Against the Odds

by Tori Carson

  Chapter Sixteen

  Alexa was nervous as she stared up at the building she’d been to so often as a child. Mr. Hawkings hadn’t been just a business associate, he’d been a friend to her parents. She couldn’t remember a single birthday party or celebration without him there. No doubt, he’d have the answers she sought. She just wasn’t sure she was strong enough to hear them.

  Sid stood by her side, one hand around her waist, and watched her closely. She wished she had something positive to give him, but she felt empty. With Danny gone, all of her ties to the past were completely severed.

  “Alexa, it’s going to be okay,” Sid assured her.

  “How can you be so sure, when I’m not?” She wanted to believe him. She wanted it so much she toyed with the idea of getting on a plane and heading back to Arizona before her worst fears could be confirmed.

  “Baby, you’re always thinking of others. When I found you in the motel room you’d been through hell, but you still asked about Crissy and made sure the other girls were safe. That’s not the thought process of a psychopath.”

  She didn’t remember checking on the other victims. She’d been in such pain she’d found it hard to concentrate.

  “Mr. Hawkings is waiting on us, baby. He’s anxious to see you again. Are you ready to go up?”

  Sid looked down at her with such compassion it almost hurt. He thought she was brave and often told her how proud he was of her. She couldn’t disappoint him by turning tail and running.

  She forced a smile and nodded.

  As they entered the lobby, she breathed a sigh of relief and experienced a pang of disappointment at the same time. Everything had changed. The mauve walls and carpet had been replaced with hardwood floors and earth tones. In the elevator, Sid held her tight as they rode to the top floor.

  “You can do this, baby.”

  When the doors opened, she felt like she had entered a time warp. The furnishings had changed, but the view from the glass walls remained virtually the same. She looked to her left, half expecting to see Ms. Gladwin seated behind the elegant cherry desk. Alexa had spent many afternoons sitting on the floor staring out at the buildings. While her dad and Mr. Hawkings had discussed business, she and Ms. Gladwin had passed the time people-watching.

  “Ms. Desman, Mr. Hawkings is expecting you. Please go right in.” The young woman who greeted them looked nothing like the receptionist Alexa remembered.

  As they walked toward the double doors at the far end of the lobby, Alexa looked up at Sid. It had been years since she’d gone by her legal name. She wondered how long it would be before it felt natural. His gentle smile gave her the encouragement she needed to keep moving.

  Sid placed his hand on the small of her back and led her toward the doors. His touch warmed her.

  What if her fears were true? What if there was something twisted hiding in her genes? Did she have the strength to walk away from Sid? Could she leave him rather than risk hurting him?

  At the entrance, Sid stepped in front of her. She was sure he was using his body to shield her in case of danger. He was constantly thinking of her. When she was with him she felt worthy of love. It was a foreign concept, one she’d been afraid to accept, yet she didn’t doubt his sincerity.

  After a moment, Sid moved slightly to the right, giving Alexa a clearer view of the office. The first thing she noticed was a framed picture of her parents sitting on a shelf of the bookcase. They looked to be in their mid-twenties. Her dad was gazing at her mom as if she were the moon and stars all rolled into one. It was obvious they were deeply in love.

  A sob caught in her throat. She’s seen that look before, but she hadn’t recognized it for what it was. It was the same look Sid gave to her.

  Movement drew her attention. A frail, white-haired gentleman in a wheelchair rolled toward her. Had they passed on the street, she wouldn’t have recognized the man before her as the vital, dynamic man she remembered from her youth.

  “I don’t believe it.” He stopped about a foot away and stared up at her.

  For some reason, it felt rude to look down at the man her father had respected more than any other. She squatted down and looked for any resemblance of the man she once knew.

  “Lexi, I never thought I’d live long enough to see you again. You’re the spitting image of your mother.” Tears clouded his eyes as he reached out to her.

  She grasped his hands and felt him shaking.

  Sid’s arm moved around her shoulder in support. “Sir, perhaps we could speak more comfortably on the couch.”

