by Kathryn Shay
At the table they’d set up under the shade of an awning, they sipped ice-cold water. It coated his parched throat. “She says I’m overprotective.”
“You are, Dante. You know you are.”
“I think I got worse with her.”
“Why?”
“Because I care about her. Because she’s had shitty things happen to her, and she doesn’t deserve more trouble.”
“Like what?”
He explained her kidnapping ordeal last year.
“You never said anything.”
“She’s a private person.”
“Huh. You’d think she’d be more worried than you.”
“She says she’s not. She’s had more than a year of therapy and got her confidence back.”
“Still...”
“And she told her sister, the cop, about what I saw. Frankie came out to see the house...”
After he finished the story, Tris snorted.
“What?”
“I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but I think she’s more trouble than she’s worth.”
He sighed. “Yeah, I’m beginning to believe that, too.”
* * *
Brie missed Dante. It had been two days since the faculty meeting, and she’d only seen him in passing at school. He’d nodded and looked sad. She’d figured he’d be angry.
She was thinking about him when she pulled into the school on Thursday morning. Madelyn was standing in the parking lot. “Hey, Brie.”
“Maddie. What are you doing out here?”
“There was an unfamiliar car in the parking lot. No parking sticker, the guard said.”
“Huh. Sometimes people drive different vehicles to work.”
“Yeah, the security guy had the local police run the plates. It didn’t belong anyone here. It was a rental.”
“Could someone have had an accident? Needed a rental?”
“Maybe.”
“Are you worried?”
“I suppose.” She raked back her hair today, which was down around her shoulders. “I think this whole thing with Sammy Simpson’s father has me on edge.”
“Understandable. You don’t think Mr. Simpson will come to Open House tonight, do you?”
“No. Speaking of which, what was going on with you and Dante Tuesday? I got tied up with something and never got back to you.”
“He pissed me off when he forbade me to have the meeting with Al Simpson.”
“He’s concerned.”
“Yeah, but it’s other things, too.” She’d told Maddie she and Dante were seeing each other. As long as teacher romances didn’t interfere with the school process, lots of teachers dated.
“I’m sorry. We can go out to dinner and talk about him.”
“No to rehashing this. Yes to dinner. Soon.”
“Before I leave, did you decide about seeing Al Simpson?”
“Well, I won’t do it alone, like you advised. It would be best to take another teacher, but I can’t ask Dante.”
“Carrie Masters and Miguel Herrera have Sam in class.” The art and music teachers.
“Yeah. Maybe I’ll talk to them today.”
Once in the building, she worked on prettying up the room. She’d already done most of the displays like the cute hanging collages the kids made with pictures of themselves on a child- sized cutout of a head. She’d strung them from the ceiling in the back of the room. Today, she’d come in early to work on a side bulletin board, putting up some paragraphs the kids had written yesterday about their own personal heroes.
“Hello.”
Brie turned. A slump-shouldered woman with circles under her eyes that Brie could see from across the room stood in the doorway. She gripped a visitor’s pass.
“Can I help you?”
“I’m Ada Simpson.”
“Hello, Mrs. Simpson. Come on in.”
Mrs. Simpson crossed into the room and Brie met her halfway. “I can’t come tonight,” Sammy’s mother blurted out. “I have to work. But I wanted you to know how much Sammy likes you. And his gym teacher. This is the happiest I’ve ever seen him in school.”
“That means a lot to me.”
“And arranging the playoff game? I don’t know how you did it, but thank you.”
Brie checked the clock.
“Oh, dear, I’m taking up your time.”
“No, I wanted to see how early it was. I’m fine timewise. Can you sit and talk about something with me?”
“Sure.”
The woman took the chair Brie provided her. “What is it?”
Brie told her about the idea of meeting with her husband.
Ada’s brows skyrocketed. “No, no, I don’t think you should do that.”
“Why?”
“He’s been grumbling about how much you and Mr. Federico do for Sammy. He wonders why.”
“Do you feel the same?”
“No. You two make my son happy.”
“Well, seeing us personally might calm his fears.”
“Nothing’s gonna calm his fears, Ms. Gentileschi. He’s a mess because of all this, because of what he did. Did you know that no child molester has ever been cured? All professionals can do is help them keep themselves from doing it. They always want to.” Her eyes teared. “I’d hate myself, if I was him. He wouldn’t be kind to you.”
“I’m so sorry for your situation.”
For some reason a fleeting image of the flowers and the grass and open window came into Brie’s mind. Could Sammy’s father…
Mrs. Simpson distracted her when she wiped her face and stood. “I gotta go, if I wanna catch Mr. Federico before school.”
“Shall I walk you there?”
“I’d like that.”
Brie bit her tongue so she wouldn’t ask Mrs. Simpson to keep quiet about Brie’s questions and her advice. Instead, she made small-talk about the school until they reached the male gym teachers’ office. Brie knocked on the door.
It swung open. Dante, dressed in shorts and a long-sleeved shirt, stepped back. “This is a surprise.”
“I’m sure it is. You have a visitor. Sammy’s mother. She can’t come to Open House tonight, but wanted to see you and me.”
