I looked up at Lenny. I saw the surprise on his face too. Tickner pulled out another photo. Then another. They were all taken in front of Valley Hospital. In the eighth one, Rachel entered the building. In the ninth one, taken one hour later, I exited alone. In the tenth, taken six minutes after that, Rachel went out the same doors.
At first, my mind could simply not soak in the implications. I was one big, swirling “Huh?” of bewilderment. There was no time to process. Lenny seemed stunned too, but he recovered first.
“Get out,” Lenny said.
“You don’t want to explain these photographs first?”
I wanted to argue, but I was too dazed.
“Get out,” Lenny said again, more forcefully this time. “Get out now.”
Chapter 30
I sat upin the bed. “Lenny?”
He made sure the door was closed. “Yes,” he said. “They think you did it. Check that, they think you and Rachel did it together. You two were having an affair. She killed her husband—I don’t know if they think you were involved with that or not—and then you both killed Monica, did who-knows-what with Tara, and came up with this scheme to rip off her father.”
“That makes no sense,” I said.
Lenny kept quiet.
“I was shot, remember?”
“I know.”
“So what, they think I shot myself?”
“I don’t know. But you can’t talk to them anymore. They have evidence now. You can deny a relationship with Rachel to the skies, but Monica was suspicious enough to hire a private detective. Then, Jesus, think about it. The private detective delivers. He takes those photographs and gives them to Monica. Next thing you know, your wife is dead, your kid is gone, and her father is out two million bucks. Skip ahead a year and a half. Her father is out another two million and you and Rachel are lying about being with one another.”
“We’re not lying.”
Lenny would not look at me.
“What about all I was saying,” I tried, “about how no one would go through all this? I could have just taken the ransom money, right? I didn’t have to hire that guy with the car and the kid. And what about my sister? Do they think I murdered her too?”
“Those pictures,” Lenny said softly.
“I never knew about them.”
He could barely look at me, but that didn’t stop him from reverting to our youth. “Well, duh.”
“No, I mean I don’t know anything about them.”
“You really haven’t seen her except for that time at the supermarket?”
“Of course not. You know all this. I wouldn’t hide it from you.”
He weighed that statement for too long. “You might hide it from Lenny the Friend.”
“No, I wouldn’t. But even if I would, there’s no way I could keep it from Lenny the Lawyer.”
His voice was soft. “You didn’t tell either one of us about this ransom drop.”
So there it was. “We wanted to keep it contained, Lenny.”
“I see.” But he didn’t. I couldn’t blame him. “Another thing. How did you find that CD in the basement?”
“Dina Levinsky came by the house.”
“Dina the fruitcake?”
“She’s had it rough,” I said. “You have no idea.”
Lenny waved off my sympathy. “I don’t understand. What was she doing at your house?” I filled him on the story. Lenny started making a face. When I finished, I was the one who said, “What?”
“She told you she was better now? That she was married?”
“Yes.”
“That’s bull.”
I stopped. “How do you know that?”
“I do some legal work for her aunt. Dina Levinsky has been in and out of asylums since she was eighteen. She even served time for aggravated assault a few years back. She’s never been married. And I doubt she’s ever had an art exhibit.”
I did not know what to make of that. I remembered Dina’s haunting face, the way the color ebbed away when she said,“You know who shot you, don’t you, Marc?”
What the hell had she meant by that anyway?
“We need to think this through,” Lenny said, rubbing his chin. “I’m going to check with some of my sources, see what I can learn. Call me if anything comes up, okay?”
“Yeah, okay.”
“And promise me you won’t say another word to them. There is an excellent chance they’ll arrest you.” He raised a hand before I could protest. “They have enough for an arrest and maybe even an indictment. True, thet ’s aren’t all crossed and thei ’s aren’t all dotted. But think about that Skakel case. They had less there and they convicted him. So if they come back in here, promise me you won’t say a word.”
I promised because, yet again, the authorities were on the wrong track. Cooperating with them would not help find my daughter. That was the bottom line. Lenny left me alone. I asked him to shut off the lights. He did. But the room did not grow dark. Hospital rooms never get totally dark.
I tried to understand what was happening. Tickner had taken those strange photographs with him. I wished he hadn’t. I wanted to take another look because no matter how I laid it out, those pictures of Rachel at the hospital made no sense. Were they for real? Trick photography was a strong possibility, especially in this digital day and age. Could that be the explanation? Were they phonies, a simple cut-and-paste job? My thoughts veered toward Dina Levinsky again. What had her bizarre visit really been about? Why had she asked if I loved Monica? Why did she think I knew who shot me? I was considering all of this when the door opened.
“Is this the room belonging to the Stud in Scrubs?”
It was Zia. “Hey.”
She entered, gestured at my supine position with a sweep of her hand. “This supposed to be your excuse for missing work?”
“I was on call last night, wasn’t I?”
“Yep.”
“Sorry.”
“They woke my ass up instead, interrupting, I might add, a rather erotic dream.” Zia pointed with her thumb toward the door. “That big black man down the hall.”
“The one with the sunglasses on top of a shaved head?”
“That’s him. He a cop?”
“An FBI agent.”
“Any chance you can introduce us? Might make up for interrupting my dream.”
“I’ll try to do that,” I said, “before he arrests me.”