by F J messina
Sonia was squinting, her body wracked and aching, totally spent. But it was Brad’s arms that were holding her. It was Brad’s face pressed against the side of her head.
Stunned into silence at first, Sonia’s voice exploded. “Where’s Jet? Where’s Jet?” she screamed, squirming and struggling in Brad’s arms.
Controlling her frantic motions, Brad placed her on the ground. He kneeled down next to her, brushing blood away from the side of his face. “Babe, babe. It’s over. You’re okay.”
Sonia looked up at him, still squinting. “Jet. Is she alright?” Her voice was losing intensity. “Is Jet alright?”
It was only a moment later that Jet came running frantically over to the car. “Sonia, Sonia, are you okay?” She knelt down as well, pushing Brad out of the way, wrapping both her arms around Sonia. Her voice was mumbly in Sonia’s ear, coming through her hair. It was almost as if Sonia heard her more through the shared vibrations of their heads than from Jet’s voice. “It’s over, girl. I thought . . . but it’s over.” Jet rested her forehead on Sonia’s shoulder, tears escaping from her eyes.
Brad slid his shoulder past Jet and looked into Sonia’s beautiful eyes. His voice was comforting but energized as well. “You hurt? I’m here, babe. Don’t worry, I’m here. Are you sure you’re not hurt?” He pulled her close to him. “She’s right, babe. It’s over. It’s totally over, for you, for Jet, for the girl. It’s done, babe, done, and you’re alright. You’re all alright.”
Sonia was still just coming to her senses. She realized she was on the ground, her back leaning against the black BMW. She saw that she was on the Alston farm. She felt the gravel of the small parking lot under her hand, her bottom. She sensed the sun warming her skin. She blinked. I must have only been out for a few minutes.
Suddenly, Sonia’s heart leaped in her body. She had to see Mariana as well─see her─know for real that she was okay. But when she looked along the ground to her left, it wasn’t Mariana she saw. It was the crumpled body of Professor Spencer Andersen. His eyes open wide but lifeless. Blood pooled out of the wounds in his chest. It was clear to Sonia that Andersen’s reign of terror was over.
Sonia’s voice was thin and wobbly. “What happened? Who shot him?”
Brad ran his fingers through Sonia’s hair, down the side of her head, caressing her face with his fingertips. As he did, Sonia noticed something leaning against the car, in the same way she was. It was Brad’s M16, the one she had seen down in Tennessee and then again out in western Kentucky. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she could hear Brad saying, “The M16 can fire in three-round bursts or function as a fully automatic weapon.” It took only a second for her to realize that it was Brad who had killed Andersen.
Sonia leaned her head back and looked into Brad’s eyes. “You did it, you killed Andersen.”
Brad shook his head.
She persisted. “You did, right? You shot him. You saved us.”
Brad let out a small sigh and smiled. “No, babe. I would’ve, but I didn’t.”
Sonia furrowed her brows. “You didn’t shoot him?”
“No,” Brad nodded to his right, “she did.”
Sonia whipped her head around, past Andersen, to two women who were sitting on the ground, hugging. She turned back to Brad. “Who is that? There, with Mariana?” Before Brad could speak, Sonia knew the answer to her own question.
Jet reached out, clearly having the need to touch Sonia, feel the life force in her. She spoke. “That’s Gabriela.”
Sonia turned back to Brad as he spoke. “She got here just before me. She challenged the guy, and when he pointed his gun at her she shot him─shot him dead.”
“And you?” Sonia asked, confusion on her face. “How did you get here?”
“Well, after Ron Harris told me what was going down, I knew I had to find you.”
Sonia reached out and gently touched the cut on Brad’s face. “You spoke to Ron Harris? He told you something?”
Brad looked downward, a little sheepishly. “Well, you see. Mr. Harris and I got together in his car this morning and had a little tête-á-tête.”
Sonia reached her hand out and lifted his chin. “Aaand?”
