Saved By The Glass Slipper

by Markee Anderson

  “No, we haven’t,” I answered.

  The man grinned. “That’s what we’re here for. What would you like?”

  Mark checked his watch. “It’s about five. What do you have?”

  The three men smiled at each other. “Give us an hour,” said the first man. “We’ll have something for all of you. How many of there are you?”

  “Eight, plus four bodyguards and however many other men watching over this place,” I answered.

  “Oh, and my parents might be here,” Mark answered.

  The two men began to extract pans and things from the refrigerator, and we just walked away. We didn’t want to be in the way, so Mark and I went upstairs to check out the bedrooms.

  “Your room’s on the far end, away from everyone,” Randy said. “Are we going to eat dinner?”

  “Randy,” I said. “I want you to go down to the kitchen. There are three chefs down there right now making dinner.”

  “Chefs?” he asked, his face lighting up. “Brandy! Let’s go!”

  Mark and I chuckled as we headed for our room. “Want a quickie?” he whispered.

  “But your parents—”

  “That’s why it has to be quick,” he whispered back.

  “Mark, are you in here?” a male voice said from the front door.

  Mark sighed, took my hand and we headed back downstairs. Darn. Opportunity lost.

  “Oscar!” he exclaimed as we descended the staircase. “You came to see me.”

  The man was much older, but he hid it well. His hair was black, but graying, and he was tall and thin.

  We approached the man and Mark shook his hand, then gave him a brief hug. “Oscar, this is Amy.”

  Oscar shook my hand, then kissed my cheek. “Congratulations on the wedding,” he said. He winked and grinned at Mark. “Smart move, if you ask me.” I could only guess what was going through his head, the old coot.

  “I have a little job for you,” Mark said, pulling the man aside. “We’ve…stumbled across something that needs to go back to its home overseas.”

  “Got it. Undercover?”

  “I was just thinking if you could, say, leave it at the back door, they’d never know it was found in someone’s possession, if you’re understanding me here.”

  Oscar grinned. “I have just the man for it. I’d rather hang out with you here.”

  Mark glanced at me with a grin. “I was hoping you’d say that. I have a lot to tell you.” We walked into an office and Mark shut the door, then proceeded to explain all of it to Oscar. He only left out the wedding night details.

  “Very interesting,” Oscar said. “Have you told your dad all of this yet?”

  “No, but they’re coming here.”

  “Tell him everything, but don’t tell your mom. She doesn’t need to worry.” Oscar turned to me. “You’re safe as long as you’re with Mark. They’re not going to hurt him, which is why the Chinese guy at the hot dog place didn’t touch you. He has too many friends, and everyone around the world knows it, too.” He studied my hair for a moment. “You don’t look like a brainiac, which is to your advantage. Ever think of working for the agency?”

  Mark cleared his throat.

  “Oh yeah. You’d be working with Mark. Sorry.”

  “I haven’t accepted the job yet,” I answered, arms crossed. “I want to meet some of the people first.”

  “And we’ll do that,” Mark insisted. “Once we get out of this mess and keep you safe. That’s my number one goal here.” He turned toward Oscar. “What do you advise?”

  “Well, considering the dead man is Timothy Thayer, this is going to be all over the news.”

  “Why is that?” I asked. “Is it because he’s a four-star general?”

  Oscar leaned closer to us. “He’s also Ron Augustino’s brother-in-law.”

  “Who?” I asked.

  Mark shook his head and turned to me. “He was a big-shot in the army, went to work for the CIA, became a Senator from Virginia and is now running for President.”

  “Oh,” I answered. “I don’t watch much of the news.” At least I knew who the president was, though.

  Oscar nodded. “Trust me, you’d know his name if you watched the news. Everyone and their brother is trying to figure out his past, and it’s been wiped clean by the CIA. Even the CIA is missing huge chunks of his past. The only people who know what he did in the army are the people who reported to him and most of them are dead.”

  “The Army?” I asked. “I wonder…”

  “Doubtful,” Mark said. “Your dad was in intelligence, and Augustino’s far from intelligent.”

