Unprecedented

by C. D. Gill

  Linc cringed. “You want me to come with you? I have to be back for a game on New Year’s Day, but I can miss the practices until then.”

  “No. Yes. I don’t know.” Xander felt like he was going to suffocate. He opened the window and sucked in the cold air. Couldn’t this car go any faster? “Drop me off at Departures, if you would. If you can stay in the area for a bit, I’ll call you when I find out about flights out.”

  “Sure. I’ll stay nearby.” Linc put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Xander. I really pray she’s okay.”

  Xander gave him a half-smile. It felt good to have Linc here. He would never take his family’s support for granted. “Thank you. Me, too.”

  Twenty minutes later, he called Linc on the other side of security as he sprinted to his gate to tell him he’d gotten on the 2:45 flight to New Orleans. In that span, he’d gotten texts from Mom and Avri telling him they loved him and they were sending their prayers.

  He had nothing with him except his wallet and phone, wearing the clothes he’d put on for yesterday’s dinner out. In the security line, he had to explain to several suspicious officers that his fiancee had been in a horrible accident and he was rushing to be with her, because he didn’t know if she’d make it. They patted him down thoroughly even if they did believe his story.

  The tears welling in his eyes were real. The emotion was something he wasn’t used to—feeling this lost. And he had the entire two-and-a-half-hour flight to think since he didn’t want to wear down the battery on his phone.

  Insanely alone with his thoughts as he had been in prison so many times before.

  When he landed, he called the friends and family GetThere number for a ride to the house. Or should he go straight to the hospital?

  He opted for the house first.

  Not until they reached the Carters’ street did it hit Xander what a media circus there would be outside the house. They dodged news vans and crew camping out on the sidewalks. Amos’s team must have set the perimeter up pretty quickly.

  Xander’s car was largely ignored until they pulled up to the closed gate. The driver called through the security box and was let in, but not before a few well-placed cameras flashed in his face.

  Would the entertainment news love that headline?

  The front door opened as he stepped up to it. A guy with an earpiece and a very accessible firearm greeted him.

  “ID, please.”

  As he handed it back, Xander tried to look around this mountain of a guy. “Is Gia here? I need to see her. I need to know if she’s okay.”

  The guy’s expression didn’t change, not a hint of an answer. Instead, he motioned to the library. “Wait in here.”

  Xander paced a foot from the door and back, hands jammed in his pockets. The prayer in his head on repeat as he made every sort of promise to God he could think of.

  “Xander!”

  He spun around just in time to catch Gia launching herself into his arms.

  “You’re alive. You’re okay. Thank you, God. Thank you.” The tears spilled from his eyes as he buried his face in her flowery scented hair. Her arms locked around him in the tightest squeeze.

  He drew back and took her tear-streaked face in between his hands. “You aren’t with him, right? Andy?”

  She shook her head, still crying. Her big brown eyes were red and puffy, but he’d never seen anything more beautiful in his life. He pressed his forehead to hers, his lips a breath from hers.

  “Be with me. Marry me, Gia. Spend the rest of forever with me doing what I never could do, and I’ll spend our forever carrying you when you feel like you can’t go on. I don’t have as much to offer you right as I want, but I will work hard every day to be worthy of your love and your companionship.” He smoothed his hands up her back, bringing their bodies as close together as he could get them. “I can’t bear the thought of losing you.”

  She pressed her lips to his. He deepened the kiss as he hitched her legs around his waist and sank onto the nearby couch, making up for lost time. Her touch, her passion, her strength set a fire inside him. She was his woman, and that wasn’t something he ever wanted to doubt again.

  Gia was first to pull away. Her hot breath raked against his lips. He longed for more to heal the parts of him that still felt broken.

  “I don’t need you to offer me the world. We’ll build and chase that dream together so it’s ours,” she whispered. Her hand smoothed over his hair and his stubbled cheek. “I missed this so much. I missed you. I missed us. Let’s not ever do long distance again, okay?”

  “Agreed.”

  “Because once we get married, we go everywhere together, got it?”

  Xander laughed. “I like the sound of that. So you’ll be my wife?”

  “I’ll be your everything, Alexander Reinerman.”

  Chapter 25

  Gia stuffed her toiletries into her suitcase and looked around her childhood room. She hadn’t expected to come back for as long as she did, but she was glad for the time. She was a different person than the haunted girl who’d come home to fake an engagement to Bronc and grieve a dying aunt.

  It was a new year and time to start her future. Her Brazilian family had left yesterday with tearful goodbyes and promises to see her again at her wedding wherever and whenever she and Xander decided that would be.

  But Gia planned to see them before that. The Venha Resort in Rio de Janeiro was set to break ground in March and she wanted to be on the front row of that ceremony with Xander by her side.

  With the stalker and the van driver both behind bars awaiting their trials, Gia felt a lot more at ease heading back to Golden where she had started building a life. The stalker would probably get a slap on the wrist and big fine, but the driver would be tried for manslaughter, attempted manslaughter, and a few other charges their lawyers drummed up. If they were lucky, he’d spend several life sentences in prison.

