chair. “Mr. Martin understands the dangers of ordinary citizens trying to save lives, however well-intentioned their efforts may be. He won’t be doing it again.” Bennie acknowledged Deputy Commissioner Parker. “Sir, again, you’ve handled this matter with professionalism and sensitivity, and we’ll be happy to appear at the press conference tomorrow.”
“Thanks. You’ll be escorted past the feeding frenzy outside. My driver and the commissioner’s driver will take you all home. The conference is at ten o’clock tomorrow morning, here. The inspector will be back by then.”
“I’ll be there.” Bennie glanced toward Anne. “Ms. Murphy can’t be, she has a court date.”
“I know, I read the newspapers,” the deputy commissioner said, with a sympathetic grin at Anne. “Ms. Murphy, if you need a doctor’s note for that judge, you got one from me.”
“Thanks.” Anne managed a smile and rose from her chair on surprisingly wobbly knees, and Detective Rafferty met her eye.
“Aren’t you forgetting something, Ms. Murphy?” he asked, and after a second, Anne realized what he meant. He was holding his hand out, palm up. “It’s not as if you have a carry permit.”
“Oops.” Anne reached into her pocket, pulled out the Beretta, and surrendered it to the detective. She guessed she wouldn’t be needing it anymore, but she felt funny without it.
Rafferty raised an eyebrow. “When did girls start carrying Berettas in their dresses?”
“When they leave their purses at home,” Anne said, which coaxed the first smile she’d seen from the detective. “Does this mean no weapons charges? You’re cutting me a break?”
“Only ’cause you’re Irish,” Rafferty answered, smiling.
Matt took her arm gently. “Let’s get outta here,” he said, and Anne let him guide her to the door with the others, breathing a sigh of relief.
Downstairs in the lobby of the Roundhouse, surrounded by wood-paneled walls and glass cases displaying old squad cars, they all milled around before sorting themselves for departure. Anne went first to Gil, giving him a hug. “I don’t know how to thank you for saving my life,” she said, surprised to find Gil get a little misty, too.
“Don’t think anything of it.” His cockiness had vanished, replaced with a genuinely happy smile. “I’m just lucky I was there.”
“No, I am.” Anne reached next to him for Bennie, hugging her like the mother she never had. “Thank you so much for everything,” she said, and Bennie hugged her back.
“I’m glad you’re safe.”
“Sorry I ran away from you.”
“Don’t remind me.” Bennie cocked an eyebrow in mock-offense. “And don’t tell anybody I fell for that look- over-there crap.”
Anne laughed, and Judy and Mary filled in, with Mary throwing open her arms to hug Anne. “The love continues,” Mary said, giving Anne a big squeeze. “I’m so happy for you, and so happy you’re okay.”
“Give your parents my regards,” Anne said. “And I’m there for dinner next Sunday, to return my evil-eye necklace in person.”
“Done!” Mary said, hugging her again. “Hold it hostage until they return the cat.”
Anne laughed, about to wipe wetness from her eyes when Judy swept her up in a death-defying hug, then backed off.
“Still got your earrings, I see.” Judy grinned, pleased.
“Of course I do. I love them.” Anne felt overwhelmed that she’d found such good friends in Mary, Bennie, and even Judy, but she was feeling much too emotional to say so. That would be something else she’d have to attend to, in the very near future.
Matt looped a proprietary arm around Anne, with a smile. “Thanks, Bennie. All of you. For taking such good care of her.”
But Gil, at the edge of the hugging, was looking from Anne to Matt and back again. Anne caught his hard eye, with a start. She had forgotten. Gil didn’t know about her and Matt.
“No, I didn’t know.” Gil’s mouth was tight.
“I swear to you, I haven’t let it interfere with the case.” Anne felt her cheeks flame with embarrassment. She could feel Bennie’s eyes upon her, with little sympathy. She had to make a choice on the spot. She thought of Matt’s choice, made the same day. “I am sorry. If you want to hire another lawyer, you can. We can get a continuance, and given the events of tonight, it wouldn’t look strange to your Board.”
Matt cleared his throat. “Gil, for the record, Anne didn’t compromise her representation of your company in any way.”
Gil ignored him, but found a smile for Anne. “Anne, I wouldn’t fire you now, not after what you’ve been through for this case, and I know you won’t let your personal relationship affect you. This is business, and you’re still my lawyer.”
“Thanks, I won’t let you down,” Anne said, taking a deep breath. She wondered if Gil’s decision was based on what he’d told her about the CD, and she couldn’t begin to focus on what would happen at the trial tomorrow, not with blood drying on her hands. It was time to start over. She found herself feeling an urge she hadn’t felt in a long time. “I want to go home,” she heard herself say.
“But it’s a crime scene,” Mary said. “Come with me. My parents would love to have you again, and Anna’s cat is there. You can even stay there until you find a new place.”
Bennie blinked. “Or come over my house. Keep the cat at Mary’s. I’ll make you cereal.”
Judy laughed. “Mine’s the only place you haven’t stayed. Don’t you want a change of pace?”
Matt squeezed her close. “Anne, come back with me, to my house. You don’t want to be at your place, not after what happened there.”
Anne looked at Matt and the others, ringed around her, their expressions reflecting concern and love. Her future was beginning, and they would all be a part of it. But as grateful as she was, she knew where she really belonged.
“Thanks but I want to go home. To my house, on Waltin Street.”
And her words matched her thoughts exactly, for once.
31
It wasn’t an hour later, delivered by a speeding squad car, that Anne was home, dressed in jeans, a pink tank top, and yellow Playtex gloves, yanking the stained wall-to-wall carpet from her front-entrance hall. She should have been sleeping or preparing her opening argument, but she couldn’t do either. The rug reeked of blood and pain, and she wanted it
“Argh!” she grunted from the floor. Her shoulder, back stitches, and butt hurt, but she got to her feet, dragged the rug into the living room, and flattened it. She tried not to look at the bloodstains, so she wouldn’t start crying again. She had cried in the shower when she first came home, then she had steeled herself and gotten to work.
She dropped to her knees and rolled up the rug, then snapped open a Hefty bag from the orange box on the coffee table and stuffed the rug inside. She picked it up and was about to take it outside to leave it at the curb for pickup, but she stopped herself. It wouldn’t be respectful. It wasn’t trash. It had Willa’s blood on it. It felt substantial in Anne’s arms, like a human body. Without knowing exactly why, she set the bagged rug down on the floor.
She swallowed the lump in her throat, stood with her hands on her hips, and surveyed the entrance hall, now illuminated by the fixture above. Bloody streaks had dried a cakey brown on the wall and the entrance-hall door. The baseboards were stained, and thin wood slats bordered the floor where the rug had been stapled down, but there were no stains on the hard wood. Plan B was to wash and paint the walls in the hall. She couldn’t leave them this way, not even one night. Cleaning the entrance room would be gruesome and awful, but it had to be done. For Willa. And it was cathartic, already making her feel better, bringing to an end this awful part of her life. Anne got
