What's Done In the Dark(12)

“What? Dead how? Did you kill him?”

“No!” I exclaimed, then lowered my voice. “At least I don’t think so. We just . . . We just did it all night last night and this morning . . .” I slapped my forehead. “Oh, my God, I wasn’t thinking. I’m a nurse. I should’ve known his chest . . . his heart . . . I can’t believe this is happening.”

“Okay, sis, calm down. What happened? Start from the beginning.”

I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down. I don’t know how I made it through the story, but I did, and a few minutes later, my sister had learned the CliffsNotes version of what happened.

“So, let me get this straight,” Fran slowly said. “You just woke up this morning and he was dead?”

Dead. That word had such finality. I swallowed the lump in my throat. Steven was really gone. “Yes,” I managed to get out.

“Are you sure he’s dead? Maybe he’s just a deep sleeper.”

“I’m a freakin’ nurse!” I snapped. “I know when someone is dead and when they’re asleep.”

“Okay, calm down.”

“I was about to call 9-1-1, but I just freaked and called you first.”

Her next words had a harder edge. “Yeah, calling 9-1-1 is something you won’t be doing.”

“But it’s the right thing to do,” I sobbed.

“Oh, okay, then, should I meet you at your house to help you pack your bags so you can get out of town? Because if your husband doesn’t kill you, your best friend will,” she said, her voice full of sarcasm.

“Maybe they don’t have to know,” I whimpered.

She let out a long sigh like I wasn’t thinking straight, which, of course, I wasn’t. “If you’re anywhere near the scene when someone dies, police are going to take your information.”

I glanced into the other room as if, in some kind of way, I was expecting to see Steven’s body gone. I couldn’t believe what was happening. I’m sitting here talking police procedure, and my best friend’s husband is dead in the other room. “I can give them a fake name,” I finally said.

“And do you have fake ID on you, too?”

I groaned as I slid to the floor. “What am I gonna do?”

“Okay, okay, let’s figure this out,” Fran said. She paused, and I knew her devious mind was plotting. “Whose name is the room in?” she finally asked.

“His?”

“That’s good,” she said, sounding relieved. “I don’t have to come help you move the body.” I knew my sister was dead serious. If that’s what I had needed, she would’ve been right there with plastic gloves on.

“I’m not attached to the room at all.” As I said that, a starker truth dawned on me. I was attached to Steven. And now I’d never talk to him again. I’d never see him smile at one of the remarks I made. I’d never feel his body casually flowing around mine, keeping our long-held secret. I felt a pang deep in my heart as I fought back a flurry of tears.

“Okay, that’s good,” Fran said, moving full speed ahead. “Since you were meeting your best friend’s man, I’d like to think you were discreet in coming up to his room.”

I nodded like she could actually see me. I really did feel like I was having an out-of-body experience.

“You were discreet, weren’t you?”

“Yes. Yes,” I said. “No one saw me come up here.”

“Okay. You said it looks like he just died in his sleep, right? Nothing looks out of order?”

“Yes. I mean, he must have had a heart attack. I don’t know.” I was getting more and more worked up.

“Okay, here’s what I need you to do,” Fran said. “Pull yourself together. Clean up any sign that anyone else was ever there. Did you order room service?”

“No.”

“Did anyone else see you together at all?”

I thought about that. “The bartender did. But that’s it.”

She exhaled with apparent frustration—that obviously wasn’t the answer she was hoping for. “Well, as far as the bartender is concerned, you could’ve been some random chick at the bar.”

I let her continue working this out. I was useless to help plan this cover-up. I stood in the bathroom, watching the lifeless body of my one true love. All I could think was my world was coming to an end.

“Just wipe down everything you think you might have touched. If they think the cause of death is natural, there won’t be an investigation. But wipe down everything, just in case,” Fran instructed.

At the mention of a possible investigation, my heart started racing again. I noticed my hand was trembling beyond my control. “What am I supposed to do?”