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“I was going to say Frank could take Lassiter home,” Coughlin said, “but his going by the lab is important.” He looked at Matt. “You drive very carefully, Matt. I don’t want to hear on Phil’s Philly that you ran into a school bus.”
“I’m all right, Uncle Denny,” Matt said.
“Okay, Frank,” Coughlin said. “Let’s call it a night.”
He stood up, finished his drink, and walked to the door. Hollaran followed him. Washington finished his drink and followed them.
“What Slayberg and I are going to do tomorrow, Matt,” D’Amata said, “is run down the known acquaintances and ring some doorbells. If anything turns up, we’ll let you know.”
“Fine,” Matt said.
That was really nice of him, Olivia thought. He picked up on Matt getting kicked in the teeth and was trying to make him feel better.
D’Amata and Slayberg left.
“You want to go, Mother?” Matt asked.
She stood up, picked up her glass, met his eyes, and drained it.
He shook his head in resignation and gestured toward the door.
“You were lucky in there, Mother,” Matt said when they were in the Porsche.
“I’m not your Mother, goddamn it!”
“You were lucky, Mother,” Matt went on, “that your mouth didn’t run away with you any more than it did. Nobody likes a drunken woman. Last warning.”
“Fuck you!”
“With the additional warning to never say that to me again, the conversation is closed, Detective Lassiter,” Matt said. “Now, where do you live?”
“Take me to City Hall. I’ll take a taxi.”
“Commissioner Coughlin ordered me to take you home. Answer the question, Detective Lassiter.”
“The 100 Block of Orchard Lane,” she said, icily, after a moment. “It’s east of the North Philadelphia Airport. Take I-95, and get-”
“I know where the North Philadelphia airport is.”
Matt put the Porsche in gear and backed away from the curb.
“Take the next left, onto Knight’s Road,” Olivia said, as they were headed down Woodhaven Road.
It was the first thing either of them had said since leaving Liberties.
Matt wordlessly made the turn.
Two minutes later, Olivia said, pointing across the median, "Orchard’s over there. You can make a U-turn at the stoplight. ”
Matt saw that the stoplight at the intersection of Knight’s Road and Red Lion Road was green and that a Dodge Caravan, headed his way on the other side of the median, was the only traffic. It had just passed the stoplight.
He touched the brake, flicked the turn signal lever, downshifted, and prepared to make the U-turn at the intersection, after the Caravan.
A Pontiac Grand Am came out of nowhere down Red Lion, ran the red light, flashed past the nose of the Porsche, and then slammed into the side of the Dodge Caravan.
Slammed hard into it. There was the sound of tearing metal as the Dodge was knocked, mostly sideward, across the street, coming to rest at an angle against the curb.
“That sonofabitch ran the light!” Matt said.
