by Angel Sefer
“All right,” Alexis gave in. “Take a look around the back but stay out of our way.”
Without another word, Dan was already halfway around the side of the house.
Chapter Twenty-One
DAN WALKED AROUND the back and locating the basement door, he kicked it open and carefully walked inside. Gunshots coming from upstairs sent his heartbeat to overdrive. His mouth went dry, hoping Christina was all right.
The shades were pulled, and the basement was dark. He moved slowly with his back against the wall, his senses working double time. All of a sudden, he heard a noise to his right. Trying to pick up the slightest noise, he moved closer to a door. Holding his breath, he tried the doorknob—it wasn’t locked. He opened it, and in the dim light inside, he saw Christina strapped to a chair with a piece of tape on her mouth. Her eyes, wide with fear, were watching him.
He walked slowly into the room, and after he had made sure they were alone, he released her. She jumped up and threw herself into his arms, bursting into tears.
“Calm down!” he said, squeezing her in his arms. “It’s okay! I’m here now!” he reassured her.
All of a sudden, he heard heavy footsteps running down the stairs and pulling Christina behind him, he pointed his gun at the door. It was Alexis who showed up at the opening.
“It’s okay!” Alexis said. “The house is secured.”
Dan breathed out in relief and turned to Christina. “Are you okay?” he asked, concerned. “Are you hurt?”
“No!” she responded. “Just scared.”
“Come on!” Dan said. “I'm taking you out of here.” And he pulled her outside through the basement door.
They walked back to his car to find Anna Maria waiting there. The girl climbed out of the car and stood in front of Christina. Dan stared from one to the other. He could hardly believe his eyes. No wonder he thought that this girl was Christina—they looked exactly the same.
Alexis walked up behind them and stood for a minute, staring from one girl to the other.
Dan pushed Christina into the car while Alexis arrested Anna Maria.
***
“What’s going to happen to her?” Christina asked as Dan drove away.
“We'll see,” Dan replied. “The police will question her to find out what her involvement is.” Then he changed the subject and told Christina that he was going to take her to the hospital to be checked out.
“No!” Christina protested. “No more hospitals. I just want to go home.”
Finally, Dan gave up and drove her back to the mansion. He helped her upstairs and into the bathroom. She took a shower and went straight to bed.
“You need some rest,” he told her. “Get in bed, and I’ll bring you something to eat.”
“No, I don’t want anything,” Christina replied, and climbing in bed, she closed her eyes. When Dan came back with a cup of tea and some cookies, she was fast asleep.
***
It was dark outside when Christina woke up. She lay still for a few minutes, trying to clear her tangled thoughts. A headache was raging, her mouth was dry, and her muscles were stiff as a log. What’s going on? Am I ever going to be able to relax and have a normal life? she wondered, feeling drained by the emotional roller coaster of the last few weeks.
She swung her feet off the bed and sat up. Her eyes shut, waiting for the dizzy spell to subside. Opening her eyes again, she noticed a note on the bedside table—Dan was coming back in a short while.
Her stomach growled from hunger. She stared at the cup of tea, but it was cold. Grabbing a cookie, she walked downstairs to the kitchen. She thought about making a sandwich but didn’t have the energy to do anything at all—she felt numb inside. Making herself another cup of tea, she took it to the living room and curled up on the sofa, waiting for Dan.
The pounding of her head painfully reminded her of everything that had happened. Then she thought about the girl at the police station. She looked like her twin sister. But she didn’t have a sister. Or did she? Her mother hadn’t mentioned anything about another baby in her letter, and all those years she had been watching the Rosettis, she had never heard anything about that girl. Then again, she had never heard anything about her grandmother, either.
Christina put her cup of tea on the coffee table and went to the bathroom to take some Tylenol—the headache was unbearable.
She walked back in the living room and called Dan. “What’s going on?” she asked, breathlessly.
“I’m on my way back,” he replied. “We’ll talk when I get there.”
Christina put the phone down, sank on the sofa, and waited for him.
***
She finally heard his car pulling up and rushed to open the door. He came in, holding some bags from a tavern down the street.
“Souvlaki and french fries,” he said.
“Mmm! It smells good!” she said. “I’m starving.”
“I thought so,” he replied. “I’m starving, too. I didn’t have anything to eat all day.”
“So what happened?” she asked, impatiently.
“Let’s eat first, and I’ll tell you all I know afterwards,” he suggested.
“Okay,” Christina agreed. The truth was that she was too hungry to be able to think straight. Besides she was hoping that after she had something to eat, the headache would subside.
They took their food to the kitchen.
“I love souvlaki,” Christina said and brought dishes to the table. She couldn’t wait to taste this popular Greek recipe consisting of small pieces of meat and sometimes vegetables grilled on a skewer, served with french fries or in a pita sandwich with garnishes and sauces. She also brought two beers, and they ate quietly, enjoying their delicious meal.
“I can’t believe we’ve been here so many days and haven’t had souvlaki yet,” she said.
