Betrayed (Rosato & DiNunzio, #2)(50)
“Father, you should tell Maria Elena and the other roommate to get out of that apartment. Whoever Iris was in cahoots with hasn’t found the money yet. They might come back or even hurt those girls.”
“That isn’t possible,” Father Keegan said, incredulous. “Iris would never break any law. She wasn’t in cahoots with anyone. What do you believe she was involved in, exactly?”
“I have no idea. I’m guessing it was some sort of drug dealing, if not hard drugs like heroin, then prescription pills, or maybe just trafficking in pills that you could buy cheaper in Mexico and bringing them into the United States. How often did she go back home?”
“Never,” Father Keegan shot back, firming his tone. “She never missed Mass, and she was always working at the mission. Your theory is simply wrong. You don’t have any proof, do you?”
“No, but I have $50,000 in cash I can’t explain, and she endangered my aunt and my mother.” Judy could hear in the priest’s voice that he simply didn’t believe her, but she understood that. It was his nature and calling to believe the best in people. He had faith.
“Where is the money now?”
“It’s in a safe at my office, and I have to get to an estates lawyer to put it in a bank, for Iris’s estate.” Judy had already emailed her friend and she’d get to his office after her deposition. She held on to the greasy leather strap as the cab braked in stop-and-go traffic. “Even if you don’t believe me, I think you should pass the word to Iris’s roommates.”
“You think they’re in physical danger?”
“Absolutely.” Judy reflexively touched the goose egg, which had looked redder than yesterday in the bathroom mirror this morning, like she majorly needed Pro-Activ.
“Judy, you have all this wrong. You’re judging Iris without knowing her.”
“I don’t think so, Father. I got my aunt out of her house until we can figure out what’s going on.” Judy glanced over her shoulder as the cab turned left onto Pine Street. She wondered if her aunt was being wheeled into the operating room right now, if the plastic mask was being put over her face, or if she was under the knife this very minute. Tears came to Judy’s eyes but she blinked them away.
“Judy, are you there? Hello?”
“Father?” Judy said, speaking from the heart. “May I ask you to pray for someone?”
Chapter Twenty-three
Judy hit the office running, her head buzzing with Aunt Barb, Iris, the deposition she had to get ready for, and the fifty grand she had to get rid off. She had almost forgotten about the damages cases, but the cardboard boxes dominated the reception area. She hurried past them to the desk, where their receptionist Marshall Trow was talking with Allegra.
“Hi Judy,” Marshall said, with an easy smile. She was in her early thirties and had a wholesome, natural prettiness, with bright blue eyes and light brown hair pulled back into a long braid. “What happened to your forehead?”
Allegra’s eyes widened behind her big glasses. “You look like a Cyclops! How did you hurt yourself?”
“It’s a long story, ladies, but I don’t have time to tell it.” Judy looked at Allegra. “Why aren’t you in school?”
“It’s a teachers’ in-service day, so I thought I’d come in. Bennie said you could use me on some new cases.”
“Did she?” Judy held her tongue, and Marshall handed her a pink stack of phone messages.
“You got a bunch of calls on Friday, and about those boxes”—Marshall gestured at them—“Bennie asked me to get them out of here. She didn’t want them cluttering up reception for the start of business. The building guys are on the way to move them. Where should we put them?”
“There’s so many, I’ll need two conference rooms. Let’s put the bulk of them in B, since it’s bigger, and put any leftover in A. A is free, right? I have to take a deposition.” Judy checked the modern glass clock on Marshall’s desk. “The dep starts at nine o’clock.”
“It’s free. I’ll try to get the boxes put away before then.”
“Great. Start with A so we don’t get interrupted, okay? Where’s Mary?”
“A pretrial conference. She should be in in an hour, she said.”
“Thanks. Allegra, come with me.” Judy took off with the intern, down the hall. She wasn’t as close to Allegra as Mary was, but she wasn’t as close to anybody as Mary was. “Let me get you started, then I have to get ready for my dep.”
“Okay.” Allegra trotted obediently beside her, a slip of a girl with light footfalls, especially in her moccasins. Her long brown hair swung behind her, wavy and unstyled, and she was wearing black tights and a yellow wool sweater dress, which Judy suspected was as close as she could get to dressing like a bee, since the girl was a bee fanatic.
“Here’s what I want you to do.” Judy slid her laptop from her messenger bag as she reached her open door, went to her messy desk, cleared a spot, opened the lid, and fired up the laptop. “I got an email last night from one of the paralegals at Leighton and Reese in New York, and I’m going to forward it to you.”
“Okay.”
“Here we go.” Judy plunked down in her desk chair, scrolled to find the email, and sent it to Allegra. She couldn’t stop thinking of her aunt Barb, who must be on the operating table right now. Father Keegan had promised he’d pray for her, and if her aunt survived her dreaded illness, Judy would rethink her position on the deity.