Джеймс Паттерсон - Lost

Three days later, I found myself at the Miami International Airport with Steph Hall saying goodbye to Marie.

Marie had been chatty on the way to the airport, updating me about what she’d been hearing from the kids. Even the children still at the facility in Amsterdam seemed to be adapting well, though Marie said they all asked about me.

We were quiet a moment. I said, “Did this investigation work out the way you’d hoped?”

“We broke up Hanna’s smuggling group. That’s all I wanted. I’m sure I’ll get onto the scent of another group soon.” She looked at me closely. “What about you? Did the case work out for you?”

I smiled. “We saved some kids. That’s all I ever want to think about.”

Marie and I stood close together near the gate while Steph spoke with Magda a dozen feet away. Marie surprised me when she hooked her finger around mine and leaned in closer. “I hope this isn’t a permanent goodbye,” she said.

I smiled. “No way.”

“Are they letting you stay on the task force?”

“Looks like it. It’s tough to discipline someone who the Miami Herald calls a ‘hero cop.’”

“Why do you say it like that? You are a hero.”

“I’m lucky, that’s all. So many things could’ve gone wrong. Or, I should say, even more wrong. But the FBI liked the press, so I’m still on the task force.”

“Will you find another case connected to Amsterdam?”

“Probably. I’ll try.”

“I’m glad.”

Then she surprised me again by taking my face in her hands and kissing me long and deep. When we stopped, the smiles on our faces said it all.

That was it. There was nothing I could say that would top that kiss. The last call for boarding came over the speaker. Magda joined Marie and they got on the plane.

I turned to Steph, who was grinning at me. I said, “We’re just friends.” I winked and started walking. I could hear Steph snicker as she followed.

Chapter 105

THAT EVENING, I was trying to figure out my life. It had been hard watching Marie leave. But I knew I’d see her again soon.

My home life had improved. Sure, I still took a step close to my sister to smell her breath for alcohol every evening when I came home, but my mom had started taking a couple of new prescriptions, and her condition had improved. She was much more in the moment and called me by my real name most of the time.

I finished eating a meat loaf my mom had made as we chatted about her hobbies. Mom was quite animated for a change. Then the conversation turned to my romantic life, like it always seemed to.

My mom said, “Are you going to see that lovely girl Marie again?”

“I hope so. You know she had to go back to Amsterdam.”

“Too bad. She was smart and beautiful. That’s a combination that’s hard to find anywhere.” She looked over at my sister, who was in the kitchen, and then back at me and added, “Except in this family.”

I laughed. I appreciated my mother’s keen sense of humor, these precious times when she was lucid and in the moment. I said, “Did you do anything interesting today?”

“I played piano for Chuck.”

Oh no! My heart sank. I cut my eyes over to my sister in the kitchen. We’d lost her again. I didn’t understand the broad smile Lila had on her face.

My mom said, “Then Chuck showed me some stretches and sat with me until Lila got home from work.”

Lila was still smiling. I excused myself from the table and stepped into the kitchen. “What’s with the grin? You look like the Cheshire cat.”

Lila giggled and said, “I’ve been waiting for this conversation for a couple of days.”

“Why is that?”

“The nursing company has been sending a new aide over in the afternoons, a young guy named Chuck.” She laughed.

I mumbled, “‘The only thing I know is that I know nothing.’”

Lila said, “Jean-Paul Sartre?”

“Socrates, but at least you’re playing the game now.” I smiled.

“After years of your quotes, I had to pick up some of it. I even quoted Plato on the playground at school the other day.”

“Oh yeah? What quote?”

“Something like ‘You can discover more about a person in play than conversation.’”

“Close enough. I’m impressed.” For the first time I noticed Lila was dressed up. “What’re you up to tonight?”

“Going out with some friends. I’ll save you the trouble of spying on me—it’s three girls, you know them all, we’re not going to any of the clubs you told me to stay away from, and I have to work tomorrow so I won’t be drinking much. Happy?”

“Not as happy as I’d be if I could direct your entire life, but it’s a start.”

My sister kissed me on the cheek, then kissed my mom good night. When she got to the door, she turned and said, “You’re being surprisingly reasonable about this.”

“You’re an adult. I trust you. Just use your head.” I wasn’t worried, although I couldn’t help but touch the phone in my pocket. The tracker Chill had put on her car was still there. I didn’t intend to use the tracker. Unless I had to.

I did more than enjoy the quiet evening with my mother. I appreciated it. She was interested in what I was working on and what the next steps in my career were going to be. It wasn’t until I talked to her about the task force that I realized how much I wanted to stay on it. It was where I was meant to be.

I had one more item to take care of on our human-smuggling case. It was something I was looking forward to. Nothing I would bother my mom with, but the idea of it made me smile.

Chapter 106

IT WAS EIGHT fifteen in the evening, and I had timed our arrival perfectly. Steph and I were dressed in professional clothes, nothing flashy. This ballroom at the Fontainebleau in Miami Beach held two hundred of the area’s wealthiest and best-connected residents. Rich people liked to show off their clothes and be seen at charity and award events like this one. Even though everyone knew it was all bullshit.

I slipped in the rear door with Steph Hall. A Miami Beach lieutenant, wearing his dress uniform, did a double take when he saw me. He got up from his table in the back and came over.

The tall lieutenant, who was a little older than me, said in a low voice, “Anti, what brings you here to civilization?”

“Business. What’s going on with you, Sauce?”

“Usual.” He looked up at the stage, where Roman Rostoff was behind a podium delivering his prepared comments in reasonably good English at a slow clip. “Some people don’t look too closely at people’s backgrounds when they give out awards.”

I turned and said, “Steph Hall, this is Lieutenant William Stein. Sauce, this is my partner at the FBI task force.”

The lieutenant said, “The task force that brought Miami-style violence to South Beach last week?”

I took a little bow and said, “The same.”

We all chuckled.

Steph said, “How’d you get the nickname ‘Sauce’?”

The good-looking lieutenant gave a charming chortle and said, “That’s a secret you have to learn over time.” Then the lieutenant realized my business might have to do with Roman Rostoff. “Anti, are you here to stir up shit?”

I just smiled.

He glanced at the stage again and said, “Anything you can do to that ass-wipe is good for all of us. I’ll just pretend I never saw you. I’ve got three more years before I can pull the plug. I don’t want to answer any uncomfortable questions about why I let you roam through here.”

“You got it, Sauce.”

Steph and I were careful not to be obtrusive as we walked along the side of the cavernous ballroom.

At the front of the room, I stepped behind some partitions. They hid me from the audience, but I could see the entire stage. I reached in my coat pocket and pulled out some papers. That’s when a tall young guy with a ponytail, the one who’d run with Billy the Blade, stepped right in front of me. The last time I’d seen him, he’d made veiled threats about my sister, and I’d crushed his testicles in my hand. It looked like he thought he was going to get some revenge.