Killer Cupid (The Redemption Series: Book 1)

by Maeve Christopher

  “So let’s put on a little dinner music.” Eduardo put his brother’s CD in the player.

  George Aldridge stroked his chin in contemplation. “Do you have a recording contract, son?”

  Paulo shook his head.

  His father replied, “No George, he’s only sixteen years old.”

  Paulo looked uncomfortable. Eduardo rubbed his back. “You know, I’m so proud of you.”

  It was nice to see Eduardo making an effort. But I think Paulo was still a bit too much in awe of him.

  “Well, Francisco, Camellia, I think your son should meet our friend Douggy. He’s a music producer here in Los Angeles, and he works with all the very biggest stars.” George looked pleased with himself.

  Marion nodded. “Yes, yes, he’s the son of our best friends. And you met Cindy today. She’s Doug’s sister. You’ve probably heard of Bud Bainbridge. He’s an actor, world famous, really. He’s won so many awards, even a couple of Oscars.”

  George spoke with an air of importance. “Well, I’ll give him a call for you, and send along this CD of yours. Maybe he’ll have you come in to his studio.”

  Eduardo

  Nita got involved in a long conversation with Dr. Earle after dinner, and Eduardo needed some air. He found his older brother Cisco out on the deck, and they went for a walk along a brightly lit path.

  “Why is David involved with this girl, Debbie?” Cisco had to start.

  Eduardo tried to brush it off. “Involved? David’s screwed thousands of women in his short happy career. And he’s never been involved with one of them.”

  “Well, it seems he’s involved now. That story about how she met him in the hospital – she’s wearing Maria’s ring – and with those parents of hers. Not to mention she’s the picture of innocence and virtue.”

  Eduardo rubbed his weary face. “Yeah, the picture of innocence and virtue with the picture of experience – way too much experience. I guess they say opposites attract.”

  Cisco shook his head. “Somehow the word ‘opposites’ seems so… inadequate. I can’t imagine. He’s slept with her?”

  Eduardo smirked. “Yeah, well, he hasn’t. But he’s got it in his head he’s in love with her. Don’t ask me why. All I know is David never smiles. Even when we were kids, you know he never smiled. If something’s real funny, everyone’s rollin’ on the floor, doubled over laughing, then he just grins. So we’re traipsing through the jungles of hell, and he’s all smiles thinkin’ about her. She’s beautiful, she’s sweet, she’s an angel. I sure as hell can’t figure it.”

  Eduardo felt vaguely remorseful for blabbing like this. Deep inside, he’d hoped David could finally find some peace with a good woman. Maybe Debbie would grow up to be that woman.

  “Well yes, she’s sweet and beautiful, and she may be an angel, and maybe he is in love with her. But that’s an expensive ring. Never mind expensive, it’s an irreplaceable family heirloom. And he puts it on her finger after knowing her a total of a few hours?”

  “You know how impulsive he can be. I didn’t understand it any more than you did. When I asked him about it, he told me he knew he was leaving California. So he got the ring out of safekeeping to take it with him. Why, I don’t know. Personally, I think he was inventing an excuse, cuz he could see I thought he was insane. So anyway, he decides the day he’s leavin’ he’s in love with her, and gives her the ring.”

  Cisco opened his mouth to speak. Eduardo interrupted, “Who do I look like, Sigmund Freud?”

  ***

  When they returned to the hospital, they settled into comfortable chairs on the deck. The evening was cool, but comfortable, and they talked at length for the first time in years.

  “You know, Eduardo, Paulo really doesn’t know you. You’ve been gone three solid years, and the five years before that—with university and your training and everything—you were away from home most of the time. He was eight years old when you left. It’s going to take time to get to know each other. And Paulo—he’s got you and David on a pedestal. He thinks the world of you both. But he’s a little scared of you too.”

  “Yeah, I know I need to make more of an effort.”

  “He’s just a kid, Eduardo, and an immature one at that. He’s in his own little world most of the time. And Mama doesn’t help. She really babies him. He may be six feet tall, but he’s still a shy little boy.”

