From Here to Fourteenth Street by Diana Rubino

Author:Diana Rubino [Rubino, Diana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical, Friends to Lovers
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Published: 2015-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

“A séance? Come on, Vita—” Tom looked away. As the bus rattled down Fifth Avenue, raindrops blew in through the window and slapped her cheek as if to chide her.

“Jadwiga wants you there, to add your energy.” She clutched his sleeve, urging, “The more energy she can channel, the better. I want to find this killer as bad as you do, and my father’s and brother’s lives are at stake. How much time do you think we have left?”

He looked at her, apology shining in his eyes. “I didn’t mean to—I just never thought of doing any of these hocus-pocus things.”

“A lot of strange things happen to people, Tom.”

“Yeah, but not to plainclothes New York cops. I’ve heard all the folk tales and the fairy tales—Ireland’s steeped in folklore, but who knows where it came from. It could’ve come out of the mist. But when you have to risk your life every day, you step out into the street, see the stark ugliness of crime and death, and use these new questionable methods of forensics and criminal science, you get grounded. It’s a real earthly existence, being a cop.” A frown deepened the lines around his mouth.

“You’re a lot more spiritual than you admit,” she informed him.

“But I’ve never had the compulsion to bend down and kiss a saint’s feet—or pin money on one. I place it straight into live people’s hands reaching out for it.”

“You don’t have to kiss a saint’s feet,” she assured him. “I’ll tell you something. A lot of Italians just go through the motions because they were brought up that way. Or they’re afraid not to. But I can tell you’re—” She gestured up and down. “You’re spiritual.”

“You can see my spirit?” A smile played on his lips, but the question carried a flicker of doubt.

“It’s not something you see. It’s something you—know.” She hesitated at the end, treading on uncharted territory.

“I see what you’re saying. I mean—I know what you’re saying,” he explained, and she understood every word.

“Then you’ll sit in on a séance?” She bounced in the seat. “For us? For Mike?”

He pursed his lips. “Well, for a shred of evidence, I guess it’s probably worth a few minutes in the dark.”

“We are in the dark, Tom. The Tombs is light compared to this.”

His gaze caught hers. “Hey, take that pleading look out of your eyes and come here.” He opened his arms. She leaned forward, letting the raindrops mist her face. She inhaled the earthy scent of his coat. Yes, everything about him was earthy, here on the surface. Deeper down, his hidden depths lay unexplored.

****

Rosalia overstayed her three-night invitation. Each time Vita entered her room to see her stepmother lounging on her bed smoking or peeling off her nylons and tossing them on the floor, pity softened her heart and she bit her tongue.

Rosalia befriended Madame Branchard, who urged her to sit in on the parlor discussions with the free thinkers, to speak her mind and leave those old-world restraints behind.

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