Manhattan
Wojciechowski emerged and motioned Nicole and her father close. “One tough woman.”
“You bet,” her father said. “Why do you think she had to be attacked from behind?”
“Dad!” Nicole said.
The detective shook his head. “Gallows humor’s all the humor we cops got. But do you find this funny?”
“I’m being serious,” Nicole’s father said. “Anybody trying to pull something on Ginny had better try it when she’s not looking.”
“I got more questions,” Wojciechowski said, “but they wanna move her to her room. I’ve gotta check with my people on alibis, havin’ someone talk to this Bulgarian woman, CCTV footage of the foundation, and where you live, all that.”
“Where I live?” Nicole said.
“No, your parents. You said you were in your office when your father called from France.”
“That’s right.”
“Just need someone to confirm that. And, Mr. Berman, they say your home’s a fortress, nobody in or out without bein’ seen by the doorman, the desk staff, or the cameras. We oughta know soon who was in and outta your place around the time of the attack.”
Nicole took her father to Eleven West to make sure the room was in order before her mother arrived. She tidied all her own stuff and tucked her belongings in a cabinet while he sat between his bags, staring at the floor.
“You all right, Dad? Need some help?”
He shook his head. “The idea that someone would …”
“I know.”
“It just doesn’t figure. I can’t think of anyone for any reason. Frustrates me. Makes me angry, but at whom?”
She put a hand on his shoulder, then began unpacking his bag and hanging his clothes. It wasn’t like him to let her do that, but he seemed dazed. Besides the stress of the horror, she assumed jet lag was also catching up with him.
“I can do that, hon,” he said finally.
“Just set up your computer, Dad. Knowing you, you’ll be here around the clock.”
“And you?” he said.
“Debating. I want some alone time with Mom, but you and I don’t both need to be here overnight, do we?”
“Suit yourself. You’re in the homestretch with the Saudis, aren’t you?”
She nodded and told him about the piece of mail she hadn’t opened. “I just can’t concentrate on anything but Mom.”
“You told her you were still waiting to hear from them, Nic.”
“I know. But she’s got enough on her mind. If she knew, she wouldn’t let it go until I opened it. But then she’d likely be as disappointed as I am.”
“Wish you’d brought it so we’d know,” he said. “But it does sound like a preliminary turndown.”
“I’ll check it tonight. But you know what comes next. If it’s still pending, I need to be able to assure them I have team member names they can vet and that the funding is in place.”
“How much of it do you need the foundation to put up?”
“Seriously, Dad?”
“What?”
“We’ve danced around this for so long I’m dizzy. You know as well as I do that unless you finance the dig, it’s not going to happen.”
When Nicole’s mother was delivered to the room, along with the two uniformed cops who set up outside, she was sound asleep and Detective Wojciechowski was nowhere to be seen. The nurse said she had told Wojciechowski not to wake her. “So he said he’d be at the plaza cafeteria and hoped Mr. Berman could join him.”
“I’ll stay with her,” Nicole said. “I wanted to order her some flowers anyway.” The nurse pointed her to a card with the number of the hospital gift shop.
“And the cafeteria’s in the pavilion, right?” her dad said.
The nurse nodded. “Guggenheim atrium. First floor.”
When the nurse left, Nicole’s father said, “I’ve got unfinished business with the detective anyway.”
“Oh?”
“Something about your mother thinking I keep secrets. You hear her say anything like that?”
Nicole hesitated.
“What, Nic?”
“I’ve been told not to discuss that with you.”
“Seriously?”
“It was as much a surprise to me as it is to you,” she said, “but I guess Wojciechowski wants to get your initial reaction, without having been tipped off.”
“But come on. I deserve to know—”
“Then you shouldn’t have raised me to respect authority.”