  “Yes, yes, of course. Please excuse my manners.” Ethan Hawkings kept a firm grip on Alexa’s hand as he worked the controls to maneuver his chair toward the seating area.

  Alexa sat near the arm of the sofa so they could maintain contact. “How are you?” she asked, searching his face for clues to his health.

  He waved off her concerns. “I tried so hard to find you, Lexi. I hired one private investigator after another. Several times they thought they were getting close, only to have the trail suddenly go cold. But I knew you were alive. I just knew it.” His voice shook with conviction.

  “I’m so sorry, Mr. Hawkings. Every time I suspected someone was on to me, I’d run. I figured they were Danny’s men. I had no idea you were looking for me.” Her heart was breaking over eluding his PI’s and thus keeping him concerned all those years. “That night, a policeman was outside the studio. When I went to him for help he tried to take me to a warehouse owned by one of Danny’s friends. After that, I didn’t know who I could trust.” She wanted Mr. Hawkings to understand that she hadn’t singled him out.

  “Danny.” He sadly shook his head. “I tried to get him help, but he refused.” After a heavy sigh, he continued, “I had suspicions. Nothing concrete, mind you, but enough to know I had to do something. When I filed the papers to have him removed as a signee for the company”—he looked down at his legs—“I was struck by a hit and run driver right outside this office.”

  “Oh, my God.”

  “Don’t worry yourself, my dear. I get along just fine.” He leaned forward and patted her hand. “At the time, I was more angry than anything else. I refused to back down. While I’d been in the hospital, I’d missed my appearance date and had to refile. After he was served again, my house was broken into and my wife’s dog was killed. They wrote on the wall in its blood Bridget’s next.” He bowed his head. “I couldn’t risk endangering my wife.”

  “Oh, Mr. Hawkings, I’m so sorry.”

  “No dear, I’m the one who’s sorry. I owed it to your parents to protect you and to get Danny the help he needed. I failed at both.”

  “You didn’t do anything wrong, Mr. Hawkings. No one blames you.” She didn’t want him feeling guilty on her account. “Do you have any idea what would cause Danny to do these things?”

  “Sir, Alexa saw a very ugly side of her brother. It would be very helpful if you could recount your memories of him as a child,” Sid interjected.

  Mr. Hawkings leaned back in his chair. “It wasn’t his fault, Lexi. I’ve ordered an autopsy to confirm what your parents and I have suspected all along. You were so young you probably don’t remember, but as a teen Danny idolized your father and Daniel was shaping him to take over. He was learning every aspect of the business. Each summer, he’d intern in a different department. When he turned sixteen, he went to work in the supply department. They had him driving delivery trucks.” A smile touched his lips for the first time. “He absolutely loved it.”

  “I don’t remember any of that.” Alexa leaned forward and listened intently.

  “You were in Europe with your mom, the south of France I believe. Anyway, Danny was crossing a railroad track when the truck stalled. He panicked. Instead of running, which by all accounts he’d had plenty of time to do, he stayed with the shipment and tried in vain to get the engine started. The locomotive clipped the rear of the truck. It went spinning down a ravine and flipped several times.”

  When
he fell silent Alexa moved to comfort him, but Sid placed a hand on her knee, stopping her.

  “Danny broke several bones and I suspect he suffered an undiagnosed head injury. I know he became addicted to pain pills.” He sounded as if he were lost in a flood of memories. “Daniel and Cheryl didn’t want to see it.”

  Alexa vaguely remembered her parents fighting about Danny, but she’d always gone to her room and worked on her designs rather than pay attention.

  “Danny stopped working for the company. He became very withdrawn and surly. On his eighteenth birthday, he was given a twenty-five percent share of Desman’s Designs. Your parents had hoped it would re-energize his interest and give him the motivation he needed to apply himself at college.”

  “It didn’t work.” She knew he’d washed out of school.

