by Jill Sanders
“You must stay for dinner, oh no, you must stay for the night.” Eliza was saying.
Looking over to Rob, he nodded his head in agreement. How could they leave? She looked like she was truly enjoying herself. Her initial nerves were gone, replaced with curiosity and excitement.
It was just after dinner when her brother, Ethan, pulled her aside. It was weird knowing she had a half-brother, it was weirder looking into his eyes and seeing her own staring back at her.
He pulled her onto the back deck where it was darker. Somehow the darkness suited him better than the bright lights of the kitchen. Rob stared at his features, so much like her own, but different.
“I’m glad you found them,” he nodded his head towards the loud house where her family was celebrating her return. “Ruth – Roberta,” he corrected, “there’s something I need to tell you.” He started pacing, then turned back to her. “I found you,” he took a deep breath.
When she just looked at him with a confused look, he continued. “I found you over a month ago. I was in Portland for a… anyway, I was in Portland and I saw you at the hospital, you were there with your friend,” he nodded his head towards the glass doors. She looked and saw Ric standing there laughing at something her mother was saying. “I knew who you were in an instant. I followed you, found out who you were and left something for you to…”
“The medallion! You left it in my apartment. Why? Why did my father have it?”
“Yes, I left it knowing you’d start looking into your family. The medallions have been handed down for many generations. I couldn’t get in contact with you then,” he looked like he wanted to say more, but couldn’t. “I knew you would find them, find us.” He smiled for the first time and his whole face changed. He looked kinder, more relaxed. She knew some military types took being serious to all new levels, he was one of those types.
“Mom said that hers went missing the night you disappeared, and I knew that you would have it. I can’t stay tonight, but I wanted you to know that I’m glad you’re here for them.” He was looking into the house towards his family, their family. “I’ll be gone for a while, over seas. It’ll be hard on them.”
“Don’t worry, I have a feeling that now they know who and where I am, I’ll be seeing a lot more of them from here on out.” Rob smiled. “You know, I’ve always wanted a baby sister. But, I guess a brother will have to do.”
They laughed and hugged for the first time.
Ric watched from inside of the house as Rob and her brother hugged. He liked to think he knew her pretty well by now, but she was amazing him with her relaxed attitude about everything. Maybe she had enough time to settle it all in her mind before meeting these people. Watching Rob and Ethan walk in the back door together, made him think of his own family. How torn it was right now, how screwed up it felt. Would they ever be at a place where everyone was okay again?
Knowing Rob’s family was just as messed up as his, yet here they were. Laughing and rejoicing in the return of a long lost family member which only gave him hope.
Would he embrace his half-brother the same way he had just watched Rob hold onto hers? Somehow he doubted it. Then he thought of Katie and his happy mood soured. He knew she’d asked for time to heal, but he was having a hard time with letting her go.
Rob stepped up to him just then, “Deep thoughts?” she smiled and wrapped her arms around him.
Shaking his head clear, he kissed the top of her head, “I like your family.”
“Mmm, I’m beginning to as well.”
They slept in a guest room down the hallway from her grandmother’s room. Ric held her in his arms and stared at the ceiling until finally sleep came.
The next morning, after having one of the largest breakfast he’d ever eaten, they headed back to Pride. Rob’s grandmother and mother had cried, they’d taken more than a dozen photos of Rob with everyone. They’d even snapped a few of Rob and himself.
The drive back to Pride was a quiet one, he could tell she was on an emotional high. She kept looking at her phone, where she had a few dozen photos of them.
“Do you remember what I said back at your gallery that night?”
He looked over at her, she was looking at a picture of her and her brother.
“That you’re glad you were raised by your father, that you wouldn’t be who you were without him.”
She nodded her head, “I guess that still rings true, but after meeting them…” she trailed off.
“Rob, I know this is hard, and they seem like very nice people. I just can’t imagine you there, with them. Look at who you are…”
“No, that’s not it,” she looked up at him, and then he saw the tears. “After meeting them, I think I can truly appreciate where I came from now. If I had been raised there, with them, I don’t think I could have become who I am now. I probably would have married young and had a passel of kids by now. Who knows, maybe I’d be two-hundred pounds and do nothing but watch soap operas all day.”
He laughed at the thought, “No, you wouldn’t.”
“Well, maybe not watch soap operas,” she laughed along with him.
Where were they? The dark man knew they’d gone off together. But, he didn’t know where. He had several new men out looking for them and it was costing him plenty. He had a guy keeping track of their cell phone calls, but nothing so far.
He’d even driven by her place himself several times. Knowing it was just a matter of time that they’d slip up, he felt he could wait patiently to get his hands on her. Dealing with Ric was a different matter, he wanted the man taken care of, and the sooner the better. He had a score to settle and he didn’t like having it hanging over his head for too much longer.
