“No, no.”
“Yes, yes.” Christine gave him a big hug, and Griff emitted a soft little grunt. He felt soft, warm, and cuddly in his airplane-propeller bow tie and his rumpled seersucker suit, with a black umbrella hooked over his forearm. He smelled like cedar chips and pencil lead, and as she released him, his hooded eyes twinkled behind his smudgy tortoiseshell glasses.
“What was that for?”
“Thanks for waiting for me.”
“What choice did I have?”
“Thanks for calling 911, too.”
“What was I supposed to do? Who else will work for free?”
“Ha.” Christine felt her smile widen. “What does this mean for Zachary? Do they let him out?”
“Not yet. It takes time. They just started their investigation of Gagliardi.” Griff leaned closer, lowering his voice. “But the D.A. told me confidentially that Gagliardi is definitely the doer. They seized his computer and found photos of Robinbrecht, McLeane, and Allen-Bogen, taken postmortem.”
“You mean, dead?” Christine asked, disgusted.
“Yes.” Griff frowned. “It’s not uncommon for serial killers to take pictures or trophies.”
“What about his wife, did she know?”
“Evidently not. They have no kids.”
“So why was he in the hospitals in the first place?”
“He brokers corporate insurance, mostly for health care systems. He calls on hospital administrators. That’s how he finds his victims. If you hadn’t stopped him, he’d still be killing.” Griff’s half smile returned, and Christine had to admit she was starting to feel satisfied, if not happy.
“I think somebody has to say ‘good job,’ don’t you?”
“Good job.” Griff’s smile broadened, begrudgingly.
“Thanks.” Christine warmed, knowing it was the best she’d get, and it was more than enough. She hadn’t done it for Griff or even Zachary. She’d done it for herself and her baby. “So when does Zachary go free?”
“A day or two, after the government gets through with its red tape.”
“So do we go tell him?”
“First, let’s stop in at the office. I have someone you should meet.”
“Who?” Christine took his arm, and Griff waddled beside her as they left the waiting room.
“You’ll see. By the way, there are reporters outside. Should we tell them I bite?”
“They’ll figure that out.” Christine realized she’d have to come clean to Griff about who she was when they got back to the office. She wanted him to know the truth. “So are you going to make a statement?”
“No, I’ll tell them ‘no comment.’” Griff looked over at her. “Besides, I don’t know if you caught the bad guy. Or the bad guy caught you.”
“A little of both.” Christine managed a smile as they made their way slowly down the hall. “You helped.”
“No I didn’t.” Griff shook his head.
“Yes you did. You showed me I could do it.” Christine had always said that teachers could do anything, and now she knew it was true.
“Let’s take our time, going out. It’s still raining. They’ll get wet.”
“Good idea.” Christine smiled.
“You know, I made a decision. I’m not ready to retire.”
“Good. Don’t.” Christine could see a throng of reporters through the glass exit doors, firing camera flashes in the rain.
“I’m going to get bunion surgery, then get back in business. I’ve got a lot of life left in me. That’s what you showed me.”
“Good.” Christine felt warmed. “But you need a new suit.”
“Nah. All I need is a bulletin board.” Griff laughed at his own joke.
Christine joined him, laughing, as they strolled out, arm in arm.
Chapter Fifty-three
Griff entered his office ahead of Christine, who was tired, hungry, achy, and not completely delighted to see a woman sitting in one of the chairs opposite his desk. The woman had chin-length red hair, and was slim and pretty in a white V-neck T-shirt and hip yoga pants. She had been scrolling through her phone, but she leapt to her feet with an excited smile when they came in.
“Tanya Spencer, meet Christine Nilsson.” Griff eased into his desk chair with a tiny grunt. “And vice versa. From the Latin.”
“Christine, my God, are you okay?” Tanya beamed at Christine, her admiration plain. “It’s amazing, what you did today! You’re a hero!”
“Oh, I don’t know about that, but thanks.” Christine crossed the room and extended a hand, then stopped herself because it was covered with Band-Aids. “Tanya, I’d shake, but maybe that’s a bad idea.”
“Totally, of course, you are a hero! You could have been killed!”
“Luckily, I wasn’t.” Christine sat down, realizing who Tanya was, because her red hair was the tip-off. Tanya must have been Zachary’s new girlfriend, who had paid half of his retainer.
“Thank you so much for what you did for Zachary.” Tanya retook her seat, perched on the edge, close to Christine. “You risked your life to help him. The news is on every channel. I saw the video on my phone.”
“Well, it’s not the way I wanted it.” Christine and Griff exchanged looks since she had filled him in on the way over in the car. “But I’m glad that Zachary isn’t going to have to stand trial for a crime he didn’t commit.”
“I agree, that would’ve been an awful injustice.” Tanya’s eyes flared, a light hazel color, set close together, with no makeup. She gave off a vaguely organic vibe in brown huaraches. “I can’t stand that he’s in prison right now. He doesn’t belong in a disgusting place like that. He never did.”
“No, he doesn’t.” Christine found herself curious about Tanya, especially after Hannah had thought that she was the only girlfriend. “Anyway, it’s nice to finally get to talk to you.”
“Finally? What do you mean by that?”
“I heard about you from Zachary and the woman at the prison. You’re his girlfriend, aren’t you?”
“No,” Tanya answered, with a sheepish smile. “That’s just a story we made up to tell the people at the prison.”
Christine blinked. “So who are you?”
“I’m a single mom, and I conceived my son using donor sperm. Zachary was my donor.”
Christine couldn’t believe her ears. She didn’t know what to say or do for a moment. Griff had fallen uncharacteristically silent, watching her and Tanya. Christine was going to tell him tonight, so she might as well. She turned to face him, but before she could say anything, he winked at her.
“Christine, you didn’t really think I bought your reporter story, did you?”
“You didn’t?” Christine asked, her face reddening, despite the tiny cuts.
“I had my doubts. Like I said, you’re too nice.” Griff smiled, his eyes wrinkling into his deep crow’s-feet. “But I didn’t know what you were up to until Tanya showed up. You’re here for the same reason she is, aren’t you?”
Christine swallowed hard, looking from Griff to Tanya and back again, then took a deep breath. “Yes, I am. Zachary is my donor, too. Donor 3319 at Homestead. I was going to tell you, tonight.”
Tanya’s smile turned sympathetic. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bust you. You didn’t have to say if you didn’t want to. I just don’t think there’s anything to hide.”
Christine couldn’t say she disagreed, but she did feel bad and turned back to Griff. “I’m sorry I lied to you. It just felt too strange to tell you why I was really here. I’m pregnant, is the thing.”
Griff shrugged. “This is a brave new world, my dear. I would have lied to me, too.”
Tanya interjected, “Right, Christine, everybody’s different, so I totally get why you kept it to yourself.”
“Thanks.” Christine had never expected to meet another woman who had a child fathered by Zachary, so she was still trying to process the revelation.
“I used a donor because I hadn’t met anybody that I wanted to marry yet, all the men I met were too immature, and I didn’t want to miss out on having a child. I was going to freeze my eggs, but then I thought, why not just have a baby already?” Tanya’s face lit up. “My mom and dad were all for it, they’d been dying for a grandchild. We all just adore him.”