Brad smiled again. “You’d be surprised how much a man will tell you when you use a little persuasion. So, I went to your office and saw on that whiteboard of yours that you might have come to Danville.” Brad let his eyes release from Sonia and roam across the idyllic farmland upon which she was sitting. “I got my butt down here as fast as I could. On the way, I called my buddies at NCIS. They pinged your phones for me and I followed the signal out to the farm.” He turned his face back to her. “Just as I got out of my car, I saw the guy forcing the three of you down the steps. So I got my M16 and took a kneeling position, to make sure I could make the shot at that distance. He was pretty far away.” He snorted just a bit. “I was going to stop him, but just before I take the shot, here comes this woman, right out of a little stand of trees. She walks right up to Andersen. A moment later he’s pointing his gun at her, and she’s shooting. I never fired a shot.”
Sonia’s eyes went back to the other women. “And everyone else? They’re okay?”
“Alive and well, babe.”
Sonia continued gently touching Brad’s face. “And you, who cut you?”
Brad chuckled. “I don’t know. Maybe it was some wild woman come flying out the trunk of a car.” He put his finger on her lips. “But don’t you worry. It’ll heal . . . given a little TLC.”
Sonia turned her eyes toward the other two women. Mariana’s head was on Gabriela’s shoulder. She was quietly weeping. Sonia could tell it was the kind of weeping a woman does when she can finally release all the pain, the suffering, the worry, that she has carried through an excruciating trial. She also knew that Mariana would be weeping that way for quite a while. When Sonia turned back, she saw that Jet had tears of joy in her eyes. She reached out to her very best friend, closing her own eyes tight. Their embrace was sweet beyond imagining.
Eventually, Brad stood and pulled Sonia up into his arms. “C’mon babe. Let’s get all four of you back inside. You don’t need to be sitting here next to a dead body while we wait for the police.” They moved toward the garage. Jet followed.
As Sonia and Brad walked to the stairs, Gabriela and Mariana got up and joined them. “Cómo estás, chica?”
Sonia nodded, figuring she’d gotten the gist of Gabriela’s question. “I’m fine. And thank you. Thank you so much.”
Gabriela winked at her. “Not a problem.” She looked down at Andersen’s body. “Seriously, it was my pleasure.”
Brad started to move Sonia up the stairs, but she stopped and turned back to Gabriela. “But why were you here? How did you know to come here?”
Gabriela smiled. “Because the two of you are terrible liars. I could tell, when I talked to you this morning, that you were not telling me the whole truth. You were hiding something.”
Sonia raised her eyebrows. “And?”
“And so, I followed you.” She shrugged. “I could tell you were coming to Danville for some reason, something that had to do with Mariana. I just followed you and sat in the car the whole time you ate in that Homestead place. When you followed that girl, then I followed you. It was simple.”
“But,” Sonia squinted her eyes, “we were watching carefully to make sure we weren’t followed because of the black BMW.”
Gabriela gave her a wry smile. “True, but that’s not what I was following you in.”
Brad chuckled. “Still, that’s a lot of following.”
The squint in Gabriela’s eyes let Sonia know that Gabriela couldn’t tell if Brad was laughing with her or at her.
Sonia tipped her head. “But when he came into the apartment, Andersen, why didn’t you come to help us?”
“Listen, chica,” she wagged a finger in Sonia’s face, “I was coming, but I know what a gun looks like─and I could see his. I thought Mariana might be in there and I was afraid
to just jump in. What if he shot her, first thing? So, I just tried to get closer to the garage, and by the time I did he was bringing you three out.”
Sonia stood silently listening, leaning into the arms that wrapped around her, Brad’s arms.
Gabriela looked down at Andersen. “And then he pointed that gun at me. Con eso bastó. That was enough. It was easy to shoot him then.”
Sonia felt a shiver go through her body, so strong she sensed that Brad could feel it. “Well, thank you. Thank you again.”
Brad got all four women moving up the stairs, back into Jennipher’s apartment. Mariana went through the broken door first, followed by Gabriela, then Jet. Sonia was walking as well, but Brad had her pulled so close to his side that he was providing much of the energy that was moving her body up the steps. When they reached the top, Sonia stopped and turned around. Looking down, she saw the body of Professor Spencer Andersen lying next to the black BMW convertible, its trunk still open. She turned just enough to look Brad in the eyes. “Gabriela? Is she going to be okay?”
