"But I don't understand," Katherine barked into the receiver of her landline. "How can she not have a record with you?"
An hour after watching the man in the suit lead Rosa away in handcuffs, she was no closer to an answer about where her patient was or why she had been arrested.
If she had been arrested.
She kept looking out at the street, where both the rain and the traffic had died down, hoping the cop on the other end of the line was finally the right one and could answer her question. Because it wasn't her first call. After canceling the rest of her patients for the day, she had set about finding out Rosa's whereabouts. The fact that her mother was the head of the homicide unit and her older sister was a detective on said unit gave Katherine a thorough introduction to the inner workings of the Boston Police Department. This had also given her access to the cops themselves; there were very few who didn't know who she was.
So when a rookie cop told her Rosa hadn't been brought to them, she tried the detectives who had arrested the young woman for passing bad checks. To no avail. But she had been advised to try Central Booking, the place to which all arrests were routed from local precincts.
She did so promptly and now spoke to a not unfriendly but undoubtedly bored sergeant whose name she had already forgotten.
"She probably hasn't been accounted for yet," he said. "Until your Rosa Castillo isn't in the computer and transported here, we don't know she exists. Do you understand, Doc?"
Katherine took a deep breath. Whatever had happened to Rosa, it wasn't this man's fault. "Yes," she replied, "I understand. I'm sorry if I gave you a hard time."
The sergeant laughed. "Ma'am, if you want to know what makes life hard, come visit us sometime. That was a piece of cake. Goodbye."
Then the connection was broken. At least the guy had a sense of humor. But when she hung up the phone at her bland government desk, it comforted her as little as the dreary office itself. Katherine knew the sergeant wouldn't try too hard to track down one of hundreds of arrestees who might just have violated her parole.
She stood up, walked to the window, and looked out inquiringly as if Rosa might suddenly appear miraculously among the crowds in the street. It was wishful thinking, and she knew it. Then her thoughts went in another direction.
Was I missing something? Was her modest appearance just an act, and I didn't notice or didn't want to notice? Did she commit another crime she didn't tell me about?
As quickly as the questions arose, Katherine dismissed them again.
She had always been very good at judging other people's character. Her ability to read people had served her well throughout her adult life. Rosa was exactly what Katherine thought she was: a hard-working young woman who had been swallowed up and victimized by circumstances beyond her control. Just as the city outside had swallowed her an hour ago.
Katherine vowed to do everything she could to find Rosa. She went back to her desk, where Rosa's file still lay. She opened it and began to flip through it, perhaps discovering something else she hadn't thought of. Just then her cell phone rang, the display said 'Mom'. She took a deep breath and answered the call. "Mom," she said, "thanks for calling back so quickly."
"You said it was urgent," Maura replied. "What's wrong?"
"You remember Rosa Castillo?"
"Yes, your model patient. What happened? Did she violate her parole by not showing up?"
"Yes, she very much did show up, but as soon as she left here, a plainclothes cop took her away in handcuffs."
"Seriously?" exclaimed Maura, sounding no less stunned than her daughter was herself. She'd had Rosa's investigation files sent to her at the time to make sure Katherine hadn't been duped by a felon. Her daughter had dropped the name now and then, but never said a word about the content of the therapy session.
Katherine's hopes sank. "I thought you might know who it was, or at least why."
"I'm not aware of the slightest wrongdoing," Maura said after a brief pause, "And I would be aware if any of my attorneys had sought a warrant."
"Is there anyone you could call?" the young woman asked.
After more than thirty years on the job, Maura was a veteran prosecutor, and she knew as well as Katherine did that Rosa was not the kind of criminal likely to disappear. And besides, she trusted her daughter's professional expertise. She knew Katherine wouldn't sound the alarm for no reason. "Wait a minute, let's recap," Maura said, partly to reassure her daughter. "You saw it happen with your own eyes?"
"Yes," Katherine sighed, closing her eyes briefly. "From my office window."
"Your office on the second floor of the hospital."
"They were across the street."
"So you didn't see the man's face."
Katherine thought hard, but she had only been looking at the man's back. "All I saw was a black suit and the handcuffs."
"Could it have been an FBI agent? Or that it was somehow related to ICE?"
