“Because of Adam?” Kim asked softly.
“It’s crazy—I’ve only known him for less than a week—but we have so much in common, and he’s so much fun to talk to… Oh…. this must be kinda strange for you… Me talking about Adam like that.”
“Why, because we used to date?” Kim asked with a smile.
“Does it bother Nick?”
“It used to. I suppose Adam and I… well, our relationship is complicated. Looking back, we were two troubled teens who turned to each other for all the wrong reasons. What we really needed back then was a good counselor—not a boyfriend or girlfriend. If you’ve read any of the articles covering Angela’s trial, you know we got together briefly when they were engaged—which, of course, is what she credits her breakdown to. But trust me, that was an even bigger mistake. Adam and I care deeply for each other, but I doubt we’ve ever been in love with each other.”
“How can you be so sure? I mean, that it wasn’t love?”
“That’s easy.” Kim smiled. “Because the feelings I had for Adam can’t even come close to what I feel for Nick. Seriously. I don’t think I ever knew what being in love meant until Nick.”
“It might have been love for Adam.”
“No, and that I’m certain of. Adam never looked at me in the same way Nick does. In fact, Adam never looked at me like he looks at you.”
“Me?”
“Maybe you two haven’t known each other for long, but I’ve never seen Adam look at anyone—react to anyone—like he has to you. Honestly, I wish you’d stay. I want to see Adam happy, and something tells me you are the one he’s been waiting for all these years. And… I’ve seen how you look at him.”
Blushing, Sophie glanced down at her hands.
“Okay, I’ve said too much,” Kim said with a laugh as she stood up. “Come down whenever you want. Take your time.” Kim scooped Jake off the bed and started walking toward the door.
“Kim…” Sophie called out.
Kim paused at the doorway, Jake in her arms, and looked back at Sophie.
“Thanks, Kim… for everything.”
“You’re welcome.” Kim flashed a smile then left the room with Jake, closing the door behind her.
Sophie sat in the bed, considering what Kim had said about Adam. On Wednesday, she and Adam had talked more about his job offer—yet this time it hadn’t been just a temporary consulting position he had proposed. After a lengthy discussion about their respective restaurants and her culinary ideas, Adam wanted to hire her as his chef.
The idea definitely appealed to her. She loved the kitchen at the Lucky Lady Restaurant and Saloon; it was much larger than the small yet efficient kitchen nook of her family’s Italian restaurant. The Lucky Lady boasted a separate prep and baking area with some beautiful equipment, including a floor-standing Holbart mixer that made her drool.
Of course, it would complicate things if she and Adam started a personal relationship. Yet, perhaps they already had, considering he had kissed her—twice. Sophie laughed at herself when she thought about the kisses and how they made her feel. She had friends who would jump in bed with a guy after a first date, and here she was, blushing and daydreaming over two kisses.
Sophie understood Adam had the power to break her heart. It was obvious he was far more experienced than her—Sophie Marino, who was probably the last twenty-eight-year-old virgin on the planet. Maybe it was time she experienced what heartbreak was all about.
Chapter 36
From his wheelchair, Harrison silently watched as Garret chatted with Tony Marino. However, Harrison’s thoughts were not on the discussion at hand but on memories of the past.
When Tony Marino had first walked through the door the day before, Harrison swore it was the father, Anthony Marino—the man who seduced, brutalized, and raped his wife, Vera Coulson. The resemblance was uncanny, but the moment Tony began to talk, whatever likeness Harrison imagined quickly faded away. Tony was no more like his father than Kim was like Sonny.
Harrison had yet to meet the daughter—Sophie Marino. But the girl’s arrival in Coulson had definitely caused a ruckus. The question everyone was asking—why did Fred Garcia want to kill Sophie? Everyone, that is, but him. He knew exactly why Fred wanted the girl dead.
