She Wanted It All - Kathryn Casey [109]
“Look at that,” Jennifer said, pointing to one note after another.
“You have a lot of anger that you are not in touch with … TRY.
“I told Dr. Miller that I have no sexual interest in you, so I lied, but you should too … We need to go outpatient… QUICK.
“Celeste I believe you, Tracey.”
From the beginning, the first night of the shooting, Jennifer and Christopher had both believed Celeste was involved. Now they held in their hands writings that tied her romantically to Tracey. They didn’t know what to do, but sensed they could one day be important. That afternoon, Christopher slipped the journals and cards under his car seat and carted them off to his apartment for safe keeping.
“Should we tell Kristina?” he asked.
Jen shook her head no. Anything Celeste asked, Kristina would do. Jennifer believed Celeste was more than capable of murder, that she’d already tried to murder Steve. What stopped Celeste from coming after them? “If we tell her, it could put all of us in danger.”
Justin and Kristina made a similar discovery in the attic and out in the garage storage area, where Celeste put them to work. They found the family planner from the house, Celeste’s secret calendar, and photos of Tracey and Celeste together at St. David’s, with Tracey’s arm draped over Celeste’s shoulders.
“What do you think these mean?” Justin asked.
“It means Tracey was telling the truth. That they were lovers,” Kristina answered.
“Nothing more?”
Kristina believed in Celeste so much, she’d protected her for so long, she just couldn’t let herself think any more than that Tracey loved Celeste and had shot Steve out of jealousy. So she didn’t answer. As he’d done with his own suspicions since the night of the shooting, Justin tucked the calendars and the photos away where he would be prepared to share them with Kristina if and when she was finally ready.
The holidays approached, and Kristina thought little of it when Celeste gave her a credit card and asked her to pick up an order she’d placed at a James Avery jewelry store. One of the items, she said, was a ring that she was buying for Jim Madigan to give his wife Dawn. At the store, amid the display cases of gold and silver, Kristina walked around, choosing gifts for friends and writing the item numbers on a slip of white paper. She jotted down the number of the ring and went to look at it. When she found it, it was the Simplicity Wedding Band, a simple gold and silver ring, identical to one Christopher had given Jennifer in October for their one year anniversary.
Dawn has a wedding ring, Kristina thought. Why would Jim give her that?
By December 7, Steve had had seven operations in two months, from the original surgery, through installing and removing the tracheotomy and laying in the skin grafts. His wounds slowly healed, until seventy percent were covered by new skin. With so much progress, Dr. Coscia discharged him to HealthSouth, a rehab facility next door to Brackenridge. Its proximity gave the doctor the opportunity to look in on Steve and monitor his recovery.
That month, Dr. Coscia rarely saw Celeste when he visited Steve’s room. Celeste hated to go, complaining it interrupted her day. Perhaps Steve complained, again pushing her to tell him what she wanted, to be with him or to be apart. Days before Christmas, they battled in his room, Celeste screaming and shouting, taking a key and pressing it against her skin, threatening to cut her wrists.
That night at home, she screamed at Kristina. Grabbing a framed photo, she threw it against the wall, and pulled out a shard of glass. “You know what your father looked like when he blew his brains out,