"Did this container-just come off a ship?" I interrupted him.
"The Sirius, as in the star. Definitely a weird situation. How do you want me to handle it?"
I began scribbling notes on a call sheet, my handwriting more illegible than usual, my central nervous system as crashed as a bad hard drive.
"I'll go; '.1 said without pause even as Benton's words pulsed in my mind.
I was off and running again. Maybe even faster this time.
"You don't need to do that, Dr. Scarpetta," Fielding said as if he were suddenly in charge. "I'll go down there. You're supposed to be taking the day off."
"Who do I contact when I get there?" I asked. I didn't want him tу start in again.
Fielding had been begging me for months to take a break, to go somewhere for a week or two or even consider a sabbatical. I was tired of people watching me with worried eyes.
I was angered by the intimation that Benton's death was affecting my performance at work, that I had begun isolating myself from my staff and others and looked exhausted and distracted.
"Detective Anderson notified us. She's at the scene," Fielding was saying.
Who.
"Must be new. Really, Dr. Scarpetta, I'll handle it. Why don't you take a break? Stay home:"
I realized I still had Marino on hold. I switched back to tell him I'd call as soon as I got off the line with my office. He'd already hung up.
"Tell me how to get there," I said to my deputy chief.
"I guess you're not going to accept my pro bono advice."
"If I'm coming from my house, Downtown Expressway, and then what?" I said.
He gave me directions. I got off the phone and hurried to my bedroom, Benton's letter in hand. I couldn't think of a place to keep it. I couldn't just leave it in a drawer or file cabinet. God forbid I should lose it or the housekeeper should discover it, and I didn't want it in a place where I might run across it unawares and be undone again. Thoughts spun wildly, my heart racing, adrenaline screaming through my blood as I stared at the stiff, creamy envelope, at "Kay" written in Benton's modest, careful hand.