Page 65 of Fire on the Moon

“Then who am I? And if you’re asked, why am I here with you?”

She didn’t miss a beat. “To introduce my fiancé to my father.” She looked over at him. ‘That is, if wolves marry.”

“God yes. But for now, I think it might work out better if nobody sees me.”

“Why?”

“I’m not sure. But I can’t ignore the hunch.”

“There’s a door at the end of the hall where Dad’s room is located. I’ll go in and open it.”

“Thanks.” He saw Francesca square her shoulders as she headed for the main entrance.

Zane took a narrow walkway along the side of the building and found the door he thought she meant. It had a large glass panel, and it was locked. After a few moments, he saw Francesca coming down the hall, heading for him.

She let him in, and they silently headed for room 301. As he passed, he saw bedrooms along the hall. All had hospital beds, some occupied by patients sleeping or watching television. But many were empty, and he supposed that most of the residents were in other parts of the facility engaging in various activities.

Francesca stopped at her father’s room. When Zane looked in, he saw a frail man lying in bed. His hair was thin, his skin splotched, and the hand that lay on the covers was bony. He didn’t stir, except that the hand twitched. Francesca crossed to him.

“Dad?”

At first he didn’t respond.

“Dad?” she tried again.

His eyes blinked open, and he stared at his daughter, looking confused. “Rosa?”

“No, Dad. It’s Francesca.”

She pressed the button that raised the backrest before adjusting the pillow behind his head and leaning to kiss his forehead.

He kept his gaze on her, ignoring Zane. His voice was quavery as he said, “Francesca?”

“Yes.”

He shook his head. “I thought you were my Rosa. This damn disease, it makes me see things that aren’t there.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

He switched topics abruptly. “Where have you been? I kept waiting for you.”

“I needed to take a trip.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were going away?”

She dragged in a breath and let it out. “I had to see how it turned out. I went to Florida to see your brother, Angelo.”

As soon as she said the name, the old man gasped, alarm spreading across his features. “Angelo! I warned you. He’s bad news.”

She swallowed hard. “Yes. Something bad happened.”

“It always does with him.”

“Then why did you keep saying you wanted to see him?”

“Did I?”

She struggled to keep from shouting that she’d almost gotten killed because he’d wanted to see his brother. In an even voice, she said, “Yes you did. A lot. I thought it was important to you.”

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