Mark never raised his voice, never squeezed the shoulder where his hand was draped, but it was clear that Romnasky got the message.
“Check out Sophie. Sitting there looking so contrite, so innocent. She kills me.”
“Can I ask you something, Bay? What is your interest in Sophie?”
He sighed and she could feel his body tense. “I told Mr. Sharpe…uh, I mean, Mark, I know I’m eighteen—”
“Forget that. Do you like her?”
“I… Well, let’s just say if she was eighteen, maybe…but I won’t let myself go there. We’re just friends. The truth is I’m a little in awe of Sophie.”
“How so?”
“I was her once. I did these tours. I had these egomaniacs yelling at me, too. My reaction was to go home and practice endlessly for hours. One conductor got me so worked up I actually froze onstage during a performance, convinced I no longer had the ability to play. Sophie’s different. It’s like she listens to what they are saying and determines for herself what is a valid criticism and what is not. But she never lets them inside her head. Not like I did.”
“She’s pretty amazing.”
“She is. To go through what she did with her mother’s death and then reuniting with her father…I hope he understands how careful he has to be.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Sophie is looking for any excuse to hate him. When he doesn’t provide it she tries to provoke him. As if she can dare him into leaving her. She never cuts him any slack, despite what I’ve told her. Heck, last night she wanted me to help her run away.”
That had JoJo sitting up a little straighter.
“Don’t worry,” Bay said. “I talked her off the ledge. I’m only saying that if Mr. Sh—Mark isn’t careful with her, he might lose her.”
JoJo turned to Bay, his words sending ripples of awareness down her spine. “What did you say?”
“I said—”
“We begin now, yes?” The maestro was on the stage, tapping his baton to gain everyone’s attention.
“Sorry, I have to go.” Bay took his violin case and bolted down the aisle and up the steps to the stage. Mark walked toward JoJo as the sounds of Sophie warming up filled the empty auditorium.
Feeling the seat dip next to her, JoJo considered what to tell him. Bay’s comments could be completely innocuous. Said as a friend who was coming to know Sophie very well. A friend who had talked her out of running away from home. Something that would have been colossally stupid given the threat she was facing.
If JoJo put Bay on the suspect list, Mark would no doubt end all contact between the teens. But JoJo didn’t see any point in bringing a hammer down on the wedge his actions had recently driven between him and Sophie.
It did raise the question, though. What if the notes weren’t a threat? What if Bay was simply trying to let Mark know, anonymously, that he had to be careful? JoJo watched Bay take his place on the stage, putting his violin under his chin. He didn’t seem the type, but how much did she know about him?
It was enough that he would go on her list. For now. Once she knew more about him, then she could decide what to take to Mark.
“Did you make the guy shit his pants?” JoJo asked.
“Yep.”
“Threatening him in Russian. Nice.”
“I didn’t want there to be any miscommunication.”
Together, they watched as Sophie began her solo concerto and was not once interrupted by the maestro. It was a beautiful piece and her remarkable talent was evident with every note.
“She’s okay,” JoJo said, understanding now what Bay meant about being in awe of her. It was a remarkable thing to go through so much and come out still in one piece. JoJo couldn’t say she’d been able to do the same.
“She is. And I’m not going to let anyone hurt her.”
Not a threat, JoJo thought. A promise.
*
THE REHEARSAL ENDED without incident. Sophie walked to where Mark and JoJo were sitting. JoJo had been riveted by each note.
“I thought it was beautiful,” she told the girl, not sure how to express what she’d experienced.
“I still really like the Beethoven guy.”
“You only know the Beethoven guy,” Sophie said, shaking her head. “Are you guys ready to go? Nancy’s coming in an hour.”
They made their way out of the theater. The afternoon sun bore down on them, and they had to squint to adjust their eyes from the darkened theater.
“I’ll get us a cab.” Mark trotted ahead of them.
“See,” JoJo said, bumping her hip against Sophie’s as they walked along the sidewalk. “That wasn’t so bad, now was it?”
“I guess not. I’m not sure what Mark said, but I expected more push-back from Romnasky. He didn’t say anything to me the entire time. You would think he would have corrected me once just to save his pride.”
“I suspect your father’s presence might have had something to do with that.”
“I guess. I have to admit, Mark really was kind of cool about it.” Sophie quickly turned to face JoJo. “Please don’t tell him I said that.”
“Heaven forbid. Hey, listen, what do you know about Bay’s background?”
Sophie scrunched up her face and JoJo imagined she was going to get a barrage of questions about why JoJo cared. Questions JoJo anticipated and had appropriate answers for. Instead, Sophie focused on something over JoJo’s shoulder.
“What the heck—”
JoJo turned and saw a car with a darkly tinted front window coming down the street at high speed. It was hitting the parked cars along the sidewalk and taking off side mirrors. JoJo assessed the loading zone in front of where they stood, empty of parked cars. The out-of-control car was clearing a path to the sidewalk.
