The Pawn novel · Chapter 14 of 24

Chapter 14: Thrown Back

I called Cosimo from the kitchen phone at dusk, while Pellegrino slept in his chair with a blanket on his knees.

He answered before the first ring finished.

"The public boat launch at the end of the lane," I said. "Come by yourself. Nobody on the road, like you promised."

"I'm already in the car."

I put the badge in my coat pocket and told the man at the back door I wanted air.

He looked at the black sky and the frozen lake.

He decided a girl walking in the cold was not his problem.

The boat launch was a concrete ramp and a rusted sign.

A black car sat at the bottom with its lights off.

Cosimo got out when he saw me coming and stood by the open door, alone, with his hands where I could see them.

I did not get in until I had looked up and down the lane twice.

The car was warm and smelled of his coat.

He sat behind the wheel, I sat beside him, and neither of us spoke.

"Somebody sold you out," I said finally. "Before the wedding."

"Go on."

"The man in the van phoned someone and said, she's fine, like you asked. Somebody told Pellegrino where I'd be standing."

His face went very still.

"I didn't know about the call." His jaw tightened. "Only eleven men knew which church and which hour."

"And?"

"I'll have every one of them in a room by morning."

"Good." I took out the badge and held it up.

He read the name, and the date, and I watched him understand.

"He was there," Cosimo said slowly. "He sat with her. He told you he found a stone."

"He lied to me with tears on his face."

"Yes."

"And you lied to me with your mouth shut." My voice shook. "Six months. You watched me work."

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