  They’d learned from Amos that the guy was name Tony Barrett Ramos. He was a former corporate elitist who’d lost his job in the economic downturn of 2008. In 2010, he’d applied for a job with one of the Carter companies claiming that he was a perfect fit but hadn’t been chosen for the job. In his words, being denied the job led to a series of bankruptcy filings and losing most of what he owned. The Carters were to blame for his losses.

  It had been a hard time for everyone, but there were jobs to be had and ways he could have saved himself from financial ruin. He’d had his hopes pinned on getting that one job and couldn’t recover from losing it.

  Since then, he’d become an activist against everything the Carters did. They were public figures of success and symbols of what Tony had lost. He couldn’t mentally cope with believing he was at fault for his failures, so he’d found somewhere else for the hatred and loathing to go.

  Fixated, the police psychologist had called it.

  At first, it started out small—bitter rants on obscure forums, negative reviews online, false reports to the Better Business Bureau. It escalated when he found a very active conservationist group whom he fed lines to about the Venha Resorts destroying the forests and green spaces around the world with their disgusting greed. While mentally he vilified Ma and Daddy, he found Joey and Gia to be easier targets to eliminate in the process.

  In a very small way, Gia had him to thank for pushing her to create a space she’d never envisioned designing in her career. The team of engineers praised it as the most in-keeping with local culture and preservation friendly design that they’d seen.

  She already had submitted to be part of a few other non-profit projects there in Rio with hopes that she could start branching out internationally. The school near Avó had told her they wanted her, if she could get the necessary work permits. Xander had agreed that if she needed to be in Rio, that he would be by her side as much as possible.

  Her family had been absolutely thrilled when she and Xander had announced their engagement on Christmas Day. She and Xander had stayed up all night on the couch
in front of the library’s fireplace talking through their hurts and working out the problems they’d allowed to take hold during their stint of long distance.

  And there was a lot more than either of them had thought.

  In the early hours of the morning, they’d dozed, cuddled together feeling as if the world was theirs for the taking.

  Except they still had life to deal with in their reality.

  A day after Cara was released from the hospital, she checked in to a rehabilitation center a few minutes away from her house. She’d videoed with Joey to decide what was best of the options presented. As tempting as moving to Brazil was, Cara wanted to do that when she was well, not when her family would have to check on her constantly.

  When Joey had heard about her drug use and suicide attempt, he immediately started to look for plane tickets home that day or the next. She’d convinced him to stay abroad by making a deal that she’d stay in rehab if he continued his travel. Cara saw it as his therapy, and how he’d learn to cope with the grief.

  They promised to check in more frequently with each other, and Joey already called her every other day.

  He’d texted Gia, too, saying he’d bought a cheap phone with unlimited everything so he could keep tabs on home. When he found out what he’d missed, he was so upset that he hadn’t sprung for it earlier in his trip. It was an enormous relief that he wasn’t radio silent anymore. She immediately emailed him and told him everything about how she’d been in rehab in Colorado years earlier for drug use. He’d accepted her apology and rejected her guilt for not being more transparent with her life.

  Cara made her own choices.

  Gia was not responsible for them.

  She knew it mentally, but her heart was still adjusting to the truth. Perhaps being back in Colorado would help her get her head around it.

  At the airport, she waved goodbye to her parents one more time as she left the security area. They’d been surprisingly laidback about the engagement announcement. Ma didn’t rush to start planning the wedding. Daddy didn’t insist on seeing the ring. They just smiled and welcomed Xander to the family.

  There was nothing to prove to her parents. They knew Xander was the one for her. And that was the best feeling in the world for everything to fit together.

  As she walked to her gate, she had to stop herself from constantly wondering if everyone was out to harm her. Amos had cleared her for travel by herself. Andy was staying in New Orleans to heal from his head wound. He’d make a full recovery without losing any of his abilities.

  He’d saved her life. That wasn’t a debt any of them could repay, but they would all try. Ma and Daddy certainly wouldn’t let it slide by.

  Amos had been looking for a second-in-command for a while and Andy fit the bill. Carter Corporations were holding talks about creating their own private security company for Amos and Andy to run that took on short-term projects, especially cases that the police didn’t see as worth their time and resources.

  She was headed to finish her projects in Colorado and start figuring out what the next steps were for her and Xander. For the first time in a very long time, Gia was excited about her future.

  Chapter 26

  He had done the proposal all wrong. He hadn’t asked Burley for permission beforehand. No ring hid in his pocket. He hadn’t memorized a perfectly prepared speech to convince her to marry him. No photographer hid to capture the “forever” moments.

  It was raw and honest and everything in his heart.

  Somehow, she’d still said yes.

  To him.

  And while it hadn’t magically fixed everything in his life, he felt like he was floating. He had virtually nothing to offer her by way of a home, money, security, anything and she’d still said yes. Dad would absolutely scorn him asking someone to marry him in his current phase of life and brand anyone who said yes as a fool.

