And I really did want to know how Vincent was.
Rowe held his ID tag up to the scanner. But instead of beeping and turning green, it turned red.
I pointed at the red light. “Did they remove your clearance?”
“I don’t think so. They would have told me.” He tried the swipe card again, but the same thing happened. He peered through a glass panel on the door and then rapped his knuckles across it.
A man came to the door, his green hospital scrubs identifying him as a nurse rather than a guard. He was big and burly, though, so he could have passed for either. He squinted through the window at us, and both Rowe and I flashed our ID badges. The man disappeared from behind the glass, but a speaker panel by the lock flared to life.
“Sorry, Officer. I can’t admit you.”
The doors were so heavy, we wouldn’t have heard a word he’d said without the intercom.
Rowe pressed a finger to the button on our side. “What’s going on? We just have some schoolwork for a patient.”
The man’s voice came again. “Psych is currently under full lockdown. I can’t open these doors at all, unfortunately.”
Rowe gave the man a nod of understanding, and we watched him through the glass as he walked away. “Sorry, babe. Gonna have to come back another day.”
I tucked the files under my arm, disappointed. “What happened?”
“No idea, but it isn’t unusual in psych. If someone loses it, they lockdown for the safety of all patients.”
I worried my bottom lip with my teeth. “I hope Vincent is okay.”
“Leave the work with me. I’ll try again tomorrow while you’re at the women’s prison.” He slipped the file out from beneath my arm and tucked it under his own. “Ready to go get your car? I’m due a break. I’ll drive you over to pick it up before I come back to finish my shift.”
I nodded distractedly, Vincent on my mind. But when we got to the staff locker rooms, the ringing of my phone distracted me. I hurried to my locker and pulled it out in the same moment it stopped ringing.
“Dammit,” I muttered.
Rowe peered over my shoulder. “Probably just Liam or Heath calling to say they miss me.”
I sniggered at him. “Unlikely. If they were calling you this many times it would be with dick jokes.”
He groaned good-naturedly. “Don’t start that shit again.”
“Most people would be happy to hear about their giant schlong.”
“Most people don’t mind smoke being blown up their asses. I do. And when men as well hung as Liam and Heath start making dick comments, you know they’re full of shit.”
The room was completely empty, as it almost always was at this time, so I took the chance to cheekily pat him on the crotch. “I happen to like your giant eggplant, for the record.”
“Keep patting it like that and I’m gonna show you how much it likes you, too.”
I elbowed him away right as the phone started ringing again. I flashed it up at Rowe so he could see the screen. “Private Number. All the missed calls were. I don’t think this is about your penis.”
Rowe snorted. “Answer it and ask.”
I giggled as I answered the call and pressed the cell to my ear. “Mae Donovan.”
A woman cleared her voice on the other end. “Uh. Hello, Mae. My name is Angela.”
I squinted toward the open door. The name sounded familiar…
“We haven’t met but—”
I suddenly realized exactly who it was. “You’re my father’s mistress.” The words were completely flat.
She paused on the other end. “That’s not what I’d call myself, but I guess essentially, yes.”
“What would you call yourself then?”
“His partner.”
Anger licked at my blood. “His partner.” It sounded more like an accusation from my lips. “Lady, I’m his daughter and I’ve never even met you.”
Rowe put a hand on my arm. “Hey. Just remember, she’s not your dad. As angry as you are for what he did, and for the lies and secrets he kept from you, she isn’t him.”
He was right. I knew nothing about this woman. At the very least, I could give her the courtesy I would any other stranger. “I’m sorry. That was unfair and rude of me. I just didn’t expect a call from you.”
“I never expected to talk to you either. Your father made it pretty clear you were off-limits. But I’ve had the police at my house, and I just wanted you to hear it from me, that my family and I had nothing to do with your sister’s death.”
“So my father doesn’t owe you years of child support?”
“He does. But I certainly wouldn’t kill a young woman to get it. I hope you know that.”
I didn’t answer because I didn’t know that for sure. But it did seem a little far-fetched.
She cleared her throat. “Your father and I had our differences, Mae. Many of them. He wasn’t always good to me, and I wasn’t always good to him. But we were a family. Even if you didn’t know about us.”
I swallowed hard because that stung to hear. Jayela and I had been a family, but my father had never really been a part of it.
Angela sighed. “I’m sorry, that probably hurt you. That wasn’t my intention with this phone call.”
“Then what was?” Tears pricked the backs of my eyes, and I had no idea why. I didn’t care one iota about my father. I hadn’t done a single thing to organize his funeral, and for all I cared, they could bury him in a cardboard box somewhere. His years of neglect weren’t suddenly moot because he wasn’t breathing.
“I wanted your permission to organize a service for him. I know he wasn’t always a great father to you—”
“He wasn’t a father to me at all.”
The woman paused. “He regretted that. But you…”
“Look just like my mother. I know.”
“I’d like to bury him. For all his faults, he was still the man I love. I need to put him to rest.”
I twisted the combination on my locker, needing something to do with my hands. “So, what do you want from me? Money?”
“No. Just your permission.”
I steeled my spine. “Knock yourself out.”