Past Sins Revisited

by Mary Goldberger

  “Your fiancé was away on business, right, dear sister,” he stated in a mocking tone and Calida nodded her head.

  He laughed as he tossed the pictures up in the air where they fluttered to land down around Calida and Calida glanced down to one which unfortunately showed Sophie with her hands on Edric’s chest staring up at him with a soft smile on her lips with Edric glancing down at her. Calida couldn’t see Edric’s expression but the soft in light Sophie’s was an invitation that even Calida could read.

  “I doubt your dear fiancé passed up that invitation,” Jeffrey taunted her, and Sophie put her head down as if guilty while Jeffrey laughed loudly.

  Calida lifted her head and although her heart was breaking in her chest, she said sharply, “And yet, you still haven’t figured it out, have you, dear brother?”

  Jeffrey stilled at her words as the gun steadied in his hand before he growled, “What are you talking about?”

  Calida smiled as she said her voice a little mockingly, “Ten years ago, you took a young girl’s life without any remorse and yet you tried to seduce the wrong woman.”

  Jeffrey’s eyes widened in shock and fear as he said, “How do you…?”

  Then suddenly something flashed through his mind as he snarled at her, “It was you. You are the one who gave the police the file that will destroy me.”

  Calida laughed lightly as she said, “If I’m right, after today you are no longer the head of Reseda Electronics.”

  Jeffrey laughed as he told her, “I am a Reseda and Reseda Electronics belongs to me.”

  Calida gave him a smug grin. “You should check on the company, Jeffrey, as the head of Reseda Electronics.”

  Jeffrey rushed toward Calida putting the gun in her face as he growled in a hard voice, “Remember who is in charge, baby sister?”

  Calida swallowed but she met his eyes bravely before Jeffrey backed away and he pulled his cell from his pocket as he walked out of the room locking the door behind him.

  Sophie decided this was her chance as she allowed her voice to tremble slightly with tears as she sobbed, “I’m sorry, Calida, but we couldn’t control our passion. Although he was using you, Ric was going to be faithful to you until he broke the engagement.”

  Calida nodded her head putting her head back down on her knees although tears slipped down her face and Sophie with her head reverted smiled in satisfaction.

  “That damn bastard,” Jeffrey screamed storming back into the room startling both Calida and Sophie as they came to their feet. “He orchestrated a takeover and now he has a majority of shares for the company.”

  His eyes narrowed on Sophie who began to shiver when he sneered, “He loves you, doesn’t he, Sophie? So maybe he would think twice of taking what is mine if I take what is his” as he raised the gun.

  Calida’s eyes widened as she reacted fast while she cried out, “No” just as Jeffrey pulled the trigger.

  Calida felt the bullet hit her as she pushed Sophie out of the way and she fell to the floor unaware of the cops that suddenly stormed the room after hearing the gunshot.

  She didn’t hear Jeffrey’s shouted words as he swung the gun in their direction or the guns that went off at his action each one hitting him directly. He collapsed a few feet away from Calida his eyes staring off into the darkness of the warehouse while the police came closer.

  Matt heard the gunshot and went in following the SWAT team that went in first, and his eyes widened as they took in the scene before him.

  “Put down your weapon,” the SWAT team leader ordered guns trained on Jeffrey Reseda.

  “Fuck you,” Jeffrey said his gun still aimed in the general direction where a few seconds before Sophia had stood. “That bastard took my company from me. Reseda Electronics belong to me, to me, a Reseda.”

  “Put down your weapon now,” the order came again and Jeffrey shouted something unintelligible as he swung the gun around, and suddenly the warehouse filled with the sound of gunfire.

  Matt watched as Jeffrey Reseda fall to the floor the gun in his hand slipping through his fingers and the SWAT team leader hurried over kicking the gun away before he spoke in the radio attached to his shoulder, “We need an ambulance at…” as he gave the address.

  Matt holstered his weapon as he rushed over to where Calida had fell her eyes closed and Sophie lay on the floor where she had fallen when Calida pushed her out of the way.