  “Yeah.” Eduardo knew Cisco was right. “I’ll find a way to spend more time with him, be the big brother he deserves.

  Eduardo contemplated his beer bottle. “So… you and Cat! I’m happy you two are together. I know she’s always loved you. I mean, talk about being on a pedestal. In her eyes, you and David were like gods. So I guess it really shouldn’t be any surprise you finally got together. And I wish you all the very best, you know that.” He raised his beer in a toast.

  Cisco raised his bottle. “Thanks.”

  “So I read about you in The Times,” Eduardo said.

  “You read the London newspapers? I thought you were a drug dealer.”

  “Yeah, a New York City drug dealer. I like to stay informed.”

  “Ha, I thought you were out here.”

  “No, David got the nice weather. I had the East coast. Which was good, actually. A couple of times I could sneak off to meet Nita in London.”

  “You’re kidding.” Cisco looked shocked. “I never knew –”

  “No one could know. I told her she couldn’t breathe a word to anyone, not anyone. I’d have been in real deep shit if she let on.”

  Cisco was speechless.

  “So anyway, the papers always had you dating some Lady this or that, and last I heard you were about to tie the knot with sweet Lady Jennifer Somebody. So what happened?”

  Cisco recovered his voice. “Well, I just couldn’t go through with it. I realized I didn’t love her. I loved Cat. I’ve always loved Cat. As long as I can remember. So I summoned up my courage, and I planned to take her out for dinner and talk to her.”

  “So what happened?” He pictured a slapstick scene. Cat and his big brother, finally getting together.

  Cisco laughed. “Well we had a nice dinner, then ended up at the theater, then ended up at her door, without ever talking about it. But I think the evening had more of a date feeling about it, than our usual…”

  “Yeah?”

  “I just kissed her – didn’t know what else to do at that point.”

  Eduardo laughed.

  “It was pretty awkward.”

  “Yeah, well Nita told me you took up ice skating, just to get close to her.”

  “Oh, she did, did she?”

  “Yup. How cute.” He slugged his beer.

  Cisco shook his head. “Well, she was on the streets of London every morning at five, just to get to these skating lessons, get some exercise, whatever. Anyway, she really liked it, and she had this coach that trains Olympic athletes. She wasn’t going to quit, and I was worried about her.”

  “Oh, you were worried about her! Ha Ha Ha!”

  “Well, it was a good way for me to spend time with her, and make sure she was safe. It was good exercise. And it was fun most of the time.”

  “Most of the time?”

  “That coach is a real witch!”

  He snorted the beer. “Maybe she thought you were interested in learnin’ to skate.”

  Chapter Nine

  Glori

  Agent Alain Dusseault was almost as good at flirting as I was. But I couldn’t be satisfied with just flirting, and being back at the Bainbridge mansion with the whole fam-damily wasn’t my idea of a good time. Worst of all, Alain and my buddy, Agent Jimmy, were only there to get everyone and everything organized so the security force would actually keep us all alive. I couldn’t even try and sneak him into my room after Cindy’s mom made some comment about me “adopting” a bodyguard.

  Agent Jimmy – who gave me a sneering grin when I called him that – was giving Cindy’s dad an earful about policies and procedures, and how
to avoid ending up missing or dead like our friend Kendra. It was painfully obvious I had to do something or maybe lose Alain forever.

  Maybe he could see the heat rising from my brain – he invited me to go to the beach. And it was perfect, since he was already one of the best bodyguards ever. Even Dottie gave her nod of approval with a warning look.

  Cindy followed us to the front door, and since she knew exactly what was on my mind, she opened the door for us and said, “We won’t wait up.”

  It was a gorgeous evening, and we walked the boardwalk maybe three minutes before checking into the hotel. We burst through the door tearing at each other’s clothes. He kicked it closed, and positioned me on the bed in one swift movement. The guy was expert at separating a woman from her clothes in no time flat.

  ***

  The next morning I knocked and entered tentatively through Cindy’s bedroom door. She was still in bed. “Glori, is that you?”

  “Cin are you awake?” I jumped on the bed.

