Peter sighed. “Yeah, yeah.”
“That’s why she’s here now,” Carlotta said. “Instead of with the social worker or a friend of the family. Because you feel responsible for her.”
“Iamresponsible for her. She’s got nobody else. Her dad’s out of the picture. If I hadn’t taken her, she’d be stuck in the system.”
Carlotta raised her eyebrows. “What do you mean, you took her?”
“Um. The social worker from CPS was coming to get her, but Ellie didn’t want to go. She wanted to stay with me. So we left.”
Carlotta shook her head. “I love you, Peter, but this is a very bad idea. Manny and I both know how relentless you can be when you aim yourself at something. Not to mention the fact that you are not exactlydomesticated at the best of times.” She looked at Manny. Something unspoken passed between them, and he nodded his agreement. They’d been married fifteen years.
Carlotta turned back to Peter. “If it’s okay with you, why doesn’t Ellie come stay with us? You can figure out what’s going on while Manny plays bodyguard and I find her a therapist to talk to.”
“I’m pretty sure I broke a few laws when I took her,” Peter said. “I don’t want that to come back on you.”
“Not a problem,” Manny said. “If the shit hits the fan, we deny everything and blame it all on you.”
“That sounds about right,” Peter admitted.
Carlotta beamed. “Then it’s settled. Ellie can come home with us.”
“Screw that.” They all turned to see Ellie standing on the carpeted stair landing, in clean jeans and a white Taylor Swift sweatshirt. Her hair was wet but brushed. Her Doc Martens hung from one hand. She glared at Peter. “I’m staying with you. I don’t evenknowthese people.”
16
Peter said, “Ellie, this is Carlotta Martinez. I’ve told her and Manny what happened with your mom. They’ve got four daughters. It will be better at their house than with me, I promise.”
She came down the last four steps and faced him, eyes hollow, teeth bared. “Youpromise?” Her voice rose. “Like youpromisedto protect me and my mom? To keep us safe?”
On the rage-meter, she’d gone from zero to sixty in a heartbeat. Clearly that coffee had been a bad idea. Peter took a breath, let it out. “You’re right, I did promise. And I failed. I don’t blame you for being angry. I screwed up. I’m really sorry.”
“That won’t bring my mom back.”
“No,” he said. “It won’t. Nothing will. But I’m going to keep digging into your mother’s death. Things might get ugly. That’s why you should stay with Manny and Carlotta. You’ll be safer with them than you’ll be with me.”
“I told you, I’m notgoingwith them. I don’t evenknowthem.”
Peter kept his voice gentle. “Kiddo, you barely knowme. We just met yesterday, remember? Look, I get that things are really screwed up right now. But I need to find out why those people went after you and your mom. I can’t do that and protect you at the same time.”
She lifted her chin. “Well, I want to know, too. So I’ll just come with you.”
“Eleanor Grace, you are thirteen years old—”
“Don’t youEleanor Graceme, meatball. You’renotmy dad, and you’re sure ashellnot mymom. So you don’t get to tell me what to do.” Her face was red. She thumped her sternum with the flat of her hand. “I’m my own person. I decide. Me. Get it?”
Then she burst into full-blown tears. Shoulders heaving, snot streaming, skinny arms wrapped around her narrow chest.
Carlotta went to her and put her hand on the girl’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Ellie—”
Ellie knocked her hand away, shrieking, “Don’t youfucking touch me.”
Carlotta jerked back as if she’d stuck her finger into an electric socket. Then Peter was across the room with his long arms around the girl, pulling her close, voice soft and low. “I’ve got you, kiddo. I’ve got you. It’s going to be all right.”
Even though he knew that wouldn’t be true, not at all, not for a long time. And maybe never.
—
After a few moments of hiccupping, Ellie pulled free of Peter, then ran to the bathroom and slammed the door without a backward glance.
