Fame, Fortune & Secrets (The Redemption Series: Book 2)

by Maeve Christopher

  I began to shake.

  Cat shrieked and dropped the phone on the table. We could hear loud crashing noises on the other end of the phone.

  Cisco grabbed Cat and his phone. “Sir Edward? Sir Edward? Are you all right? What happened?”

  Eventually Sir Edward responded, and Cisco repeated to us what he said. There was a huge blast. A car parked on the street in front of his home exploded as Raphael’s father, Roberto, and his bodyguards headed back up the stairs to answer Cat’s phone call on Sir Edward’s phone. They were all hit by flying debris and one of the bodyguards was seriously wounded. Roberto was only slightly injured, and badly shaken.

  David was on his phone, speaking to someone in Spanish. He told Cisco, “Tell Sir Edward that help is on the way.”

  Eduardo was on his phone calling General Pearson.

  Raphael gripped Cindy. He looked up at his grandfather with wet eyes. “I wish Papa would listen. Why does he have to be so stubborn?”

  Papa Roberto stood there shaking his head.

  I remembered that weird painting, as I watched Cat’s shaky hands wiping her eyes. At the time I had no idea why I’d paint a staircase and the façade of a lovely mansion with a weird car on the street—its muffler fuming. It was a car bomb.

  Chapter Fourteen

  David

  General Pearson pounded the back of Eduardo’s chair as he blew into the conference room. “It’s a damn miracle your uncle survived that car bomb. Too bad the bodyguard didn’t make it.”

  “Yes, Sir.” Eduardo exchanged knowing glances with his three colleagues at the table.

  Pearson dropped into his chair. “I guess Colonel Johnson has decided to take his terror global. I don’t get it. Why is he so determined to destroy you and your families? It doesn’t make sense.”

  ***

  He woke up as Debbie crawled out of bed. “Sweetheart?” Her feet hit the floor, and she disappeared. “Debbie!” He jumped out of bed and picked her up.

  “David.” She was dazed.

  He laid her on the bed and pulled on his clothes. “I’m getting you a doctor. Stay right here.” As he rushed into the hall he saw Nita and Eduardo heading to breakfast. “Nita, Debbie’s fainted.” They followed him into the room.

  “I’m fine, David,” she said as they circled the bed.

  Nita did a quick check. “Debbie, I’m going to take a closer look. Let’s get you to the exam room.”

  David carried her down the hall and put her on the exam table. “David, we’re going home tomorrow. I’m fine.”

  “I know, Sweetheart.” Nausea rose up, and he stroked her hair, as much to calm himself as her.

  Nita motioned him out of the room. “She’s okay. I’m just going to take a look.”

  “It was just a fainting spell, David,” Debbie said.

  Eduardo grabbed his arm. “Let’s go get some coffee or something.”

  Debbie

  “Cat told me you’ve had a couple of fainting spells and queasiness. You haven’t told David, have you?” Nita took out her blood pressure cuff, and I gave her a sheepish look in reply.

  “I didn’t want to worry him, Nita. There’s so much going on. I don’t want to stress him any more than he already is.”

  The machine said my blood pressure was okay—maybe just a little low. She took out her stethoscope and listened to my heart and lungs. Then she drew blood and asked for a urine sample. “I’m going to do a quick pregnancy test.”

  It was positive.

  We hugged and cried tears of joy. Then she took me by the shoulders and spoke in her doctor’s voice. “Debbie, this is wonderful news for you and David—and the entire family. But it means you’ve got to take extra good care of yourself now. You have no choice. You must eat, and you must eat well. We’ll see to it you have an excellent food plan, but you need to do your part and make sure you stick to it. No one can do it for you. I know you want this child to be healthy—to be strong. In order to have a healthy baby, you have to lead a healthy lifestyle. Plenty of good nutrition and adequate rest. What do you say?”

  More tears of joy burst out of me. “I can do it. I can.” Grammy’s face filled my mind, and I thanked God for this wonderful news. I remembered that day in the Bainbridge garden when David was arguing with Cat. He wasn’t happy with her prediction that we’d have six babies. But then he told her he’d trust God. I hoped he’d be as happy as I was to hear this news.

