and turned his attention to the younger man who had just entered his office. He was tall, thin, smooth shaven with dark hair and dark eyes. He wore his blue suit well, pairing it off with a white collared shirt and a maroon tie. Derrick knew good fabric and custom tailoring when he saw it, and filtered his mental database, running through all the Wilsons he knew, stopping at Nicholas Henry Wilson, Sr., sailboat mogul. “Junior?”

Wilson’s lips thinned before he nodded and held out his hand. “Mr. DiNunzio.”

Something about his eyes tickled Derrick’s memory, but he didn’t take the time to explore it. After shaking his hand, Derrick said, “Please come in.” He gestured to his sitting area. “What can I do for two of Boston’s finest today?”

He took the armchair while the two detectives took the couch. Beaumont took the lead. “Mr. DiNunzio, we’re here about Gianni Castolli.”

Derrick felt his insides go cold, but kept the smile firmly on his face. “I’m sorry?”

Wilson spoke. “I think you heard us.”

“I did. I just don’t understand. What do you mean?”

“There was a time when you … worked … for Mr. Castolli, is that correct?”

Derrick fought the urge to stand and pace. Instead he leaned back in his chair and folded his hands together. “That is correct. While I understand that exemplary wouldn’t actually describe my life all those years ago, I’m certain that nothing I did would warrant two detectives from our fine city’s police force to take time out of what must be a busy day to come talk to me.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.” This time, Beaumont showed some teeth. “We’d like to discuss in detail some of those things you might have done.”

“To what end?”

“Justice, Mr. DiNunzio.”

Derrick raised an eyebrow. “While I’d guess that any of my petty activities would be cleared by statutes of limitations at this point, I’m actually quite certain that I don’t have to discuss any activities that took place prior to my eighteenth birthday.”

Wilson pulled a notebook out of his pocket. “There is no statute of limitations on murder, Mr. DiNunzio.”

His stomach twisted into a painful knot. “Murder?”

“Yes.”

“Whose murder?”

“We recently discovered the remains of James Castolli. Gianni Castolli’s son.”

“What?” The word came out on a breath, barely a whisper.

“He had been missing for ten years. As far as our forensic pathologists can determine, he’s been dead for that long, too.”

“I don’t understand. Why are you talking to me? I didn’t even know he was missing.”

Wilson said, “You were the last person to be seen talking to him when he was still alive.”

Memories started crashing in. Cold. Hunger. Desperation. Hopelessness. Prejudice. Cops always looking his way.

Derrick closed his eyes and took a deep breath, praying for the memories to be held at bay for just a moment, just long enough to get through this interview. He opened them again and spoke very carefully. “If you will wait for a moment, gentlemen, I’m afraid I need to call my lawyer.”

Beaumont said, “In my world, innocent people don’t need an attorney, Mr. DiNunzio.”

“Coming from my old world, Detective Beaumont, no one is really all that innocent, are they?”

SARAH
pulled on the hem of her shirt as she got out of her car. She handed her keys to the valet attendant on duty and walked through the big circular doors into the grand luxury that was the lobby of the Viscolli Hotel, Boston. She couldn’t help but feel pride at Tony for creating this beautiful environment and at Derrick for running it. It wasn’t easy, his job, and she admired what he was able to do.

She nodded to the desk clerk, someone who had worked there for years and knew Sarah by sight, then went down a hidden corridor behind the front desk and into the administrative section of the hotel. She passed the event coordinator’s office, the assistant manager’s office, the housekeeping manager’s office, and finally came to the end of the corridor. Double doors led into Derrick’s outer office.

She tugged at her shirt one more time before opening the doors. She stepped in and nodded to the secretary. “Hi Andrea. How are you?”

“Why, Sarah. What a surprise.”

In a way, she’d hoped that the secretary would jump up and claim that Derrick had been waiting for her to come and that no matter what he was in the middle of, he was to be interrupted whenever Sarah showed up. She was amused at her own flight of fancy and smiled. “Is Derrick in? I’d like to see him.”

“He is, but in a meeting just this second.”

The doors behind Sarah slammed open. She jumped and looked behind her, surprised to see Barry storming in. He stopped short when he saw her. “Sarah. What are you doing here?”

Sarah opened her mouth then shut it, confused by the aggressiveness emanating from the big guy in front of her. “I was just here to see Derrick.”

He nodded and pulled the vibrating phone out of the front pocket of his suit. “Now’s not a great time.” He read whatever was on his screen, pushed a series of buttons, and then pocketed the phone.

“I’m not sure I …”

The doors slammed open again and Tony rushed in. “Have you been in yet?” He directed his attention to Barry and Barry only.

“I just got here.” Barry gestured at Sarah. Tony looked at her with a harshness in his eyes she didn’t really understand. Sarah started to get a little bit worried about what was going on.

“Hi,” she said, stepping forward for Tony’s customary cheek kiss and hug. Instead, he gripped her shoulders and looked down at her.

“Now’s not a good time,” he said, parroting Barry’s words. “Best go on home.”

“Tony, I…”

He shook his head once, sharply, silencing anything else she was about to say. He squeezed her shoulders and released her. “Let’s go in,” he said to Barry. He looked back at Sarah. “Go. I’m sure Derrick will call you when he’s free to talk.”

As the door to Derrick’s office opened, Sarah looked in and saw Derrick seated in a wing backed leather chair, his fingers steepled in front of his face, his eyes closed. One man sat on a sofa near him and another man, a younger man whom Sarah almost recognized, stood behind Derrick’s chair, scowling at Tony and Barry as they entered the office.

As the door shut, Sarah saw Derrick’s eyes open. He looked around Barry and saw her standing there. A look of deep surprise passed over his face before he could school his features. He stood and shook Barry’s hand, then turned his back on the door as it shut all the way.

Sarah huffed out a breath and turned to look at the secretary. “Well.”

Andrea grimaced and picked up a pen. “Would you like for me to leave a message?”

Sarah looked at the seats against the wall then looked at her “You know what,” she said, “I think I’ll just wait here.”

“I really have no idea how long they’ll be.”

Sarah smiled. “That’s okay. I’m off today.”

She sat down in a cloth covered chair and picked up the news magazine that sat on the table next to her. She noticed Tony on the cover, and slowly flipped through the pages until she found the lengthy article about her brother-in-law. Absently, she wondered if she would learn anything new about him.