“I . . . Yes, I did, but I never—”
“And you seduced her with a promise of marriage.”
Frank was almost shouting.
“I never promised her anything!”
“And when she threatened to cause trouble, you took your little brother so she could get her hooks into him.”
“No, I didn’t—”
“Yes, you did, Joe. You took your little brother and gave him to your mistress—”
“No!”
“And you let him think your bastard was his—”
“Stop!” He clapped his hands over his ears, but Frank grabbed his arms and forced them away.
“And you let him marry her, but it was all lies, Joe. You ruined your brother’s life with your lies!”
“No, no! It wasn’t me! It was all Maria’s idea!”
14
Maria jumped up to go see who had come in, and Sarah followed, stopping in the doorway. Maria had found Lorenzo in the hall, and Sarah felt a frisson of alarm. Why was he here?
“Lorenzo,” Maria said with what sounded like relief.
“You are back.”
“They let me go,” he said simply. “The baby?”
As if he’d given the fatal pluck to the taut string holding Maria together, she gave an incoherent cry, threw herself against his chest and began to sob. His arms came around her instantly, holding her to him. His hands moved gently over her back, both comforting and caressing, and Sarah watched mesmerized as his face contorted with what looked like pain.
She remembered yesterday, when she had sobbed against Malloy’s chest. His hands had moved on her the way Lorenzo’s moved on Maria—tenderly, possessively. Had his face been like that, too, twisted with the agony of a desire he could not fulfill? Suddenly, Lorenzo’s interest in helping Maria with the baby was crystal clear.
Sarah must have gasped aloud because Lorenzo’s eyes flew open, and he saw her standing in the doorway. Rage replaced whatever emotions he had been feeling.
“What’s she doing here?” he demanded, disentangling himself from Maria and setting her away from him discreetly.
“Maria sent for me,” Sarah defended herself. “The baby was sick.”
“How dare you show your face here after what you’ve done?” His own face was scarlet, but whether from anger only or because he felt shame at what she’d seen, she couldn’t tell.
Maria was scrubbing the tears from her face with the back of her hand and trying to catch her breath. “Mama gave permission,” she informed him. “The baby is sick. What else could I do?”
“You could send for a doctor,” Lorenzo said impatiently.
“A doctor wouldn’t care if he lived or died,” Maria argued.
“And she would?” he challenged, gesturing dismissively at Sarah.
“Yes.”
Her confidence set him aback, but he didn’t contradict her. Sarah could see the inner battle between pride and honor and his feelings for his brother’s wife. Maria won. He glanced around. “Where is the baby?”
“Sleeping,” Maria said. “She gave him some medicine.”
He glared at Sarah, as if he resented the fact that she’d helped. “Then she can leave now.”
Sarah was only too happy to oblige. Why had Malloy let him go? He must have discovered that Lorenzo wasn’t Nainsi’s lover. “I just need to give Maria the medicine and some instructions for the next few days.”
“Good,” he said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out some money. “Here, this is for your medicine . . . and for your time.” He thrust it into her hand, then headed down the hall toward the interior stairway.
He’d intended to make her feel inferior, and he’d suc-ceeded in making her furious.
“He is upset,” Maria said apologetically. “There was a fight in the restaurant, and he was taken by the police this afternoon.”
Sarah didn’t think that justified his being rude to her, but then she remembered Joe had been taken with him. “I wonder if your husband came back with him.” How odd Maria hadn’t even asked about him.
Maria shrugged, as if she didn’t care. “Did Lorenzo give you enough money for the medicine?” she asked.
Sarah looked down at her palm. “Yes, more than enough.”
“Then tell me what I must do.”
“ What do you mean, it was Maria’s idea?” Frank asked, glaring intently at Joe.
Joe’s gaze flitted wildly around the room, as if he were desperately trying to find a way to escape. Frank slapped the table again to get his attention.
“Joe! What was Maria’s idea?”
“She said . . . she said we couldn’t let the baby go.”
