Unprecedented

by C. D. Gill

  Gia wiped her hands on a dish towel. “That’s amazing news. They think this person is the one who has been causing the trouble?”

  Andy shrugged. “The guy is being interrogated, but lots of things are lining up that make him look like the one.”

  She pressed a hand to her throat where she could feel her heartbeat. “Dare we hope this is almost over?”

  His laugh made her pulse spike. He hadn’t laughed more than once or twice in her presence. It was a good sign that he might be relaxing. “It’s never a bad time to hope.”

  With that, he patted her shoulder and left for the security room again. She went back to making dinner with Avó until her phone ringing pulled her away.

  “Hey, baby,” she said, stepping into the library where it was quiet. He called instead of videoing which was their norm.

  “Gia, I promised you no more secrets,” Xander said.

  Oh, no.

  “Remember how I told you that I was receiving weird anonymous notes? Well, I got another one today and I shouldn’t be bothered again. I thought that might set your mind at ease.” He coughed and then groaned.

  “Babe, are you okay?”

  “Yeah, yeah. I’m on my way back from a meeting. I’ll tell you more details when we’re in person. It’s a really weird story and I don’t have the whole picture yet.”

  He sounded breathless and off. Like he was lying about where he was. But he sounded like he was in the car so why tell her differently?

  “Well, I’ll look forward to hearing the whole story. Andy said they might have the stalker person in custody. We’re waiting to hear back after the interrogation,” Gia said. Repeating the news made it sink in a little further. This whole ordeal could be ending for her. And soon.

  It felt so good.

  Her phone buzzed.

  “I’ve been thinking about what you said and us a lot recently. But I want to tell you everything in person. Hopefully a few more days,” she said. His response was silence. Maybe he didn’t want to see her in a few more days? Why did their whole relationship feel like it was on edge right now? She swallowed. “Well, I need to get back to helping Avó. Talk to you later?”

  “Definitely. Love you.”

  “I love you.” She pressed the red button. Immediately, her phone buzzed again.

  A text from Cara said, I need you. And the next text was a pin with her location.

  Gia grabbed her keys and ran out the door, yelling out that she’d be back soon. Andy ran out behind her.

  “You can’t just suddenly leave without me,” Andy said getting into the passenger’s seat.

  She clicked for the directions to the location. “Cara needs me.”

  Andy nodded without a response as Gia reversed out of the driveway. In the quiet, she drove the thirty-seven minutes to Cara’s location. Andy stayed busy on his phone. The anxiety churned at her stomach. What had Cara gotten herself into?

  The address was a neighborhood of fairly unkempt residences, but some were festively decorated for Christmas. She parked in the driveway, strode up to the door, and knocked.

  A skeleton of a man answered the door. His question turned into a sneer as he looked her up and down. “Hey, Ferra. Is this hot piece of woman standing at the front door the diva you called the family embarrassment?” He looked back at Gia. “She’s been here the whole night and day. She needs to leave.”

  “Shut up, Dean,” Cara said swaying as she tried to shove Dean aside. Cara walked out the door without a backward glance.

  Or rather, wobbled.

  When she got to the dirt patch that may have once had grass on it, Cara fell face first and didn’t move. Dean laughed a wheezy hiss and closed the door. Gia clenched her fist ready to take a swing at that snake.

  Andy was already at Cara’s side, rolling her over and picking her up into his arms. Cara’s limp form broke her heart.

  As he set her in the front seat, her head lolled toward Andy. “This man smells like a cologne ad. Good enough to eat.”

  Gia scrunched her face at Andy as an apology. He gave her a half-smirk as if he got compliments like that every day. She got in and made the executive decision that Cara was staying with them tonight.

  “You’re quiet. Never a good sign,” Cara said. She sat up quickly. “Did I just see a man riding a camel? New Orleans these days is getting so weird.”

  Gia shook her head. “You’re higher than Mt. Everest, Cara.”

  Cara snorted. “So what? Are you judging me now? Clean for four whole years and you get to judge me?”