"You know very well that Rosa was born in the Bronx, Mom," Katherine said, standing up and walking back to the window.
"I'm sorry, Kate, but sometimes ICE agents arrest people first and ask questions afterward. I'll call the detectives who arrested her that time and the guy from the Sex Crimes Unit who worked the case of her rape. What do you think of that?"
"Mcneil from SVU would have been my next call," Katherine said, running her hand through her hair. "I've already tried the other two. But I'm afraid it's some bullshit complain her ex-husband is behind, and I don't want her to get in trouble over it."
Maura was silent for a moment. "Sounds like she's already in trouble," she replied. "You're not trying to give me the runaround, are you?"
"Why would I do that?" asked Katherine. She struggled to understand her mother over the siren of a fire department ambulance down the street.
Maura paused again for a few seconds and Katherine could literally see the frown. "Well, for example, because Rosa actually didn't show up for her appointment today and you 'think you saw a man' leading her away in handcuffs because you don't want her sent back to the Corrections Department for violating her parole."
"Mom, if I'm trying to protect Rosa somehow, why on earth would I even call you?" said Katherine, raising her voice. "Rosa hasn't missed a session in the two months since she was released. She's here early every time."
"Take it easy, Kate, you don't have to convince me. I'll ask around a bit and let you know what I come up with."
"Thanks, Mom." Katherine hung up, knowing she wouldn't want to wait hours or days for answers.
She turned back to the file that lay open in front of her. Everything she needed to know about her patient's life was in it. This was where she had to start looking.
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It was just before noon when Katherine hurried down the spotlessly clean hallway and turned the corner to Dr. Galloway's office. No sooner had she knocked than Galloway was standing in front of her and immediately saw from Katherine's expression that something was wrong. "What happened?" she asked, pushing Katherine into her spacious office, which was furnished with comfortable furniture in earth tones and tasteful but understated prints and paintings. She was just about to sit down in her usual spot, a high-backed chair across from the couch when Katherine began telling her about Rosa and what she had done to track down her missing patient. "I tried her cell phone half a dozen times, leaving messages because she didn't answer. And I called my mom. She's researching her whereabouts."
Galloway listened, knowing Katherine was hiding something from her. "You think something happened to her," she said.
Katherine nodded, though she didn't want to say it out loud. "I don't know why, but yes I do," she replied.
"Well," Galloway began, "there might also be a reasonable explanation." Katherine looked up abruptly as if the idea that there could be anything reasonable about the story was nonsense, to begin with. But Galloway pressed on. "I know Rosa has always been conscientious, but even the most accommodating patients don't tell us everything."
"Rosa has been coming to see me twice a week for a month," Katherine said, taking the edge out of her voice. "If she was trying to hide something, I'd know it by now."
Galloway motioned for the young woman to take a seat, but Katherine remained standing. She was too agitated to sit down. So Galloway tried another approach. "Still, we all have secrets, and some people are much better at keeping them than others," she said. "As good as you are, and you're the best I've got here, it's not out of the question that Rosa did something she was so ashamed of that she didn't tell you, and she got arrested for it."
"Then what am I to do?" asked Katherine with a frown.
Galloway instinctively knew what Katherine wanted: her blessing for looking for Rosa. And that was the last thing Galloway wanted to give her. "Looks like you've done all you can do right now," she said in that soothing voice that had become a pillar of support for Katherine. "Now all we can do is wait and see."
Katherine had been looking at the watercolor of a cityscape in the rain on the opposite wall. But when she looked at Galloway, her mentor's gaze bored into her eyes as if she were trying to burn a message into her brain. Even if it was in a gentle way, she had received a direct order from her superior. The general ordered the common soldier to stand down. It was the first time it had happened, and Katherine knew she had better not disagree. "Okay," she replied and headed for the door. "I understand."
It was an awkward moment for Galloway, who had never had to put her star student in her place before. "Please let me know if you hear anything," Galloway said as Katherine walked out: she barely finished the sentence before the door slammed shut.
In the hallway, Katherine stopped and leaned against the wall, alone, full of doubt. She held her mentor in tremendous esteem; the woman had been like a third mother to her over the past year. But Katherine couldn't shake the feeling that Rosa was in more than legal trouble. The thought sent an icy chill down her spine, and she knew the feeling well. she had gotten it as a child when she was told 'no' for an answer.