  David

  Instead of sitting around worrying, David decided to pack up some of Debbie’s paintings and art supplies for the trip home to Salzburg. He arrived in the room with boxes and tape.

  A small oil painting caught his attention. Three toddlers in blue footed pajamas assembled on the window seat in their home. He and Debbie had sat in that same seat and discussed Cat’s baby prediction while there on their honeymoon in June. The toddlers looked out the window, contemplating a starry night. This painting couldn’t be real.

  ***

  “David!”

  He opened his eyes and focused on Cat.

  “You passed out. Are you okay?”

  “She’s pregnant?”

  “Whoa. He must’ve really cracked his head.” Eduardo appeared with a wet towel and rubbed his face.

  David grabbed for the towel and tossed it. “She’s pregnant?”

  “Here pal, I’ll help you up.” Eduardo hoisted him onto a chair.

  David focused on Cat’s knowing eyes. “She’s pregnant?”

  Nita and Debbie appeared in the doorway.

  “She’s pregnant,” Nita said.

  Debbie ran to him and landed in his arms, her smile never sunnier.

  “You’re kidding.” Eduardo picked up the painting from the floor. “Whoa!”

  Glori

  I’d had it with trying to learn German, and we were a day away from getting on a plane to a whole new life. “I’ve made an executive decision, Cin.” I got up from my lounge chair, and pushed my sunglasses up on my head.

  “What’s that?” Cindy looked up from her workbook, her headset still wrapped around her neck.

  “I’m going to have Austria switch to English. It’s so simple I can’t believe I didn’t think of it a long time ago.”

  Cindy burst out laughing.

  “Heck! It’s such a tiny little country—what would it matter? I think they mostly all speak English already, anyhow. Why should they keep going along with the Germans? What did they ever do for them anyway? I say they should follow us.”

  She quashed her laughter with a gulp of lemon water. “Well that does sound like one of your schemes, and a very simple thing to do, as you were saying.”

  “Jawohl! Then my only problem will be fixing the French.” Cin resumed her laughing fit, and I reconsidered. “Although—I really do love it when Alain makes love to me in French. Maybe we should keep the French.”

  By now Cindy was doubled over. She never even noticed Jimmy Hollinger sneaking up behind me. I jumped a mile.

  “I hate to interrupt your plans for Europe, Glori,” he said.

  I belted him on the arm as hard as I could. I don’t think he even noticed.

  “Cat wants the two of you to join everyone in the conference room.”

  “What’s goin’ on?” I started to worry. It seemed like trouble was non-stop now.

  He looked exasperated. “I’m just supposed to get you there.”

  “A surprise party at 10:00 AM? Cool.”

  “Right.” He turned on his heel, and we followed him.

  ***

  Most everyone was jammed into that room, with the notable exception of George and Marion Aldridge. When Cin and Jimmy and I tried to pile through the door, Eduardo demanded tickets, and Jimmy just shook his head.

  Alain arrived and drew me in a hug. “What’s going on?”

  David had Debbie in his arms, lecturing her in the far corner. I had no idea what he was saying, but Nita and Cat looked pretty amused.

  Eduardo let out a loud whistle to silence
the room. “Okay, David, time for the news conference.”

  David had a bemused look on his face, and Debbie beamed up at him with adoration.

  “Tell them, Sweetheart,” David said.

  Debbie put on her shy face. “Oh, no, you tell them, David.”

  I heard a groan from Eduardo. “Hey! You tell them now, or I will.”

  David looked at his wife with awe. “We just found out we’re having a baby.”

  “What?” George’s voice bellowed from the doorway.

  David

  She tried to climb out of bed without disturbing him. He grabbed her as her feet hit the floor. “What’s wrong, Sweetheart?”

  “Oh, David! It’s time to go soon. I need time to get ready.” She attempted to slip from his arms.

  He pulled her back onto the bed. “Debbie, we have two hours before we need to get up. Come, let’s get some rest. It’s two in the morning.”

