“You’re going to prison for shooting Corey.”
“He’s not dead. They’ll charge me with manslaughter at the most. If my lawyer can get me a good plea deal, I’ll be out between twelve to eighteen months.”
“What about what you did to me?”
“If you drop the charges–”
“So that’s what this is about. You don’t care about me. You’re trying to butter me up to drop the charges.”
“No! I do love you. Hell, I pulled a gun on Corey and Lacey to get them to tell me where you were. I have proven my love for you,” he said with conviction. “But if we are to fix our marriage, you can’t send me to prison.”
Lana cleared her throat. “Damien, I need you to listen to me very carefully. I can’t drop the charges against you even if I wanted to because it’s a federal case now. When you injected me with Memrose, you drugged me when I was under protective custody of the federal government. When you took me to that clinic and didn’t tell the staff my real name, you kidnapped a federal witness. The FBI had to drop the case against Carter four years ago because of your underhandedness.”
“Yeah, but you obviously know a guy–”
“I’m not going to try to pull strings for you. Even if I wasn’t in love with Alec, I wouldn’t do it. Yes, there was a time I loved you, but I didn’t know any better. I didn’t know who I was, and I couldn’t remember the people I truly loved.”
His soft, sorrowful eyes started to turn dark as his lids squinted. “What do you think you’re doing? We have a life together. Damn it, we have a child together!”
“No, we don’t. Keisha is not yours, and you know it. You always knew it.”
“Is there a problem?” a cop asked as he approached them.
“I was there when that girl was born. I’m the only father she knows!”
“That’s enough talking for now,” the cop said. “Let the EMTs do their job so we can get going.”
“Get away from me!” Damien yelled as he started shoving the cop.
“Lana, get away from him!” Alec yelled as he started toward her.
Damien and the cop struggled against each other. Then Damien got the upper hand and punched the cop, stunning him long enough to pull his gun out of his holster.
“Damien, no!” Lana yelled as she stumbled backward.
“This is your fault!” Damien shouted at Alec as he pointed the gun at him.
Alec halted in his tracks.
“Put the weapon down!” Bruce hollered as he pulled his gun.
Every cop and agent pulled their guns and aimed at Damien.
“Damien, put the gun down!” Lana shouted in desperation.
“Damn you straight to hell, Alec Peterson!” Damien yelled. But before he could pull the trigger, Bruce fired off a shot and then more shots followed.
Lana screamed with terror as the sound of gun fire exploded in the air. Alec tackled her to the ground. They watched as Damien’s body was riddled with bullets. The gun slipped out of Damien’s hand before his body landed on the ground with a hard thud.
Chapter 48
Christmas Day . . .
Lana was back home on Sunset Boulevard. Since she was still Damien’s wife, the house and the rest of his assets with the exception of a small trust set aside for Keisha had been left to her in his will. The official reading of the will hadn’t happened yet, but Lana knew what was in it since they had drawn up wills together a year prior.
Damien’s mother had been mortified and heartbroken when the FBI called and told her what had happened. She had requested for Damien’s body to be sent back to DC to be buried next to his father. Mrs. Miles had also made it a point to call Lana and tell her that she had no idea what her son had done to her. She had revealed that Damien had talked about a woman he was in love with, but they had broken up. After some time passed, Damien had said that he had met someone, and they had fallen in love at first sight. A few weeks later, Damien had brought her to DC. Lana had no reason to doubt Mrs. Miles.
Corey had been released from the hospital yesterday. He didn’t have any permanent damage from the shooting, but he would have to wear a sling for a while.
Carter’s goons who he had brought with him to Tampa had sung like canaries to make a deal. All of them knew a little something that led to an arrest warrant for Carter’s two remaining family members and their associates.
Izabella had a sprained ankle and a nasty bruise on her cheek. Lana had invited Izabella to stay with her until her ankle healed. She was sitting in an armchair with her foot propped on a cushioned stool. She was knitting a blanket for Alec.
Keisha was playing with her new wagon, doll, and teddy bear Santa had left for her.
Normally during Christmas Day afternoon, Lana would start to make Christmas dinner. However, the residents of Sunset Boulevard had drowned Lana with condolences, sympathies, and food. They had enough food for a week. All Lana had to do was warm up some of the food when they were ready for dinner.
The doorbell rang.
She knew who it was before she opened the door. They had decided to talk to Keisha today before she heard something accidently on TV. Damien and Carter had been all over the news. Lana glanced at the large picture she had put up to cover the spray paint on the wall before she opened the door.
“Hey,” Alec greeted.
“Hey,” she said back. Normally, she would kiss him hello, but she didn’t want to alarm or confuse Keisha.
