left to wait with Kenny for Inspector McNearny or Jones in the waiting room.

Please, God, let then send Jones. Please send Jones!

My understanding was that Celia was having her nose set, and given my accusations, she would be held in a separate waiting room.

Suddenly my hand flew to Kenny’s knee. “The Opera! Oh my God! What time do you have to be there?”

Kenny looked at the giant white clock on the wall and smiled. “Half an hour ago.”

I grabbed his shoulders. “Kenny! I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay, Kate. Helping you catch a murderer is much more exciting than—”

“Don’t say it. You should be at the Opera right now.

I’m so sorry I dragged you into this.”

He waved me off. “Nah. This is a much cooler story for my friends.”

We waited in silence. Kenny pulled out his phone and started texting. “Are you already bragging?” I asked.

He laughed.

I thought about Evelyn. We hadn’t seen her since they’d rushed her out of the center. When I arrived at the hospital, I’d asked a nurse about her, but she’d been grim-faced and told me she didn’t know the status of the mother or child.

I thought of Evelyn’s little son, “the biter.” Where was he tonight? Probably with his nanny. Poor little guy, he needed to have his mommy live.

Please God, let them be okay.

I dug into my diaper purse and pulled out Laurie’s puppy. Her toothless grin flashed in my mind. I pressed the puppy’s ear to hear her little coo.

Instead of Laurie’s coo, my voice came out of the recorder:

“The cops are on their way.”

My jaw dropped and I glanced at Kenny.

“Liar! You’re going to ruin everything! You should have stayed out of it.”

Kenny squeezed my arm.

“You killed that woman in Miami and took her baby. You sold her baby! You killed her and sold her baby!”

“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!”

“That’s how you got the money for this remodel!”

“And I’m going to kill you! Just like I killed her!”

Kenny jumped up. “You got her on tape! You got her on tape!”

The door to the waiting room swung open slightly and I could see Jones’s cropped hair.

Yea! It was Jones! No McNearny!

Jones pushed the door open and walked into the room. The door swung closed behind him only to reopen as McNearny followed him into the room, a tired expression on his face. “Got who on tape?”

My hands were shaking as I replayed the tape for Jones and McNearny.

McNearny listened, a stoic expression on his face.

They took statements from Kenny and me and confiscated Laurie’s little puppy. “Any word on Evelyn and her baby?” I asked.

McNearny and Jones exchanged looks. Jones hung his head.

McNearny’s lips formed a straight line. “They delivered the baby by cesarean. She’s going to be fine.”

My heart stopped. “And Evelyn? What about Evelyn?”

“They don’t know yet, Connolly,” McNearny said. “It’s not looking good.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Thanksgiving

To Do:

1. Cook!!!

I awoke to the phone ringing. I was immediately annoyed. It was bad enough that I’d gotten to bed at midnight only to be woken up every few hours by Laurie’s hunger cries, but now that both of us were sound asleep, to have the shrill sound rupture my dreams was the limit!

“Hello?”

“Kid! You got a write-up in the paper!” Galigani said.

Suddenly being woken up wasn’t so bad.

“I did?”

I swung my feet off the bed and stopped short. Every part of my body ached. There were bruises up and down my legs, and my ribs were stiff where the doctor had taped them.

“Nice big spread, but it’s mostly about your client, The Grizzly,” Galigani said. “He does mention you, though. At the very end. Almost like small print.”

Time to let go of any media darling dreams.

“It’s a good thing I didn’t get involved for the glory,” I said.

“Yeah, because they misspelled your name, too.” Galigani laughed.

I snorted. “Geez. No good deed goes unpunished!”

“What time is dinner?”

The smell of pumpkin pie filled the house. The wind whipped through our chimney as Jim was preparing a fire. He crumpled some newspaper and stacked the logs against each other in an upright triangle. I finished setting the table and lit the candles.

Some heat started to kick out from the fireplace and the house was getting cozy. I played my new Ricky Martin CD, and Laurie snoozed in her bassinet. The doorbell sounded. It was Galigani and Mom standing on my front stoop. Galigani had brought the stuffing and Mom had made the potatoes.

I helped Galigani take everything to the kitchen while Mom woke Laurie.

We sat down at the