Chapter 10: Guardian

A/N: Time to start drawing this to a close. More warnings for discussions of rape.

"Why am I marrying Richard?" Camille asked, quite calmly considering.

Richard hurried to explain before Dwayne and Fidel could say something more embarrassing, "Uh, Well Danielle expressed a desire to, you know, go to a wedding. Unfortunately for you she now understands the concept of bigamy and since the pool of single individuals she knows is limited, she, you know..." He trailed off awkwardly, but Camille just smiled and changed the subject.

"Did you have a good day Danielle?" Camille asked brightly, putting her bag down on her desk.

As Danielle rambled on about her day, Richard quietly asked Camille to keep an eye on her whilst he stepped outside to make a phone call that could change somebody's life.

Luckily for Richard, when he introduced himself to Emilie Beauchamp and asked if she knew Marie Labelle, her response was, "Yes, she is my cousin. Oh God, is she ok? Has there been an accident?"

Richard then delivered the news as sympathetically as he could, but it was still some time before Emilie was composed enough to carry on the conversation, "Where is Danielle?"

"She is currently in the care of a fosterer," Richard told her calmly. He didn't feel right telling her it was him at the moment. "Can you tell me if there were any arrangements made by Marie for Danielle should anything happen to her?"

"Yes, of course, she had a will. It is in storage at the office, I'm a lawyer you see and the partnership I work for helped Marie write it. I become Danielle's guardian in the event of anything happening," She explained tearfully. "I need to get over there but, God, I'm on St Lucia you see for some meetings. I'm supposed to go back to Guadeloupe tomorrow..."

"Ma'am, Danielle is fine at the moment. If you can't make it until tomorrow she'll just stay with them for another night. I will explain to her personally that you are coming to see her tomorrow; I know she'll be pleased to see you. She told me all about how she was excited to be your flower girl. If you could bring Ms LaBelle's will as well? I am sure you can understand how we need to be sure of her wishes."

After a few more exchanges, they had finalised Miss Beauchamps arrival to the island the next day. She'd be there in the afternoon; Eleanor Patterson would meet her and examine the will, and if all was well then they'd bring her to see Danielle. Richard felt it would be best that she explain to Danielle that the girl would be coming to live with her.

When he came back, Camille was sitting on the floor colouring with Danielle. She rose when Richard entered and asked, "So your place or mine?"

"Oh well, whatever if more convenient for you really," Richard said casually.

"Well, I do prefer my own bed," Camille said. "Plus even with all the boxes I think there is more room."

Richard nodded his ascent, then realised he and Camille were being watched. Both Dwayne and Fidel were watching the pair of them open mouthed, apparently shocked into silence. Richard did a quick mental review of the conversation he and Camille (who was gathering up all of Danielle's things) had just had, and then realised how it could have been misconstrued.

"I'll be on the sofa!" He cried out suddenly, desperate to correct them. Camille shot him an amused look, and to his surprise Dwayne and Fidel looked rather disappointed by his explanation.

"Goodnight guys," Camille told them, holding onto Danielle with one hand and all her stuff over her other shoulder. Richard politely relieved her of the bags, and Danielle decided she wanted to hold his hand as well. When Richard glanced back to say goodbye to his colleagues he discovered they were grinning again. Richard found their behaviour very strange.

Camille quickly settled Danielle down in front of the TV again, with a bowl of mango as a snack until dinner was ready. She then dragged Richard off into the Kitchen (he was happy not to be subjected to more Dora the Explorer) to tell him what she had found out that day – albeit whilst constantly glancing through the door to ensure Danielle was not listening.

"You got the DNA results you wanted?" She asked, and Richard just nodded. "Yeah, well I've got some more for you."

She passed a file, he opened to find a mug shot staring back at him – a bald man, with an earring and an extremely displeased look stared back at him. According to the file his name was Stephen Pierce. Camille explained further, "Five years ago, Marie LaBelle approached the police in Guadeloupe and accused this man of raping her. They didn't get any physical evidence, it had been a few days since the attack and she had showered."

"Not unusual for rape victims," Richard muttered.

"No, and given the fact the police already knew this individual as rather violent the police didn't doubt her testimony. They pulled in Pierce for questioning, started gathering evidence, were quite close to having enough to try him when Marie comes in and says she doesn't want to press charges – withdraws her claim. They couldn't convince her otherwise. They knew without her testimony going further would be useless."

Richard let out a breath, "She realised she was pregnant. Didn't want to testify, because then Pierce might have found out about the baby. So instead she packs up and comes to Saint Marie to escape him."

"That's what I thought as well," she agreed. "Shortly after Marie left though, Pierce was arrested for an assault and has spent four years in jail. As a consequence his DNA is on file, it was compared to that at the scene – and it was a match."

