"Yes." He was taller than she was, and he was looking down on her. He’d never appreciated that before. "I’d cross my fingers for a boy."
CHAPTER 31
Richard ran to his car. Traffic was packed going down Beacon Street. What else was new at this time of day? He hit the steering wheel, frustrated, then turned to get onto Commonwealth Avenue. A little better but he was in the wrong lane to go straight back onto Beacon. He didn’t care. Another car scraped him as he zoomed past to get into the proper lane. The car could be replaced.
As he sped down Beacon Street, he tried to reassure himself by thinking of all of the other times Michael had screwed up. It didn’t help. Michael wouldn’t be wrong, if only for Miranda’s sake, he knew he could trust Michael on this.
Don’t panic, he thought to himself. Then he remembered the last time he had to tell himself that.
He was thirteen, running down the street. He hated running, but he had bolted out the door after his mother called. He hadn’t even hung up the phone. He had heard Jessie screaming, the way she had screamed last year, when Josie had brought them over for him to care for little Jessie. His mother was in Josie’s house but he hadn’t heard Josie.
But he’s dead, Richard thought as he sprinted across the street, just barely missing getting hit by a car. They were supposed to be safe...
He focused on the street signs so he wouldn’t have to finish that thought.
He didn’t stop running until he got to Josie’s brownstone. The door was open. That wasn’t a good sign. "Mom? Mom?" Richard called as he ran in. Inside was a man in a suit and coat. Richard looked at him, but neither said a word.
Lucy ran down the stairs. She looked relieved to see him but he froze. "Mom, what’s going on?"
"Richard, don’t come upstairs, whatever you do," Lucy said. "I need you to talk to Jessie."
"Mommy! Mommy!" Richard heard Jessie screaming from another room. Lucy grabbed Richard’s hand and took him to her.
"Mommy!" Jessie wailed. She was tall for her age, and she didn’t have as much baby fat on her as most four year olds. But she cried right now as if she were still an infant. "Mommy! Please let me see my mommy."
Richard looked his mother in the eye and she shook her head. His cheeks went cold as the blood drained from his face. Why? He’d done what she’d asked. Why hadn’t that been enough?
He took a deep breath and put on his best smile for the little girl. "Jessie, don’t cry. It’s okay. I’m here now." He went to pick her up. She was still light to him, and so small.
She clung to his neck and looked up at him hopefully with tear-filled eyes. "Where’s Mommy?"
"Sweetie, I think Mommy had to go away," he said gently.
Jessie shook her head hysterically. "No she didn’t! No!" She pounded on Richard’s shoulders. "She sang me a song and she said she was coming right back if I went to sleep like a good girl! And I did, but she didn’t come back! Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!"
Jessie cried for half an hour on Richard’s shoulder before she exhausted herself and fell asleep. Richard put her on the couch, covered her up and left the room to look for his mother. He saw the same man in the coat and suit but now there was another man standing next to him. "Joe, they’re running a rape kit," he said solemnly.
The man in the suit shook his head with disgust. "Are you sure?"
"Positive. Tied up, shirt ripped, underwear pulled down. And there’s fluid all over the place." The other man whispered something, and the first shook his head emphatically.
At that point they noticed Richard. "Kid, what are you doing?"
"I’m looking for my mother," he said in a monotone.
The man in the suit sneered. "She’s upstairs, answering some questions. Just wait—" but before he could continue, the paramedics came down the stairs, carrying a gurney. There was a body on it underneath a sheet. Richard could see the tip of Josie’s forehead and her long reddish hair.
His mother was right behind the paramedics. Richard looked at her. "Who did this, Mom?"
She looked at the man in the suit. He looked away. "I don’t know," she said. "It doesn’t matter."
"Are you crazy?" Such displays of emotion were rare for Richard, even then. "Don’t you even care—?"
"Of course I care," Lucy snapped. "But Jessie’s my main concern now. How is she?"
"She’s sleeping. But she keeps saying her mommy is coming back. Mom, what are we going to do?"
"I don’t know," she said softly. "We’ll just have to do our best." At that moment, Richard felt his whole world sink, even worse than when his father had died. But he wasn’t allowed to sink. He had to be okay, it wasn’t an option to be anything but.
