“You’re a terrible liar. What happened? Is Miriam okay? No one will tell me anything.”
“Relax. Miriam is fine. She’s down at the police station now, giving a statement.”
“How’d you get her to do that?”
“You can thank my brother Vinnie for that. He’s the one who found you. As for what happened, well, I think you can probably tell me more about that than I can tell you. You were facedown in a pool of your own blood when Vinnie got there.”
Those words—facedown in a pool of blood—would haunt me forever.
“What about Caleb?”
“In custody. He’s not going to be seeing the light of day anytime soon.”
She closed her eyes, sank back against the raised bed, and sighed. “Good.”
I took her hand, needing the contact, pleased when her fingers curled lightly around mine. “What about you?”
Her lips quirked slightly. “I’ve been better.”
“Sofia’s the best. She’s going to take good care of you.”
One eye opened and peered at me. “Please don’t tell me she’s another Stella.”
Had the situation been different, I might have laughed. “Worse. Little sister.”
“I heard that.” Sofia reappeared and pulled back the curtain. “Don’t listen to this guy,” she said to Allison. “I’m his favorite sister. But right now, you’ve got a date with a CT scanner. Then, we’ll take you up to a room and let you get some rest.”
“Okay.”
“Jason will take good care of you.”
An orderly appeared next to Sofia and began to release the brakes on the bed.
Allison gave me a weary smile. “Guess I’ll see you later.”
“Count on it.”
The guy wheeled Allison away. I started to follow, but Sofia put her hand on my arm.
“You can’t go with her, Paulie.”
I exhaled. “Right.”
“But you can be waiting for her when she gets out of imaging,” she said, her face softening. “Room 408. Visiting hours are until ten.”
“Thanks, Sofe.”
She told me it would take at least thirty minutes for the CT scan, so I went to the cafeteria in search of some badly needed coffee.
The day had been a roller-coaster ride of intense emotion. Regret that I’d let her go. Fear that something awful had happened to her. Elation when Vinnie had called me and told me he’d found her. Rage when I’d learned what had happened. And now, thankfully, relief.
Yeah, I’d run the full gamut, and that was a new experience for me. Sure, I dealt with abuse cases all the time, but they weren’t personal. Let me tell you, that put a whole new spin on things.
Now that I knew Allison was okay—relatively speaking, of course, as there was nothing okay about what had happened—we could move forward to making sure it never happened again. The details were still sketchy, but Vinnie had told me Allison had regained consciousness on the way to the hospital and provided enough information to arrest and hold Caleb Johnson.
Apparently, Allison had made it about an hour out of town before she decided to turn around and head back. When she’d let herself into Miriam’s apartment, however, Caleb had been there. Allison had been at his mercy for an entire night and most of the next day. I grudgingly supposed it could have been a lot worse than it was.
I was heading up to the fourth floor when I heard Miriam call my name.
“Have you seen Allison? How is she?”
“Pretty banged up,” I said honestly, “but she’s tough.”
“Yes, she is,” Miriam agreed.
She looked like she’d been through the emotional wringer too. Dark circles stood out against the paleness of her skin. Nearly half of the hair she’d tried to tie back at the nape of her neck was hanging freely. She needed a shower, a decent meal, and a good night’s sleep—in that order.
“The woman at the front desk told me they’re moving Allison to a room upstairs,” she said. “Are you going to see her?”
“Yes.”
“Would you give her a message from me? Tell her I’m so, so sorry.”
“Why don’t you come with me and tell her yourself?”
I’d expected Miriam to jump at the opportunity to see Allison, but to my surprise, she shook her head.
“She must hate me right now.”
“I doubt that. You were the first person she asked about.”
Miriam sniffed. “This shouldn’t have happened.”
“No, it shouldn’t have,” I agreed. “But we’re going to make sure it never, ever happens again.”
She looked up at me then, her eyes tired and filled with moisture and something else I hadn’t seen before—determination. “You know what, Mr. Cerasino? I believe you.”
Chapter Seventeen: Allison
“Ready to get out of this place?”
I turned toward the doorway and saw Paul grinning at me with Miriam standing beside him, and I felt my heart swell. It was probably the only thing that didn’t hurt.
“So ready.” I’d been in the hospital for less than twenty-four hours, and I’d slept through most of it, but I still couldn’t wait to get out.
Miriam stepped into the room with a bag in her hand. “I brought you some clothes.”
Paul excused himself while Miriam helped me get dressed. Nothing besides my nose was broken, but I had some deep bruises and was stiff and sore all over.
“I remember when I was the one helping you dress,” I told her.
“You’ve always taken care of me.”
“I’ve tried.”
“I know. I’m sorry I’ve made it so hard.”
“No apologies necessary,” I said, somewhat surprised.
What I had done, I’d done out of love. I’d do it a hundred more times without hesitation.
“I guess I get to take care of you for a change, huh?”
“I guess so.”
Last night, Miriam had decided that I was going to be spending the next couple of days with her—at least until I felt good enough to make the drive back to Boston. We were going to use that time to talk—really talk—and work a few things out. It was long overdue.
Paul drove us back to Miriam’s. I was surprised to see that everything had been cleaned up. No sign of blood anywhere. When I commented on it, Miriam told me that it was all Paul’s doing.
He shrugged and
