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“No, I don’t need you. I’ll be okay.”
“You need someone with you. You go poking around in Manzani business—”
“Lach’s with me. We’ll be at the hospital where your guys are anyway. Nothing will happen to me.”
While her brother and father looked at each other, pondering this and having a silent conversation, she grabbed her purse and dragged Lach out of the apartment.
“They care about you and want—”
“Please don’t,” she said, hurrying down the stairs, her hand still in his. “Let’s get to Mila.” In the car, they rode in silence, which was not like them at all. “I appreciate it, okay? That you all care about me, it’s just…”
“You don’t want to be babied.”
“No one does and maybe my upbringing was more sheltered than Ford’s, but it seems…”
“What?”
“It’s so unfair.”
“What’s unfair?”
“Everyone in my life backs me up. Even when I don’t want anyone dictating to me or coddling me, you all do it anyway. And there’s Mila, in pieces, literally, and there’s no one there for her.”
“Sometimes life works out that way. It’s sad, but there’s nothing we can do about it.”
“There was something I could’ve done. I should’ve realized when she came to me that I was the only one she had, her only support. No one would’ve noticed if she’d just been erased.”
Like Jagg said. The Manzanis would push Mila beyond sanity and take her out. That would be bad enough for anyone who noticed, but worse that no one noticed at all.
“You noticed.”
“Did I?” she asked his profile. “I went back to her apartment and found her gone.”
“See, there, you went to check on her.”
Rankled by her own discomfort, her mind wasn’t so sure. “Did I go to check on her? Or did I go for the story? Did I go there to use her, just like these maniacs used her friend?”
“You were there,” he said, firm. “No one else showed up and you were there when she needed you. I believe you cared because you do care, but even if you didn’t, what does it matter? Your goal was to get justice for her friend, that’s what Mila wanted. That’s what she wants.”
“So many people care about me, and so few care about her.”
“You want to see her, don’t you?”
“Yes, but why do I want to see her? Do I give a shit or am I just hoping she saw something that helps the story?”
“This is about more than a story for you, it’s always been about more. If you wanted sensational headlines and pats on the back, you would’ve gone to print with your hunch.”
“Steeple doesn’t print hunches.”
“He would. For this. For you? Immie, you are a tenacious woman, a persuasive woman. Isn’t that obvious by now? No one was with you. No one saw what you did. Now we’re all on your mission.”
“Because you believe in it?”
“I believe in you, Im.” Reaching over, he squeezed her knee. “I’d do anything for you. Just like your dad and brother, just like Steeple. We believe in you.”
As he threw her a smile she intended to return, her purse rang. Digging inside, she answered without reading the screen.
“Hello?”