It was a few days after their trip to Cathlamet, that they’d received the call from her commander. They’d caught Jose. He’d broken into Rob’s apartment and started trashing the place. He claimed he was looking for information on her whereabouts and was currently in the holding cell under tight guard.
“Rob, he claims he acted alone. That he’s the one with the vendetta against Ric. He said he thought he could get to him through you. Says he was pissed that Ric wouldn’t sell his daughter’s art at his gallery.”
“What’s his daughter’s name?” Ric asked.
She’d flipped the phone to speaker so he could hear the entire call.
“Sanchez, Carmen Sanchez.”
Ric thought about it and then nodded his head, “Yeah, I saw a few pieces from a Carmen Sanchez a few months back. The girl had talent, just not gallery talent.”
“Well, we found several pieces of the stolen art in a back room at his place. We’re questioning him about the other pieces that are still missing, Dante’s piece is among those. It looks like we can wrap this up nice and tight. If you two want to make it on back here, we can close things out and get some more answers.”
When they had gotten off the phone, Ric looked like he was deep in thought.
“What?” she asked later as they were packing up everything.
“Hmm?”
“What’s that look for?” she stopped and leaned against the side of his car.
“Nothing, it’s nothing.”
Not buying it she continued to look at him and crossed her arms.
“Well, it’s just that it doesn’t add up. You know, the missing pieces, his daughter’s art. Something just doesn’t feel right. If I remember correctly, Carmen Sanchez was trying to sell her art because her family was broke.”
He turned and started walking around, “I turned her on to another gallery in town that might be interested in her work, I never met her father. Then there’s The Indian, Dante Cardone’s piece. Why go through all the trouble to steal that one and in the manner in which it was taken. Something just doesn’t add up.”
Rob thought about it and knew he was right. Something smelled funny, But, until they got back to Portland and interviewed Jose, she didn’t think they were going to find their answers.
Drivi
ng through the small town, they decided to eat before heading back. So they stopped at Iian’s restaurant, The Golden Oar, for lunch.
Rob finally had the chance to look at the quaint little town of Pride for the first time. The houses all sat in rows with well maintained yards. Kids played outside on the lawns or rode bikes on the sidewalks. There were charming little stores on the main street, and they must have passed a half-dozen people, who all stopped and waved at Ric when they recognized him. He drove up to a large building that sat on the waterfront, which appeared to be an old warehouse that had been remodeled into the restaurant. The sign that hung on the front of the building was huge and a detailed carving. “The Golden Oar” was etched in vibrant gold letters above a large ship with white sails, which sat in dark blue waters.
The docks were to the left of the building and she could see boats of every variety docked there. Many of the boat slots were empty for the day, no doubt fishing boats out to get their day’s catch.
“That’s Jordan Shipping, Todd’s business across the street.” He pointed to a four story brick building across the way.
When they walked into the restaurant, she was greeted by a rush of warmth and wonderful smells. The entire back wall was a large wall of glass which overlooked the water, giving the guests a sense of romance and elegance.
The lighting was soft and warm, and the walls were covered with elegant oil paintings that hung on almost every wall. A large stone fireplace sat near the back of the room. The tables were set with low candle lights, the mixture of family and romance gave the place even more character.
As they were seated, she noticed the colorful oil paintings that were everywhere and wondered if Ric had sold any of it.
“Most of it’s Iian’s grandmothers work. He’s added quite a few of Allison’s over the last year or so.” Ric smiled at her from across the table.
After placing their orders, she watched as Iian walked out of the back room. He looked at home here, they watched as he stopped and talked to several guests on his way to their table.
“I thought you two were under house arrest?” He sat easily in an empty chair next to hers. She noticed that he signed as he spoke and watched him since she enjoyed trying to expand her own knowledge.
“We’ve been sprung,” Ric said and signed along, “it sounds like they caught the guy behind all our problems. We’re heading back to tie up the loose ends after lunch.”
“We’ll be sad to see you both go. Of course, you’re always welcome to come back anytime.”
The dark man sat in his dark car and watched the couple walk into the large place. He knew that by having Jose turn himself in, by being caught, he’d find the whereabouts of Ric and the beautiful detective, Roberta Stanton. All he had to do was make a few calls to his friend at the phone company to trace the calls placed to Rob’s cell phone. Everything was working according to his new plan.
Ric knew it was going to take him weeks to catch up on his work when he got back into town. He had a charity ball that he was supposed to hold in the next few months. He didn’t mind dressing up and being wined and dined. He knew how to deal with most of the people that attended these kind of events. After all, he’d been raised around them.
