She glanced at her laptop, trying to focus. She was supposed to be reading the London Technologies pleadings, but antitrust was one of the most technical, business-oriented areas of the law. She felt distracted by her worries about the baby, the lawsuit against her and the others, and John’s departure. She hated that everything was exploding right now, when she should have been easing into the baby’s arrival. She’d planned her caseload so carefully, scaling back the active files and not taking any new clients, but that had gone by the wayside. Life wasn’t going well if contractions would be a relief.
Mary kept her eyes on the laptop screen and her worries to herself, especially about the pregnancy, because she didn’t want to get Anthony started all over again. He had lectured her at lunch and again at dinner about trying to take it easy at work. He sat on the couch on his laptop, working on his book and ignoring the television, which was playing the new season of The Crown, their latest binge-watch. She didn’t know when Netflix had become the background music to their marriage, but there were worse things.
Anthony stretched, checking his watch. “It’s getting late, almost eleven. You wanna go up?”
“Sure,” Mary said, though she hadn’t gotten much done.
“Good.” Anthony set the laptop aside, rose, and brushed down his jeans, flashing her a weary smile. “Can I get you anything?”
“How about a kiss?”
Anthony smiled, came over, and kissed her on the cheek, placing his hands on the soft arms of her chair. “How do you feel?”
“Fine,” Mary answered, meaning it. “Absolutely normal, for a pregnant person.”
“Tired?”
“A little.”
“Crampy?”
“No.”
“Bloated?”
“Very.” Mary smiled, touched. Anthony was learning girl lingo, but he spoke it like a second language, which made sense. She had never been so aware of the differences between men and women before, maybe it was because of the pregnancy, or the lawsuit. Oddly, it felt like there were two separate sides, the way John had said, and she wondered if that notion was true or testosterone-induced. Mary didn’t know, as testosterone was the only hormone she lacked.
Anthony smiled down at her, his gaze soft. “You’re preoccupied.”
“I was but it went away.” Mary smiled, and Anthony kissed her again, this time on the lips, slowly. She felt a distinct tingle, and when he pulled away, she told him so.
“You felt a tingle?” Anthony frowned. “You mean a cramp?”
Mary smiled. “No, a tingle comes from somewhere different.”
Anthony smiled back. “Somewhere off base?”
“Exactly. The forbidden zone.”
“Or the promised land.” Anthony laughed, and so did Mary.
“We shouldn’t have sex, but at least I want to.”
“It’s the thought that counts.” Anthony smiled. “We forgot to ask Dr. Foster when we could.”
“Because we know the answer. Like, in 2082.”
Anthony smiled. “When the kid leaves for college?”
“When the last kid leaves for college,” Mary shot back, as her cell phone started ringing.
“Saved by the bell.” Anthony chuckled.
“Or interrupted.” Mary checked the screen, and it was Bennie calling, so she answered. “Bennie?”
“DiNunzio, did you hear?” Bennie’s tone sounded urgent, and Mary knew something was very wrong.
“Hear what? What’s the matter?”
“John’s dead. He’s been murdered.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Mary and Anthony parked as close as they could to John’s apartment, which was in a townhouse in Old City. Night had fallen, but they could see the red-and-white lightbars flashing atop the lineup of police cruisers idling on his side of the street. Klieglights had been set up, and cops and official personnel hurried to and fro, making shifting silhouettes against the calcium-white backdrop. Sawhorses blocked the street from foot and car traffic, and a throng of spectators gathered behind the barricade, next to boxy news vans and reporters with their boom mikes and camera crews.
“Honey?” Anthony touched Mary’s arm in the dark interior of the car. “You sure you feel okay to do this?”
“Yes, absolutely,” Mary answered, meaning it, because the pregnancy was the last thing on her mind. She’d cried most of the way, shocked and heartbroken by John’s murder. Her nose was congested, and her eyes stung. Bennie and Judy were going to meet her here. Anthony had been vaguely worried about her, but he understood that it was an emergency, so he had taken her. She had to find out what had happened because Bennie hadn’t had any details when they spoke.
“Here, honey.” Anthony opened her car door, helping her out of the car and closing the door.
“Thanks.” Mary rose stiffly, taking his arm, and they walked toward the scene. Trying to compose herself, she straightened to see ahead, but she was too short and the crowd blocked her view. John’s street was narrow and one-way, typical of those in the oldest part of town, and it took only a few barricades set lengthwise to block it completely. From the other side of the sawhorses came the official hubbub of shouted orders, hurrying personnel, and rumbling engines. The crowd clustered talking, smoking, and taking pictures with their cell phones, rubbernecking on a cool spring night. It killed Mary to think that they were being entertained by such a tragedy.
“This is awful,” Anthony said, as they walked. “It’s just so sad. I always liked him.”
“I know. He liked you too.” Mary felt her throat thicken.
“I wonder what happened.”
“It’s like, I want to know, but I also don’t.” Mary suppressed the tears. “I don’t know what got into him lately, but it wasn’t like him. He really was such a good person. He took care of his brother, you know.”
“I remember, you told me that.”
“Right.” Mary realized she had told him more than once, since the news came in. “His parents are gone, and I don’t even know what other family he has. An aunt and uncle maybe. I think he’s from Minnesota originally. Judy would know better.”
“You said that, too.” Anthony patted her hand, and they passed the funky boutiques and indie restaurants sandwiched between colonial rowhouses converted to apartments.
Mary felt a wave of dread, walking along. “Judy is going to take this hardest of all. They were friends. She brought him on.”
“We’ll help her through it. She can stay with us, this weekend. For as long as she wants.”
“Thanks, I don’t want her to have to go home alone.” Mary swallowed hard as they approached the end of the block, where a cop with a glowing orange flashlight was directing a line of traffic away from the scene. She felt queasier the closer they got, but she made herself go forward. “It’s just so horrible, I keep hoping it’s not true.”
“Of course you do, honey.” Anthony put his arm around her as they walked.
“Maybe there’s been some mistake,” Mary said, knowing it wasn’t possible, and Anthony didn’t reply. Suddenly they spotted Bennie and Judy heading down the cross street toward the crowd.
“Bennie!” Anthony shouted, waving his free hand.
Bennie and Judy turned toward Anthony’s voice, then cut diagonally to the corner, making fleeting shadows in the headlights of passing cars. They hurried toward Mary, and Mary found herself letting go of Anthony and surging toward them, no longer able to hold back the tears.
“Mary!” Judy began to sob, collapsing in Mary’s arms. “John’s dead! It’s not possible! Who killed him? Who would’ve killed him?”
“Honey, I’m so sorry.” Mary clung teary to her best friend. “I’m so sorry.”
“What happened?” Judy wailed. “What happened?”
“I don’t know, we’ll find out.”
“I don’t get it, it doesn’t make any sense!” Judy sobbed, her body wracked as Mary held her tight.
“We’ll find out, we’ll see. I’m so sorry,” Mary repeated, hugging Judy and meeting Bennie’s flinty eyes over Judy’s shoulder. Bennie greeted Anthony, and Judy’s tears began to subside. Bennie handed Judy a flurry of tissues, and Judy started mopping up her eyes, then blowing her nose.
“I just can’t believe it,” Judy said, her nose bubbling. “I just can’t.”
“I know, neither can I.”
“He was such a good guy, and a good lawyer, too. I know he’s been acting weird lately, but that wasn’t really him.”
“I know.”
“He was so good to his brother, William. He took care of him all by himself. His only other family is his aunt and uncle, they live outside Minneapolis. They’re older and they rarely come east. Somebody will have to tell them and William.”