  But that time of his life was solidly behind him. Dad didn’t get a say. He could support Xander or stay out of his life.

  His choice.

  Life was starting to take a more positive shape for him despite being a few days into the New Year.

  Burt Candes had emailed back to offer him the U-19 coaching job, but after his long conversation with Gia, he declined. It wasn’t the right thing or the right time, but Xander welcomed the chance to prove himself one day.

  Until then, he had growing businesses to run.

  His web designer finished rebuilding his site. Already, Xander could see the magic in it. David’s catalogue was listed and his inventory being tracked online. By the sounds of his email, the sales of his specialty toys were skyrocketing with the virtual visibility. Edith had become his biggest fan and had spread the word of his specialty to her granddaughter’s friends and support network.

  Reggie had made a slew of new creations over his Christmas break from school and was starting to really turn heads with his designs. Xander had secretly sent an article about Reggie to a young entrepreneurs magazine and had just gotten word that they wanted to feature Reggie—pictures, interviews, the whole set up.

  Telling Reggie would have to wait until tomorrow though. Today, he was dressed in his second best suit and headed for the mediator’s office. Maddox hadn’t told him much. They weren’t sure if they were going to settle today or give the mediator more information.

  As he took his seat at the conference table across from the mediator and down the way from the University of Colorado’s team, his breathing shortened and spots were appearing in his eyes.

  Not now.

  He put his hands over his face and breathed in, picturing an oceans’ rolling waves, Gia standing with her feet in the sand on their honeymoon. His heartbeat slowed.

  Mr. Hudson cleared his throat. “Thank you both for taking the time to join me today. This should be quick. We have come to a point in which my services are no longer necessary. Mr. Callahan, would you like to elaborate?”

  Maddox smiled. “Yes. Initially, the university did not seem interested in settling. However, we have now come across very clear evidence that there was a Brady violation in the initial case. We will be officially taking this case to court with both the university and the police officer who withheld evidence in Mr. Reinerman’s original case.”

  Xander stared, slack-jawed at Maddox. They were going to court? Again?

  “Maddox,” Xander hissed. “Why did you not tell me about this before we came in? Did you not think that maybe I wouldn’t want to go to court?”

  Maddox tilted his chin up. “You want your name cleared, Xander?”

  “Yes.” He did, but without the drama.

  A twinkle appeared in Maddox’s eye. “This is the way. The university was dragging their feet, but now they need to be terrified because we are going to take them and this police officer to the cleaners and win.”

  “You’re sure we can win?”

  Maddox nodded. “Positive. I’ll explain later.”

  As they sat down for lunch together at an Italian place tucked away in a very private booth, Maddox dug into the breadsticks and laid out the plan. “Over the holidays, I was out of the office since not much actually gets done. But when I got back in, I had a confidential package arrive from a private carrier that I needed to sign for myself. I opened the envelope to find a heavy stack of papers which laid out names, dates, timing gaps, and story inconsistencies of your case.

  We’re not going settle with the university for maybe three million. We’re going to hit this hard and go for ten, fifteen million. We’re suing the university and the police officer. This is going to be very public, exactly what neither the university want for publicity nor the state want for the police force. There needs to be accountability for this type of thing. We’re going to hold them to it.” Maddox eyed Xander. “I don’t believe in luck, but I do believe that you have an angel watching over you that just handed you the keys to your future. Now, Randall will likely have to testify in court under oath which will corroborate your story or have him gu
ilty of perjury. And, with the hard facts, we have on the police officer’s indiscretions, we will be looking at a big win and an undisputed comeback for you.”

  More courts. More testifying. More media attention. He wanted his name cleared though. Maybe this would be the ticket. Maddox seemed sure of it.

  When he got back to the house, he grabbed the mail and went inside to make sure the place was clean for when Gia came back in two hours. And there amongst the bills was another white envelope with his name on it. Inside this one was an old school voice recorder.

  Hi Xander,

  This recording is a special device that will only allow you to play this once. Please listen carefully to what I’m about to say.

  My name is Dr. Colin Morgan. I once was the top neurosurgeon in the US, but was swept into the government’s crush when they found out about an exceptionally rare photographic memory trait I possess. I won’t bore you with the details, but I did many things for the government whilst still a surgeon but eventually quit to become an informant.

  A few years back, I was deeply entrenched in an international real estate scheme run by international crime syndicates and dangerous gangs under a cover name. Because of my ability to memorize sensitive details without a paper trail, I became the go-to guy for gangs who were buying up massive amounts of property around big cities to drive real estate prices higher. With rising real estate prices, gangs were able to not only have a higher end clientele but also control the majority of the cities based on the properties they owned and protected. It was a territory war that the government couldn’t let pass.

  As a good informant, I provided bank account numbers, thousands of addresses, names and fake names of the people I worked with. When it came time to bust the ring, I naturally went down with it in order to protect my cover.

  My time in prison was fairly short-lived and when I was released, I took my freedom and disappeared to a private island extremely comfortably.

  How you ask?