Remains Silent (19 page)

JAKE CALLED MANNY on her cell just as she was heading uptown and told her about his encounter with Travaglini. No need to meet Sam, he said. Hes gone to a class on Tantric sex.

 

 

She was relieved. Lack of attention to her day job was preying on her. This would give her a chance to see Mr. Williams about his whiplash suit against the Fire Department, file the final papers on the Cabrera deportation case, and catch up on her bookkeeping. The reward would be a late dinner with Jake.

 

 

Her office was in one of those buildings near Wall Street that accommodate small businesses of every kind. Next door to her a dentist plied his painful trade (Manny loathed drills); around the corner was a CPA whose clients seemed to be mostly union organizers; at the far end of the hall was a publicist who handled a rock-and-roll girls band given to skimpy costumes even when they were not onstage. On the frosted glass panel of her door was stenciled in elegant gold letters:

 

 

PHILOMENA MANFREDA
Attorney-at-Law

Her office space consisted of a small room for Kenneth, a larger room for herself, and a window with a view of other windows; when she looked outside she had a hard time telling if it was day or night.

 

 

It was, she realized now, night. After her meeting with Williams, she had worked for she knew not how many hours, barely conscious that Kenneth had bid her good night and that, though the lights were on in the building across the street, no people remained to make use of them. She looked at her watch.
Jesus!
She dialed Jakes cell.

 

 

Im still at the office.

 

 

He sighed. I am, too. You got me just before I was going to call you. Do you mind if we cancel tonight? Ill make it up to you tomorrow.

 

 

Not see him? Well good.
She was too tired for banter or for the avalanche of emotions she felt whenever she was with him. Better to grab a salad, get home in time to walk Mycroft, and catch the late-night repeats of the news shows to watch the spectacle of the legal trial du jour.

 

 

She stood and stretched, fatigue searing every muscle in her back, and for the first time became aware of the silence.
I must be the last person in the building.

 

 

Last week the thought wouldnt have bothered her, but after Turner Psychiatric it produced a tremor in her stomach, and she hurriedly gathered up her purse and coat.

 

 

Someones in the corridor!
She could see his silhouette against the frosted glass of her door. He was standing still no, bending down now.
To look through the glass?
She imagined his breath on her neck, felt it again viscerally, as though she were still in the Solitude Room. Had he followed her? Did he know shed met with Jake and Sam after his warning?
Is he going to kill me now?

 

 

Listen!
A noise was coming from outside her door.
What is it? A motor. A machine? An electric saw!
Manny stifled a sob and stood paralyzed, her pounding heart so loud she could hear it above the whir of the motor. The shadow moved again, away from her door and out of her vision.

 

 

Idiot! Its not a saw; no ones come to cut you to pieces. Theres no man outside. Its a woman, the cleaning woman. And shes using a floor polisher, like she does every night at this hour. My office is at the corner; its where shed start. She bent down to turn it on.

 

 

Tears of gratitude sprang to her eyes. Oh, she said aloud, and again, Oh. She put on her coat, wound the straps of her purse firmly over her arm, and not without a residual shiver of trepidation opened the door.

 

 

Yes, there she was, the cleaning lady, polishing away in front of the office of Terrance Prescott, DDS.

 

 

Good evening, Manny said, proud of the firmness in her voice.

 

 

The woman turned. She was wearing a kerchief that covered her hair and face, a baggy floral dress, and
strange
Tods lizard boots. Expensive.

 

 

What kind of cleaning lady . . . ?

 

 

Good evening, the woman answered. She left the polisher where it was and walked toward Manny, holding something out as though it were an offering.

 

 

A knife!

 

 

The light was bright in the corridor; it ricocheted off the steel like sparks from a fire.

 

 

Manny whirled, ran, slipped on the polished floor. The woman stood above her, knife poised, hand drawn back behind her head. Manny screamed, screamed, screamed again, the sound reverberating through the corridor, until the woman plunged the knife and Manny could scream no longer.

 

 

She awoke to bright light and a searing pain in her right thigh. She was in a bed no doubt about that but it wasnt her bed at home. Rather, it had the smell and feel of a bed in a
hospital?

 

 

She opened her eyes. A hospital indeed. Where am I? she asked nevertheless, having all her life wanted to say it.

 

 

Saint Vincents, a voice answered from the foot of the bed.

 

 

She raised her head. Dr. Jacob Rosen, in full hospital regalia, was smiling at her.
Must be a nightmare.

 

 

Memories flooded her. Her office, the silhouette, the woman in lizard boots, and the knife
Oh, God, the knife!
She tried to sit up, but a wave of dizziness pushed her back down. Her mouth felt funny, as though she had been chewing on tweed.

 

 

Lie still, Jake said. He moved to her side and took her hand.
Maybe its a dream after all.
A cleaning woman found you and called nine-one-one.

 

 

A cleaning woman? She was the one who black or white?

 

 

Black.
A different woman.
You were on the floor outside your office. Youd been stabbed. Theres a gash on your thigh, fourfive inches long.

 

 

Howd you know I was here?

 

 

You had your PDA in your blazer pocket. The EMS called the emergency numbers youve listed and finally got Kenneth Boyd. He called me. Jake shook his head in wonder. It was quite a conversation.

 

 

Where is he? And has he taken care of Mycroft?

