Page 116 of The Newcomer
The next bit of video was inaudible.
They finally separated. He looked around at the opulent surroundings, the marble floors, the massive rock-crystal chandelier, the floor-to-ceiling windows hung with silk draperies, and the over-the-top furnishings. He said something that was garbled, and then, “… you really lucked into a sugar daddy.”
Tanya pretended to pout. The first part of her sentence was inaudible, but it ended with her saying, “… worked hard for everything here. I damn well deserve all of it.”
Rooney’s laugh was low and somehow menacing at the same time. “Define ‘work.’”
“You’re still such a dick. You know that? How did you even find me?”
He was slowly walking around the room, taking it all in, mentally adding up the cost of such a place. His back was to the nanny cam hidden inside the stuffed elephant, and his answer was inaudible.
“No. Seriously,” Tanya insisted. “I need to know who else might try to find me up here.”
When Rooney turned around and smiled, Letty shuddered. He had the smile of a python. Even though she’d already viewed the video earlier, she leaned forward again to hear his response. The first part was garbled, but then: “… checked your IMDb page. Found out your agent’s name.”
“I don’t believe you. He’d never just give some random stranger my phone number.”
There was that same closed-mouth smile again. “You forget how good I am at what I do.”
Rooney caught Tanya’s hand in his and brought it to his lips. He kissed her open palm, and then she abruptly pulled away, walking far enough from the nanny cam that they could decode only part of her response.
“I’m still furious… And Chuck… leave me like that?… a week in jail!… threatening… federal prison… sick… puking up my guts every morning. It was the worst experience of my life.”
Rooney’s deep voice was much clearer as he spontaneously laid on the Irish brogue. “Aah, well, darlin’, we had no choice. Chuck and I, we’ve got a little history with the criminal-justice system, but you, on the other hand, had none. We knew with your pretty face and acting abilities, you’d find a way out of a jam.”
Tanya walked back into camera range. “Don’t start that phony Irish crap with me, Rooney. I know better.”
“And yet, here you are today.” He gestured around the room. “Not exactly a shitty motel room at the Murmuring Surf, is it, Tanya, my love?”
In the video, Maya darted into the room then, but stood staring, with her thumb in her mouth, at the stranger.
“Now who would this be?” Rooney asked. He bent down to touch the child, but Maya cowered behind Tanya’s legs.
“My daughter.” Tanya’s mood changed to belligerent. “What do you want, Rooney?”
“She’s darling,” Rooney said. “And a dead ringer for her beautiful mother. Who’s the father?”
Tanya, looking flustered, backed away. “… go now. Evan’s spying… finds out a man came to see me, he’ll use it against me in court.”
Rooney was circling the room. His next statement was so quiet the microphone didn’t pick it up. Joe and Letty leaned closer to the laptop, straining to hear.
“… loot. I want what’s mine, Tanya.”
He clamped his hand around her wrist, but she jerked it away from him. “Loot? You and Chuck took it all and left me behind, holding the bag.”
Rooney said something else inaudible. He stood inches away from Tanya, his jaw tight with tension.
“Goddammit, I told you, I don’t have it!” Tanya screamed.
Maya began to cry. “No, Mommy!” She clawed at Tanya’s leg and raised her arms to be picked up, but Tanya ignored her daughter’s cries.
Rooney said something, but Maya’s howls drowned it out. She ran toward the stuffed elephant, and from the dizzying camera angles it was obvious she was running up the stairs, dangling Ellie by one ear.
Lettyclosed the laptop and looked at Joe DeCurtis.
“A high school kid managed to make the audio work—when the FBI couldn’t?” he asked, shaking his head. “I don’t know whether to be frightened or annoyed.”
“You know what this means, Joe,” Letty said. “Rooney’s here, and he’s looking for that loot. He seemed pretty convinced Tanya had it. How much are we talking about?”
