“I had the exits sealed as soon as I got off the phone with you. A guy at every door, couldn’ta been more than five minutes after we talked.”
“That obviously wasn’t fast enough to catch him.”
“I’m keeping an open mind, but you should, too, okay? Just hear me out on this scenario. You’re putting the screws to Jasmine. She freaks out, gets up and runs off like a bat out of hell, bumping into people left and right. She punched that broad so hard she fractured her jaw, you know. A guy grabs her. Not Slice, okay, just some moke she pissed off by bumping into him. He grabs her, but he doesn’t do anything to her. End of the day, she’s so freaked out, she runs out onto a catwalk, and she falls. By accident. A hundred people saw it. Every one of ’em says she lost her footing accidentally.”
Incensed, Melanie shook her head. “No, no way!”
“Okay, why not?”
“Because! The guy came from behind me. Jasmine only ran in the first place because she saw him coming, over my shoulder. And he followed her-I watched him. He followed her all the way to the escalator, at least fifty feet through a crowded room, before he grabbed her. That’s why! I’m telling you, it was Slice! I’m not saying he pushed her. But he chased her out there. He caused her to fall.”
Dan looked down at her steadily, an indulgent smile slowly spreading over his face.
“Okay. Melanie Vargas is so damn sure that’s what happened, then that’s what happened.”
“Don’t humor me. It’s condescending.”
He sighed. “What do you want me to say? Based on all the facts, honestly, maybe it was Slice, maybe it wasn’t. You never saw his face, so you can’t say for sure. Even if we caught him, you couldn’t ID him. Plus, maybe it’s too upsetting for you to think Jasmine freaked out after talking to you, ran away, and fell off a ledge, right?”
She grabbed Dan’s arm fiercely, her fingers digging into his forearm. “You’re kidding me! You’re not seriously suggesting I’m imagining things so I won’t have to feel guilty? I’m not like that.”
“Uh.” He looked down at her hand. “No, I take that back.”
She let go. “Sorry.”
“Man, wouldn’t want to face you down in a dark alley!”
“I may be upset, but I know what I saw.”
“Okay, I hear you.”
“Don’t you even care that this girl is dead?”
“Of course I care. Jasmine was a civilian, even if she went with that animal Slice. She wasn’t a bad kid, and she was actually a decent mother.”
“Mother? You knew about her baby?” She looked at him sharply.
“Oh,” he said, startled, “yeah.”
“You knew she had a baby with Slice?”
“Yeah.” He shrugged. “Guess I heard that at some point.”
“You heard it when? Why didn’t you say so when I told you about that tape last night? You acted like you didn’t even believe she was Slice’s girlfriend!” She took a step backward, hands clenching. “What the hell is going on?”
“Whoa, calm down, okay? Let’s get my car, and then I’ll explain.”
“How are you gonna explain that? I feel like you lied to me, Dan. You better not’ve, because you’re the only person in my life I trust right now.”
As she said that, she realized how true it was. The thought scared her as much as anything else that had happened recently.
He took a step closer, looking down at her with earnest blue eyes. He had such an honest face. Such a handsome, all-American, innocent face. Could he be lying with a face like that?
“Melanie, please. Don’t be upset. I promise, I want to catch this guy every bit as bad as you do, okay?”
“Then why cover up the fact that Jasmine and Slice had a baby together?”
“I was protecting a source.”
“You were protecting a source, so you lied to me?”
“Hey, I didn’t lie, all right? Maybe I didn’t give up every last detail, but that’s a big difference.”
She said nothing, shaking her head incredulously.
“You gotta understand,” he said, “I have my own priorities and obligations. Every agent does. But we’re still on the same team.”
“Oh, gee, glad to hear it.”
“That’s right! Never doubt it either. You’re upsetting me, you know.”
“I’m upsetting you!”
“That’s right!”
He looked away, seemingly stung. She had a powerful urge to reach out and touch him. But she kept her hands at her sides. Dan obviously had his own agenda, and she had no idea what it was. Maybe this whole thing was a con, start to finish-his admiration, the way he looked at her. She was surprised how much that idea hurt. But it would serve her right, for being weak. She’d known the instant they met that she found him attractive. She knew how vulnerable she was, how devastated by Steve’s affair, and yet she’d let her guard down. It wasn’t smart. She had to stop. She’d fight it harder. Keep her eyes open. Remind herself not to trust him, not to like him too much.
Dan looked back at her. “I’m only this upset because I care what you think.”
Can it, she wanted to say. With everything I’ve been through, I’m sharp enough to see through your bullshit.
“Dan, please,” she said instead. “Can we focus on Jasmine right now?”
“Sure. Of course.” His eyes were wary, as if he expected her to say something else to hurt him.
“Do you have an address for her?” she asked. “We need to notify the next of kin.”
“Us? That’s not our job. Somebody from the ME’s office-”
“We’re doing it,” she said flatly.
He looked at her and saw how much it mattered.
“Okay, yeah. I know where she lived. Come on, my car’s down in the garage.”
OF COURSE JASMINE LIVED IN BUSHWICK. DAN seemed to know his way around, so Melanie restrained herself from giving him directions. She knew if he went the most direct route, he’d take her old street, drive by the house she grew up in. She planned to keep quiet about it.
She was looking out the window, and, bam, there it was. It’d been years since she’d seen it. The attached brick house looked exactly the same. Maybe a little smaller, but the passage of time played tricks like that. The unisex hair salon that had replaced her father’s furniture store on the ground floor was still there. Through the plate glass, she caught a glimpse of Inez, the owner, sitting in a chair smoking. She looked the same. Heavy, with a big mole on her lip. There were no customers. Amazing how these small businesses could survive year after year on practically no income. Her father’s store had been like that, hanging on, a fixture in the neighborhood, just surviving. Until, one day, it didn’t. The banners were in English and Spanish. CASH AND CARRY. NAME YOUR PRICE. At the end of the day, as the Salvation Army truck drove off with what was left, Uncle Freddy handed her mother a pile of cash. “But where will Papi work when he comes back?” Melanie asked desperately. Her mother just looked at her, then walked into the house.
“You okay?” Dan asked, glancing at her with concern.
“Sure.”
“I’m really sorry about Jasmine. First Rosario, then her. That’s a lot in two days.”
“Yeah.”
She had no interest in explaining herself. She watched the familiar blocks roll by until they got to Jasmine’s street.
The apartment was what she expected-a third-floor walk-up with peeling paint and the smell of urine in the hallway, but otherwise all right. Could’ve been a lot worse. Standing on the landing, she heard a small child crying inside. She looked at Dan grimly, then pushed the buzzer.