 

 

Hes taking Mycroft to your mothers for the night. Said he cant stand hospitals or the sight of blood. Hell only see you if youre well or if youre dead.

 

 

She closed her eyes. Which am I?

 

 

Well or almost well. Youll be in a lot of pain when the drugs wear off, but its only a flesh wound. You can leave later this morning, and youll be walking fine in a couple of days. He pulled up a chair. Feel strong enough to tell me what happened?

 

 

Her story was disjointed, partly because of the drugs but more because her mind remembered scattered images rather than a coherent sequence.

 

 

Your attacker, Jake said. You sure it was a woman?

 

 

Not really. All she said was
good evening,
and it might have been a falsetto voice. Theres the dress, of course, but she wore mens Tods lizard boots. Unmistakable.

 

 

Right. A man or a woman. Kenneth

 

 

He didnt do it!

 

 

Jake laughed. Im not implying that he did. But Im trying to find out whether it was the same person who scared you at Turner. Could have been two separate people.

 

 

The comfort of his presence wore away, and she was once again assaulted by the horror of what had happened. The impact of his statement struck her hard.
Two
attackers?

 

 

Say, Sheriff Fisk and Marge Crespy.

 

 

You think?

 

 

His face darkened. My colleague, Wally Winnick, is in Baxter County trying to find connections. Well know more when he reports back. All Im sure of is that he or she or they didnt want to kill you.

 

 

The person at Turner didnt, but the cleaning woman did.

 

 

If shed wanted to, youd be dead. The knife could just as easily have gone into your heart as into your thigh. Theyre trying to scare you off, Manny, and, through you, me. He banged the side of her bed with his fist. God, how I wish shed come after me!
Its my fault shes hurt. I didnt have to get her involved. I
wanted
her along. I didnt
need
her.

 

 

Im glad she didnt, Manny said softly. He sat with his head bowed; she stroked his arm. It means I didnt have to wait till tonight for our date to see you.

 

 

He tried to smile and couldnt. A nurse came in. There are two policemen outside, Ms. Manfreda. They want to talk to you about the attack. Are you up to it?

 

 

I suppose so. The drug was wearing off, she realized. The pain was worse but her mind was clearer. How did the cops find out about this? she asked Jake.

 

 

From EMS. They have to report all suspicious injuries.

 

 

Nothing suspicious here. It was an out-and-out crime. What do I tell them?

 

 

Just say your screams scared the assailant off.

 

 

 

MANNY KNEW, as Jake helped her out of the taxi, that she could have called Kenneth or asked her mother to come stay with her at her apartment, but Jake had invited her to his houseYoull be safest there and shed accepted.
Who wouldnt?
The EMS had cut off her clothes, so, with becoming modesty on both sides, Jake had bundled her into two hospital gowns and signed the discharge papers.

 

 

She was feeling something she had rarely felt before: vulnerability. It felt good to be taken care of. He sat her in one of his leather club chairs in the living room, propped up her feet on a mismatched ottoman, and made her tea.

 

 

Ill get you something else to wear, he told her.

 

 

She was still in the hospital gowns. Have you been hanging around with Kenneth?

 

 

He glanced at her. Huh?

 

 

Never mind. Whatever youve got.

 

 

He went upstairs.

 

 

She sipped her tea and marveled at the fact that she was alive. Her attacker could have killed her
poof!
and she would have been just like Mrs. Alessis, her body empty of her being. That others could be responsible for her death was frightening. Control was her strength, and she was learning how little it meant. Shed spent her adult life dealing with human suffering and loss; shed even assisted at an autopsy. But it was only now, when shed come so close to her own death, that outrage overcame her.
Im a human being. How dare they?
She wanted revenge.

 

 

Jake came back.
Recompense.
Try these. He dropped a pair of his pajamas on her lap.

 

 

I thought for sure youd have your girlfriends sweatpants.

 

 

No girlfriend. No sweatpants.

 

 

Aha.

 

 

I have to go back to the office for a few hours, he said. Well order out when I get back. I called Sam to see if he could come over

 

 

Please, no.

 

 

but he isnt around. So youll be alone. Dont open the door to anyone. He looked at her, concerned. Do you need help putting on the pajamas?

 

 

I can do it. She tried to stand, fell back. Ow! I can put on the top, but you better help me with the bottoms.

 

 

Sounds good to me.

 

 

Lascivious scientist.
She felt a throb of desire. Turn around.

 

 

Why? I see naked bodies all the time.

 

 

Dead
naked bodies. Turn around.

 

 

Okay, okay.

 

 

Manny slipped out of the hospital gowns, put on the top, and buttoned it. It was maroon with little ivory diamonds on it
hideous
but the cotton was smooth, luxurious. She rolled up the sleeves and thought of lying next to him in bed.
The codeine is messing with my head.
I need help now.

 

 

Jake got down on one knee and placed her feet in the legs.
Is he about to propose?

 

 

I think you need to roll them up, she said.

 

 

He pushed them up discreetly so her feet stuck out of the bottoms. His hands touched her calves. She shivered.

 

 

Are you okay?

 

 

Fine, she squeaked.

 

 

Good. Lean forward and pull them up. Be careful not to put weight on that leg.

 

 

She gave her tush a wiggle and tied the cord at the waist. There.

 

 

He looked at her like a man, not a physician.

 

 

Go back to work, she said. There are bodies waiting for you.