  “I couldn’t let another person that he love die,” Calida suddenly uttered her voice so low that Matt had to lean down to hear her and her eyes flickered open to stare at him. “Adella never dated Jeffrey and she wasn’t the woman he wanted.”

  Matt stilled as Calida coughed before she said, “I was too much of a coward to do anything then, but this time I was able to do something. I’m sorry that I didn’t save Adella.”

  Matt glanced down at the woman who stared up at him with hazel eyes filled with pain, guilt, and a sense of relief.

  “Finally, someone knows the truth…” her voice fell away and Matt swore as he leaned forward trying to find a pulse.

  He felt a slow beat but she had stopped breathing and he didn’t think as he began mouth to mouth resuscitation as the EMT workers came through the door.

  They took over as Sophie crawled over to Matt sobbing, “He was going to kill me” as he put his arms around her.

  She didn’t hear as one of the men came over and whispered, “She is right, sir, and if that young woman hadn’t reacted, she would be dead now.”

  Matt stilled as he stared down at Calida while the EMT workers worked on her and he felt something in him clench as he remembered the look in her eyes as she talked about Adella, and he wondered if the young woman lying in front of him fighting for her life had lived with Adella’s death for the last ten years.

  It was late when Matt finally called Tomas as he headed for the one room in the hospital that he had visited more recently in the last week.

  “Tomas, Sophie was injured this evening,” he told Tomas not mentioning Calida as he wanted to talk to Edric directly. “She is asking for Ric.”

  “Ric won’t be home until tomorrow as he had things to do today before he came home,” Tomas told him as Selena looked up from her laptop. “I will be picking him up around ten in the morning.”

  “She wants him here and the doctor has advised me to see if he would come as she is panicking,” he explained to Tomas.

  Tomas sighed before he said, “I will tell Ric when I pick him up.”

  Matt nodded his head as he added, “Tomas, we don’t have to worry about Jeffrey anymore.”

  “You got him for all the charges,” Tomas said satisfaction in his voice as he closed his eyes and said silently, rest in peace Adella.

  “See you tomorrow, Matt,” Tomas said frowning when he realized that Matt grunted and hung up the phone as Mariah came over to him with a quizzical look.

  “Jeffrey Reseda was caught tonight,” he told her as he pulled her down into his arms. “He won’t be able to hurt anyone now including…”

  “Calida,” Mariah said on a breath as she leaned against him before she pulled back to glance up at him. “Shouldn’t you call Ric and let him know the good news?”

  Tomas glanced at the clock that she had on the side table next to the couch and he shook his head as he continued, “Right now, he is on a plane coming home and I will have to give some bad news once he arrives because Sophie was injured and asking for him. Her doctor thinks that Ric can calm her down so she would stop panicking and hinder her treatment.”

  Mariah asked in confusion, “How did Sophie get injured?”

  Tomas frowned as he admitted, “I didn’t ask Matt and he didn’t seem to be in the mood to tell me.”

  Matt knocked on the door to Lida’s room and at her ‘come in’ he opened the door to see her with a befuddled look on her face.

  “Hi, Matt,” she called out as he closed the door behind him.

  “Hi, Lida,” he said walking over to the chair that sat
next to the bed which he had been occupying for the last few weeks. “I thought you would like to know that Jeffrey won’t be bothering you.”

  “Really,” she said as her eyes widened. “What happened?”

  “Jeffrey took Sophie and Calida hostage taking them to an abandoned warehouse he had purchased in your name it appears,” Matt told her seeing how Lida’s eyes widened even more at the information.

  “How are they?” Lida asked leaning up and Matt got up to help her before he answered her.

  “Calida is in surgery while Sophie has been admitted for shock and a few scrapes, but she will be fine,” Matt told her as Lida’s face paled.

  “Calida is in surgery,” she repeated slowly. “Jeffrey shot his own sister?”