Frank stared at him incredulously. “You told her the baby was yours?”
“I had to! I didn’t know what else to do!”
Frank could think of a lot of options, none of which involved telling his wife he’d gotten a girl pregnant, but it was too late to point any of them out to Joe. Frank glanced at Gino. The young man’s jaw was hanging open, so Frank gave him a glare, silently warning him to shut his mouth and keep it shut.
“Let me make sure I understand,” Frank said, letting his voice express only curiosity now. “You met Nainsi at a dance house and got her pregnant.”
“I didn’t mean to, but . . . She wouldn’t leave me alone.”
“Are you saying she came after you?” Frank asked skeptically.
Joe had the grace to look ashamed. “She liked me. She wanted to get married. I told her she was too young, but she . . . she still wanted to.”
“You could’ve told her you were already married,” Frank reminded him.
Joe’s expression was pained. “She was pretty . . . and fun.”
“So you didn’t tell her because you wanted to keep poking her,” Frank said with contempt.
“She wanted it! She told me she did,” he insisted.
“Or maybe she just wanted to get a baby so you’d have to marry her,” Frank suggested. “And then she did. What did you say when she told you, Joe?”
Joe rubbed his sleeve across his damp forehead. “I told her I couldn’t get married. I told her my mother wouldn’t allow me to marry an Irish girl.”
“But she kept bothering you, didn’t she?” Frank guessed.
“Maybe she even came to the restaurant.”
Joe’s eyes widened in surprise that he had figured this out. “I didn’t think she knew who I was, but she found out somehow. She came by one day, and Maria saw her. I sent her away, but Maria knew. She always finds out everything. I thought she’d be mad at me, but she was only mad because I had given a baby to this girl instead of to her.”
Frank thought that sounded strange, but he didn’t say so.
“So Maria was only worried about the baby?”
“She said it was our family. She said we couldn’t let strangers raise it.”
Frank resisted the urge to glance at Gino. He’d said Italians were devoted to their families, but even so, this seemed a bit much. “So you suggested that Antonio could marry the girl.”
“No, no, I didn’t know what to do. It was Maria. She said Antonio was too young to know anything, and we could trick him. She said he would think the baby was his, and he would marry Nainsi. Then the baby would be in our family, and we could take care of it. She said it was the right thing to do.”
Just when Frank thought he was beginning to understand women a little, something like this happened. “So you’re claiming it was Maria’s idea for you to take Antonio to the dance house and . . . Did Nainsi know all this? Did she know you were going to trick Antonio into marrying her?”
Joe swallowed and rubbed a hand across his mouth.
“I . . . Yes, she . . . I had to tell her! She had to . . . to make him think the baby was his.”
Frank didn’t bother to hide his disgust. “And she just went along with it?”
“She was scared . . . because of the baby. She needed to get married soon. But she . . . she didn’t
like it,” he admitted.
“I’m sure she didn’t,” Frank said. “But she went along with it anyway.”
Joe seemed to shrink into himself. “She said . . . she said she liked the revenge of having my baby under Maria’s nose.”
Now that was the only part of the story that sounded reasonable to Frank. “And what did Maria think about it once Nainsi was living in your house?”
“Oh, she was happy about the baby,” Joe assured him hastily. “And she was nice to Nainsi. Maria is a good woman.”
Nobody was that good, Frank thought. If Nainsi wanted revenge, what did Maria want? “You must’ve been nervous when your mother figured out Antonio wasn’t the baby’s father and wanted to throw Nainsi and the baby out.”
“I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t let her do that, but I couldn’t tell her the truth, either. That’s why I went to Zio Ugo. I thought he could help.”
“But he couldn’t.”
“At first he just laughed at Antonio for being a fool. After Antonio passed out, I told him everything, about the baby and how we’d tricked Antonio. Then Ugo slapped me for doing such a thing to my brother and said I deserved to lose my son.”
“Why didn’t you just tell your mother the truth?” Frank asked reasonably.
