“So did you find her?” I asked.
Tom nodded. “She admitted everything. I think she’s trying to be some sort of martyr. It was her you saw in the restaurant. She’d been snooping around and saw Sal kill the chickens.”
“She just so happened to have a gun on her?” I asked.
“She’s had a permit for years.”
“And she left when she heard me come in.”
Jesus. Amber. And I thought the worst thing she was doing was leaving me those stupid vegan recipes.
Tom had a funny look on his face.
“What?” I asked, not sure I really wanted to know.
“We found Pete Amato’s body.”
Shit. “Where?”
“In the woods in North Madison off Route Eighty.” He paused. “We got a tip. Pretty damn accurate. Can’t trace the call, though.”
My breath caught in my throat.
“We can’t find the truck he was driving.”
And they probably never would. A chop shop would destroy any evidence that might have been lurking there.
“Did anything else happen out there at the ice rink, Annie?”
I wanted to tell him, I really did. But I couldn’t. It was too fucking crazy anyway, and if I said anything, who knew who’d be after me? I just shook my head and shrugged. “I told you all I know.”
Tom mulled that over and nodded slowly. “Okay. I’ll see what your father says when I can talk to him. And we’ve already got Dominic Gaudio at headquarters.”
I suppressed a smile. Tom didn’t have a goddamn prayer.
They were finished with me, and I just wanted to see my dad. But he was still in recovery, and it would be a while.
The rest of the day melted into the night. Suzette showed up, her usually bright green eyes dull.
“Have you seen him?” she asked.
I shook my head, and tears cascaded down her cheeks. I put my arm around her and was surprised to see my mother on the other side of her, helping her to a chair.
“He’ll be okay,” she said.
“You must be Alexandra,” Suzette said.
“I’m sorry we have to meet like this,” my mother said, squeezing her hand.
I glanced at my watch and looked at the door. Where had five hours gone? And where was Vinny?
The doctor came out to tell us my father probably wouldn’t be awake for another few hours, but we could go in one at a time to sit with him for a few minutes. Suzette glanced at my mother, who waved her off. Suzette got up and followed the doctor through the doors.
“Why don’t you go home and get some rest?” my mother asked. “You’ve had a difficult day.”
“But I want to be here.”
“He won’t wake up for a few hours, you heard the doctor.”
“I don’t have my car.” Not to mention my driver’s license. But she didn’t know that.
My mother produced her keys. “Take mine. It’s on the second level, row B.”
She pushed the keys into my hand, and they felt heavier than they should have. My shoulders sank with weariness, and the thought of my soft, warm bed was lulling me into saying yes.
“Okay,” I said, standing. I put on my puffy coat. The tape had come off partway, and some feathers floated by my face.
“I’ll get you a new coat tomorrow,” my mother promised, always concerned about how I looked and not bothering to notice I didn’t care too much.
I nodded mutely and walked toward the elevators.
He was waiting by the door, his hands stuffed into his pockets, his head wet with snow.
Oh, shit, it was snowing again.
“Come home with me,” Vinny said simply.
I held up my mother’s keys. “I need to get some sleep.”
He leaned toward me and kissed me. “Come home with me,” he whispered.
I pulled back, suddenly wide awake.
“Okay, if it makes you uncomfortable to go to my place, we’ll go to yours,” he said in response to my silence.
The butterflies started crashing into one another in my stomach.
“You broke up with Rosie?”
“She wouldn’t give me the ring back.”
“Neither would I.”
He looked up at the ceiling. “What the hell am I getting into?” he asked no one in particular before looking back at me.
“Are you sure?” I asked. I still hadn’t smiled.
“Hell, Annie, I’m not sure about anything except that since I met you, I want to be with you.”
He leaned over and kissed me again. It was a long, slow kiss that made my toes curl.
When he pulled away, I smiled.
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