Squares went home. He promised to call me the moment they got anything on the Donna White pseudonym. I headed home, bleeding exhaustion. When I reached my apartment door, I put the key in the lock. A hand touched down on my shoulder. I jumped back, startled.
'It's okay,' she said.
Katy Miller.
Her voice was hoarse. She wore a neck brace. Her face was swollen. Her eyes were bloodshot. Where the brace stopped under the chin, I could see the deep purple and yellow of bruising.
'Are you okay?' I asked.
She nodded.
I hugged her gingerly, too gingerly, using just my arms, keeping my distance for fear of hurting her further.
'I won't break,' she said.
'When did you get out?' I asked.
'A few hours ago. I can't stay long. If my father knew where I was '
I held up a hand. 'Say no more.'
We pushed open the door and stepped inside. She grimaced in pain as she moved. We made our way to the couch. I asked her if she wanted a drink or something to eat. She said no.
'Are you sure you should be out of the hospital?'
'They said it's okay, but I need to rest.'
'How did you get away from your father?'
She tried a smile. 'I'm headstrong.'
'I see.'
'And I lied.'
'No doubt.'
She looked off with just her eyes she could not move her head and her eyes welled up. 'Thank you, Will.'
I shook my head. 'I can't help but feel it was my fault.'
'That's crap,' she said.
I shifted in my seat. 'During the attack, you yelled out the name John. At least, I think that's what you said.'
'The police told me.'
'You don't remember?'
She shook her head.
'What do you remember?'
'The hands on my throat.' She looked off. 'I was sleeping. And then someone was squeezing my neck. I remember gasping for air.' Her voice fell away.
'Do you know who John Asselta is?' I asked.
'Yeah. He was friends with Julie.'
'Could you have meant him?'
'You mean when I yelled John?' She considered that, 'r don't know, Will. Why?'
'I think' I remembered my promise to Pistillo about keeping her out of it 'I think he may have had something to do with Julie's murder.'
She took that without blinking. 'When you say have something to do with '
'That's all I can say right now.'
'You sound like a cop.'
'It's been a weird week,' I said.
'So tell me what you got.'
'I know you're curious, but I think you should listen to the doctors.'
She looked at me hard. 'What's that supposed to mean?'
'I think you need to rest.'
'You want me to stay out of this?'
'Yes.'
'You're afraid I'll get hurt again.'
'Very much so, yes.'
Her eyes caught fire. 'I can take care of myself.'
'No doubt. But we're on very dangerous ground right now.'
'And what have we been on up to now?'
'Look, I need you to trust me here.'
'Will?'
'Yeah.'
'You're not getting rid of me that easy.'
'I don't want to get rid of you,' I said. 'But I do need to protect you.'
'You can't,' she said softly. 'You know that.'
I said nothing.
Katy slid closer to me. 'I need to see this through. You, more than anyone, should understand.'
'I do.'
'Then?'
'I promised I wouldn't say anything.'
'Promised who?'
I shook my head. 'Just trust me, okay?'
She stood up. 'Not okay.'
'I'm trying '
'And if I told you to butt out, would you listen to me?'
I kept my head down. 'I can't say anything.'
She headed for the door.
'Wait a second,' I said.
'I don't have time for this now,' she said shortly. 'My father will be wondering where I am.'
I stood. 'Call me, okay?' I gave her the cell phone number. I'd already memorized hers.
She slammed the door on her way out.
Katy Miller reached the street. Her neck hurt like hell. She was pushing too hard, she knew that, but that could not be helped. She was fuming. Had they gotten to Will? It hadn't seemed possible, but maybe he was just as bad as all the rest. Or maybe not. Maybe he really believed he was protecting her.
She would have to be even more careful now.
Her throat was dry. She craved a drink, but swallowing was still a painful chore. She wondered when this would all be over. Soon, she hoped. But she would see this through to the end. She had promised herself that. There was no going back, no end, not until Julie's murderer had been brought to justice one way or the other.
She headed south to i8th Street and then headed west into the meat-packing district. It was quiet now, in that lull between the daylight unloading and the perverse past-midnight nightlife. The city was like that, a theater that put on two different shows daily, changing props and sets and even actors. But day or night or even dusk, this street always had that rotted-meat smell. You could not get it out. Human or animal, Katy was not sure which.
The panic was back.
She stopped and tried to push it away. The feel of those hands clamped on her throat, toying with her, opening and closing her windpipe at will. Such power against such helplessness. He had stopped her breath. Think about that. He had squeezed her neck until she stopped breathing, until her life force began to ebb away.
Just like with Julie.
She was so lost in the horrible memory that she did not know he was there until he grabbed her elbow. She spun around. 'What the?'