  “No. Just the opposite. He got a loan against his shares and bought drugs or gambled it away. I don’t know which.” He rubbed his index finger along his chin. “As soon as I realized what had happened, I convinced your parents to take measures to protect the business. They got him into a rehab treatment program. We had hoped he’d turn his life around.”

  “The Desmans died before the business was fully protected.” Sid kept the story moving.

  Alexa appreciated that Sid jumped over the gory details. She wasn’t ready to learn the specifics.

  Mr. Hawkings tipped his head and shrugged. “Yes and no. I was able to do a bit of damage control after the fact.”

  She looked at Sid and he grinned. The same thoughts must have run through both their heads. She didn’t want Mr. Hawkings to admit to any wrongdoing so she quickly changed directions. He’d already alleviated her greatest concern. There was no need to relive such painful memories. “Where do we stand with the business? I’d hate to see one of Danny’s associates end up with it.”

  Mr. Hawkings shook his head. “No way. Not as long as I’m alive. On paper, I had controlling interests. Seventy-five percent to be exact. Your parents had set up a trust giving you twenty-five percent of the company on your eighteenth birthday, same as they’d given Danny. The remaining fifty percent was to go to you when you turned twenty-five. Since you didn’t come forward and I fought Danny every time he tried to have your status legally changed, it remained under my control.”

  Status? What a polite way to say have her declared dead.

  “Since Danny died without a will and you’re his only living blood relative, the company is solely in your possession. It’s not nearly as prosperous as it once was, but its net worth is a little over half a billion.”

  “What?” She couldn’t possibly have heard him correctly.

  “I’m sorry, Lexi. I did what I could.” His shoulders hunched as if he expected to be rebuked.

  “Mr. Hawkings,” Sid began.

  “Please, both of you, call me Ethan,” he requested.

  Sid glanced at Alexa then started again. “Ethan, Alexa was under the impression that Danny had virtually destroyed the business and it was in need of money.”

  “Sid’s right. How did you manage to keep it going? I just assumed Danny had pillaged the company for everything he could.” Her head was swirling. She didn’t want to be responsible for her parents’ legacy.

  “Believe me, he tried.” Ethan sat up a little straighter. “I may have misled him concerning the trust fund’s fine print. I knew, given the opportunity, he’d run it into the ground. Since I didn’t have the expertise or the time to manage the fashion end of it, I sought the help of others. Your dad had teamed with a few of the more renowned academies to offer students an opportunity to showcase their work. I put together a consortium of instructors and fashion world experts to mentor the brightest and most promising young design students as well as those interested in behind the scenes operations to handle the daily minutia. For the most part, they’ve done an amazing job.”

  Alexa struggled to process everything Mr. Hawkings was saying and what it meant. “I remember that.” She looked at Sid in excitement as memories came rushing back to her. “I can’t believe you were able to fulfill my parents’ vision. Dad had given a sizable gift to the local university and we’d had a family meeting about it. They had wanted to name the college of arts program after him and he refused. He didn’t want to take credit for something that every worker in the company had played a hand in.” How could she have doubted her father’s character?

  She stood and went to Mr. Hawkings. Although she’d follow his request to be called Ethan, he would always be Mr. Hawkings in her mind. Careful to keep her cast from hurting him, she gave him a heartfelt hug. “In my eyes, you’re a miracle worker.”

  “I’m just glad there’s something left to give to you. It should have been yours all along. I’m so sorry I failed you, Lexi. You and Danny both. I was never able to get him the help he needed. I’m convinced when the autopsy is completed they’re going to find an injury, tumor or something. He was always the sweetest boy.” He tipped his head as if considering another possibility. “I suppose it could have just been the drugs, but I’m convinced there’s a medical issue that went undiagnosed.”

  The ultimate cause no longer mattered, at least not to the same extent. Nothing could change the past, but Mr. Hawkings had succeeded in bringing her family’s memories alive for her. She’d pushed them so far back into the dark crevices of her mind she’d forgotten what it had meant to be a Desman. Her parents had raised her with a sense of community. They had taught her how important it was to give back, to help others who weren’t fortunate enough to have a famous name that opened doors for them.