  Her voice rose a little at the question and Matt reached over folding her hand in his before he told her gruffly, “From what I have been told, Calida pushed Sophie out of the way when he turned the gun on her. It seems that he had learned Ric recently purchased enough shares to attempt a takeover which was successful.”

  Lida chuckled as she said, “I have no doubt about that because although I was in Ric’s house as a spy, I could tell he was a decent business man even though I didn’t know a damn thing about running a business myself.”

  Matt nodded his head as a frown came to his face and Lida seeing it squeezed his hand as he stated softly, “He had an ulterior motive for approaching Calida.”

  Lida flinched as she said slowly, “We all read her wrong.”

  Matt frowned at her and Lida said quietly, “My bill has been paid in full and when I asked by whom, they told me that a Calida Lindley accepted the responsibility.”

  Matt’s eyes widened as she continued on, “I always believed Jeffrey’s words when he talked about Calida because for one thing, I was jealous of her. Her father loved her and she didn’t have to work for that love but I also had a feeling that Jeffrey lusted after her until she turned about fifteen or so, and then he loved to torment her. I don’t know why the sudden change in him until a few days ago. Calida looked like her mother when she was growing up but once she hit her teens, she started to look more like her father.”

  Matt sighed as he put his forehead down on the bed and Lida hesitated for a second before she ran her hand through his hair.

  “We measured her by her brother’s deeds,” Matt muttered, and Lida nodded her head as they both sighed before their thoughts turned to the young woman fighting for her life.

  “Damn,” the doctor muttered as the young woman he was operating began hemorrhaging.

  The nurse assisting him frowned as she kept an eye on the monitors while handing him the instruments he needed to save the young woman’s life.

  “Doctor,” the nurse muttered almost two hours later when the surgery was done and he was about to walk out of the operating room. Her face was pale as she handed him the sheet she was just given, and he took it with a frown before going over it, and then he stilled.

  “Is these accurate,” he asked in a soft voice.

  “It was drawn when she arrived as procedure just in case it is required that she needs a transfusion,” she stated her voice soft, and the doctor sighed running a hand through his graying hair.

  “I want to be informed the minute she wakes up,” he told her gravely, and the nurse nodded her head as she shifted her eyes to the woman on the bed while the doctor headed out of the room.

  After leaving Lida’s room just as visiting hours were ending, Matt went up to see how Calida’s surgery went only to learn from the nurse that there was a slight problem but otherwise Calida was doing fine although she was still heavily sedated.

  “Does she have any relatives that we can contact,” the nurse asked him frowning down at a chart she held. “The doctor would like to talk to Miss Lindley’s relatives.”

  Matt nodded his head as he said, “I can get a hold of them for you.”

  The nurse nodded her head before she was called by the nurse’s desk and Matt watched her leave before he pulled out his cell phone heading for the elevator.

  As the phone rung on the other end, he grimaced running a hand through his hair dreading this conversation as the phone was finally picked up.

  “Mrs. Kendell,” he said softly as the doors closed him inside the elevator, “this is Detective Stevens from the 32 second precinct, and I’m calling to let you know that Calida was involved in incident this evening and…”

  Chapter 22

  Early the next morning after a late night flight, Edric exited the airport terminal slipping on a pair of sunglasses as he glanced around looking for Tomas who he talked to earlier about picking him up. After the long plane ride, he was ready to get some sleep and something to eat although the first thing on his mind was to see Calida.

  “Ric,” Tomas called out as he made his way over toward Edric.

  Edric smiled at him as Tomas stopped in front of him, but there wasn’t an answering one in return from Tomas.

  Tomas grabbed the small case in Edric’s hand that he picked up after he left the terminal and they headed toward Tomas’ truck.

  Edric glanced over at Tomas seeing a hard look on his friend’s face and he frowned wondering why he had a feeling that Tomas had something to tell him.

  “Okay, Tomas,” Edric started as they climbed into the truck and Tomas was easing away from the curb. “What’s wrong? Did something happen with Mariah?”

