Mary thought a minute, and her heart answered for her.
Chapter Fifty.
"Hey, honey," Mary said, choking up when Anthony rushed into her hospital room, his dark eyes wide with alarm.
"Babe, what the h.e.l.l happened?" He hurried over to the bed, sat down heavily, and scooped her up in his arms, rocking her back and forth. "My G.o.d, what happened? How did this happen? Who hurt you?"
"Aw." Mary buried herself in the warmth of his neck, blinking away tears that caught her by surprise. The smell of beer and other people"s cigarettes clung to his oxford shirt, but she didn"t mind. "Were you out? Sorry I couldn"t make it."
"Oh my G.o.d, who cares?" Anthony held her close to his chest, resting his cheek on her head. "I can"t believe this! I thought you were okay!"
"I thought I was, too." Mary sobbed, but she sensed they weren"t talking about the same thing. She"d thought she was fine, having been installed in a nice private room after her MRI and X-ray, and she hadn"t realized she was upset until she saw him. Maybe that"s what love was, after all. It struck her that whoever you cry in front of, that"s who you love.
Anthony pulled back, his eyes filming as they searched hers. "Honey, somebody tried to kill you? Are you okay? What the h.e.l.l is going on?"
"How did you find that out?" Mary wiped her tears, with a final sniffle. "The nurse didn"t tell you that, did she?"
"No she just said it was a car accident, not serious, and you"d been admitted. But there"s reporters outside, and it"s going to be on the news tonight."
"Oh no, my parents." Mary felt stricken. "I don"t want them to find out that way. I just got put in this room, and the phone and TV aren"t signed up yet. I don"t have my phone."
"Don"t worry." Anthony caressed her arm, his touch soothing. "I called your parents and told them you were in the hospital, and when I found out what the reporters said, I called them from the lobby and told them that, too. They"re up to speed."
"Thank you so much." Mary breathed a relieved sigh.
"They"re on their way with my mother and The Tonys, and I also called Bennie and Judy, who called Lou, Anne, and Marshall."
"Thanks so much." Mary realized she did have a daisy chain, after all.
"Now, what happened, and when did it happen? Your message said you were in a church."
"I was." Mary thought of how she wrecked Rita"s car and felt teary all over again. "Do you have a cell phone? Lonnie"s mother lent me her car and she"s expecting me to bring it back, and that"s the car I crashed. I have to tell her that she shouldn"t worry about the damage. I"ll pay for whatever isn"t covered."
"Lonnie Stall"s mother? What were you doing in her car?" Anthony"s expression changed, and he frowned, puckering his lower lip with regret. "Wait, I forgot, your car got towed the other day. Honey, I"m so sorry. I should"ve gotten a parking s.p.a.ce a long time ago. We"ll rent a s.p.a.ce in the garage from now on, I promise. We"ll get two, or maybe five. Whatever you want, you got it."
"It"s okay." Mary smiled, touched, as Anthony reached into his back pocket and handed her a cell phone.
"Here, I"m so sorry, really."
"No, I"m sorry, I was so caught up." Mary accepted his BlackBerry, scrolled to the phone function, then realized she didn"t remember Rita"s cell-phone number, because it was in her phone. "Give me a second, okay?" She called information, got the church"s main number, and let it ring before it went to voicemail, when she left a detailed message for Rita and hung up. "I hope she gets that."
"I"m sure she will." Anthony gave her another hug and put out his hand for the cell phone. "You finished with that?"
"Yes." Mary handed it back, then hesitated. "Wait a minute. I"d love to call Weber and see what"s going on at the Roundhouse. I have to believe she"ll reopen Lonnie Stall"s case now, but she wasn"t making any promises when she threw me out."
"Really? That"s awesome!" Anthony"s eyes widened, and he handed her back the phone. "Do it. Make whatever calls you need to."
"Thanks." Mary took the BlackBerry and scrolled to the phone function again, then stopped short, having second thoughts. Weber would have to reopen the case, after what had happened at the Roundhouse tonight, and Mary didn"t need a call to confirm what she knew was inevitable. Instead, she looked up at Anthony, and when her eyes met his, an empty s.p.a.ce in time was created, one that was filled not by phone calls, but by the depth of their connection and the love she felt for him. And in that moment, Mary eyed his handsome face, with his patient and loving expression, and she learned something she hadn"t known before. She set the phone aside, leaned over, and kissed him gently on the lips, then harder, with enough emotion to hurt her bandaged jaw.
"Wow!" Anthony grinned, startled, when the kiss was over. "What was that about?"
"Believe it, baby. You just got tongue, in a hospital room."
"I know." Anthony burst into laughter, a deep masculine sound that emanated from his chest, even his heart. "What did I do right?"
"Everything, and when we get home, you might get attempted-murder s.e.x."
