“Yeah, I will. It goes both ways. Before she went into the emergency room, she asked me to tell you that she loved you.”

“She was conscious then?”

“She was. I’m going to hang up. Talking to you is making me more nervous.”

“I love you, Dad.”

“Same.” Donatti hung up and stowed his phone. He checked the time. “Why is it taking so fucking long?”

Rina didn’t answer. It had been well over an hour and that usually wasn’t a good sign. A minute later, Decker was walking down the hallway. She jogged over to meet him. She kept him there for a moment—away from Chris.

“Anything?” he whispered.

“No,” Rina whispered back

“She looked like she was in low-volume shock.”

“Probably.” Rina took a breath. “I think she’s pre—”

At that moment, she saw the two doctors emerge.

She knew instantly.

She said, “Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha’olam dayan ha’emet.”

Blessed are You, our God, King of the Universe, the True Judge.

She took Decker’s hand, and they went over to Donatti. He looked at them and they at him.

One of the doctors said, “I’m so sorry, Mr. Donatti. I’m so sorry.”

Donatti just stared back.

Nothing was sinking in.

The doctor lowered his head. His name tag said DR. DREW JAMISON. “She was very compromised to begin with. And we just couldn’t stop the bleeding—”

“Bleeding?” Donatti said. “Was she shot?”

“No, sir, she was hemorrhaging from a miscarriage.”

His face went white. “She was pregnant?”

Jamison scratched his face. “You didn’t know?”

“No, I didn’t know!” Donatti snapped back. “How many months?”

Jamison said, “Around eight to ten weeks.”

“Could it have been longer than that?”

“Maybe.”

Donatti said, “I want a paternity test.”

The doctor was surprised. “We can probably do that—”

“Good, because I want it.”

Decker said, “Chris, what difference does it make?”

Donatti ordered, “I want a paternity test.”

“Let me go back in there and see …” Jamison said. “Hold on for a little bit and I’ll see what I can do.”

“Yeah, do that!” Donatti barked. “Fuck!” he said. “Fuck, fuck, fuck! If she came to me pregnant and didn’t tell me … if she fucked around on me …”

“I’m sure she didn’t,” Rina said.

“You don’t fucking know that, do you?”

Rina said, “Even so, Chris, Peter’s right. What difference does it make?”

He turned to her with wild eyes. “What difference does it make? What difference does it make? It’s the difference between giving my wife a proper burial and burning the bitch!”

CHAPTER 33

THERE’S NO REASON why you should stick around,” Decker said. It was eight in the evening, and he and Rina were in Chris’s outer office. Where Donatti went was anyone’s guess. “You gave your statement to the police. If they need anything, they can call you.”