Dead Right

by Cate Noble

  The drumbeat of fury pounded in Dante’s ears as he watched Viktor. My son.

  “Send Catalina over with the suitcase,” Viktor shouted.

  Dante shook his head and grasped Cat’s wrist, stopping her short. “I’ll bring it. As soon as the nun and baby are headed this way.”

  Cat struggled to free herself. “Dante, no!”

  Karl lifted his gun and pointed it at Sister Lolita.

  “That’s not what we agreed to.” Viktor started to turn away.

  Cat screamed. “Wait! I’m coming.” She turned to Dante and dropped her voice. “You have to let me do this.”

  “That is the man who raped you,” Dante hissed. “Do you remember what he did to you and Giselle?”

  “Yes. And if I want to protect Sister Lolita from that same fate, I have to go.”

  Dante reluctantly released her.

  As she reached for the suitcase, she whispered again. “Tell Rocco to take out Karl as soon as he gets a clear shot after I get Sister Lolita and Marco to the ground.”

  “You copy that?” Dante breathed.

  “Check,” Rocco confirmed in Dante’s earpiece.

  Letting Cat walk away was one of the hardest things Dante ever did.

  She walked straight toward Zadovsky. Marco grew animated as Cat drew closer.

  Cat held out her arms for her son, but Viktor turned and handed Marco back to Sister Lolita. Then he took the suitcase and opened it. Immediately, he threw it to the ground. Cat’s sketches blew away as the brick fell out.

  Viktor slapped Cat, knocking her to the ground.

  Dante watched through a haze of deadly red. “Now,” he said to Rocco. “Take that bastard down!”

  “I can’t,” Rocco said. “Viktor and Karl are right in front of the nun. I can’t get a shot without endangering Marco.”

  Cat pushed back to her feet and faced Viktor. “I will take you to where I hid your stuff…after you release—”

  Viktor grabbed Cat’s arm and slapped her again. Marco started crying now. Sister Lolita instinctively turned away, trying to shield the child from violence.

  “Kill Johnson,” Viktor said to Karl. Then he tugged Cat close. “You and your son can both watch him die!”

  From the corner of her eye, Cat saw Karl shift. She screamed at Sister Lolita. “Get down!” Then Cat spun into a low drop kick, landing a solid blow to Viktor’s ankles.

  She hit the ground herself and rolled toward Sister Lolita. Gunshots erupted and she heard Dante yell. Then the helicopter blades cranked back up, the noise level deafening.

  As the chopper began to lift, Cat used her body to shield Sister Lolita. Marco was crying in earnest now, struggling to get out from under the sobbing nun as the chopper spun off into the night.

  Cat looked over her shoulder, saw that Karl was on the ground, half of his head blown away. Just beyond that bloody mess stood Dante and Viktor, locked in a classical standoff. Each had a gun pointed at the other.

  Dante looked like a madman, his face distorted in rage. With the chopper gone and Karl dead, it was over. But Dante seemed locked in an internal struggle between killing Viktor or letting him live to get answers. To pay for his crimes.

  “We’re okay,” Cat called.

  Dante nodded, but didn’t look away from Viktor. “My sniper’s got you in his crosshairs, Zadovsky. But I’m calling dibs on your forehead.”

  “Where are the fancy deals? The promises of amnesty in exchange for an explanation of what I did to you? All those things you can’t remember?” Viktor snorted. “And what I did to your comrades?”

  “I don’t give a shit what you did to me,” Dante said. “But to find my friends…yes, you’ll get a goddamn deal. Now drop your gun. It’s over.”

  “You’re right. It’s over.” Viktor turned his gun toward himself and fired.

  Cat heard multiple shots fire. “No!” she shouted as Viktor fell to the ground. Then she realized that Rocco and Dante had both fired as well. Viktor Zadovsky was dead.

  Dante yanked the gun from Viktor’s hand before moving to help Cat and Sister Lolita.

  Cat scooped Marco up into her arms, hugging and kissing him. Marco was squalling at the top of his lungs, and it was the most beautiful sound Cat had ever heard.

  “Is he hurt?” Dante asked.

  Cat shook her head. “He’s scared, but fine.”

  “Let’s get him away from here.”

  Rocco was there now, too, one arm around Sister Lolita as he shielded the nun from the carnage. “Let’s get them to the car,” Rocco said. “In case the helicopter pilot decides to buzz by again.”

  Inside the safe confines of the bulletproof Town Car, Dante pulled Cat and Marco across the seat and into his arms. Marco had quieted, sniffling back tears as he looked curiously at Dante.

