~
Layla pulled Mina’s car into the parking garage to find a frantic Ramon waiting along with the security guards. He was at the door before she opened it, boiling over with anxiety, irritation and relief.
“Mina says you went shopping! Why didn’t you wake me up? What took you so long? I’ve been going crazy worrying!”
Layla stepped out and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him and patting his back reassuringly. “I’m sorry I took so long,” she said, “I had to drop Cali off at the airport.” She twisted around to open the back door and pull out a couple of shopping bags. “And I needed to pick up a few things for Michael. He can’t go around in those awful ski clothes now, can he?”
Ramon exhaled, trying to stay mad at her but mostly just overwhelmed with relief.
She took his hand as they walked to the elevator, bubbling over with enthusiasm. “Do you want to go out to dinner tonight? How about we go find a fancy Hollywood place and look for movie stars!”
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” he said, looking at her strangely. As far as he was concerned they were all still in grave danger from Frankie and his gang of thugs.
The elevator door opened and they went inside, away from the prying eyes of the Kim family’s security. The second the door closed Layla dropped the bags, threw her arms around Ramon’s neck and greeted him with a passionate kiss. When they reached the upper floor she straightened back up, smoothed her skirt and picked up her bags.
“What was that for?” he chuckled, still reeling.
“I’m just happy.”
“Why?” he sounded suspicious.
“It’s all done now. It’s finished.”
“What do you mean? What did you do?”
The door opened to the hallway of Mina’s family home. “I need to get these to Michael. Why don’t you go wait for me in your room. I’ll just be a minute, okay?”
“Hurry,” he said, impatient. “I want to know what’s going on.”
~
Layla knocked on Michael’s door, poking her head in when he called out. She held up a shopping bag with a smile. “I got you some new clothes.”
“Thank you,” he said, his eyes worried.
She came closer to sit down on his bedside. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m a lot better.”
“How’s your finger?” she asked, wincing.
“It’s alright,” he said, flexing his hand. “I can still play games with it.”
“Good. Cali will be so happy to hear that. I took her to the airport this morning. She wanted me to tell you to get lots of rest, and that she’d see you when you got back.”
He nodded. “She was incredible,” he said. “I wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for her.”
“We both owe her our lives,” Layla agreed solemnly. All at once her face brightened. “I have some really good news for you,” she paused with a smile, “It looks like–”
“I have something to tell you too.” He interrupted her, his face solemn.
She stopped, able to see the gravity of the situation. “What is it?’
“I …I …” he squeezed his eyes shut. “We’re broke. I lost all of the money.”
“What?” she asked, surprised.
“It’s gone. I lost it.”
“All of it?”
“I made a bad investment, and then I got crazy trying to make it back.”
“What does that mean?” she asked, confused.
“We can’t pay the rent, or pay for your shopping … or anything.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “That explains it.”
“What?” he asked nervously.
“They tried to decline my credit card today.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, filled with fresh remorse.
“What should we do?” she asked him.
“Mina says that we should get jobs.”
A slow smile spread across her face, surprising him. “That’s a good idea.”
“What about re-building Redcastle?” Michael asked.
Layla shrugged. “I changed my mind about that. I think I’d like to leave it the way it is.”
Michael’s mouth dropped open. This was the last thing he expected to hear from her. She smiled at him, pleased to see the relief written all over his face.
“You’re not mad?” he asked.
“No. It wasn’t really our money to begin with, was it?”
He shook his head no.
“Now, I have something to tell you–Good news!”
Layla explained what she and Cali had done, confident that their troubles with Frankie were a thing of the past.
“We decided to let them sort it out among themselves. We have the cartel guy’s word that we won’t be troubled any more.”
“Do you think we should believe him?” Michael asked.
“I do. You have no idea how angry he was,” Layla said ominously. “I wouldn’t want to be Frankie right now.”
“Good,” Michael said, rubbing the wrist of his injured hand. “He deserves a taste of his own medicine.”
“Oh, he’ll get it,” she replied, “Don Miguel is not the kind of man who gives his word lightly.”
“Well, that’s a relief,” he said.
“Yes,” she agreed. “It’s finally over. It’s time for us to move on with our lives.”
“Mina will be glad to hear it.”
Layla nodded, “Yeah, but do you think she needs to know everything?”
“Hell yes she does!”
Layla was surprised to see Michael react so strongly. “Okay, okay. I suppose she already knows most of it anyway.”
Michael stopped to think, and it occurred to him exactly how much Mina didn’t know about him–about his past.
Layla went on, “Ramon told me that he never would have found me if it wasn’t for Mina, so I suppose we owe her the truth.”
“We owe her our lives,” Michael said.
“True,” Layla admitted. Then she smiled knowingly. “It’s a good thing she likes you so much.”
Michael’s head snapped up to look at her eagerly. “Do you really think so? Can you tell by looking at her?”
“You should have seen her spring into action when you passed out! I don’t think I’ve seen anyone so worried.”
“Worried?” Michael repeated. He’d been hoping for a little more than concern.
“It’s a start,” Layla smiled. “Give it some time.”
