Marie's mouth opens and closes as she stares at her father in disbelief.
“She was running away, Don Lauro,” I explain to him slowly, watching him for signs of deception. Strangely, he seems to really have no game on. Did he think she went out shopping?
He shakes his head. “No, no. That's impossible,” he mutters. He squints at her as if trying to confirm what I just said.
“Believe it,” I say. “And if she wants to be rid of me so badly, I think I should let her go.”
Stosh stands up out of his chair, pointing at me with his cigar. “It is not for you to decide, Roman.”
But Don Lauro takes a different tone. He holds his hands up reasonably. “Roman, Roman. Surely this is a misunderstanding. Tell him, Marie. Explain this. You weren't running away…”
Her eyelashes flutter as she looks up at her father, his expression plain and beseeching. “Daddy…”
“Please, Marie," he says in a soft voice.
Her mouth opens and closes several times but no words come out. Finally she just closes her eyes and shakes her head.
“Go home,” I tell her.
She glares at me, those caramel brown eyes flashing out a warning that makes me want to laugh.
“I don't —”
“Go. Home.”
Her father releases her shoulders and she stumbles a little bit where she stands. She looks at each of the men in the room and then shakes her head in frustration.
“I need my things!” she huffs irritably.
I depress the unlock button on the Jeep by holding the key fob out to my side. “There. Doors are open. You’ve got thirty seconds to get your crap and go home.”
She stares at me in astonishment and then pivots on her heel and storms out of the room. Stosh hides a chuckle behind his hand but Don Lauro doesn't seem quite as amused.
“I'm sure you’re mistaken,” Don Lauro explains. “I only contacted you because Nuncio said…”
“Nuncio is a fool,” I inform him. “If Nuncio was on the job, she would never have gotten out of the house. Where was the guard out front?”
“She's not a prisoner, Roman. Why don’t you try treating her with a little bit more —”
“— that's my business now,” I explain. “She's going to have to get used to a new way of doing things, the sooner the better. I don't take kindly to this sort of disrespect. And I don’t know what kind of manners she was brought up with…”
“That's enough!” Stosh bellows. "You talk about respect… I think you should show Don Lauro a little bit more respect, Roman. We’re in his business now. I don't expect you to be talking to him in this manner!”
I grind my teeth together. Perhaps I was pushing my test a little bit too far. “Forgive me, Don Lauro,” I say in a softer tone. “Maybe the events of this morning have me a little bit more rattled than I care to admit.”
The Don nods thoughtfully, his posture softening somewhat. “That is understandable, Roman, completely understandable. I am also anxious about this morning.”
I watch his back, his hands. Though the Don really doesn’t appear to be hiding anything, none of this really makes any sense. He’s asking the right questions, showing the right signs. It really does look like he had no clue what she was up to. But just in case, I need to press him a little bit farther.
“Marie said those were your men?” I ask carefully. I feel Stosh clenching, preparing to say something to respond to my implicit accusation. But I have to know.
The Don's eyes flash toward me. “What men?”
I breathe deeply, letting my intuition guide me. Just let the situation unfold, see what’s here to be seen. The Don's eyes flicker between me and Stosh, and Stosh freezes in his seat, his hand pressing hard on the gleaming wooden table top.
“I said, which men?” Don Lauro repeats angrily. “I was under the impression you were simply going to locate her?”
“I was,” I confirm. I keep my voice low so that I can hear the small changes in their breath, the small subtle signs that they are giving me though they don't even know it. “But when I found her, it seems someone else was looking for her as well. They found her first.”
"What you mean?” Stosh asks with his eyes narrowed. “Who?”
I shrug. “I didn’t get a chance to ask their names.”
“That's impossible,” Don Lauro says.
“Not impossible,” I reply. “And not unexpected either. She seemed to think that you sent them, Don Lauro. That it was a common enough event that she simply allowed them to take her.”
“Don Lauro?” Stosh says slowly. “Why would you send them? Has this happened before?”