He wasn’t looking forward to dealing with his mother and wondered if she was still staying with Dante.
As he drove them out of town and hit the main road back to the highway, he couldn’t help but think about his sister. He was heartbroken over her hurt, more than his mother’s betrayal. But, seeing Rob with her family had given him a little hope that maybe his family could be healed, at least a little.
Rob sat next to him in the car, deep in her own thoughts. He didn’t know what was in store for them when they returned to Portland. He only knew that he wanted to continue seeing her. It had been quite some time since he’d been in a relationship. Now that his case was winding down, he knew she had run out of excuses to not see him officially once they were back in town.
He’d enjoyed his time in Pride with her, being stuck in a small place with her had been no burden at all. She was easy to talk to, easy to be with, and easy on his libido.
They were just a few miles from the turn off when a large semi came out of nowhere, hitting the side of his car. He heard Roberta scream his name, and then everything went black.
Chapter Nineteen
“Ric, damn it, wake up,” she was shaking him as blood oozed from the large gash above his left eye. His shoulder was twisted at an odd angle. She ran her hands over the rest of him, feeling for broken bones. It seemed his head and shoulder had taken the worst of the impact.
Her knee hurt her, other than that, she’d taken stock of herself and noticed nothing was broken, and there was no major bleeding. She thought she’d bumped her head, but so far her vision was fine and the pain had been minimal.
She looked up and watched as the semi driver jumped out of his mangled truck, into a waiting jeep and then peeled off. Making a mental note of all the details, she turned back to Ric and focused on trying to wake him. She didn’t notice the man approaching the back of the car, not until the gun was pointing at her temple.
“Remove your weapon, detective. Slowly.” She heard him say in a thick middle-eastern accent.
She went to move her head to look, but he pushed the gun against her temple a little harder and said, “Now.”
Moving just her hand, she slowly released the clasp and fingered her weapon. She handed it out the shattered window to him.
“Now, if you would be so kind as to step out of the car,” he reached and opened her door.
Talking one last look at Ric, she did as the man asked. He stood just a few inches shorter than her, his darker skin was covered by a crisp white thawb, which, with his bulk, made him look larger.
“What do you want?” she held herself stiff, ready to spring at any opening she saw. She heard Ric moan behind her, so she positioned her body so the man wouldn’t see him, should the need arise.
“First, I want Ric Derby dead, then you and I are going to take a little ride,” he motioned for her to step aside, she held her ground.
“Why?” upon his blank look she said, “Why do you want Ric dead? What has he done to you?”
“Not to me, my dear. It’s what he’s done to my brother and niece. You see, he’s been filling my niece’s head with ideas. Ideas that she could do something else in life other than what her family has been planning for the girl since her birth.”
“I don’t understand,” Rob could hear Ric moving around and knew that the man was now too far away to hear the slight movements.
“Sannidhi is young and impressionable. She was fooled by Ric into thinking she could actually move to America and become an artist. She’d be Americanized!” the gun wavered in his hands as he screamed.
“My brother has plans for her, she is to be a good wife to someone of great importance. My brother Haidar, has tried to keep her under control, but then a few months back she disappeared. The tickets she used to leave her family was under the name Ric Derby, he helped her escape. We think she is somewhere in Europe alone, thanks to him. The family will find her, they are very close to locating her, but they had to explain her absence, make excuses, to her promised husband, and it’s all thanks to him.” He pointed the gun to the empty car, and she saw his dark eyes go wide with fear.
She saw her opening then, as the man frantically searched around for Ric. She swung low as Ric came from behind, high. She heard the shot, felt the heat, but continued to kick out until she noticed when Ric finally had the man pinned to the pavement. He continued to hit the man until she could tell he was unconscious and Ric kicked the gun away.
She stood there, as if in slow motion and smiled down at Ric. She watched the blood slowly dripping down the left side of his face as he looked at her. She could smell his blood, how funny. She could see him screaming at her, but couldn’t hear him. Which was even stranger. Then the world tilted and went dark.
Lights flashe
d as she was wheeled below brighter lights. Ric was screaming at her again. What was he saying? She tried very hard to focus. Why was it important? She had to tell him something. She couldn’t remember what it was. She saw his eyes and focused on them. Why was he crying?
Ric watched as they wheeled Roberta through the double doors at Edgeview Hospital. The nurse had walked him into a different area so an emergency-room doctor could take a look at his shoulder and head. His left arm hung by his side, there was no doubt in his mind that it was dislocated. His knuckles were bloody from where he’d repeatedly hit the man who’d been holding Rob at gun point.
When he had him on the ground unconscious, he’d looked up and had seen the dark stain on her chest. Ric had jumped up and grabbed Rob just before she’d slid to the ground.