To my dismay, I cried so much at the press conference that I was convinced I had done a bad job with my appeal. Talking about Sasha was so painful that I broke down at the very beginning of the conference and could barely string sentences together.
“I’m so sorry,” I said to the cops after the press conference.
“No, you’re all right,” they said. “You’re human. It’s understandable. Let’s get you home.”
On my way home, in the back seat of a patrol car, my mind drifted to Tom’s parting words, “I will make you pay for this, Arena,” he had said in a clear, concise, and meaningful voice. “In the worst possible way. You will live to regret this. Just you wait and see. Nobody crosses me. Nobody.”
Worst possible way...
He was behind this. He had to be. Nobody could tell me differently. I knew it for a fact.
I closed my eyes and leaned my weary head against the window. Images of Sasha’s beautiful face and her charming, angelic smile flashed in my mind. I crossed my arms over my head and curled into a ball.
I tried so hard not to think of her in the dark somewhere, crying, calling for me. She was ill and in pain…oh God!
Stay strong, stay calm, positive thoughts, I told myself. She’ll be traumatized, but I’ll nurse her till she’s better.
We arrived at my apartment in Hornsby where Soong, Mike, Fatima, and some other residents I had befriended awaited me, all with worried looks on their faces.
I held onto Soong and Mike and wept. “He did it,” I said. “I know that for a fact. Don’t tell me otherwise. He did it.”
****
I was unable to eat, unable to sleep, and simply unable to concentrate. Two female cops stayed behind in case it turned out to be a kidnapping and ransom became an issue. Tom’s wealth made them consider ransom as a motive.
They sent everyone home except Soong, who did her best to comfort me.
“Get some rest while you can,” the officer said.
I tried, but I could not sleep. Instead, I lay in bed with Warren and thought about Sasha.
I managed to doze for about twenty minutes eventually, then I was up again to give Warren his breakfast.
When I saw the two detectives saunter into my apartment at around 9 a.m., unshaven and looking like they’d been up all night, I knew it was news.
I threw down my dishtowel and rushed up to them. “Did you find…?”
Detective Tims nodded slowly. “Ma’am, we found…we found the car, and Sasha…ma’am she was in–”
“Oh thank God! I have to give her an antibio –”
“Ma’am, I’m afraid, she…she didn’t make it.”
“Wha…?” Did I hear right?
“Ma’am, Sasha didn’t make it.”
“What do you…?” I threw out my palms. “Like, what do you mean?”
As he explained, I heard a deafening roar in my ears, like that of a waterfall.
I got only parts of what they were saying.
“…thief realized…baby in the car…abandoned…heat…too much in the car…organ failure…so sorry…”
Someone in the room was screaming hysterically. It was me.