At that moment she decided that she couldn't wait for the police or anyone else to find out about Rosa's fate.
She had to take it into her own hands. She would find Rosa.
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The graffiti-covered, dilapidated four-story apartment building in Mattapan was an atavism, a dinosaur in its last days before extinction befell it in the form of gentrification, which still spread to the most disreputable neighborhoods. Katherine hesitantly opened the building's demolished front door and was greeted by an overwhelming urine stench that forced her to breathe through her mouth to keep from retching.
She climbed the worn wooden stairs. Katherine wondered how, living here, one could form a clear thought or sleep.
She found the apartment on the second floor and knocked on the plywood door. She heard footsteps and a female voice.
"Who is it?"
"I'm looking for Franco Castillo," Katherine said.
The door opened as wide as the security chain would allow. A young woman with a dark complexion and hair made no effort to conceal her lavender bra and matching panties as she peered through the slit. Katherine estimated her to be no older than twenty.
"Are you from the police?" the woman, presumably Franco's girlfriend, asked.
Katherine decided not to answer the question and see where it led her. "I need to talk to him," she said, "About his wife."
The young woman shook her head and closed the door. For a moment, Katherine thought she had left. But then she heard the chain being removed, and the door opened again. The young woman blocked the entrance. She didn't want to let Katherine in, but she couldn't think of a good reason on the spur of the moment to deny her. "Franco, the cops are here for Rosa," she called and disappeared through a door that was probably the bedroom.
"Thanks," Katherine called after her, looking around. The apartment was a flophouse. A walk-through apartment with windows that looked out onto another building that was so close that there was hardly any natural light coming into the rooms. The presumed living room was nothing more than a wooden floor with shabby, used furniture that looked like it had been picked up off the street. Katherine heard conversations and the clatter of dishes from the coffee shop below as if it was in the next room.
Katherine wondered what had caused Franco to trade the comfortable apartment he had shared with Rosa and the children for this shithole.
Katherine heard an angry exchange of words in Spanish behind the door through which the girlfriend had disappeared. Suddenly the shouting ended, the door opened, and Franco Castillo scowled as he caught sight of Katherine. "She's not police," he yelled over his shoulder, slamming the bedroom door. Then he focused his anger on Katherine. "Why are you lying to my girlfriend?" he asked, pulling a dirty shirt over his strong torso; both arms were tattooed green and red with images of the Virgin Mary and Harley choppers. His knees peeked through large holes in the tattered pajama pants he wore.
"I wasn't lying," Katherine replied defiantly. "She asked, and I just didn't answer."
Their first encounter had been just as hostile. Katherine had had to interview Franco as part of the custody proceedings for the two children. She had quickly pinpointed Franco as having a case of pathological irascibility, a diagnosis that had confirmed her extensive conversations with the children. Franco wanted the children to live with him. Rosa, of course, wanted them placed with their mother. Rosa won and based on the recommendation Katherine made to a family court judge, Franco was forced to pay child support to his soon-to-be ex-mother-in-law, which angered him beyond measure.
"What the hell do you want?" he asked.
"You, to tell me where Rosa is," Katherine replied in the same tone.
It made him grin. "Oh, did she run off on you, Mami?" he sneered, suddenly enjoying himself immensely. Katherine didn't think to tell him anything, so Franco assumed he was right. "I told you from the start not to put too much stock in her," he said, pushing his face in front of hers. "And why do you come and tell me this?"
"Because you probably know where she might have gone if she wanted to be off the grid for a while," Katherine replied, not backing down an inch.
Seeing that he wasn't intimidating Katherine, Franco turned away, picked up a Coke bottle from a wobbly table, and took a sip. "What makes you think I would know?"
Katherine saw her chance. "You were married to her," she said forcefully, but not so forcefully that it sounded like she was trying to threaten his manhood.
"So what?" retorted Franco.
"You're still a father," she countered. "Whether you want to be with her or not, she's still the mother of your children, and those children need Rosa. They need her more than they need you or this," she concluded gesturing around the rundown apartment.
