Read The Cinderella Murder for Free Online Page B

already heard from Leo Farley’s days with the NYPD: “Tell me about the time you chased a bad guy with arowboat in Central Park,” “Tell me about the time the police horse got away on the West Side Highway.” No sounds of videos or games coming from Timmy’s iPad.
    Silence.
    “Timmy?! Dad?!” She bolted from the kitchen so quickly that she completely forgot she was holding a glass. White wine sloshed onto the marble floor. She trekked through it, running into the living room with damp feet. She tried to remind herself that Blue Eyes was dead. They were safe now. But where was her son? Where was Dad?
    They were supposed to be here by now. She rushed down the corridor to the den. Her father blinked at her from his comfortable leather chair. His feet were on the hassock.
    “Hi, Laurie. What’s the rush?”
    “Just getting some exercise,” Laurie said as she looked over to the sofa, where Timmy was curled up with a book in his hands.
    “He was wiped out from soccer,” Leo explained. “I could see his head dropping even on the walk home from school. I knew he’d fall asleep the minute he settled down.” He looked at his watch. “Oh boy. We’re going on two hours. He’ll be up all night now. Sorry, Laurie.”
    “No, it’s fine. I’m—”
    “Hey,” he said. “You’re white as a sheet. What’s going on?”
    “I’m. It’s just—”
    “You were scared.”
    “Yes. For a moment.”
    “It’s all right.” He sat up in his chair, reached for her hand, and gave it a comforting squeeze.
    She might have been taking the subway matter-of-factly like everyone else these days, but she still wasn’t normal. When would things be normal?
    “Timmy,” her father said. “He said something about wanting takeout Indian food. Who’s ever heard of a nine-year-old who likes lamb saagwala ?”
    At the sound of their voices, Timmy’s eyes opened. He jumped up to give her a big bear hug. His enormous brown eyes, all expression and lashes, blinked up at her. She bent down to get closer to him. His head was still warm and smelled like sleep. She didn’t need a glass of wine to feel like she was home.
    •  •  •
    Three hours later, Timmy’s homework was done, the leftover takeout had been stored away, and Timmy—after enjoying his traditional “nighttime snack”—was tucked into bed.
    Laurie returned to the table, where Leo was finishing a second cup of coffee. “Thank you, Dad,” she said simply.
    “Because I called for takeout?”
    “No, I mean, for everything. For every day.”
    “Come on, Laurie. You know it’s the best job I’ve ever had. Now, is it just my imagination, or were Timmy and I not the only people in this apartment who were a little tired this evening? I swear, sometimes I think you’re right about that psychic connection you talk about.”
    When Timmy was born, Laurie was convinced that she and her son shared some inexplicable link that required neither words nor even physical contact. She would wake up in the middle of the night, certain that something was wrong, only to find dark silence. Invariably, within seconds, the baby monitor would crackle with the sounds of crying. Even tonight, hadn’t she had a hankering for chicken tikka masala during the subway ride home?
    “Of course I’m right,” she said with a smile. “I’m always right, about everything. And so are you about my being a little tired. Only it’s more than a little. I had a long day.”
    She told him about Brett Young’s conditional approval of featuring the Cinderella Murder in the next installment of Under Suspicion , followed by her phone call to Frank Parker.
    “Did he sound like a murderer?” Leo asked.
    “You’re the one who taught me that the coldest, cruelest creatures can also be the most charming.”
    He fell silent.
    “I know you still worry about me, Dad.”
    “Of course I do, just like you worried about me and Timmy when you came home today. Blue Eyes may be gone, but the very nature of