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called her Sister Mary these days.

    “Inspector Minger and the two detectives do stuff. They ask questions and look for evidence, then you know. It’s better to know. It’s better to do something. I wish I’d done something when Joey Pastorelli knocked me down and hit me. But I was so scared, I could barely fight.”
    “He’s bigger than you.” Gina’s free arm linked around Reena’s waist. “And he’s mean. Frank says he’s nothing but a little punk who needs his a-s-s kicked.”
    “You can say ass, Gina. Donkeys are asses, and it’s even in the Bible. Look, it’s the arson detectives.”
    She recognized them, and the car. They wore suit coats and ties like businessmen today. But she’d seen them in the coveralls and helmets when they’d worked inside Sirico’s.
    They’d come to the house and talked to her just like Inspector Minger. And a spurt of excitement hit her belly when they got out of their car and walked to the Pastorellis’. “They’re going to Joey’s house.”
    “They talked to my dad, too. He came down to look at Sirico’s and talked to them.”
    “Ssh. Look.” She wrapped her arm around Gina’s waist, too, and eased them both back, just around the corner, when Mrs. Pastorelli opened the door. “She doesn’t want to let them in.”
    “Why not?”
    It took a mighty strength of will not to tell, but Reena only shook her head. “They’re showing her a paper.”
    “She looks scared. They’re going inside.”
    “We’re going to wait,” Reena stated. “We’re going to wait and see.” She walked down to sit on the curb between parked cars. “We can wait right here.”
    “We were supposed to go straight back to your house.”
    “This is different. You can go up, tell my dad.” She looked up at Gina. “You should go tell my dad. I’m going to wait and see.”
    While Gina ran up the sidewalk, Reena sat, her eyes trained on the curtains that hadn’t opened again today—and watched.
    She got to her feet when her father came back alone.

    His first thought when he looked at her eyes was that it was no longer a child looking back at him. There was a chill in them, a ferocity of chill that was completely adult.
    “She tried not to let them in, but they showed her a paper. I think it was a warrant, like on Miami Vice. So she had to let them in.”
    He took her hand in his. “I should send you home. That’s what I should do because you’re not even twelve, and this is the kind of thing you shouldn’t have to be part of.”
    “But you won’t.”
    “No, I won’t.” He sighed. “Your mother handles things the way she handles them. She has her faith and her temper, her rock-hard sense and her amazing heart. Fran, she has the faith and the heart. She believes that people are innately good. That means it’s more natural for them to be good than bad.”
    “Not for everybody.”
    “No, not for everybody. Bella, right now she’s pretty centered on Bella. She’s walking emotion, and whether people are good or bad isn’t as important to her at the moment, unless it affects her. She’ll probably get over most of that, but she’ll always feel before she thinks. And Xander, he’s got the sunniest nature. A happy kid, who doesn’t mind scrapping.”
    “He came to help when Joey was hurting me. He scared Joey away, and Xander’s only nine and a half.”
    “That’s his nature, too. He wants to help, especially if somebody’s being hurt.”
    “Because he’s like you.”
    “That’s nice to hear. And you, my treasure.” He bent down, kissed her fingers. “You’re most like your mother. With something extra all your own. Your curious nature. Always taking things apart, not just to see how they work but how they fit. When you were a baby, it wasn’t enough to tell you not to touch something. You had to touch it, to see what it felt like, to see what happened. It’s never been enough for you to be told something. You have to see for yourself.”

    She leaned her head