  She tried to jump out of bed again. “I just have to go to the bathroom.”

  He held her as they hit the floor and headed to the bathroom. “Let me help you. I don’t want you fainting on the floor again.”

  “I’m fine, David. I can’t wait to get home.”

  Groggy as he was, he had to laugh at her excitement.

  Glori

  We all boarded a massive plane with General Pearson and his wife, and a bunch of other people all headed for work at their new training facility near Salzburg, Austria. As planes go, it was pretty comfortable. General Pearson even had his own office on board.

  It was around lunch time when we landed at a base near Bangor, Maine. Everybody headed down the stairs into 59 degree sunshine.

  I wrapped my jacket around me and complained to Alain. “It’s only gonna get worse, isn’t it?”

  He tightened his grip around my shoulder. “What’s going to get worse?”

  “The weather, darlin’. My teeth are chattering already.”

  He only laughed at me, and picked up the pace. I had to jog in my heels to keep up with him. I guess that was supposed to warm me up. We entered a bland-looking building, but the smell of food was enticing. The General announced luncheon was served.

  I immediately noticed an attractive woman in fatigues, talking with some other military people. She had bags with her, and I figured she was another addition to our flight to Austria.

  General Pearson introduced her to us. “Everyone, this is Captain Pam Baxter. Pam will be joining us on our flight. She’s an experienced pilot and just back from Afghanistan. You’ve done—three tours—is it?”

  “Yes, Sir.” Pam smiled, and everyone shook her hand.

  I watched her chatting with Alain. She seemed very professional, but I’ve got to admit I was a tad jealous.

  Cin could probably see it on my face. “Mrs. Pearson was telling me she did all kinds of heroic things in Afghanistan. I guess she can fly any type of plane. Pretty impressive.”

  “Yeah.” I watched Mr. Cookie barge in front of Alain to interrupt their conversation and introduce himself. Cin and I laughed, and headed to the lunch room.

  I heard Pearson call out to his men. “I need Cooke, Hollinger, Lambrecht, Dusseault, and Clemente on the deck in five minutes.”

  David

  The men stood on the deck waiting for Pearson, taking in a view of the scenic northern Maine woods. An approaching helicopter caught their attention. Tony Cooke observed with his binoculars. A lone figure leaned out the door and leapt to the ground as it touched down. Tony followed with rapt attention. “My, my, my…” His naughty voice prompted Jimmy to grab the binoculars from him.

  “She is fine,” Jimmy drawled. He handed the binoculars to Alain.

  “Hmm. Careful, Hollinger, I hear she likes it rough.” Alain smirked, and placed the binoculars into Eduardo’s waiting hand.

  “Noooo!”

  David didn’t need the binoculars. By this point the woman was close enough to recognize that familiar gait, and the panic in Eduardo’s voice confirmed his impression.

  He was back at the Ross Hotel remembering Cat’s “consequences to sin” speech. He’d committed most of the seven deadly sins. Today he’d apparently be dealing with the consequences of lust. Again. Trust God, she’d told him. How could he do that?

  Pearson breezed by his men to meet her at the top of the stairs, shook her hand, and then embraced her in a fatherly hug. He encircled her shoulder and guided her over to them. “Agent Gwen Munroe will be joining us in Salzburg for a time. Gwen, I know you’ve met Dusseault, Clemente and Lambrecht. This is Agent Jimmy Hollinger, and our famed pilot, Captain Tony Cooke.”

  Everyone shook hands, though Pearson whisked her away from David, a protective frown on his face. The gesture was not lost on either one.

  “Did you have a good vacation, Gwen?” Pearson asked.

  “Yes, General, I did. It’s been years since I’ve been home to New Hampshire.”

  “The climate is rather like Salzburg, I understand,” Pearson said.

  “That’s right, Sir.” She turned and smiled at David. “Live free and die.”

  Pearson arched a brow. “Something like that, Agent Munroe.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Glori

  Cindy always joked that General Pearson could use me in his secret agent business. I was, after all, incredible at eavesdropping. And information gathering was a lot like gossip—which I loved. And I was getting better at keeping secrets, though that was not my forte.

