Nick crouched down to his aunt’s eye level, “I’m sorry, Ruth,” he said, taking her hand into his. He looked at Julie, “What do you know?”
Julie shrugged. “Nothing. The doctors are still working on him.”
Nick said, “Ruth, there couldn’t be a better place for Tommy to be right now. These guys are the best in the world at this kind of stuff. Have hope.”
“Hope?” His Uncle Victor flicked the back of his hand from under his chin. “There’s your stinking hope. They better not take these terrorists to trial, because I’ll be outside with my Remington. They’ll never see the inside of a courthouse. I’m telling you right now, Nicky, it ain’t ever happening in a courtroom.”
Nick allowed his uncle to vent. There was no sense trying to calm him down, especially when Nick felt exactly the same as Victor.
Silk made eye contact with Nick and anger flashed across their eyes like lightening bouncing between two mirrors.
“Victor,” Nick said, “I’ll make this right.”
“How are you going to do that? You gonna bring my boy back to me?” Cause if you can’t do that, then you can’t make it right.” Victor’s lips twitched. His mouth acted like it wanted to continue, but his heart seemed too damaged for the job.
Silk gently tugged on Nick’s coat jacket and gestured to the opposite corner of the room. Nick saw his partner having an animated conversation with husky Sal Demenci. Sal was surrounded by five of his men, who regarded Matt with dubious expressions. Nick heard Matt say something about justice and this brought Sal to his feet. He pointed a finger at Matt, “You have the audacity to come in here and talk about justice? Do you have any idea what the fuck you’re talking about?”
Nick immediately wedged himself between the two men and patted Sal’s shoulders with baby taps. “Come on, Sal, settle down.” He looked into Sal’s eyes with compassion. “This isn’t a contest to see who cares about Tommy the most. Everyone in this room is hurting — including Matt. You know that, Sal. You know that.”
Sal took a breath and sat down, muttering obscenities.
“Did they give you any indication how bad he was?” Nick asked.
Sal shook his head. “I got a glimpse of him when they were moving him around. He’s burned all over. They’re keeping their mouths shut, so they don’t hedge any bets.” He looked up at Nick as if he’d forgotten something. “Hey, by the way, how’s Phil?”
“He’s good, Sal.”
“Good. Listen, I think maybe we need to talk.”
“What about?”
Sal stood and examined the crowd. He gestured toward the door and Nick followed. Sal’s men fell into step behind them until Sal turned and said, “It’s okay. Me and Nick are going to have a little chat.” He looked at Matt and said, “We’ll be right outside.”
Nick nodded to his partner and Matt grimaced.
Sal walked out of the hospital and led Nick to a bench under the canopy of the entrance. Nick sat next to him at arm’s length.
Sal stared at Nick like he was waiting for him to say something.
Nick shrugged. “What?”
An Army Jeep rolled by, patrolling the street next to the hospital. It was full of soldiers with M-16’s strapped to their shoulders. They scrutinized the terrain with stern expressions.
“This country’s in bad shape,” Sal lamented.
Nick saw something in Sal’s eyes he wasn’t familiar with. Sincerity. He’d known Sal back when Sal was merely a Captain with the Capelli family. Nick avoided any law enforcement that involved family business, an easy chore from within the counterterrorism division of the Bureau. Besides, Nick was Sicilian and something deep inside always held a certain understanding for the Sicilian ways, as perverted as they were.
“You’re right,” Nick said. “The country is hurting right now.”
Sal moved his hands in a circular motion. “Your boss, I’ll bet he would love to know where this Kharrazi guy is, wouldn’t he?”
The smile vanished from Nick’s face. “Is there something you want to tell me, Sal?”
Sal leaned back into the bench and crossed his legs. “What if I told you a story? A story about a friend of mine who happened to figure out where they’re making these bombs. I mean we’re talking strictly fiction here, you understand?”
Nick nodded, knowing that nothing was further from the truth. “Go on.”
“Well, these terrorists have to get their supplies from somewhere — I mean, hey, they didn’t just check it in with their luggage on the plane, right?”
“Right.”
“So this friend of mine gets wind of a large underground purchase of blasting caps, big enough to blow up, oh, say, a house or something. Capisce?”
“Capisce.”
“Anyway, my friend finds the guy who makes these bombs and he confronts him. Well, of course, the bomb maker, he’s not so happy to see my friend and my friend — in self-defense, mind you — shoots the bomb maker and kills him.”
Sal stopped talking when two men wearing blue scrubs and stethoscopes draped around their necks walked past them into the hospital. Nick wanted to slap the story out of Sal, but he remained calm. When the traffic around them quieted, Nick couldn’t resist any longer, “Sal, are you going to finish?”
Sal appeared to be taking in the sights from the park bench, as if the sun and the clouds were a new experience for him. He waved at a group of birds fluttering around the crown of an oak in the median of the parking lot. “You know what kind of birds those are?”
Nick lowered his forehead into his hand and used his thumb and middle finger on either side of his face to massage his temples. “Tell me, Sal. What kind of birds are they?”
“Those are what you call Orchard Orioles. They’re rare this time of year. Very pretty coloring, but very fragile. They don’t do well in cold weather.”
Nick wasn’t sure whether Sal was speaking metaphorically. “Are you a bird lover, Sal?”
Sal seemed content listening to the birds chirping. He nodded to the question as if in a trance. “I’m a charter member of the Chesapeake Audubon Society.”
Nick couldn’t help but follow Sal’s gaze to the large oak tree. He tried for a moment to focus on the birds, their musical cadence, and their sense of community. The country was slowly being destroyed, house by house, and these creature didn’t seem to notice. Apparently none of them read USA Today or they’d be starting a block-watch program like everyone else in the nation. Neighborhoods were taking shifts sleeping and yet the birds kept singing. Nick realized that Dr. Morgan was right. If Sal hadn’t brought the loud chirping to Nick’s attention, he never would have noticed. Still, he couldn’t last thirty seconds on the birds without shifting his thoughts back to the KSF and Kemel Kharrazi.
Nick watched Sal withdraw a plastic bag of breadcrumbs from his pants pocket, dip his hand into the mix and toss it onto a patch of grass next to the bench. A moment later, a black bird with a sliver of purple on its chest landed on the far edge of the newly-discovered banquet and pecked at a couple of breadcrumbs. After another moment, two more birds braved the trip down to the buffet line. Sal’s eyes gleamed with delight.
“Mangia,” he said, losing himself in the ceremony. “Mangia.”
“Sal,” Nick said, “if you know something that would help us find these terrorists, we would be very grateful. Maybe even rewardingly grateful.”
This seemed to get Sal’s attention. He quickly dispensed the remainder of his baggie and turned to Nick with a somber expression. He smoothed Nick’s arm with his hand, as if he were ironing out imaginary wrinkles from the sleeve of his jacket. “I have a proposition for you.”
Nick knew right away it wasn’t anything he was going to like.