Joe gaped at him, horrified. “I committed adultery, got another woman with child, and tricked my brother into marrying her. She would kill me!”
Frank didn’t know whether he was exaggerating or not.
Knowing Patrizia Ruocco, anything was possible, though.
“So you killed Nainsi to save yourself.”
“No! I didn’t kill her! I told you that before. I was with Antonio and Ugo that night!”
“But Nainsi was still alive when you and Antonio came home.”
“How do you know that?” Joe asked in surprise.
“Because you made too much noise when you came in, and she shouted at you to be quiet.”
Joe frowned. “I don’t remember that.”
“Oh, I think you do, Joe. I think that reminded you she was lying in the room across the hall, and you went over there, and you put a pillow over her face, and you held it there while she struggled and fought, and you kept holding it there until she stopped fighting and stopped breathing and she was dead.”
Joe just stared at him, completely baffled. “But I didn’t even go upstairs that night.”
“What do you mean, you didn’t go upstairs that night?”
“I was drunk. Antonio was drunk. I got him as far as the second floor parlor sofa, and I left him there. He didn’t want to sleep in the bed with Nainsi, and I didn’t want to go upstairs where she was either, so I went into Lorenzo’s room and got in bed with him.”
“You didn’t go upstairs to the third floor at all that night?” Frank asked with a frown.
“No, Lorenzo will tell you. He pushed me out of bed and made me sleep on the floor. He said I stunk of whisky.”
Frank clearly remembered Maria’s account. She’d said Nainsi was still alive when Joe got home, because she’d called out when he woke her up by making noise. She’d said Joe had slept beside her the rest of the night. Frank thought she’d been giving Joe an alibi.
But Joe didn’t need one.
*
*
*
Sarah had finished her explanations and answered all of Maria’s questions. As eager as she was to escape the Ruocco house, she hated leaving Maria alone. The poor woman seemed as fragile as glass.
“You have to promise to take care of yourself, Maria,”
Sarah said.
“I will,” Maria replied, but the promise held no conviction.
“I mean it. Remember what I said about you getting sick. You have to eat three good meals a day and sleep as much as you can.”
“I will be fine. The baby will be fine,” Maria said, although her words sounded more like a plea than an assurance.
Sarah sighed in defeat. Not knowing what else to do, she began to close up her medical bag. Malloy should know what she’d learned about Lorenzo not going to the dance houses and about his true feelings for Maria. She wasn’t sure of the significance, but she knew he needed all the information about the family that he could get. If he’d decided Lorenzo wasn’t the killer—and he must have if he’d let Lorenzo go—then who else was left?
“The baby should sleep for a while,” Sarah said when she was ready to leave, “because of the paregoric.”
“But I’ll wake him if he sleeps too long, like you said,”
she promised earnestly.
Sarah patted her shoulder. “I know you’ll take good care of him, Maria. Have you decided on a name for him yet?”
she asked in an effort to be more positive.
Maria smiled, but it wasn’t a happy smile. “Yes,” she said. “I am going to name him Joseph.”
“Joseph,” Sarah echoed uncertainly. “After . . . after Jesus’ father,” she tried.
“The Virgin Mother’s husband,” Maria corrected her.
“No, that is not why.”
Maria was still smiling, her face twisted into a expression that made Sarah’s skin crawl. She’d seen that smile on her face before, but when? Then she remembered. It was the last time they’d been talking about a name for the baby. What had she said then? Sarah couldn’t remember.
“After your husband then?” Sarah guessed.
“Yes, but not Giuseppe. The baby is American. He needs an American name.”
Sarah thought Maria was asking for trouble. “Will Mrs.
Ruocco let you name the baby after Joe?”
“She has nothing to say about it. He is my baby.”
Sarah was sure Mrs. Ruocco would have plenty to say about it, but she decided not to mention that to Maria. In fact, she decided not to say anything else of importance to Maria at all. She looked so odd, and her eyes suddenly seemed over-bright. Just like they had before, the last time she’d been asking about the baby’s name. What had Maria said then?