Brad brushed some hair out of Sonia’s face. “Yeah. We’re in Kentucky, babe. Three hundred thousand people have concealed carry permits here. The law says a person can use deadly physical force to protect a third person against imminent death, kidnapping and a few other things. Given that the guy had a kidnapped prisoner in his trunk and was pointing his gun at Gabriela, I’m thinking her use of force will be considered justified.”
“Oh.” Sonia’s voice was small, but not weak. She stood still for another long moment and looked over the strangely idyllic scene. “Listen.” She turned directly toward Brad’s blue eyes. “Thank you for trying to save my life again, but,” her voice softened as she slid into her rarely used Italian dialect, “non rendiamola un’abitudine.”
Brad stepped back, his blue eyes searching her face. “What does that mean?”
Sonia gave him a sly smile. “Let’s not make this a habit.”
63
On Tuesday morning, Sonia walked into Magee’s holding Brad’s hand. It had been almost twenty-four hours since things had come to a conclusion in Danville, but Sonia’s nerves still jangled from time to time. She looked around the room, not seeing any of the people she was expecting. She moved to one of the larger tables, sending Brad to get them each a coffee and a treat. Of course, for Sonia, that meant an almond croissant.
Sonia sat at the large table by herself, waiting for Brad. She ran her fingertips absently across the worn, smooth surface of the table at which so many folks had sat─eating, and drinking, and sharing their stories. She was reminded of the time she, Brad, and Jet had met with Brad’s friend Robbie Alvarez after wrapping up a different difficult situation. That time had felt happier, more celebratory. This was different.
Just as Brad got to the table with their coffee and pastry, Sonia watched Jet and Burnett walk through the door. Seeing the large, dark bruise on Jet’s face shocked Sonia. Unconsciously, her hand reacted by moving quickly to the cut over her own eye. She gently rubbed her fingertip back and forth over her swollen eyebrow. Her eyes also led her to the cut on Brad’s face.
As Burnett went to get coffee for Jet and himself, Sonia noticed something else. Jet, she of the perpetual ponytail, had recently begun wearing her hair down in front of her shoulders. This morning it was back to its perennial style. Sonia knew that Brad or Burnett, or any other man for that matter, wouldn’t have noticed or paid any attention to the change. But for Sonia, the message was clear, even if it might not have been to Jet herself. Relationships have a tendency to run their course, and whether it was because of his conservative nature, or any number of other reasons, Sonia could tell that the relationship had cooled.
Burnett sat down at the table, handing Jet her coffee. “Well, it’s certainly nice to be back in town and sitting with some of my favorite new friends. Here’s to a task well-completed and to the safe return of Ms. Mariana Castillo.” His coffee cup went into the air.
Everyone responded. Smiles went around the table. Burnett continued, starting with his lapels and bowtie routine. Jet made no attempt to stop him. “Now, in my absence, I missed the final accounting of several elements in our endeavor. Would someone like to fill me in?”
All eyes turned toward Sonia, but Brad seemed to sense she was not in the mood to speak. He reached out and put his hand reassuringly on her forearm. “Well, we managed to get Ron Harris picked up by LPD. He may or may not have done anything illegal, but there are plenty of folks in the breeding and racing industries who are going to want to find out some things about his business dealings.” He took a quick sip of his coffee. “As far as we can tell, he knew about Andersen’s manipulation of the equine embryos, and he was the one who made promises to the breeders. He told them they would be able to reap huge profits when people came to believe that they were able to do such an incredible job breeding winners.” He gave Sonia a quick glance. “It didn’t appear, though, that he had any knowledge of the girls’ involvement, and I feel certain he had nothing to do with their deaths.”
Burnett spoke over the coffee in his hand. “And the breeders?”
