Killer Cupid (The Redemption Series: Book 1)
Page 12
Debbie
It was a few days later, and David was much improved. I stayed with him every minute I could. When he opened his eyes after his nap, he’d hold my hand and call me Sweetheart, and my heart would flutter every time. His voice was stronger, and the congestion was going away.
He was much less foggy. He noticed Cat’s engagement ring, and was thrilled when she told him she planned to marry Cisco. He told her Cisco loved her forever, and I thought that was so romantic.
But I almost fell off the edge of the bed when my parents came in to meet David.
His eyes widened, like he never would have believed they could be my parents. Mama and I were as tall as Daddy. Both my parents were heavy-set and much older looking than anyone would expect. Daddy’s thinning hair was white. Mama had graying dark hair conservatively pulled back from her face in an up-do. Everyone had always asked if I was adopted because I didn’t look anything like my parents.
“George Aldridge.” Daddy said as he shook David’s hand, and Mama said a tentative “Hello, dear,” from behind Daddy.
David tried to pull himself up in the bed, grimacing in pain. He had limited success. “I’m so pleased to meet you.” He managed to get the words out as he struggled to get up. We automatically reached for him to assist. “I’m okay, I’m okay.” He had to take a deep breath, and then he was silent for a few moments, mustering his energy.
My parents were at a loss for words, which was good because I knew if I held his hand quietly it would help him gather his strength.
“I am so grateful to have Debbie here with me,” he said with a sincerity that astounded me, and Daddy, too, I think. “I want you to know how much I appreciate you taking so much time.” He was beginning to exhaust himself. “Debbie told me you’ve been here for weeks. I can’t tell you how much that means to me.” He was quiet again.
“Yes, Yes.” Daddy looked like he popped out of a trance. “You just need to rest now, and we can talk more later.”
I think Daddy didn’t want to admit he was impressed with David.
***
When Dr. Earle came to examine David I had to leave the room. So I headed down the hall toward the deck to find Cat and Nita. General Pearson appeared with Jimmy, and I stopped them.
After the General’s brief chit chat, I told him the doctors agreed with me that David could use a sunny, cheerier room. They had the whole third floor to choose from. There must be an empty room that would fit the bill. The General looked surprised at my boldness. “You’ve got to understand General Pearson, David will feel much better, much faster, if he has a nice sunny room, painted in a healing color.”
“A healing color?” Pearson clearly didn’t want to understand. “Debbie, that sounds wonderful. If and when we repaint the hospital we’ll consider some more healing colors. Thank you for alerting me. In the meantime, maybe you could hang some of your paintings on the wall? I know David really liked that snow scene.”
“I’ll get it Sir,” Jimmy volunteered. And with Pearson’s nod he turned on his heal and disappeared down the hall.
Pearson tried to get by me.
“Well, what about a sunny room?”
He stopped. “I’ll look into it, Debbie. Thank you. Jimmy will get that painting to David’s room ASAP.” He left down the hall, and I went to the deck.
Mama was alone out there and summoned me before I could leave. I sat down and accepted some iced tea. I noticed Glori was on the cover of her magazine. Then I asked her about getting some of my paintings from home.
“Marion, this is incredible, you won’t believe this!” Daddy raced out to our table and barely noticed I was there.
“What is it George?”
“I tell you who Debbie should be marrying – that kid, Cisco. He’s a genius. He just doubled my money in two days!” Daddy was smiling ear to ear.
And I was thinking Cisco was even older than David. So much for this big age barrier. Plus I loved David and Cisco loved Cat.
“What?” Mama sounded confused.
“That’s right, Marion. He does currency trading. I gave him a little money to see what he could do with it – doubled in two days!”
“Really? Well, do you think he can do that all the time, dear?”
“I suppose that’s a little unrealistic, but this sure was a sweet deal.”
“Well George, I’m happy about that, dear. I think these people are really very nice. And even though they’re Europeans, they do seem well-to-do. Camellia told me her son Cisco has advanced degrees in math and economics. And they all went to that prestigious British university, you know. Did you hear back from Douggy? I’m sure he can help their boy Paulo. That would be nice.”
“I suppose we can at least return the favor by helping out the younger brother. And he seems to be quite talented. I’ve enjoyed listening to his guitar music. Anyway I do need to call Douggy back and make sure he listened to the CD we sent him.” Daddy rubbed his chin.
“Yes dear, that would be nice.” Mama smiled at their thoughtfulness. “Also, George, we need to speak with General Pearson. Debbie wants her paintings sent from home.”
“What—are we moving in here Marion?” Daddy was raising his voice.
“George, it’s a good sign she’s taking an interest in her art again. And I think we need to make things as normal as possible, under the circumstances.”
“Normal? I can’t imagine anything is ever going to be normal again!”
Glori
It was a Sunday afternoon when Alain came by with Raphael. Dottie and Bud had invited them to join us all for one of his barbeque extravaganzas. Cindy took Raphael by the hand and dragged him around the house and grounds to meet every last one of her family. By the time they arrived on the terrace, you’d think he’d be overcome with too many relatives. But the guy looked positively enthused and energized by all the chaos of kids and family. Go figure.