He looked at his mother, who went to talk to the man in the suit. That man seemed nervous now. He heard the door close behind him—Josie was gone. She had come to him for help last year and it hadn’t been enough. He wasn’t big enough to help her at the time. But he was big enough to help Jessie now.
He walked back into the room where Jessie was sleeping. He knelt down next to her. She didn’t have any marks on her this time, just the salty traces of dried up tears on her face. She looked like his mother, he knew, but he couldn’t imagine that his mother had ever been this fragile. He smoothed Jessie’s hair and kissed her cheek. "Everything’s going to be okay," he promised.
CHAPTER 32
Miranda threw every bit of cash she had at the driver and flew out of the cab. She ran into the lobby frantically. The elevator would take too long so she raced up the stairs, cursing herself over the run at the gym the day before that now made every step excruciating.
She flew into the office at the end of the hallway and flung open the door. "Oh thank God," she let out in a gush of relief.
Jessie looked up from her magazine and rolled her eyes. "What the Hell are you doing here?"
Miranda took the magazine away and grabbed her hand. "Jessie, we have to leave right now."
"What is your problem?" Jessie asked angrily.
"I’ll explain as soon as we’re out of here, but we have to go before he comes back."
Jessie pulled her hand away. "Why are you so afraid of Doctor Wolfe all of a sudden?"
"Michael’s therapist knows him. He’s—"
"Oh, well if Michael says something, it must be true," Jessie snapped and sat back down to glare at Miranda. "You are so pathetic around him. Is he really that good in bed?"
"You can call me any name you want, you can beat Michael with your bare hands, I don’t care, we just have to go—now!"
Jessie opened her mouth to retort, then suddenly closed it. "Okay." She stood up. "Let’s go."
They had taken two steps toward the door when Doctor Wolfe appeared. Miranda jumped a little, startled. He looked at the two of them, then raised his eyebrow. "Miss Harel? Did we have an appointment today?"
"No—no." Miranda smiled quickly. "I’m sorry for the intrusion. There’s been an emergency this morning. It’s our friend Emily."
"Hellie," Jessie corrected. "Hellie fell down the stairs, and we have to go to the hospital to meet Emily."
Miranda shrugged apologetically. "Well, you know how upset Emily can get. I think Hellie’s arm is going to heal but we need to get to Emily to help calm her down."
"Which hospital?" Doctor Wolfe asked, leaning on the door.
"Brigham," Miranda said quickly. "That was where they took her." She turned to Jessie, who nodded for emphasis.
Doctor Wolfe folded his arms. "How old is your friend’s daughter?"
"Just turned two," Miranda said, smiling again. "I’m sorry, we really have to go." She moved to the door, but Doctor Wolfe didn’t budge from where he was standing.
"Where did you say your friend lived?"
"Brookline," Miranda answered calmly.
Doctor Wolfe looked at Miranda then Jessie. "How strange, I’m pretty sure Beth Israel would be the closest hospital."
"Oh, I don’t know," Miranda said, not hiding her nervousness well. "That’s what I thought,
but I know Emily said Brigham."
"Hmm. Maybe so. But it is still unusual that they’d take a child that age to Brigham and not Children’s, which is just a few blocks away."
"If Emily thought Brigham was best, she’d be very persistent to go there."
Doctor Wolfe quickly closed the door. "I think your friend can wait for a little bit. I think we all need to have a little talk."
"Hey!" Jessie said. Before she could move to the door, Doctor Wolfe grabbed Miranda.
Miranda stayed calm and hoped Jessie would do the same. "Fine, I can stay. But Jessie really needs to go."
Doctor Wolfe looked at Jessie as he tightened his grip on Miranda. "No, I don’t think Jessie wants to go either," he said silkily. "I think Jessie’s going to want to stay here and make sure that you’re okay."
Miranda looked at Jessie. "Jessie knows I’m a big girl and can take care of myself."
Doctor Wolfe pulled Miranda closer. Now she flinched. "But we all know that isn’t true, is it? Poor little Miranda who’s needed someone to rescue her since she was a little girl."
"Jessie, open the door and get out of here now."
