by CW Browning
“Understandable,” Alina murmured. “In time, you'll adjust. You'll get used to the solitude.”
“In some ways, that's what I'm afraid of most,” Lani replied. “But right now, I'm more worried that Tito will come back. John told you what happened?”
“Yes.” Alina set her coffee down. “What did he want, exactly?”
Lani glanced at her.
“Do you really believe that John and Dutch's accidents are unrelated?”
Brown eyes met brown and Alina slowly shook her head.
“I do not.”
“I didn't think so,” Lani said, a faint smile curving her lips.
“Tell me why you think they're connected,” Alina suggested, sitting back in her chair.
Lani was silent for a few moments, staring out over the front yard thoughtfully. Finally, she turned her head to look at Alina.
“John told me I could trust you,” she said slowly. “I hope that's true. I have no one else to turn to.”
Alina was silent, watching her. She didn't try to convince Lani. There was no point. Lani had no choice and they both knew it.
“I got a letter in the mail yesterday,” Lani told her after another long silence. “It was from Dutch.”
“What?” Alina was surprised despite herself.
“Obviously, he wrote it before he was killed,” Lani said, putting down her coffee mug. “It was mailed from Florida, of all places. I don't know who mailed it, who he trusted enough to mail it, but I got it yesterday.”
“What did it say?” Alina asked when Lani showed no signs of continuing.
“It was all very strange, to be honest,” Lani said, turning slightly to face her. “He said that I couldn't trust anyone, and not to allow myself to be manipulated or intimidated. He never says who might try to manipulate me, though, or why.”
“Given your run-in with Tito, that warning seems to have been warranted,” Alina murmured.
“Tito seemed very concerned that I believe the accident was just an accident,” Lani said. “Clearly, he's afraid of my asking too many questions. John tried to ask them for me, and he's had the same accident. Now, here's a letter from Dutch telling me I can't trust anyone.”
“That's all it said?” Alina pressed, her eyes boring into Lani's.
Lani's gaze held, then wavered.
“No,” she said softly. “He says there's an insurance policy and I'm the only one who can find it.”
Viper caught her breath, then let it out silently.
“Have you told anyone else about the letter? Anyone at all? Family? Friend?” she demanded quietly.
Lani shook her head.
“No one,” she answered. “The only reason I told you was because John said I could trust you, and I really feel like I'm in the middle of some kind of riddle that I don't understand.”
“You are,” Viper told her bluntly. “Can I see the letter?”
Lani stared at her.
“You know what he's talking about,” she stated rather than asked. “What's going on? What were he and John involved in?”
“I'm not sure yet,” Alina lied smoothly, “but I'm working on it. This letter will help.”
“I'll make a copy for you,” Lani stood. “I'll scan it in and print it out.”
“No,” Viper objected. “Just bring it to me. You don't want a digital copy of it anywhere.”
Lani blinked, then nodded.
“I'll be right back,” she said, moving toward the door. She disappeared into the house and Viper looked out over the front yard, her mind racing.
Dutch hadn't left the package where anyone could get it easily, which was an amazing thing in itself. That meant he knew exactly what was in it. Had he been voluntarily transporting bomb parts up and down the coast? Or had he come across what was really going on and tried to stop it? Or, most chilling of all, had he simply taken the package as ransom to get more money out of Dominic? While Alina suddenly wanted to know the reasons behind Dutch's actions, Viper quickly set the questions aside. The whys didn't matter. For one reason or another, Dutch ended up stealing something that, if it fell into Dominic's hands, would complete Asad Jamal's arsenal. That fact placed Lani in far more danger than John could have ever imagined when he asked Alina to befriend her that night. Viper's lips tightened grimly. In his own way, John turned out to have far better foresight than she ever gave him credit for.
“Here it is.”
Lani appeared next to her chair, holding out an envelope. Alina took it silently and pulled out a single sheet of paper, scanning it quickly.
Lani,
I know you won't understand much of this, but I don't have time to explain. Something happened and I don't know who to trust. Like pops always said, if you can't trust anyone else, trust yourself. So that's what I'm doing. If you're reading this, I never got to tell you in person. For that, I'm truly sorry. I've left you with a burden you should never have had, and you can't trust anyone to help you carry it. People will try to manipulate and intimidate you. Don't let them. You're a fighter. You always were. Fight now, and fight hard. I've left you an insurance policy. You're the only one who will know where to look. I only ask that you don't go for it until you know you have no choice. You'll know when that time is.
I love you and will always be watching over you.
Dutch
Viper folded the sheet and tucked it back into the envelope.
“Can you tell me anything about what Dutch was doing in the weeks leading up to the accident?” she asked, handing the envelope back to Lani.
“Not really,” Lani answered. “We led our own lives, for the most part. I know he was working some kind of job on the side. He'd be gone for a couple days at a time. When I asked him, he said he picked up a second job to help pay for some things. He was planning on putting an addition on the garage. I didn't think anything of it at the time. Dutch was always going off on his own. We both were.”
Alina was silent for a moment, then she stood.
