by Iris Bolling
“Kennedy,” AnnieMarie walked over to her. She reached inside her purse and pulled out her note. She kissed it then held it out to her. “Will you give this to Cainan for me? I think it is best for me to leave. The last thing I want is to be a distraction for him.”
“Please tell me you are not leaving because of what I told you about Pauley.”
“No,” AnnieMarie smiled. “It is clear Cainan understands how to handle this situation, better than I do. I’m going to trust him. And don’t worry. There is no way I’m going to let that heifer ruin the rest of our lives.”
Kennedy took the note. “I will make certain he receives this.”
“Thank you.” AnnieMarie smiled. “When this is all over I hope you will come to Virginia and spend some time with us.”
“I can do that.” Kennedy nodded. “See you then.”
“Mike,” AnnieMarie called out. “I’m ready to go home.”
Mike glanced at Kennedy and whispered. “Thank you.”
“Keep her safe for Cainan.”
Mike looked at AnnieMarie. “You are sure you want to go home.”
“Yes. I’ve caused enough of a stir around here. Besides, Kennedy has a few nuts to crack.”
Kennedy burst out laughing. One of the sheriff officers stuck his head out the door giving her a warning look.
“Let’s get you out of here before you cause more trouble,” Mike turned her towards the exit “We have to stop by the hospital to pick up Grace.”
“I think she would appreciate a little company while she visits with Roark.”
“Once the doctors give him the okay we are going to fly him home,” Mike said as they reached the vehicle.
“I’m sure his parents will appreciate that.” AnnieMarie said as he closed the door.
Neither paid attention to the man who followed them out of the building.
$ $ $
The first day of the trial came to an end when jury members were too upset by the chain of events Cainan had shared to continue. The Judge dismissed the jury and gave them a day to regroup. The attorneys would resume presenting the evidence on Wednesday at 9 a.m.
Cainan was immediately surrounded by Jerome and his team then taken out of the side door.
“Where is AnnieMarie?” Cainan asked Jerome as soon as they were in the vehicle.
“Mike took her back to Virginia,” Jerome replied.
“Is she upset?”
“I didn’t get a chance to talk to her.”
“Where is Kennedy?”
“In the second car,” Jerome replied. “You did good today. The jury felt the tragedy of those deaths.”
Cainan sighed. “Telling it is like reliving it.”
“The DA indicates Wednesday will be your last day in court.”
“I need this to end.” Cainan sat up. “It was surprisingly quiet at the courthouse. That makes me uncomfortable.”
“We have it under control. Talk to me about AnnieMarie.”
Cainan raised an eyebrow. “What about her?”
“Once the case is over, are you planning on staying here or going back to Virginia?” Jerome asked.
Cainan cleared his throat. “You are asking because?”
Jerome exhaled. “Hepburn liked you. If it had not been for this situation, he would have welcomed your advances towards AnnieMarie. I thought you should know that.”
There was silence in the vehicle until they reached the house. “Thank you for telling me that Jerome. It means a lot. And just so you know. I plan to be with AnnieMarie. Now that my family knows the truth my mind is at peace.”
“Fair enough.”
The vehicles pulled up and parked. Cainan was rushed into the house.
“How did it go?” Scott asked as they walked in. His mother right behind him.
“Rough testimony, but I survived.”
“He more than survived,” Kennedy said as she walked in. “He gave the jury a look into the evilness of the Giuliani family.”
“No attempts from Giuliani?” Scott asked.
“Nothing today,” Cainan replied.
“Cainan had a visitor today,” Kennedy said as she took a seat in the kitchen. Cainan gave her a look.
“A visitor?” Kaitlyn asked looking from one to the other.
“AnnieMarie Dunning,” Kennedy replied.
“She came to the trial?” Kandace looked up from her laptop. “You’re kidding? What does she look like?”
“A 1950’s movie star.”
Cainan shook his head not wanting to play the teasing game right now. “She only stayed for a minute.”
“No she didn’t,” Kennedy pulled the note from her pocket. “We had a fun talk and she gave me this note for you.” She acted as if she was going to open it. “Even kissed it. See, the outline of her lipstick?”
Cainan reached for the note, but Kennedy pulled it away.
“Kennedy give it to him,” Kaitlyn ordered.
“All right…all right.” She gave Cainan the note. “I like her a lot.” She said to his back as he walked down the hallway to the office.
Cainan pulled off his tie and suit jacket then sat at the desk, unfolded the note and began to read. He was half way through when a moan escaped his throat. “AnnieMarie you are killing me.”
CHAPTER 33
Seeing Cainan and knowing that physically he was doing well helped her to sleep that night. But now, in the sunlight she was not in the best of moods. Why didn’t he tell her Pauley Giuliani was a woman? One he had been romantically involved with. Then she had to remember, Cainan really did not tell her anything about the case. So it wasn’t as if he was trying to hide a woman from her. He was doing his job. She had to find a way to let go of all the things that his life was about before she met him.
The aroma of bacon filled the air. Then moments later the distinct smell of cinnamon caused her to throw the covers to the side and make her way to wash her face and brush her teeth.