Without thinking, she shoved Sophie as hard as she could and watched as the girl stumbled toward the building. Before JoJo could take a step toward her, the bumper hit the back of her knees. Moving with the car’s energy JoJo rolled onto the hood. The car swung dramatically as it turned to the street and she could feel herself sliding off the hood. The next thing she felt was the impact of cement.
Her hip and head slammed into the pavement and her vision went spotty as she tried to put together what happened.
“Oh, my God! Help her! Mark!”
JoJo rolled onto her side. A wave of nausea nearly had her vomiting. She blinked and through dark spots she could see Sophie kneeling over her.
“Get back.”
Her voice sounded weak, but she had to make Sophie listen. The car could return.
What color was the car?
Silver.
What make? What year?
Toyota Camry, older 2000, 2001 maybe.
Did you see the license plate?
“I didn’t see it,” JoJo said to the stern taskmaster in her head, forcing herself to remember everything else. Tinted window. Couldn’t see the driver. Silver hood. But the license plate? What were the numbers? What was the state? Pennsylvania or maybe New Jersey.
“I didn’t see the plate.”
“Shh. Hold on,” Sophie whispered. “Dad’s coming.”
“Move back, Sophie.”
JoJo could hear Mark barking orders. Then he was carefully checking her body, her arms, her legs, along her ribs. She moved to evade his touch, not sure how to deal with his hands all over her.
“You’re moving pretty well, so I’d say there’s no spinal injury. I’m going to pick you up and take you to the cab. It will be faster than waiting for an ambulance.”
JoJo forced herself to take deep breaths. “Don’t need an ambulance.”
“Like hell.”
Then she could feel herself being lifted. Despite the dull throbbing in her side and head, her body registered that this was what it felt like to be carried by a man. It was pretty nice. She hoped she wouldn’t get sick on him while it was happening.
“Sophie, stay in front of me. Open the back door, then get in the front. I’l
l lay JoJo down, okay?”
“Yeah, got it.”
JoJo wanted to say that she could sit up, but Mark wasn’t giving her much choice. He laid her out on the car seat, then circled the vehicle and got in on the other side. He lifted her head carefully and settled it on his lap.
Yet another first for her.
This was JoJo. This was JoJo’s face up close and personal to the Penis.
“Thomas Jefferson,” he told the cabdriver. “Now.”
JoJo wanted to groan. The emergency room at one of Philadelphia’s biggest hospitals was bound to be a zoo. She’d be better off with an ice pack in her hotel room. Then the cab bounced over a pothole and she cried out a little as her hip jostled against the seat.
“Hold on for me, honey. Just a few more minutes.”
“Mark,” she said, blinking as she looked up at his face. “Did you get the license?”
“Don’t worry about that now. Concentrate on breathing, it will help with the pain.”
“I didn’t get the license. I didn’t get it. How could I do that? How could I do that again?”
“Again?”
It was the last thing she heard before she succumbed to her need to simply close her eyes and trust in Mark to make sure everything was okay.
CHAPTER NINE
“SHE NEEDS TO be woken up every few hours.”
Mark nodded. He knew that much about concussions. Standing outside the E.R. room, Mark wondered vaguely if the doctor was older than Sophie. He looked like he would have to work to grow a beard. Mark decided he’d never been this young.
“Other than that, the X-rays on her hip came back fine. She has a deep hip contusion and mild concussion, but there is no need to admit her if she’s adamant on leaving.”
“Okay. I’ll make sure to wake her then. Thank you, Doctor.”
“No problem. I hope they catch the guy who did this. Drunk driver most likely.”
“Most likely,” Mark muttered. No point telling him that the hit-and-run may have been an attempt on his daughter’s life.
He reentered the room and could see JoJo still lying on the bed. Her eyes open and focused on him. Other than looking pale, she appeared to be as fine as she claimed to be. No blurred vision, no slurry words, no memory loss. She’d been given pain medication for her head and hip and if everything went all right tonight, she could probably be on her own tomorrow.
The police officer who stood next to her, questioning her, looked even younger than the doctor. The professionals coming to his aid were children, making him feel a hundred years old.
“You said you didn’t see the license plate, is that correct?”
“No, I didn’t see it. I should have seen it. I know to look for it first. I don’t know what happened. It caught me off guard. That’s no excuse.”
“Uh, hello, you were busy pushing me away and saving my life. Get over the license plate.”
Mark smiled. His daughter seemed to have come through the day’s events unscathed. Or at least her snark had.
“Did you see the plates?” the officer asked Sophie.
She closed her eyes, trying to recall every moment of what had happened, but ultimately shook her head. “Nothing really registered. One second I could see this car crashing into parked cars, then JoJo pushed me away. The next thing I remember was seeing was her on the ground. You really scared me, JoJo.”
“Next time I’ll let you get hit and I’ll be scared.”
“Ha, ha. Mark, are we going to tell him about the notes?”
His daughter wasn’t stupid. But she connected the hit-and-run to the notes way too fast. It worried him what the fear might do to her, but rather than looking panicked, he saw resolve in her eyes.
The officer turned his attention to Mark. “What notes?”
When he’d first received the letters he never considered contacting the police. Not that he had a beef with the Philadelphia P.D. He just knew that when it came to working a case and finding an answer, he trusted himself more than any detective in uniform.