  Edric took off his sunglasses and gave Tomas his undivided attention noting the tension that he could feel radiating off his friend.

  Tomas hesitated briefly before he told him, “Sophie was hurt last night.”

  Edric’s eyes sharpened at his friend’s words as he asked, “What happened?”

  Tomas shook his head as pulled out onto the highway before he answered.

  “I’m not sure as Matt didn’t go into details when he called last night. I tried calling the hospital where Sophie was admitted this morning, but Sophie isn’t accepting phone calls until, according to the nurse, she sees you.”

  Edric frowned as Tomas added dryly, “The only thing that Matt added after telling me about Sophie being admitted to the hospital was that we didn’t have to worry about Jeffrey anymore.”

  Edric’s eyes suddenly took on whole new light as he stated, “Hopefully they have enough evidence to send him away to prison for this lifetime and next if justice is fair.”

  Again Tomas shook his head with another ‘I’m not sure’ and Edric swore under his breath as Tomas took the exit for the hospital.

  “Matt said the doctor asked you to visit since Sophie was asking for you,” Tomas said his voice slightly sarcastic.

  “But…” Edric began while he settled back in his seat as weariness took over.

  “I don’t know a damn thing, Ric,” Tomas exploded getting an astonished look from Edric. “From what the nurse revealed this morning, or what she could tell me, was that Sophie was suffering from shock because of the situation and no other injuries except for slight bruising.”

  Edric sighed nodding his head closing his eyes while the rest of the ride was completed in silence and as they pulled into the parking lot of the hospital, Edric looked at it darkly.

  “I tried to call Matt again after I contacted the hospital,” Tomas told him quietly as they entered the main building. “He was on a stake out that could last for a few days.

  Edric nodded his head pulling the cell from his pocket while they headed for the elevators a grim look coming to his face as he listened to the ring on the other end that went directly to voice mail.

  “Sophie is on the third floor,” Tomas told him as they stepped on the empty elevator.

  Edric’s face became even grimmer when he flipped his phone closed before he muttered as the doors closed, “Calida’s phone is turned off.”

  Unfortunately, Wilma stepping up to the elevator just as Tomas made his comment stilled and she missed the last remark as the doors closed on the two men.

  Wilma’s eyes fille
d with tears which she blinked back as Jake and Marti caught up with her.

  Wilma turned to Jake seeing the gray at his temples as she thought about how much she loved him before she allowed her thought to center on Calida.

  Jake frowned lifting a hand to her still smooth cheek even though she was in her early forties.

  She shook her head at the concern in his eyes as she leaned her cheek into his hand while Marti said in a slight tearful voice, “I came to see Calida. If I wanted to watch you two be intimate, I would’ve stayed home and watched my daily day time show.”

  Wilma and Jake both laughed as they turned to her seeing the slight smile on her face.

  “Let’s go see how Calida is doing,” Marti continued walking over to push the button to call the elevator back down.

  Wilma had to stop herself from telling them what she learned last night after Matt informed them of Calida being shot and in the hospital as the elevators doors opened allowing a few people off before they got on. Although it had been past visiting hours when they arrived, they each were allowed to go in and sit with Calida for about five minutes. When she was sitting with Calida, the doctor had come in after being informed that relatives of his patient had arrived. Before going back out to Jake and Marti, the doctor had gave her thorough report of Calida’s condition which wasn’t as severe as first believed, but he hesitated slightly before he went on to tell her what was discovered during the surgery, and Wilma had almost collapsed from the shock at what he told her.

  She shook her head to clear it from that talk as she noticed the questioning looks from Jake and Marti as the elevator started up, and she said, “She was moved from the ICU around three this morning.”

  Marti and Jake nodded their heads as Wilma pushed the button for the fourth floor. Wilma had called this morning to check on Calida’s status since she still had been out the night before when they left at the urgings of her night nurse. The night nurse assured her that she would sleep through the night and they could return in the morning although she understood they were worried about the woman she was taking care of for the night.