Something about the baby’s father.
That she should name the baby after his father!
Sarah’s blood seemed to stop in her veins. But Joe couldn’t be the baby’s father, could he?
“Mrs. Brandt, why are you looking at me like that?”
Maria asked, although she didn’t seem too concerned.
If Joe was the baby’s father, how would Maria know?
Maybe Nainsi had told her, or maybe Joe had confessed. It didn’t really matter, but that’s why she was going to name the baby after him, as some sort of revenge. “I just . . . I should be going now. I’ve probably over-stayed my welcome.” She needed to tell Malloy about Joe right away.
“I’m going to have the priest baptize him,” Maria was saying.
“I’m sure that will be very nice,” Sarah said inanely, moving toward the doorway. If Joe was the baby’s father, he had an excellent reason for wanting Nainsi dead. “I really should be going. You know what to do for the baby. Just follow my instructions.”
“Do you think Joe should be his godfather?” Maria asked, following her.
Out in the hallway, Sarah tried to decide which route to take. If she went down the inside stairs, she might meet the other Ruoccos. The outside stairs would be quicker, and she could escape unnoticed.
“I’m sure it doesn’t matter what I think,” Sarah said, forcing a polite smile. “That’s something the family will have to decide.”
“No, I am the one to decide, Mrs. Brandt,” Maria said in a tone Sarah had never heard her use before. “No one will tell me what to do with my baby.”
Sarah looked at her in surprise. Her dark eyes fairly glittered, and Sarah realized she’d been right to be worried about her. She looked as if the bonds holding her tethered to reality were quickly fraying. “Of course not,” Sarah assured her quickly. “You were very generous to insist on keeping him, and you have every right to make these decisions.”
“No one will tell me what to do with
my baby,” Maria repeated meaningfully. “Not even you.”
Now Sarah began to feel alarm. If Maria decided to ignore her instructions . . . “I’m only trying to help you, Maria, but if you don’t trust my advice, please consult another nurse or a doctor. I won’t be offended.”
“I won’t give him to another woman,” she said. “I’m his mother now.”
For a moment, Sarah didn’t know what she was talking about, and then she recalled Maria’s objection to finding a wet nurse. “I never meant you should give him to another woman,” Sarah assured her. “I was just—” She caught herself. Maria wasn’t thinking rationally, so reasoning with her was a waste of time. “I know you’ll do what’s best for him,”
she said instead. “I must go now.”
Sarah chose the outside stairs. She had to find Malloy and figure out what to do before Maria had a complete break-down. Maria followed her, seeing her out like a good host-ess. Ordinarily, Sarah would have told her to send for her if she needed anything, but she didn’t think Maria would appreciate such an offer.
Sarah opened the door and looked over her shoulder at Maria. “Good-bye,” she said and quickly stepped into the stairwell. Only when she’d taken the first step did Maria’s expression register: pure, molten hatred.
Shocked, Sarah turned back just in time to see Maria lunging toward her. Sarah threw herself against the wall and out of the way just as Maria’s body would have slammed into hers. Someone screamed as Maria’s momentum carried her headlong down the steps.
Instinctively, Sarah reached out to catch her, but she was too late. Maria’s body tumbled and twisted and struck the first landing with a sickening thud. The landing slowed her impetus, and Maria’s body slid down only a few more steps and stopped.
Somewhere, Sarah’s mind realized that Maria had tried to kill her, but she would deal with that later. Now, she hurried down to the landing to see if she could help. As if from a great distance, she heard people shouting, and as she reached Maria’s crumpled form, someone started running up the stairs from below.
Leaving Joe alone, Frank took Gino into the room where they’d questioned Lorenzo earlier.
“He’s gotta be lying,” Gino said. “He was Nainsi’s lover, and the girl was going to tell his mother the baby was his so Mrs. Ruocco wouldn’t throw her out.”
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