He poked his head out the door. “Mrs. Simpson. I’m glad to finally meet you. Come on in.”
His kindness made Brie’s stomach clench. He was a really nice guy.
* * *
Brie walked into Evvie’s house on Friday at six o’clock and found her sister on the back, screened-in porch. With Frankie. Brie cocked her head. “I asked if I could come for a visit. Did you both get free purposely?”
“Ty’s got plans with his brothers.”
“And Mike had a travel day to the west coast for the two playoff games.”
“How come you didn’t go out there for the game?”
“Because my sister needed me.”
“No, I don’t want you to give that up.”
“Maybe I’ll get there for the second game.”
Frankie said, “Sit.” She pointed to the most comfortable chair in the room.
Brie sat.
Evvie got them wine.
And Frankie asked, “What’s going on?”
“I think I have a problem.”
“With Dante?” She’d already shared the broad strokes of their relationship with her sisters.
“Only in a circuitous way. Remember I told you about the boy whose father is a sex offender?”
“Uh-huh.”
“His mother came to see me yesterday. She couldn’t attend Open House last night, so she wanted to thank us for paying attention to Sammy. I told her my idea about seeing her husband off the campus and she confessed he resented me and Dante for giving him so much of our time.”
Ever-kind Evvie said, “Well, if you didn’t go alone, I think it would be okay to meet him.”
Frankie scowled. “Absolutely not. Stay away from him. He’s mentally ill with a disease that can’t be cured. And now you know he doesn’t like
you.”
“What did Dante say?” Evvie asked.
“I didn’t tell him about Al Simpson’s reaction to us, and I’m hoping Mrs. Simpson didn’t either.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re already fighting over how protective he behaves. He worried about the open window the night he stayed over. He also told me I shouldn’t stop a fight in school because I might get hurt. And hammered his sisters with dirty looks when they weren’t nice to me.” She ran a hand through her hair. “He even had a fit when I got run into by a rude fan at the game. He’d go berserk about me seeing Sammy’s father.”
Evvie leaned over and took her hand. “Brie, he’s being protective because he cares about you. He’s worried.”
“We don’t know that’s all of it.” This from Frankie.
Brie scowled. “You said the thing with the deer was silly.”
“It was. But putting your concerns with Dante aside, with all these things added into the mix, he might not be off base that somebody could be watching you. Stalking you, maybe.”
“Stalking? That’s a pretty harsh word.”
“But warranted to think about.” Frankie came to the edge of her seat. “One suspect would be Mr. Simpson, given what Ada Simpson told you.” She sighed. “But there could be more. Even Eddie, for all we know.”
“This is awful,” Evvie said. “Anyone else?”
“It can’t be Vittorino, because he’s rotting in a cell in Sicily.” Frankie’s gaze narrowed. “Unless it’s somebody in Lorenzo’s cadre of officers.”
Brie felt her face blanch at the mention of the man who kidnapped her. “What should I do?”
“Get some protection.”
“Would you do it?”
“Believe me, I would. But I’ve got an undercover assignment coming up that I can’t ditch.”
“Ty?”
“Same assignment.”
Evvie’s face brightened. “Papá can send Antonio. You were always our bodyguard’s favorite.”
“Are you serious?”
Frankie took her hand. “I don’t like this, sweetie.”
“Can I think about it?”
“Yeah, but only because you got me for the weekend. But we’d have to call the palace soon.” She stood and stretched. “Okay, done with that. What are we having for dinner?”
“Ordering in.”
Brie’s appetite had disappeared. After Evvie got menus, her sisters picked the food, called it in, and Evvie said, “We could watch a movie.”
Frankie shrugged. “Fine by me.”
“You don’t do live streaming, do you?” This from Brie.
“Are you kidding? I rarely turn on the TV at all. I have those.” She pointed across the room at her video collection.
Crossing to the shelf, Brie rifled through Evvie’s DVDs. “Hell, you only have romantic movies and baseball flicks, girl.”
“We could watch Bull Durham.”
Brie kept flipping through the films. “Nope. Here’s one. The new remake of When A Stranger Calls.”
Frankie laughed out loud. “You’ve got a sick sense of humor, girl.”
“Maybe it’ll scare me enough to make a decision.”
The plot featured a babysitter who got a call asking her if the kids were all right. He kept calling, so she alerted the police. The surprise ending was the memorable focal point of the story.
They all screamed at the same parts in the movie.
They all laughed at themselves.
Until the movie ended. And Brie saw Frankie was frowning. “What is it?”
“So, the caller was in the house.”
“Yeah, we knew the ending.” Evvie laughed. “We still got scared.”
“Brie, Dante was around when all the things we talked about happened.”
“He was. Why?”
Evvie gasped. “No, no.”
Brie’s gaze snapped between her two sisters. “You think he set this all up?”
“Actually, I don’t know.”
Was Frankie being tactful or honest?
Evvie said, “I don’t think we should jump to that conclusion.”
“We’re not. All I said was, it’s a possibility.”
Brie stared at the dark TV thoughtfully. “I did accuse him of using the deer and open window to stay overnight with me the first time we made love. Make me want him to stay.”
