Dad was on time, as usual, casual yet handsome in a black leather bomber jacket, a dark green polo shirt, and black jeans. He greeted me with a kiss on the cheek and a controlled smile.
“What’s cookin’, good-lookin’?” I said to him.
“Something smells good.” He unzipped his jacket and took it off.
“I’ll take that.” I opened the guest closet and hung it up. It was incredibly heavy and made the wire hanger sag. “Thanks again for Friday.”
“Our pleasure.”
I hesitated a fraction just to make sure he had nothing else to add. He didn’t. “I hope you’re hungry.”
“I am now.”
“Then… let’s eat.” I had set my small dinette table for two, complete with cloth napkins. I poured him some coffee and orange juice as he speared a piece of French toast onto his plate.
“I should wash,” he told me.
“Lucky for you, I have running water.”
He smiled and washed his hands, saying the ritual prayers before he bit into his breakfast. I drowned my French toast in maple syrup and dug in. “Not bad, if I say so myself.”
“Delicious.” Dad cut the bread into neat little bites. “So… you found the baby’s mother. I’m very proud of you.”
“Thank you.”
“Your interviews must have gone well.”
“You gave me some good advice.”
“Still, you must have executed it with aplomb.”
“I do listen when you talk to me.”
He stopped eating for a fraction of a second. “I know that.”
“You’re irritated at me.”
“Not at all.”
“Yes at all. Would you like to say what’s on your mind?”
“No, I’d like to enjoy this delicious French toast and help you with whatever you need help with.”
“I can’t concentrate if you’re mad.”
“That’s fine, because I’m not mad.”
“Did you like him?”
“Very much.”
“But…”
The Loo put down his fork and knife, then looked me squarely in the eye. “No buts, Cynthia. He’s a good guy. End of story.”
We ate in silence for a few moments. I suppose there was no purpose in pressing him until I found out how viable my relationship with Koby was. “I really did ask you here for a purpose other then getting on your nerves.”
He leaned over and kissed my forehead. “What do you need?”
“Spoken like a true parent. The baby’s mother, Sarah Sanders, I never really got a chance to interview her. Even if it had been my job, I didn’t feel capable of questioning her.”
“That’s okay, Cin. After you get your gold shield, you’ll feel much more comfortable with interviewing.”
“I talked to Russ MacGregor about it. He’s taking the case over for Greg Van Horn, who’s on vacation. I don’t know, Dad. I just want to make sure that certain questions are asked.”
“Like what?”
“Questions about the father of the baby. I think it’s important to know.”
“Russ didn’t ask about it?”
“Russ interviewed her for about fifteen minutes, mostly details of her abandonment. Where did you give birth? Why did you throw the baby away? Why didn’t you tell your sister? Like she was the felon… I mean, she is a felon, but there are circumstances, you know.”
“I’m sure a judge will take her mental capacity into consideration.” Decker sipped coffee. “Why are you concerned? Did the sister call you up with a complaint?”
I shook my head.
“It’ll be okay, Cindy. You can’t mother the world.”
“I still think someone should ask about the father.”
“Talk to Russ.”
“I did. I spoke to him on Friday before I picked up Koby for dinner. He said he danced around the topic, but she wasn’t talking. He didn’t know if she was protecting someone or didn’t understand the questions. He said he’d deal with it on Monday when he came back from Mammoth. Then I asked him ifIcould talk to her over the weekend.”
“And…”
“He was reluctant, Lieutenant. Didn’t say yes right away, but I played dumb and waited him out. In the end, he said to go ahead, but just don’t screw anything up.”
“Meaning don’t screw up the case, and don’t screw him by showing him up. He doesn’t want you to make him look bad. That’s understandable.”
“I understand about seniority. I’ll give him all the credit: I don’t care about that.” I leaned over the table. “I just want to make sure that the girl wasn’t raped-”
“Whoa! Hold on.” Decker put down his coffee cup. “The girl was raped?”
“I don’t know.”
“So why do you think she was raped? Retarded adults have sexual drives, too.”
“I know that. It’s just she didn’t have lots of opportunity. They’re watched pretty closely in the center.”
“All it takes is one time.”
“Shouldn’t it be considered as a possibility?”
Dad gave my question some thought. “If it were my case… I would consider it a possibility.” He rubbed his hands together. “Go interview her.”
“I’d like you to come with me.”
“For an independent woman, Cynthia, you are full of contradictions. Why do you want to bringDaddyinto this?”
“Because I don’t want to screw anything up.”
“Somewhere along the line, you’re going to have to learn to trust yourself.”
“How about if you do the interviewing and I watch and take notes?”
“Not a good idea.”
“Loo, I know this makes me look wussy. I don’t care. I want this done right.”
Decker shook his head. “Cin, I don’t work on cases out of my jurisdiction. That’s stepping on toes and I don’t know when and where I might need these guys.”
“All right.” I gave him a charitable smile. “More coffee?”
“Yes, it’s very good.”
“It’s Ethiopian.”
Dad caught my eyes. “I’m sure there’s more where that came from.”
“I’ve got a source.”
Decker chuckled. “Okay, Officer, this is what I’ll do. I’llaccompanyyou.”
Better than I thought he’d do.
“You’ll nudge me in the ribs if I’m doing something wrong?”
“If I nudged you in the ribs every time you did something wrong, you’d have a hole in your side.”
“Aha! I knew you were mad!”
“I’m not mad-”
“Yes, you are. Just say it so we can move on.”
Decker locked eyes with me. I felt my face go warm.
“What?What?”
“This has nothing to do with Koby. I meant it when I said he seems like a good guy.”
He gave me one of those scolding-parent looks. At twenty-eight, I don’t know why I had to deal with it, but that’s the nature of being a daughter.
“Go on.”
“You should have told me, Cynthia. That would have been common courtesy.”
“Why? I wouldn’t have made a point of telling you if he had been white.”
Decker rolled his eyes. “I think you like to see me squirm.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Well, I don’t think so.” He stood up and cleared his plate. “I wash and you dry?”
“I can handle two plates.” I brought my own plate in. Together we cleared the table. “So that’s all you want to say about it?”
He lifted a strand of hair out of my eyes. “Yes. That is all I want to say. Now get a paper and pencil. Tell me what questions you want to ask this girl and why.”