What Burns Within Read Online Free PDF Page B

mural behind Ashlyn.
“Isabella loved to draw.”
“She was very good.”
“I suppose we might as well leave things as they are. Sophia has always loved this room. Maybe in a few years…”
Ashlyn offered what she hoped was a supportive smile. “It’s still a bit soon to worry about that. You have plenty of time to decide what you want to do.”
“And yet we must decide. We must decide where we will bury our daughter. We must decide if the flowers should be pink or purple, whether to put a cross or a sacred heart on her tombstone.”
Ashlyn’s breath caught in her throat. What could she say to that? That the room was at least one less thing to worry about? “Do you have someone, anyone who can help you? I can give you the number for—”
“Victim’s services.” Mrs. Bertini brushed tears from her cheek with her left hand in one efficient motion, looking at her dampened fingers as though they were a curiosity, nothing more. “Yes, I have their number. And we have our church.”
A baptismal certificate on the wall caught Ashlyn’s attention. Infant baptism. Stickers adorning the frame of the mirror. A crucifix, the Easter lily, the dove, the fish.
“You’re Catholic?”
“Yes.”
Ashlyn nodded. “Well, if there’s anything we can do, please call us.”
Mrs. Bertini stood with her lips slightly parted for a moment.
“There’s only one thing I wanted you to do, and you failed. All that’s left is a small consolation.”
She turned on her heel and walked away.
Ashlyn exhaled. She wanted to defend herself, defend Tain, point out they’d done all they could, but that was her pride talking. Could she really blame Isabella Bertini’s mother? Ashlyn switched off the light, shut the door and followed Mrs. Bertini down the hall.
     
“We should have someone from victim’s services check on them in a few days. Get someone to talk to Mr. Bertini,” Tain said.
“Did he fall apart?”
“No.” Tain backed into a driveway to turn the car around. “He took it like a man.”
“That is cause for concern,” Ashlyn said, but she knew what he meant.
He glanced at her. “Seriously, he just bottled it all up, like it wasn’t really happening to him. When it hits home with this guy he’ll take it hard.”
Ashlyn sighed, thinking about the tight bun Mrs. Bertini had her hair pulled into, the neat skirt, dress blouse, the modest heels, even in the house on a Saturday night. Was it strength or madness that had enabled her to hold it together in front of her daughter and the police officer nosing about her dead child’s room?
“I take it you have some concerns about the mother?” Tain asked.
“It would be a good idea to have someone check on them. Since it’s summer it’s not like the little girl has a teacher or someone we can rely on to notice if the family starts to fall apart.”
“We’ll need to interview Isabella’s teacher anyway. Maybe we can sneak her sister’s teacher onto the list, just so she knows. Can you imagine going back to school in a matter of days after all of this?”
“I can’t imagine any of it. Living this nightmare, trying to decide what to put on your child’s tombstone.”
Tain was silent for a moment. “Not the first parents who’ve had to deal with that,” he said quietly.
She felt his eyes on her for a split second. When she finally did turn to look at him he was staring straight out at the road, his lips mashed together. “It doesn’t make it any easier for them.”
They drove in silence. Ashlyn could see the Burrard Inlet and wished for a moment they could just pull over, feel the breeze off the water, shut their eyes to the world and listen to the caw of gulls, the waves lapping against the shore. They weren’t far from their next destination, and it was a visit she wasn’t looking forward to.
“So, we’ve dealt with hopelessness. Now we get to face unknowing desperation?”
He glanced at her. “That’s one way of putting it.”
When they arrived, they got