Page 140 of The Newcomer
Joe was only half listening. His eyes were following Letty as she and Isabelle walked over to the planter and parted the ferns to let Maya peek at Midnight and her kittens.
“What do you think will happen now? I mean, the only witness to Tanya’s murder is her four-year-old kid. Will they let me and Letty testify about what she told us? Or would a judge put Maya on the witness stand?”
“I’m just a lowly Feeb agent, DeCurtis. Not a lawyer. Obviously, you and Letty will have to make some kind of sworn statement about what Maya told you.”
Vikki sighed heavily. “But in the meantime, I’ve gotta go file a report because I shot a suspect who was getting ready to off an octogenarian. Christ, I hate paperwork.”
56
AFTER ISABELLE WHISKED MAYA AWAYfor a much-needed afternoon nap, the Murmuring Surf regulars lingered in the parking lot even after the ambulance had departed—a rapt audience for Oscar Jensen’s first-person account of his recent ordeal.
He tightened a faded green-and-yellow-striped beach towel around his waist. “That guy was going to kill me.” He pointed to the scarlet stain on his crepey skin. “He had his arm around my neck and like to choked me to death.”
The crowd of women murmured their concern.
“And then Vikki—hey, it turns out she’s an honest-to-God FBI agent! Then, she hauls off and shoots him right in the foot. Didn’t even bat an eyelash. Pow! Just like on TV.”
Oscar looked over at Letty, who was mindlessly picking up the bloodied bandages, gauze pads, and other detritus left behind by the EMTs.
“Hey Letty, Letty,” he called. “That guy? I heard him say he’s Maya’s father. Is that right? How come he showed up here at the Surf? Was he trying to kidnap the kid?”
“Oscar!” Ava yelled, coming to Letty’s rescue. “That’s enough! Why don’t you go back to your room now? Put some ointment on your neck and a sock in your mouth.”
But Oscar was not easily discouraged.
“Man, what a weekend! First, I catch that prowler snooping around out here, then this morning, that Rooney guy tries to snatch Maya.…”
Ava threw a protective arm around Letty’s shoulder. “Come on over to my place now, hon. You look like you could use some peace and quiet.”
“And coffee?
“Definitely coffee.”
She’d just settled in at the table in Ava’s apartment when the downstairs door opened and a male voice bellowed up from below.
“Ava? Ava, are you here?”
Her hostess didn’t turn a hair. “No,” she hollered. “I’m not here. I’m off the clock. Come back tomorrow when the office is open.”
But the intruder was not to be deterred. They heard footsteps on the stairs.
Merwin Maples walked into the kitchen, out of breath from the climb and brandishing a battered aluminum walker.
“Now Ava,” he started. “This is an emergency. You see this walker? You see the legs? They’re all banged up. This thing is ruined.”
Ava poured coffee into a mug and handed it to Letty, then poured one for herself.
“What do you want from me, Merwin?”
“I think you need to buy Trudi a new walker, of course.”
Ava laughed. “Me? How is this my fault? Your wife is the one who turned her walker into a weapon.”
“But you’re the one who rented to that lowlife Rooney in the first place. And you’re the one who took up with Chuck, who invited that lowlife to move in here. I remember, I told Trudi, there’s something fishy with that character and his so-called wife. What was her name again?”
Letty spoke up. “Her name was Tanya, and she was my sister.”
“Oh. Well, uh, sorry to speak ill of the dead and all, but that doesn’t change anything,” he continued. “They were a gang of thieves.”
