Blood Money

9

Trevor is relentless and doesn't allow Danielle any escape. He gently but firmly escorts her out of her apartment, making sure that she locks it and then takes her keys. Danielle doesn't fight him on it.

Trevor is actually more than a little worried about her. She walks as if she's lost everything and no longer has any fight left for life. This apathy makes him want to take her back home more than ever. He hopes that she will feel and look more alive after dinner.

He escorts her to the restaurant. She absolutely refused to change and since he didn't want to dress her himself he didn't take her to the fancier restaurant he'd of preferred. But he shrugs to himself, it's probably for the best. Danielle never did like the more expensive things.

He goes up to the maitre d and speaks quietly to the man. The man looks at his list and immediately ushers the two into the restaurant to be seated. Danielle keeps her head down and so doesn't notice until she sits that they aren't alone at the table.

"Jeremiah?" Danielle asks in confusion.

"Hello, lovely Danielle. So glad to meet you once again." Jeremiah gives her a smile and takes her hand to give the back of it a kiss.

"I don't understand." Danielle looks from Jeremiah to Trevor in confusion.

"Jeremiah, is a business associate of mine. He's the reason I was finally able to track you down." Trevor watches her carefully. Resignation is all that he sees on her face.

"Hey, now, no need to be so glum. Please, if I did wrong, forgive me. I was curious about the oh, so sad, beauty sitting so forlorn at the bar. When you told me you are Max's widow I called Trevor..." Jeremiah stops himself. Probably not the best thing to say to a woman.

"You were checking to see if I am a gold digging whore." Danielle says her words hard in the silence of the table.

"I meant no disrespect, Mrs. Williams. I could tell that you were and are mourning Max. It's just I couldn't picture Trevor here, letting you out of his sight."

Danielle gives a bitter smile, "Trevor would rather I not exist."

That earns her a dirty look from Trevor, "Not true, Danielle. I want you to come back home."

"I told you, Trevor. I don't have a home. Home is where the heart is, and I have no heart. You've always felt that way about me. I don't understand why you are pushing this."

At that moment a waiter comes by to take their orders.

"I've never felt that way, Danielle." Trevor says trying not to show just how close to the mark she came.

Danielle looks at him soberly, "You remember the first night you came over after Max and I were married?"

Trevor looks at her with no little trepidation, "Yes."

"You remember what I gave you?"

Trevor could no longer hold her eyes and looks away. "Yes.

"How did you know?" Trevor has to ask, it's been bugging him for over a year now.

Danielle looks at him and smiles bitterly, "I just knew. I saw it and knew that that is something you wanted. Just like I knew when you were at dinner that you wanted to kill me."

Trevor could feel himself blanch. He had wanted to kill her, that night he had to fight down the urge to kill her. She was getting in his way.

Danielle, smiles knowingly at him, "That's right, just like right now. It's okay. It will save me from having to run any more. I'm sure that Jeremiah here, knows someplace that we can go and you could easily do the job. You won't even have to bury me."