Dante's Dilemma (37 page)

“But there's no guarantee—” Hallie started to say.

“I know. But after everything I screwed up before, what would you think of me if I didn't go for broke now?”

That put an end to her protests.

“We could still see each other. I mean, before you take off.”

“Nah,” I said in my best Queens accent. “As they used to say where I grew up, time for you to go looking under another bridge.”

We embraced, probably for the last time.

As she was pulling out of my garage a few minutes later, my eyelids were moist and my chest felt like I had swallowed a brick. I told myself to pull it together. If Rachel Lazarus could sacrifice her life for her daughter, I could give up Hallie for my son.

I hit the garage-door switch and lumbered wearily back upstairs.

Only then discovering the pile of mail by the front door. I picked it up and carried it to my study, smiling to myself at the presence of a manila envelope that I judged to be just the right thickness to contain a copy of Brad Stephens's missing report. Underneath it was another eight-by-twelve envelope with a cellophane window in the upper left corner. With a quickening heartbeat, I placed it on my scanner and waited for the machine to read the return address.

New England Bell.

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves.

What I heard some ten minutes later was this: included among Annie's repeated calls to me that night were four, the last occurring two hours before I burst shamefacedly through the door. It was a number I knew well.

A wave of comprehension swept over me, causing pinpricks to form behind my eyes again.

Until they turned red with rage.

I wasn't the only doctor who misdiagnosed Jack's fever.

So had my father-in-law, Roger Whittaker.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to express my appreciation to the YWCA Evanston/North Shore for allowing me to serve on its Board of Directors and as a member of its Advisory Council, and for its tireless advocacy and support of women who find themselves in abusive relationships. It was through my association with the YWCA, its outstanding staff, and its talented director, Karen Singer, that I first came to understand domestic violence as a tragedy affecting women from all walks of life. Though, as here, I sometimes leaven the dark subject matter of my novels with humor, there is nothing humorous about violence against women, and it is my fondest wish that readers of
Dante's Dilemma
will come away with fresh awareness of a social problem that affects an estimated 1.3 million women and their families in the United States annually. To learn more about domestic violence and the work of the YWCA Evanston/North Shore, visit its website at
http://www.ywca.org/evanston
.

As always, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my editor, Dan Mayer, and all of the staff at Seventh Street Books for bringing the novel to life. A special thank you also goes to Robert Rotstein, James Ziskin, and Allen Eskens for reading and commenting on early drafts of this work, and to my agent, Brooks Sherman of the Bent Agency, for his ongoing advice and support. And once again, a big shout-out to my cover designer, Jackie Nasso Cooke, and to Jade Zora Scibilia, copyeditor and proofreader extraordinaire!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

LYNNE RAIMONDO is the author of
Dante's Wood
and
Dante's Poison
. Currently a full-time writer, she was formerly a partner in the Chicago law firm Mayer, Brown & Platt, the general counsel of Arthur Andersen LLP, and the general counsel of the Illinois Department of Revenue. To learn more about Lynne Raimondo, visit her website at
http://lynneraimondo.com
.