by Mona Risk
“Please, Officer, I want to ride with Dante in the ambulance.”
“No, Ma’am. We can’t allow it. But you can visit him at Holy Cross Hospital after the medics take care of his injuries.” The officer smiled kindly.
“Detective Ladd, I insist you remove these handcuffs,” Greg ordered. “This is outrageous.”
“You tried to kill a man.”
“I already explained I shot his hand to prevent him from killing my ex-wife. It’s self-defense.”
“Shot him in the hand? Your bullet went straight into his side.”
“So? I’m not an expert shot, but who cares? At least, I stopped him from hurting Alexa.”
“We’re taking the three of you to the police station until we clear the situation.”
Chapter Sixteen
It was late in the night when a policeman dropped Alexa and Greg at the Blue Waves. Silence settled over them as they rode the elevator to Greg’s tenth floor, but he didn’t step out. Alexa glanced at him. With his hair rumpled and shoulders slumped, he looked his fifty-one years and more tonight.
Upset, disappointed, and angry, but also hurt, he banged on the mirror. “I can’t believe she lied to me all this time.” Dianna’s duplicity had taken its toll on his emotions. Alexa studied the tired lines around his eyes. He had saved her life today, for once really protecting her as he’d promised her father.
“I’m not sleepy. Would you like to come upstairs for a drink?” Amazingly, he was the one who needed her. In spite of the day’s events, she’d regained her calm.
His head snapped up. “You don’t mind?”
She smiled. “I can see you want to talk, and I’m not sleepy. I appreciate your rushing to help in Carter’s apartment.”
“As if I were going to let you face that mess on your own. I got the bejeebers when I saw you running down the corridor with a pan in your hand. I’m glad you told me what was going on. It took me a few minutes to get my gun.”
“Officer Raines called me when we were at the police station. Dante had surgery. The doctors removed the bullet, and fixed the shattered bones and torn muscles. He’s in Recovery.” She wouldn’t be allowed to see him tonight.
Resolutely, she pushed the button to close the elevator door and let it go to her twenty-first floor. As soon as she opened her door, she deactivated the alarm. Greg followed her inside, nodding. “That’s a great idea the alarm. You’ll feel safe again.”
“I don’t know if I’ll need it now that my enemies are dead or arrested.”
As usual, Greg went straight to the bar and poured himself a Scotch on ice. “What can I fix you?”
“Nothing.” She followed him and grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator, and prepared a platter of cheese, sausage, and crackers.
Greg twirled the ice in his drink. A deep scowl gathered between his eyebrows. “I can’t forgive myself for not being able to stop this mess earlier.”
“None of us could have guessed that these honorable residents of the Blue Waves would have plotted such a devious scheme to steal my money.”
“Steal, and kidnap, and kill. To think we went out for dinner with Steve and Julia. He got what he deserved, and I hope the two others will be justly punished. That viper...” Greg cracked his knuckles as if he wished to repeat the gesture around Dianna’s neck.
“Thank God, she’s been arrested on conspiracy to commit felonies. Several felonies.” She counted on her fingers. “Kidnapping, theft of two million, and more.”
“I still can’t believe I let her trick me this way.”
Alexa arched her eyebrow. Dianna’s treachery ate at his gut. It was the number one sin in his book. “Greg, you have to put this behind you.”
“How can I? The viper,” he growled. “She had the audacity to ask for my help when they handcuffed her.”
“She’s behind bars.”
“Yes, but I dated her, spoiled her, and I...” And he’d slept with her. He lowered his head with disgust.
For the first time in her life, Alexa felt sorry for him. She put a soothing hand on his. “Don’t give yourself a heart attack over her. She’s not worth it.”
He brought her fingers to his lips, and then squeezed them. “You’re an angel. You came into my life like a breath of fresh air. You made me feel young and strong. But I was selfish. I didn’t deserve you.”