For some reason, and to Katherine's surprise, her words actually had an effect on Franco. He looked at her and lowered his eyes, and Katherine knew he was ashamed. Finally, he looked back up and gestured to the closed bedroom door. "Sometimes you just make mistakes, if you know what I mean. Like thinking as a man with the wrong body part."
At this self-knowledge, Katherine almost began to like him. And it gave her the access she needed. She put on a sympathetic expression and spoke in an applauding tone. "Nobody's perfect, Franco," she said, "and it takes greatness to look at yourself and see it."
He nodded slowly. "I messed up, Doc," he replied. "I know it, believe me. I miss the kids. Two days a week isn't enough."
For the first time since she'd known him, he was actually acting like a human being. Katherine felt a little sorry for him. "You really don't know where Rosa might be?"
"I swear I don't know," Franco replied, sighing. "But she would never leave the kids behind. I'll ask around, okay? And if I find out anything, I'll call you right away."
Katherine believed him. she had never received this much cooperation from the man, and she had to reciprocate appropriately. "And if I hear anything, I'll call you as well."
Franco nodded again, incapable of any clear expression of gratitude, then opened the apartment door. "You should ask her mother. She always knows what's going on with Rosa."
"My next visit," she assured him on her way out. "Thanks."
Katherine hurried down the stairs as fast as she could, this time holding her breath until she was outside, where she took a deep breath of the humid air.
Katherine looked up at the dark gray threatening clouds and cursed herself for not bringing her umbrella. Then she walked briskly toward her car, hoping she reached it before it started pouring again.
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The second downpour of the day was in full swing when, a few minutes later, Katherine parked her car in front of the apartment complex where Rosa's mother lived. Maria's reception and the apartment where she lived with her grandchildren couldn't have been more distinctly different from Katherine's visit with Franco. Maria Lopez, as petite as her daughter, her hair still naturally dark in her late forties, embraced Katherine as if she were another of her children. "I'm so glad you came by," Maria said, inviting her in and closing the door.
Katherine looked around, her gaze going to the photos of Maria and Rosa and her two grandchildren, both with their parents' dark eyes and complexions. The furniture in the living room was old but well kept, including an aged, soft sofa. A crucifix hung on a wall above a small table with another photo of the family. The largest picture was in the center of the table: Rosa in her communion dress.
As Katherine dropped into the couch cushions, she involuntarily compared Mary's clean, warm, welcoming home to Franco's cold and repulsive rat hole. "It's always good to see you, Maria," she replied, sincerely meaning it. Rosa's mother had been an unwavering support through everything her daughter had been through. When Rosa was arrested, Maria quit her job as a cashier at a small neighborhood deli and dug into her savings to take care of her grandchildren. Although it offended her that Rosa didn't ask for help or money when Franco left her, she also respected that her daughter was trying to make it on her own. Maria was always convinced that Rosa had done no wrong, even when the justice system said otherwise and sentenced her to prison.
Katherine felt that Maria, just like Rosa, deserved a break after all that had happened. She dreaded breaking the news.
"If you've come to see the kids," Maria began, "I took them to daycare this morning. I have a doctor's appointment today."
"It's not about the kids. Have you talked to Rosa today?" asked Katherine cautiously.
To her surprise, Maria's face brightened. "Yes, and isn't that wonderful?" Her elation faded as she noticed Katherine's confusion. "Didn't Rosa tell you what happened?"
Katherine had to be careful. "You know I can't tell you what Rosa and I are talking about."
"Well, I guess she did -" began Maria, then abruptly interrupted herself.
"You guess she what?" asked Katherine.
Maria hesitated and looked toward the table with her daughter's photos on it. "It's just ... well, I don't want her to get in trouble."
"If Rosa has done something wrong," Katherine said with compassion, "then I need to know because I can help her even if she has committed a crime -"
"My daughter has done nothing wrong," Maria immediately interjected. "She's trying to do nothing more than make a better life for herself and the children."
"Then how could she get in trouble?" wanted Katherine to know. Her voice soothed Maria and completely disarmed her.
She lowered her eyes, embarrassed at having spoken up. Then she took a deep breath, having apparently decided that the truth was her best bet. "She went to Connecticut," she said.