“You said you have a shotgun?” she asked. Lani nodded. “Good. I want you to keep it within reach at all times. I don't care if you're in the shower, have a way to get to it.”
“You think Tito will come back?” Lani asked, standing up.
“I think it's best to be prepared,” she answered shortly. “Thank you for showing me the letter. Keep it hidden and safe and don't tell anyone about it. Dutch was right. You can't trust anyone now.”
Lani nodded and watched as Alina started for the steps to the porch. She paused at the top and turned back to Lani.
“What made you trust me?” she asked, almost as an after-thought.
Lani smiled faintly.
“You didn't try to convince me I could,” she answered truthfully, “and Dutch liked you. A lot.”
Alina put on her sunglasses.
“I liked him, too,” she replied, turning back to the steps.
Lani waited until Alina reached the grass and was heading towards her car before she spoke.
“They will pay for what they've done?” she called. “You'll make sure of that?”
Viper turned to look at her and her smile was chilling.
“You have my word.”
Chapter Nineteen
Hawk dropped a bag of bagels into his basket and reached into his pocket to pull out his vibrating phone. One eyebrow crooked when he saw the number displayed.
“Yes?” he answered, moving out of the aisle and toward the deli.
“Where do you go?” Viper asked him. “When you leave my house at night?”
“What?”
“When you leave my house at night, where do you go?” A note of impatience made its way into her voice.
“You haven't been able to find me, have you?” Damon demanded, grinning.
“My dear boy, I haven't tried,” Alina retorted irritably.
“Uh-huh.”
Hawk reached over to pull a numbered ticket out of the machine at the deli. He was stepping away when he heard a decided hu
ff behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw a woman barely five feet tall glaring up at him. Her dark hair was pulled up behind her head, and her skin was the color of tanned leather. Damon raised his eyebrows slightly in question.
“You have my number,” the woman informed. “That's my number!”
“Excuse me?” Damon paused and turned to her.
“That's my number!” she repeated, more forcefully. “You pushed in front of me!”
“I'm sorry,” Damon murmured, handing her the deli ticket. “I guess I didn't see you.”
He turned to get another ticket from the machine.
“Maybe if you paid attention to your shopping instead of gabbing away on that phone, you would see better,” the woman muttered, somewhat mollified.
“Where are you?” Alina demanded in his ear.
“ShopRite,” Damon answered, pulling another ticket out of the machine.
“Are you a doctor?”
“What?” Damon looked down to find the woman back at his side, looking up at him. “No.”
“That's a shame,” she informed him. “I have a grand-daughter about your age. What do you do?”
“I...um...”
“Tell her you're a lawyer,” Alina advised, only the mildest tremor in her voice.
“I'm a lawyer,” Damon found himself repeating. He immediately regretted it when the woman's face lit up and he heard Alina's devilish chuckle in his ear.
“Are you?” she looked him over. “What kind of lawyer? Are you a good lawyer?”
“Very good,” he said, resigned.
“My Jessica just graduated from Temple with an engineering degree,” he was informed. “She's going to work for a very prominent communications company in the City. Do you live around here?”
“Uh, no. Nope. Just visiting,” Damon said, trying to unobtrusively inch away.
“Where are you from?” She wouldn't let him get away. “Are you visiting family? It's so nice to see young people visiting their families. So many don't these days. When I was young, we wouldn't dream of not visiting our family once a week. It just wasn't done. Now, young people go months without seeing their parents!”
“It's terrible, isn't it?” Damon murmured with a nod.
“Who are you talking to there?” The woman asked. “Is that your girlfriend? I see you're not married. Are you single?”
“I...well...”
“Tell her you're gay,” Alina suggested.
“Actually, I'm talking to the woman I've been trying to get into bed for a year now,” Hawk announced cheerfully. “Until I close the deal with this one, I couldn't possibly consider anyone else.”
He was rewarded by a sputter and choke in his ear and a dropped mouth and gasp in front of him.
“Well!” the woman exclaimed.
“Forty-Four!” one of the men behind the counter yelled.
“I believe that's you,” Damon told her with his most charming smile.
“I...yes...yes, here I am!” The woman hustled up to the glass counter in a fluster.
“You're at the deli?” Alina demanded in astonishment.
“Hey, I'm hungry,” Hawk retorted, stepping forward as a woman called forty-five. “A pound of roast beef and a pound of provolone,” he ordered, dropping his ticket into the bin on the counter.
“So you have a kitchen wherever you go,” Alina murmured. “Extended stay hotel?”
“Why so curious?” Damon asked. “You've never asked before.”
“I've always known before. Why would I ask something I know the answer to?”
“I really have you stumped, don't I?” Hawk asked, grinning despite himself.
“Don't flatter yourself. Have you heard from your contact in Belize yet?”
“No. Why?”
“I went to see Lani this morning,” she told him. “Dutch wrote her a letter before he died, telling her he stashed away an insurance policy.”
The grin faded from Hawk's face.
“Where?”
“It doesn't say, but I think Lani has an idea,” Alina answered. “Dutch told her not to go after it unless it became absolutely necessary.”
