Chương 7
“I’m not mad.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“You make eyebrows.”
Teresa laughed into her coffee.
Vincent turned toward her.
“Not one word.”
Lily lifted two fingers and pushed them together above her eyes.
“Grandpa eyebrows.”
Even Elaine smiled.
For several seconds, the hospital room became something else.
Not safe exactly.
But human.
Then Elaine’s phone vibrated.
She checked the screen.
The smile vanished.
“I need to take this.”
She stepped outside.
Vincent looked at Teresa.
“What now?”
“I don’t know.”
“You have a guess.”
“I have several.”
“I dislike when you become cautious.”
“You dislike anyone doing anything you didn’t personally arrange.”
Lily touched Vincent’s chin.
“Scratchy.”
He looked down at her.
“You noticed?”
She rubbed his gray stubble with one finger.
“Like carpet.”
Marco turned away to hide another laugh.
Vincent sighed.
“I shaved yesterday.”
“Bad shave.”
Teresa said, “Finally, an eyewitness I trust.”
Vincent would have answered, but Elaine returned.
This time she did not sit.
“We have a complication.”
Teresa put down the coffee.
“What?”
“Daniel has been taken to the emergency department at St. Catherine’s.”
Vincent stood again.
Lily clutched his shirt.
“What happened?”
Elaine looked directly at him.
“Rebecca called 911 after he confronted her about Lily’s bruises.”
Vincent’s face went pale.
Elaine continued.
“She told dispatch he became aggressive.”
“Did he hurt her?”
“According to the responding officers, they found Daniel unconscious at the bottom of the basement stairs.”
Nobody spoke.
Vincent heard the vending machine compressor click on behind the wall.
“He fell?” Teresa asked.
Elaine’s expression remained unreadable.
“Rebecca says he did.”
“And Daniel?”
“Still unconscious when paramedics transported him.”
Vincent looked at Lily.
She had gone completely still in his arms.
“Daddy?” she whispered.
Vincent bent his head toward her.
“Daddy got hurt.”
Lily stared past him at nothing.
Then she said something so quietly he nearly missed it.
“Bad stairs.”
Elaine moved closer.
“What did you say, Lily?”
Lily’s fingers tightened around Vincent’s collar.
“Bad stairs.”
Vincent felt a chill that had nothing to do with the storm.
Elaine crouched.
“What makes the stairs bad?”
Lily shook her head violently.
“No.”
“That’s okay.”
“No stairs.”
“No one is taking you there.”
Lily pressed her face into Vincent’s chest.
Her voice came muffled through his shirt.
“Rebecca pushes things.”
Elaine did not move.
Neither did Vincent.
For a moment the only sound in the room was the thin mechanical hum of the heater under the window.
“What things?” Elaine asked.
Lily pressed her face harder against Vincent.
“No.”
“That’s okay.”
Elaine kept her voice low.
“You don’t have to tell me.”
Vincent wanted to ask anyway.
Every instinct in him pushed toward the question.
What things did Rebecca push?
How many times?
Who had been standing near the stairs?
Teresa saw the questions forming and shook her head once.
Vincent closed his mouth.
Lily’s breathing stayed fast.
He rubbed one hand slowly between her shoulder blades.
“Benny,” she whispered.
“What about Benny?”
“Want Benny.”
“We’ll get him.”
“At Grandpa house?”
“Yes.”
“Now?”
“Soon.”
Her grip loosened slightly.
Elaine straightened.
“I need to call my supervisor again.”
Vincent watched her step into the hallway.
Teresa rose and moved closer.
“Do not call Daniel.”
“He’s unconscious.”
“Then especially don’t call Rebecca.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“You were thinking about it.”
“I think about many things.”
“Most of them create invoices.”
Vincent glanced down at Lily.
She was watching Teresa through half-closed eyes.
“Are you funny?” Lily asked.
Teresa looked offended.
“Professionally, no.”
Lily considered that.
“Marco funny.”
Marco looked startled from the corner.
Vincent raised an eyebrow.
Lily pointed at him.
“Grandpa eyebrows.”
Marco laughed outright this time.
The sound startled Lily, then made her smile again.
It lasted only a few seconds, but Vincent felt something inside him move toward it.
He had spent the entire night trying to protect her from what had already happened.
Now he understood that protection also meant allowing ordinary things back into the room.
Bad coffee.
A stupid joke.
Someone laughing too loudly.
A child teasing an old man about his eyebrows.
Elaine returned with Dr. Shah.
“Daniel is stable,” Elaine said.
Vincent stood so quickly the chair scraped the floor.
“Conscious?”
“Not yet.”
“Head injury?”
“They’re evaluating him.”
“Police?”
“At St. Catherine’s.”
“Rebecca?”
“At the house.”
Teresa frowned.
“Not detained?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Elaine looked at her.
“Because no one at the scene had probable cause to arrest her.”
“Daniel is unconscious at the bottom of stairs.”
“And she reported a fall.”
Teresa crossed her arms.
“Lily just made a concerning statement.”
“Yes.”
“Which changes things.”
“It changes what we investigate.”
“Not automatically what the police can prove tonight.”
Vincent disliked the answer because it was sensible.
Sensible answers had become increasingly offensive to him.
“What happens to Lily?” he asked.
Elaine looked at the child.
“My supervisor approved temporary placement with you pending the emergency assessment.”
Vincent stared at her.
“For tonight?”
“For now.”
“How long is now?”
“Until the next decision.”
“That could mean anything.”
“It means you take her home, keep her safe, and make her available when requested.”
Vincent nodded once.
Elaine continued.
“There are conditions.”
Teresa muttered, “There are always conditions.”
“No contact between Lily and Rebecca unless authorized.”
Vincent nodded.
“No taking Lily out of state.”
Another nod.
“Any firearms remain secured and inaccessible.”
“They will.”
“And Mr. Moretti?”
Vincent looked at her.
“No retaliatory contact.”
His expression hardened.
“I understand.”
“I need more than understanding.”
“You have my word.”
Elaine studied him.
Vincent held her gaze.
Finally she nodded.
“Good.”
Lily lifted her head.
“Grandpa house?”
Vincent looked down.
“Yes.”
“With Benny?”
“Yes.”
“And dog?”
He hesitated.
“Bruno will be downstairs.”
“Why?”
“He’s big.”
“I like big.”
Vincent looked toward Marco.
Marco shrugged.
“Dog stays downstairs,” Teresa said.
“No one asked you,” Vincent replied.
“I bill for unsolicited wisdom.”
It was nearly four in the morning when they left the hospital.
May you like
The reporters had multiplied to six.
Hospital security took Vincent and Lily through a service exit while Teresa went out front and told the cameras nothing.
