by Kishan Paul
She gripped his hand in hers, wondering if he spoke the words to convince her or himself. He would help her; she felt it in her gut. Eddie would never allow her to go into danger alone. “Then don’t. The FBI has offered to help. I am going to Mumbai, Eddie. You need to decide if it will be with or without you.”
He opened his mouth and then shut it, gazing past her. The anger in his eyes cooled. He nudged his head toward the gates. “You expecting company?”
Ally glanced over at the silver sports car pulling in the driveway outside of the big house. “I am.”
Up until a few hours ago, her desires of finding Wassim had only been that: hopes. Now that she might be making it a reality, the potential negative consequences of her actions were starting to set in. Consequences she accepted as long as she achieved the goal. Life had taught her nothing was guaranteed, which was why she needed to make sure everything, from legal documents to letters to the boys, was prepared. “While you decide how this Mumbai trip will play out, I need to talk to my lawyer about some paperwork.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
A CHANCE
Eddie leaned forward, planted his elbows on the kitchen island, and rested his head in his palms. Why would the FBI care about a swab test? Not only did they care, Kerry gifted Alisha with the knowledge of how to find Wassim and offered to provide her the resources to help find him. What was in it for them?
The patio door across from the island gave him a clear view of the stars and of the show playing out at the table by the pool. Alisha’s back was to the kitchen; she and Lawyer Man leaned toward each other discussing the papers on the table. The idea of taking her to Wassim without knowing all the players was not an option. He just needed to figure out how to convince her of the same.
Raz left his now-awake brother on the couch, wandered across the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and pulled out two bottles of beer. “He’s not her type.”
Not exactly where his brain had gone, but the comment did make him curious. “What makes you say that?”
“She’s my mother.” The kid leaned against the island and popped the tops on both drinks before handing one to Eddie. “I know her.”
Cocky bastard. The bitter liquid chilled his mouth as soon as Eddie took a pull. He swallowed down the beer and his opinions on the topic at the same time. “Since you seem to know so much, do you know why she’s meeting with a lawyer this late in the day?”
“She’s signing over medical guardianship of Jay to Leanna.”
Eddie scowled. She’d arranged the lawyer meeting before she ever left the hospital. Their little chat outside about floating and shit wasn’t really an attempt to persuade him to let her go.
Raz planted his elbows on the counter, copying Eddie’s pose. “Like I said, my mother’s going to find Wassim with or without your help.”
He scrutinized the kid. “Did you know she met with the FBI today?”
His brows rose. Surprise turned to understanding, which turned to amusement. “No, but it explains a lot.”
“She’s going to get herself killed, and they’re willing to help her do it.” Eddie took another gulp of his beer.
“That’s a possibility. Just like there’s a chance she could help us find Wassim, save my brother’s life, and come home safe.”
“And cure cancer,” Eddie added. “Since we’re creating a fairy-tale with the perfect ending, might as well make it a good one.”
“I really don’t think—”
“That is exactly your problem. You’re not thinking. And in our work”—Eddie pressed the lip of his bottle to his temple—“we have to think logically. Making decisions based on emotion and desperation is what gets people killed.” Eddie’s gaze returned to the back patio in time to see Lawyer Man embrace her. Was anyone immune to her powers? His grip on his bottle tightened as the answer floated in his head. Wassim. “The Deputy Director of the FBI doesn’t fly across the country with offers to help mothers track down bone marrow donors unless there’s something in it for them. It’s the what’s in it for them that I’m worried about. And for the record, we will find him without their help.”
“Then say no and leave her here,” Raz offered. “But she’ll find a way there without us, and then she will get herself killed.”
Eddie’s head started to pound. He observed the woman in question and the man beside her. Raz tapped the base of his glass bottle against the marble counter.
“I think we should bring her with us and use the FBI.” Raz shifted his weight and cleared his throat. “But like I said before, you’re the boss. It’s your call.”
“If I say no, will you help her anyway?”
His question was met with silence.
Eddie’s shoulders tightened with the weight of his irritation. “And when she gets killed, are you ready to fly up here and tell the little boy over there that his mother’s dead because of you?”
“She won’t die.” The confidence in his voice made Eddie laugh out loud.
“If Wassim gets a hold of her, he will—”
“Not hurt her,” he interrupted Eddie, his gaze intense. “Because we will not let him touch her.”
“You have a lot of faith in us,” Eddie hissed.
The kid shrugged. “I know us. And I know her.”
His arrogance and smirk annoyed the hell out of Eddie. “And I know Wassim.”
The response only widened Raz’s grin. “I do too. Maybe even better than you. And there’s something else I know.” He eyed Eddie before looking away. “If you bring her along, you might actually have a chance with her.”
Eddie flinched. “You don’t know shit.”
“If you say so, Boss.” He laughed as if he’d just heard the funniest joke and then took another swallow of his drink.
Eddie stared out the glass patio door in spite of himself. Raz was right. She’d show up with or without their help. He rubbed the growing discomfort under his brows.