"So we know who our killer is, we just have to hunt them down." Richard let out a sigh, glancing back at Danielle.

"Well he is on the passenger list for the ferry to Guadeloupe the day after he killed Marie. They are trying to hunt him down. The officer I was talking to knows what he is like, so I know they are taking it seriously," Camille told him confidently, and then added, "Though I wish I could be the one to slap on the cuffs."

"Hmm," Richard responded thoughtfully, inclined to agree with the sentiment

"When I spoke to Fidel from Guadeloupe earlier he mentioned how you'd sent him back over to the scene to look for documents that might lead to potential guardians for Danielle, but he came up empty." She paused long enough for Richard to acknowledge that with a brief nod of his head, but not long enough for him to fill her in on the latest developments. "Maybe we should start considering long term plans for Danielle. I mean have you thought about, um, keeping her?"

"What?" he shouted, volume of his exclamation surprising even him.

From the other room, Danielle shouted, "You should say pardon, not what." Once again proving she had been raised with good manners.

"Sorry," Richard called back – actually the only thing he could think of to say.

"Why do you object to the idea so much? I mean she clearly likes you, and don't think you can pretend you aren't fond of her," Camille said, exasperation evident in her tone.

"I might be fond of her, yes, but clearly you are the one who has gotten too attached to her," he protested. "It would be entirely inappropriate for me to talk long term care of a child – the job simply doesn't allow for it."

"Plenty of police officers have families," Camille said dismissively.

"Yeah well this police officer isn't going to be one of them," he said firmly, and for a moment her face registered something between shock and disappointment before she schooled her features into something more neutral. "Besides, we actually have located a relative. Danielle's first cousin once removed, she is a lawyer whose firm also hold a copy of Marie LaBelle's will. She'll be here tomorrow afternoon, with the necessary documents, and if all is well Danielle will be handed over into her care."

"Oh," was all Camille initially came out with. "Right, well, yes that would be best I suppose. I better make dinner." The way she phrased that last bit was a dismissal, Richard was sure. He opened his mouth but she pre-empted his offer of help by saying, "It's ok, go play with Danielle. You'll only get in my way."

Camille chopped okra and thought about what an idiot she was. She also thought that Richard probably didn't like okra and she would have to lie about its inclusion in the meal, but mostly she thought about what an idiot she was. Over the past few days she'd seen this entirely new side to him, something she'd only caught glimpses of in the past, and she liked it. She wanted to see more of it, she wanted to be part of it. She stupidly, stupidly, stupidly started imagining scenarios that were not going to happen. She had let the game of playing house get to her, she had been an idiot.

Well this police officer isn't going to be one of them. That was a final sentence if ever Camille had heard one. Earlier he'd claimed that if he was going to have children he just would have by now, but that sentence – that indicated to Camille he didn't really have an interest in having a family anyway. She stared aggressively at the pan as she waited for it to boil, and tried to convince herself that this was not going to cause her any pain.

She was such an idiot.

Richard made no complaint about the 'foreign' vegetables in his dinner; Camille thought he might be picking up on her mood. They were both quite subdued, with Danielle obliviously chattering away. Camille was grateful the subject of weddings didn't come up again.

"Will you read me my Dora book?" She asked later, as Camille was trying to convince her to get ready for bed.

"I will, but only if you go and put your pyjama's on!" Danielle agreed to those conditions, and skipped off to get changed. Camille turned and found Richard was frowning. "What?"

"Oh sorry, it's just earlier I tried to get her to pick out some books at the market and she wasn't interested but she is mad for that Dora one. I just can't figure out what I was doing wrong, been bugging me half the afternoon."

Camille felt a surge of affection towards him, it was sweet of him to worry so – to care about getting it right. Then she remembered the stern lecture she had given herself earlier and pushed her feelings aside. Still, it would do no harm to help him figure it out.

"Well, maybe her taste in books is very narrow. What kind of books were you looking at?"

"Usborne beginner science books - I had them all when I was her age," he said this with a little note of pride.

Camille managed to keep the thoughtful expression plastered on her face for all of 5 seconds before she burst into a fit of giggles. He glowered at her, and eventually she was able to explain, "Richard, it comes as no surprise to me that a little girl is more interested in Dora the Explorer then books about the solar system or chemicals or whatever they are about."

Richard looked a little abashed, "Yeah, I suppose your right. Most four year olds are not going to be like I was at that age. And I think we both know that's probably a very good thing."

He shot her a half smile which caused a familiar warm feeling in the pit of her stomach which she refused to interpret the meaning of. She couldn't help but return his smile though.

Oh God, she was always going to be an idiot when it came to him.