Мэри Эндрюс - The Newcomer

“I never raised a hand to my daughter,” Wingfield said. “I love Maya. I would never.”

“She told Letty and me that she hid under the bed and didn’t come out until Letty arrived and found Tanya’s body,” Joe said. “Seeing you—today? That was the first time Maya told Letty what happened that day. You must have triggered something powerful in that poor little kid.”

Wingfield’s face paled. “Maya has a vivid imagination. None of that happened. I never abused or hit her mother. She’s four. Kids make up stuff like that.”

“Yeah,” Vikki Hill said, nodding thoughtfully. “We might have believed that. Except that we’ve seen video that proves otherwise.”

“You’re nuts,” Wingfield said. “What video?”

“Tanya was no dumb bimbo, despite what you think,” the FBI agent said. “You know that stuffed elephant your daughter carries with her everywhere?”

“Ellie. So what?”

“So Tanya hid a teeny-tiny little nanny cam in that elephant. So she could spy on you when you had custody of Maya.”

Wingfield pressed his lips together and stared at the ceiling.

“We watched a video clip of you and Tanya fighting in her car on a day she was dropping Maya off at your place for visitation,” Vikki said. “There’s lots of that stuff, over hours and hours of video. Maya was crying because she didn’t want to get out of Tanya’s car. She was so upset she wet her pants. Sound familiar?”

“On advice of my attorney, I’m not speaking to you,” Wingfield said.

“Here’s my advice,” Vikki said. “Rest up now, because as soon as the hospital releases you, you’re headed to jail, where it’s almost never quiet. But you shouldn’t get too comfortable there, because you’ll be headed back to New York just as soon as the homicide charges and extradition papers are filed.”

“He’s a lucky guy, facing murder charges there instead of down here,” Joe said, addressing the FBI agent. “Being as Florida is a death penalty state and all.”

They walked out to the parking lot together, pausing beside DeCurtis’s pickup truck. “Are you headed back to the motel?” Joe asked. Vikki pushed a strand of dark hair behind her ear. “No. I gotta drive back over to Tampa. The SAC is coming into the office, and Garcia and I are gonna brief him before we get started writing reports. Then I’ve gotta get on another call with Cheryl Shapiro. I think they’re setting up a press conference for midweek to announce the grand jury indictments.”

“Busy day,” Joe said. He pulled out his phone and looked at the call log. “My chief wants to be briefed on what all went down out at the beach this afternoon. Apparently, ‘concerned citizens’ have been calling in to report a police shooting. And I need to get back to that sheriff down in Immokalee and let him know we’ve got Rooney in custody.”

“I’ll see you around then,” Vikki said. She turned to go, but changed her mind. “One thing. Back there, in the ER? I kept waiting for you to break the news to Wingfield that he isn’t really Maya’s father. But you didn’t.”

“It’s not my story to tell,” Joe said. “I’m gonna let you feds make that call. Or Letty.”

Vikki Hill studied his face. “You feel sorry for him, don’t you? Even after everything you know about what a cold, murdering piece of shit he is, you feel sorry for Evan Wingfield, because he’s eventually going to find out that Maya isn’t his.”

“Me?” He unlocked the truck, opened the door, and climbed behind the wheel. “Nah.”

She watched him drive away. “Sure you do,” she said, under her breath.

60

JOE TEXTED HER AS HE was leaving the pizza place.

Dinner?

He waited a few minutes, tempted by the smell of hot yeasty crust, tomato sauce, and garlic. Instead of opening the box, he drove over to the Murmuring Surf and parked in the lot.

It was after nine, but he could see lights shining from inside her unit.

His phone finally pinged.

Can’t. Maya’s asleep.

Perfect. Be there in five. Bringing wine.

They ate the pizza on paper plates on the patio and Letty poured the red wine into juice glasses. She left the sliding glass door open in case Maya called out for her.

By unspoken mutual agreement neither of them discussed the day’s earlier events.

Letty refilled her wineglass and sipped appreciatively. She plucked a blossom from the vine covering the patio fence and inhaled the scent. “You know, I’m gonna miss this place.”

Joe reached for her hand. “Then why leave? Wingfield’s headed back to New York as soon as the extradition papers come through. Rooney’s locked up. You’re safe now. Maya’s happy. You’ve got a job. My mom loves you. Everybody here loves you.”

She raised one eyebrow. “Everybody?”

“Well, maybe not Merwin. He hates everyone.”

Joe tugged at her hand and patted his lap. “C’mere.”

Letty put her glass of wine on the table and obliged, curling up on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck, and resting her head on his chest.

“See?” He kissed the top of her head. “It’s nice here. You should stay.”

She yawned. “Could get awkward when you have to go to work.”

“I don’t mean right here, exactly. I get why you don’t want to raise a kid in a motel room. But you could live with me…”

“Joe…”

“Just let me finish, please. I’ve been thinking about this a lot. My place is no palace, okay? I’m a single guy. But it’s got two bedrooms and two baths. Maya could have her own bedroom. Okay, so the second bathroom is only a sink and a toilet, but I’ve been thinking I could put a shower in there, so she’d have her own bathroom. I know how to do plumbing. I had to learn it all, growing up here. I can do plumbing, electrical, tile, you name it. We could even add a second story if you want. The kitchen at my place sucks, I admit. But we could fix it up. You can design it, and I’ll do whatever you want in there. New counters, floors, appliances.”

“Joe,” she tried again, but his enthusiasm was unstoppable.

“The best thing about my place is where it’s at. I’ve got a fenced yard. There’s a big old oak tree out there—at least I think it’s an oak. I’m not so good on garden stuff. We could put a swing set under there for Maya, in the shade. And maybe a playhouse. She likes pillow forts, I bet I could build her a playhouse. And we’d get a dog. I always wanted one, but never felt good about having one before, because I’m at work all day, but with you and Maya there, we could get a dog. Hell, if she insists, she can even keep one of Midnight’s kittens too. And did I mention it’s waterfront? Just a canal, but it’s deep water and I’ve got a dock with davits where I keep the boat. We’d go for boat rides. Dolphin-watching. Remember, we talked about that? And I’d teach Maya how to fish. And water-ski, when she’s older…”

Letty touched her fingers to his lips.

“That is the loveliest offer anyone has ever made me. Truly. But Joe, we can’t stay.”

“Why not?”

Letty slid off his lap and stood looking out at the sky. “I talked to Tanya’s lawyer today. I’ve got to go back to New York. There’s so much stuff to settle with her estate. The most important thing is, we’ve got to get a judge to name me as Maya’s legal guardian.”

“But Wingfield isn’t even her biological father,” Joe protested. “He’s going to prison, and if I have anything to do with it, he’ll spend the rest of his life there. And besides, your sister left a will naming you as Maya’s guardian. What is there to fight?”

“Tanya represented to Evan that he was Maya’s father. His name is on her birth certificate. So right now, as far as the law is concerned, he is, in fact, her father. I’ll probably have to get a DNA test to eliminate Evan as Maya’s father.”