Chương 5
“Did Marco say a first name?”
“No.”
“Did he say where his friends worked?”
“He said nobody would care what Mama said because she took money.”
Vincent watched Nora absorb that.
“Did your mother take money?” she asked.
Sophie’s mouth tightened.
“No.”
“You can say you don’t know.”
“She didn’t.”
“How do you know?”
“Because we still live here.”
Nora looked around the small, damaged apartment.
A bowl on the counter held three bruised apples. A school permission slip was attached to the refrigerator with a magnet from a plumbing company. Near the sink, a jar contained coins sorted by size.
Nora stood.
“We need to get her to the hospital.”
Vincent said, “I’ll take her.”
“No.”
Sophie grabbed the back of his shirt.
Nora saw that too.
“She needs a guardian.”
“Her mother is her guardian.”
“Her mother is unconscious.”
“Find an aunt named—”
“Tía Rosa,” Sophie said.
Nora took out a notebook.
“Last name?”
“Martinez.”
“Phone number?”
Sophie recited it.
Nora called. No answer.
She called again.
“Straight to voicemail.”
“She works nights,” Sophie said. “At the hotel.”
“Which hotel?”
“The big one with the red sign.”
Nora rubbed her forehead.
Tony said, “That narrows Chicago down to about three hundred.”
Nora looked at him.
“Glad you’re enjoying yourself.”
“I’m not.”
“Then stop helping.”
Sophie’s grip tightened on Vincent’s shirt.
Vincent said, “She comes with me until you locate the aunt.”
“That isn’t how this works.”
“Tonight, it is.”
Nora stepped closer.
“You don’t get temporary custody because a frightened child grabbed your coat.”
“No. I get responsibility because she came to me and accused a man who works inside my organization.”
“Organization.”
“You prefer family?”
“I prefer evidence.”
Vincent glanced toward the green folder.
“You have some.”
“I have invoices in a folder and an injured bookkeeper. I also have the head of a criminal enterprise at the scene before police arrival.”
“Then arrest me.”
Sophie looked up sharply.
Nora followed the movement.
Vincent regretted the sentence.
Nora did too, judging by her face.
“No one’s arresting anyone right now,” she said to Sophie.
“Marco?”
“We’re going to talk to him.”
“He hurt Mama.”
“I believe you saw something terrible.”
“That’s not the same.”
Nora paused.
“No,” she said. “It isn’t.”
Sophie stared at her.
It was the first useful thing Nora had said.
At the hospital, a social worker found Sophie clean scrubs and a pair of yellow socks with rubber grips on the bottoms. A nurse cut the ruined dress from her carefully and placed it in a paper evidence bag. Sophie watched the bag leave as though some part of her mother had been taken with it.
Vincent waited outside the treatment room.
He had changed back into his jacket after a nurse removed it from Sophie, sealing the garment in another evidence bag because it carried transferred blood. Tony brought him a replacement from the car, an older black overcoat that smelled faintly of cedar.
“You look like a funeral director,” Tony said.
Vincent glanced at him.
Tony rubbed a hand over his face.
“Sorry.”
“You called Paulie?”
“Three times. Police showed up at the restaurant. Marco’s lawyer got there before they did.”
“How?”
“Marco had a second phone.”
“You searched him.”
“Paulie did.”
“Apparently not.”
Tony looked toward the floor.
“Watch pocket inside the waistband. Small prepaid thing.”
“Who gave it to him?”
“No idea.”
“Who left the restaurant?”
“Police released the guests after taking names. Marco went downtown voluntarily with his lawyer.”
“Voluntarily.”
“That’s what they’re calling it.”
Vincent watched a nurse push an empty wheelchair past them.
“Paulie?”
“Still at the Golden Palm.”
“Tell him to go home.”
Tony studied him.
“You’re blaming him.”
“I’m removing him from tonight.”
“That’s not the same as answering.”
Vincent looked through the window of Sophie’s treatment room. She sat on the exam table while a nurse cleaned her knees. She did not cry. She watched each piece of gravel come out.
“Marco knew she would come to me,” Vincent said.
Tony’s face tightened.
“Maybe Elena told him.”
“Maybe.”
“You think we have a leak.”
“We have several.”
“Paulie’s not one.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know him.”
“You knew Marco.”
Tony looked away.
That landed where Vincent intended, and he disliked himself for aiming it.
A doctor approached, still tying the belt of a pale blue gown.
“Mr. Torino?”
Vincent stood.
“Elena Martinez is in surgery. She has a depressed skull fracture, internal bleeding, two broken ribs, and injuries consistent with strangulation.”
“Will she live?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Vincent glanced through the window.
“Does the child know?”
“She knows her mother is hurt.”
“Keep it that way until you know more.”
The doctor’s expression cooled.
“You’re not family.”
“No.”
“Then medical decisions and information go through legal channels.”
Vincent nodded once.
The doctor seemed surprised not to be challenged.
“There’s another issue,” she said. “Ms. Martinez appears to have been pregnant.”
The hallway noise receded.
“How far?”
“Early. Maybe ten weeks. We can’t confirm viability until she’s stabilized.”
Tony turned toward the window.
Vincent pictured Sophie’s handprint on the white tablecloth.
“Does the girl know?”
“We haven’t asked.”
“Don’t.”
The doctor’s mouth tightened.
“That will be determined by her mother and the social worker.”
“Of course.”
The doctor left.
Tony spoke after a while.
“Marco wouldn’t know.”
Vincent looked at him.
“About the pregnancy.”
“Why does that matter?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then don’t make it matter yet.”
Tony accepted the rebuke.
They sat in molded plastic chairs beneath a television showing a late-night home renovation program with the sound off. Onscreen, a cheerful couple tore cabinets from a kitchen. A nurse at the station ate yogurt while reading messages on her phone. Somewhere down the hall, a man argued about parking validation.
Ordinary life pressed against the night with insulting persistence.
Sophie emerged in hospital scrubs.
May you like
The yellow socks were too large. One heel twisted sideways as she walked.
The social worker beside her introduced herself as Denise Cooper. She had a purple lanyard, tired kindness, and no visible fear of Vincent.
