Sam met the delivery driver before he had a chance to enter the screened-in pool area. Sam returned carrying three large bags with heavenly smells emanating from them.
“Hope Italian works for everyone,” he said as he took plates from the cabinets and placed them around the bar in the kitchen.
Tessa took knives and forks out of the drawer and put them next to the plates. “It works for me. I can’t remember the last time I had real Italian food.” She was reminded of the cans of SpaghettiOs she used to order from the prison commissary. Was that considered Italian?
“Lee, Jill, help yourselves,” Sam said as he removed paper lids from large foil pans. The delicious scents of garlic and tomato sauce emanating from lasagna, cheese ravioli, and baked ziti filled the kitchen. The tantalizing odor of garlic knots made Tessa’s mouth water. A large container of antipasto, with salami, cheese, hot peppers, pepperoni, anchovies, and green and black olives supplemented the carbohydrate-laden dishes. It was a feast right out of The Godfather.
As they filled their plates with the food, Tessa half listened for a knock on the glass doors. She forked a bite of lasagna into her mouth, closing her eyes and reveling in the heavenly taste. If she were forced to return to that hellhole of a prison, she knew she would spend many nights reliving this meal. For the next few minutes, the four ate heartily. When they finished, Lee excused himself to make a phone call.
“She’s not coming,” Tessa said.
Lee came back into the kitchen. “No, she’s on her way here. Apparently, she had to call a cab. Said they were running late. Not sure why she didn’t call to tell us, but she assured me she would be here within fifteen minutes.”
Breathing a sigh of relief, Tessa nodded. “I don’t think she ever learned to drive. At least not when she worked for us. She had a relative bring her most days, or Joel would send a car for her. I can’t imagine living in San Maribel and not driving.”
Actually, she could. It had been years since she had had a driver’s license or driven a car. The last time she had driven, she had been racing to get home to the girls. She didn’t know if she would even remember how to drive if for some reason she had to.
“If you don’t have to learn, you won’t,” Sam said. “At least she knows how to use a cell phone.” His last words were laced with sarcasm.
Tessa discovered that she did not really appreciate the disparaging comment from Sam, as she knew Rosa, or at least she thought she did. Then again, maybe Rosa wasn’t the kind, sweet woman she had led her and Joel to believe. Rosa had not come forward when she could have, and that alone spoke volumes.
What were her priorities at the time of the murders? What did the woman care about? How little she must have thought of Tessa, Joel, and the girls.
This line of thinking made Tessa’s blood boil, so she could understand where Sam’s sarcasm was coming from. He’d met Rosa on occasion, too, but had never, at least to her knowledge, known her very well.
“She was good with the girls,” Tessa said. “They always enjoyed spending time with her, and I thought the feelings were reciprocated, but apparently, I was wrong.” She wanted to add more but didn’t. Lee was probably aware that Joel had taken care of hiring Rosa and, quite possibly, had overlooked her lack of legal status.
“We don’t care how good a housekeeper or babysitter she was. Don’t allow yourself to feel pity, Tessa. She might have information that could have turned the entire investigation another way,” Lee explained. “If she sees you as sympathizing with what her situation was then, she might think you’re letting her off the hook and be more willing to help out in your defense.”
“I don’t care what her opinion of me is. I want her to tell us what she knows. That’s it,” Tessa said as she went to the sink and began rinsing the dinner plates and placing them in the dishwasher. Jill handed her the knives and forks. She ran them under the hot water and dropped the knives and forks in the basket in the dishwasher. “I assume you told her to use the back entrance?”
“Of course,” Lee said. “The members of the media are still at their posts out front, and I doubt they’re going to leave us alone anytime soon. They came to get a story. And, what with Chen thinking about running for governor, this is the biggest story around.”
Sam had remained silent during the cleanup, but he spoke now. “Why don’t we give them something? Tell them about the bones we found. Get them off our backs.”
Lee raised his brows, obviously considering Sam’s suggestion. “That might not be a bad idea. But let’s wait until Rosa shows up. I want to hear her story first, then we’ll decide. Are you all right with this, Tessa?”
Do I really have a choice?
“I’ll do whatever it takes, Lee. I have let you know my position time and time again. I do not want to speak to the media, now or ever, not in a million years, but you or Sam do what you feel is best.” She despised the media. They were to blame, at least in her mind, for her racing off to San Maribel in the first place. She had known that her girls’ nightmare would become public, and she had had to prevent that. In doing so, she had killed them. By not telling Joel about his brother’s abuse, she might as well have put a gun to their heads and pulled the trigger. It was her fault, no matter what Jill or Sam or Lee said. She had put the cart before the horse, and doing so had cost her everything that was dear