  At her words, the tension in Gia’s jaw got tighter. “I’m not judging you, Cara. I’m upset that you put yourself in danger. I care about your safety. Not that you do. I sure didn’t when I was doing drugs. There are people out there who want to hurt us or ruin us.”

  “Not me.” Cara sang. “No one cares if I die or get ruined.”

  Gia hit the steering wheel, giving Cara a jolt. “I care. Joey cares. Ma, Daddy, Avó, the whole family cares.”

  “Well, none of them are my parents, so I don’t care that they care that I don’t care that they don’t care.”

  It didn’t matter nearly as much to Gia that Cara’s words weren’t making sense as it did that she believed that Cara had just spoken from her heart, the truth of how she felt. And it crushed Gia’s soul.

  “After Christmas, you need to check into a rehabilitation center. Get clean. Kick this before you succumb and it destroys you.”

  “Rehab is for people who have been addicted a long time, not me whose been experimenting for a couple months and could quit anytime I wanted.” Cara propped her feet on the dash.

  “Yeah? Prove it.”

  Andy shifted in the back seat. She’d forgotten he was there, listening to their family drama.

  Cara was quiet for a second. “I don’t have anything to prove to anyone. You didn’t run away and check into rehab, did you? So I shouldn’t have to.”

  “Actually, I did.” Her dirty laundry was out there for Andy to see. At least if he read it in a file she could pretend he didn’t know. Gia rubbed her neck. “I had such horrible withdrawals that I was afraid I was going to lose control of myself, so I checked into a place in Colorado. Didn’t tell anyone but my parents. Probably saved my life.”

  Gia hoped it had given Cara something to think about, to bolster her willingness to agree to rehab, but when she glanced over, Cara’s eyes were closed and her mouth hung open a fraction.

  She blew out a breath. That did not go how she’d hoped.

  When they got to the house, Andy jumped out immediately and lifted Cara into his arms again. “Tell me where to lay her.”

  Gia led him through the garage to the kitchen, in hopes that everyone was eating in the dining room and would miss the show. No luck.

  Ma and Avó were in the kitchen and froze when their eyes landed on Andy and Cara. Ma tilted her head in a question. To which Gia half-shrugged and pointed upstairs. She led Andy up the back stairwell to the guest room. As soon as he laid her down, he walked out of the room.

  Gia removed Cara’s shoes and dusty jeans. A small bag fell out of her pocket as Gia tossed them on the ground. She checked her other pockets, shoes, and tank top. Nothing else dropped out.

  The girl hadn’t put on anything warmer than a flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. Easy access to the veins on her arms with needles of who knew what level of cleanliness. Gia shivered as she dropped to her knees beside Cara’s bed, smoothing the hair from her face as she slept.

  What would it take to get through to her?

  As the tears welled, Gia stood. It felt too much like sitting beside Tia Carolena’s death bed.

  Gia braced herself for the questions from Ma and Avó when she got downstairs, but Ma motioned her into the dining room with the family. They’d get to it later. This wasn’t a pass.

  As she took her place at the table, she tried to paste on a happy face. Daddy called to her down the table.

  Everyo
ne went silent. Her heart stuttered until she saw the sparkle in his expression.

  “Avó says you have some good news.” He opened his hands. “Share.” Her confusion must have been obvious. “About work?”

  “Ah, I sent in the draft for the resort that Joey needed me to finish for him. So I’m free to enjoy the rest of your visit!” She lifted her glass as everyone cheered and congratulated her.

  They had a week left here which wouldn’t make up for the time she’d missed, but it was something. Tonight they were going to the ballet downtown to watch the Nutcracker, a show Gia and her female cousins had talked about seeing together for years.

  The boys were a little more difficult to persuade, but Daddy had a box with his name on it because of his donations to the art center which meant they got drinks and snacks with a show. Despite their busy schedules, Ma and Daddy tried to get to as many performances as they could to support the arts. If they couldn’t make it, they offered tickets to someone else in their stead, usually to someone who had a child that wanted to be a ballerina or musician or actor that couldn’t otherwise afford a ticket.

