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“He dictated a message for his wife. Now he wants to talk to you.”
I exhale. “Good.”
“He doesn’t have much time.”
“Got it.”
Anders leads me into Bruno’s room. The blinds are half pulled, and there’s a hush that makes me hesitate as I enter. This isn’t the first “final words” I’ve taken from someone about to die, but with the other two I’d arrived as they lay dying from their wounds. This feels different. This feels like my sister’s province. Not a person lying on the ground with a gunshot wound, but a patient in a hospital bed.
At a crime scene, there is a frantic air of chaos, everyone gathering evidence while the victim is drawing their last breaths, still certain it’s all a mistake and they’ll pull through. Here, Bruno has been told the end is coming, and that feels so much worse. I catch a glimpse of my sister’s face, the anguish and the anger in her eyes despite her stony expression.
“Would you like me to leave?” she asks.
I open my mouth to ask what she wants, but that will only waste precious moments as she sticks to insisting on doing what I want.
“Stay,” I say. “In case we need anything.”
She nods abruptly and stays where she is. I walk over to Bruno.
“I fucked up, didn’t I?” he says, his voice hoarse.
“You made a mistake,” I say. “I’m sorry this happened. I’m sorry all of it happened.”
I pull over a chair and sit down, as if we have all the time in the world.
“Did someone force you to leave last night?” I ask.
“I did it for Maria,” he says. “All for Maria.”
“That’s his wife,” April says.
“I owed her,” he says. “I broke her heart, and I owed her.”
“Let’s talk about what happened last night.”
His head jerks back, and he gasps, pain searing across his face. April comes forward and presses a button, giving him more morphine.
“He won’t be awake much longer,” April murmurs to me. “I’m sorry, but I can’t…”
“I know.”
She can’t force him to face the end in agony just so I can get my answers. I open my mouth to ask Bruno what happened, but another wave of pain hits, and I have to wait until it passes. By then, his eyelids are fluttering, my window closing fast.
“Who did you meet last night?” I say, cutting to the chase.
“It’s for Maria. Need to protect Maria.”
“You can’t tell me because you’re afraid they’ll go after your wife? Even if youdon’ttell me, Bruno, they won’t know that. They could still think you did. It’s safer for Maria if you tell me. We can protect her.”
“I owe her. Broke her heart.” His words start to slur now. “Lied to you. Protecting her. Thought if I kept quiet, it’d be fine. Better be fine. I did my part. Kept my mouth shut.”
“I’m sorry, but whoever you were with last night knows I’m in here talking to you. They’re going to presume you told me everything.”
“Make sure she gets the money. Maria. Make sure she gets it all.”
“Your pay and bonus? Of course.”
“No, all of it.” He’s slurring so badly I can barely make out his words. “I kept quiet. I didn’t tell. Did this to me, and I didn’t tell.”
