“Go on,” David insisted.
“Carl Bordonaro is an old friend and very well connected Italian gentleman. He will do this as a personal favor for me, but he will require something from you in return. Do you understand what I’m saying? You will owe him, and one day he will ask you to return the favor.”
“If he can clean up that mess, Lance. I’ll pay his price. I have no problem with that,” David stated and then took another long swig from his whiskey.
Uncle Lance nodded to me. “Nicci, you’re gonna have to hold his left shoulder back while I pull on his left arm. Wrap your arms around his chest and pull against me.”
My knees went weak. “Maybe we should get him something for the pain first?”
“Just do it, Nicci,” David shouted.
Uncle Lance wrapped a long dishtowel around David’s forearm and then twisted it tight against the skin. He looked over to me and then at David. “Ready?”
David took one last, long swig from his whiskey bottle and then put the bottle down on the table. He nodded at Uncle Lance. I stepped behind David and wrapped my arms about his upper chest. David cursed loudly when I braced his body against mine.
Uncle Lance leaned over David’s arm and lifted the towel in his hands. “All right. Nicci, no matter what, don’t let him go.”
Uncle Lance quickly tugged on the towel with one swift motion. David screamed as my uncle pulled against his dislocated arm. I held David’s shoulders back against my body with all of my might, fighting back my tears. Then a loud crack could be heard as the shoulder fell back into place. David almost passed out on the table when Uncle Lance let go of his arm. He then positioned David’s left arm against his chest, wrapped the towel around his arm and shoulder, and then placed duct tape over the towel. He took the roll of tape and started wrapping it around the injured shoulder and arm, making a sling. I watched as the sweat began to pour from David’s face. I could feel his body shivering beneath my hands. I wanted to break down and hold him to me, but I knew I had to be strong.
Finally, after a few agonizing minutes, Uncle Lance tore the end of the tape off and pressed the tail of his homemade sling into place.
“Let’s get him into bed,” Uncle Lance instructed, as he lifted David from the chair.
We practically carried his dead weight up the back stairs and along the balcony to my bedroom. David only grunted and winced every now and then while we jostled him. When we finally laid him down on my bed, he was out cold.
“I need to make a phone call,” Uncle Lance said while I took a seat next to David on the bed. “He’ll be a lot better tomorrow.”
I glanced up at my uncle. “Where did you learn to do that?”
“Been in a lot of fights in my time, kid. Every guy learns how to tape ribs and pop dislocated joints back into place sooner or later. In my day, you only went to the doctor if you got shot, stabbed, or had the clap.”
“I don’t even want to know which one of those three you had.”
Uncle Lance smiled. “I’ll go call Carl. What’s the address of David’s place?”
“1012 Royal.”
He quickly exited the bedroom.
I beheld my David, beaten, bruised, and passed out on the bed beside me. I snuggled against his right side and tenderly kissed his cheek.
We had been through so many false starts on our road to happiness that it seemed we were two people destined to never have our storybook ending. I guess being robbed of our opportunity to plan a life together made me learn to appreciate the time at hand, instead of dreaming about the time ahead. Like a battle-hardened soldier, I had given up my girlish notions of a fairy tale ending for a more realistic view of our relationship. Survival had surpassed romance, and happily ever after had been replaced by the desire for just a few uninterrupted moments of bliss.
***
Dallas came back to find Uncle Lance and me sitting at the breakfast table in the kitchen. My uncle had taken a bottle of Val’s Veuve Clicquot Champagne from the refrigerator and opened it. At his insistence, I had quickly downed two glasses of the bubbly liquid to help calm my nerves. The champagne had helped to relax me for a time. As soon as Dallas walked into the kitchen, all of my anxiety quickly returned.
“Lance, what are you doing here?” Dallas yelled, glaring at my uncle.
“He walked in on me and David,” I explained.
“He did what? Nicci, this is just what happened last time we were working under cover. Does your family have to be privy to every damned moment in your life?”
Uncle Lance put his glass of champagne down on the table. “I came over to deliver some papers to Nicci. I let myself in and found a badly beaten, but very much alive, David in Valie’s kitchen. I’ve got a friend taking care of George Elliot’s place so the cops won’t find anything,” he said to Dallas with a wink.
Dallas placed his hands on his hips, appearing skeptical. “Who?”