A plan began to take root. One he wasn’t crazy about but would buy them some time. He glanced down at the FBI business card in his palm and punched in the number on his burner cell. The recipient answered in one ring.
“I’m listening.”
Which was exactly what he needed her to do. “You could have reached out to me directly. Why go through her?”
The woman on the line laughed. “You wouldn’t have talked to me.”
Eddie scowled. “From now on, I’m the point of contact. Nothing happens without my knowledge, understood?”
“Understood.”
“The three of us will board the afternoon flight out of Sea-Tac to Mumbai tomorrow. We have a couple hours layover in Philadelphia. I need you to do something for me while we’re there.” He spouted out the directions and, once he finished, hung up on her before she had a chance to share her opinions.
He slid his phone in his back pocket and caught Raz smirking at him. “What?”
“I’m not the only one who seems to lose their spine and balls when she’s around,” he muttered and walked off.
Before he could respond to the dumbass, the back door opened, and the spine and balls ripper entered. She stood in the doorway, watching him watch her. Strands of her hair had fallen loose from the tie she’d used to pull it back. The makeup she’d applied in the morning had long since worn off, revealing her exhaustion from the day.
He let out a sigh. “How does this keep happening?”
“What?” She approached him, pulling his drink from his hand. “Me stealing your beer?”
“Although that is annoying the hell out of me too, no. I mean…” He paused while she finished off what remained of his drink. “That lawyer making an after-hours house call to get documents to you. A seasoned operative hanging up her badge to pick fruit and become a goat whisperer. A director of the FBI flying across the country to meet with you.”
Her lips made a popping sound when she pulled them off the bottle.
He shifted his focus from her mouth to his hands. “It’s like
you have voodoo magic skills that make the people around you lose their minds and bow to your will.”
She leaned in close. “You have never bowed to my will, Eddie.”
“I’m here, aren’t I?” The confession sounded pitiful to his ears. “Granted, I’m a pretty easygoing guy in general.”
When she laughed at his self-assessment, he shot her a look. “Can I finish?”
She sucked her lips between her teeth and nodded.
Satisfied with her response, he stared at the ceiling for a beat before continuing. “For the most part, when I plan things out, they happen the way I expect them to, but you...” He fixed his gaze on her. “Somehow, no matter what I intend, you have a way of inserting yourself right in the middle of it all, and my hard work vanishes.” He gazed at the back of the brothers’ heads. “Like the fact that you’re coming with us tomorrow.”
He had to hand it to her. At least she feigned surprise. When she opened her lips to respond, he waved his hand to silence her. “If you—”
“I won’t breathe unless you order me to do so.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” Eddie laughed out loud. “You’re not capable of that kind of submission.”
“I’m a work in progress.” She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a side hug. He kept his elbows glued to the counter, trying to ignore how good her skin felt against his. “Thank you.”
He said nothing, realizing that part of her magical powers was somehow connected with all the touching she did.
She walked to the living room and rubbed her hands together. “Who wants some cake?”
The sounds of laughter echoed through the house. Tomorrow, she would board a flight. A flight that might lead her to her death. Nothing about their current situation mandated a celebration.
Eddie hung back, allowing them their party and giving himself time to appreciate just how bad of a decision he just made. But his hands were tied, and fixating on things he couldn’t control wouldn’t help. Kerry put the wheels in motion by meeting with her. Now he needed to figure out how to keep her alive.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
REMEMBERING
Ally sat at the edge of Jayden’s bed admiring him. His thick black lashes pressed against his cheeks, and his mouth parted lightly as he snored softly. She admired his loyal shadow at the foot of his bed, on his back, his paws up in the air, and his tongue hanging out of his mouth. Yesterday’s medical procedure and their early-morning trip back to the orchard had worn out both the boy and his dog.
He flipped over to his other side in his sleep, pulling the sheets off him in the process. She covered him up and smoothed out the back of his hair. She hated leaving him. Hated the prospect he might grow up without her by his side. But finding Wassim was worth all those risks.
She went through her mental checklist of things she needed to do. All but one of her T’s were crossed and I’s dotted. Not bad, considering they’d been home an hour. A suitcase packed with enough articles of clothing and other essentials for a week, maybe more if need be, sat by her bedroom door. The legal documents granting guardianship of Jayden to Lee were complete, notarized, and copies were in the hands of all necessary parties. She hated putting the burden of Jayden’s medical care on anyone else, but Lee would make sure her son was taken care of.
After one last glance at her sleeping child, she headed downstairs. Ally made her way through the first floor, past Lee and Eddie in the living room, on her way to the back of the house. She slowed to a stop once she’d arrived at her destination: the security room. The knot of tension in her gut tightened as she gripped the knob.
“Stop running from your shadows,” she whispered. After taking a breath, she walked in and shut the door behind her.
She pulled out the hidden wall, unlocked the safe, and stared at the black box buried in the far back of the compartment. Ally pressed her sweaty palms against her stomach, trying to ease the tightly wound muscles within. The fireproof safe contained only a few items. Mementoes of an old life Lee managed to retrieve for her. Up until last night, she’d wrongfully deemed those little things as reminders of her weakness.