"That sounds even better than partnership s.e.x." Anthony laughed again.
"Oh, it is. It involves the element of danger, plus a major felony."
"Yowza!" Anthony lifted an eyebrow.
"Partnership s.e.x is for lawyers. Attempted-murder s.e.x is for bada.s.ses."
"Listen to you!" Anthony grinned crookedly, reaching over and moving a strand of hair from her jaw bandage. "You"re a bada.s.s now?"
"Yes, I am. I hit people in the face with bricks. I"m a changed woman." Mary felt momentarily proud of herself, which was all she was allowed. "At least temporarily."
"I love you, and I love any woman you want to be, even temporarily."
"I love you, too," Mary said simply, and then she found herself adding, "And by the way, where the h.e.l.l is my engagement ring?"
Anthony"s happy grin evaporated, and he looked at her with newly serious eyes. "You sure you want that ring? Any idiot can see that you haven"t exactly been psyched about getting married."
Mary felt a lump in her throat, pained that she had hurt him. "That was before, but this is after, and after, I know how lucky I am."
"MARY, MY POOR BABY!" came a shout from the doorway, then, "Maria, cara!"
"Pop! Ma! Everybody!" Mary called back, as her parents, The Tonys, El Virus, Anthony"s brother Dom, Bennie, Judy, Lou, Anne, and Marshall piled into the not-so-private room, filling it with hugs, tears, and contraband baked ziti, until everybody settled down, finding chairs, beds, and window ledges to sit on while Mary told them everything that had happened, editing out the scary parts so she didn"t give her favorite senior citizens a collective cardiac arrest.
"MARE, WE"RE SO PROUD A YOU!" her father said when she was finished, hugging her again, and Mary would have thanked him, but everybody talked at once, like an Italian happy ending.
"Si cara, ti amo!" her mother said, hugging her next in line.
"Mare, you did a great job!" Feet grinned, from his wheelchair.
"Mary, you"re the bee"s knees, get it?" said Tony-From-Down-The-Block, but n.o.body laughed.
"Maria, che magnifica, bravissima!" Pigeon Tony blew her a kiss.
"Mary, you"re the best daughter-in-law I could ask for!" El Virus said, tears in her eyes, and Dom looked over.
"You mean, "daughter," Ma. Mary"s a lawyer, and you gotta keep it legal." Dom turned to Mary with a toothy smile. "By the way, great job, Mare. You did the Rotunno name proud."
Her father looked over. "DOM, SHE"S A DINUNZIO! IN THE NEWSPAPERS TOMORROW, IT"LL SAY DINUNZIO!"
"You did an amazing job!" Judy applauded, her face alive with happiness. "Congratulations, and thank G.o.d you"re okay. Next time, don"t get attacked without me!"
"Mary, I got to tell you, you"re gonna put me out of a job." Lou smiled at her warmly. "I hardly lifted a finger."
"Mary, way to go!" Marshall grinned.
Anne looked happy, but worried. "Great job, Mary, but no job is worth your life."
Bennie looked askance at Anne, then flashed Mary a thumbs-up, with a sly grin. "Brilliant work. Way to go, partner."
Mary felt happy and excited, despite the undercurrent of warfare between the DiNunzio and Rotunno clans. "Thanks so much, everybody. You"re all wonderful to come and see me tonight, and I"m so lucky to have all of you in my life."
Bennie rose, brushing off her khaki suit. "We"re lucky, too, especially me. Maybe we should put your name on the letterhead? Rosato & DiNunzio. What do you say?"
"I say yes," Mary answered, with a happy smile.
Chapter Fifty-one.
The next morning, Mary got herself discharged from the hospital, left a bewildered Anthony at home, changed into jeans and a cotton sweater, and hit the highway in Mike"s old lime-green BMW 2002, which started the moment she twisted on the ignition and still hummed all the way out to Townsend, under clearing skies that she couldn"t help but feel were metaphorical.
In time, Mary reached the winding road to Houyhnhnm Farm, braked, and pressed the b.u.t.ton on the Gardners" call box. "It"s Mary," she said simply, knowing they would see her immediately. The gates opened wide, and she steered through, followed the gravel road to the house, and parked in the family parking lot, where she cut the ignition and got out of the car.
The air was balmy, sweet, and clean, and Mary took a deep breath, inhaling a lungful before she confronted the task at hand. She walked toward the house, surrounded by the green and glorious property, with its bay horses grazing in the pastures and noisy birds chirping in the aviary. Nothing would suggest this was a home in crisis. Perhaps it always had been, but n.o.body had known it before.
"Mary?" she heard a man"s voice ask, and she looked over to see Alasdair striding toward her, dressed in a T-shirt and riding breeches, presumably because thoroughbreds had to be exercised, indictments or no.
