by Ann Marie
They did not stop their stride as he added, “Fine, I will do just that. As soon as we finish up here, we can ride back to your house and get the tape. I will view it and then bring it in to the station.”
“Whatever, I am going out to see Anthony. You can go back to the house and get whatever the hell you want.”
The officer opened the door for Josephine and held it open still for her attorney. He followed them up the stairs and directed them to the Lieutenant’s office where he thanked Ms. Ferrero for her cooperation and left the two of them to their meeting with Lieutenant Barsky. Taylor did not rise from her chair. Upon seeing her guests she simply motioned for them to enter her office. With a wave of her arm she then motioned for them to be seated.
In front of her was the report, containing the statement from Billy. She never touched it. Lifting her coffee mug to her lips, she watched Ms. Ferrero as she sipped. “What exactly happened out at your place, last night?” She directed her question to Josephine but never actually spoke her name.
Josephine felt coldness in the woman’s tone and decided right then and there not to say anything at all. “I believe you already have that information Lieutenant Barsky, ma`am.” Justin states.
The Lieutenants eyes stayed locked with Josephine, who had no intention of backing down first. “I would like to hear Ms. Ferrero’s side, Mr..?
“Justin. Justin Pictella. And I will be speaking for Ms. Ferrero at the moment.”
Was that a glint of humor in Josephine’s eyes? The Lieutenant wondered.
“Fine, Mr. Pictella, fine. Where were you at the time of the shooting then?”
“If you don’t mind, my client has come down here at your request, as quickly as possible to be of whatever service she may in helping to apprehend the individual responsible for the shooting. She has no knowledge of the events. She was not facing the gunman and was knocked to the ground during the shooting. She received a severe wound to the head from the fall. She was taken by ambulance to St. Bartholomew’s medical where she was treated for a concussion.”
Still the women’s eyes were locked in a battle for superiority. Justin felt uncomfortably left out. He continued on with his statement. “My client can give you no more information on the shooting itself or the gunman. All she may know she has read in the morning papers.” He let his eyes fall upon the article on the desk. “Is there some direct question you would like to ask of my client?”
“Does Ms. Ferrero feel as if the attempt was made on her life? Not on the life of Ms. Dal Santo or some other guest perhaps?” There was a slight flicker in Josephine’s eyes. The Lieutenant made a mental note and stopped the staring contest. Josephine, however, did not back down. She kept her gaze locked hard on the woman, although her mind had seemingly left the building. It had never occurred to her that someone may have wanted Anthony dead.
Apparently the same thought had just passed through Justin’s mind as well. He had turned a sick shade of pale. “Ms. Dal Santo? What might suggest that she was the target?”
“What was there to suggest it was Ms. Ferrero? Were there not thirty to forty guests as well at this affair? Who’s to say that one of them may not have been the target? We are going to need a list of names for all those invited and attending last night’s shindig.
“I would request, as a personal favor to me that it be on my desk by three this afternoon. If, by this time your client can remember anything else that may be of some help to us, we would appreciate her coming forward with it. We would also like to know where your client plans to be today, just in case something comes up that should require her attention.”
The sarcasm in the last portion of the statement was thick and suffocating. Justin stood to leave. Turning to Josephine, he placed a hand on the back of her chair to pull it from under her as she stood. He took note of the fact that Josephine had not said anything while in the office. Aside from the steam rising from her stare, which was still directed towards the Lieutenant, you would not have even known Josephine was in the room at all. Justin escorted his client out of the building.
Once outside the station doors, he leaned his head sideways to hers and asked, “What the hell was that all about in there? What’s with the staring contest? Do you two know each other or something?”
Josephine was lost in thought. She turned to face Justin. There was a slight wind and it blew her hair across her face. Justin thought it made her more attractive, if possible, when she pulled her hair back behind her ear.
Josephine looked everywhere but at Justin. “Do you think, what she said, about Anthony could be right? Do you think someone wanted to kill Anthony? I mean, who would want her dead? Why would anyone want to hurt Anthony? Why would she say something like that?”