  Tears shimmered in Dante’s eyes as well. “Care to introduce us?”

  Cat boosted her son, their son, slightly closer. “Marco, this is your daddy.”

  Dante’s mouth opened and closed. Marco touched his cheek, then drew back shyly and buried his face against the crook of Cat’s neck.

  “You guys ready to go home?” Dante asked Cat.

  Home. Cat shook her head. “I don’t know where home is anymore.”

  “I know mine is here.” Dante touched Marco’s head, then cupped Cat’s cheek. “I’ll follow you anywhere, Cat. Forever.”

  It was too much. Tears filled her eyes again. Tears of joy. She sniffed. “Right now, sailing off into the sunset and just disappearing for a while sounds perfect.”

  Dante laughed. “Have you ever been to Key West?”

  Epilogue

  Key West, Florida

  September 5

  (Two Months Later)

  Iris had insisted on hosting a Labor Day weekend bash when she heard Dante was bringing Cat and Marco to visit Key West.

  Dante was grateful Iris agreed to keep the guest list small. It would make doing what he needed to do easier.

  The delicious smells of barbecue permeated the air. Truman had been up since dawn smoking ribs, chicken, and beef briskets. Dante helped him carry the platters of food to the tables set up beneath an open tent.

  “We finished just in time,” Truman said. “People should be showing up anytime. Guess I’ll go change.”

  Dante’s gaze drifted back to where Cat and Marco were walking with Iris along the seawall. D-dog followed Marco everywhere. The dog still hated men, but as it turned out, he went marshmallow for women and little boys.

  As Dante watched, Marco threw a stick into the water and pointed at it, clearly wanting D-dog to fetch. For a moment, Dante thought the dog might actually do it, then…nope.

  Dante chuckled. Adjusting to fatherhood had been surprisingly fun. Marco was as easy to love as his mother, and it was impossible to imagine life any other way.

  The three of them had spent the last eight weeks at a beachfront villa in the Caymans. It had been a quiet, secure place for them to decompress and get to know each other again.

  Dante and Cat had agreed to take it one day at a time as they worked through the aftermath of Viktor’s reign of terror. Much of it was still being sorted out. That Cat felt ready to meet people, to come to the States with Dante, was a huge step.

  She still hadn’t decided what to do about the information she had hidden—and that was okay for now. When she was ready to discuss it, she knew he’d be there.

  Travis had worked behind the scenes to clear Cat’s name of any wrongdoing. And while she was officially free to travel, Dante knew it would be a while before either of them stopped looking over their shoulders.

  “Dada!” Marco came running toward Dante with arms wide.

  Dante scooped him up and hugged him, then admired the shell his son had found.

  His son.

  Dante caught Cat’s gaze as she walked toward him. She looked gorgeous. Tanned and rested, she’d even begun to put a little weight back on.

  “Mama!” Marco waved at Cat, but shook his he
ad when she held up her arms, quite content to stay in Dada’s arms.

  “The food smells awesome.” Travis Franks came up behind them and kissed Cat’s cheek. Then he tickled Marco.

  Marco rewarded him with giggles and held out his shell. Travis was a familiar face after visiting them at the Caymans several times.

  “Rocco and Maddy pulled in right behind me,” Travis said. Then he turned to Cat. “I have some papers for you to look over later. For Marco.”

  “His Canadian birth certificate?” Cat asked.

  Travis was also helping to untangle the rat’s nest of legalities they faced in establishing Marco’s real identity.

  “Actually it’s a copy of Remi St. James’s will. He left a third of his estate to one Marco Lopez. Another third goes to charity. The last third went to Giselle Barclay.” Travis met Cat’s gaze. “And you were named as the primary beneficiary of Giselle’s estate, but we’ll tackle those details later.”

  Dante wrapped an arm around Cat’s shoulders. “You okay?”

  She looked at him and nodded. “A little stunned, I guess.” She turned back to Travis. “Thank you. For that…for everything.”

  Behind them, Rocco called out as he and Maddy Kohlmeyer joined them.

  Rocco held out his arms for Marco. “Geez! What are you feeding this kid? He’s grown three feet.”

  Rocco and Maddy had spent time with them in the Caymans, too. They were definitely on again and Dante hoped this time it stuck.

  “Don’t want to come to Uncle Rocco, huh?” Rocco had just hugged Cat. Now he poked a finger at Marco’s belly. “Fine, be that way.”

  Marco did his Tickle Me Elmo imitation, then hid his head against Dante’s shoulder, suddenly shy.

