Chapter Twenty-eight
Frank had flicked off her pager but turned it back on as she finished her coffee.
"Thanks for having dinner with me, doc. You were a welcome, if only temporary distraction."
Gail flirted, "I could be more permanent, you know."
"So you've said," Frank nodded into her napkin. Gail chuckled at Frank's subtle discomfort, and Frank smiled, warmed from the scotch, the burger, and that sound. She fingered the check as Gail's hand closed over hers.
"You got the last one."
"Shoot bullets through me," Frank said, glancing at the number scrolling across her hip. "Shouldn't have turned this back on so soon," she muttered.
"Who is it?"
"The desk. Probably a body I so do not need right now. We going to fight over the bill all night?"
"I'm not fighting," Gail said, her hand still on Frank's.
"Hate to, doc, but I've got to get going. Let me get this one and you get the next, okay?"
"Deal."
They settled the tab and walked outside together. Gail told Frank to call her and Frank agreed. She dialed the desk, watching Gail walk across the street. She liked watching Gail walk. Coming was better but leaving was pretty good too.
"Romanowski. Franco. What's up?"
"There you are!" the old sergeant boomed. "Everybody's been trying like fuck to find you."
Frank didn't like the sound of that, but waited patiently while he shuffled some papers.
"Somethin' about some boy, yeah, here we go. You got calls from half the squad about a kid named Tonio Estrella."
Frank's heart fell onto the pavement and split open.
"Guess he's at King/Drew and not doing so good. Looks like he got a pretty bad beat-on-sight."
"Room number?"
"ICU."
Frank swore and dialed Bobby's cell number. He picked up immediately.
"What's going on, Bobby?"
"Damn, Frank. Tonio's all messed up. Somebody kicked the shit out of him. Gloria brought him in about six AM. He was bleeding inside pretty bad. They did a splenectomy and his liver's pretty messed up."
"Who did it?" Frank asked, feeling her dinner sliding around.
"We don't know. Gloria and Claudia, neither of them are saying a word. The hospital called us in case ..."
"In case what?"
"In case he doesn't make it."
"He's that bad?"
"Yeah. I guess he had some sort of clot right after the surgery, and went into arrest. They had to take him back in."
Frank ground her teeth together, squeezing out, "Who's there with you?"
"The whole Estrella clan. At least what's left of them. All the babies, a grandma."
"And nobody's saying how he got hurt."
"Gloria just said she heard some fighting, came into the living room and found him like that with the front door open. Sounds bogus to me."
"Is Nook with you?"
"Yeah."
"Who else? Any uniforms?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Listen, Bobby. I don't want anyone in Tonio's room, except you, do you understand?"
"Sure, but why?"
"Not Nook, not Foubarelle, not God. Understand? Just you and the doctors."
"Sure."
"You stay until I get there, okay? I'm on my way."
"Okay, Frank."
"And don't let Claudia or Gloria out of sight. I want Nook pasted to them. Is that clear?"
"Yeah, sure.
"Okay. Hang tight. I'll be there in a little bit. I'll explain everything then."
Growling, "Motherfucker," Frank laid rubber in the parking lot.
She could hear Gloria screaming and cursing before she was even out of the elevator. Jogging down the hall, Frank saw her struggling with Nook and two uniforms, the other Estrella's crying around them, trying to hang onto Gloria.
"What the hell's going on?" she barked, causing all three cops to jerk around and lose their grip on Gloria. Bobby had just come out of the ICU ward and Gloria ran to him. The big detective blocked Gloria easily and Frank repeated her question. Bobby shouted over her head, "She wants to go in."
Jesus, Frank thought. She hadn't meant for him to keep the family out. It was her fault. Bobby had taken her literally when she said everyone. He was thorough like that.
"Is it okay with the doctor?"
"I guess," he shrugged vaguely. "They were in there earlier."
Frank put herself between Bobby and Gloria, telling her she could see Tonio, but only if she calmed down.
"Fuck that shit!" she screamed, spit flying. "I'll calm down when that jodido maricon's in his fucking grave!"
Claudia half-heartedly tried to calm her daughter but Gloria repeated, "Fuck that! What we gonna do? Let him come after us one at a time? Fuck that! We goin' after him. I'll do it myself if I have to! Uh-uh. I ain't playing no more."
"Hey," Frank soothed. "You stay away from him. Let me take care of this. That's my job."
"Yeah, like you been taking care of us so far?" she shouted. "We just gonna sit and wait for you useless jodida police to come and help us. This shit's gone too far. That maricon ain't comin' near my babies. I'ma get him myself."
Nook came up behind Gloria and asked, "Which maricon?"
Gloria told him to fuck himself. He made a helpless gesture at Frank.
"I want to see Tonio," she said, trying to push past Frank, who stopped her.
"You want to see your brother?" Frank asked.
"Yes! I want to see him."
"Then you gotta calm down," Frank soothed. "You can see him. You just gotta be calm. For his sake."
Gloria shot her hands through her hair and moaned, "Just let me in."
"He needs you to be calm. You gonna be calm for him?"
"I'm calm," she whimpered, "I'm calm."
Frank nodded her head and Gloria rushed past Bobby. Frank followed her through the ward, baring her ID as two nurses glared from the desk. Tonio was in a cubicle with barely enough room for his bed and the machines he was attached to. Gloria squeezed in beside him, smoothing his hair, cooing, "Ninito."
Claudia stepped quietly around Frank, taking a place on the other side of the bed. She found a way around the tubes and held her son's hand. Frank tried to shut the door but a nurse called out to keep it open. Frank cursed under her breath. She knew who the maricon was but wanted to hear one of the women say it. She let them have a moment with Tonio then stood next to Claudia.
"Did he do this?"
There was no response, as if Frank wasn't even in the room. She put her hand on Claudia's shoulder, asking again. She startled Frank by spinning around. She hit a tray with her elbow and sent it clattering to the floor.
"Leave us alone!" she said savagely. "You hurt us enough! Now just leave us be!"
Bobby loomed in the doorway and a nurse scurried in, hissing, "That's it! Everybody out!"
Gloria started crying but Claudia whirled past Frank. She followed her out to the noisy waiting room, motioning Nook over.
"Who have you talked to about this case?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean who have you talked to about Placa's case since I pulled you ?"
"I don't know. I guess Johnnie, Ike, No. You know."
"I don't know. Think!"
"What's the big-"
Bobby had joined his partner.
"Just who have you talked to about this?"
"Well, Hunt and Waddell. They responded to that stabbing the other night. We were talking for a while. Munoz and Lewis were there too," he added.
"Did you talk about specifics?"
Bobby and Nook exchanged a glance that said they had. Frank wrestled with her composure, furious where this was going.
"You were bitching about being pulled," Frank stated.
"Yeah," Bobby squirmed. "The case isn't even cold yet. There are still a lot of leads we can work."