“I know,” Dan replied. “But it’s not like we’ve been on vacation. These days have been pretty hectic for both of us, and especially for you.”
After they were done, they cleaned up the table and walked back to the living room.
Christina dropped onto the sofa and stared at him. Dan strode over to the French doors and stood there, crossing his arms over his chest.
“There is so much I need to tell you,” he said. “I just don’t know where to start.”
“Start at the beginning,” she said and wrapped her arms around her knees, steeling herself for what was coming.
“Christina,” Dan started, staring her straight in the eyes. “Your grandmother is dead.”
She glanced at him shocked. “What do you mean?” she asked confused, unable to comprehend what he was telling her.
“She was killed,” Dan clarified.
“But why? Who?” Christina asked, puzzled.
“Let me start at the beginning,” Dan said and explained to her how Miles flew out to Las Vegas to meet with his contact over there. He told her about the maid at the Rosetti’s mansion in Nevada, who had been with the family for years. According to her, Christina’s grandmother was a bitter and unhappy person. Adriana hated her father, who had the only man she ever loved killed, and forced her to give her first born baby boy to an orphanage. She never forgave him for that. She hated her husband, too, and never cared much about her boys, Antonio and Paolo. The maid insisted that Adriana was crazy.
Christina drew a deep breath and squeezed her arms around her legs to keep from shaking. She was overwhelmed by all this.
“Are you okay?” Dan inquired.
“Yes, please, go on… I need to know,” she whispered, her voice vibrating with emotion.
“When you and your twin sister were born, Paolo was away with his mistress, as always,” Dan went on.
“So that girl is my twin sister, after all,” Christina pointed out more to herself than Dan. Deep down inside, she knew it. How could it be anything else when the girl looked like her clone?
“Yes,” Dan confirmed and further explained that the old lady took advantage of the f
act that Paolo was away and stole one of the babies, saying that it was stillborn. She would have taken both of them, the maid believed, but she didn’t want anyone to get suspicious, in case they had heard the babies crying. “Your mother never found out that her other baby was alive. That’s probably why she never mentioned it in her letter to you.”
“And what happened to that baby?” Christina asked, holding her breath. She couldn’t believe all the pain, sorrow, and deceit in her family. What kind of family was that?
“The baby was taken to Italy and was raised by your grandmother, telling everybody that it was the daughter of a distant relative, who died while giving birth.”
“I can’t believe she would do such a thing… But why?” Christina thought out loud.
“I don’t know. Maybe she wanted to take revenge for having been forced to be separated from her first-born son. Of course, her father and husband were already dead, so she turned against the sons she had with the husband she hated. Or maybe it was because she hated your mother, as well.”
Christina kept quiet, tears welling up in her eyes. Her sister didn’t have a better fate than her. She was forcefully removed from her family and raised as an orphan to serve the purpose of a crazy old lady—whatever that purpose was.
Dan remained silent for a few minutes, as well, probably giving her time to absorb all this information. Then he went on to explain that Adriana had grown attached to her grandson, and when she met with Christina, she realized that she could arrange it so that Fabiani could take over the Rosetti’s inheritance.
“So she took advantage of me and my feelings,” Christina pointed out, bitterly.
“Yes, she took advantage of you and had you sign everything over to her, supposedly to arrange for the charity foundation. But in reality, she was just going to sign everything over to Fabiani.”
“And then what happened?” Christina asked. “Did she sign it over to Fabiani before she died?”
“No,” Dan replied. “It seems that at the very last minute, she discovered that Marcello Fabiani was responsible for his father’s death, and she backed out.”
“He was what?” Christina asked, shocked. What else was she going to hear? What was wrong with all those people? And to think that they were her relatives! “I can’t believe all the things happening in my family,” she whispered. “What kind of blood is flowing through my veins?”
Dan strode over and pulled her into his arms. “Don’t say that,” he urged her. “You have nothing to do with those people. They were murderers.”
“Yes, but they were my relatives,” she protested.
“I know, but you have nothing in common with them. Just think about your mother—what an amazing and brave woman she was, sacrificing her life for her child. And she would have done the same for Anna Maria, too, if she knew she was alive.”
Christina hid in his arms, and Dan kept her close, letting her release all the pain and sorrow piled up inside for so long. He pulled her on the sofa and down next to him, caressing her hair and back while she cried her heart out.
After her crying subsided, he explained that Fabiani, who had been arrested during the raid in Fiscardo, confessed to the police that when he saw his dreams falling apart, he ordered one of his men who were watching the old lady to kill her. Then he brought Anna Maria from Italy to take Christina’s place and take control of the money.
“I’m not sure what’s going on between the two of them,” Dan told Christina.
“It’s mind-blowing to think that they are uncle and niece. Do you think that they know the truth, or they believed the story Grandmother told everyone?”
“I’m not sure,” Dan replied. “However, from the information the police have gathered so far on Fabiani, he seems like a person capable of just about anything in order to acquire the wealth and power he craves.”
“And what about…my sister?”