  “Don’t underestimate him,” Oscar warned. “I worked with him briefly on a mission overseas, and he’s very shrewd. I’m not allowed to talk about it, but if I could, I’d take it right to the press.”

  “Why would Thayer be in my parent’s house?” I asked.

  “I don’t know,” Mark said. “But I bet we’ll find out when we get back there.”

  “Unhand me!” a man ordered from outside the room. Mark and I glanced at each other in surprise, then were both off our chairs in no time. We exited the room with Oscar behind us, running to the foyer.

  “Mom! Dad!” Mark yelled.

  Both members of the couple were older, but resembled Mark. Randy and John were trying to throw them out of the house, and I simply walked up to them and removed their hands from my new in-law’s arms.

  “Behave,” I said.

  My two brothers lowered their heads and took a step backward.

  Mark almost laughed at me. “Mom, Dad, I’d like you to meet everyone here. First, this is Amy.” I shook their hands with my right hand, while shoving my left hand with the rings into my pocket. Mark proceeded to introduce my brothers and the older couple finally shook hands with Oscar.

  Mark glanced at me, then at Randy. “Is dinner ready yet?”

  “In about ten minutes,” he answered.

  “Go check on it, because I want to have a little chat with my parents,” he said to my brothers. “Both of you. Please?”

  Mark ushered his parents, Oscar, and me into the study once again, and everyone sat down except for Mark. “Mom, Dad, I hate to give you a bunch of information all at once, but we have ten minutes to do this. First, Amy and I got married.”

  “What?” his mother yelled, suddenly on her feet. “You got married and didn’t tell us?”

  I took a deep breath and sighed.

  “Mom!” Mark said. “Sit down and listen. It’s for her own protection. She’s going to be working for me and the different agencies I have at my business.”

  “Oh, I see,” his father said. He thrust out his arm and shook my hand. “I’m Bob, and this is Doris. Welcome to the family.”

  “Thank you, sir.” I shook both their hands, and Bob finally pulled me in for a big hug, followed by Doris.

  Mark cleared his throat. “Here’s what happened. Amy’s been through a lot since before I met her. She started out as Amy Summers—”

  “Summers?” Bob asked. “Was your father Gerald Summers?”

  I was stunned. “Yes, he was. Why?”

  “That’s why your brothers look so familiar. I saw pictures of your brother John when I was in the Army.”

  “What?” Mark asked.

  “Gerald came into my outfit for about a year before I shipped out and he went into intelligence.” He faced me. “You’re Gerald and Mary’s daughter? How are they doing?”

  I glanced at Mark.

  “They were killed,” Mark said. “Someone broke into their home about five years ago and murdered them.”

  Bob’s mouth hung open. He finally faced me. “Have you gone through everything that was your father’s yet?”

  “Not yet. We just found out he had a storage shed.”

  “I bet he had that Danais in there, didn’t he?”

  Oscar and Mark faced Bob. “How do you know about that?” Mark asked.

  “Oh, my son, some awful things happened
in that outfit. We had a commanding officer that was as crooked as they come. He stole that painting from the Louvre while they were cleaning it, and Gerald knew it was wrong. When the C-O wanted to ship it back, Gerald volunteered to send it, then put his own address on the trunk. He was a smart one, that Gerald.”

  “So he didn’t steal it?” I asked.

  “No way. It was the man in charge. He got away with a lot of other things too, from what I heard, but I didn’t witness any of it. He came in with Gerald, and went into intelligence with Gerald, too. As a matter of fact, our old buddy Jack Niles—”

  “Jack Niles?” Mark asked, then fell into a chair.

  “Sure. He was just visiting us today.”

  “That’s not possible!” Mark yelled. “His body was in Amy’s apartment on Saturday!”

  Bob stared at Doris. “He was at our house today, right?”

  “Sure. I made a big lunch and he ate right with us. We talked about his ex-wife and how he’s keeping up payments on that big house.”

  Mark and I were both stunned. “If Jack’s alive, then who was in my apartment?” I asked.

