“Anything.” She laughed, and he smiled. “Okay, nearly anything. But if you tell me I have to go and talk to that woman again, I’ll never forgive you.”
“Nah, you’re done with her. No, I was going to ask you to name your little girl Aster. I would love that.” He nodded and said that it would be his pleasure. “Good. I’ve already asked Kari, who I love by the way, and she said it would be completely up to you, but she’d work to convince you.”
“I love you, Aster mine.” She nodded and started to fade away. He called her back before she was gone. “I have a favor to ask of you.”
“Anything.” He smiled and told her about the other women in the cell with Kari. “You want me to find out who they were?”
“If you can. If not, it’s okay too. But I figure you have some connections.” Aster nodded and told him she had a few. “Come to see me often, all right?”
She told him she would and left him there. As he walked to the sink to wash his hands, he looked down at the single blue aster laying there. He picked it up and put it to his nose. He’d forgotten that she wore this as her favorite perfume for most of her short life. He decided right then and there to plant a field of them in her honor. She’d tell him he was silly and then laugh at him. It was just what he wanted, to hear her laugh again and again.
Chapter 9
Billy paced the small area he’d been confined to. He was nervous and a little afraid. When Aster told him that Steele was coming to see him, he’d nearly told her to cancel the meeting, but hadn’t, and now here he was, a dead man scared to death. Connie cleared her throat and he looked at her.
“He’s going to hate me, he is.” Connie laughed and shook her head. “You do know that I left them to suffer all those years while I lay here wallowing in misery? I should have provided for them better.”
“You know that there was no way you could have done anything from the grave. I told you that at least a thousand times.” He nodded, but it didn’t sit well with him that they had nothing. Well, now that he’d been able to contact someone to help him, things might change. He hoped they might. “You did right by them.”
“I only hope that it works. And why the hell is it taking so blasted long for someone to tell me why it’s taking so long?” Connie grinned at him and he flushed. “I’m a mite on edge.”
“Really? I hadn’t noticed.” He wanted to smack her. He never would, but the urge was there. In his generation, men did not hit women. They loved them with all their might. “He’s coming.” Billy turned to look at the man as he approached them.
He’d grown into a fine man. Billy watched him stride to the little area where he’d been for so many years, and smiled at the sight he made. Steele was a great deal like his name, but there was a bit of his mother in him as well. It was the eyes that held his attention. They were his daughter’s eyes, right down to the flecks of gold in the sky blue.
“Son.” Steele nodded and sat on the ground. Billy wanted to hug him to him, hold his only living relative in his arms once more, and he knew that he’d be able to rest in peace. But he couldn’t, so he sat down across from him. “I’ve done some things for you and that wife of yours.”
“I was contacted this morning.” Billy was surprised by that and must have looked it. “I’m sorry, I thought someone would have told you. But you didn’t have to do that. We’ve enough money as it is. But Kari is excited to go and see the house in Paris. She’s never been.”
“Good. Good. I’ve been waiting, but there’s been no news along the dead line.” It was a joke for most of the dead that came to see him. “I had no way of fixing this before I died. Had I known about you…well, that’s not really an issue, as you weren’t even born as yet.”
“I appreciate it all the same. It’s wonderful of you. And I will put it to good use.” Billy nodded and started to tell him that he needed to give it to him. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to use some of the money to build a home for abused adults. Not just women, though there are a great many of them, but for all people who are suffering at the hands of others. Kari and I would like to call it the Bethany Aster House.”
Billy felt his heart for the first time since it had given out on him years ago. “I’d like that. Very much so. And so would my daughter. If we could find where she’s buried, I’d ask you to—”
“She’s not dead.” He looked at the young man sharply. “I’ve connections too, and they have never heard of her. Not ever. I’ve been looking since I saw Eloise. She’s not been seen as a ghost anywhere.”
“Where is she?” Steele said that he didn’t know. “I thought that they’d killed her as they had the others.”