She waved this comment off. “No, stupid. For Mom. Morphine. For her drip line. Pure stuff. Right from the hospital. Gave it to her t-till she died. And she died p-peacefully. All I could do for her. But it was s-something, right?”
“Right. Who got it for you?”
“They did.”
“Who’s they?”
She waved her hand around the room. “You know. Them!”
She yawned and closed her eyes.
He slapped her again. This time, she didn’t complain. Or open her eyes.
Shit.
He could hear the sirens now.
Decker gripped Mitzi’s shoulders to keep her upright as she started to slump sideways. “What did they promise you,Mitzi?A new life? A new everything? Did Rachel Katz help you out? Did she become your mentor?”
Mitzi mumbled, “She’s a n-nice person. H-helped me.”
“I bet she did. So they killed her husband and Don Richards. And the others. And set up your dad.”
“Set him…up.”
“And how did they approach you?”
“Ka, Kar…”
“Karl Stevens. Right. He was the go-between. Who was he working with?”
“He’s dead. You tol’ me…d-dead.”
The sirens were growing closer.
“That’s right, he’s dead. But you’re not. You can tell me all about it.”
She shook her head. “Too l-late for th-that.”
“It’s never too late for the truth.”
She started to fall sideways. He slapped her again. To no effect. The sirens had been growing louder and louder all this time. Then the sound died. They were in the driveway.
“Karl Stevens is dead, that’s right. But who was he working with? Did it have something to do with the American Grill? Bill Peyton? Do you know him? Peyton?”
She opened her eyes.
“Pey-ton.”
“Right. The manager at the American Grill. Did he come to you? Did he ask you to help frame Meryl?” He shook her violently. “Did he?”
She closed her eyes again and went limp in his arms.
He could hear footsteps pounding down the hall. The door burst open and three EMTs were there.
Decker called out, “Amos Decker with the FBI. She took pills from that bottle. More than five. I’m starting to lose her. I think she’s unconscious.”
One of the EMTs grabbed the bottle and looked at the label. “Okay, step back.”