“We have prayer in five minutes,” Sister Marie said, interrupting us.
I watched as my mother stood up, gave me a small bow that I guessed I was supposed to perceive as an apology, and walked away with the other women. My gaze stayed on her even as she walked out the door. My mother. The birth mother that Karen told me countless times didn’t want to be contacted or found. The one we had arguments about day in and day out when I was a rebellious teenager. I finally saw her, finally met her, and she didn’t even care.
“I told you.” Wendy plopped down in the chair across from me, the one our mother had stood from. “You had a better life.”
I blinked and realized tears were spilling down my cheeks. I wiped them quickly. “How could she not speak to me? Or react? She didn’t even look happy.”
“She’s lived a difficult life.”
“So have I.”
“I’m not saying you haven’t.”
“That’s not an excuse to not react to your own daughter.” I wiped my face again and bit my lip to try to combat more from coming.
“Here are some truths, Eva.” Wendy turned fully toward me and clasped her hands together on the table. She looked like she was about to work out a deal with me, which would have been humorous otherwise, since she was wearing a nun outfit. “We were born in the Dominican Republic. We were brought here when we were barely three months old. We were taken directly to St. Nicolas’ Orphanage, which used to be run by the Byzantine nuns. Our mother has always been a nun. She’s never even had a boyfriend.” She paused for a long time, waiting for me to acknowledge that I’d processed that. I hadn’t. I couldn’t.
“So if she got pregnant with us . . . ” I frowned. “And that picture I saw . . . ”
“The picture you saw was probably taken after we were born.” Wendy licked her lips and took a breath. “You probably think the world is unfair. Maybe you don’t like the president or your mayor or your mom, but you’re allowed to scream and shout and protest. In here we have no voice. We’re property. We’re cattle. We’re the women the suffrage movement didn’t save.”
“So why stay?”
“They stay because they truly love this path. They are genuinely good women who follow Jesus and do the Lord’s work. They help those in need, really help them. They stay because they heard God’s request.” Wendy looked toward the door they all walked out through. When she looked at me again, her eyes were sad. “I stay because I’m the only one willing to fight the injustice.”
“How are you doing that?” I pursed my lips. “Kidnapping monks?”
“Kidnapping that monk was just the beginning.” Wendy’s smile was slow and dark. “Tonight, one of them will die.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Adam
I was sitting at the precinct, across from Detective Barry, and was doing everything in my power to not punch him.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Astor, but I really don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said for a second time. “Maybe your girlfriend needs to get back to her treatments at The Institute.”
I clenched my fists on my lap to keep from reacting. Normally, I had a good grip on my emotions. The art of processing and channeling them was something I’d learned from my mother, from my years in Tae Kwon Do, from my father who always taught me not to bottle things up. “If you want to have a good cry, have a good cry, don’t ever let anyone tell you men don’t cry.” I wasn’t sure how to control the anger I felt right now though. Not when the man sitting across from me was basically claiming my girlfriend was crazy. I’d always heard there were two types of cops: the good ones and the crooked ones. My privilege ensured that I only dealt with one type. To me, they’d always been good. They’d always been fair. I realized now, sitting across from Detective Barry, that Eva wasn’t afforded the same fairness. Maybe because she was a woman, but more likely because she was a woman of color with no money and no power behind her last name. That enraged me even more.
I took a breath and stood, not even bothering to shake Barry’s hand or say goodbye. Instead, I made my way to Officer Riley’s desk. I trusted Riley. I knew Riley. My parents were friends with his parents and had been for a long time.
“Adam.” Riley smiled as he looked at me, but quickly frowned when he saw whatever expression was displayed on my face. “What’s up?”
“I need to speak to you outside of here.”
“Sure thing.” Riley glanced over in the direction of Detective Barry’s office. “We can meet at the diner in thirty.”
“See you there.”
As I walked out, I felt Barry’s eyes burning through me and hoped like hell Riley wouldn’t tell him about our meeting.
Thirty minutes later, Will, Wolf, and I were sitting across from Riley. He’d looked surprised when he first got there and saw the three of us, who swallowed up the oversized booth at the diner. As he sat down, I introduced them to one another.
“He’s the guy who came to The Manor,” Wolf said disapprovingly. “Twice.”
“Relax. He’s on our side.”
“You’re going to have to tell me why I’m here,” Riley said, looking at the three of us. “Is this about Barry?”
“I met with Barry to tell him that someone is in trouble. I asked him some questions and he lied, then he tried to turn it around and tell me the person in trouble needs mental attention, so I figured I can’t trust him, not with this.”
“And you decided to sidestep him and come directly to me,” Riley said. “Why didn’t you come to me to begin with?”
“Because you weren’t involved, at least I don’t think you were involved, but I guess we’re about to find out. Did you arrest someone, a woman walking in a neighborhood, a few weeks ago?”
Riley leaned back in his booth and nodded.
“Do you know why?”
“They said she matched the description of a girl who had been reported missing.”
“Do you have video of that?”
“Sure,” Riley said. “I wouldn’t exactly call it an arrest, more like we brought her in to keep her safe. Barry said she may not cooperate because she wasn’t in good shape mentally.”
“Do you have video?” That was Will’s sharp question.
“I had my vest on that day from a prior call and I turned my camera on when I got off to get the girl.” Riley’s blue eyes bounced back to mine. “I’m sure you heard about Toby a few months ago. I didn’t want that to happen again.”
“Who’s Toby?” Wolf asked.
“Another officer. His partner,” I said.
“Hold up. Is she the one who forcefully arrested a pregnant woman?” Will asked.
“A pregnant woman on heroin who was trying to run in front of a car,” Riley added. “Toby saved her life.”
“Of course you’d say that. She’s your partner,” I said.
“Just like you say these guys are awesome even when we all know you do sick things like rob graves,” Riley shot back.