  After dinner, she changed and left Antia and Sara in the bathroom getting ready in favor of meeting Ma on the back patio while they waited for the cars to arrive. Ma, Daddy, and Avó sat on one side near the fireplace with the space heater overhead while Uncle Ronaldo, Breno, and Silva drove glow-in-the-dark golf balls into the yard on the other end.

  They waited as she got settled into a seat, then looked at her expectantly. Why did she feel like she was the one in trouble here?

  She took a deep breath and set the bag of drugs on the end table next to her. “Cara texted me this afternoon saying she needed me and sent me her location. Andy and I went to pick her up. It was some dirty drug house on the other side of town and she was high. I talked to her about rehab on the way home, but she doesn’t seem open to it or the idea of stopping using.”

  They nodded.

  “She thinks she can quit anytime she wants.” Gia rubbed her temples. The fatigue hit her like high-speed train. The worry, stress, and fear dropped her hard. “I don’t know if I’m the right person to try to help her or not. When she’s high or drunk, she’s pretty hostile towards me, calling me a naive princess or a diva or a family embarrassment.”

  Avó patted her hand. “Sometimes, the toughest love is stepping away to let others take charge instead of you. It might not feel like love, but if she gets the help she needs then, it will be for the best.”

  “You two have been like sisters your whole lives. She loves you and probably has a host of other emotions entangled in there, too, because real love is never linear,” Daddy said.

  “That’s why I feel like I’m responsible for her choices,” Gia said. “I love her so much. I’d never want her to hurt the way I did.”

  “We’ll give it until after Christmas and approach her about it,” Ma said. “I hate to see her headed down this path because she thinks she’s alone in her grief.”

  The doorbell chimed and the alarm sounded throughout the house that the cars had arrived. There was a mad scramble as everyone hurried to get out the door. Cara was still sleeping, so Tia Judita agreed to stay back so that someone was there when she came out of her coma.

  Tia Judita loved the story of The Nutcracker, but she also loved reality TV shows which she didn’t get to see much of while she was in the States. With her hands wrapped around a mug of mulled wine, her posture seemed relaxed as she watched the whole family pack into two GetThere limousines. Maybe she wouldn’t feel she was missing out.

  The limousines stopped next to a red carpet that led into the side door of the theater. A few photographers stood under the lights. Andy handed Antia and Sara out of the limo and then offered Gia his arm. He was impressively subtle. Being her escort guaranteed he’d be expected to stay by her side the whole night.

  He leaned in to talk. “I’ve avoided the ballet my entire life. I want you to appreciate this is a long-standing streak I’m breaking for you.”

  Gia laughed. “That’s not a bragging right, Andy.”

  His eyes sparkled in the lights. “It is for my kind.”

  “Yes, yes. The special forces are far too good for Fine Arts,” Gia said.

  “We could teach them a thing or two about elegance,” he said with a grunt.

  Inside, the theater box worked perfectly for the security team. One entrance in and out made life much less complicated for Amos and Andy and one other guy who stood guard. They’d requested pre-packaged drinks and snacks which didn’t guarantee something couldn’t be tampered with.

  Amos and Andy tried to discreetly scan the tray of drinks and food to check for tiny puncture holes. Despite one guy being in custody, they refused to relax regulations. The guy had solid alibis for a few of the events that happened, namely the fires on the front lawn and the drink poisoning at the golf course. The police were positive he was working with someone else.

  He had admitted to sending rodents, following the girls on their night out, and trashing the office. He was a staunch preservationist, mid-thirties, intent on showing the world a better way. His explanations for how things happened were accurate, but the detectives weren’t convinced that he’d done everything he said he’d done.

  They couldn’t catch these stalkers soon enough. The lengths her family had to go to right now to feel safe were ridiculous. Everything was a potential hazard. The life of paranoia infuriated her. Her family deserved better, easier.