Justin was trying to grasp the reality of the questions. “Ms. Ferrero, why would anyone want to kill you?” She looked at him, briefly and then past him to the station. She wrapped her arms around herself as a chill climbed into her. She shook her head, as to imply she did not know. And with that she turned and started towards her car. “I’m going to the hospital. I’ll talk to you later.” Justin watched her leave before entering his own car and heading out to her house.
Chapter 14
The walk back to the hospital had refreshed him. He stopped for a moment outside the hospital and looked up into the sky, closing his eyes to fully enjoy the sun upon his face. A cloud cast a shadow on his closed eyes and he opened them abruptly. There was a chill to the air all of a sudden. He inhaled deeply as he entered the building through the ‘Staff only Doors’ and helped himself to a white jacket, carelessly lying on the top of a basket of dirty uniforms. He entered the staircase and headed to the kitchen for a bite to eat. It was just before lunch time. Not a soul stopped him. No one even seemed to notice he was there. Perhaps it was the jacket. He smiled to himself. He was feeling daring. He walked through the kitchen and out to the cafeteria. Grabbing a newspaper and an apple, he sat himself down in the center of the room. To be honest, there really weren’t that many people in the cafeteria. But those that were there hardly noticed his presence. He enjoyed his invisibility as he read the paper.
Twenty minutes later he felt he should get on with his business. He stood to leave, returning the newspaper to where he had found it. He exited the cafeteria through the main doors and headed for the elevators. Passing the receptionists desk he noticed a bouquet of flowers awaiting delivery.
“Where are these heading?”
“Second floor, Frankel, room 223.”
“I’ll run them up for you; I have to go that way anyhow.”
“Whatever.”
He grabbed up the flowers and once again headed for the elevators. The card from the bouquet fell to the floor unnoticed.
Antonia was barely awake. She felt awkward and stiff. She did not have the strength to open her eyes, so she didn’t try. She felt far away, separated from herself due to the medication. But she had pain, so the medication must have missed its target. Instinctually she knew the baby was gone. Not just dead, but removed. Her shoulder burned inside, near the center and her thigh ached with a pulsating throb. The only wound that did not hurt was the one she was laying on, the shot to her back. She tried to locate it in her mind. Her back did not seem to exist at the moment. ‘Perhaps an epidermal’, she thought to herself. She was pretty certain there were four shots, four bullets that had entered her body.
She made herself slightly dizzy, from straining her brain, as Joe would say. Antonia tried to relax herself back to sleep. She was almost gone when the hair on her arms stood up on end. Her stomach constricted painfully. She had no idea why, until the door to her room opened. Very slowly it opened. Antonia willed herself to remain calm. An odor filled the room. Antonia’s head spun from the realization. It was a smell from her past. Attached to the smell were painful memories.
He paused in the doorway and took in full view of her. His heart ached a bit to see her attached to the monitors. He gingerly walked over to her bed and placed the flowers on
the table beside her. The odor was so rich it had pushed all oxygen aside. Antonia wished to gasp, to fill her lungs with fresh air. But she would not allow herself. She knew she must relax. She knew she must calm herself as well as her breathing. She could not let her visitor realize she was awake.
His right hand found her left and gently covered it. His left hand cautiously reached for her face. His fingers stretched out to make contact, but his hand jerked back. Once again he tried to touch her face. She looked so pale, so peaceful. His fingers managed to make contact with her hair. He rubbed a clump of her hair between his fingers.
Her hand was being lifted. She could feel the fingers that wrapped around her wrist. The pain in her shoulder was making any movement on her part impossible. She felt heat upon her flesh. Felt warmth from someone’s breath. Felt someone’s skin rubbing gently on the back of her hand. There was no way she could be sure, but she was pretty certain it was a nose.
