“Way,” Vikki assured him. “In case you’ve forgotten, I’ll jog your memory. This was back in late February. You visited Tanya in her town house. She seemed pretty surprised to see you, but you told her you’d tracked her down through her agent. Any of this ringing a bell with you?”

Rooney was silent.

“I’ll bet it was a shock, seeing her after what, five years?” Joe said. “But the biggest shock must have been seeing that little girl, Maya. I’m guessing you didn’t even know Tanya was knocked up when you and Chuck left her behind at the motel. Right? What happened? Did she call you that night and tell you we were arresting her and looking for you two?”

Rooney reached out his hand, groping for the foam cup of water sitting on the nightstand. Vikki handed him the cup. “I love these bendy straws they give you in the hospital, don’t you, Rooney? I hope they give you a nice supply of them when they transfer you over to the jail.”

“Did the doctors tell you how long your jaw will be wired up like that, Rooney?” Joe asked. “I bet it’s gonna hurt like hell, riding in the back seat of a squad car all the way to New York. Those cruisers aren’t exactly built for a smooth ride.”

“I didn’t do anything in New York,” Rooney said, suddenly animated. “I went to see Tanya, that’s all. You can ask the kid. I didn’t kill Tanya.”

“Okay,” Vikki said. “Let’s change the subject for a minute. Why’d you kidnap Maya? A guy like you doesn’t seem like daddy material to me.”

“I’m tired.” Rooney closed his eyes, but Vikki snapped her fingers under his nose.

“You can sleep when you’re dead, Rooney. Tell us why you took Maya.”

His eyelids fluttered open. “After I saw Tanya, I was still in New York. I had … business. I saw in the paper that Tanya was dead. And that guy, Wingfield, was offering a reward for the kid’s return. Ten thousand dollars. I thought maybe I could help.”

“In other words, you wanted to cash in. So you tried to call Wingfield? We saw his number in your phone,” Vikki said.

“I left a message, but he never called back. I was kinda between business opportunities, which was why I hunted up Tanya. But she swore she didn’t know where the merch was. Anyway, I came back down here to look for it.”

“You mean, you came up here to look for your loot. After Immokalee, where you killed Chuck. Did you get him to tell you where he hid the stuff? Is that why you broke into my room?” Vikki asked.

Rooney, feigning exhaustion, closed his eyes again. “My head hurts. You people need to go.”

“Let’s talk for a little while longer,” Joe said. “Why grab Maya?”