Flawless (New York Confidential #1)(71)

As Dr. Fuller had said, she was met by Tanya Lee Hampton’s public defender, Joan Terry, a dark-haired young woman with a harried expression and frizzy hair who reminded Kieran of a schnauzer. But she turned out to be highly professional and dedicated to her often thankless job.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” she told Kieran, as they jumped through the metaphorical hoops involved in entering the facility. “She was insistent that we reach you. I kept telling her that I’m the one who’ll be defending her in court, so she has to tell me anything that can affect her case, but she begged me to get hold of you. I’ve read your report, and you will help us, won’t you?”

“Yes, of course,” Kieran said.

She was led to a small room similar to the one she had been in twice before, just in a different section of the jail. There was a door with a window, a table and two chairs.

“A guard and I will be right outside,” the attorney told her.

“I’ll be fine,” Kieran said.

Tanya Lee Hampton was waiting for her. She didn’t say a word until the guard and her lawyer were outside the door.

“Thank goodness you’re all right. And thank goodness you’re here,” Tanya said then.

“Forget about me. How are you doing?”

Tanya shrugged. “My sister is trying to come up with bail. This isn’t a great place, you know.” She leaned in closer. “Dr. Finnegan, I think you’re in danger.”

Kieran was stunned by her words, but said by rote, “I’m not a doctor. Please, just call me Kieran.”

“Kieran, you were great to me. You were the first person who actually listened to my side of the story. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“Thank you. I don’t want anything to happen to me, either. Now tell me what you’re talking about.”

“It’s something I overheard, and I can’t let anyone in here know about it or know that I might pass something on if I overheard it. You won’t say anything, right?”

“I’ll keep this in confidence, yes, though I’ll have to give some explanation to your attorney,” Kieran said.

“I’m afraid of dying here, if anyone finds out I said something,” Tanya said.

“We won’t let that happen,” Kieran said.

Was that the truth?

She prayed she wasn’t lying and nodded encouragingly at Tanya.

“Okay, I was at dinner, and I heard these other women talking, only I couldn’t see them because there was a big concrete column between us. I heard them talking about the chick in the subway, laughing because the girl who went down on the tracks is probably going to get famous and all. And then they started talking about you.”

“By name?” Kieran asked.

“Actually, they called you ‘the Irish broad.’”

Kieran shrugged at that. “Okay, go on.”

Tanya took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “The one’s boyfriend was the one who did it! She was whining because he was supposed to get good money for it, too. But he didn’t get paid ’cause he pushed the wrong person. He was aiming for you and blew it.”

Kieran nodded slowly, feeling chilled but not shocked. She’d sensed that the man in the hoodie had been after her.

Thankfully, whoever wanted her dead had hired an inept assassin.

Whoever wanted her dead...

Yes, someone wanted her dead.

She tried not to shrink into herself with fear.

“Tanya, I think what happened in the subway is connected to several murders. Can you tell me anything else at all?” she asked, amazed that her voice wasn’t trembling.

“Oh, God, I’m so sorry, but I can’t. I’m a coward. But I’ve got kids, you know? I should have moved closer and tried to hear more, but instead I waited until I knew they’d gone.”

Great. There was no way to question every woman at Rikers. Besides, whoever it was would only stare at them blankly and lie anyway.

Not to mention that it would put Tanya in danger.

There was one thing she could do, she thought.

“Tanya, I’m going to get a Good Samaritan to post your bail. I’ll do it as quickly as possible,” she promised. She hesitated, then asked, “Did you hear anything else? Anything at all?”

Tanya was reflective, her brow knit into a frown. “Yeah, there was one more thing,” she said finally. “But I didn’t really get it.”

“What?”

“You work at a pub, too, right?” Tanya asked.

“My family owns a pub, yes.”

“That makes sense, then,” Tanya said. “Whoever she was, she said her boyfriend knew what you looked like. The people who were supposed to pay him pointed you out one night. At a pub.”

*

“I can’t even begin to understand what you don’t understand,” Ms. Mannerly said indignantly. “Why would I worry about a phone when a woman was dead?”

“We need all the information you have on that phone,” Mike told her calmly.

“Why? I’ve already had it turned off.”

“Because that phone has disappeared, but if it turns up again, we’ll have something to go on,” Craig said, smiling pleasantly.

The smile was almost real.