A few minutes later, she made her way into the kitchen. Judy was at the stove and Mike was sitting at the island.
“What are you doing here?”
Mike glanced over his shoulder as he drank his coffee. “Having breakfast before I go into the office.” He looked her up and down. “You not going to work today?”
“Did the pjs give it away?”
“No,” he chuckled, “the hair.”
AnnieMarie hit him on the shoulder then slid into the seat next to him. “So you met Judy.”
“He did,” Judy said as she placed an omelette, bacon, fried potatoes and cinnamon buns in front of him.
“Judy, if you keep cooking like this he will never go home.”
Mike nodded, “She’s right.”
AnnieMarie smiled then looked at Judy. “Did you get everything set up in the guesthouse?”
Judy nodded. “I sure did. It is beautiful inside and I just love the fireplace.”
“I’m so happy you like it.” AnnieMarie sighed. “Today we will find you a van.”
“You need my help?” Mike asked.
“No. We’re going to look on line then have it delivered to the house.”
Mike shrugged. “Not the way I would shop for a car, but okay. I got to go.”
“Let Myles know I will be in later.” She said as Mike walked out.
“Will do,” he waved a hand in the air.
“Are you feeling all right this morning?” Judy asked as she put a cup of tea in front of her.
“Oh, Judy,” she picked up her tea cup and held it between her hands. “I want my man to come home.”
“Is this about the young man who is trying to put those criminals away?”
“Daisy?”
“Oh yeah, she filled me in on a number of things. Don’t worry I would not share a bit of it with anyone else. But I need to know these things to be the best help I can be for you.” She smiled.
“It’s all right,” she shrugged. “It seems like there was a woman he was involved with that I did not know a
bout.”
“While he was seeing you?”
“Oh no,” AnnieMarie shook her head. “It was before we met.”
“Then she is a non-entity.”
“I shouldn’t be concerned that he didn’t tell me about her?”
“Have you told him about every man you have been involved with?”
“Well, no.” AnnieMarie replied.
“Then why do you care?” She leaned across the island. “You know, life is interesting. The very thing you want most in life could be sitting right in front of you. All you have to do is reach out and grab it. Then,” she stood, “fight to hold on to it every day. Tomorrow is not promised so you gotta live today.”
“Are you sure your name isn’t Daisy?”
Judy laughed. “I’m pretty sure my mother named me Judy Ann.”
Later in the day AnnieMarie was reading through documents from the trunk. It was one thing to be told the history of the family business, but reading it from the hand written documents was intriguing. When the alert went off on her phone, she thought it was probably Judy working downstairs. She pushed the alert and a screen came up. The video coming through wasn’t of the inside of the house. It was near the gate by the entrance. There was a woman in a bad blonde wig looking around. She kept watching to try to figure out what the woman was trying to do. Suddenly two men walked up behind her. They had a few words and then the blonde wig was removed. AnnieMarie gasped. That was the woman from the court yesterday. How did she find her? The men picked her up and carried her like a football to a white van. The van had Pavel & Sons on it.
AnnieMarie started to run down the stairs after the men, but stopped. She recognized the name on the van. She immediately knew they were going to kill the woman.
“Argh.” She knew what she had to do or this would haunt her for the rest of her life. “Damn it! Damn it! Damn It!”
$ $ $
Mike was in the security office at the bank when he received a call from the front desk.
“Mr. Dunning you have a visitor in the lobby.”
Mike checked his watch calendar. Other than a meeting later to give Myles an update on Cainan, he did not have anything else scheduled. “Who is it?”
“FBI Agent Sereena Chase. She said it’s important.”
“Have her escorted to my office.” Mike said then disconnected the call. Why was Sereena in Virginia and not covering Cainan?”
“Well, seeing you behind a desk without a gun in your hand is different. But it could be a little sexy,” Sereena said from the doorway.
“Thank you for bringing her down,” Mike said to the guard. “What are you doing in Virginia?”
Sereena was walking around his office taking in the decor. “Nice office. If you have all of this why are you running around playing GI Joe with Jerome?”
“My sister’s happiness,” Mike replied. “You have a mother who is a judge and a law degree. Why are you running around playing FBI Jane when you can follow in your mother’s footsteps?”
“That is a point of contention between us.”
“You should figure you out before you question me.”
Sereena nodded. “Point taken.”
“So, why are you here?”
“It seems they lost track of Pauline Giuliani,” Sereena pulled out her tablet. “Here is a picture of her at the airport. She purchased a ticket under the name of Bridget Devine.”
“She’s here in Virginia?”
“That’s what we think?”
“SAC Taylor wants me to find and cover your sister until this case is turned over to the jury. I checked at the front desk. AnnieMarie did not come to work today.”
“She’s at the estate.” Mike replied as he pulled out his phone. “I stayed there with her last night.” He called her number, waited, then hung up. “No answer.”
“Let’s head over to her place, just to be on the safe side.”
CHAPTER 34
AnnieMarie knew that what she was about to do would cause her brother Mike to curse. However, this was her life. If she did not take control of this situation now, there was a possibility that she would be looking over her shoulder for the rest of her life. And what’s the use in living if you can’t to it to its fullest?