“Carl Bordonaro,” Uncle Lance returned.
“Damn it, Lance! I’m trying to keep all of us out of prison. A mafia heavyweight like Carl Bordonaro would not just involve himself in all of this without a really big incentive. What did you promise him?”
Uncle Lance shrugged. “A favor for a favor.”
“Well, I hope his people can work fast because I saw three police cars heading down Royal when I was walking back from David’s place.”
Uncle Lance stood from the table and pulled his phone out of his front trouser pocket. “I’ll call and find out what’s going on,” he said as he started for the kitchen door.
“What about George?” I asked, after Uncle Lance had left the room.
I could tell by the scowl on Dallas’s face that the news was not good. “I overheard a local news bulletin on a television in the bar around the corner. George was found murdered in his art gallery on Magazine Street. So far the police are chalking it up to a robbery gone bad.”
I covered my face with my hands. How many more innocent people would Simon sacrifice before this was over?
“Now that the press has picked up on George’s murder, you’re going to have to contact Caston and tell him this was Simon’s doing,” Dallas instructed. “Maybe that will motivate him to move on Simon.”
“You’re going to need more than that to motivate Caston,” David’s voice said from the kitchen doorway.
David was leaning heavily on the doorframe. His face was pale and sweaty. I went over to his side and took the right hand he was using to steady himself and draped it around my shoulder.
“Should I even ask what you’re doing up?” I chided.
“Been thinking about how we can turn this around to our advantage,” he replied. His voice was weak and his breathing labored while I eased him into a chair by the breakfast table. “Work a deal with Caston. Tell him we will give him whatever he wants to helps us get rid of Simon,” David suggested as he slowly sat back in his chair.
Dallas frowned. “Caston has already named his price.” He pointed to me.
I shrugged at David. “Greg wants me to endorse the Jennys he has as legitimate.”
David shook his head. “I should have made sure none of you were dragged into to any of this.”
I heard my phone ringing from the living room.
“I’d better get that. It might be my father.
I ran out of the kitchen and down the hallway. I found my purse by the living room door and pulled out the phone. I didn’t recognize the number flashing back at me on the display.
“Hello?”
“Well, my dear girl,” Simon’s high-pitched voice filled my ear. “You have been busy.” He paused and his voice deepened. “You know what I want and you have him there with you. Far be it from me to stand in the way of true love, but I’m afraid you will have to settle with the offer I am willing to make you.”
“Why should I negotiate with you? You’ve killed innocent people. George did nothing to you.”
“I have never killed anyone in my life. I heard about dear Ge
orge Elliot’s murder just now on the news. But this is New Orleans, and murder is a very common affair in your city. The police think George was just another poor victim of a random act of violence.”
“I should call the police and tell them the truth. Send them right over to your suite at the Royal Orleans.”
“I checked out of that fine establishment right after Gerard’s demise. Do you know how hard it is to find good butlers these days? Gerard will be missed.”
I reasoned I would never get him to admit to his plans unless I went along. “What do you want, Simon?”
“I would have thought that obvious, my dear. I want David.” He sighed into the phone. “I propose this, go back to Dallas, marry him even, and leave David to me. I promise you will never hear from me again as long as you stay out of his life.”
“Somehow I find it hard to believe you would leave Dallas and me alone. You don’t strike me as a man who would just walk away from anyone.”
“I will do anything if the price is right.”
“I don’t have a price as far as David is concerned, Simon.”
“I could make your death look like an accident, Nicci. A tragic accident and David would never know.”
“If anything ever happened to me, David would hunt you down and kill you,” I growled.
“Then what about your uncle, your father, or his lovely girlfriend, Betty. I could take them away from you forever, but I wouldn’t stop there. I could take out your dizzy Aunt Hattie, your family friend Val, and even that absent-minded cousin of yours, Colleen. How does that sound, Nicci?”
“Don’t threaten me, Simon. I’ll go to Greg Caston right now and tell him you’re setting him up with those forgeries. That would be incentive enough for him to come after you.”
“Dear Gregory would never be stupid enough to come after me. He would be the first person many would suspect if I were to meet with an untimely end.” He paused for a moment. “What if I were to kill David, Nicci? Either give him back to me or I will make sure neither one of us gets him. I don’t care what you have to do or what lies you have to tell him. Bed a thousand men if you must to break his obsession with you, but see that he returns to me.” He hung up.