  “Ethan…” It sounded so unnatural to use his first name. “You did everything you could for Danny. By the time anyone suspected anything, he was an adult and you couldn’t force him to seek medical treatment. I’m in awe of what you’ve accomplished. I think it’s exactly what my parents would have wanted.”

  Sid raised her hand to his lips and brushed a kiss in the center of her palm. She leaned into him, grateful he was at her side.

  “Your parents would have wanted you and Danny to run the company. I’m convinced the Danny we knew and loved died all those years ago in the truck accident. But you’re here now and the family business will once again have a Desman at the helm.”

  She didn’t want to seem ungrateful, but she’d never aspired to run the company. As a young girl all she’d wanted was to design clothes. Now that she was an adult, she wasn’t even sure she wanted to do that on a regular basis, and she knew she didn’t want to live in New York. The city terrified her.

  Alexa looked up at him with desperation in her eyes. He hoped he wasn’t barging in where she didn’t want him. “Alexa has forged a life for herself outside of the fashion world. She’s built a successful business of her own. It’s on a much smaller scale of course. Being on the run, she’s had to be careful not to garner too much attention. Yet she managed to make quite the name for herself. She’s continued her parents’ example of helping others too. She’s a major benefactor to numerous women’s shelters and animal rescues.”

  Ethan’s eyebrow quirked as if he were suddenly seeing Sid for the first time. “I’m not surprised. In fact, I had the PI’s look closely at women working in zoos and veterinary services. Lexi had been instrumental in helping the animals affected during nine-eleven. Tell me about your life, Lexi, and this gentleman you brought with you today.” He leaned back into his chair and seemed to study Sid.

  Sid felt a wry amusement brewing. It seemed Mr. Hawkings planned to take over the ‘protector’ role.

  Alexa reached over and took his hand. “I don’t think I properly introduced you the most important part of my life, Sid Townsend. Without him, I wouldn’t be here.”

  “You did that yourself, babe. It was your courage that brought us here today.”

  “How did you two meet?”

  “A friend of mine from the NYPD had been assigned to investigate Esmerelda’s murder. Once the trail grew cold, he turned it over to me. I was working for the
FBI at the time. He’d hoped I could find something he’d possibly missed. I chased down countless leads, but came up empty-handed until early this summer.” Sid didn’t know why he was rambling. Maybe because he couldn’t put into words how he’d immediately felt drawn to Alexa.

  “One of Danny’s men broke into my interior design studio. My secretary called the police. As part of the investigation, they took fingerprints and it was a possible match for a partial print they found on Ezzy. Sid lived in the area and decided to check it out.” Alexa’s voice grew thick.

  “It’s all right, baby.” He drew her under his shoulder and kissed her temple.

  “So many elements of this case just didn’t add up that I was never able to let it drop,” Sid explained.

  Alexa sent him a sexy smirk. “He went undercover to bust a murderess, but ended up with a fiancée instead.”

  “You’re engaged?” Ethan asked in astonishment.

  “I haven’t managed to scare him off yet,” Alexa joked.

  “Since you are better aware of Alexa’s financial accounts than anyone else, would it be possible for you to write up a prenuptial contract? I’m a lowly federal agent. I don’t have any interest in the fashion industry.” Sid hoped to alleviate at least a few of the man’s concerns.

  “Sid, that’s not necessary. If I believed for one minute you were after money, I wouldn’t marry you,” she huffed.

  She met his gaze and he could see a storm brewing in her eyes.

  “What are your plans, Mr. Townsend?” Ethan asked with his fingers steepled under his chin.

  “If I’m to call you Ethan, then I’d appreciate you using my given name as well.” Sid knew the man was only making a point, but for Alexa’s benefit the conversation needed to stay casual. “I will support Alexa in whatever endeavors she chooses to pursue, but I’m a law enforcement agent and that isn’t going to change.”

  “How do you feel about that, Lexi? Being married to a police officer isn’t easy. Their divorce rates are through the roof.”