A tear streaked her cheek. Nothing could have been further from the truth. The reality was that only after her losses, only after she had climbed back up on her feet and learned to walk on her own, did she realize just how strong she was. The contents inside weren’t just reminders of her pain. Love and hope and life existed in there as well. And those were the things she needed to tap into.
It felt heavier than she remembered when she lifted it and carried it across the room. She rested it on her desk and wiped off the layer of dust that had accumulated across the lid before punching in the passcode. When the lock clicked, she gripped the lid and lifted it off the base, leaving it on the side of the desk before allowing herself to gaze upon the contents inside.
A small cream envelope made of fabric, embroidered with fragile gold swirls, lay on top of the stack. Her chin trembled. With shaky hands, she retrieved the precious contents it protected and stared at them for awhile, feeling their weight in her hands. So many dreams and hopes had been infused into those two bands. She threaded hers onto her finger like he had done all those years ago and pressed his against her lips as she allowed herself to remember.
Sadness spilled on her shirt as the promises he’d uttered a lifetime ago echoed through her mind. When she deemed herself ready, she pushed forward, focusing on the tattered picture of a happy bride and groom staring up at her from inside. She lifted the page, careful not to lengthen the one-inch slit down the center of the photograph. The rip began just below his head and ended at her waist. Other smaller nicks covered the image, but none of them took away from the impact the picture had on her. A homecoming she never realized she needed.
She traced the pad of her finger over his face. So many beautiful features forgotten with time.
Those thick lashes that once tickled her skin when he kissed her. The streaks of gold in his brown hair that shined in the sun. The light dusting of freckles on his cheeks. And those eyes.
Tears continued to escape down her cheeks. Tears granted access because they were not born of sadness or anger but of joy, of peace. Her finger traced the small dimple hugging his right cheek. He used to tell her the depth of his dimple indicated his level of happiness or how great their lovemaking had been. In this case, their wedding day, it was the deepest she’d ever seen.
Sometimes in the dead of night when she couldn’t distract herself with anything else, her mind wandered to thoughts of him. She would stay up wondering if her brain tried to immortalize him since he was dead. What if her cognitions had softened the edges of his memories and erased his flaws to shape him into a masterpiece he never was?
Ally now knew the answer. Handsome, kind, patient, and devoted to her completely, he had been all she imagined and so much more. She glanced at the smiling woman whose head rested on his shoulder. Granted, there were rough patches in their marriage, but they had been happy. He’d loved her in a way she never knew possible and to this day still didn’t believe she deserved.
“David.”
The word came out hoarse. Grief, anger, joy, sadness, peace… She felt it all and was amazed how one word could elicit such a flood of emotions. She shook her head at her own stupidity, at how much time and energy she’d wasted. David Spencer Dimarchi was not a man she could ever lock out of her mind, much less her heart. It didn’t matter if she avoided uttering his name or allowing herself to remember, he was the standard by which all the others in her life were judged. The template she relied on to help raise her two boys into the kind of men she hoped they would become.
“Thank you,” she whispered to his smiling face before laying him on the corner of the desk.
After wiping the moisture off her face with the back of her hand, she continued to rummage inside the box. She pulled out the stacks of passports, birth certificates, and cash, laying them aside before she found the framed pictures on
the bottom.
One by one, she scoured the images of her family, lingering on her sister’s wedding a little longer than the rest. Happy faces beamed up at her: David, her parents and siblings, their spouses, and her nieces. So many beautiful souls blessed her life and helped form her into the person she’d become.
In her attempt to survive, she’d tried to block all of them from her mind. Tried. But just like David, she had never been able to forget. How could she? Everything, from her morning cup of chai to the way she treated and loved the boys was a result of the things they’d taught her. She evolved into the woman she was because of each of those amazing souls.
She rubbed the tightness in the back of her neck and reached for the digital recorder and headphones and, after inserting the earbuds, pressed play.
“Hey, baby.” The deep tenor of his voice filled her ears, washed over her soul, soothing her.
“Hi,” she whispered back. God, how she’d missed him.
She picked up the torn wedding image from the desk and stared at her late husband while he talked in her ear. Ally smiled through his every word and laughed at his cheesy jokes. When he talked about how much he loved and admired her, she sat taller, allowing herself to believe she was still the woman he once found worthy of love.
Eddie stood in front of the closed door to the security room and knocked on it a third time. He’d seen her enter a while ago, and she hadn’t come back out. After waiting a good thirty seconds, he opened the door and let himself in.
On the other side of the room, in front of the desk, the woman he sought stood with her back to him. And from the fact she ignored his knocks, she didn’t care he’d been looking for her.
“Your new passport and visa are ready and waiting for us at the airport.” He entered and shut the door behind him. She didn’t flinch, nor did she show any indication she heard a word he said. The cause being the black wires hanging from her ears. Eddie crossed his arms and scanned the rest of the room.