Bosom Bodies (Mina's Adventures) (24 page)

“Mina, do you remember what happened?
DeFiore
is on his way to talk to you. I’ll stay around so we get everything cleared
up,
” Adams said.

“What’s there to clear
up
? What? I get a ticket for being at the park after
-
hours?” She heard Margo giggle at her smart
-
mouth response. Adams didn’t look
amused.
“By the way, what happened to my car? Was it towed?”

“Don’t worry about the car
. T
here are more important issues.”

“Yeah,” Paco interrupted, “like the cop they arrested for trying to kill you.”

A cop? Diego?

Someone cleared his throat, and
they all looked
toward the sound.
DeFiore
stood at the doorway, a shadowy smile on his lips.
W
as
he
trying to
put her
at ease or prep her for a long chat
?
She was dying to ask about Diego.

“Nice to see you awake and smiling
.
”
DeFiore
came into the room
.
“I have to ask you a few questions
. N
o, I’m not reading anyone’s rights.” A forced laugh. “I need information to establish a time line, but you are welcome to have Adams present if that makes you feel better.” The man was all business.

Her mind was still sorting the news about the cop arrest
. S
he shook her head. “It’s up to Adams
. H
onestly, makes no difference to me either way.”

Adams walked to the other side of the bed, grabbed the empty chair and sat.
DeFiore
had his answer. He turned, but before anything happened, Paco
put on his jacket
and said goodbye.

Margo picked up her purse.
“I’ll be back after I grab some food
.”

The sense of easiness and camaraderie left with them. What was happening?
DeFiore
closed the door. “Well, Mina, first, big congratulations for solving the mystery of Ginger’s diamonds.
It was
smart and courageous the way you kept the evidence from ending up in the wrong hands.” He s
ounded as if
he meant it
,
too.

Memories of the chase began to surface in her head
:
Diego, the Harley, hiding the shirt under the jacket. She didn’t feel smart and courageous
,
and why wasn’t Diego here visiting her?

“I don’t know how much you’ve been told. We arrested Detective Perez, Sam Perez. Yes, my partner.” When he mentioned her name h
is face sagged
,
aging him
ten years. “This time we have plenty of proof. She was the one shooting at you. Imagine the stupidity
. S
he used her police issued Remington
twelve
gauge shot gun
.
L
ucky for you and us, she
’
s a lousy markswoman.” He turned to Adams
.
“I never trusted her.”

Mina seized the moment.
“What happened to Diego?”

The room went silent. The only sound was the constant click of the heart monitor
connected
to her. “Diego?”
A
sense of doom grabb
ed
at her stomach.

“There was an accident
.
”
DeFiore
avoided her eyes. “After you jumped off his motorcycle
,
Sam got lucky
. S
he shot
him—not Diego—the Harley, and, well anyway, Diego is here, in the ICU.”

La cometa di Natale
.
It wasn’t the Christmas comet she saw, it was
Diego going up in flames. Oh, m
y God!

“I need to see him
,
”
s
he said out loud
, l
ittle pieces of her crumbling at full speed like sand castles in a hurricane.

“You can’t. He isn’t allowed visitors
.
”
DeFiore
’s voice was full of apology and sadness
.

“I’m not a visitor.”

“Really, so what are you?” If
DeFiore
wanted to be hated, he was succeeding.

“I’m the person whose life he saved.” She said it with such inten
sity
both men stared at her without saying a word.

Finally
,
DeFiore
spoke softly.
“I’ll have a nurse take you to him once we are done here.”

Mina closed her eyes
to hide
her sense of relief and anticipation. “Well, start asking away.”

There was a knock at the door and the nurse came in with a small pitcher, a glass and a bent straw. She deposited everything on the night table, assessed the room with one quick glance and was out of there.

“Mina, I need specific details about the Bosom Bodies uniform
:
when it was first given to you, what was said,
any
information that will help us reconstruct the facts from the beginning.
Ginger must not have trusted Barbara
and didn’t want to let her know where the diamonds where until the last minute.
Th
e
only way we
’
ll be able to arrest the people responsible for the murders of Ginger and Barbara
is
with your cooperation
.”

“Didn’t you say you arrested Angelina and Sam?”

“We did, but they
’
re part of a larger organization
.
I doubt they had anything to do with the physical part of
the killings. They both have
strong alibi
s
. The night Ginger was killed, both Angelina and Sam were at Bosom Bodies
. R
emember?”