  Once the ballet started, the music and dance enchanted the audience, wrapping them into the story like comfortable blankets. Partway into the second act, Ma stepped into the en suite bathroom to answer her phone.

  She came rushing out, not bothering to be quiet. She motioned Amos over. Uncle Roberto leaned in as well as Ma whispered to the men. When she straightened, Daddy grabbed Ma’s purse and stood to follow her. Ma’s wide-eyed, frantic scan landed on her.

  With a quick jerk of her hand, Ma mouthed. “Let’s go.”

  Gia didn’t have to be told twice. She grabbed her things and jogged to catch up with Ma and Daddy who were almost to the stairs. Andy’s heavier footsteps fell behind her.

  What was going on?

  A surge of panic coursed through her as she practically ran through the back door of the theater to a waiting car. Inside, they threw their seat belts on.

  Worry shone bright on Ma’s face in the streetlights. “Judita can’t find Cara. Thinks she might have locked herself into the bathroom but isn’t responding. She doesn’t know how long she’s been in there or missing.”

  Chapter 20

  Xander lay on the couch in Gia’s office unmoving, his side aching. He wasn’t mad or annoyed. He was absolutely outraged and ready to fight with his bare knuckles whoever did this.

  A pawn in someone else’s scheme again.

  Make it up to him? That was a very unlikely promise to keep.

  Every random note had been vague and lacking pertinent details. The puppet master cared for no one but himself which was the opposite of how Xander wanted to live his life.

  Spurred by his anger, Xander stood with slow movements. If selfishness didn’t take a day off, neither should those working against it. He had a business to run and people like David and Reggie to help make their mark in the world.

  His phone rang as he sat up. “Maddox, tell me something good.”

  “Merry Christmas, Xander. I’m sorry for taking so long in getting back to you with updates. Unfortunately, I don’t have a great news for you. This is going to take longer than we first thought, but that is business as usual for this type of thing. As you know, Randall refused to sign an affidavit about the confession you got on camera. He told the university that he was under duress from the interviewees and the confession was forced. The university isn’t sure it wants to move forward with a settlement at all.”

  A win for the university that might persuade them to not settle. Xander mouthed an expletive into the silence.

/>   Maddox cleared his throat. “We might not see any movement on this case until the New Year gets underway, so hang in there.”

  In the workshop upstairs, he grabbed a hammer and some wood. He needed to hit something hard to improve his mood. A loud banging came at the door. Reggie stood on the steps.

  Xander mumbled, “Merry Christmas” as amiably as he could muster and went right back to work.

  Once or twice Reggie glanced at him, but worked beside him in silence. They didn’t have any music on today and Xander respected that Reggie wasn’t one of those kids who always had earbuds in, blocking out the world. An hour in, Xander’s mood improved to pay for Reggie’s lunch at Mother Hen’s.

  In the madness of the morning, he had neglected lunch and his stomach felt the ache as much as his side.

  When they walked in, Lucy popped her hand in front of his eyes. He tapped down on his annoyance. Really, he was happy for them both. As she prepared their lunches, she told him the abridged version of the night. Tucker must not have let on that Xander was the one who took the pictures for them Monday night.

  Xander had sent him the files Tuesday and Tucker had responded with an enthusiastic thanks. One of Lucy’s Christmas gifts was going to be a printed album of their engagement night. A “forever keepsake” he’d called it which really ratcheted up the pressure Xander felt, hoping there was something worth keeping.

  When they grabbed a table with their food in hand, Xander kept Reggie talking about Christmas with his foster parents and how Christmases had been in the past. Finally, Reggie stopped him.

  “Xander, I’d like to eat if you want to take the next shift of storytelling.”

  Xander had to laugh. “Okay, well. My web designer is working on revamping my website to have the ability to create your own product store within my website. I’m not sure what the legalities would be since you are under eighteen, but when it’s time, I want you to be able to have your store where you make your products and upload pictures of them. You keep all the profit and fulfill the orders yourself. You’re talented with your designs. You deserve to work for yourself. You would be one step closer to being independent and supporting yourself.”