  “I am now. So how was he? Did you have a good time?” Cindy sat up to look at me in the dim light, “I must say you have that – look.”

  I burst out laughing. “Talk about sex from the chandeliers! He’s fantastic! We went at it all night. We had this great hotel room overlooking the ocean – got one look at it when I got dressed to leave.”

  Cindy shook her head. “Glori, you’re unbelievable. Are you going to see him again? Silly question, huh? He’ll be calling you tonight.”

  “He already asked me. He should be able to get away around four today.”

  “So is this just like an extended one night stand, or what’s the deal? I mean is there real potential here?” Cin was always interested in serious relationships. She had marriage on her mind.

  “If you had the time I had last night, you wouldn’t be wonderin’ about potential.”

  Cindy laughed. “Well, in fact, I probably would.”

  “Well,” I began peeling off what remained of my clothes. “I’m on his schedule under ‘recreation.’ And he needs recreation every single day. Probably for hours.” I headed to the bathroom that connected my room and Cin’s, and turned on the shower.

  Cindy appeared in the door. “How do you do it, Glori? How can you be so much like a man?”

  Nita

  It was quite late, but Debbie and David’s parents remained by his bedside keeping vigil, as I reviewed the records of the day. By that point I was bleary-eyed. Eduardo and Cisco came in to check on him, and as we began to discuss the events of the day, David called out in German, obviously having a nightmare. He was going on about “where is the painting?”

  Eduardo rose and reached him as his mother and Debbie did, all trying to comfort and/or wake him, and he quieted a bit.

  “What painting is he talking about?” Maria asked in English, probably thinking she’d get a quicker answer from Debbie than Eduardo.

  “Ah, it’s one of Debbie’s paintings, Auntie – a winter campground scene he liked,” Eduardo said.

  “It was the day before.” David spoke in English, and his eyes were open, but he was a million miles away.

  Irritation on Eduardo’s face instantly turned to a world of pain, and he heaved a noisy breath. “It’s okay, David. It’s okay.”

  “It’s the day before.” He sounded so incredulous, like he was experiencing the day before whatever it was.

  It was obviously something only Eduardo and David understood. The rest of us crowded around the bed in confusion. David’s eyes closed, and he slipped into sleep again, leaving Eduardo to explain—if it was not some classified nightmare they’d both endured.

  I looked at him expectantly. “What is he talking about?”

  He rubbed watery eyes. “Ah…” He looked around and seemed to understand he wouldn’t get away without an explanation, despite how emotionally this had hit him. “It was the day before the plane crash. That’s what he meant – the day before. We went there…we went hiking there the day before…” Eduardo grabbed a paper towel and left the room.

  David’s father Frederick crumpled into Cisco’s arms. I tried to console Maria. And Debbie whispered to David, “Plane crash?”

  ***

  It was probably an hour or more before tears were somewhat under control, and David’s parents agreed to retire for the night. Cisco and I escorted them to their room, and then he went to check on Cat, while I went to encourage Debbie to get some sleep too. I wasn’t looking forward to explaining what all that was about, but I knew she wouldn’t rest until she understood just how her painting had impacted David.

  Cisco’s call saved me from all that. I ran to Cat’s room and found him by her bed, his face white with fright. “She won’t wake up! Not this again.”

  I leaned over and checked her vital signs. “It is this again. Don’t worry, Cisco, we’ve both seen this a hundred times. You need some rest. I’ll stay here with her tonight, okay?” He didn’t seem convinced. “Cisco, she’ll be fine.”

  I elbowed him into the hall, and shut the door. I collapsed into a chair and realized Debbie really needed me more. But I was too tired, and I fell asleep in the chair.

  ***

  “Nita?” I jumped. It was Debbie.

  “Are you okay, Debbie?” I straightened up in the chair. The light from the hall lit her face, and I saw tears glinting in her eyes.

  “Yes. I was trying to shake Cat awake, and I think she’s dead.”

