I was ready to be pushed. I’d killed a man the day before, and there was an inertia to violence. Once set in motion, it tended to stay in motion.
But vengeance didn’t have the same inertia. I was filled. I should have been enraged by what he said. Insulted. Offended to the core. But I felt none of that. As I squeezed my fingers tighter around his neck, what I felt was fear that by staying away from Theresa, I was creating a vacuum where other men would go, and they would use her to take action on their own vendettas. She wasn’t one of us, so they wouldn’t suffer any consequences. I was leaving her wide open, and the thought of something happening to her drove me insane.
Nothing seemed more natural and right than standing over Bruno Uvoli and taking his life. Because he was an animal, an affront, and mostly because he’d tried to hurt her.
In that moment, I decided to have her. To protect her. To satisfy the longing in my heart. For my own salvation. Once that was decided, I couldn’t kill the man. I had to earn her.
I pushed him against the car. “Get in.”
Paulie flicked his cigarette to the ground. “Where we going?”
“Sequoia,” I said. “I know a doctor who can take care of this little shit’s hand.”
“What the fuck?” Paulie exclaimed.
Bruno looked at me suspiciously.
“He’s going to send a message back to his people.” I dropped my cigarette and stamped it. “This vendetta is done. And unless you want to see more blood shed, stay away from Theresa Drazen.”
seven.
FIRST STREET PRECINCT
theresa
aniel put his key into the service elevator. I hadn’t been in it before, as it was used to transport suspects and convicts from the precinct offices to the prisons and courts.
Antonio looked at our escape route, at me, at the elevator, then back at me.
Daniel held the door open.
“If I didn’t know you better,” Antonio said, “I’d think you were setting us up.”
“You, I’d set up,” he replied. “If I could figure out how to bring you down without taking her with you.” He tilted his head toward me.
There seemed to be a sort of brutal honesty I hadn’t been aware of between the two men. As if they had a shared history.
“She stays here,” Antonio said. “I’ll come up with you. I’ll answer any question you have. But she goes to see her brother.”
Daniel appeared to consider something. He made all the right signs, gave all the right clues. A pause. A breath. Eyes slightly elsewhere but still present. A tap of the finger. As if he was checking things off a list I’d provided him, years ago.
I had no idea if he was faking or not. He’d gotten that good.
“Fine,” he said.
“No, absolutely not.” I walked up to Daniel until I was practically in the elevator. “You have nothing on him, or you’d have a rear flank of police and he’d be Mirandized already.”
“I never said I was arresting anyone. I said I wanted to ask questions. And his confession’s inadmissible considering the evidence hasn’t even been gathered yet and, thanks to him, my reputation in this town is shot to hell. So you can come, or I can force you. And I’m at the point where I’ve got fuckall to lose, so if I were you, I’d just come along for the ride.”
“She goes,” Antonio said, stepping past Daniel into the elevator.
Daniel held the doors open. “He’s right. You should go.”
Antonio leaned against the back wall and folded his hands in front of him. He knew the law. He’d let Daniel spin while I saw Jonathan. It was the smartest thing to do. But with Daniel between us and my lover boxed in, a little empty spot opened up. A spot that told me I was alone, adrift, not enough.
“No,” I whispered.
“You need to see Jonathan. You don’t have time for this,” Daniel said.
My sinuses suddenly pinched and tingled. “Is he all right?”