Kenzie did not open her eyes, but she occasionally made sounds and small movements. The nurses all expected an imminent recovery; even the doctor was mildly optimistic. Ted was hell-bent on remaining positive, upbeat, and with her, no matter what.

“Lester and I are going up to Connecticut tomorrow to see Barbara Miller. She’s in Greenwich. I’m told the nursing home is quite luxurious, as these places go. Nice address, at any rate.”

Someone—a woman—was crying softly from a room down the hall. It was an oddly comforting sound.

“You’ve probably heard the news—we were the top story on CNN last night—but I’ll fill in a few of the details, if that’s okay.”

She didn’t say no.

“They’ve agreed to close the Richie Rubiano case. Everybody knows Stavros Nikitopoulos— I had to practice to say that. Anyway, everyone knows he did it, but now they don’t have to prove it. With all the mayhem that this guy let loose—murdering two and putting another four in the hospital, one of whom is a cop—the DA is okay to clear one more murder case. Both Duran and his partner will get commendations.”

Kenzie sighed.

Ted did too. The sigh escaped him before he could stop it. Hope is hard to maintain. It requires constant maintenance. “The longer I stayed with this thing, the more I wanted to see Richie’s killer in court. I wanted justice. I wanted to hear the gavel come down on a thirty-year sentence. Now that it’s over, I find I don’t care. I’m going to miss Richie. He wasn’t my friend, or my partner, or even somebody I can say I was proud to know. But I think he loved Cheryl.”

So had Nicky Greco, for that matter. Was it still love if you murdered someone? Or was it obsession? Did it matter? Both Nicky and Richie were dead, and Ted doubted very much that Cheryl had ever loved either of them back.

Ted smoothed an errant hair from Kenzie’s face. The movement made him wince, and his stomach did a somersault. He took a few deep breaths before continuing.

“Lester says hi, by the way. He says he’s rooting for you, but he’s going to wait until you’re up and talking before coming to visit. I think he’s oversensitive.”

Ted brought out an iPad and set it up on the wheeled cart next to her bed.

“I brought you a surprise. Think you’re up for it?”

No response.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

The aroma of bland chicken soup filtered into the room. Lunch was being served for those capable of eating. Ted thought Kenzie wasn’t missing much.