Jessie stood frozen on the spot. She looked at Doctor Wolfe then back to Miranda. "Please," Miranda said pleadingly. "I’m going to be fine."
"No," Jessie said, still unable to move. "We’re leaving together."
Doctor Wolfe smiled at Jessie and finally let go of Miranda to walk over to Jessie. She stepped back in the direction of the doctor’s office. "I’m so proud of you, Jessie. I’m glad we’ve made so much progress."
Miranda looked at Jessie who was trying not to panic. Miranda could run out the door and scream for help, but so much could happen in that short span of time.
He didn’t take his eyes off of Jessie. "Tell me, Miranda, how did you figure it out?"
His back was still facing Miranda so he didn’t see her eyes widen as she tried to figure out the best answer. "It was something you said," she replied, remembering Michael on the phone. "It rang a bell once I had time to think about it."
"What did I say?" Doctor Wolfe asked calmly. "What gave me away?"
"Closing your eyes." Miranda crossed her fingers. "Closing your eyes and doing what you have to do. It was such a strange thing for a therapist to say."
"Yet we all do it all the time, don’t we? It’s amazing what we let each other get away with because we’re not looking."
"What have you gotten away with?"
He turned and looked at her now. He took a moment to read her face before he pushed her next to Jessie. He leaned in his doorway. "Oh, this is such a shame," he said. "I wish you would have let me know sooner. Because now...unfortunately it looks like I’ve committed to a certain set of actions that I can’t get out of." He shrugged. "Story of my life, I suppose."
"You haven’t committed to anything yet," Miranda insisted. "Everything can be fixed."
"You think so?" he asked coldly, crossing his arms, just as Richard had earlier. "Jessie, do you think your parents would agree?"
Jessie wrinkled her brow in confusion. "I don’t think they have much of an opinion on anything anymore."
He smirked. "Then what’s your opinion?"
"That you need to let us go. Now."
Doctor Wolfe laughed. He seemed impressed. "I’m sure you do. But I actually meant your opinion about something else." He cleared his throat. "Jessie, who do you think killed your mother?"
"I really don’t know."
Doctor Wolfe smiled. "Excellent." He went into his waiting room and grabbed a book. He opened the book and took out a piece of paper. "Miss Harel, I’d like you to read that out loud." He handed her the paper.
Miranda read it to herself. "No! Jessie, get out of here now!" She lunged for Doctor Wolfe, but before Jessie had a chance to move, he grabbed Miranda and twisted her free arm behind her back painfully.
"Read it before I break your arm," he said calmly.
"Jessie, go!"
Jessie had tears in her eyes. "Miranda, just read it, damn it!"
Miranda blinked. "I’m so sorry Jess," she said then read the read first verse of All Through the Night out loud.
"Very good," he said. "Jessie, does that remind you of anything?"
Jessie shook her head. "No. You already asked me—"
"Not even in a woman’s voice?"
She looked around and shook her head. "Should it?"
"No, not at all."
"Okay, good," Jessie said. She gulped. "You’re going to let her go then."
His grip on Miranda’s arm eased a bit. "And why would I do that?"
He kept hold of her arm but let her turn around. "Because it looks like you got what you wanted," she said quietly.
The doctor looked at Miranda and smiled. It was a smile similar to the one Alex had when he looked at her. No, another smile, from when she was a little girl. A smile that scared her before Richard came to save her...
She thought she saw a shadow outside the door in the corner of her eye. She felt goose bumps rise on her arm. She was relieved, she was terrified. Hello, Michael.
"It’s time to let Jessie leave now," Miranda repeated. "But I’ll stay."
"Miranda—"
"Jessie, listen to me," Miranda said, raising her voice. "You’re going to leave, but there are some things I need you to tell Michael. Can you do that for me?"
"Stop talking like—"
"I want you to tell him how glad I am that he came back." The shadow grew larger. "And tell him how much I missed him. I don’t know how I lived this long without him here. Tell him I’m glad he screwed up his joy ride in Monte Carlo, and that I still think that was a selfish bastard thing to do. And tell him, most importantly, that he shouldn’t go doing anything stupid from now on. Because he owes me. Can you do that Jess?"