Sonia mustered the strength to pick up the explanation. “It’s kind of murky. They certainly knew what they were involved in, and there’s no question the Thoroughbred industry has made it clear that using genetic manipulation to create more successful racehorses is unacceptable. My guess is that they will be stripped of the right to race any of the horses they breed, and they certainly could be looking at some sort of charges of fraud.” She shrugged. “At least none of them had anything at all to do with what Andersen did to those poor girls. And the owners, as well. I think they were totally clueless about the whole thing. They just bought the horses Harris recommended and were thrilled when those horses did so well.” She gently picked up her coffee. “Of course, I doubt that they’ll be able to keep all the winnings from races won by disqualified horses.”
Burnett asked, “And what about the gentleman, Limey?”
Jet spoke, her hand unconsciously covering the bruise on her face. “Just a friend of Harris’ and, of course, of Mariana.”
Sitting up taller, taking charge, Sonia spoke. “Well, I’m certainly glad about one other thing. That the police decided not to arrest Gabriela.”
“Right,” Jet ran her ponytail through her fingers, “and I’m still wondering about something. How the hell did Andersen follow us to Danville? Ever since the other night, we’ve been so careful about watching for that BMW.”
Brad smiled. “I was curious about that myself. Remember the GPS Sonia and I put on that truck we followed to Memphis? Well, before we left the farm yesterday, I took a good look at the professor’s car. Inside, I found a small computerized receiving device. Looks like the professor put one on each of your cars.”
The southern belle appeared. “Well, I’ll be.”
A small breath of warm air crept into Magee’s as the front door opened. With it, came Mariana, her father, her mother, and her cousin Gabriela. The smiles on their faces shone a little light into the darkness that had been lingering in Sonia’s heart.
Paco spoke first, the patriarch. “We called Ms. Jet this morning. She told us that you would all be here at ten. We just wanted to come here as a family and thank you for all that you’ve done.” He looked around briefly at the women who surrounded him. “We were so brokenhearted when we heard about those other girls, and so very grateful when our Mariana came home to us safely. We know it’s not much, but we wanted to show our appreciation as a family.” He turned to his wife and smiled. “So, Lily has baked you a pastel de tres leches. It’s a traditional cake we eat at celebrations in Mexico. It’s not much, but it is filled with gratitude.”
As she put the gift on the table, Lily’s smile lit her face as if it were reflecting a cake covered with birthday candles.
Sonia stood up, walked over to Paco, and hugged him. Jet stood as well. “It was our great pleasure to help you, mi amigo.” She swung her arm wide in an
inclusive motion. “You and your whole familia.” Brad and Burnett stood, and everyone shook hands and smiled.
As a quiet conversation enveloped the group, Sonia slid over to Gabriela’s side and spoke softly. “Thank you for making the trip to Florida. Thank you for finding out that Santiago wasn’t involved in Mariana’s disappearance. And thank you so very much for rescuing us.”
Gabriela looked directly into Sonia’s eyes. “Well, I’m certain Santiago did not enjoy my being there, but it was worth learning he wasn’t the one who took Mariana.” She gave Sonia a sly smile. “Also, I learned something else. I think I could enjoy your kind of work. I think I could enjoy it very much.”
64
After coffee and treats and celebration with the members of BCI and the Castillo family, Burnett drove back to work. Stepping into the offices of Halston and Glass, Certified Public Accountants, he greeted some of his colleagues as he worked his way back to his own, well-appointed, personal space. Closing the door, as was customary in a profession which often handled private and sensitive information, he took a seat at his expansive desk.
Opening his computer, he pulled up the files for a client who had created a business several years ago and needed the services of an accountant who could not only handle day to day business but knew how people might go back into an account to look for irregularities. Since the client was interested in keeping an extremely low profile for the business and was extremely busy, he had agreed to give Burnett power of attorney and discretionary powers in the account.
As Burnett pondered the extremely large amount of resources in the account, over two million dollars, he was faced with a challenge. The owner, who had never identified a line of successive ownership, had suddenly passed away. The only person who had access to that money, and in fact, de-facto ownership of it, was Burnett himself.
Deciding to forego any changes in the account at the moment, and in order to lessen the chance of being asked any uncomfortable questions, Burnett hid the file from Equine Futures Ltd in a folder marked Bluegrass Confidential Investigations.