It was a good thing Sam Peterson had been forced to kill Fred during the arrest. If Fred had managed to escape, Harrison would have found it necessary to hire someone to track the man down and have him killed. It wasn’t that he wanted to keep the secret—that really didn’t matter anymore. But he owed it to Sophie to keep her safe. He might not know the girl, but he couldn’t let an innocent suffer because of some residual evil resurfacing after fifty plus years.
He glanced over at the loveseat where Alex sat with her son. The two chatted in hushed tones; he couldn’t hear what they were saying. At one time, he imagined Adam as Kim’s husband. In retrospect, he knew Kim had made the right choice. He assumed Kim was in the kitchen with Kate. From what Kate had told him, when she arrived earlier, Russell was at the office.
Kim had surpassed his expectations—and Harrison Coulson had high expectations. She was intelligent, possessed an inordinate amount of common sense, and was an asset to the company. The parental love he felt for the girl often surprised him. In many ways, she reminded him of his mother—the quiet strength, the compassion. Everyone said she looked like her own mother, Carol Myers—when Carol was a young woman, before Sonny destroyed her life. But there were times he glimpsed his mother, Mary Ellen, in Kim—an expression, the way she laughed, her smile.
“Look who we have here,” Kim announced as she entered the library with Sophie by her side and Kate trailing behind them. Everyone in the room turned to the doorway.
Harrison was the first to speak. “So, this is the young woman who’s had quite the harrowing experience.”
“Sophie, this is my grandfather, Harrison Coulson,” Kim introduced as she walked into the library and stood by Harrison.
“Mr. Coulson,” Sophie said as she approached the elderly man. “I want to thank you for all your help in getting my father here so quickly.”
“It was my pleasure, young lady. And please, call me Harrison. After all, you are practically family, being Nick’s cousin.”
The moment Sophie had walked in the room, Adam stood up anxiously. He waited until she finished talking with Harrison before stepping to her side and taking her hand in his.
“How did you sleep last night? You look pretty terrific this morning,” Adam asked, brushing a kiss on her cheek.
From across the room, Tony eyed the scene with keen interest. From the small sofa, Alex glanced up at Tony and watched him watching her son. She imagined that is how Garret would look if some strange young man took Sarah’s hand in his and kissed her cheek.
“I slept great. And once again, Kim has fed me, so I’m quite content.” Sophie smiled.
“I honestly did not expect you to look… so cheerful this morning. Considering what you went through yesterday.” Tony frowned. “I sure as hell don’t feel terrific.”
“I’m sorry, Dad.”
Adam released Sophie’s hand so she could walk to her father. She gave Tony a kiss on the cheek.
“But yesterday, Dad, my life quite literally passed before my eyes. I don’t think I’ve ever been so frightened. I thought I was going to die. And I didn’t even know why he wanted to kill me. But instead of waking up this morning reliving the nightmare, I feel incredibly grateful to be alive. It’s as if I’ve been handed a wonderful gift.”
“I’m thankful you have such a positive attitude.” Tony reached out and touched the side of Sophie’s face. “But I would most definitely like to know why that man wanted to kill you. From what you said, that was his primary intent. I don’t understand; he didn’t even know you.”
“I’ve been thinking of that myself,” Adam said. “I have a theory as to why Fred Garcia wanted to kill Sophie. It really is the only thing that makes any sense.”
All eyes
turned to Adam. Harrison watched with shrewd interest, wondering if Adam was about to suggest what he himself wanted to shout to the room.
“Sophie, if you’ll remember, you and Fred got into a discussion about the DNA evidence on your grandfather’s killer. Fred grew up in Coulson, and he’s old enough to be the killer. If he was, then he’d want to silence the one person pressing for DNA testing.”
“What is he talking about?” Tony asked his daughter.
“When I got into town, I spoke to the police chief about Grandfather’s murder. I wanted to see what they had on the case. It turns out there was blood on Grandfather’s clothes, and they believed it was the killer’s. They didn’t do DNA testing back then, but they could do it now if the FBI still has the evidence.”
“This, this is what almost got you killed?” Tony said angrily.