"Miranda, I’m sorry I—"
"It’s okay. He put you through a lot, but I don’t think he knew." She looked at the doctor. "But you do. Very well. So let’s be fair, okay?"
She felt his sour breath on her face. "I think we all need to leave together. Jessie can walk us to my car."
"Jessie goes first," Miranda said firmly. "Or you’ll have to drag me out kicking and screaming."
"Not such a princess after all, hmm? Fine. Miss Bartolome, you’re free to leave."
"Remember what I said, Jess." Miranda tried to shoot her thoughts through her eyes and prayed that Jessie understood.
Jessie nodded, then ran out. Miranda thought she saw something outside the door, but she couldn’t be sure.
The door closed. "Here we are," the doctor said. "But there’s just one thing." He walked Miranda over to his desk, then took out a gun from his drawer. "A little insurance, although I know you’ll be a good girl. Shall we?" He walked her over to the door. "Ladies first." She took a deep breath, then opened the door.
The first thing she saw was Michael’s horrified face. She bit her lip and shook her head. "Stop!" she screamed before he could move any closer.
Michael saw Doctor Wolfe’s gun. He pulled both of his hands back, but Miranda didn’t feel any better. She knew by the look on his face that he was thinking about his next move.
"Mister Abbot, step away now," Robert said from her right. Miranda saw two uniformed officers behind him. They didn’t make her feel any better either.
Robert walked towards them. "Doctor Wolfe, I’m going to need you to put that weapon down. We need to have a little talk now."
The gun was in Miranda’s back, but both of her hands were free. She looked at Robert, then Michael. She hadn’t heard Doctor Wolfe undo the safety on the gun. She closed her eyes. Now or never, do or die.
Miranda rammed her elbow into Doctor Wolfe’s ribs, then stamped on his foot as hard as she could. Doctor Wolfe howled in pain just as Michael pushed her away and into Robert. In the two seconds it took for Robert to get his balance, Michael had lunged for Doctor Wolfe.
One shot rang out before the officers could reach them. Both Wolfe and Michael fr
oze. Miranda gasped as she saw blood ooze from Michael’s shoulder. "Michael!" she screamed as she rushed to catch him.
The officers drew their weapons on the doctor, but before anyone could move Jessie appeared from the side and slammed a large vase onto his head. He fell down, unconscious. Jessie stood over him, holding the broken pieces of pottery in her hand.
Michael was half-sitting, half-lying down against the wall. Miranda took off her sweater to try and stop the profuse bleeding. She stroked his white face. He was shouting in pain. "It’s going to be okay, it’s going to be okay," Miranda kept repeating, to herself as much as to him.
Richard came running from behind five seconds later. "Michael!" he said when he saw him on the floor. "Oh my God."
"Please, whatever you do, spare me the ‘I told you so’ right now, alright?" Michael said weakly. "Besides, I think you should check on Jessie."
Richard looked at Miranda, who nodded, still shocked. Richard ran over to Jessie and embraced her. "Oh, Jess! What would I have done if anything happened to you?"
She collapsed onto his chest. "Richard, what the Hell is going on?"
"I’ll explain everything later, I promise. In full. But there’s something I need to do first."
Jessie pulled up and nodded at him. Robert came up behind them. He forced himself to make eye contact. "Jessie, I’m going to need you to tell us what happened."
Jessie nodded wearily. "Whatever." She kissed Richard on the cheek, then gingerly walked around Doctor Wolfe.
The paramedics arrived five minutes later. They attended to Michael first. After loading him up on the gurney, they turned to Miranda. "Would you like to ride with him?"
"Yes," she said quietly. "I’m his wife."
Another set of paramedics started to work on the doctor. "Is he conscious?" Richard said, looking down on them.
"Yes, sir."
"Good." He knelt down. He bent over so that he had to see him. At last, the doctor looked at Richard. "Hmm," he said at last.
Richard stood up. "Hello, Uncle Tom."
CHAPTER 33
The ambulance ride felt like it took forever. The paramedics were working quickly to get Michael on fluids and to manage his bleeding. Miranda heard them say something about a possible puncture to the lung. She felt like she couldn’t breathe.
The China Doll Page 18