Key West

by Stella Cameron

  He’d learned to show nothing of what he was thinking. He drew on that skill now.

  Jim smiled again. “All right. Loyalty is very admirable. From what I’ve been told, I know Sonnie hears voices. In fact, as hard as this may be for you to accept, I believe she has a very severe emotional illness that may well be schizophrenia. Complete rest and intensive treatment is her only chance for recovery. But I can’t force her to accept my opinion, not that I’ve given her my opinion, or would do so unless someone with the right authority requested me to do so.”

  “The right authority?” Chris said.

  Jim sighed and inclined his head sadly. “Someone who eventually takes over responsibility for her because she can no longer continue to function adequately in the regular world.”

  Every word made Chris feel a little angrier. These people already had Sonnie locked away and under constant supervision. And Chris didn’t know if there was truly a plot afoot to accomplish this, or if Sonnie really needed help. He would not consider that possibility until he’d done his best to help Sonnie sort her way through whatever was going on.

  “What do you say?” Jim asked. “Will you help us to help Sonnie?”

  Chris got no chance to answer.

  Romano Giacano burst into the room. He pushed Jim Lesley aside hard enough to send the man stumbling over an ottoman. Failing to catch his balance, Lesley fell and slammed into a wall.

  “You’re a violent man,” Chris said, bracing himself for a fight. “I’m glad you’re here. We’ve got some unfinished business.”

  “We certainly do,” Romano said. “You have become a nuisance. You are in my way. That is something I will not tolerate. Jim, get out of here. Wait in my room.”

  Jim Lesley made much of hauling himself from the floor.

  He stumbled again and slid to his knees, holding his head as if he were injured.

  “Games are over, Giacano,” Chris said, standing and taking a step toward the man. “I suggest you go on your way. When you’ve cooled off, well talk about why you’re into victimizing women.”

  “The only time I intend to spend with you is right now,” Romano said.

  “When will you learn you are not in charge of the world?” Chris said.

  Romano turned away to look at Jim Lesley. When he turned back he held a Smith Airweight in his right hand. Its short barrel gleamed. “Υou have meddled in my business for the last time.”

  Thirty-one

  The thought of using the telephone frightened Sonnie. She heard that there were instruments that could be used to listen to other people’s phone conversations.

  Perhaps that was how they were getting information on her, how they knew when she’d be alone. Listening to her phone calls could have given them a lot of details Sonnie didn’t want them to have.

  They would use the information against her.

  What could she do? There was no noise anymore. It had stopped when she went into Jacqueline’s room and found the battery-powered doll in the bassinet. Sonnie had bought that doll for Jacqueline, for when she was old enough to enjoy it. They were cruel, these faceless enemies. They wanted her to be forever waiting for them to taunt her.

  She tiptoed downstairs, watching to be sure there wasn’t anyone stretched out on the floor anywhere. That man was injured. She knew it for sure now. He’d show up again just as soon as he was well enough to crawl from wherever he was hiding.

  Gravel crunched beneath tires in the driveway.

  Sonnie stood quite still in the hallway and waited.

  Ena had talked about a man with the same kind of hair—long blond curls—going into her house. Into this house. Sonnie peered around. And he had been injured. He bent over and hobbled. He was here with her somewhere.

  She must find the courage to return to Ena’s and hope she’d be there now. Sonnie was worried about Ena. She’d been under such strain and she was completely alone.

  Cautiously Sonnie went and opened the front door to peer out. But she remembered she’d just heard a car arrive and started to close the door again.

  Billy stopped her. “Sonnie, it’s me, Billy. I tried to call but there was no answer.”

  Sonnie didn’t think she remembered hearing the phone ring. “I’m very busy,” she managed to say. “This isn’t a good time for a visit, but thank you for coming anyway.”

  “I’ve got to talk to you now.” Billy said, and pushed the door so hard that Sonnie staggered back. “Oh,” Billy cried. “Oh, Sonnie, what is it? What’s happened to you? I’m calling Jim right now.”

  “Don’t,” Sonnie said. “I must ask you to leave. You have no right to force yourself on me.”