  The door to the study opened and Randy’s head popped in. “Dinner’s ready. It’s amazing too!” He closed the door behind him and left us alone.

  “Can we eat in here?” I asked. “I’d rather continue this discussion without my brothers knowing all of it.”

  “Why is that, dear?” Doris asked, then leaned toward me. “Are you pregnant?” she whispered. “Is that why you married my son?”

  I sighed and slyly rolled my eyes at Mark.

  “No, Mom, she’s not pregnant. I’ve only known her since Friday.”

  “What?” Bob asked, hopping to his feet. “You married a girl you just met? When was the wedding?”

  “Sunday,” I answered.

  Mark touched his father’s arm. “You don’t have all the facts. I knew her before she knew me, and it’s all for protection. Honestly.”

  “Do you even love each other?” Doris asked.

  “Yes, I do,” I said, nodding.

  “Me too,” Mark answered.

  “How is that possible?” Doris replied. “This is ridiculous!”

  Oscar, who’d been sitting silently in a chair, suddenly stood up and faced Mark’s parents. “You two have no reason to judge them and you know it. Now, knock it off and let’s get something to eat. Bob, you need to hear the rest of this, and Doris, I suggest you make nice with the in-laws in the kitchen. Got it?”

  Both of the older couple were surprised, but were quiet, listening to Oscar. As soon as the three older people walked out of the room, I pulled Mark back to me for a minute. “What was that all about?”

  “Mom and Dad only knew each other one day before they got married in Las Vegas. Dad was shipping out and didn’t want to die with no one left behind. I was born about nine months after their wedding day.”

  I bit my lips to stop from laughing. Yep, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

  We filled our plates, then Mark, Bob, Oscar, and I went back into the study after apologizing to everyone. Doris stayed with my family, laughing right along with everyone, before we even got out of the kitchen. She knew the thugs from Madcap, which helped.

  We all sat back in the study and I kept quiet while eating some sort of wonderful casserole. Mark went back to the beginning and told the whole story to Bob, leaving out the part about the ogre, the nymph, and the wedding night.

  Bob sat back and stared at me. “So you’re as smart as your old man?”

  “I don’t know about that, because I know Dad was a very bright man. He never really told us what he did in intelligence, so I have no idea what his background was really in.”

  “He was a code breaker,” Bob replied. “He even worked with Timothy Thayer at one point, but that commanding officer was such a thorn in everyone’s side, Gerald couldn’t get as far as he wanted to.”

  “What was the name of the commanding officer?” I asked. “I might remember him talking about him if I knew his name.”

  “Ron Augustino.”

  Mark had just taken a drink of lemonade and he began to choke on it. I put my plate on the desk, and patted Mark on the back. “You okay?”

  He coughed a few times, took a few deep breaths and faced his father again. “Did you say Ron Augustino, as in ‘running for President’ Ron Augustino?”

  “One and the same,” Bob answered. “Jack Niles told me some stories, but none of the good ones.”

  “Jack knows about Ron?”

  “Sure. He was in our outfit in the army, and went with Gerald and Ned Putnam to intelligence. Ron was their commanding officer, too.”

  “What did Jack tell you?” I asked.

  “Oh, he just said Ron was as crooked as the day is long, but never any real details. I think your dad had more dirt on Ron than anyone. I bet that’s why your dad was killed, too. Since Ron’s running for office, if there’s any proof, he’d have to destroy it before anyone finds out or he’ll lose his bid for office. I hear he’s way up there in the polls.”

  I turned to Mark. “What would the Chinese government have to do with this?”

  “I have no idea, but they must know who you are, or they wouldn’t have been in your parent’s house,” Mark answered. “I think we’re done here, and really need to be out with the in-laws.”

  “Do we really have to?” I whispered. “My brothers aren’t exactly refined.”

  Bob started to laugh. “You know, Amy, I’m glad my son married you. You’re one tough cookie with a level head on her shoulders.”

  “Thank you, sir,” I said.

  “No, call me Bob or Dad. I always wanted a daughter.”

  “What?” Mark asked.

