Ten - Dead Weight

Diane inhaled deeply as the coffee filled her cup. She imagined the caffeine entered her nose and sped up her thought processes. She regretted that she was not a night person on days like this. There were so many conflicting details and now, with no partner to help her figure things out, and two of the three men who had been jostling for her attention wearing black hats, Diane felt more alone than she had since Bobby died. Her heart was in an empty cavity, a black hole of aching anger and regret.

A knock on the door sent her flying out of her chair, her heart racing in her throat. Diane stumbled across the room and stared out the peephole.

“Oh, thank God! It’s about time!” Diane sighed and threw open the bolts and latches.

“Hey, how’s it going, Diane?” Danny said with concern as he entered her apartment.

Diane looked up at Danny, and his face filled with alarm.

“Diane, sit down and tell me what’s wrong. Please.” Danny pulled out a chair for her, and she melted into it. Diane warmed her hands on her coffee cup and thought for a moment. Danny sat next to her, and seeing she was shrinking into herself, he put his left hand over her right hand. When that felt clumsy, he peeled her fingers off her coffee cup and wrapped them in his own. Diane took a big breath and relaxed a little. She couldn’t look at Danny just yet.

“Okay, but you’re going to think I’m crazy, or stupid, or…” Diane’s lip quivered, and she stopped to take another big breath to steady herself.

“Diane, I don’t think that about you. I will never think that about you,” Danny did his best to reassure her. For a moment, he wished he were sitting at his desk so he could grab a paper clip. He breathed through that thought and it passed him by.

“Okay. Earlier tonight, when I was dropping off Jill and the kids at the airport, Jill slipped a note into my hands. She acted really cold around Bob, and I thought it was because she didn’t know him or how much she could trust him. I mean, I introduced him as Denby’s attorney, and she was real cold to him the whole time. What surprised me was that he was really cold right back. I have never seen him like that.”

“Well, you’ve only known him a few days, Diane.”

“Yeah, well, you guys were all pretty harsh with him, too, but he always laughed through it or ignored it. I can’t describe how he looked at her, but she couldn’t even look at him after that.”

“Anyway, what did the note say?” Danny urged her on.