Мэри Эндрюс - The Newcomer

“Letty?” Joe’s voice was a whisper in her ear. “Come on. You don’t want to do this.”

She was barely cognizant of the sudden stillness that descended over the gawkers.

Evan seemed amused. “What’s this, Letty? You’re gonna shoot me? In front of all these witnesses? I don’t think so,” he taunted. “You’re just like her. You’ve never followed through with anything in your life.”

Letty glanced at Joe, who was still holding his phone.

“I want you to get this on camera, Joe.” She poked Evan in the chest with the barrel of the pistol. “He’s going to tell you how he killed Tanya.”

“Come on, Letty,” Vikki said, her tone even. “Put down the gun. He’s going to prison for life.”

“Tell them what you did to my sister,” Letty repeated.

“Me?” Wingfield looked incredulous. “I gave your sister a career. A home, a kid, clothes, jewelry, everything she ever wanted, until she drank and drugged it all away. That’s what I did for your sister.”

“Liar,” Letty croaked. Her throat was like sandpaper. “You killed Tanya. I know you did. She was getting sober. She was getting better, and she was going to leave and take Maya to California with her, and you told her you’d never let her do that. I heard you threaten her, Evan. And why? You don’t really care about Maya. She’s just another asset as far as you’re concerned.”

Wingfield glanced around at the three cops, who appeared more interested in Letty’s deranged accusations than they were in his safety.

“Your white-trash sister wasn’t fit to raise a gerbil, let alone my daughter,” he said angrily. “And you’re saying Tanya was sober? That’s a joke. She was drinking that morning I went over to her place. Stoned out of her gourd. But you already know that, right? Because after I left, you killed her, and then you grabbed Maya and ran.

“Here’s your murderer, right here,” Wingfield said loudly. “You see her pointing a gun at me? Threatening my life? Why isn’t she in handcuffs instead of me?”

Vikki placed her hand on Letty’s shoulder. “Okay, you’ve said your piece. Come on, Letty. He’s not worth the price of a bullet. Think about Maya. You’re all she’s got left.”

Letty looked at the pistol and then at the FBI agent. Her whole body went limp. Slowly, she uncurled her fingers from the trigger and placed the gun in Vikki’s outstretched hand. In the distance, for the second time that day, they heard the ear-piercing wail of an ambulance.

55

MAYA WAS BORED. SHE AND Isabelle had colored and had snacks. They’d read all the picture books Letty brought home from the library. Now, Isabelle was curled up on the sofa, looking at her phone, laughing at something she was reading.

The wind ruffled the curtains at the open sliding glass doors, and she stepped out onto the patio, looking over her shoulder to see if Isabelle would object, but the teenager was still absorbed in her own world.

A squirrel sat on the garden gate, with a ripe red cherry tomato clutched between its paws. Maya tiptoed toward it, but the squirrel scampered away, leaping onto a frond of the palm tree that shaded the patio.

She saw a flash of black fur speed past. It was Midnight! Maya unlatched the gate and stepped onto the thick grass. Were the kittens still hidden under the big tree? She looked around to make sure that this time, no bad men were waiting in the shadows.

Emboldened, she ran to the tree and peeked beneath the saw-toothed plants with their bright pink throats. The nest of pine needles was bare, with only a few tufts of black fur left behind.

Maya stood up and dusted bits of grass from her T-shirt. Had Midnight gone back to the scary cave where she’d put the kittens before? No. She must have found a newer, nicer place to hide the kittens. Maybe she would ask Isabelle to help her look. Or maybe she would walk over to the office, to ask Miss Ava if they could bake cookies today.

She was walking toward the motel office when she heard the whine of the approaching ambulance. It pulled into the parking lot, and two men in blue uniforms got out. People were walking up from the beach.

From nowhere, she saw Midnight streak past again and dive into a big concrete planter of prickly green asparagus fern near the front door of the office. Even from where she stood now, Maya could hear the kittens’ plaintive mews. Midnight’s babies were hungry and crying for their mama.

Maya was moving steadily toward the planter when she heard her name being called. It was Letty.

Her aunt was walking with Miss Vikki and following three men. One of the men was Mr. Joe, and she didn’t know the other man, but she stopped walking and forgot all about finding Midnight’s kittens when she got close enough to see the man in the middle. He was walking like his foot was hurt, and his head was down, so she couldn’t really see his face.

Suddenly the man raised his head, and when his eyes met hers Maya wanted to run away and hide somewhere safe, like Midnight’s kittens.

“Maya!” Letty cried, when she spotted her niece standing near the door to the office.

“Christ!” Evan said angrily. “What’s she doing here? Who the hell is supposed to be watching my daughter?”

Letty rushed toward Maya. She knelt down beside the little girl, trying to shield her from the sight of her father, bleeding and handcuffed.

Joe joined them a moment later.

“Ladybug,” she said, her voice stern. “You’re not supposed to be out here. You’re supposed to be home with Isabelle.”

“I saw Midnight. And I wanted to see where she hid the kittens.” Maya peered around Letty’s legs, watching as the ambulance attendants unfolded a wheeled gurney from the back of their vehicle.

Isabelle ran up to them, breathless. “Oh my God! Letty, I’m so sorry. I was looking at something on my Insta, and the next thing I knew, Maya was gone.” She looked down at her charge. “Maya Papaya, you scared me!”

“It’s okay,” Letty said. “Please don’t worry. She’s fine.”

“Sowwy, Isabelle,” Maya said.

“What’s going on out here?” Isabelle asked, pointing at the ambulance and the growing crowd of regulars who’d come out of their units to gawk.

“It’s a very long story,” Letty said. She reached down to pick up her niece. “Let’s get you back to the apartment. I think you’ve had more than enough excitement for today.”

“That’s Daddy,” Maya told Isabelle, pointing at Wingfield before hiding her head in Letty’s shoulder. Evan Wingfield was sitting on the stretcher while the EMTs examined his foot. “Why is Daddy here?”

Letty looked at Joe for guidance, but he, too, was at a loss for words.

“He, uh, wanted to visit you, and bring you some new clothes,” Letty began. “But I told him…”

Wingfield looked up just then, his eyes meeting Maya’s. “Hey, baby,” he called. “Daddy’s here. I’ll see you in a little bit, okay?”

“Nooo,” Maya cried. She clamped her hands over her ears. “I don’t want to go to Daddy’s house. He’s a bad daddy. He hurt my mommy.”

Letty’s scalp prickled.

“Do you want me to take her back to your place?” Isabelle offered.

“Wait.” Joe leaned in, his voice calm. “Maya? Can you tell us how he hurt your mommy?”

“No!” Letty said, swinging Maya away from him. “Don’t make her talk about it now.”

“He pushed her down,” Maya said matter-of-factly.

“That’s enough!” Letty said.

But Maya kept on. “Daddy was yelling and saying bad words, and I was asleep, but then I heard Mommy crying, and I was going to give her a hug, like she hugs me when I’m sad.”

“Let her talk, please, if she wants to,” Joe said, his voice low. “This could be important. Please?”