  Billy held up both hands. “All right. Okay. I won’t call anyone. Just let me talk to you. I’ve had a shock, Baby. And I know you have, too.”

  Sonnie stared at her. “Υou do?” This could be another trick.

  “Sonnie,” Billy wailed suddenly. “Oh, Sonnie, you’re my sister and I love you. You’re not yourself. Please let me take care of you. Your face. The scratches. My God, what’s happened?”

  “Nothing.” Even though she ached in so many places, she stood straighter. “There’s nothing wrong with me. Why would you think there was?”

  “Υοu look ill. You’ve been crying. I can tell you have. And your hair’s a mess. Your clothes. And, Sonnie, the doll. Why are you holding a doll as if it were a baby?”

  She didn’t care what anyone thought about that. “I’m going to find a safe place for her.” Sonnie fingered the locket at her neck. She’d hidden Frank’s medallion where she didn’t have to see it. “It’s time for me to take charge and care for myself and whatever matters to me. I’m getting stronger all the time. I don’t need any help.” But she did wish there was some hope left that Chris wouldn’t turn away from her. She’d already put him through too much.

  They had made love.

  Each time that had been as much or more her idea than his. She shouldn’t have let it happen. She shouldn’t have fallen in love with him. He couldn’t be expected to stay around a woman who was only part of what she’d once been, a woman with so many problems that even she couldn’t see a way out.

  Billy was looking at her with apprehension in her eyes.

  “It’s okay,” Sonnie said. “I’m not dangerous or anything like that. I’m just absorbed in making decisions. I did speak to Mom and Dad to let them know I’m fine. I don’t think they’re convinced. When you talk to them, will you try to put their minds at rest?”

  Billy hesitated, but then she said, “Yes. Yes, I’ll tell them. Not because I think you’re in good shape, but because I don’t think it will help you if you’re worrying about them as well as yourself.” She locked the front door. “ls everything else around here locked up?”

  “Everything that needs to be.” There was something strange about Billy’s behavior.

  “Can we sit in the parlor? I’ve always liked that room.”

  The fastest way to get rid of Billy was to let her have her own way. “If you want to.” Sonnie led the way and sat on one of the chintz couches that no longer brought her any pleasure.

  “I’m horrified,” Billy said, taking a seat at the opposite end of the same couch. “I don’t know how else to explain what I feel. Horrified. I love you, Sonnie. We’ve had our ups and downs. We certainly haven’t always agreed—on a lot of things. But I don’t think we’ve ever stopped caring about each other, have we?”

  Sonnie looked into her sister’s eyes. “No, I don’t think so.”

  Tears welled in those eyes. “Thank you for saying that. I’m muddled up. I don’t know what’s wrong here, but something is. I don’t know….Your safety is so important to me. I’m afraid you’re not safe. That can’t be. I can’t just allow that to be.”

  “Hush,” Sonnie said, the urge to comfort automatic. “It’s all right. Thank you for caring.”

  Billy sat straighter. “I not only care about you—I’m going to care for you. Sonnie, I’ve spoken with Romano.�
�

  “Oh.” Hugging herself, Sonnie turned on the couch to face the room. “I don’t think we should talk about Romano. I never want to see him again.”

  “l’ve failed at everything,” Billy said abruptly. “I’m a loving woman. I care about people. But I’ve allowed myself to be sidetracked so many times. And jealousy has almost destroyed me. I could never cope with not being the most sought after, the woman everyone looked at and envied. I’ve felt all that begin to slip. After all, I’m not as young as I used to be.”

  It all sounded so sincere. Sonnie didn’t believe a word of it, but she’d play along. “You’re absolutely gorgeous and you know it. You stop conversation in any room you enter.”

  “Thanks. But even if it’s true, there has to be more in my life than that. I want to turn the clock back. I want you and me to be the way we were when we were kids. We always felt more like sisters than half sisters.

  “Sonnie, Romano confessed what he did to you.”

  Sonnie put her head in her hands.

  “He told me he took you on a long drive and frightened you. He knows you aren’t a good passenger. He said he drove slowly, then very fast, and then he took you to that horrible place and—”

  “Stop.”