He inhaled deeply, filling himself with her scent. He allowed his nose to follow her wrist, up to her shoulder. His nose caught the smell of blood. Quickly he turned his head and forced the odor from his nostrils. He shook his head and looked at the shoulder. It was bandaged pretty well, but if one looked hard enough, one could see the blood starting to ooze through the wrapping. The smell had taken him sideways. He shook his head once more before returning his thoughts to where he wanted them.
Antonia, his sweet Antonia. He had waited for what seemed a lifetime for his prize. He wanted her badly but the ICU unit was not the proper place. He must wait longer still. Reprimanding himself for missing his target. He never meant to hit Antonia. Never wanted to...again he raised her hand to his face. He inhaled deeply and allowed her scent to capture him. Slowly he ran his tongue up the back of her hand. He closed his eyes, and as if tasting a fine wine, and savored the flavor. He outlined her hand with his tongue, in and out of each finger slowly. A moan escaped him as he tried to control his desire. When his tongue had made its way to her thumb, he sucked on it. Gently he pulled it out of his mouth and then licked her palm. He wanted her badly but the time was not right. He scanned the room with his eyes until he found a chair. He pulled it up alongside the bed and sat beside her for a while. He just wanted to look at her. His visit lasted another ten minutes more. He had work to finish.
Outside her room, he heard talking. It was time for him to leave and finish his work. He stood to leave and placed her hand back down by her side. He gazed at her for just a moment before bringing his face down to hers. Antonia could barely breathe from the stench. She forced herself to breathe as normally as possible. He circled her face with his nose, inhaling deeply before bringing his lips to hers. He kissed her softly on the lips, stealing what little oxygen she had saved in her lungs. He forced himself to walk away.
Antonia’s eyes opened without authorization. Seemingly her body was requesting oxygen from every available opening. She was gasping for air. Her eyes focused on the face above hers. It was Joe, and she was very alarmed. She seemed to be calling for a doctor. Antonia could not be sure. She was there, but not there. Antonia was not even certain she was not imagining the whole event. Someone placed an oxygen mask on Antonia and in a very calming voice, told her to relax.
“Breathe slowly Ms. Dal Santo, slowly.” Josephine watched in fear. Anthony seemed quite relaxed until her eyes had opened and noticed her standing there. Was it possible, that just the sight of Josephine would upset Anthony enough to make her hyperventilate?
“She should be fine now, Ms. Ferrero. Perhaps she had a flash back. It happens to some shooting victims you know.” The nurse was talking as she wiped Antonia’s brow with a damp rag. “It took a lot out of her. I am afraid I can only let you stay another minute or two. She may not even be awake that long. She does need to rest though. And you can come back in a few hours.” She glanced down at Antonia, whose eyes were now closed and was breathing regularly. She removed the mask and checked all the monitors before exiting the room to allow the women privacy.
“Anthony... Anthony... can you open your eyes? Anthony?” Antonia thought she heard her mother’s voice; so sweet and caring, rich with love. She hadn’t heard that voice forever, it seemed. It kept calling to her as she struggled to open her eyes. It took all her strength but she managed to crack them both, just enough to see the room she was in. The hospital room, with Joe standing over her. It had been Joe’s voice she heard. It had to have been. Antonia was so confused. She wanted to see her mother. She needed to see her mother. She started to close her eyes again, willing her mother’s voice to come back.
“Anthony, please don’t go. I only have a minute. Please Anthony, I...”
“Jo...”
“Yes, it’s me, I am here.” Josephine started to tear up. She was loaded up with more guilt than she could ever imagine. She needed to apologize for everything.
“Jo...I’m sorry Joe...”
“What? No...” What was Anthony apologizing for?
“The...so sor...”
“Anthony, it’s alright, we can talk about that later...”
“I know... bad...you...wanted a ...” This wasn’t happening. Josephine could feel the anger rising inside of her. Anthony wasn’t going to allow her to apologize. “Joe...I tried...sorry...I am...so sorry.” Anthony’s eyes closed again.
