Page 139 of The Newcomer
“Wait.” Joe leaned in, his voice calm. “Maya? Can you tell us how he hurt your mommy?”
“No!” Letty said, swinging Maya away from him. “Don’t make her talk about it now.”
“He pushed her down,” Maya said matter-of-factly.
“That’s enough!” Letty said.
But Maya kept on. “Daddy was yelling and saying bad words, and I was asleep, but then I heard Mommy crying, and I was going to give her a hug, like she hugs me when I’m sad.”
“Let her talk, please, if she wants to,” Joe said, his voice low. “This could be important. Please?”
“If she gets any more upset, we’re stopping,” Letty said, her eyes boring into his. “I mean it.”
“Did you stay in your room that day, when you heard them fighting?” Joe asked.
“No?” Maya hesitated. “Mommy was crying and I was scared and I wanted some juice, but then Daddy was very, very mad. Mommy yelled at him to go away, and I wanted him to go away too, but then he yelled at her again, and he hitted her and she fell down. She had a boo-boo on her head.”
Tears were flowing down Letty’s face as she considered the unbearable act that the child had witnessed.
Joe’s voice was gentle. “What happened next, ladybug?”
Maya ducked her chin. “I wetted my pants. I am a big girl and Daddy says big girls don’t wet their pants, so I should be ashamed of myself.”
“That’s not true, Maya,” Joe said. “Even big girls and boys have accidents sometimes,” he reassured her.
“I wet my pants in PE the first day of junior high,” Isabelle confided.
“And I had to take clean clothes to her at school,” Joe said. “Hey, Maya? Did your daddy see you after he pushed your mommy?”
She shook her head. “No. I hid. I waited and waited a long time for Mommy to come and get me, because I was scared.”
“Where did you hide?”
“Under the bed.”
“Good girl,” Joe said, patting her hand. “You’re a very brave girl, Maya. Can you tell me what happened next?”
“It was a very long time,” Maya said. “And then Letty got to my house.”
“I’m glad Letty got there,” Joe said.
“We took Mommy’s car, because Letty said Mommy went to heaven,” Maya said. “And now I live here, with Letty. And I swim in the pool and maybe soon I will get a kitten.”
They heard the ambulance doors closing behind them, and Letty turned slightly to see that the EMTs had loaded Wingfield into the vehicle. Vikki Hill walked over. She pulled Joe aside.
“They’ll patch him up in the ER, and unless there’s an issue, he’ll be transported to the jail.”
“Maybe he and Rooney will have adjoining hospital beds,” Joe said.
Vikki rolled her eyes. “Shit. That’s not even funny. Garcia was going to meet them at the hospital. How about you call your partner Shauna, and tell her to make sure they don’t let Wingfield anywhere near Rooney. By the way, he’s already demanding to speak to a lawyer. Can you meet me at the jail after you get things settled down here?”
“Yeah.” Joe nodded in Letty and Maya’s direction. “Maya basically just told us she witnessed her mother’s murder. Tanya and Wingfield were arguing, and she says she saw him push her down and she hit her head.”
“For real? She’s sure of what she saw?” the FBI agent asked. “Was Letty aware that Maya saw it go down?”
“No. Maya was awake and crying when Letty reached the scene, but I think she was hoping Maya didn’t actually see her father kill her mother. As far as I know, this was the first time the kid has spoken about it.”
Vikki pushed her sunglasses into her hair and kneaded her forehead. She watched as the ambulance pulled out of the motel parking lot, lights flashing but no siren. “What a cold-blooded piece of work that bastard is. He murders the kid’s mother, hires us to kill the aunt, then shows up here with a pretty pink outfit to take her home to her new mama. He actually thinks putting Maya in a fancy preschool will solve all her problems.”