  “We have to be able to talk about it. He said he wanted to shock your memory back.”

  “But why like that?” Sonnie asked. “Why would he do something so despicable? I tried to get away.”

  Billy scooted closer to Sonnie on the couch. “Did he hurt you?”

  “Yes.” But she didn’t want to think about what Romano had done. “I always thought he was my friend. What an idiot he must think I am.”

  “I think he’s under too much stress. I’m sure his business is failing.”

  “That doesn’t excuse him,” Sonnie said quietly. “And the business isn’t only his. Frank has a lot of money tied up there, too.”

  “Frank’s dead,” Billy said. She patted Sonnie’s knee. “What exactly did Romano do to hurt you yesterday? I need to know.”

  “Why…Okay, I’ll tell you. He pretended he was going to crash the car into that wall.”

  “I know.”

  “When I tried to get away, he chased me onto the beach and knocked me down. That’s where I got the scratches. And he hit me. He threw me onto some rocks. Then I think he intended to drown me.” Repeating what had happened aloud sounded bizarre. “He went crazy. He’d already said he intended to marry me so he could control me—or anything I happen to own.”

  Billy reached for Sonnie’s hand. “I know what we’ve got to do. We’ve got to get away from here, and I don’t mean by running to the folks. They don’t cope with anything that upsets their comfortable routine.”

  “I can’t leave,” Sonnie told her. “Not yet. Maybe soon, but I still have things to accomplish here.” She couldn’t, wouldn’t leave unless she became certain there was no future with Chris.

  “How long will it take you to finish up and be ready?” Billy asked.

  “I’m not sure.”

  “Sonnie” —Billy squeezed her hand—“I don’t know what the whole story is with Romano. I used to think the way you did—that he was such a good friend. Now he scares me. I think he’d kill to get what he wants. With both you and Frank dead, everything goes to him. And I know too much. You can fill in the blanks. If I didn’t think he’s desperate enough to convince himself he can get away with it, I might hope he’d come to his senses. We can’t take that risk.”

  Where was Chris?

  Billy got up. She leaned over Sonnie and hugged her. “We’re going to be okay, Baby,” she said, and kissed Sonnie’s cheek. “Romano took off for Stock Island. He’s going to be gone overnight at least. I told him I’d call him in the morning to find out his plans. He thinks I’m working with him and that I’ll help him do what he wants to do. Then he plans to get rid of me. I’m sure of it, Baby. We’ve got to help each other.”

  Sonnie looked up into her sister’s face. “I want you to leave Key West now,” she told her. If Billy was being honest with her, Sonnie had an obligation to tell her to get away from Romano and Key West. “Billy, now. I don’t want you to go back to that club, and I don’t want you to speak to Romano again.”

  Billy’s mouth tightened. “You aren’t well enough to make any decisions. Leave that to me. We’ll go away together.”

  They would go nowhere together. Billy had only one agenda—to get Sonnie away from anyone who might truly be on her side.

  Sonnie wanted Billy to leave. Calling her bluff might pull that off. “Wait with me until Chris comes. If he agrees, we’ll go straight to the police.”

  “No.” Billy shook her head, swung her hair from side to side. “Chris Talon seems like a decent enough guy—in spite of the Harley-Davidson and the tattoos. But we have to make our own decisions. Be ready by ten in the morning. Take as little as you can. In fact, dress as if you were going to work at that bar and bring a purse with any personal papers you’ve got with you. Nothing else. That way we don’t draw any attention.”

  “Chris only has one tattoo. I like it.”

  Billy gave her a speculative sideways glance. “Do you now? You don’t stop surprising me, little sister. I do believe there’s a whole wild side to you. That would be the side you’ve been hiding all these years.”

  “You may be right.” In fact, Billy was right “Regardless, I want you to wait for him with me. We need his advice.”

  Billy straightened. Her face was rigid with anger. “I don’t need advice from him, thanks. In fact, I want you to promise me something. Don’t mention I’ve been here. Will you do that for me?”

