Page 91 of The Doctor

“Shaw said there was an explosion at Giordano’s office!”

“Fuck!”

Jet stopped me with a hand to the chest as I tried to race to the door. “Lorenzo’s at the hospital with Carmen.”

“I know that!” I yelled, tearing his hands from my chest. “But there are other people there!”

Jet grabbed my shoulders, forcing me to stay put. “There are. And I know it’s your first reaction to want to help. But think about this, Zee. Paulo’s been shot. Arik is missing. And now there’s an explosion at Lorenzo’s office? Something’s going on here, and I’m not risking you for the men and women who may or may not be hurt. I’m not the only one who knows you’re the first to go racing into a situation like this.”

“They need help!”

“And they’ll get it. If it’s an explosion, there’s nothing you can do on your own. The paramedics will be onsite, making sure everyone gets the help they need. And we need you here.”

“Here? Doing what, standing around talking?”

If looks alone could kill, I’d have been left maimed on the floor at Jet’s feet. “Gallo,” he said, not bothering to look at the last two men on his crew. “Please take Zeno here and make sure Cosimo and his family are safe.”

Cosimo.

Clara’s lie flitted around inside my head.

I think it was Cosimo.

The girl had been obsessed with that chart I’d made her since the moment she saw it, pouring over it at all hours of the day. When she’d dragged the damn thing out of her purse at the hospital, blood-soaked and falling apart, I’d had a moment where stark terror pulsed through me.

I haven’t done enough. All my attention, all the meds, everything I’ve done hasn’t been enough.

I didn’t have time to take her back to the psychiatrist, to have her evaluated the way I was beginning to think was needed. There was too much going on, and I had to hope that the two pills I gave her would tide her over until this was all over.

“Come on, Nazario, you’re with me.” Jet left me standing there, blinking at him as he and Nazario walked out the door.

Benny Gallo cleared his throat, motioning to the door with a jerk of his head. “You ready, Doctor?”

I think it was Cosimo.

I sucked in a deep breath, then followed him out the door.

Benny was quiet in the car beside me as I drove through the busy evening traffic to Cosimo’s side of town. While my mind was spinning, I’d forgotten he was there. It wasn’t until the kid cleared his throat, jolting me out of my head and almost causing me to get in a wreck, that I remembered Jet had sent him with me.

As if I couldn’t check on Cosimo on my own.

As if I needed help looking in on the old man.

“You were around back then?” The question stumped me, and I glared at him out of the corner of my eye. “Back when Benito and his lieutenants were killed?”

I pulled to a stop at a light and turned to look at him. “You know about that?”

“Of course, I do,” he said with a shrug. “My parents always said, ‘Those who fail to learn about history are doomed to repeat it.’”

“That’s Winston Churchill.”

“Doesn’t make it any less true.”

The car in front of me took off, and I turned my attention back to the road. “You’re right.” I sucked in a deep breath and let it out. “You know all about Big Tony then, huh?”

“That he was found at the bottom of the pile of bodies? Or that he was a loud, obnoxious man who had a habit of making enemies out of friends?”

My breath left me in a huff. The kid hit the nail on the head.