He was used to having no secrets from his sister, but he still colored a little with embarrassment. “Hey–do you mind if I stay a few extra days? Mina wants to show me around, and I can drive home with her.”
“Sure. That’s a good idea.”
Layla bent down to kiss Michael on the cheek before she sprang up to leave, a new plan bubbling up in her mind.
“I think that me and Ramon can find our own way home.”
~
Chapter Sixteen
REVELATION
~
Layla found Ramon sitting up on the folded-up couch, agitatedly flipping through the channels on the television set across the room. She plunked down next to him, taking his hand.
“What happened today?” he asked. “What did you do?’
She took a deep breath, aware that he wasn’t going to like hearing what she had to say. “Me and Cali went somewhere before I took her to the airport.”
“Where?” he asked tersely.
She started to explain, trying her best to choose her words carefully, “You know how that Frankie guy used Cali to rob the cartel?”
“Yes,” he nodded, his eyes intense.
“Well–” she started.
A breaking news alert interrupted the show on the television, and the name they spoke caught both Layla and Ramon’s ears. They exchanged a quick glance before Ramon reached for the remote and raised the volume.
They leaned forward to watch, both equally shocked to hear the news of Charles Blackwell’s untimely death. The anno
uncer described a sudden fatal heart attack, reporting that the senator was pronounced DOA at Cedars Sinai hospital less than an hour before.
Ramon looked back at Layla, and she shook her head no before he could ask. “I didn’t mean to kill him!”
“What did you do?” he asked.
Layla dropped her face into her hands, finally answering in a small voice. “I wasn’t planning on doing anything at all. I was just leaving the airport to come back here and I saw a newspaper about some charity luncheon he would be speaking at. I only wanted to scare him. I only wanted to make sure that he never came after me ever again.”
“You certainly did that.”
She heard a soft chuckle and looked up in shock. “You’re not mad at me?”
He shrugged. “I guess you don’t know your own strength.”
“I swear he was alive when I left…”
“Layla–Whatever happened between you and him is your business. If it was me I’d probably have shot him.”
She threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly. He pushed her back gently, brushing the wild red curls back from her face. “Now, tell me what you and Cali did before that.”
~
In the small hours of the night, Ramon and Layla cuddled together on the fold-out couch, talking about everything that had happened. He was upset that she’d been so reckless as to visit a cartel boss, but truthfully, he was mostly upset that she hadn’t come to him first. In the end, he had to admit that they had probably solved all of their problems.
“So you sicced the cartel on them. I can’t really feel sorry for those guys. You live by the sword, you die by the sword,” he said.
She told him that Michael had lost all of their money. “I only have enough cash left for an airplane ticket home,” she said. “I gave all the rest to Michael. Him and Mina are going to stay down here a few more days and drive back together, so we can leave first thing tomorrow.”
“How about we take a day to go sight-seeing first?” Ramon asked.
“I don’t think so,” Layla said. “I’m broke.”
“Oh c’mon–I’ll take you and you can show me around where you used to live. Take me to all of the tourist traps.”
“You mean like Disneyland?”
“Naw, I’ve been there before. I was thinking like Hollywood and the beaches and stuff.”
“I wouldn’t know where to go. I never really went anywhere except shopping when I lived down here.”
“You’ve never been to the Hollywood Walk of Fame? The Chinese Theater?”
“No.”
“Venice beach?”
She shook her head no, embarrassed. “I didn’t get out much,” she said, shuddering when she remembered the long, awful summer she spent behind the walls of Max’s estate.
“Then you have to go! Let’s do it tomorrow. We can head home afterwards.”
“I don’t know,” she said, considering it.
“Can’t a guy take his girl on a date?” Ramon asked.
She smiled. “I’m your girl?”
“I hope so,” he said, leaning over to kiss her. “Aren’t you?”
She nodded solemnly, her eyes big.
“So it’s a date then.” He couldn’t resist teasing her, “But no more killing people with you mind, alright?”
“Deal,” she said.
~
Bright and early the next morning, Jarod arrived at the hospital, walking into the room to find Calvin sitting propped up in bed with Cali still asleep, her head nestled on his lap. He opened his eyes and raised his fingers to his lips, “Shhh.”
Jarod’s face split into a broad grin to see Calvin awake, coming in close to the bedside to speak in a low voice. “Did she tell you what happened?”
“A little.” Calvin stroked her hair. “Then she just crashed. I don’t think she’s slept since I’ve been in here.”
“Dad brought her straight from the airport yesterday,” Jarod said.
“The airport?” Calvin was shocked. “Where was she?”
“How much do you remember about what happened?” Jarod asked.
Calvin searched his memory, frowning. “We were about to eat, and there was someone at the door …” he looked up at Jarod in horror. “They took her, didn’t they?”
“Her and Michael.” Jarod nodded. “They were down in LA.”
“You mean she’s been gone the whole time?!”
“I’m afraid so,” Jarod spoke quietly.
Calvin looked down at her peacefully sleeping face. “Oh my God.”
“Layla and her boyfriend went down there and found them. She told Dad that everything is fine, and they didn’t have to worry any more.”