“If that blood was really Fred Garcia’s, but…”
“But nothing! I didn’t have a problem with you coming here to meet your cousin. I wasn’t thrilled that you visited that man’s grave, but this putting yourself in danger by digging around in an unsolved murder, playing Nancy Drew—and a reckless one, I might add… What were you thinking?”
“But he was your father…”
“No, Sophie. Biologically, yes. But he was no father to me.”
“I just thought if I learned more about him, that I’d find something to show those stories weren’t true, and you’d feel better about him.”
“I don’t need to feel better about the man. He is nothing to me. I learned to deal with who he was when I was fifteen.”
“I don’t understand? We just found grandmother’s scrapbook a few months ago.”
“Sophie, I’m sorry. I’ve known for years what kind of a man he was. I just never said anything to you. I was the one telling the lies, not my mother. I thought your grandmother had gotten rid of that scrapbook years ago. I never expected you to find it.”
“What are you saying?”
“When I was a teenager, your grandmother sat me down and told me the truth about him, showed me the scrapbook. He was physically and mentally abusive to her—a dangerous man. To survive, she ran away with me. I was just a baby at the time. She struggled, went by an alias, afraid he would find her. Yet, she still managed to start her business with the help of some friends she met. And later, after his body was discovered, she reclaimed her identity. Sophie, I was a teenager before I could use my legal surname.”
“It can’t be true,” Sophie shook her head in denial. “Adam’s Uncle Jimmy remembers he was nice… and…” She desperately wanted to believe there was goodness in the man.
“Listen to your father,” Harrison spoke up, his voice gruff. “I met your grandfather. I witnessed first hand what he was capable of doing. But he’s dead now. They are all dead, all those who were responsible for his death. Trust me on this. You said you woke up this morning grateful to be alive. Be grateful also that your father was far better than the one he had. None of us are responsible for our parents. I can tell you, Garret and Russell definitely deserved a hell of a lot better father than I was, but they turned out well in spite of me.”
When Harrison finished, the room was quiet.
“I’ve been here before, to Coulson,” Tony said at last. An unspoken what do you mean hung in the air. After a brief pause, Tony continued.
“When we see Nick later, I’ll have to explain to him. When I was a teenager my mother brought me to Clement Falls one summer to meet my cousin—Nick’s mother. She was a few years younger than me. We stayed with her and Nick’s grandfather; it was a boarding house back then. One afternoon, we drove down to Coulson and visited my father’s grave. It was the only time my mother—or I—visited his grave.”
“Why didn’t you ever tell me?” Sophie asked.
“When mother first told me what kind of man he had been, I suppose my reaction wasn’t much different than yours. I wanted to believe there had to be a good side to him, that the stories were exaggerated. So, like you, I did my own investigation.”
“What do you mean?”
“I found the name of the agents who worked on his case, wrote them letters. They showed up one day, talked to my mother. She agreed to let me talk to them. I think they wanted to make sure I didn’t turn out like one of those angry avenging sons who takes it upon himself to punish the world for not understanding his father.”
“What did they tell you?” Sophie asked.
“They were kind but blunt. They didn’t hold back any punches. Showed me photos I wish I hadn’t looked at—people he’d hurt. That’s why I didn’t want you on some quest to discover your grandfather, because the picture was very ugly.”
“I don’t understand why you let me come to Clement Falls in the first place.”
“Let you come?” Tony laughed. “Like I could actually stop you? I honestly thought it would be nice for you to meet Nick. I only met his grandfather once, but he was a wonderful man. I knew all the evidence pertaining to the case had been taken by the FBI, so I didn’t imagine there was much you would discover here, considering you’d already seen all the newspaper clippings.”
“I still don’t understand why you never told me you’d been to Clement Falls before.”
“After I found out the truth about my father, I spent the rest of my life blocking him out— fabricating stories about him. If I told you about me visiting Clement Falls, I would have to tell you the rest. It was just easier for me to pretend I had no knowledge of anything that had to do with him. I apologize,” Tony said, speaking now to everyone in the room instead of just to Sophie, “for bringing this family drama to your doorstep.”