  “Oh, after you, of course. But it never worked out.”

  I wanted to laugh at Mark’s confused face, but faced Bob instead. “I’ll call you Bob, because I don’t want to forget my own parents.”

  “I understand.” He gave me a hug. “Welcome to the family.” His face turned puzzled as he backed away. “Your last name is Dallas, right?”

  “Yes, sir,” I said. “I’ve been living under so many last names, at least now I have one that’ll stick.”

  He smiled and I could’ve sworn he was about to cry.

  “Let’s go,” Mark said. “I think they have chocolate cake for dessert.”

  We all walked out of the study and into the kitchen. As soon as I saw my brothers, I knew they’d been adopted or something. John was trying to balance a spoon on his nose, while Randy was standing up with a plate on his head.

  “Your family,” Mark whispered to me.

  “Don’t remind me.” I turned toward them. “Guys! What are you doing?”

  The plate fell with a crash from Randy’s head, while John just grabbed the spoon from his nose and sat back in his seat.

  “Nothing,” John said. “It was all Randy.” He pointed at his brother, hitting him in the head with his hand on purpose.

  I just sighed and took a seat beside Doris, who was in hysterics. She could hardly stop laughing long enough to breathe.

  “If you laugh at them, you’ll encourage them,” I murmured.

  “I’m not laughing at them,” she said. “I’m laughing at you! They’re fine, but you look like you’re going to have a nervous breakdown.”

  Mark sat beside me and started to eat some cake. I put down my fork and took a big drink of water.

  “Are you PMSing, dear?” Doris asked me.

  I swallowed the water fast and began to choke.

  “You okay?” Mark asked, his hand on my back.

  “I’m fine,” I whispered, still coughing, but faced Doris. “Did you just ask me—”

  “Yes, I did. Are you PMSing? Is that why you have no sense of humor?”

  “Mom, stop it,” Mark murmured. “That’s none of your business and you know it.”

  “They’re idiots,” I said, pointing to my two brothers. “It’s not even funny!”

&
nbsp; Doris leaned up and faced Mark. “It is my business if I’m to have any grandchildren.” She faced me. “You can have children, right?”

  “I have no idea,” I said. “I never tried before.”

  “So you’re a virgin?” she exclaimed.

  I closed my eyes and covered my face with my hand. My brothers started to laugh and I finally lifted my eyes to see everyone staring at me. I calmly stood up and walked out of the kitchen, heading upstairs for the bedroom.

  “Amy!” Mark yelled from the bottom of the stairs. I ignored him and went straight to the room, curled up in chair in a corner and wiped my tears. What had I done, marrying into this family? They were no better than my own family.

  The door to the bedroom opened and Mark walked inside, then turned on a small light beside the bed. He sat on the bed that was beside the chair, then leaned up and wiped a tear from my cheek.

  “She had no right to say that,” he said. “I’m very sorry for her behavior.”

  “Did I do anything wrong?” I asked.

  “No. You were being an adult and your brothers were…well…not. You have nothing to apologize for.”

  “Should I have answered her? What would I have said?”

  “You could’ve told her I turned you bad,” he said with a grin. His phone rang and I listened to his side of the conversation. “Hello, Mark here.” He stared at me, listening intently. “I understand. We’ll be right there.” He ended the call. “We have to leave and not tell anyone,” he whispered. “I want to bring Oscar, Andrew, and Dad with us. We’re going back to your parent’s house.”

  “I understand. When?”

  “As soon as possible. I’m going to have Andrew meet you at the front door and escort you to the car. I’m going to tell Dad I need him and Oscar because you’re not a happy camper.”

  “Don’t lie,” I said. “Just tell them I remembered something from our conversation.”

  “Then Mom will want to come with us. Do you really want her with us?”

  “I think I’d rather die first.”

  “I’m going to have the jet fly us to Lancaster.”

  “Why didn’t we land there before?”

  “So the FBI could meet us and tail us,” he whispered. “They didn’t think we were in as much jeopardy as we’re in. We’re going to meet them in Pennsylvania.”