“Thank you, Mrs. Montgomery. That’s kind of you.”
“Ah, just the man I wanted to see,” Hildebrand says. He’s clearly on his way out because he wouldn’t be invited to this party.
“Councilor,” I say.
“Ladies.” He greets my mother and Mercedes both with a kiss on the hand. “Might I borrow Judge Montgomery for a moment? I promise not to keep him long.”
I don’t want to go, but I know I can’t refuse. My mother takes Mercedes’s arm. “Let’s go mingle, shall we?”
“Let’s.” Mercedes meets my eyes only briefly before slipping into the crowd, and I turn to Hildebrand.
Hildebrand’s expression darkens as the women leave. “I’m sorry to interrupt your evening, but I was on my way to your house, so this saves me a trip.”
“My house? Why? Not that you’re not welcome, of course.”
We walk toward The Tribunal building, ascending the curving stairs toward his office. From the window, I see the scaffold outside. It’s unlit but no less eerie. This courtyard is only visible from The Tribunal building. Even the sounds of the party just on the other side of the walls don’t penetrate here.
“Scotch?” Hildebrand asks when we enter his office.
“Sure.” He pours for both of us, then takes his seat behind the desk. I sit across from him and hold his gaze as he watches me. Hildebrand studied law, like me. He was a judge in the outside world, like I am. I know he sees me following in his footsteps and becoming a councilor of The Tribunal at some point.
“Abel Moreno has made some accusations against Ms. De La Rosa to The Tribunal privately.”
“Oh? What accusations?”
“That she was involved with his plan to use the courtesan to poison her brother.”
“Did he say that?”
Hildebrand nods.
“Well, I can tell you without a doubt that Mercedes would never hurt her brother. She loves him dearly. He’s the only family she has left. And you and I are both aware that Abel accused Santiago of all the crimes he himself is guilty for. Not to mention others.”
“True. What is another lie to a liar?” He pauses. I keep my gaze level. “You know, the courtesan seems to have disappeared.”
“Has she?”
“Her apartment has been cleared out meticulously.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, too meticulous, if you ask me.”
“I didn’t realize.”
He takes a drink, letting the silence hang. “I hear Ms. De La Rosa hasn’t been to see her sister-in-law in the hospital. Why is that?” No segue into this change of topic then.
“I haven’t allowed it. I feel it would be too upsetting for all of them.”
“Because the relationship within the family is strained. Hence The Rite.”
“With all due respect, what are you getting at, Councilor?”
Silence again. I won’t crack, and he knows it. But it doesn’t stop him in his little power play. After an eternity, he smiles and shakes his head. “I’m sure it’s nothing. That young woman surely isn’t capable of doing anything that may cause harm to others.”
“Surely not.”
“Well, anyway, I was going to ask you where your brother is. Your mother told me you knew, but she couldn’t say.”
Goddamn bitch.
“Why are you looking for Theron?”
“I’ve had a call from a family in our Washington faction. Seems there may be a match for him.”
“Is that so?”
“Unless, of course, Ms. De La Rosa and he—”
“Ms. De La Rosa and he are not an item.”
He smiles and nods. “And your intentions with the young lady?”
“Excuse me?”
“You should know there are rumors. I know your reputation, Judge. You are above reproach. Just take care. You know how cruel some can be.”
“I do.” Hildebrand included.
“Good. Now since I have you, if you don’t mind, talk through a case with me, will you? I could use some sage advice.”
“Of course,” I say, although all I want to do is get back to the party, where I promised I wouldn’t leave Mercedes on her own, and whisk her away before those vultures can do any more damage. Because they have been talking, stirring up things they have no business in. But more than an hour passes before I return to the courtyard. Guests have grown louder as they drink, and more of them have gathered in the courtyard, but Mercedes isn’t among them.
That’s when I see my mother. Well, I hear her first. Her laugh is too shrill. I walk to where she’s speaking with a group of mostly middle-aged men, and I wonder if she is looking for a new match. It would make sense. When she sees me, she misses a beat but is quick to cover it up with a smile toward me.