Garret watched silently from across the room as everyone assured Tony they understood, reminding him the Coulson family had their own bit of drama over the years. Garret’s gaze set on Harrison, whose eyes were on Sophie and Tony. He wondered if either of the Marinos would later ask his father to elaborate on his little speech—to explain what he meant when he said, I witnessed first hand what he was capable of doing.
Harrison shifted his gaze and looked across the room; his eyes locked with Garret’s. Father and son stared at each other for a moment while those around them continued to chatter, lost in their own conversations and oblivious to whatever thoughts were being conveyed between the two eldest of the Coulson clan. Without conscious intent, Garret glanced up to the top corner bookshelf where the Greek Classics remained, shielding the now empty box. When he looked back to his father, Harrison’s expression was unreadable.
Chapter 37
Sam Peterson lifted the yellow tape blocking the entrance of Fred Garcia’s small stucco house, located in one of the older sections of Coulson. Ducking under the tape, he made his way through the unlocked front door. Inside, he found members of the team assigned to Garcia’s case, including Hal Barnes, who was crouched down by an opened cabinet sorting through its contents.
“Hi, Chief,” Barnes greeted as he stood up and dusted his glove-covered hands on the side of his trousers.
“So, have you found anything else?” Sam asked, wandering over to the kitchen table in the adjacent dining room where the team had arranged what they believed were items of interest.
“Just what we told you about earlier. Garcia was obsessed with the girl’s grandfather. He must have collected every article ever run on Anthony Marino. He even put it in a scrapbook.”
“So, have you gone through it yet?” Sam sat down at the table and began flipping through pages of the scrapbook.
“Not really. Just glanced through it, realized what it was, set it there. The stack in the box on the end of the table is whatever paperwork we could find—old bills, receipts. We’ve pretty much gone through everything. Now we just need to take a closer look at what’s on the table.”
Glancing through the scrapbook, Sam came to a page where Garcia had glued several black and white photographs. Taking a closer look at the snapshots, Sam froze, momentarily stunned. He quickly shut the book.
“Hey, Hal. Why don’t you and the team take off. I’ll lock up here. You were up all night. Go home, get some rest. This can wait. Garcia isn’t going anywhere.”
“Are you sure, Chief? We can load that stuff up first.”
“No, that’s okay. I’ll get it. You guys have been hitting it hard the last couple days. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
After Hal and the rest of the team left the house, Sam reopened Fred’s scrapbook and turned to the page with the old photographs. Very carefully, he peeled them off, careful not to tear the page or the pictures. He slipped the two snapshots into his shirt pocket.
It took Sam less than an hour to transport the evidence from Garcia’s to his office at the police station. When he was done, he stood by his desk and looked at the framed photographs hanging on the wall behind his desk. They had been the first things he hung on the wall after taking the job as Police Chief, after Joe Carter retired. Most of the photographs were of Sam’s grandfather, who had held the job prior to Joe. Young Sam had a healthy case of hero worship for his Gramps. He’d looked up to the man, wanted to be just like him.
Sam reached out and removed one of the framed pictures from the wall. It was of his grandfather with Randall Coulson and a third man—the same man who was in one of Garcia’s snapshots. He remembered his grandfather boasting about how tight he was with Randall’s right hand man, but Sam couldn’t quite remember the man’s name. Slipping the photograph from the frame, he turned it over. Three names were scribbled on the back of the photograph: his grandfather’s, Randall Coulson’s, and John Weber’s—Randall’s right hand man.
“They tell me you are the only one here,” Sam said when he walked into the living room at Coulson House. He found Harrison alone, sitting in a leather chair instead of his wheel chair. Harrison looked up at the new arrival, removed his reading glasses, and set the book he had been reading on his lap.
“You just missed them. They all went down to the Lucky Lady to have dinner. I thought you were going to be here this afternoon.” Harrison glanced at his watch. It was past six.
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