“Paul, we miss you.” Alek again. “We want to know about your life.”
“How did you know where I lived.”
“You told Matka when she tracked you down through the medal ceremony.” Jakub again.
Alek said, “Now tell us about your personal life. Are you married?”
He explained about his brief marriage and that he had no children. Then he smiled. “I saw all your kids.”
“What?”
“When?”
“I drove by the street every so often after I got back here.”
“Why didn’t you stop?” Alek sounded horrified.
“I didn’t know if anyone would want me to. Tell me about the kids. And you.”
Jakub told Paul he was a construction worker and his oldest son, J.J. was on his crew. The boy would take over the company from him like he’d taken over from Pa. He had two other sons, both teenagers.
Aleksander was a teacher, married to one of his colleagues. He had three girls.
“What about Lena and Zofia?”
Jakub smiled. “They did good. Lena owns a successful shop in town. She isn’t married, and still lives with Ma and Pa, mostly to take care of them. Zofia’s married with three kids and is a paralegal.”
“I missed so much.” He looked at them. “I thought you’d all hate me.”
“As I said,” Alek put in, “we were pissed as hell when Pa kicked you out. But not at you, at him. I took it lying down. I don’t like confrontation. But I should have protested too, like Jakub did. He threw a fit.” Alek’s gesture encompassed the condo. “But you, big brother. Seems like you make a lot of money.”
“I did. Do you need some?”
“No, no. We just want to be with you.”
Paul looked around at his condo. He did have money and material things and even fame, now. But none of that made him happy like a visit from his two brothers.
Chapter 9
* * *
Hayley punched in her cousin’s cell number. “Seth Casella.”
“Hey, Seth, it’s me, Hayley. How are you?”
“Working on a really shitty case. I’m here in the office.”
“Tell me about it.”
“You had one too, the Feinsteins.”
“I did. The trial ended yesterday. We’re still waiting for a verdict. Now, tell me about yours.”
“My guess is you didn’t call to hear about my case. Something’s wrong, I can tell.”
“I had an awful day today. I need to take my mind off it. So, you’re on, buddy.”
“A man beat up his wife and knocked her unconscious. When she came to, the husband went after her again. She hit him over the head with a heavy frying pan. The guy suffered a coma, and when he recovered from it, he charged her with assault. Needless to say, I’m representing her.”
“Why didn’t she charge him first?”
“I recommended that. But she’s refused because she didn’t want him in jail, she just wanted him to stop beating her up.”
Hayley sighed. “That’s so often the case with an abused woman. We’ve seen a lot of them at the DA’s office.”
“Worse, he’s out of the hospital now and threatening her.”
“Can’t you prove that?”
“I’m trying to figure it all out now.”
“You will. If you need a sounding board, or want to do some brainstorming, I’m available.”
“That might help. Now tell me about…Wait a sec.” Hayley heard a door slam. “Mr. Malone, how’d you get in here?”
A clattering on his end as if he dropped the phone… Then she heard, “Oh, my God.” Seth’s voice was further away.
“Messin’ with my life…Not gonna take it anymore.”
“Mr. Malone, put the knife away, and…no, no please don’t use that…” Loud crashing. A scream. Then nothing.
“Seth? Seth? Please answer.” He didn’t.
Had her cousin been stabbed?
Keep your head, Hayley. She put the call on hold in case Seth recovered enough to talk and punched in 911. “911. How can I help you?”
“There’s been a stabbing in Hidden Cove, about an hour from New York. I was on the phone with the victim. Can you call the 911 people in town and tell them a stabbing occurred at Legal Aid in downtown Hidden Cove? I don’t know that address, either.”
“Yes, ma’am. Give me your number and I’ll call you back.”
Hayley gave her information and clicked off. Her line to Seth was still silent when she took him off hold. She called Gideon because he was a police officer, but his phone went to voice mail. Who else should know, could help? Something niggled at her. She scrolled through her contacts, and found Megan Malvaso’s information. She’d been a cop and Kate Cassidy’s mentor. Kate had talked about her at the picnic that Sunday when she and Mitch stopped by. She’d told Hayley to call her, Megan, if she ever needed to check on something police related. She found the number and clicked into it.
“Hello?”
“Megan, I don’t know if you remember me, but I’m Hayley Casella.”
“Hi—”
“Sorry to interrupt, but I was on the phone with my cousin Seth. Rafe’s brother. He works at Legal Aid.” She finished her account as quickly as possible.
“I’ll make sure someone’s there. We’ll go, too.”
“Thanks.”
She called Rafe and couldn’t get him. Then she tried Ali. No answer. Carmella? No, she didn’t think she should do that. She decided to call an Uber when there was a knock on the door. She ignored it and phoned for a car. Then she went to the foyer, opened the door.
And was shocked to see Paul standing there. He blurted out, “I’m not letting you get away without—”
She dragged him inside.
“What’s wrong?”
Instead of answering, she asked, “Would you come to Hidden Cove with me?”
“If that’s what you want.”
“I’ll explain why on the way there.”
* * *
Though he didn’t know why she was crying, he held her in the backseat of the Uber, her head buried in his chest. Paul remained calm because she needed him to be.
“Let it out, honey.”
She didn’t give into the emotion long, but every sob touched his heart. When she finally stopped, she sat back and wiped her face with the handkerchief he gave her. And sighed.
He didn’t rush her. Finally, she began to talk.
“I’d called Seth tonight because I’ve been overwrought over what happened between you and me. He was working late. Alone, at Legal Aid. I told him a hundred times not to do that. He was describing a particularly nasty case. All of a sudden, the guy involved …h-he came into the office. Seth said something about a knife. Then the phone fell. I heard him scream and he never came back on the line.”
Shaking his head, he cupped her cheek. It was damp. “That is horrible. You must have been paralyzed.”
“No, actually I wasn’t.” She explained the steps she’d taken, who she called.