Betrayed (Rosato & DiNunzio, #2)(92)

“Ms. Carrier, we’re approaching the city limits,” Officer Kitt said, looking into the rearview mirror. “Where would you like to go?”

“Pennsylvania Hospital, please.”

“Gotcha.” Officer Kitt hit the gas, rolling into the city, then entered the grid that was Center City, choked with rush-hour traffic. Finally, they ended up in front of the hospital, where he dropped her off and she thanked him.

Judy entered the hospital and crossed to the reception desk to get the information about Aunt Barb’s room, then went up the elevator. She got off on a floor busy with visitors, doctors, and nurses bustling back and forth. Dinner service had begun, and an orderly pushed a tall, rolling stack of food trays covered with steamy lids, though she couldn’t smell anything for the stink of manure and ashes in her nose. She walked down the glistening hall, reading the room numbers until she had located her aunt’s room, which was the first closed door. She paused for a moment, bracing herself to see her aunt and her mother, and vice versa, or whatever. She knocked on the door, then opened it to see Aunt Barb in bed, and her mother sitting by her side with a female visitor.

“Hi, everybody,” she said, entering the room uncertainly.

“Judy!” Aunt Barb looked up, her lips parting with happiness. Flowers and cards covered the sidetable. “You’re here! Are you okay? The police called, and we’ve been watching on TV! Were you hurt in the explosion? What happened? Thank God you’re okay!”

“Honey!” Her mother jumped up and rushed toward her, arms outstretched, and gathered her up for a real hug. “We were worried sick! Are you okay? What did they do to you?”

“I’m fine, I’m okay.” Judy hugged her mother back, surprised at the show of emotion, which felt somehow painful. She let her mother go, avoiding her eyes. “It’s all right now, so don’t worry.”

“But look at your face!” her mother said, aghast. “There’s little cuts on your cheeks! Is that from the car bomb? Did you get to a hospital? Didn’t they take you to an ER? I knew something was wrong, very wrong, when you didn’t call me back. I called you this morning, did you get my message?”

“This morning?” Judy realized that her mother must have been the one who’d phoned when she’d been hiding from Carlos in the manure bin. She decided not to share that part of the story. “Sorry, I didn’t hear the phone.”

“Judy, come over, please!” Aunt Barb was sitting up in bed and motioning to her, with a hand attached to an IV and a pressure monitor. “I want to see you! You poor thing, what have you been through?”

“I’m fine, really.” Judy walked over stiffly, unable to shake the awkwardness she felt in the presence of her mother and aunt, especially in front of the female visitor, whom she assumed was a friend of Aunt Barb’s. Judy extended a hand. “Hi, nice to see you, I’m Judy.”

“Nice to see you, too,” answered the woman, with a Spanish accent. “I’m Daniella Gamboa.”





Chapter Forty-three

“You’re Daniella, Iris’s friend?” Judy asked, incredulous, and Daniella clasped Judy’s hand, covered it with her other hand, and held it for a moment. She looked younger than Iris, in her late forties, and was tall, about five-seven, and slim. Her large brown eyes stood out in a long face, and her shiny black hair was pulled back in a long ponytail. She had on a jeans jacket over a white sweater, with baggy jeans and black sneakers.

“I’m very sorry about what happened to you, from Carlos. They say on TV that your car, it blew up. He is very crazy man, very crazy. And Father Vega, they say on TV he was with them! I can’ believe that!” Daniella’s dark eyes flared in disbelief. “I know him. He know my family. We are from the same town. I tell him everything, is all my fault!”

“I understand,” Judy said, though she didn’t, not yet. “Daniella, I’m just happy you’re alive. I was worried about you, so are the police. Where have you been?”

“I’m sorry, so sorry.” Daniella shook her head. “I feel so terrible, so sick in my heart, in my soul. I was hiding. I get on the bus and go out of town, to Wilmington.”

“Why were you hiding? From Carlos?”

“Yes, from him, from Father Vega, from everybody.” Daniella nodded, agitated. “That why I take the money, to get away from Carlos.”

“What money?”

Aunt Barb motioned for attention. “Daniella saw on the TV news that Father Vega had been arrested and Carlos and Roberto killed, so she came out of hiding. Iris had told her about me, so she knew where to find me.” Aunt Barb’s eyes filmed with new tears, and she held the Kleenex to her nose. “Daniella, tell Judy what you told us. I … don’t want to tell it. I can’t.”

“Judy, Carlos and Roberto, they kill Iris. They murder her.”

“I know,” Judy said, sinking onto the bed.

“You know?” Aunt Barb asked, shocked. “How did you find out? Did they try to kill you? What happened?”

Judy’s mother interjected, “Judy, how do you know? How did you get so involved in this? Why didn’t the police handle it? What’s going on?”

“Ladies, please.” Judy waved them both into silence, focusing on Daniella. “Why did they kill Iris, do you know?”