“So you have a boyfriend, huh?” he asked with a chuckle.
“He’s just a friend from school who happens to be male, that’s all.”
“Yeah, I know how those things end up. First he’s a friend, and then a boyfriend, and then it’s ‘Daddy, I want a big wedding, please,’” he laughed.
“Let’s not start planning my wedding right now. I think I’m still warming up to the boyfriend idea.”
“Have fun, Leese. You’re only young for a little while.”
I held in a bitter laugh; that thought was too literal.
“Tell Mom that we both love her when she wakes up. Maybe you guys should go for a short vacation to a hotel or something so she can get some rest at night.”
“She’d never go for that,” he said honestly.
“Yeah, I know. Bye, Dad. Love you.”
And the call ended.
A few minutes before six p.m, the red Pontiac pulled into the drive. Matt was a little surprised as he looked out the window.
“Wasn’t his car black the last time he was here?”
“This one’s a rental. He got a scratch on the Z last night so it’s in the shop.”
“Gee, that must be nice. I wonder what kind of insurance company he has?”
He had said we were going someplace nice tonight and I figured it wouldn’t hurt for me to look wonderful. But I had to be careful that the balance was ‘wow, she’s beautiful,’ but not quite ‘wow, she’s sexy.’ I didn’t want to end up having to punch him in the side and ruin our deal.
I wore my black mini skirt, with a snug black spaghetti string tank and my light weight black Roxy jacket—besides being a little cool tonight, I needed something to cover my arm. I finished it off with black high heels. I wore a little more make up than usual and used my red lip gloss to give me a punch of color. My long hair was loose, but I brought a couple pony-tail holders in case he had the top down. The only jewelry I wore was my simple silver stud earrings and my silver cross necklace. I was a little worried at first I might have this whole, ‘going to my own funeral’ kind of look, but when I checked the mirror, I just looked very polished (even if it was a low-budget outfit). I slipped my iPod into my pocket, grabbed my purse and headed out the door.
The reaction I got from him was very good. The mouth was slightly open and then he remembered his manners and ran around to the other side of the car to let me in. I thought about asking if I could drive, but I looked down and saw the car was an automatic. I settled comfortably into the plush seat and figured I might as well relax. I had five weeks left and I was going to enjoy them.
He wore black tailored dress slacks and a white button up the front dress shirt. He wasn’t going to go so far as a tie, and I liked it better anyway because he left the top two buttons undone. Tonight he definitely didn’t look his fake age.
He didn’t say anything as we backed out and headed down toward the waterfront. I noticed his car had an iPod hookup, which I had been hoping it did, so I took mine out of my pocket and plugged it in. Jeremy Camp’s, Lay Down My Pride filled the air. He was frowning at the lyrics, but I didn’t care. It had been one of my favorite songs before I met him. I couldn’t help it now if some of the words had become a little bit prophetic. The next song was another Jeremy Camp, Take my Life, and it was part way through as we pulled into Skopelos. He appeared relieved to have it turned off.
“Did you pick that music out especially for tonight?” he asked as he placed his hand on my lower back and guided me into the restaurant.
“No, I had it on random play. But, if you want to be honest, all my favorites might make you uncomfortable.”
“Lewis,” he said to the maitre d as we approached.
“Right this way, Mr. Lewis.” She took us to a table outside on the patio. There was a light breeze blowing and the sun would be setting in an hour. She took our drink order and left us alone.
“So why would I not like most of your music?” he continued, leaning back in his chair.
“Well, I guess because most of my music is about surrender, change, sacrifice and love. You know the heartfelt stuff that would make a hit man puke,” I added with a smile. “It really bothers you, doesn’t it? I mean like the song I sang, Perfect People, that got to you, and don’t say it didn’t. I was there. I saw your eyes.”
“I just have different taste that’s all. And, if it pleases you in some sadistic way, yeah, you threw a couple darts when you sang it.”
“It does please me,” I admitted.
The waitress was back with our drinks and asked if we’d like an appetizer. Evan suggested the bacon wrapped scallops, and I said that was one of my favorites so it was fine with me. As soon as she walked away, I could see he was dying to ask, “Why?”
“If I can hit you with a consciousness dart then that heart of yours isn’t as off limits as you think.” I lifted my drink as if in toast. “Here’s to darts.”
“Annalisa,” he said, refusing to lift his glass. “Don’t go through these next weeks thinking you’re playing a game with someone who can change.”
“Everyone can change, Evan, but that’s not why I hired you.” I opened my purse and pulled out the folded papers that I had run off from the computer. You have work to do for me and time is of the essence, right?”
He gave me an annoyed breath, as he took the papers from my hand. He didn’t say anything, but I could see his brow furrow as he read the article about my grandfather.
“My mom suspected, not long after he died that it wasn’t suicide. There were too many things in his life that brought him pleasure to just throw it all away.”
“It says that your grandmother died of cancer the previous year. That certainly sounds like a reason for depression.”
“He loved her and he was crushed, but he was back on the road to recovery. He had been on a couple dates just the month before they found him in the garage. He had a small amount of barbiturates in his system when they did the toxicology reports—he didn’t take any medications and there weren’t any in the house.”
