Think Twice

to was get there and take it out. It was almost hers.

She swam even harder, with new energy.

Chapter Ninety-four

Mary sat in the hospital waiting room, trying to come to terms with what had happened. The paramedics hadn’t let anybody in the ambulance, so the only thing she knew was that Judy had been rushed into the emergency room. The doctors hadn’t come back yet.

Her gaze wandered over the wallpaper, a baby blue print that provided an intentionally soothing backdrop for landscapes in muted pastels. Ancient magazines covered the coffee table, and the TV was mounted in the corner, playing on mute. She couldn’t watch it. Judy could be dying at this very minute.

She felt pure dread, and her parents, anguished and bedraggled, weren’t speaking to each other. Fiorella had gone to the ladies’ room, but her presence lingered like an unwanted ghost.

Her mother looked at the TV with her chin tilted up, blinking behind her bifocals. Her gray hair was wet, exposing her bald spot, and she watched Seinfeld with apparent absorption, though she couldn’t have any idea what was going on since there was no closed captioning. Her father kept his head down, his shoulders sunk into his damp windbreaker and his hammy hands folded in his lap.

Her attention shifted to Bennie, who was sitting next to Grady, talking in low voices with two Philly cops. Her blond hair lay in wet tangles on her shoulders, scratches covered her arms and legs, and an oddly girlie purse hung from her shoulder. She seemed distant and didn’t make eye contact with anybody, even Grady, though she’d called Judy’s parents, who were flying in from San Francisco, and her boyfriend Frank, driving home from his job site.

Mary felt a sadness so deep she could drown. Judy was bleeding. Bennie was bleeding in another way, less obvious. Her parents were bleeding, too. She didn’t know if anybody could be healed. The pieces of her life had been reconfigured, and she didn’t know if they would ever fit together, ever again. Especially if something happened to Judy.

Suddenly Fiorella entered the waiting room, smoothing her wet hair back, though its chic cut was ruined. She had no lipstick on, and her wet raincoat covered her black dress. She walked over to Mary’s mother. “Vita,” she said, coolly. “Good-bye, I’m going home.”

Her mother turned from the TV and eyed Fiorella with a look that could kill. “Bene,” she said simply.

“I must collect my things, from your house. I’ll take a taxi.”

“Certo.” Her mother dug in her purse, produced her house keys, and handed them to Fiorella. “Go. Now. Leave under mat.”

“Thank you, and I should say that-”

“Go! Leave!” Her mother pointed at the exit, her cheeks flushed with sudden emotion. “You are powerful woman, Donna Fiorella! You are not good woman. Not good woman at all!”

Fiorella flinched, took the keys, then turned to Mary and her father. “Good-bye, all. Many thanks for your hospitality.”

Her father said nothing, and neither did Mary.

In the next minute, an ER doctor appeared in the threshold to the waiting room, in blue scrubs and a puffy hat with the Phillies logo.

Fiorella turned, the cops looked over, and Bennie and Grady rose.

Mary stood up, her knees weak. “Is she okay?” she asked, her mouth gone dry.

And the doctor slid off his hat.

Chapter Ninety-five

Bennie was relieved that Carrier would be fine, but she didn’t feel any other emotion, except regret that Alice had gotten away. Evidently Grady was back, but she couldn’t deal with him right now. He, DiNunzio, and her parents were group-hugging, and she didn’t join in the celebration. She’d taken another pill in the ladies’ room and stood off to the side, near Fiorella.

“Ms. Rosato?”

“Yes?” Bennie came out of her reverie, as a uniformed called to her, entering the waiting room as if he had news. “Did you get her?”

“Did you?” Mary repeated, clustering with Grady and her parents.

“No, but we have a lead,” the cop answered. “We checked the airport, and there’s a Bennie Rosato ticketed on the last flight to Miami, with a connection to Nassau, in the Bahamas.”

“When’s the flight?” Bennie asked.

“In half an hour.”

“The airport’s twenty minutes away. We have to go now.”

“Hold on, it’s taken care of.” The cop held up a warning hand. “My captain is coordinating with the TSA and the FBI. We’re holding the plane, claiming weather delays, and we’re already setting up a stake-out. The minute she shows up, we’ll arrest her. The A.D.A. is meeting us there.”

“Nassau?” Bennie’s thoughts raced ahead. “The Bahamas have offshore banking. She has my bank accounts and my ID. She changed all the passwords. She’s moving my money to the Bahamas.”

“You’re right.” Grady’s eyes flared an alarmed blue. “I saw a DHL envelope in her office, going to BSB. She told me she had a new banking client.”

“That’s it then.” Bennie flashed on her call with Marla. “I need to talk to someone at USABank.”

“It’s after hours.”

“I’ll want more than a teller. I met the president of the bank once. Ron Engel. He lives in Society Hill.” Bennie turned to Grady. “Do you have a cell phone?”

“No, it got wet.”

“Here.” A cop handed her a phone, and Bennie flipped it open and called information for Ron Engel.

“I’m sorry,” the operator said. “That number is unlisted.”

“This is a police emergency.” Bennie handed the phone back to the officer. “Please get the number and the address for Ron Engel. We have to talk to him.”

“Hello?” the cop said, putting the phone to his ear on the fly.

Bennie hustled out of the waiting room, ahead of Grady and the cops.

Chapter Ninety-six

Alice kept swimming, getting her second wind. Her legs went rubbery but they were still churning. Her arms wind-milled. She was only fifty feet from Jersey. She swam ugly but she was getting there, stroke by stroke.

The fifty feet became forty, then thirty, and she looked up, wondering how to get up onto shore. There were dark industrial buildings ahead, with a crumbling stone wall lining the riverbank. She couldn’t see more through the rain. She swam like a demon, ignoring the downpour. She closed in on the stone wall, ten feet, then finally five.

She treaded water for a minute, her chest heaving. The wall crumbled in parts, and she finally reached it, grappling the edge with her fingertips. It felt slick and cold, and she groped for a ledge between the stones. She found one and tried to hoist herself up. The messenger bag was a dead weight but she couldn’t let it go. She slipped back down, splashing into the water.

She tried again. Her fingertips raked the stone. She found a grip and pulled herself up with all of her might. She started climbing, wedging her hands and toes into the cracks. She clawed her way to the top and flopped exhausted