“That is not the way I am going to live my life.”
AnnieMarie’s mind was made up. Crazy move or not, she was going to establish her position with this Pauley woman now.
She stepped out of her car then reached into her purse. She pulled out her mirror to check to make sure her hair and makeup was on point. AnnieMarie had dressed with precision for the task at hand. There was a point she was going to have to make that would take her out of her ladylike persona, however, there was no reason why she couldn’t look good doing it. As her mother said, you can only make one first impression, make it a lasting one. Since this was her first time meeting Nikolai Pavlovsky, she wanted to dress to impress. And if he decided to kill her, well, at least she would look good when they found her body.
The red Audrey Hepburn tea party dress, with a thin black belt around her waist. Her four inch red pumps with gold spike heels, and the open finger, elbow length gloves topped off the look that was sure to catch any man’s eye. AnnieMarie sashayed towards the front door of the restaurant owned by Nikolai Pavlovsky. Based on her intel, this was where Mr. Pavlovsky could be found in the afternoons. The real estate firm was his cover business, but the restaurant was his passion. The bottom of the dress swayed around her long shapely legs drawing the attention of men working on a construction site across the street. A few of them called out, “Wearing that dress.”
She turned, smiled, then waved. “Thank you,” she said as she opened the door. With her small purse hanging from the elbow of her arm, she glanced around. A few workers were dressing the tables for the evening crowd. None of them were the man she was looking for.
“May I help you?” One of the workers asked.
“Yes,” AnnieMarie beamed. “I am looking for Mr. Pavlovsky.”
“Is he expecting you?”
“No, this is an impromptu meeting, but I am certain he would like to speak with me.”
The smile she received from the man was genuine as he pointed to an opening.
“He is back there.”
“Thank you,” AnnieMarie tilted her head in gratitude. “You are a kind gentleman.”
She continued in the direction he had pointed, pulling the glove from her hand. It was easy to admire the smaller dining area with a bar that encompassed the left side of the room, with smaller four seat tables along the wall to her right, and a few booths in the back. That was where the man she was here to see was seated, facing the entrance, along with two rather large men with their backs to her. As Pavlovsky noticed her, the two men stood.
Lord they were menacing looking, she thought. But AnnieMarie was determined, and did not skip a step as she continued to the back table.
“Mr. Pavlovsky, you would not believe the day I am having,” she said pulling off the second glove.
The men stood next to each other in front of Mr. Pavlovsky blocking her way.
“This will not do, gentlemen,” she said as she reached in between them, pushing them apart.
They looked over their shoulder then moved at a slight nod from the man.
The two men parted, allowing her to walk through to come face to face with Nikolai Pavlovsky.
“Whew, as I was saying,” AnnieMarie said as she sat in the booth with a flourish, placing her purse and gloves on the table. She looked directly at a charming, but certainly dangerous man, who she knew was a killer. “You would not believe the morning I’ve had. The craziest thing happened when I was about to have a cup of tea…” She stopped mid-sentence and turned to the two men who’d attempted to block her earlier. “Oh would you be kind enough to give me a tea. A little ginger with lemon juice, honey and just a dash of whisky would be wonderful.” She smiled brightly up at the men. The men glanced at Nikolai a bit confused. He nodded
slightly and one of the men stepped way.
“Thank you so much,” AnnieMarie said then turned back to Nikolai. “As I was saying. When I was about to have my cup of tea this morning the craziest thing happened. I saw two men, who I believe are under your control, take a young woman from my property and I would like to have her back, please.”
Nikolai stared at her for the longest moment. AnnieMarie was sure he was trying to figure out if she had lost a few marbles. “Do you need a moment to gather your thoughts?” She asked giving him the opening to reply to her request.
“You are AnnieMarie Dunning, correct.”
AnnieMarie sat back with a flourish, her hand resting on her chest. “Forgive me Mr. Pavlovsky. My mother would have my behind for forgetting my manners.” She held her hand out. “AnnieMarie Antoinette Dunning at your service.”
Nikolai took her hand, with a smile. “Pleasure to meet you.”
“The same here. My brother Myles speaks very highly of you."
“Your brother has spoken of me?”
“Only in the context of family business. However, he did indicate that you are a man of integrity and honor. He also stated that once you give your word you can put it in the bank. He believes the true measure of a man is his bond…his word. Once given it is honored.”
That statement brought a smile to Nikolai’s face. "I think highly of your brother as well. Which brings me to the precarious position in which you have placed yourself."
“Precarious position?” AnnieMarie chuckled as she sat forward. “There is nothing precarious about me being here. You are the man who has proclaimed yourself as my protector. I take it that is the reason why your men were at my home to intercept the female who was there to do me harm.”
“This is true. I would not harm you.” Nikolai smiled back at her. “You do realize this woman was there to kill you…yes?”
“I do,” AnnieMarie sat back with a slight huff. “You see, that is why I need to have her back.”
Nikolai sat back. “I am somewhat confused Ms. Dunning.”
“Please, call me AnnieMarie.” She sighed with a wave of her hand.