Page 128 of The Newcomer
“It wasn’t that we didn’t believe you,” Ava started to say.
“He had a gun!” Ruth broke in. “And he was pointing it right at Trudi, screaming at her that if they didn’t move Merwin’s van, he’d blow her bleeping head off.”
“Trudi didn’t even blink,” Billie said. “He kept yelling and pointing the gun at her. I really thought he’d kill her. I even told Ruthie, ‘He’ll shoot her.’”
Letty began to edge away from the crowd of regulars who’d gathered in the breezeway. Maya’s arms encircled her neck. She gently rubbed the little girl’s back, crooning the verses to Maya’s favorite song in her ear. “Let it go, let it go…” Maya’s sobs slowed and she took a long, shuddering breath.
“And then Trudi picked up that walker of hers and she swung on him like A-Rod used to swing on a high fastball,” she heard Ruth say.“Ka-pow! She laid him out with one swing. Knocked him clean out of the park.”
Joefound Letty curled up in the corner of the sofa in her unit, with Maya on her lap, watchingPAW Patrolon the television. Letty looked up and smiled when he walked into the room, and he wanted to collapse from relief.
“She’s okay,” Letty said, before he could ask. “Right, Maya?” She patted the sofa cushion and Joe sat down beside her.
The child turned her face toward Joe. “The bad man got me,” she said solemnly. “I was looking at the kitties. Midnight hid them. I only wanted to touch them, but then the bad man got me and put me in the cave. I kicked him and tried to get away, but he was squeezing me. So I bited him, and he let me go and I ran away as fast as I could.”
“You were a very brave girl,” Joe said. “The bravest little girl I’ve ever known.”
Maya nodded in agreement. “That man yelled at my mommy,” she said, her tone matter-of-fact. She shook her head. “I don’t like him. He’s bad.”
“He won’t be hurting anybody again for a very long time,” Joe told her. “Maya? Is it okay if I talk to Letty in the kitchen? Are you okay to sit here by yourself for a few minutes while we talk?”
“I’m hungry,” Maya said, batting her eyelashes in a brazen attempt at extortion. “Can I have a chicken biscuit? With jelly? And French fries? And a milkshake?”
Letty rolled her eyes, but nodded. “In a little bit. Okay? Can you wait until after I’ve talked to Mr. Joe?”
“Okay. But hurry. I’m hungry.”
Joefolded Letty into his arms. “It’s over,” he said, stroking her hair. “Rooney’s on his way to the hospital, and then to jail. He’sgot a broken jaw, for sure, and probably a shattered occipital. Trudi Maples cleaned his clock but good.”
He held her at arm’s length and gazed into her eyes. “Okay? I know you’re still shook. I am too. But listen. Vikki’s headed to the airport.”
“Already?” Letty was startled. “It’s not even eight o’clock.”
“She wanted to get there early, to make sure everything was in place. Just in case Wingfield tries to pull a fast one. There’s an FBI agent from the Tampa office who’ll be at the gate at every flight arriving from New York.”
“That’s good,” Letty said. “Right?”
“It’s called covering all the bases. But here’s the thing. We need to get a videotaped statement from Maya.”
“Now? Joe, I’ve just gotten her calmed down. She’s only four. I can’t put her through this trauma all over again, today of all days. You can’t ask me to do that to her.”
“It sucks,” he agreed. “But if we want to nail Rooney, we’ve got to do this right. Shauna says she’s willing to interview Maya, if you think she’d feel more comfortable talking to a woman, or we can get a social worker from the county’s department of juvenile services. But let’s get it done and over with, so we can nail this slime to the wall. While it’s still fresh in her mind? Please?”
“God,” Letty groaned. “What if she doesn’t want to talk? She does that sometimes, when she’s upset. Tanya told me that during the first few sessions she had with the therapist in New York, Maya would just shut down. She’d sit in the corner with her eyes closed and her hands over her ears.”
“If she doesn’t want to talk, we absolutely won’t make her. How about this? I’ll run down to McDonald’s, pick up her breakfast, and head back here. Then, Shauna and I can talk to her, and if she’s okay, we’ll videotape it. You’d be there too, of course. Nobody does anything without you saying it’s okay.”
50
VIKKI PARKED THE RENTAL ATthe curb in front of the Tampa Airport’s departure door. She closed her eyes and was about to nod off when she heard a metallic tapping on the passenger-side window. She rolled it down and the cop leaned in. “Ma’am? This is a loading zone only. Need you to move along.”
She reached under the front seat and brought out the leather badge holder, flashing it at the cop. “I’m here on police business.”
The woman reached for the badge, examined it, then pursed her lips. “For real? FBI? We didn’t get word of any kind of an undercover operation here today.”
“I’m just picking up a suspect and taking him to St. Pete,” Vikki assured her. “But if you don’t mind, I need to stay here and wait for my passenger.”
The cop shook her head. “Would have been nice if somebody had bothered to give us a heads-up.” She muttered something else under her breath, then walked away.