  “Why? What difference would it make if he knew?”

  “I don’t know,” Billy said. “And neither do you, not for sure. Ten in the morning. Just a purse with your papers in it.”

  Romano Giacano might have been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but he’d also been born a rebel. Papa had made an arrangement with the authorities in their small Italian hometown that his eldest son would be driven home, rather than to the police station, when he got into trouble. That arrangement had cost the family plenty, and it had allowed Romano to run with the wildest thugs in the countryside, and to learn how to fight as dirty as it took to win. He was still smarting from his poor showing against Talon the previous evening. He could hardly believe his luck that a rematch was presenting itself so quickly.

  The idiot doctor was down and staying down—the smartest move Romano had ever seen him make.

  Talon stood relaxed, his arms hanging loosely at his sides and his feet planted far enough apart to telegraph to Romano that he was confronted by a man he’d never be able to take down easily.

  But he would take him down.

  “This time you’re dead, Talon,” Romano said, motioning with the gun. “Yesterday you caught me off guard. Today I’m ready for you. Come on. Let’s see how good you really are.”

  Talon didn’t move. He said, “The gun wins every time. I don’t have to do a thing to help you prove that.” And the bastard smiled.

  “Romano,” Jim Lesley said, rising to his feet. “This is a bad idea. Killing is wrong. It never accomplishes—”

  “I do not need lectures from a witch doctor, or whatever you are supposed to be. I suggest you get out of here. The scene will not be pretty by the time I finish.”

  “No,” Lesley said. “Νο. I implore you to stop this at once.”

  Romano responded by backhanding the quack across the face. He felt blood spatter the back of his hand and spared the man a disgusted glance. He probably had a broken nose.

  Without waiting another moment, and while Talon wasted time saying, “Get a cold cloth on that nose, Doc,” Romano shoved the gun into a pocket, let out a roar, and launched himself. He would prove he was physically superior to Sonnie’s trained pet. Talon confounded him by rolling a shoulder down, catching Romano beneath the diaphragm, and straightening enough to send him over his back and crashing into a fake potte
d palm.

  The fucking pot broke on his knee, and blood soaked the leg of his pants almost instantly. “You freak,” he yelled. “You are nothing. You have had your piece of luck. Now we play the game my way.”

  Expressionless, Talon had turned to face him again. Still he didn’t initiate a move.

  “Let’s talk about this,” Jim Lesley said. “Please. This isn’t accomplishing a thing.”

  Romano was bleeding all over the carpet. So much for trying to fight fair. He fumbled for the gun.

  “Looking for this?” Talon held out the Smith Airweight. “Υou can have it. Later. I’ll call for some medical help.”

  “No,” Romano said. He’d misjudged this scene. “Get me a towel, Jim.”

  “I’m not leaving you two alone until I’m sure you won’t try killing each other again.”

  Romano shrugged and offered up his empty palms. “My opponent has the advantage, and”—he couldn’t afford to let his need to punish ruin everything—”and I’m going to ask you to accept my apology, Talon. I’ve been through a great deal. Damn it to hell. I cannot expect you to care what I feel—or to forgive me for my bad behavior.”

  Chris had never been vengeful, but with Romano Giacano he might break his record.

  “Listen to him,’“ Jim Lesley said. “Give him a chance to explain himself.”

  “Get him a towel.,” Chris said. Showing Giacano even the smallest chink in enemy armor could be a huge mistake. “From what I can see, you’re going to need stitches.”

  “Don’t worry about me.” This was a whole new Romano. Romano the martyr.

  “I don’t intend to worry about you. Nice piece. You always armed?”

  “You can keep it,” Romano said. “I should not have it. My temper is too unpredictable.”

  Chris wasn’t fooled. “Ι guess that’s why you should also never take a woman for a drive, hmm?”

  “Go easy,” Jim Lesley said, returning from the bathroom with a towel. “He’s in a bad place. You can see that.” He tossed the towel to Romano.

  “Did you know he beats up on women, Doc?”

  Romano shook his head repeatedly. “Never again.” He tore his pant leg open and pressed the towel over a jagged wound.