Alexa stifled a gasp, hardly believing her ears. Almighty Greg apologizing in his own way. The events had shaken him beyond belief. She should be the one seeking comfort, but in a strange way she’d reached an inner peace she thought she’d never find.
Not knowing how to deal with this new side of Greg, she pulled her hand from his, to avoid a mushy situation. “Anyway, for me the most important thing is that Carter is out of the picture. After the surgery on his side to remove the bullet and stitch the tissues around the damaged kidney, he’ll be arrested too. And I’ll be able to sleep in peace.”
“That guy, Cantari. He’s a good man. And he’s keen on you.”
“Oh.” She swallowed, unable to say a word after Greg’s unexpected approval of Dante.
“He’ll take good care of you.”
“Oh no.” She raised her hand to stop him there. “I don’t want, and I don’t need any one to take care of me. As soon as I learn that he’s feeling better, I’m leaving.”
“What?”
“I was planning to leave the day Steve drowned. My suitcases were already packed.”
“You never told me.” His hand shook around his glass. “Did you tell him that?”
“He knows I want to go to New York and then study abroad, maybe in Paris.”
Eagerness spread over his face. “I’ll be happy to help you find—”
“Thank you, but I plan to do it on my own.” She stood, about to end the visit, and reconsidered. Greg’s stony reserve had collapsed after today’s event. Hoping he’d be more receptive to the delicate subject that had burned her heart for too long, she crossed her arms over her chest and captured his gaze—hers as stern as could be. “If you want to help me, answer my questions.”
“What questions?” He arched a suspicious eyebrow.
“Why did my mother leave?” Her question fell like a bomb in the living room causing Greg to turn livid. His jaw dropped and then locked. “Answer me. Why did Annabelle leave her home and her family?”
“She ran away with a lover.” His unsteady voice betrayed his emotion. Alexa knew he’d repeat what her father had often declared with the tone of a judge sentencing a criminal.
“The truth, Greg. I don’t want to hear more lies. Why did she leave her only child?”
“He didn’t allow her to take you.” Greg’s gaze flipped to the window. Was he looking at a far away scene from his past?
“Why?” With a tremendous effort, she infused more strength into that single word. “Tell me, damn you. Tell me what happened, or you’ll never see me again.”
His exhale sounded like a wail. The tyrant who’d controlled her for many years lowered his head. “After a few years of marriage, things deteriorated between Dan and Annabelle. He threw himself into his work, and she dedicated herself to her little girl. They never went out. She suffocated and joined a tennis club. She made friends and never told him where she spent her days when you were at school. He followed her and caught her kissing a young man. He threw her out of the house, divorced her, and forbade her to see her daughter.”
So her mom had never abandoned her as her father claimed. Alexa’s heart filled with understanding for the young woman who’d tried to find an outlet to her marital loneliness. Hadn’t Alexa been ready to run away too? “But the judge didn’t allow her to see her child?”
“Dan was a powerful man. No one could cross him. He got a court order forbidding Annabelle to ever come near you. He moved to this condo and notified the security she should not be allowed in the building. After several months of futile effort to take you, she left for New York.”
“Alone or with a
man?” Alexa shrugged as soon as she blurted the question. It really didn’t matter whether Annabelle had lived with a man or not. Alexa wished her mother had someone to console her after losing her daughter and home.
“I don’t know. She died five years later of cancer.”
Alexa stared at her former husband, hating him and hating her father. For so many years, they’d lied to her. She wished she could cry or yell, vent her anger and sadness. No tears came to her dry eyes. No words formed in her parched throat.
“Alexa,” Greg ventured a look at her.
“Is there more?” she snapped.
“Not about your parents. At the beginning, my wife Nancy, who was a good friend of Annabelle’s, tried to interfere on behalf of your mother. Dan was inflexible. And I respected his wish to protect you. So Nancy took care of you as often as he’d let her. Until she died in the car accident. I was left behind. Like him. Bitter and lonely.” Greg’s voice lowered to a murmur. His breathing labored. His jaw tightened. Had she pushed him too far?