“Leese, if he was planning on ending his life, he might have purchased just a few. It doesn’t mean he had to have a bottleful.”
“But why take it before getting into his truck and turning the engine on? The exhaust alone would have knocked him out, right?”
“Not necessarily. Maybe he was afraid that he’d get sick from the carbon monoxide and give up before finishing the job.”
“He wasn’t that kind of man. He had almost a billion dollars in banks all over the United States. He was making business deals up to the day before he died. Why make deals if you’re planning to die.” Wow. I hadn’t realized how deep that statement was until I had uttered it.
He gave me an odd look from across the table.
The waitress returned with our appetizer, took our orders and then left us alone once again. The sky was starting to cloud up to the south, and I found myself hoping it wouldn’t fill before we got to see the sunset.
“Can you find out if someone was paid to get rid of him? I know it was two years ago, but I would think, in your circles, taking out a billionaire would be…”
“Like taking you out,” he finished.
I frowned, “No, that’s not what I meant. But don’t they like have some kind of hall of fame for whoever bags the person worth the most bucks?” I was being an ass at this point, but I didn’t like the comparison he made when he mentioned me.
He ignored my remark, “Who is going to benefit the most by getting rid of you?” he asked. “Do you have a will?”
“No, I’m like my mom in that regard; I think it’s morbid.”
“Wait a minute. Do you mean to tell me your mother has no will? This says she was your grandfather’s only child. People with that much money have wills.”
I gave a half-laugh, “Grandpa had a will, but my mom is only thirty-five…”
“Age has nothing to do with it. She’s worth a fortune if he left everything to her.”
“She and
I,” I corrected, but he looked confused by the way I stated it. “He left everything to her, and I’m the alternate or whatever they call the person second in line.”
“What about Kimmy and your dad?”
“Kimmy was only four when grandpa died. His will was made a year before she was born and he evidently never changed it. Mom and I were the sole benefactors.”
“How does your dad fit into this?”
“Robert is my step-dad—don’t give me that face, he’s like a real dad to me.”
He flipped through the paperwork and looked at what I had concerning Robert’s family.
“You’ll notice,” I said as I watched him read, “He comes from a wealthy family, too. Maybe not as wealthy as Mom’s, but they had millions.”
“I’ll look these over tonight and do some research.” He tucked them into his pocket as the main course arrived.
“So what now?” I asked. “I don’t know what to say to you now that my premonitions about you were right.”
That got an odd look. “Premonitions?”
“I had a very distinct feeling that you were trying hard to get me alone with you.”
“Leese, do you ever really look in the mirror? What guy wouldn’t want to be alone with you?”
I enjoyed the compliment, but yet it was hollow. “Isn’t there more than a guy just wanting to sack a girl?”
He smiled, “Men are shallow.”
“Be honest with me about something, really honest.”
“I’ll try,” he said cautiously.
“Haven’t you ever, I mean in your entire life, felt like you could love someone?”
He appeared to be struggling with what he wanted to say, but finally resigned himself to a simple, “No.”
“How about you? Other than the fact that you’ve never been kissed, hasn’t there been someone that made you want to abandon your morals?”
Wow! This was going to be a hard one to get through. “You know I put on mascara tonight, right? That question for me is pretty emotional.”
He handed me his dinner napkin, “Tell me about him.”
This big lump rose up in my throat and just sat there blocking any intelligible sounds. I dabbed my eyes a couple times and looked down at the dinner that had been appetizing only seconds earlier. “I can’t eat if you’re going to make me do this.”
“All right, dinner first, you pick the topic of discussion.”
“Tell me about yourself and your family,” I blurted. “And don’t give me that line about ‘if I told you, I’d have to kill you’ because we both know I’m already there.”
I spent the rest of the evening learning what he would permit me to know about his family. They were from New Orleans. That much had been true to form from his school persona. He was of a French/Italian descent. He was fluent in the French language (which I already knew) and Italian (which I didn’t know) and had an older sister and brother. What was a surprise was that his sister was a police chief somewhere in Louisiana. I thought there was some glimmer of hope for his family to have at least one redeeming member, but he told me no.
“Working with the police is the death knell for a mobster, but it is actually a pretty honored position to be a ranking officer who is in the family. She’s the person that keeps up with potential problems before they occur and keeps us one step ahead of prison.”
With dinner finished, we watched the sunset and then took a short walk on the beach.
“You know for someone who has never fallen for anyone, you certainly know how to set the mood,” I laughed lightly as he closed the car door behind me.
He walked around and sat down. “Top down for a little while?”
“It’s only like seven or eight minutes to Matt and Bev’s. It almost isn’t worth it for such a short drive.”
He reached in his pocket and pulled out a tissue and gave it to me.
“Where did you get this and why are you handing it to me?”
“I grabbed it from the hostess station on the way out of the restaurant. I’ll drive until you can finish answering my question.”
I was momentarily blank and then I remembered what he’d said he wanted to know. “It doesn’t matter anyway—nothing is going to matter in a few weeks.” I couldn’t look at him anymore.
