Home Before Midnight Read Online Free PDF Page A

just . . . I need to . . . Excuse me,” she mumbled, and hurried to the powder room off the kitchen, where she was violently, wretchedly sick.
     
     
     
     
    PAUL Ellis ran a shaking hand over his hair. The evening had not gone as planned.
     
    Now he had some hulking detective in his study asking him questions in a flat, deep drawl. “Do you have friends you can stay with tonight, sir? Family?”
     
    He couldn’t think. “I’ll be fine.”
     
    “You shouldn’t be alone,” the detective said.
     
    Paul exhaled noisily. “I won’t be. Bailey is here.”
     
    Thank God for Bailey. She had surprised him, jumping into the pool like that. But her presence, her devotion, provided an invaluable backup.
     
    “It might be better for you both if you found someplace else to spend the night,” Burke said, stolid as a rock. “We’re likely to be tied up here for some time.”
     
    “Why? It was an accident.”
     
    “That’s certainly what it looks like. But your wife did hit her head. I’d just like the chance to look around, rule out the possibility of an intruder.”
     
    Paul didn’t believe the intruder theory for one minute. And neither, he bet, did the detective. The implication was unbearable. Intolerable. God .
     
    “I didn’t sign that damn consent form so you could force me from my own home.”
     
    “I can’t force you to do anything, sir. I want all this to be over as much as you do. But it sure would speed things along if my team didn’t have to worry about disturbing you tonight.”
     
    Paul’s indignation faded. Maybe this Sheriff Andy wannabe imagined he was doing his job. In which case, an appearance of cooperation would serve Paul better than threats.
     
    “I’ll need a change of clothes.”
     
    “Yes, sir. Officer Lewis can help you pack a bag. He’ll take those clothes you have on and then drive you anywhere you want to go.”
     
    Paul flung up his head. “Are you people offering laundry service now?”
     
    The detective was silent.
     
    Paul sighed. “I’m sorry, Lieutenant. I want to cooperate. I really do. But this is my home .”
     
    “Yes, sir. I’m sorry for the inconvenience.”
     
    “She was my wife .”
     
    “Yes, sir,” Lieutenant Burke repeated in his flat, deep drawl. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
     
    At least he didn’t say he understood. No one could understand what Paul was thinking and feeling right now. Least of all some thick-necked redneck with a badge.
     
    He had to tell Regan.
     
    The realization broke through the numbness that gripped Paul like a stone through pond ice. Despite their estrangement, Helen’s daughter would be devastated by her mother’s death. And furious she hadn’t been contacted immediately.
     
    Should he make the call himself? Or have Bailey do it?
     
    The detective said something, his words lost in the roaring inside Paul’s head. Something about the coroner’s office and releasing the body. Helen’s body.
     
    Paul held up his hand. He didn’t want to think about the autopsy right now, about Helen’s body photographed and measured, weighed and dissected.
     
    “I can’t deal with that now,” he said. “Bailey will call your office tomorrow.”
     
    On cue, he heard a swift knock, and Bailey entered the room. Relief rolled through him. She’d changed her clothes and tied back her hair, but she hadn’t bothered with makeup. Militant spots of color flew in her cheeks like battle flags. Her eyes were bright.
     
    The detective’s hulking body shifted in a play for her attention, but she never glanced at him. All her concern was for Paul.
     
    “I came as soon as they let me,” she said, crossing the room with uncertain steps. “Are you all right?”
     
    He couldn’t speak. He was overcome. He stared at her dumbly.
     
    She put her hand on his arm, even that tentative touch a breach in the employer/employee distance she was so careful to preserve between them.
     
    It wasn’t enough, Paul realized. He