Worried, Alexa frowned. Her intention had not been to harm Greg, but to get an answer to the question that had tortured her teenage years. Relief flooded her heart. Her mother had never abandoned her.
Eventually, she’d learn the sordid details. But for now, she’d prefer not to hear more. “I think it’s time you go back to your apartment and get some sleep.”
He nodded, and without protest he followed her to the door. “Whatever you decide, Alexa, I wish you the best.” For a change he hadn’t called her sweetheart, or tried to belittle her.
“Good night, Greg.” She turned on the alarm and picked up a bottle of water from the refrigerator. A chapter of her life had closed. She couldn’t undo the past, but she’d build her future, her way.
Calm and composed, she strode to her bedroom, grabbed her little Bible from her night table, and extracted the cherished old picture from between the yellowish pages. “I love you, Mom. I know you’ve been watching over me from up there.”
Independence and poise would be her new motto.
“What about Dante?” a little voice nudged.
“I love him, Mom. It’s going to be damn hard to leave here and go away.”
****
“You can enter,” the nurse said, as Alexa raised her hand to knock on the door. “He’s awake and can use some visitors. He’s already asked me ten times when he’ll be discharged.”
“Good morning, Dante.” The sanitized hospital smell of the room greeted her.
“Ah finally, you’re here. I thought you’ve forgotten me.”
As if she could! Every thought that had invaded her mind since last evening’s battle had involved him. And now as she approached the bed where he lay covered only to the hips, her pulse raced at the delicious sight of his brawny naked chest, and her heart commiserated at the bandage on his right shoulder and hand, and the sling holding his arm against his side.
“It’s only 10 am. Visit hours start at eleven.”
His grin denied his disapproval, and he held out his good arm. “Come, cheer me up. I need some compassion to stop me from falling into self-pity.” Humor and mischief flashed in his blue eyes as he offered her a childish pout.
“Don’t be a cry-baby.” But his arm encircled her and brought her down against his hard chest. “Aw, I’m losing my balance.”
“Good, hold on to me for support.” His fingers cradled her neck and immobilized her to receive his kiss. An eager tender kiss on his part—a passionate response with a hint of confusion on her part. Would this be one of their last kisses?
The depressing thought tanked her mood. She wriggled out of his arms and straightened. “I’m glad you’re recovering fast. The detective called me. He’ll be here anytime now. He wants to check on you and talk to us.”
“Bad timing. I didn’t get a good enough dose of antidepressant.” He pouted his lips and blew her a kiss. “Come back here.” He patted the side of his bed and sent her a bone-melting smile.
“Good morning.” Ladd called as he banged on the door. “I’m glad you’re recovering fast, Mr. Cantari.”
“Hello, Detective Ladd. We were expecting you.”
“Really?” He arched a sarcastic eyebrow. “Hmm, and here I was afraid I was interrupting something.”
“Alexa said you wanted to talk to us.” Dante recovered a serious expression. “So what’s going on now?”
“Carter has gone through surgery. Tomorrow he’ll be moved to jail to await his trial. Dianna spilled the beans to try to lessen her sentence. What she told us confirmed the information we found on Carter’s emails. She’s been Carter’s girlfriend for years, although she managed to attract Mr. Partson. And she had Carter’s key, which explains how she entered into the 502 as soon as she heard the gunshot from her next door condo. In the frenzied situation, she didn’t lock the door behind her.”
“How did they plan to abduct me?” Alexa braced herself for the answer.
“They concocted to have you marry Steve. When you refused his proposal, he brought you the drugged Amaretto. The Valium was provided by Dianna. The three pills missing from your own bottle were used to put you to sleep the night you signed the two-million check.”
“Were they planning to take Alexa to Las Vegas?”
“Las Vegas?” Alexa shuddered and spun toward Dante.
“I found three tickets with your name, Steve’s and Carter’s.”
“Oh my God.”
