“No. No, I’m okay.”
“Who ya talking to?” the bum said.
Angrily, she waved him off. “Go. Just get out of here.”
“Who do you think you are, ordering me around?”
“Just leave.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He gave a snort and walked away, dragging his cans behind him. “Park’s full of crazy people these days…”
She turned, and suddenly realized that she was surrounded. Gabriel, Moore, and Frost had all moved within yards of her position, to form a protective circle around her. “Oh man,” she sighed. “Did I ask for help?”
“We didn’t know what was going on,” said Gabriel.
“Now we’ve blown it.” She looked around the park, and it seemed emptier than ever. The couple on the bench was walking away; only the kids with the guitar remained, laughing in the shadows. “If Mila’s been watching, she knows it’s a setup. There’s no way she’ll come near me.”
“It’s nine forty-five,” said Frost. “What do you think?”
Moore shook his head. “Let’s wrap it up. Nothing’s going to happen tonight.”
“I was doing fine,” said Jane. “I didn’t need the cavalry.”
Gabriel pulled into his parking space behind their apartment building and shut off the engine. “We didn’t know what was happening. We saw you running after that man, and then it looked like he was taking a swing at you.”
“He was just trying to get away.”
“I didn’t know that. All I thought was-” He stopped and looked at her. “I just reacted. That’s all.”
“We’ve probably lost her, you know.”
“Then we’ve lost her.”
“You sound like you don’t even care.”
“You know what I care about? That you don’t get hurt. That’s more important than anything else.” He got out of the car; so did she.
“Do you happen to remember what I do for a living?” she asked.
“I’m trying not to.”
“Suddenly my job is not okay.”
He shut his car door and met her gaze over the roof. “I admit it. I’m having trouble right now, dealing with it.”
“You’re asking me to quit?”
“If I thought I could get away with it.”
“What am I supposed to do instead?”
“Here’s a novel idea. You could stay home with Regina.”
“When did you go all retro on me? I can’t believe you’re saying this.”
He sighed and shook his head. “I can’t believe I’m saying it, either.”
“You knew who I was when you married me, Gabriel.” She turned and walked into the building, and was already climbing to the second floor when she heard him say, from the bottom of the stairs: “But maybe I didn’t know who I was.”
She glanced back at him. “What does that mean?”
“You and Regina are all I have.” Slowly he came up the stairs, until they were face-to-face on the landing. “I never had to worry about anyone else before, about what I could lose. I didn’t know it would scare me so much. Now I’ve got this big exposed Achilles heel, and all I can think about is how to protect it.”
“You can’t protect it,” she said. “It’s just something you have to live with. It’s what happens when you have a family.”
“It’s too much to lose.”
Their apartment door suddenly opened, and Angela poked her head into the hallway. “I thought I heard you two out here.”
Jane turned. “Hi, Mom.”
“I just put her down for the night, so keep your voices quiet.”
“How was she?”
“Exactly like you were at her age.”
“That bad, huh?” Stepping into the apartment, Jane was taken aback by how neat everything looked. The dishes were washed and put away, the countertops wiped clean. A lace doily graced the dining table. When had she ever owned a lace doily?
“You two had a fight, didn’t you?” said Angela. “I can tell just by looking at you.”
“We had a disappointing night, that’s all.” Jane took off her jacket and hung it in the closet. When she turned back to look at her mother, she saw that Angela’s gaze had focused on Jane’s weapon.
“You’re going to lock that thing up, aren’t you?”
“I always do.”
“Because babies and guns-”
“Okay, okay.” Jane took off her weapon and slid it into a drawer. “You know, she’s not even a month old.”
“She’s precocious, just like you were.” Angela looked at Gabriel. “Did I ever tell you what Jane did when she was three?”
“Mom, he doesn’t want to hear that story.”
“Yes I do,” said Gabriel.
Jane sighed. “It involves a cigarette lighter and the living room curtains. And the Revere Fire Department.”
“Oh, that,” said Angela. “I forgot all about that story.”
“Mrs. Rizzoli, why don’t you tell me about it while I drive you home?” said Gabriel, reaching into the closet to retrieve Angela’s sweater.
In the other room, Regina suddenly let out a howl to announce that she was not, in fact, down for the night. Jane went into the nursery and lifted her daughter out of the crib. When she came back into the living room, Gabriel and her mother had already left the apartment. Rocking Regina in one arm, she stood at the kitchen sink, running warm water into a pan to heat the milk bottle. The apartment’s front door buzzer sounded.
“Janie?” Angela’s voice crackled over the speaker. “Can you let me back in? I forgot my glasses.”
“Come on up, Mom.” Jane pressed the lock release and was waiting at the door to hand over the glasses when her mother came up the stairs.
“Can’t read without these,” said Angela. She paused to give her fussing granddaughter one last kiss. “Better go. He’s got the car running.”
“Bye, Mom.”
Jane went back into the kitchen, where the pan was now overflowing. She set the bottle in hot water, and as the formula warmed, she paced the room with her crying daughter.
The apartment door buzzed again.
Oh, Ma. What’d you forget this time? she wondered, and pressed the lock release.
By now the bottle was warm. She slipped the nipple into Regina’s mouth, but her daughter simply batted it away, as though in disgust. What do you want, baby? she thought in frustration as she carried her daughter back into the living room. If you could just tell me what you want!
She opened the door to greet her mother.
It was not Angela standing there.
THIRTY-FOUR
Without a word, the girl slipped right past Jane, into the apartment, and locked the door. She scurried across to the windows and yanked the Venetian blinds shut, one after the other in quick succession, as Jane watched in astonishment.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
The intruder spun around to face her, and pressed her finger to her lips. She was small, more a child than a woman, her thin frame almost lost in the bulky sweatshirt. The hands that poked out the faded sleeves had bones that looked as delicate as a bird’s, and the bulging tote bag she carried seemed to drag down her frail shoulder. Her red hair was cut in a wildly uneven fringe, as though she herself had wielded the scissors, hacking blindly. Her eyes were pale, an unearthly shade of gray, transparent as glass. It was a hungry, feral face, with jutting cheekbones and a gaze that darted around the room in a search for hidden traps.
“Mila?” said Jane.
Again the girl’s finger snapped up to her lips. The look she gave Jane needed no interpretation.
Be quiet. Be afraid.
Even Regina seemed to understand. The baby suddenly went still, her eyes wide and alert as she lay quietly in Jane’s arms.
“You’re safe here,” Jane said.
“No place is safe.”
“Let me call my friends. We’ll get you police protection right now.”
Mila shook her head.
“I know these men. I work with them.” Jane reached for the telephone.
The girl shot forward and slammed her hand down on the receiver. “No police.”