Alain and I had found a quiet spot in the calm before the party storm. I kept him entertained with all my latest success stories as a model looking for work as an actress. I had a few irons in the fire. There were just a couple of comments from the peanut gallery. Cin’s brother, Doug, had found the relative quiet of the terrace, and mostly ignored us listening to his music and playing with his phone. Cin introduced him to Raphael, as his cousin’s CD played.
Bud showed up wiping his hands on a towel.
“Dad, I’m really glad you reminded me about George’s CD.” Doug barely looked up from the phone.
“Oh good. I take it you found it?”
“Yeah it fell under the car seat, got buried under a bunch of junk mail and fast food wrappers. But I’ve got it on, and it’s unbelievable!”
Bud shook his head. “Is that good or bad?” He didn’t look too sure.
“It’s good!”
Bud listened closer. “Sounds great to me. Not the elevator music you told me to expect.” He gave a thumb’s up to Raphael.
“Who is the guy anyway? How’d George meet him?” Doug stared at his phone.
Cindy gave me a look, as her Dad shook his head, pointing to Raphael.
Bud raised his voice. “He’s at that military hospital with the Aldridges. George just called me for the second time this morning to tell me about some great new investment guy. The first time, of course, he wanted to find out if you listened to that tape. Or CD, or whatever it is.”
“Yeah.” Doug paid no attention to his Dad’s motioning. “So anyway Dad, how do I get hold of this guy Paulo Clemente?”
Eduardo
General Pearson and Colonel Johnson seemed reasonably pleased with the progress of the investigation and David’s recovery. Eduardo had told them a modified version of David’s story. Knowing his history of post traumatic stress, Pearson didn’t question David’s flashback episodes. Eduardo thought it best to delete his mention of suicide and second thoughts over his job. And there was no need to discuss Cat’s superpowers or debate the reality of God. Nothing good could come of that.
With this revelation, General Pearson decided to summon Eduardo, Jimmy and Alain to the room for a brief meeting. He leaned over David. “Do you know a Kendra Cole, also known as KC to her friends?”
David responded almost immediately. “She was a friend of Everett’s daughter, and I saw them out partying together. Other than that, I didn’t know her.”
“Hmm. Looks like someone’s trying to frame you for her murder. Her body was found in the water at the marina, right near your boat. She’d been shot, and cause of death was drowning.” Pearson shook his head. “Apparently she was also a friend of Glori Coulson, and Cindy Bainbridge. Dusseault delivered the news to them. Not a good scene. Any ideas who might want her dead?”
“No, Sir.”
“According to Glori, she dated Dr. Payne a couple of times and dumped him. He also has a boat at that marina.”
“Payne’s not your guy. He wouldn’t do that. He just liked the money and got in over his head.”
“We still haven’t caught up with Santoro yet. You think he’s involved?”
“It’s possible. And if he didn’t do it, he probably knows who did.”
Pearson nodded. “Okay. We’ll move on. You were on that boat, thinking for hours, but you weren’t depressed.”
David turned toward Eduardo with his sarcastic grin.
Yeah, he knows I got his back.
“You know Christmas isn’t exactly my favorite time of year,” he told Pearson.
“Well it’s a good thing you didn’t get depressed or anything.”
“I hate corrupt politicians. They aggravate me.” David stared into space.
“Oh, they aggravate you?” Pearson loved to mock David’s proper English. “You mean they piss you off?”
David rolled his eyes. “Yes. They piss me off.”
“Yeah!” Eduardo slammed his fist on the bedside table.
Pearson took a seat, and the others pulled up chairs. “I’ve wanted to discuss this with the four of you for a while now, but Agent Lambrecht just did not want to cooperate. And at the risk of having him nod off again, I’ll make this short and sweet. We’re re-vamping our training program. We all know you’re four of our best. You’ve all paid your dues. I want you involved in the training—overseeing the program. You may still be called upon to do some real work, but it’ll be ‘home for dinner’ kind of stuff. Nothing like the last three years. ” There were four nods.
Eduardo began to wonder if God cared about hopeless sinners. Cat had sure been trying to convince him. Maybe things would change for the better.
Pearson continued, “I knew you’d be happy about the chance to work together. And this will be a relief from the stuff you’ve been doing for so long. And, of course, for those of you who are interested in personal relationships at this point, well, there may even be a little time for that.” Pearson grinned.
“Perhaps the best news for you—we’ll be opening a training facility in Salzburg. That will happen in the next several months. Meanwhile, you’ll be working here. My plan is to get you going with this as soon as Dusseault and Hollinger get back. Now I know you guys are entitled to some time off…” He turned to Eduardo and David. “Please let me know your plans in the next day or so, so we can get everything squared away. Lambrecht, Dr. Earle tells me they’ll need you here another couple of weeks or so, and then some time to rest up and rehab to get you going again. Just get me the general time frame you’ll be off.”
As David remained alert, and the men barraged him with questions, the General outlined his plans for the new program.