Katherine nodded, her face betraying nothing, hoping for more. But she understood Maria's fear. Rosa would have needed her parole officer's permission if she left Massachusetts for any reason, and she clearly hadn't obtained it. But that's the least of Rosa's worries. Rosa is not in Connecticut. I just saw her this morning. In handcuffs. None of this makes any sense. Wait. Think. Katherine needed more information. "Rosa knows she's supposed to stay in Boston," she said seriously.
"But it was about a job!" the older woman exclaimed in frustration. "About a good job! I was so excited when the man called -"
All alarm bells rang in Katherine, and she shifted her weight to keep her composure. "What man, Maria?"
"The man from the cleaning company. In Hartford." Maria stood up and walked over to an aged red piano that probably sounded as awful as it looked.
"Tell me what the man said," Katherine urged. She had to tread carefully.
The words were just bubbling up; Maria could barely contain her excitement. "He said his company wants to offer my Rosa a job as a shift supervisor cleaning the office building of a large insurance company. He had called to let me know Rosa had gone to Hartford for the interview."
"Maria, did Rosa say anything else about it before she left this morning?"
"No, she said she was going to see you first. But when the man called, I knew Rosa hadn't told me so I wouldn't get my hopes up. Or keep her from going."
"What else did the man say?"
"That they were paying Rosa a bunch of money, enough for her to move to Hartford and buy a house. And that I could live with her and take care of the kids."
Katherine struggled to keep her anxiety in check. "Did you ask to speak to Rosa?"
"Of course," Maria replied, "but the man said she was busy filling out papers. And then he said it might be possible that they would put Rosa up overnight in a hotel in Connecticut."
"Did the man give you his name?"
"Yes, and I wrote it down. Thomas Smith."
"So you have his number in your cell phone?"
"No, he used Rosa's cell phone. He said his phone ran out of battery."
This confirmed Katherine's worst suspicions. She now knew Rosa was in grave danger. Still, she restrained herself from worrying Maria unnecessarily. She got up from the couch and took a look at herself in an oval mirror on the wall, convincing herself that her face expressed nothing but sympathy.
She put her hand on Maria's shoulder and spoke in a calm voice, even though she felt anything but calm. "Maria, I need you to do something very important for me. Rosa will call to check on the children, won't she?"
"Of course. And to say good night to them."
"When she does, you must tell her to call me, right away. She won't want to do it, but she has to. And you call me on as well when she gets back to you, or if she doesn't get back to you, you call me either way. Okay?"
"Yeah, all right. Is something wrong?"
Katherine had to be careful. "Well, I wish she would have told me what she was up to. I need to know everything. From herself. So I can keep her out of trouble."
"I understand," Maria said, nodding. "Thank you." She wrapped her arms around Katherine, glad that she wasn't the only one looking out for her daughter.
"Say hi to the kids for me," Katherine said, disengaging from Maria's embrace and leaving the apartment.
As the door closed behind her, Katherine stopped with a heavy heart for keeping so much from Maria and propped herself against the wall. She knew Rosa wouldn't call her mother or anyone else. Rosa wasn't in Hartford, Connecticut, and not in any police department. The fact that Rosa's so-called employer had used her cell phone confirmed Katherine's worst fear. Rosa has been kidnapped. And I'm very afraid for her well-being.
A thunderclap snapped Katherine out of her momentary paralysis. She held onto the banister with one hand and descended the stairs. Katherine had hated thunderstorms since she was a child. Bad things always seemed to happen in her life during a thunderstorm. And without question, something bad was happening to Rosa right now. If it hadn't already happened. Concentrate. Think.
She took a deep breath and let it escape slowly, and her head finally switched from naked panic to the logical thinking she needed right now.
If Rosa had indeed been kidnapped by someone posing as a cop, then she, Katherine, was probably the only relevant witness. But she couldn't possibly march into a police station and make such an accusation.
She thought back to last year when she had been in a similar situation and had taken matters into her own hands. And how it had led to the death of her significant other.
Katherine stepped out onto the sidewalk and found that it was only drizzling and even a patch of blue sky was visible. A plan formed in her mind.
She admitted to herself that she was in over her head. She needed help. Immediately. From the last person, she wanted to ask for it. But she knew she had to do it. Neither she nor Rosa had any other choice.