  Iris and Truman came up, and after a round of introductions, Iris waved everyone toward the tent. “Chow’s on. If you leave hungry, it’s not my fault.”

  Cat reached to take Marco. “I’ll go change him quick.”

  Dante twisted away, playfully keeping Marco from her. Then he bent forward and gave her a kiss. “I can handle that. Go and save us a seat, okay?”

  She nodded and stepped backward. Dante was the only person she allowed to take their son out of her sight.

  Inside the bathhouse, Dante changed Marco’s diaper. Then he stood him up on the countertop by the sink and cleared his throat. “Got time for a little man-to-man talk?” He reached in his shirt pocket and withdrew a ring. “I’m going to ask your mama to marry me. What do you think?”

  “Mamamamamamamama.” Marco grabbed for the ring.

  “I take it that’s a yes.” Dante slipped the ring back in his pocket and kissed his son. “You ready to try some barbecue, sport?”

  Outside, Dante paused. His friends were all gathered at one table, laughing and talking. For the first time in a very long time, he felt…blessed. His thoughts drifted briefly to the people he’d loved and lost. His parents. Max. Harry.

  But his son’s hand patting his cheek brought him back to the present. “Dada. Eat!”

  Cat had prepared plates for both of them. Marco squirmed to be put down as soon as he spotted food. He sat between Cat and Dante in a booster chair.

  “Kid gets his appetite from me,” Rocco said as Marco stuffed a handful of green beans in his mouth before climbing back onto Dante’s lap.

  Snatching a rib off Dante’s plate, Marco settled back and studied it intently before attacking it with an “aarghh” growl.

  “He got your table manners, too,” Dante laughed.

  “I’m finished.” Cat pushed her plate back. “Want me to take him so you can eat?”

  Shaking his head, Dante held up a rib. “Aarghh.” He mimicked his son.

  The conversation drifted to the latest tropical depression forming in the Gulf. “The way it’s tracking, we may be under an evacuation order within forty-eight hours,” Truman said. “Figures, you just getting here and all,” he said to Cat.

  Dante watched as the expression on Cat’s face shifted briefly to where do we go now. They had planned to spend two weeks in Key West. She shrugged. “Guess we go to Plan B.” She looked at Dante. “Do we have a Plan B or do we need to wing it?”

  “Actually…”

  Shifting Marco in his arms, Dante got ready to stand, suddenly nervous. What if she said no? Or even I’m not sure? God, he didn’t want her to feel pressured. Maybe doing this in public wasn’t such a great idea.

  “Mama.” Marco thrust his fist toward Cat.

  “Yuck.” She held out a napkin to wipe the barbeque sauce from her son’s hands. “What’s this?”

  She held up a diamond ring that was now covered in red sauce and mushed bits of green bean. Everyone at the table grew still.

  Rocco’s cell phone rang, shattering the silence.

  Dante reached for the ring. “Guess he’s not real good with secrets yet.” When he tried to move Marco off his lap and onto the seat beside him, his son started to whine. “I’ll get down on my knee when he takes his nap, okay?” Dante cleared his throat. “Cat, I love you. I love our son. And I’d be honored if you’d marry me and be with me for the rest of our lives.”

  Cat’s eyes filled with tears and he knew before she said it, that the answer was yes. All the other questions like where they’d live and what he’d do didn’t matter.

  “Yes,” she said. And again he felt…blessed.

  Rocco stepped away to check his cell phone. Damn thing had rung twice more since his best friend had proposed. Jesus, he was happy for Dante. And Cat. And Marco.

  He pushed buttons to retrieve the message, curious to see who had called three times in a row. What in the hell was that damn important?

  Diego Marques’s voice came across from voice mail. “I’ve been contacted by a kid claiming to have a blood chit. Says it’s for Travis Franks. Kid also says his father worked at a prison in the jungle. He may be running a con; I understand the kid owes money to the wrong people. Which, for that matter, means this may be a moot point if they’ve already found him. But I figured you’d want to know anyway. You know how to reach me.”

  Rocco glanced toward Dante and Cat, who were collecting congratulatory hugs. He caught Travis’s eye and nodded imperceptibly.

  Travis broke away from the others. “You look rather serious given the festive occasion. What’s up?”

  Rocco pressed a button and held out his cell phone to Travis. “You’ll want to hear this message. Then I’ve got a favor to ask. If I need to disappear, can you make certain Maddy gets back to D.C?”

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  Copyright © 2009 by Kathleen Holzapfel

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