He walked into the living room. “Hey, Izabella. How’s the ankle?”
“Bueno. It doesn’t hurt as bad as it did yesterday.”
“Good. Hi, Keisha,” Alec said.
“Hi,” she said back as she held the handle of her wagon.
“Keisha, this is Alec. You remember him. He’s Mommy’s friend.”
“Yeah, he was with you at those offices when you came to get me. And he’s the one with the candy. You said he was coming today.”
“That’s right,” Lana confirmed.
“Do you have any more candy?” Keisha asked.
“Keisha,” Lana chided.
Alec chuckled. “Well, at least she’s not afraid to ask for what she wants. I do have some actually. They’re Hershey’s kisses, though.”
“That’s okay. I like those,” Keisha said.
Lana sat down on the sofa.
Alec dug in his pocket and pulled out a Hershey’s kiss. He handed it to Keisha.
“Thank you,” Keisha said as she fingered the wrapping.
“Do you need me to help you?” Alec asked.
“Hmm, yes, I think so,” she replied.
Alec unwrapped the candy for her and held it in his palm.
Keisha took it. “Thank you.” She popped it in her mouth.
“Honey, come over here. We need to tell you something,” Lana said.
Alec walked to the sofa and sat down next to Lana. Keisha followed. He grunted as he lifted Keisha up and sat her on his lap. She didn’t seem to mind as she chomped on the Hershey’s kiss.
“Keisha, do you remember what I told you yesterday when you asked where Daddy was?” Lana asked.
Keisha swallowed. “Yeah, you said God had called for Daddy, and he had to leave for a long time. A really long time, but he still loved me and would miss me.”
Lana nodded. “That’s right, honey.”
“You said he left me a present before he left,” Keisha added.
“That’s right, baby. You see, Daddy left you a . . . new daddy to love. He didn’t want you to get lonely,” Lana explained
Keisha’s eyebrows furrowed. “He left me a new daddy?” she repeated with confusion.
“Yes, he wanted to make sure you didn’t miss him too badly. So, he gave you Alec. He’s your new daddy.”
Her little head tilted to the side. Then she looked up at Alec, who was giving her a small smile. “Oh, so . . . I have two daddies.”
“Well, yeah,” Lana said. She had to be careful. She wasn’t sure if Keisha understood death, an
d even if she did, she would cry for days if she thought something bad had happened to Damien. Lana didn’t want to traumatize her only child. The kidnapping had been hard enough to explain.
“I will miss him, but I guess it was nice of him to send me a new daddy,” Keisha said. Then she looked back up at Alec. “New Daddy, are you going to live with us like Old Daddy did?”
Alec seemed surprised by the question. “Ah, well, that depends on your mommy.”
Keisha looked at Lana. “Is he Mommy?”
A big smile spread across Lana’s lips. “In time,” she said as she looked up at Alec.
He was grinning, too.
“Would you like to see my room?” Keisha asked Alec.
“I would,” he said. “Let’s go now.” He put her on the floor. “I would carry you, but my side hurts pretty bad.”
“What happened?”
Alec stood up slowly. “A really bad man stabbed me with a knife.”
Keisha’s eyes grew to the size of nickels “Whoa.”
“Alec,” Lana whispered with worry.
“It’s okay. I got this,” Alec said as he took Keisha’s hand. They started walking toward the stairs. “Yeah, but it’s okay. He won’t be bothering anybody again.”
“Well, that’s good,” Keisha said. “Are you a policeman?”
“I’m a special kind of policeman,” he said as they started climbing the stairs. “I work in the offices where your mommy picked you up yesterday.”
“Wow, that place is huge,” Keisha said with awe. “The lady who walked me around said it was called FBI, and she was a secret agent. Are you a secret agent?”
Alec chuckled. “Yeah, but sometimes it’s not so secret.”
“Wow.” Keisha was impressed.
Epilogue
New Year’s Eve . . .
When Alec had informed his parents of their status change to Grandma and Grandpa over the phone a few days ago they had been overjoyed. His mother had admitted that she had found Keisha special when she met her in Orlando all those months ago, but she couldn’t pinpoint why at the time. They were so eager to spend time with Keisha that they had drove from Orlando the same day that Alec had called them and they have been in Tampa since. His parents were currently at Lana’s house with Keisha and Izabella, freeing Lana to come over to his apartment for New Year’s Eve.
Alec had gone through a lot of trouble arranging the surprise for Lana. She had Izabella stay with Keisha so she could come to his apartment an hour before midnight. It was too late to rent a fancy venue, and he wasn’t going to wait a year to ask her what he wanted to ask her.