“I hope so,” Calvin said darkly.
“I bet she’ll have a pretty good story to tell when she wakes up, ” Jarod said.
“She always does,” Calvin replied, a worried look on his face.
Jarod nodded his agreement. “How are you feeling?”
“Hungry,” Calvin gestured to a tray bearing some congealed oatmeal and a bowl of canned peaches. “Can you bring me something to eat?”
Jarod laughed. “Sure thing. Crystal is on her way up. We’ll go pick up some food for you guys.” He held up his fist for a bump, choking back his emotions, “It’s good to have you back … I better go find Crystal.”
When Jarod left Caledonia finally stirred, stretching from head to toe like a cat. Coming fully awake, she bolted upright, asking Calvin, “How are you feeling? Do you need anything?”
“Good morning,” he smiled, holding his arms open for her to fall back into.
They snuggled together quietly for a few minutes, until Calvin finally spoke, “I want you to tell me everything that happened in LA.”
“I will,” she said, yawning. “But it’s a long story.” She sat up and yawned, looking down at her rumpled clothes. “I must look like a mess.”
He chuckled, reaching out for her hand. “You look like a raccoon… A beautiful raccoon.”
She remembered the mascara, rubbing under her eyes. “Oh yeah–Layla. I better go wash my face.”
He gestured. “There’s a bathroom on the other side of that curtain.”
She started to get up, but he noticed a scrape on her wrist, pushing her sleeve up to see dozens of red marks where branches had snagged on her arm. He inspected her other arm, dismayed to find the same thing. “You’re all scratched up! What happened?”
“It’s no big deal … Just give me a minute.” She climbed out of the hospital bed and disappeared behind the curtain, coming back just as Jarod and Crystal appeared in the doorway. Crystal held Poddy in her arms and the little dog let out a strangled yelp when he saw Caledonia, squirming to get loose. Crystal set him down and they both raced over to her.
Crystal grabbed her in a tight embrace. “Cali! We were so worried! Where’s Layla?”
“She’s fine. She’s with Ramon and Michael.”
“Cal! You’re awake!” Crystal rushed over to hug him too, overcome with happy relief. Emotions came easily to her, and Cali smiled at the way they rose like a mushroom cloud to spill out in all directions.
Jarod set down the box of fast food he carried to clamp Cali in a relieved hug. “What happened to you? Who did this?”
“It’s a long story,” she repeated, avoiding Calvin’s eyes as she hugged Jarod back. She explained things in the simplest terms possible, telling Jarod and Crystal the same mostly true story she’d told Calvin’s father, with just enough well-placed blasts of tranquility and trust thrown in to make them accept it without question.
Calvin’s eyes met hers in a haze of skepticism. He’d just watched her in action, and he was the only one in the room who knew what she was capable of. She bent down to pick up the little dog that danced at her feet, lifting him onto the hospital bed. He ran back and forth between her and Calvin, whimpering, and she laid her hands on him, soothing him.
“Later,” she told Calvin under her breath.
“Poddy is
a hero you know,” Crystal said. “He’s the one that called Layla when you got shot.”
“What?” Calvin laughed.
She explained what Layla had told her while Poddy lunged up to lick his face.
Calvin laughed and scratched the dog behind the ears. “I always knew he was the smartest dog in the world.”
“I still don’t get why they took you guys with them,” Jarod said to Caledonia, reasoning past the blanket of acceptance she’d thrown over him. “I mean, if they wanted revenge–”
“What smells good?” Calvin asked Jarod, changing the subject.
Soon they were all circled around Calvin’s bed, eating cheeseburgers and laughing at the little dog’s antics as he performed tricks, begging for scraps.
Every time the two Cal’s eyes met the weight of his unanswered questions hung thick in the air between them, and after he finished eating Calvin ran his hands up and down Cali’s arms. She knew that he was taking note of every tiny scratch and bruise.
“Have you settled on any names for the baby?” Caledonia asked Crystal, sparking a debate between the expectant parents over whether it was going to be a boy or a girl. Calvin started throwing out some outlandish suggestions, making them all laugh, and Cali watched him happily, satisfied that he was going to be all right after all.
The conversation was broken up by an older nurse who entered the room pushing a wheeled cart. “Well hello Poddy!” she greeted the dog, bending down with a grunt to pet him.
She smirked at the fast food bags, nodding to Calvin. “It’s about time you woke up. I’m here for your sponge bath,” she gestured to a basin of water on the cart.
Calvin’s eyes flew open, “Sponge bath?”
She pointed to the clipboard, “It’s on the schedule. “I’ll come back when you’re done with your visitors.”
When she left Jarod started cracking up, laughing so hard he could barely talk. “You heard her … it’s on the schedule.”
Calvin rolled his eyes at him. “How does she know Poddy?” he asked, patting his bed and smiling as the little dog jumped up onto a nearby stool to vault himself over the rails and onto the bed.
Crystal explained, “Layla somehow tricked them into thinking that he’s a certified therapy dog. All the nurses know him now.”
The Redcastle Redemption (The Athena Effect) Page 14
