I folded my arms across my chest and stuck my lower lip out.
Across the street, nothing happened.
“We might as well go,” Mendoza said.“I’m guessing they’re in there for the rest of the night.”
I guessed the same thing.“Are there any other places we should look at while we’re down here?”
There was the Russian-sounding seamstress and the vet who’d had their business cards next to the card for Stella’s.But it wasn’t likely that either of them had been open when Zachary set out on his errand last night.
Mendoza shook his head.“I’ll take you back to your car.”
He put his own into gear and reversed out of the parking spot.We headed back up Nolensville Road toward Southern Hills, where Mendoza found my car and slotted his into the empty space next to it.“There you go.”
“You’re not coming up?”
His brows drew down.“You’re going up to see Zach?”
“I thought I might,” I said, with a glance at the dashboard clock.I still had almost an hour before Rachel left the office.Enough time to check on Zachary and see whether I could get confirmation that he’d actually been at Stella’s last night.There wasn’t any doubt in my mind, but independent corroboration would be nice.“Unless you’d prefer that I don’t?”
He would clearly prefer that I didn’t.However, before I could remind him that it was a free country and that I would be paying for Zach’s hospital stay, he turned off the car.“I’ll come with you.”
“I was going to tell you what happened,” I said, but I got out of the car, too.We walked toward the entrance side by side.
Upstairs, Zachary was dozing in the same hospital bed as earlier.He was alone.If he’d been my son, or rather, if I’d been his mother, I would have been by his side.Zachary’s mother was nowhere to be seen.
I’d never met her, but I found myself developing quite a dislike for the woman.
Zachary blinked at us when we stepped into the room.It seemed to take a few seconds before he recognized us.“Oh,” he said eventually, his voice scratchy.“’s you.”
I smiled brightly.Maybe it was just my imagination, but the bruises on his face looked even worse than they had just two hours ago.“We’re back.”
Zachary looked blank.
“We were here a couple hours ago,” Mendoza told him, and moved closer to the bed.“How are you feeling?”
Zachary shrugged.
I stepped up next to Mendoza.“We had a look around, trying to figure out what happened to you.Or who did this.”
Mendoza added, “Susan at the Russian grocery store says hello.”
Zachary looked nonplussed for a second, before he nodded.
I pulled the business card for Stella’s out of my bag.“Do you remember seeing this?Did you go there?”
Zachary looked at it.It seemed to be hard for him to concentrate.Or maybe his memory was shot.
It was even possible he might have a concussion.Mendoza hadn’t mentioned it, but maybe he didn’t know, either.
“I think,” Zachary whispered, “maybe…?”
“Don’t worry about it.”Mendoza gave me a look and I dropped the card back into my purse.“You mentioned Tatiana.Who’s she?”
Zachary’s eyes got that vague look again, that indicated he was trying to remember.His pupils were tiny, probably a result of whatever was going into his arm from the clear bag hanging above his bed.
“A girl.I met her…” He trailed off.
“At the club?Stella’s?”