  Rising from the chair I flipped on the light and checked her vital signs again. “It’s okay, honey.” I hugged her. “This has happened before. No one knows why—she just can’t wake up. But she always does eventually. Sometimes she’s unconscious for a few minutes, sometimes hours. We can’t find anything wrong. It usually happens when she’s stressed.”

  “Oh.” Debbie rubbed her eyes, but it served only to unleash more tears.

  “I know – one thing after another!” I found a second chair and settled Debbie into it with a box of tissues.

  “Cisco gets all bent out of shape over it though. I guess he’s afraid one of these times she won’t wake up. But Frederick and Maria have had her to all kinds of doctors. Like I said, they don’t find any reason. But it’s been going on since she was five or six years old.”

  “What’s really going on, Nita?” Debbie mopped her face with a wet tissue. “What plane crash? What happened in my painting the day before? Is David having nightmares he can’t wake up from? And is Cat in a coma too? All because of my painting?” She began to sob.

  I reached down inside myself to summon the strength to cope. I patted her hand, and took a breath. “Debbie, I think David’s recovery is going in the right direction, and that’s the main thing. He’s put himself in a tough situation with this job. We really don’t know the half of what he’s been through. But he’s strong, and tough, and resilient, and I think he’ll work his way out of this—whatever is bothering him. Cat, too. I know it’s just a matter of waiting this out. She’ll be fine. As to your painting, I can’t wait to see it. It sounds like it resembles a place where we played as children. And David somehow got the memory of the day before the plane crash by seeing your painting.”

  I felt my heart start to pound—I really didn’t want to get into all this now. But how could I summarize the worst day of our families’ lives in a few trite sentences? I went into the bathroom and came out with two plastic cups of water – the best I could do. Debbie took a cup, and I watched the water swirl in her shaky hands. Mine weren’t much steadier. I took a seat and sipped water, the sadness enveloping me.

  “What – what happened?”

  “Debbie, I believe you’re going to be a part of David’s life. And I think it’s important for you to know what happened that day. It changed all of us forever. David’s older brother was his idol. I’m sure he still is.”

  “Older brother?”

  “His name was Paul Daniel, and we called him Danny. He was a few months older than Cisco. Being the oldest, he led the boys into any and a
ll mischief. They had lots of fun, lots of adventures together. Danny was ten and David was seven, and it was Christmastime. Cat had just turned five, and she had a baby brother—he was just an infant.

  Cat’s parents were living near Salzburg – her mother was Maria’s sister. She had married an Irishman, Jack Connors, so they spent some time in Salzburg and some time in Ireland. But the sisters were very close, so they ended up buying land near the Lambrechts. Anyway, most of the time, we would all be in Austria for the Christmas holiday. But for some reason, they decided that everyone would spend the holiday in Ireland. My father and Eduardo’s had to finish up some project they were working on, so we wouldn’t be able to join them until Christmas Eve. But David and Cat’s families left on December twentieth.”

  It had been a long time since I let myself relive that day, and the emotion thickened my voice and clouded my eyes. “Well, it wasn’t the best weather, but they got on the plane anyway. I guess there was ice… Anyway it crashed on takeoff.”

  Debbie leaned over and fell into my chair hugging me. I could barely speak, but I wanted this over. “Cat lost both her parents and her baby brother. Danny was killed. Frederick and Maria got thrown completely out of the plane. He ended up with badly broken legs and internal injuries. Maria was pretty much alright physically – lots of cuts, bumps and bruises.” I stopped to blow my nose.

  “And David? And Cat?” Debbie whispered.

  “They were both still strapped in their seats. David was okay, but Cat was badly injured. I guess he had to pry away some debris to get to her, and undo her seatbelt. Then he tried to get her out of there. But she didn’t want to go with him. Apparently, she was seeing a vision of her parents holding her brother and Danny, and waving to her. So she was struggling to go back with them. I suppose you’d call it some sort of near-death experience. Fortunately, David managed to drag her out of there. He laid her down on the pavement as the rescue workers came. They tried to grab him, but he ran back to the plane to find his brother. He couldn’t get to him because, at that point, the whole thing was in flames. The rescuers had to restrain him. He was hysterical, screaming for Danny.”