"Hey, Alasdair." Mary walked over to him, and they met on the gravel road near the entrance to the house.
"I didn"t recognize the car. The police and various lawyers have been coming and going, most of the morning. You threw me off."
"It was my husband"s." Mary"s chest still tightened when she looked at the car. "It runs a lot better than it looks."
"Oh, I"m sure it does. It"s a beauty. I drive a Triumph, the TR6, which was made by British Leyland. I fixed it up myself."
"So I guess you heard."
"Yes, and my wife and I are so sorry about what happened to you." Alasdair touched her arm, frowning with concern. "How are you? Is your jaw injured?"
"No, I"m fine, and it"s nothing serious."
"Who knew Richard and Neil would do such a thing?" Alasdair shook his head, his expression pained. "Who knew about any of it?"
"n.o.body did, and it"s Allegra I"m worried about. I"m going to see her as soon as I finish here."
"Good, give her my love and tell her the bees are doing wonderfully. You think they"ll let her come home now?"
"I"m hoping." Mary glanced at the house, bracing herself. "I"d better get going."
"Sure, let me know if you need anything." Alasdair patted her arm again, and Mary took off toward the house, where she was met at the door by the housekeeper, who was short and plump, with a kind smile and halo of gray curls.
"h.e.l.lo, I"m Janet. You must be Mary. Please, let me show you in."
"Thanks," Mary said, steeling herself.
Chapter Fifty-two.
The Gardners had a large country kitchen ringed with raw pine cabinets, rustic tile countertops, and top-of-the-line appliances, and Mary sat across from Jane and John Gardner, downcast in their matching polo shirts and khakis, unsure where to begin. "I guess I should explain what happened with Neil last night, then you can fill me in on why you think it all happened."
"Let me go first." John shook his head, his expression softer then Mary had ever seen before, which she should"ve expected. "I owe you an apology, that"s job one. I"m very sorry for the way I treated you from the outset. I said some awful things to you and your colleague, and I"m very sorry, especially in view of what"s come to light now."
"I am, too, very sorry." Next to him, Jane nodded, her hand clutching a fresh Kleenex. "I"m so sorry that you were in danger last night."
"That wasn"t your fault."
Jane pursed her lips. "In a way, it was. We thought we were doing what was best for Allegra, but evidently, we weren"t. We"ve made some grave mistakes in this family and frankly, I don"t know what I"ve been thinking, as a mother."
Mary could see how upset she felt. "I"m sorry too, for coming on so strong in the beginning. I could"ve been gentler."
"Not at all, please." John waved her off. "In any event, to come to the subject, here"s exactly what happened last night, and how we found out about Neil and Richard. Jane and I were here in the kitchen, and I was on the laptop when I saw a story online that Neil had been arrested in the attempted murder of one Mary DiNunzio."
Mary tried to get used to herself being referred to in the third person, especially in the same sentence as attempted murder.
"You can imagine, we had no idea what was going on. We couldn"t believe our ears. The first thing I did was to call Richard and Edward, and they raced over. We all sat down together, right where we are now." John gestured vaguely to a pitcher of fresh lemonade and a platter of oatmeal cookies that sat untouched in the middle of the lovely cherrywood table. "I said that I couldn"t understand why any of this was happening, that it didn"t make any sense. Why would Neil try to kill you? Jane felt the same way, we were both of us flabbergasted. Then Richard announced to the room, "I have something terrible to tell you. I"m going to call a lawyer and turn myself in to the police.""
"What?" Mary"s mouth dropped open, even though Gloria Weber had already given her the gist. But it was one thing to hear it from the Chief, and quite another to hear it from the family.
John swallowed, and his Adam"s apple traveled up and down in the open neck of his polo shirt. "By way of background, you know that Fiona had been working on the Meyers acquisition, doing filing and such at the cottage, for him and Neil."
"Yes."
"Richard said that at the time, he and Neil had been embezzling from one of our clients, the construction of Foster Towers in Salisbury, Maryland, and hiding the theft in cost overruns and change orders. They"d managed to keep it secret for almost a year, acc.u.mulating about six hundred thousand dollars. But then, on the day our new headquarters in the city were to open, Fiona happened to walk in on him and Neil, when they were having a conversation about some of the funds and bank accounts." John pursed his lips, then continued. "Richard didn"t think Fiona overheard anything, but Neil was worried. He knew she was smart and took an avid interest in the business and he was afraid that she"d tell us or the police. Richard calmed him down and believed that he had allayed Neil"s anxiety. Evidently, he hadn"t, and that night at the party, Neil slipped away and murdered her."
Mary couldn"t speak for a minute. She had seen that Neil was a belt-and-suspenders kind of guy, when Feet had fallen. Neil had been so careful to make sure that the company didn"t get sued. But she didn"t dream that would extend to murder.