“They wanted you drowsy enough to go with them without protest,” Ladd explained. “They would have even dragged you to the car. At the airport they’d have claimed that you were tired and needed a wheelchair, according to Dianna. They’ve arranged for a quick wedding in Las Vegas.”
“And then what?” Alexa bit her lip.
“Dianna would have kept Greg occupied and maybe drugged too, while they drugged you for weeks, signing more checks until they got the bulk of your fortune, and then...” Ladd’s voice trailed away, and he glanced at Dante who nodded.
“Tell us everything. Alexa is strong enough to take it.” With his good arm, Dante reached out to hold her hand.
“An overdose is an easy way to get rid of people. Your friends would have heard of your suicide from the news. By then the criminals would have paid their debtors and disappeared in Europe.”
“Oh my God.” Her head reeled from the incredible plot that was supposed to destroy her.
“You saved yourself by not drinking the drugged Amaretto.” Dante squeezed her hand.
“Their plan A failed, and Steve drowned. They tried to divert the police’s attention on you by putting the ring in your drawer and denying your claims of a trip to Atlanta. But the continuous presence of your lawyer at your side pushed them to act quickly before you discovered the existence of the check you signed.”
“I owe you so much, Dante.”
“I’m glad I could help, but let Detective Ladd finish his report.”
“Carter tried to get rid of you in the ocean before you started uncovering things. Steve had already written a two million check to his company from the joint account he opened in his name and yours, while waiting for your check to go into his account. Dianna felt that things were becoming unhealthy for them. She pushed Carter to steal your jewelry and cash the check so they could leave as soon as possible. They were supposed to fly to London today if you haven’t messed up things for them by entering Carter’s apartment.” Ladd rubbed his chin. “I hope you know what you did was illegal, breaking into his apartment.”
“Detective Ladd,” Alexa pointed her finger accusingly. “It wouldn’t be fair to punish Dante for bringing criminals to justice.”
For the first time since she’d met the detective, a smile hovered on his lips. “Ms. Alexa, you always misjudge me. Your friend, hmm, I mean your lawyer is not going to be prosecuted for breaking into Carter’s condo. The Chief of Police and I have decided that in the light of the evidence Cantari found in the 502 apartment, he’d be granted a pardon.”<
br />
“Thank you, Detective Ladd.” Dante extended his hand for a handshake with the detective, while Alexa heaved a deep breath of relief.
“I’ll leave you now, and wish you a speedy recovery. Have a good day, Ms. Alexa.”
“You, too.” She returned his smile, finally forgiving him for suspecting her at the beginning of the investigation.
“Dante, we need to talk.” She settled back in her chair after the detective left, and crossed her hands in her lap.
“Wow, it looks like a very serious subject,” he said in a voice that was anything but serious.
“First, I want to thank you for everything you did for me, and—”
“Stop there, Alexa.” He frowned, all humor gone. “Please, don’t ever try to thank me or talk about gratitude. I hope our relationship encompasses more than feelings of obligations.”
“They could have drowned me, kidnapped, or killed me.”
“No, for the record, you saved yourself from your attacker in the ocean, and you saved me from losing my sight by banging on Dianna’s head at the right time.” He chuckled and added. “I wish I had a picture of that scene.”
A laugh escaped her. “But you supported and helped me, and risked your life for me.”
“I would do it again anytime, cara mia.” His good hand reached over the lowered bedrail and caressed her cheek.
“Oh.” She blinked a few tears of emotion and focused on the subject high on her priority list. “Dante, I told you I was planning to go to New York, and then to Paris.”
His jaw tightened. “Do you still plan to go ahead with this? At the time you wanted to run away from the nasty atmosphere in this building. But the people causing it are gone. Well except Greg.”
“Greg is not a problem anymore. Last night he even apologized for being selfish toward me.”
“No kidding. I can’t imagine your ex being that humble.”
“Well his girlfriend’s duplicity has disturbed him so much you wouldn’t have recognized him last night. He seemed so lonely, so lost. I was sorry for him and asked him to come and talk. Gosh, I felt like I was mothering him for a change.”