“That's it?” Damon demanded. “He didn't say anything else?”
“Just that people would try to intimidate her and for her to fight back.”
“That's not helpful,” he muttered. “Well, at least we know it's somewhere safe right now. No clues to what it is?”
“None.”
Hawk nodded in thanks to the woman as she handed him two plastic bags with his roast beef and provolone.
“Are you going to watch Lani?” he asked, dropping the cold cuts into his basket and turning away from the deli.
“Not yet. How long before you think your contact will check in?”
“Could be anytime,” Hawk answered, heading toward the produce. “I'll let you know as soon as I hear something. When I'm done here, I'm going to see what I can dig up on that scientist we traded killers for.”
“You mean you're not going to call Jessica?” Alina asked innocently.
“Seriously, what was that?” Damon demanded.
“Hawk, you went to the deli counter in South Jersey on a weekday,” Alina told him, laughter making her voice tremor. “This is what happens at the deli counter. Relationships are made and broken by the family Yenta over gabagool and macaroni salad. That's why I never go.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously. Welcome to Jersey.”
“What the hell is gabagool?” he asked after a second of silence.
“Capicola. It's a meat.” Alina was laughing again. “Consider yourself lucky. The last time I went to the deli, an eighty-year-old Nonno tried to hook me up with his dentist.”
“Ouch. At least I was offered an engineer,” Damon said, the laugh returning to his face.
“There's still time to go back and make amends,” she informed him cheerfully.
“Can't.” Hawk considered the apples before moving over to the oranges. “This deal's not closed yet.”
“Deals fall through every day,” she said tartly. “Don't get too confident.”
Hawk grinned as he selected a few oranges.
“I wouldn't dream of it,” he murmured.
Alina glanced at her watch as she moved down the wide hallway and past the nurses’ station. Stephanie called half an hour earlier to say that John was awake and asking for her. While she was relieved he was out of his coma, Alina was disconcerted over the fact that he asked for her. She was no longer a fixture in his life and hadn't been for years. What on earth did he want with her?
As she approached his room, Stephanie stepped out the door, looking at her watch. When she saw Alina coming towards her, she smiled in relief.
“How is he?” Alina asked, striding up to her.
“He's having some trouble breathing since they took the tube out, but he won't let them put it back in,” Stephanie told her, her voice low. “His thoughts are all over the place and he's not making much sense, but he was adamant about wanting to see you.”
“What do the doctors say?”
“Not much,” Stephanie admitted, her eyes troubled. “They said not to excite or upset him. I don't think they were expecting him to come this far.”
“John always was a fighter,” Alina murmured. She reached into the inside pocket of her jacket and pulled out a small flash drive. “Here. This is yours,” she said, handing it to Stephanie.
Stephanie took it and raised her eyebrows in question.
“What's this?”
“The email Blake sent you that was stuck on your computer at work. All the attachments are there, and I deleted the original off your network at the office. That's the only copy now.”
Stephanie stared at her, torn between gratefulness and disapproval.
“I don't want to know how you did it,” she muttered, tucking the drive into her purse, “but thank you.”
Alina nodded and turned toward the door to John's room.
“L
et me know if you find anything useful. Are you coming in?” she asked.
“No.” Stephanie shook her head. “I'm heading downstairs to call his parents. Besides, I think he wants to speak to you alone.”
Alina raised an eyebrow, her face emotionless.
“I can't imagine why.”
Stephanie tilted her head and considered Alina for a moment. She opened her mouth to say something, then seemed to change her mind.
“Go easy on him,” she said instead, turning toward the elevators. “Oh! Before I forget, where did you park?” she asked, turning back.
“In the lot across the street. Why?”
“Good. I meant to tell you to park there when I called earlier, but with everything happening, I forgot,” Stephanie said. “Avoid the parking garage. The night before last, three bodies were found on the ground level. Two were dead and the third isn't expected to make it. They were gang members. The police think it was a fight with another gang, but I would be extra careful out there.”
Alina nodded, her face impassive.
“I always am,” she murmured.
Stephanie nodded and continued down the hall toward the elevators. Alina watched her go before she turned to go into the private room where she found John lying still in the bed, his eyes closed and his breathing shallow. She glanced around and moved silently over to the bed, loathe to disturb him. His face was just as pale as it had been the other night when she was here, and the abrasions and bruising were still just as multicolored. If it weren't for the change in his breathing and the absence of the breathing tube, she would have thought he was still out.
“Hey,” she said softly, touching his hand. “You awake?”
John turned his head toward her voice and slowly opened his eyes. His hand moved under hers and his fingers closed around hers.
“You came,” he murmured weakly.
“Yes,” Alina agreed, her fingers closing around his gently. His pale blue eyes were almost opaque in his face. She forced a small smile to her lips. “Of course I did.”
“I need to...” his voice broke off as he coughed suddenly, gasping from both pain and lack of oxygen.
“Easy,” Alina murmured, looking around. There was no water in sight and she didn't know if he could have it anyway. She pulled her hand from his and moved to try to adjust the pillows to make him more comfortable. “Just breathe.”