“Anna Maria seems to love him and fear him at the same time. They have been together for a while, and she has been here on the island before, posing as his wife.”
“So, that’s why the neighbors acted as if they knew me,” Christina said, and Dan looked at her inquiringly.
Christina explained to him about her visit to the house in Fiscardo and the neighbors who invited her inside their house. Then she told him about the first time she saw Anna Maria.
“I called you,” she said. “I left you a message to call me right back.”
“I know,” Dan said and took her in his arms. “I’m so sorry I doubted you, babe,” he continued, and his voice broke off. “But I was hurt. I saw her at the airport with Fabiani, and I went out of my mind. I thought it was you…”
Christina raised her head and kissed him on the lips. Dan squeezed her even closer and returned her kiss with a fiery passion that took their breath away.
“I love you,” he whispered.
“I love you, too,” she said. “Please, don’t ever leave me again.”
“Don’t worry, babe, I won’t,” he promised and picked her up in his arms to carry her upstairs to the bedroom.
He laid her on the bed and made passionate love to her.
***
Hours later, they were lying in bed, happy in each other’s arms.
“What is going to happen to her?” Christina asked.
“I don’t know,” Dan admitted. “I'll try to help her if I can. I don’t think that she ever meant to do anybody any harm. She was just a puppet in the hands of your grandmother and later, Fabiani.”
“I would like to see her; talk to her,” Christina said.
“I’ll arrange that,” he promised her.
“What about my grandmother?” she asked him. “Who arranged for her funeral?”
“By the time Miles arrived in Nevada, everything was taken care of,” Dan replied. “She was buried next to the little church they have on the property. Her husband and Paolo are also buried there.”
Christina couldn’t help but think of her mother and the way she died. Her body was never identified, and Christina wasn’t sure what happened to unidentified bodies after they were removed from the morgue. Were they buried somewhere under no name or what? Oh, how I wish I could find her grave, she thought. But she realized that there was probably no way to do something like that.
***
Dan looked at her lost in her thoughts. “There weren’t that many people at the funeral,” he said.
“How do you know that?” she asked surprised.
“Miles arrived in Nevada the day of the funeral. It was a good chance to meet some people and obtain some information from them, so he attended it.”
Christina waited for him to go on.
“Actually,” he said, “the only people there were her attorneys and some servants working at the Rosetti’s house.”
“So she didn’t have any friends or other relatives,” Christina assumed.
“No other relatives live in the States, and from what Miles gathered from questioning the servants, she was a loner. She had no friends visiting her while she was there.”
“It’s so sad,” Christina said, “having a large family with children and grandchildren, and end up having nobody but strangers come to your funeral.”
“It was her choice,” Dan reminded her. “She was the one who hated and manipulated everybody around her.”
“She was hurt, too,” Christina pointed out. “Can you imagine what she must have been through with a father like hers and a husband who married her only for her father’s money? No wonder she hated the whole world.”
Dan glanced at her skeptically. He couldn’t help but admire this girl who had been through so much and could still find some kind words to say about the crazy old lady who tried to steal her inheritance and almost got her killed.
“I love you so much,” he said and stared at her adoringly.
“I love you, too,” she whispered and gave him a kiss.
They remained quiet for a few minutes, both lost in their thoughts.
“There is so much that I need to do,” Christina said. “Tomorrow, I’m going to get in touch with the law firm that is handling the inheritance. I’m the only one left now, and I have to take care of my sister, as well.”
Dan glanced at her, worried. He knew that there was still trouble ahead, and she would need a lot of determination and courage to make it through it.
Chapter Twenty-Two
THAT SAME NIGHT, Dan called Alexis and arranged for Christina to visit Anna Maria the next morning.
“It’s all settled,” he said, hanging up the phone.
“Thank you,” Christina whispered, taking a deep breath. “I still can’t get used to the idea that I have a twin sister.”
“Well, there is something else…” Dan said, and Christina glanced at him inquiringly. “Perdini passed away.”
Christina kept silent, staring out of the window.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m wondering if he had any family,” she said.
“I have no idea,” Dan replied. “The police will try to find out and notify them.”
“If he doesn’t have anybody, I’ll take care of the funeral arrangements,” she said.
“Okay,” Dan agreed, not knowing what else to say. Even though Perdini was a mobster, he had saved Christina’s life. So he could understand that she wanted to do something for him.
***
Christina spent the whole night preparing what she was going to tell her sister. But by the time she arrived at the police station, she had forgotten everything. Dan drove her there, and even though he offered to accompany her inside, Christina refused. She needed to be alone with her sister.
Stepping inside the tiny interrogation room, her heart started fluttering. Even though the weather was still warm, and there was no air-conditioning on, Christina felt a cold draft sweeping through her body. She gazed at the wall with the one-way glass window and at the metal table and the two chairs—the only furniture in the room.
Feeling weak at the knees, she sank onto one of the chairs and glanced around the impersonal room. Dread washed over her, thinking that her sister was kept in a room similar to this one. She had to do something… She had to get her out of prison as soon as possible.