  I did have a jealous streak that could get in the way, but that was probably not such a bad thing under the circumstances. So when Cindy helped Debbie to the restroom after lunch, I decided to tag along. I’d noticed Captain Pam heading through the door.

  Our attention was diverted as we saw General Pearson and our heroes returning from their meeting with a woman in fatigues—not a mere woman—a goddess. It should have been illegal to look that good in fatigues.

  David rushed ahead when he saw us and took Debbie in his arms. As he quizzed her and Cindy about what and how much she ate, and how she was feeling, I was watching Agent Goddess watch him. Hmm.

  Finally, he let Cindy take his wife into the restroom, and I noticed Debbie noticed Agent Goddess noticing her husband.

  Captain Pam was washing up in front of the mirror and said hello with a genuine smile. Between that and her crow’s feet, I decided I liked her.

  “I didn’t know there were so many women in the secret agent business,” I said.

  She looked a little confused. “More and more, I guess.”

  I figured she hadn’t met Agent Goddess yet.

  ***

  By the time we all piled out of the ladies’ room, Agent Goddess was conversing with the General, his men, and Captain Pam. Debbie rushed into David’s arms—with good reason. It was obvious Agent Goddess had her eye firmly on David.

  Pearson introduced her to us as Agent Gwen Munroe. I could see only a hint of fire in her gray eyes as he told her Debbie was David’s wife. It looked like Debbie was with me on this—Agent Gwen couldn’t be trusted as far as you could throw her.

  ***

  I’m not the world’s best airline passenger. Every time those doors close, I’m convinced we’re going to crash. A couple of pina coladas normally do the trick.

  Since Captain Pam had us calmly cruising over the Atlantic, and Alain was passed out in the aisle seat beside me, I decided to make my move. As I stood up from my window seat, Agent Gwen sashayed down the aisle, never slowing her pace until she almost crashed into Tony Cooke.

  “Be still my heart,” Tony said breathlessly.

  “I can arrange that.” Gwen stared him down.

  A chuckle rose from the men who’d been appreciating her backside—Raphael, Eduardo and David. Fortunately for Raphael and Eduardo, Cindy and Nita were sleeping. Debbie was snuggled to David’s right side, taking the whole thing in.

  Gwen pressed through Tony and strutted away. Tony headed toward us. He leaned over as he approached David. “Well, Agen
t Cupid—”

  Eduardo slyly extended his foot into the aisle and Tony went down. David grabbed him before he fell, an obvious warning look on his face. Tony shut up, cast a glance at Debbie, and continued on his way.

  Yeah, there was something going on all right.

  Debbie nestled closer to David, and they started making out.

  I crept over Alain, but his eyes half opened. “I just need to take a little walk, darlin’—I’ll be right back.” He shifted out of my way and closed his eyes. I wondered why Agent Gwen hadn’t cast the spell over him that she had on the others. There were two possibilities here. One—Alain was even sneakier than the others. Or two—he was totally in love with me.

  David

  Just as Debbie finally fell asleep, Pearson’s secretary arrived to summon David to the General’s office. He settled his wife on a pillow and tucked the blanket around her, then headed off. What now?

  As he came through the door, Pearson looked up from his reading. David stood in front of the desk.

  “I’ll make this short and sweet, Lambrecht.” Irritation was growing. “Having known you for quite some time now, I’m well aware of your inability to keep it in your pants. You and Gwen have quite a past. And I realize today, she’s as much to blame for the mess you made as you were. We can’t keep flying halfway around the world to avoid more scandal. We’re running out of world. Do you see where I’m going with this, Agent Lambrecht?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Obviously, you’re happily married now with a child on the way. I know I don’t need to tell you the past is to stay in the past. However—I still tremble at the thought of the two of you on the same continent together. But she’s needed in Salzburg now. Hopefully her stay there will be short. In the meanwhile, if I even hear a whisper of anything going on between you that is not completely work-related—there’ll be hell to pay. Do you understand me?”