Now he figured that any help he could get he might as well take.
“I received two letters from an anonymous sender. Completely unmarked on nondescript paper. The first read, You’re going to lose her. The second said, Soon. I consider this a veiled threat against my daughter.”
“You think today’s hit-and-run is connected?”
“I have no idea.”
“You must not have thought much of the threat if you didn’t contact the police.”
“I’m a private detective. I work cold cases. It seemed logical to pursue it myself.”
“If you think a crime is being perpetrated against you, you should contact the police.”
And there it was. Tone. Said with the disdain most law enforcers felt for private investigators. Especially ones who took on unsolved criminal cases.
Sad to say, the police never sent thank-you flowers after Mark solved their cases for them. A shame really.
“You’re right, of course. I’ll come down at some point and fill out a formal complaint for…note sending. As I said, the threat is really speculative at this point.”
“Well, I’ll add that to my report. If we find the car and the person driving it, maybe you’ll be able to determine if they are connected. Also, if any other notes turn up…”
“I’ll be sure to let you know.” Mark took the officer’s card and pocketed it.
After questioning and requestioning all of them again, the cop left once he was satisfied he knew as much as they did about the hit-and-run.
“What did the doctor say? Can I leave?”
“You can leave, but only if you come stay with us. I’ll need to wake you every couple of hours tonight.”
“Yes,” Sophie said. “I mean, you don’t want to be alone, right? We’ll watch a movie or something together. Something romantic or funny. To take your mind off it.”
JoJo smiled. “I really don’t—”
“No excuses. It’s the only way you’re getting sprung from this zoo. Now it sounds like my daughter is turning this into a girls’ night. Since I’ve always wanted to know what goes on at these events, I plan to invite myself. Question number one, are we going to talk about boys?”
“Mark, seriously,” his daughter groaned.
“Maybe do each other’s toenails?”
“You could be helpful by finding a nurse to give me my dismissal papers. I understand I need those if your kick-ass insurance is going to pay this bill.”
“Come on, I’m planning an evening of fun here. Oh, wait, I know. We could do one of those levitation party tricks. You know where we lift JoJo in the air with nothing but the power of our fingertips.”
“You are so lame.”
“Light as feather, stiff as board.”
“Could you please go now? I need to get dressed.”
Mark left the two women to commiserate over his lameness, satisfied that he hadn’t once let them know how deeply petrified he’d been since watching JoJo, in her pencil skirt, go flying off the hood of that car.
Because the sight had been so completely jarring he hadn’t gotten the license plate of the car, either. He wanted to smash his fist into a wall, and considered whether a hospital might be the best of all places to do that since he would have access to instant care.
Instead, he stood outside the room and killed time by thinking about what he would do when he got his hands on the person behind the wheel of that car.
His phone vibrated and he reached into his coat pocket.
Nancy.
Damn. He’d forgotten to call her. She would be at the apartment by now. Probably standing on the other side of the door wondering where the hell they were.
“Nancy, I’m so sorry.”
“Oh, Mark. Good, you answered. I’ve been so worried. I went to the apartment but no one came to the door. I tried phoning your home number but no one picked up. You’ve always called me when the schedule changes. I didn’t know what to do.”
“I’m sorry, Nancy. I didn’t think. There was a small accident earlier this afternoon. I’m actually at the hospital now.”
“Oh, my gosh, are you okay? Is Sophie?”
“We’re fine. We’re both fine. It’s actually JoJo, but she’s okay, too. They’re about to release her.”
“Oh, my gosh, thank goodness. You almost gave me a heart attack. You’re sure she’s all right?”
“Yes, just a little bruised.”
“Okay, well, I won’t keep you. I just wanted to know…but now I know. Okay. So I’ll come by tomorrow?”
“Yes, that’s fine. Things should be back to normal tomorrow.”
“Okay, well, have a good night. Give JoJo my best.”
“Will do.”
Mark hung up as Sophie joined him. “I forgot about Nancy. She was a little freaked out.”
“Oh, I didn’t even think of calling her. We went totally A.W.O.L. on her. She’s probably pissed.”
“She sounded more worried than pissed.”
“Well, the nurse is in there now and JoJo is signing everything she needs.”
“Good. And how about you? You okay?”
“Honestly?”
“Honestly.” Mark put his hands on her shoulders and let her feel the weight of his security. It might have been the longest she’d ever let him touch her. If he played his cards right, she might even let him hug her. Because after seeing that car heading directly for his daughter, he very much wanted to hug her.
“It was scary. I really thought those notes were some lame joke.”
“Honey, they still might be. The person driving that car could have been a drunk who had no connection to you. I don’t want you freaking out. I’m going to find the person who sent us those letters. The cops are going to find the person driving the car. There were other people walking along the sidewalk, maybe one of them caught the plates. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“You trust me? I am good at what I do.”
She nodded. “I do. And you speak Russian so that’s sort of badass.”
Mark smiled, then went in for the kill. “I don’t suppose you would let a father who just suffered a very close call hug his daughter?”
For the First Time Page 11