“No, no Anthony! You’re not going to do this to me dammit. Anthony! Open your eyes look at me. I am the one who is sorry, let me be sorry dammit. Why...” Josephine looked around the room. Her eyes fell upon the dime store bouquet of flowers, wrapped in cheap cellophane. She picked them up and looked at them questioningly, throwing them into the trash can without a second thought.
“Why Anthony? Why must you always be the good guy? Why couldn’t you just let me say I’m sorry?” She looked angrily at her friend. Anthony slept on soundly. If she had heard any of what Josephine was yelling about, she did not show any sign of it. Josephine was feeling a mixture of anger and guilt as well as self pity. Her head started throbbing. She walked back to the side of her friend’s bed and called out to her again, softly. “Anthony, Anthony please, open your eyes honey. Just for a moment, please Anthony. I love you Anthony.” The nurse reentered the room to remind Josephine she must leave. She obeyed the request, but it took all her will power to do so.
“You can come back in a couple of hours. She will be fine. Most likely she will be awake then. Hey you look pretty upset. Ms. Dal Santo is doing very well. In fact she has surprised everyone on duty here. She will most likely be moved to a private room before the end of the day. She is very strong. You should be happy at her progress, not upset about her situation.”
“Has Antonia’s OB-GYN been to see her yet?”
“Let me check hon.” The nurse flipped through some papers on the counter at the nurses’ station. “Dr. Carides, yes he was in during the surgery and he checked on her right before she left recovery. Hasn’t been back since, which is good news, don’t you think?”
Josephine wasn’t thinking. She was making a mental note of the doctor’s name. She had a couple hours before she could visit with Anthony again. Plenty of time to find this doctor and get some answers.
Chapter 15
Antonia tried to focus on the voice. “Anthony, Anthony please, open your eyes honey. Just for a moment, please Anthony. I love you Anthony.”
Darkness, a rich thick black, was all she could see. Then falling, she felt herself falling backwards. She felt fear, and wondered why. Antonia had worked hard, throughout her life to capture fear, to control her emotions and hide them from others. And now she was afraid and worse, she did not know why or what she feared. She kept falling away from the voice. She turned her head to look behind her. She wanted to see where she was falling to. Nothing was there, just more of the darkness.
Searching out the voice again, she felt emptiness. The falling sensation stopped and she looked around. She stood on her own two feet, there was no ground. She was surrounded by the darkness. Off to the left she saw a
light. She willed herself to walk towards it. It was coming from a doorway. She opened the door very slowly.
Peeking through the door way, she saw her father. He had the front of her mother’s dress in his hand. Antonia tried to focus her eyes. Her mother was still in the dress. Antonia knew, in her heart, it was her mother. Although even if she were closer, she would not be able to recognize her. The fist of her father’s free hand was continually punching at the hole that used to be her mother’s face. Antonia let a gasp escape her lips. Her father looked over to where she stood. He looked her in the eyes and smiled.
The front door smashed to the floor, startling both Antonia as well as her father. Salvatore dropped the body, but his bloody hand was still extended as the police entered the dwelling. Antonia closed the door quietly. She backed away into the darkness. A hand fell upon her shoulder. She spun around to witness its owner. Mother. Her mother was standing behind her with a smile on her face. She bent down so that she was eye level with her daughter. Antonia looked upon her face. She felt a solo tear fall down her cheek. Gently she extended her hand out to her mother’s face, her mother’s beautiful face. Not a freckle, not a pimple, not a flaw. Ever so gently Antonia let her fingers caress her mother’s face.
“It’s OK, Anthony, don’t cry.”
“I’m so sorry Mommy.” Antonia heard herself speak the words she had harbored inside all these years. Her words did not seem to apply to with her eyes, trying to locate some light. Once she found the source she crept slowly towards it. Once again she found a door. She fought to keep her hand by her side. The voices outside the door were painfully familiar. She did not want to open the door, so she just stood there, listening with her eyes.
The door opened without her help and her father stepped through it. “What’s the matter with your hand there little woman, broken or something? You open that door when you hear me calling. Juliet, where are you dammit? Little woman, where is your mamma?”