"Who love?" Skinny screamed.
"I love you, Ma," April said dutifully. Then she gave Skinny a smile that contained the hardest silence for a mother to bear, silence number 101, a brand-new silence and more powerful than all the others put together:
But don't push me, because I love my boyfriend more, and I'll marry him if I decide that's the best thing for me.
Skinny made a wise decision and backed off.
Half an hour later April's pulse was beginning to slow and her eyes were closing, when the phone by her bed began to ring.
Sleepily, she fumbled for it. "Sergeant Woo."
"Hey April, sorry to get you up."
"Alfie?" April's eyes popped open.
"Yeah."
"Jesus. What's up?"
"We got a suicide you might be interested in. Young woman. Chinese. Looks like she might be your little mother."
"Oh, God, where are you? I'm on my way."
"Too late for that. The body's already been removed. I'd like to see you tomorrow, first thing."
"You have a COD?"
"Looks like she went out of a window. Guess where."
"I'll bite. Where?"
"The Popescu building. Eight o'clock in my office, okay?"
"Oh, Jesus. I'll get there as soon as I can."
"You brought me this one, April, you better help me clear it."
"See you, Alfie."
April was sure she didn't close her eyes or sleep at all. She had bad dreams and was up before six, bothered by the horrid rotting smell, which had moved upstairs during the night. But she had slept and when she opened her eyes, she was stunned to see the electric kettle from the kitchen plugged in by her bed, steaming her mother's evil brew directly into her brain.
CHAPTER 35
W
hen they met just before eight o'clock Friday morning, Lieutenant Iriarte was in high spirits. "Well, this is good news. Very good." He clapped his hands and rubbed them together.
"How's that?" April didn't get the reason for her boss's pleasure at the news of a young woman's death in Chinatown. But then she wasn't feeling up to par herself, and therefore was maybe a little slow on the uptake.
"We're out of it now." Iriarte waved his hand for her to sit down. "And that's good, because you messed this one up. Woo."
April's eyes burned, her throat hurt, her head was reeling, and she seemed to be having some trouble breathing. One young woman had a concussion and was covered with bruises and burn marks, a baby was still missing, and another young woman was dead, and Iriarte was congratulating himself because he thought they were out of it. "Can I go now, sir?" she asked, not wanting to hear how she'd messed up.
"Go? Go where?" The lieutenant's face registered annoyance again.
Green spots jumped in front of April's eyes. She'd just explained that Lieutenant Bernardino, her boss for five years down in the 5th, had asked her to come down there to question Annie Lee, the old woman from the Popescu factory who claimed she'd seen the dead woman jump from a window. "Downtown, sir."
"No way. You let a lot of things slip here. You gotta get back on track. Right here. I want you all over Popescu. Shake him up. I want to know where that baby came from." He picked up a complaint from the pile that had collected since last night.
"The baby came from down there," April told him. "We haven't found him yet. I thought finding the baby was our highest priority—"
"And what's the matter with you? Why haven't you found it yet? You getting soft or something?"
April flushed.
"What does your shrink friend say?" Iriarte went on to another tack.
Soft, was she getting soft? And now that he mentioned it, she'd forgotten to call Jason. Was she losing her edge? She felt clammy and scared. Soft? Really? "I'll call him," she promised.
"Good, call him now." He flapped his hand for her to leave. She didn't move. Iriarte and Hagedorn exchanged glances. "Is there something wrong, Sergeant?"
"Bernardino needs a translator for the witness," April said firmly. She wasn't going soft. She was going down to Chinatown to find out what happened to that woman and her baby.
"So? Chinatown is filled with translators."
Now her head was getting hard to hold up; it was as heavy as a boulder. She was torn between her former boss and her present boss and couldn't think straight.
Iriarte sniffed the air. "Do you smell something funny?" he asked Hagedorn.
"Yeah, what is that weird smell? Ugh." Hagedorn's eyes circled their sockets.
Both men focused their attention on her. "April?"
What was this about? She sniffed, horrified, wondering what it could be.
"What is that smell?"
She wrinkled her nose. Yes, there did seem to be a weird smell, and it did seem to be coming from the white shirt she was wearing under her navy jacket. Or maybe it was coming from the red-and-gold scarf tied around her neck. "I have no idea, sir."
Hagedorn not so discreetly sniffed the air around her. Suddenly she knew what it was. Sweat broke out on her forehead. Her bottom slid forward on the chair. The steam from the kettle had gotten inside her and was now coming out of her pores. Her face was red, and the boulder that was her head threatened to explode. Oh, she was in trouble, and there was a dead woman in Chinatown who needed her attention.
"And they found the missing stroller right on Allen Street. I know we can clear this up today, sir," she promised.
Iriarte wrinkled his nose, then flapped his hand at Hagedorn. Hagedorn nodded, jumped up, and moved out the door, closing it behind him. "Are we going to have a problem, you and I?" Iriarte demanded.
Dizziness overcame her. "No, sir."
"Then don't make assumptions. Do what you're told."
"Yes, sir." She tried to sit up, felt horrible, wondered if her mother would go so far as to kill her to stop her from marrying a Mexican.
Iriarte grimaced, grit his teeth, stroked his skinny mustache with two fingers, then punched out his words, enunciating clearly. "Find the baby. That's your job here."
"Yes, sir."
"And whatever you do, get back here before lunch."
April smiled weakly. "Thank you, sir." "And April—"
"Yes, sir?"
"Are you sure you're all right?"
April touched the cell phone in her jacket pocket. "Oh yeah, I'm fine."
He raised his eyebrows. "Okay, then take the dunce. Maybe he can do something useful."
April pulled herself out of the chair, mustered what she could of her dignity, and left the office. "Woody," she called into the squad room.
Baum was sitting at his desk, eating a bagel. "Morning, Sergeant. Ooh, what's that smell?"
"Let's go," she barked.
"You all right?"
"Now."
"Uh, any chance of finishing my breakfast?"
"No." April was angry and hurt. She'd been poisoned by her mother, and her boss was calling her soft. She scowled at the bagel crumbs proliferating on Woody's desk. She'd be damned if she'd let herself get soft. She felt worse and worse. She hadn't spoken to Mike this morning. If she died now, he'd never know what happened.
"Okay, okay, if it's that important." Woody brushed the crumbs onto the floor.
April stopped by her office to get her purse. Message slips indicated that during her meeting with Iriarte, Jason and her mother had called. Nothing from Mike. On the other hand, if she died suddenly, Mike might well investigate. He might figure out what happened and send Sai Yuan Woo to jail for life. That would be a fitting end for the Dragon.
April left the precinct without returning her calls. She didn't notice Baum's driving and didn't hear a word he said, though he chattered all the way downtown.
Bernardino's first words when she entered his glass
office were "You look bad. What's the matter with you?"
April sniffed her hand. "Don't worry about it."