She Wanted It All - Kathryn Casey [110]
“Stop it,” Kristina shouted, crying.
“What do you care? You’re Kristina Beard now,” Celeste screamed sarcastically.
Shaking, Kristina ran outside and dialed 911 on her cell phone. She watched her mother through the window as Celeste paced manically through the house. Within minutes two deputies arrived to handcuff Celeste and transport her to St. David’s. All the way to the car, Celeste cursed at Kristina and called her names. That night, at Justin’s parents’ house, Steve called Kristina on her cell phone.
“Don’t listen to what your mother says when she’s like this. She doesn’t know what she’s doing. She’s sick,” he said. “She doesn’t mean those things.”
The following morning Celeste’s therapist, Dr. Hauser, signed her release papers. When Celeste saw Kristina at home, she acted like nothing had happened.
In the park, days after Christmas, Celeste handed Tracey a small box wrapped in silky white paper with a silver James Avery gift tag. Tracey opened it, and inside was the Simplicity Wedding Band that Celeste had asked Kristina to pick up, gold with silver edges.
“This ring means that I love you and that we’re supposed to be together,” Celeste told her, slipping it on her finger. “Remember, you belong to me.”
For once, Tracey didn’t worry who might see, and they kissed openly in the park. Afterward, Celeste glanced about nervously. “Do you think anyone saw us?” she asked.
Hurt that at such a time she’d be worried, Tracey said, “I don’t think so.”
“That Justin is such a snake. I wouldn’t put it past him to be following me,” she said. “I don’t know what he knows about all this, but he knows something.”
The check Jimmy Martinez expected from Bank of America for the security work he’d done at the house arrived just after the first of the year. Instead of being for the amount of the invoice, $8,000, it was made out for $74,499.38. Jimmy called Celeste and said there’d been a mistake. She had a simple solution. “Sign the check over to me and I’ll give you one to replace it,” she said.
Jimmy did, and Celeste wrote him a check for his work plus a $1,000 tip.
Another check came in that month. Stacy Sadler, the travel agent, received the refund on the trip to Europe. Looking at it in her hand, Stacy thought about Steve and all the rumors that Celeste was involved in the shooting. She decided she couldn’t just hand the money over to her. It didn’t seem right. So she walked a few doors down from the travel agency to the PakMail store where she knew Steve had a personal mailbox. She handed the envelope to the owner and asked, “Would you put this in Mr. Beard’s box for me?”
“Sure,” he said, looking at the envelope. “It’s all taken care of.”
She didn’t know that Celeste had Steve’s key. Just after the first of the year, on January 11, Celeste deposited that $50,124 check, along with the $74,499.38 check made out to Jimmy, into her bank account.
At HealthSouth the social workers discussed Steve’s discharge needs. His skin grafts were healing slowly and needed special care, to be kept clean and checked for infection. His ileostomy needed to be changed daily. The risk of infection was high, and in his weakened state, any infection could prove fatal. “You really need to hire a nursing service,” they told Celeste. “You’re not equipped to handle this type of care.”
Celeste, who didn’t even like to brush her own hair, refused. “I want to do this myself,” she told them.
Justin brought brochures on home nursing services, but she wouldn’t read them.
“No,” she said. “I want to take care of Steve myself.”
At the park, Tracey begged her not to do anything to hurt him, fearing his death would raise the stakes and the charge against her to murder.
“It’ll be easy,” Celeste said. “I just won’t wash my hands.”
The morning of January 18, Celeste called Donna Goodson, the receptionist at Studio 29. A statuesque redhead with a wild side to match Celeste’s, Donna had listened in for