Chapter Eleven
Glori
My insides felt like mush by the time Alain got out the news that Kendra was dead. Cin burst into tears, and her dad took both of us in his arms to try and comfort us. It was a tough job. Kendra was a friend, but not a best friend. I think a lot of the grief was fear over the same thing that almost happened to us – or could still happen to us.
Who’d want Kendra dead? Who’d want us dead and why? I didn’t really wrestle with those questions since my interview with Jimmy Hollinger. And that went so well.
I decided to re-apply my smeared eye makeup and keep my date with Alain. Of course we went to the beach. Cin wasn’t surprised, and when I got home she was having breakfast by the pool.
“So did you have a good time with Alain last night?”
“Yeah, it was great. Actually, we did talk a little bit more.” We laughed. “We’ve been staying at that same hotel on the beach most every night. Last night we spent a lot of time just cuddling on the balcony of our room. It overlooks the ocean – really beautiful place. I’ve had the most unbelievable time with him. The bad news is it’s almost over. I’m trying not to be sad, Cin, at least until he’s gone.”
My lip trembled, and I couldn’t stop it. “So, anyway, he’s picking me up about five today.” I put my hand over my mouth to stop that weird trembling.
“Well, when you guys talked, didn’t he say anything about where he’s going next, or when he might get back this way again? He must have said something, given you some idea.” Cindy tried to set a more positive tone.
“No, Cin, no ideas about anything like that. Any time I bring it up, even the least little thing about seeing each other again, I might as well talk to the wall. He’s definitely not thinking about seeing me again. And I’ve just got to face it. Okay?” I sniffed away whatever tears were threatening.
“Well, what do you two talk about?”
“As far as personal stuff? Well, you know I can go on about myself for hours!” Cin had a good laugh. I used the time to blot my eyes.
Then I went on. “When he talks, anything he tells me about himself is mostly general stuff, like what he likes and dislikes. And he told me a lot of things from his childhood. We both had parents that got divorced right around the time we were born. So that’s kind of weird. His mother sounds alright enough, but she didn’t pay much attention to him. He grew up on the streets in Paris. And she got remarried when he was like seven or eight years old. And his stepfather really hated him. So he was out of the house when he was like thirteen or so.”
“Oh that’s too bad.” Cindy always sympathized with poor or troubled kids. “It does kind of sound like your mother. I mean, Jenny didn’t hate you, but she sure didn’t take care of you like she should have.”
“Yeah, it’s a good thing I had your parents to bring me up right.” I took every opportunity to tease the Bainbridges about taking me in. But the truth was I’d be a real basket case if they didn’t take an interest in me and treat me like family. I’d lived with them for over ten years, and my mother never mentioned the fact that I wasn’t even living at her place. I wouldn’t have graduated high school if Cin and her parents hadn’t pushed me to go to school. Thanks to them, I had a degree.
I wondered what it’d be like to be all alone. “Poor Alain didn’t have anybody to turn to, I guess. And as far as finances, well I guess he was real poor. At least my Dad always sends money, even if I hardly ever see him. He never knew his father.”
Nita
As David was becoming more alert and recovering well, Dr. Earle decided he could be moved to a more spacious room. General Pearson and the rest of us were surprised to find Debbie uncharacteristically vocal in her demands for David, taking on the role of advocate. Even David was amused.
“David needs a room with a window. He wants to make sure to have some fresh air and sunshine coming in.”
As he settled into his new bed, he asked her with a grin, “So when do I see my new paintings on the wall?”
Eduardo came through the door with a pile of artwork. �
�Wow, talk about a room with a view – nice big window. You can waltz in here!” Eduardo was in a good mood.
“That’s next week.” David grinned.
Eduardo looked unsure what to do with the top painting, and I took it, immediately knowing what it was. David gave me an expectant look. He knew what it was too. I handed it to him as Eduardo frowned. David focused on it intently, and Debbie leaned over to see.
David looked a bit confused. “It’s the painting, but I never noticed this rainbow before. That’s strange.”
I leaned over from the other side of the bed. “It’s a very pale rainbow. Perhaps it’s just the lighting that makes it more noticeable.”
“Hmm.” David seemed drawn into it.
Debbie shrugged. “Sometimes I like to paint rainbows. I can take it out if you don’t like that part, David.”
His eyes watered. “No Sweetheart. You mustn’t touch it. It’s perfect. It’s perfect just the way it is.”
Eduardo leaned over me to take a look, and I heard him squelch a painful moan. I turned to see he’d bitten his lip so hard it bled.
***
I found Eduardo with a cup of coffee, by himself in a conference room. He was almost shaking, and his face showed he’d been crying. He sniffed away whatever tears were left.
“What’s going on Eduardo? Why is that rainbow so upsetting?” I took the seat beside him.
“Ah.” He wiped his face with his sleeve, and after awhile understood I needed an answer. “That rainbow wasn’t there before. I don’t care what Debbie said.”
“Why do we care whether it was or wasn’t?”
“That’s the last thing we saw. A big friggin’ rainbow in the sky. Just before we were hit. What’s goin’ on?”
I noticed Cat in the doorway. “It’s God’s promise – His Covenant. God is faithful, Eduardo.” She came around the table, kissed his cheek as she sat down beside him, and rested her head on his arm.