“All I want is for you to tell me about him.”
“This is stupid,” I remarked, using his stolen tissue.
“I’m curious, that’s all.”
“You really want to know?” How about a picture, too?” I stated, opening my purse.
He was somber, but he nodded.
I reached into the side compartment and pulled out the small two-by-three and handed it to him. I watched the expression on his face as he turned it over and stared.
“It’s you, you idiot.” I said softly, reaching with trembling fingers to take back my mirror.
“You’d have to be crazy,” he replied, still holding on to my hand. “Don’t you understand what kind of person I am?”
“I know who you’ve sold yourself to be, but I don’t believe it. And you’re right. I’m starting to think I’m more wacked right now than my mom, but I can’t help how I feel.”
“Then why do you want me to follow the gentleman act? Let me at least kiss you, Leese.” He leaned across the seat, “Don’t you want me to kiss you?”
“Kiss me just before the end, so I won’t care what’s about to happen.”
“You don’t mean that,” he said in disbelief.
“I’ve thought about it ever since I figured this whole thing out earlier today and, if you give such stupid things as last requests, that’s what I want.”
He slumped back into the driver’s seat and just sat there staring at the dashboard. Finally, his hand reached over and turned the key. Without another word he took me home.
As I turned to get out of the car, I reminded him to be back at nine-fifteen in the morning. He never said yes or no or anything for that matter. He just waited for me to shut the door and then he nodded once and backed out.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The next morning was, as the weatherman predicted, overcast and stormy. Bev and Matt were not ready by the time Evan arrived, but they urged me to go ahead and they would meet us there later. I found it extremely funny that the lightening began popping just before we got to church. He gave me a nervous look as we opened the car doors and ran for cover.
We stopped under the church overhang and the sky opened up and the rain began pouring down. “Wow, that was close,” I remarked.
“The rain or the lightening?” He still looked worried.
“You survived this last Wednesday. I think you can make it through today. Just remember three things if you should burst into flames.”
“What?” He asked impatiently, holding the door open for me to the main foyer.
“Stop, drop, and roll,” I laughed.
“Amusing, Leese, very amusing.” But he wasn’t smiling.
My Sunday morning youth group was tiny compared to Wednesday nights. There were only about a dozen or so teens. I honestly think Evan would have been more comfortable had it been a large group so he could manage that feeling of getting lost in the crowd. Pastor Shawn seemed glad that I had returned with my visitor from Wednesday night, but I got that same feeling from him that I did from Matt; he thought Evan was a little older than the others.
One of the guys that played in the mid-week band had brought his acoustical guitar and Shawn asked me if I’d start us off with a song.
“Tell me what you can play, I can probably sing it.”
He looked up at me through a mop of disarrayed dirty-blonde hair and smiled, “I just learned all the cords and riffs for Cry out to Jesus. Do you know the words?”
“Sure,” I smiled. I wondered how Evan’s conscious was going to handle the lyrics. I couldn’t help the fact that something inside him was waking up through music. I’m sure it was an uncomfortable feeling with everything he had done in his life, but I felt like th
e pain was a good sign that the guy I liked was in there somewhere.
Surprisingly, he smiled as I sang. He was leaning forward in his chair, his forearms resting on his knees and his hands clasped. I guess that was what made him so good at what he did; no one would suspect what was underneath the pretense.
When the song ended, I took my place next to him and waited for Shawn to begin his lesson on the conversion of Saul to Paul. Every sentence was another dart. I gripped the inside of my lower lip with my teeth to restrain the smile.
We met up with Matt and Bev on the walk from Sunday school to the main sanctuary. We sat a few rows back to the left of the podium.
Bev, grinning, leaned over and looked at us, “You two look so cute together.”
He looked over at me and gave me a quick, double-rise of the eyebrows and then leaned back and put his arm around my shoulders. I should have felt like the little pig that was invited to dinner by the big bad wolf, especially since he told me this was the image he was paid to create, but I was too comfortable to care. And then the pastor asked the congregation to stand and open the hymnals—a look of shear panic crossed Evan’s face.
“You said I didn’t have to sing!” he fiercely whispered in my ear.
“That was Wednesday. Everybody sings on Sunday morning.” The way he looked at me made me really glad that he didn’t carry his gun on him.
The song was I’ll Fly Away, and I didn’t expect that he would actually sing, but after the first chorus, I could hear a soft rumble beside me. Although I loved the song, I lowered my volume and listened carefully; he actually had a wonderful voice. I could feel myself flushing with color as his sexy base became clearer. We sat down and I looked at him with a purposeful open mouth and then had to fan myself to cool off. He was stone faced.
He was either actually listening to the sermon or he was very good at being immobile for an extended period of time. After church, he asked me to go with him for lunch and I agreed. This whole business of being alone and close with him had gone from frightening to something I craved. I wasn’t going to change my mind regarding my virtue, but I simply had a need to be with him. Maybe the old saying about keeping your friends close and your enemies closer came about because your enemies could sometimes be more interesting.
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