“Even if he did, that’s different.” Evvie frowned too. “It’s human. It’s male.”
“God, you guys, I don’t know. This is a pretty big leap.”
“Brie, honey, I said I don’t know either.” Frankie used her cop voice. “But I’d like to talk to him about this.”
“What would you say?”
“I’d ask him questions. Try to get a feel for where he is on the stalking. Do you know what he’s doing this weekend?”
“Not the whole time. He usually works Saturday morning with his sisters at Federico’s.”
“We’ll go to his shop. It’s a public place, and we’ll have to be calm and he’ll have to see us.”
“All right,” Brie agreed but she still felt reluctant. “Just so we don’t insult him.”
“We won’t. I’m a trained interrogator. I know how to ask questions.”
* * *
It would have been funny if Dante didn’t sense something bad was going to happen. Three princesses marched into Federico’s Collision on Saturday morning when they opened. The women were dressed alike in those short cropped pants, each wearing a T-shirt of a different color and sandals.
On the other hand, him and his sisters lined up in the green coveralls bearing their logo, and work boots. The difference was striking—and meaningful. What had he been thinking to try to become part of her world?
“I’m Tris. The oldest. This is Lucy and Dante.”
The girls introduced themselves. So this was the cop. He’d met Evvie at the game. “Why are you here?” He tried to avoid looking at Brie, but he couldn’t. She seemed tired. And... uncomfortable. “Brie, what’s going on?”
Frankie stepped forward. “We’re not here to cause any trouble. But we’re not here so you two can make up either. We got talking last night and realized that some odd things have happened to Brie when you’re around, Dante. Can you explain them?”
“Why would I be able to explain those things?”
“Wait,” Lucy interrupted. “What’s happened?”
Briefly, Frankie explained the events she had in mind.
Lucy recoiled. “Jesus Christ, you think Dante did those things to her?”
“I’m not saying that. I’m just asking questions.”
“Of course we’re not accusing him.” Evvie the peacemaker spoke up. Her face brightened as if she just thought of something. “He might have some insights that we hadn’t thought of because he was there.”
“I don’t believe you.” Tris moved closer to Dante. “Tell us point-blank. Do you think he’s capable of stalking her?”
The Gentileschi girls exchanged glances.
Lucy’s jaw dropped. “You’re incredible.”
Evvie said, “Wait a minute. This discussion isn’t going right.”
Tris glared at Brie. “Interrogating Dante okay with you, princess?”
“No. It’s not. Like Frankie said, we’re only here to talk.”
Dante stepped forward. He couldn’t stop his fists from curling. “No talk needed. Just let me set the record straight. I did not have anything to do with any of those things.” He turned to Brie. “How can you even think that?”
“I—”
“Because they’re entitled, selfish bitches who believe they can question us like they would one of their subjects.” Lucia stepped in front of Brie. “How dare you come to our place of business and accuse my wonderful brother of something so awful?”
Brie started to speak again. “I didn’t—”
“No, girls, you don’t need to defend me.” He faced the Gentileschi sisters. “We’re not going to dignify y
our questions with answers. I’ll only say that you, Frankie, aren’t a very good cop, and you, Evvie, aren’t the nice person everybody says you are.” He laser focused on Brie. “And you.” Here, his voice cracked. “You are not the woman I thought you were.”
Brie moved away from the girls and touched his arm. “I want to talk to you alone.”
Dante was incensed. “No.”
So was Tris. “No.”
And Lucy. “No.”
Dante flung her hand off. “Only my no counts here. And I’m definitely saying it. Now get out of my place of business...” Again, he zeroed in on Brie. “And out of my life. For good.”
* * *
“Thank you, Antonio.” Queen Renata Marcello Gentileschi exited the limo through the door her bodyguard/driver held open. She’d dressed in light beige pants and a peach top, simple so she’d blend in. Except for the limo, and the guard, which couldn’t be helped. At least he’d forgone the suit attire and dressed casually too.
Before she got two steps on the sidewalk, a door banged in the open garage next door and a little bundle ran toward her. “Nonna!” And the bundle threw herself at Renata. “Ti amo.”
She bent down and hugged her granddaughter. “Mi sei moncato tanto, tesoro.”
“I missed you, too,” Lilliana mumbled into her hip.
When her granddaughter drew back, her eyes widened. “Antonio?” She had a big hug for everybody’s favorite staff member.
By now, Mariella had joined them and embraced Renata. “Ti amo, Mamá. Welcome.”
“Ti amo.” A big hug back. Dio mio, she missed her girls. They linked arms, and Lilliana held Antonio’s hand as they walked into Gabriella’s house. Brie came running from the bedroom. “Mamá?”
“Hello, darling.”
After appropriate kisses and hugs, Brie kept hold of her hand. “I can’t believe Papá let you come.”
“Why, Aunt Brie?”
Mariella’s eyes widened. “You know how much Bappo likes Nonna. He doesn’t want to be apart from her.”
The girl giggled.
Antonio said, “Come with me, piccolo. You can show me around Aunt Gabriella’s yard. I have never seen it.”