He set up a table for two on his balcony. He bought a white tablecloth, and one of his neighbors had loaned him her good dishes. The same neighbor prepared two Cornish game hens, mixed vegetables, and chocolate cake for dessert. Alec didn’t know about cooking anything that couldn’t be cooked on a grill or on a stovetop.
“The food was fantastic,” Lana said. She was wearing a blue dress with a V-neck. The long sleeves were sheer.
“You have my neighbor to thank,” he said.
“Well, she’s a good cook. Do you think she’ll give me the recipe for the cake?”
He chuckled as he stood. “I doubt it. She won a cooking contest with that cake.”
“I understand why.”
“Did you make that call today you were planning to make?” he asked.
Lana gave him a faint smile. “I did. At first, Mom thought it was a sick joke, but once she realized it was me she started crying. I told her where I was. I didn’t get to speak to Tina. She went to New York for New Year’s with some friends. Once Tina get back, my mom said they’ll come for a visit as soon as possible. She couldn’t believe I had a kid and that you and I have found each other again. She seemed happy about it.”
Alec grinned. “Good. Did she mention your father?”
“She told me that she had left him, but I let her know that I knew that already. Mom hasn’t spoken to him since she left him, but she thought it best that she call him now to let him know that I’m alive. But, she has no intentions of going back to him. She had met an older gentleman six months ago. It seems like Mom really likes him.”
He nodded. “Are you going to call your father?”
“I don’t know. For right now, I’m just going to play it by ear concerning him.”
Alec rounded the small table and took her hand. He hated that his hand was trembling like a sissy. Why was he nervous? This was what he had wanted for years. Perhaps it was because it was the biggest step he had ever taken in his life. It was now or never. He wanted to do it before the clock struck midnight. He took a deep breath. “I love you more than life itself. I know this might seem sudden, but I don’t want to lose any more time with you.” Keeping a hold of her hand, he took a step back and dipped down on one knee.
Lana’s mouth dropped open.
“Lana Murphy, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?” he asked.
She laughed. “Yes. Yes. And just in case I wasn’t clear, yes!” She dropped down to her knees and cupped both sides of his face. Then she kissed him like she had never kissed him before. It was more emotional than sexual. He had her heart just like she had his.
Alec pulled back. “Don’t get me wrong. I am enjoying this, but don’t you want your ring?”
“Oh my God, yes!”
He laughed as he pulled the box out of his pocket. “It’s not humongous or fancy, but you should be proud to wear it.” He opened the black box to show her the round, one-carat diamond that was set in white gold.
“Oh,” she oozed out. “It’s beautiful. It’s perfect. I love it.”
Alec slipped the ring on her finger. “Are you sure? I’ve still got the receipt–”
“Don’t you dare take this ring back,” she said as she admired the stud. “I love it, but I don’t love it as much as I love you.”
Alec stood and then he helped his fiancée up. “I think we should top off our new beginning with a light show.” He looked at his watch. “One minute to midnight. Now, keep your eye on the horizon, sweetheart.”
He held her in his arms as his neighbors poured out on their balconies. They started counting down. Lana smiled as she nuzzled her cheek against his.
“Happy New Year!” his sloshed neighbors yelled.
Fireworks shot into the sky to celebrate the New Year. It also commemorated a new and fresh beginning for true love that had been lost and found again.
Thank You
Thank you for purchasing Blank Slate. I hope you have enjoyed Lana’s journey to independence, truth, and love.
If you wish to be notified when I release another book, sign up for my mailing list. You can also visit my website at OliviaSaxton.com
Olivia
Saxton
The Rancher
After saying goodbye to her demanding hotel job, Faith Roberts leaves Miami for a long deserved vacation. Her travels lead her to Texas and into the arms of a lonely rancher who is afraid of love.
With patience and understanding, Faith breaks through Adrian’s walls. The happy times doesn’t last long when Adrian Matthews and his family are setup to lose the Lone Wolf Ranch and their freedom.
By a twist of fate, Faith gets the upper hand to stop the troubles that has plagued the Matthews family. However, is she putting herself in danger for the rancher she loves?
Warning: This work of fiction has explicit language and graphic sexual scenes.
The Stud
Steve Matthews is the ultimate hometown stud to all the ladies in town and half the county. However, the Texas charmer becomes intrigued with a lady who has a dark secret and a shady past. Steve works overtime to not only bed Teri Jones, but to find out what she is hiding. What Steve doesn’t see is that pursuing the mystery lady puts his family in danger. (The sequel to The Rancher)
Warning: This work of fiction contains sexual scenes and explicit language.
nbsp; Olivia Saxton, Blank Slate
Blank Slate Page 31