Bennie felt her chest tighten with fury at herself. How could she have been so stupid? How could she have been so blind, so thoughtless? Just because she didn’t wear her emotions on her sleeve didn’t mean she had none. She always tried to be professional, but she’d been so professional that she’d almost killed someone.
Bennie swallowed hard, trying to seal in the pressure building up inside. She prayed that Feet survived and she would never forgive herself if he didn’t. She didn’t know how Simon would survive it, with his daughter so sick and his father in an emergency department, an entire family in mortal jeopardy. And Bennie could finally understand what Mary had been talking about all these years, about how close she was to the South Philly community. As Mary made phone call after phone call, it became clearer and clearer to Bennie that Mary was as close to Simon, Feet, and his family as she was to any blood relative.
Listening to the phone calls, Bennie realized that her younger partner was at the center of a loving network, all of whom counted on her, relied upon her, and looked to her for guidance. Mary was completely in control, deserving of their respect, and Bennie wondered how she had missed all of this before and for so long. She had told Mary that she would be second-chair on the case and take orders, but had forgotten all about that with the power-of-attorney forms. She hadn’t even thought to mention them to Mary, much less to ask her if it was okay to present them to Feet or Simon. She had simply reverted to form, functioning as if it were her case.
“Bennie?”
Bennie looked over, coming out of her reverie. “Oh.”
“Are you okay?”
“No,” Bennie blurted out, swallowing hard.
“You look upset. Simon always tells me, ‘See the child, not the illness.’”
“It’s not that, not only that.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m sorry I showed his father those forms. I never should’ve done that, I didn’t know and I should’ve asked you—”
“Bennie, whoa, whoa, whoa. It’s okay.” Mary stepped back, surprised. “You couldn’t have known. You didn’t know him.”
“That’s the point, I couldn’t have known and yet I acted. I didn’t know him, and yet it was a terrible decision, Mary, he couldn’t handle it, he was too upset, and it’s all my fault—”
“Bennie, I’m as much at fault as you. You’re the one who was right. He shouldn’t have been in that meeting. That’s what he couldn’t handle. Being a part of the whole discussion about the murder case, it was all too much for him. We should have taken it outside—”
“No, that wasn’t it, it was the papers.”
“No, it was the murder case, that’s why he grabbed the phone and yelled at Nate. Anyway, listen.” Mary stopped, brightening. “Simon just called and he’s stable.”
“He is?” Bennie felt tears begin to well up, but she willed them back down. “What happened?”
“He had a heart attack. They’re doing tests now. Simon is on his way back and then we can go.”
“But he doesn’t have to leave his father.”
“The cousins are there, my father and mother are on their way.”
“So? He can stay. We’re here.”
“What?”
“We can keep an eye on Rachel,” Bennie heard herself say, which sounded uncharacteristic even to her, and Mary frowned slightly.
“We have to get going, Bennie. We have to get to Simon’s house. I want to get those passwords. I want to get into the cloud. Simon can be arrested at any—”
“But Simon will need to talk to you when he comes back.”
“He’ll be fine.”
“He might need to rest or eat or shower. We can stay here and watch Rachel, then go.”
Mary smiled slightly. “Are you the real Bennie Rosato? Since when does work wait for anything?”
“Since now,” Bennie said, inwardly stung. “I’m an old dog but I can learn new tricks.”
Mary straightened up. “I’m a young dog and evidently I’m learning new tricks, too. Because as soon as Simon gets here, we’re leaving.”
“You sure? Because it’s your call, and I really mean it this time. It should have been your call with the papers, too.”
“Forget it.”
“So we’re going?”
“Totally. We have a job to do.”
Bennie glanced at Rachel, uncertain.
“Bennie, we’re lawyers. When it’s time to go, we go.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
It wasn’t until seven o’clock at night that Mary and Bennie got to Chantilly Mews, the development where Simon lived. It had taken longer than everybody thought to get Feet situated in the main hospital, and Simon looked exhausted by the time he returned to Rachel’s room at CHOP. He’d said he’d be fine, but Mary wondered how much a human being could take. She remembered the other day that Simon had talked about his breaking point, but she realized that CHOP was full of parents who were finding strength in themselves that they hadn’t known they had. And so were their children.
Mary drove through the winding streets of the development in silence. Bennie hadn’t said a word the entire trip, nor had she checked her phone or email, and Mary had never seen such a change in her. Bennie was never the type to be prone to guilt, and Mary had always thought she herself had won the office pool on that particular emotion. She didn’t blame Bennie for showing Feet the power-of-attorney forms, and on the contrary, blamed herself for having the discussion in front of him. She had always believed that business was personal and family could be included anywhere, but she was starting to question the assumption. Bennie may not have known Feet, but Mary did. He was her father’s best friend and the most intelligent, as well as the most sensitive, of The Tonys. Mary should’ve known that Feet was nearing his breaking point, and it made her more worried than ever about her father, who had been so depressed the other night in the lounge.
Mary steered through one street, then the next, almost at Simon’s house, her fingers gripping the wheel. Something about the act of driving reminded her of her own power. She was in the driver’s seat and she could do more than she thought she could, too. She had to keep the pressure on and find out who killed Todd and why. She knew that Simon was innocent, but the police were working around the clock to collect evidence against him. It was only a matter of time before they got the hair and fiber tests back, proving that Simon was in Todd’s car.
Mary felt time ticking away on Simon’s freedom, which was why she had made sure that the power-of-attorney forms were signed before they left the hospital. Simon had chosen her for power-of-attorney, so she was truly in charge and she wasn’t about to let him down. She turned left onto his street, which was at the periphery of the development, with a forest of newly cultivated evergreens beyond, undoubtedly as per local zoning ordinance.