Mina nodded. “Maybe so, but Angelina had access to my car the night Barbara was
murdered
. D
on’t forget
that
the following day Angelina came to work with bruises on her face.” Mina felt a little ashamed
,
but all she wanted to do was see Diego, not talk to
DeFiore
under Adams’
s
eagle eyes. She yawned.

“Am I boring you?”
DeFiore
asked.

“I’m sorry
. I
t’s not you
. I
t’s the sedative. Can’t this wait? I don’t remember the exact day I got the uniform. Ginger had the whole thing neatly packed, skirt, top,
padded
bra, wig. If you ask me
,
the wig was totally over the top.”

DeFiore
sh
ook
his head.

Too much information?

“Anyway it was
three
days before she left for Las Vegas. Well, you said she never went to Las Vegas and never got married, so you know more about this than I do.” She yawned again. This time she didn’t even excuse herself or try to conceal it.

Adams
stood.
“Dan, look, I appreciate what you are trying to do,
but
unless what you need from Mina is time sensitive, perhaps you c
ould
wait until she is a little more
…
focused? Or maybe you c
ould make up
a list of questions
so she
can take her time and double check
dates
and places?”

DeFiore
let out a long sigh
.
“We could
do
that.
None of this made the news. Well, Sam Perez did
. S
he
’
s the talk of the County, but we kept Mina out of the picture. The hospital
is
releas
ing
her in the morning. Will she be going back to her condo?”
H
e
spoke
to Adams
as if
she wasn’t even there.

“That’s up to Mina. If she wants to do that
,
I
’ve
arranged for Margo to spend some time with her. West Coast Software is closing for the holidays
,
and Mina seems to get along fine with Margo.”

“Hey, I’m right here
. I
sn’t anyone going to ask me what I want to do?”

“We
’
re listening
,
” Adams said.

“I want to go see Diego.”

The two men exchanged glances and shook their heads.

“I’m going back to the office,
” Adams said.
“
C
all if you need me
.
I’ll send Margo in. Mina, rest. Don’t do something silly, okay?”

“How a
m I going to do something silly?
I’m in a hospital. Hey,
DeFiore
, you promised I could see Diego.”

“I did indeed. Now remember, that’s all I said. You can see him. Period.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“He is in a medically induced coma because of extensive injuries. Let me talk to the head nurse, they can wheel you down there.”

“I can walk, thank you very much.”

“Mina, it’s hospital regulation,” Adams said. “Behave.”

“I need to comb my hair and…”

“He can’t see you
,
”
DeFiore
said.

“Maybe—maybe he will wake up when he hear
s
my voice.”

“He won’t hear your voice because you won’t be talking to him. Got it?”

“You don’t need to be mean about it
.
” Mina
cringed
.
She wasn’t being unreasonable. He was.

“Oh, for Christ’s sake, I’m not mean
.
I’m giving you a reality check. Never mind
.
I’m not going to stay here and argue with you. I’ll get the nurse.”

That was interesting
. S
he had never heard
DeFiore
cu
r
s
e
before. Must
have
be
en
because of Sam, the traitress.

“Good bye
,
Adams
.
I’ll see yo
u later. C
an you make sure Margo comes back?”

Adams nodded and left. A few minutes
passed
and
DeFiore
came back with a nurse she hadn’t met
yet
. The nurse was pushing a wheel chair,
maledizione
.
Margo was right behind them.

“Okay, Nurse Smith will take you to see Diego
. D
on’t give her any grief
. S
he
’
s just doing her job. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Margo, keep an eye on your friend here
. W
ill you?”
He lifted his hand in a
wave
of sorts
and left.

Mina couldn’t wait, she jumped out of bed, land
ing
on the leg with the bandages.
“Ouch, ouch…damn it hurts.”

“That’s why we have the wheel chair,” Nurse Smith said.

Margo didn’t waste any
time
. S
he practically pushed Mina into the chair. “Okay, s
it
still a minute and
let me
make you presentable
.
”
S
he
pulled
a comb from her purse
and
ran it through
Mina’s hair in spite of all her arguing
. S
he also applied some gloss on her lips.

Nurse Smith watched with a stern look on her face.
To
Mina
, the nurse
looked
six-fee
t tall next to M
argo
and
her
.