I threw the cell phone to the floor and sat down on the small love seat not far from the hall entryway. I tucked my trembling hands under my legs and took in a few deep breaths.
“Who was it?” Dallas asked, walking into the hall.
“Simon. He wants David. If David doesn’t return to him, he will kill him and me. That’s not all. He also threatened to go after my family. He knew all about Val, Aunt Hattie, Colleen, and even my father’s girlfriend, Betty.”
Dallas ran his hands over his face. “I knew he was obsessed with David, but Jesus.” He paused and stared at me. “He’s using you to get to David. He wouldn’t have contacted you unless he had a reason. Perhaps you two should consider packing up and getting the hell out of here tonight. Leave Simon to me.”
I shook my head. “He’s never going to leave us alone. I’m not going anywhere until I know my family is safe. We have to stay and end it.”
“Then we need to end this quickly, before Simon has a chance to make a move on either one of you.” Dallas bent over, picked up my cell phone from the floor, and handed it to me. “Call Caston now. Tell him you have made up your mind about backing his forgeries. Set up a meeting at his place for as soon as possible.”
I went to my purse and pulled out the card Greg had given me with his cell number on it.
“Nicci?” Dallas spoke up behind me. “Tell Caston I’m coming to that meeting with you.”
I turned to him. “Why?”
“Just tell Caston I have a proposal for him in addition to yours. He’s a business man; he’ll want me there to see what I have to offer.”
I started punching Greg’s number into my phone. “What are you offering?”
“Whatever it takes to get Simon La Roy out of all of our lives forever.”
Chapter Nineteen
Later that evening, I was in my bedroom packing up clothes when David limped in the door. As I was cramming some jeans into the bottom of my overnight bag, David hobbled over to a chair by the bed and eased himself into the seat.
“You should be resting,” I scolded.
He grimaced slightly. “I’ve spent the last three years resting.” He repositioned himself in the chair. “Look, Nicci, this morning when I woke up and found you gone….”
“Let’s not discuss it now, David.” I avoided his gaze. “We have more pressing problems to worry about.”
“I think we need to talk about this. I want a life with you. I want you to trust me and know that I’m always going to be there for you. What do I have to do to prove that to you?”
I stared down at the overnight bag on the bed before me. “Trust takes time and patience, David.”
“We don’t have time, Nicci, and I’ve never been a very patient man. I want to know that you’re willing to give me, give us, a chance here.”
I sighed, taking in his bruised face. “I would not be packing for a speedy getaway with you if I wasn’t willing to give us a chance, David.”
“Are you still angry with me?”
“No. I guess last night I was more afraid than angry.”
“Afraid of what? Me?”
“No, us. You have to admit we have had a lot of false starts in this relationship. Every time I felt like we were going to make it, something, or someone, would come along and take you away from me. I don’t want to be hurt anymore.”
David sat back in his chair and let out a heavy sigh. “That first day at Myra Chopin’s tea party, I should have walked away. I wanted to…but I didn’t.”
“You never told me that you almost walked away,” I stated, surprised by his disclosure.
“Sammy had pointed you out to me at the party. When I first saw you sitting at your cousin’s table, I remember thinking that what I was about to do was wrong.” He shook his head. “I’d never had that feeling before with any other target. I didn’t want to go through with Sammy’s scheme.”
“You did go through with it, and here we are.”
“You’re not meant for this kind of life, Nicci. Dallas, me, hell even your uncle, are meant for all the lies and corruption. I will never forgive myself for involving you in all of this mess.”
I went over to his chair and took his face in my hands. “Hey, don’t you think for a second that I regret any of this.”
“Despite the sacrifices you have made?”
I shook my head. “I’ve never made any sacrifices for—”
“There will be sacrifices, Nicci,” he interrupted. “You can’t have a life with someone unless you give up something from your past. You’ll see that, unfortunately sooner than later, because I feel that when this is all over you will have given up a great deal to be with me. I just hope you don’t wind up resenting me for it.”
“I could never resent you no matter what happens.”
“I hope that’s true. Because if that day ever comes….”
“That day will never come, David. No matter what happens and no matter where we end up, I want you to know that you saved me.” I paused, trying to find the words. “I was wrong to say the things I did last night. When I walked into that kitchen today, and saw you so badly beaten, I realized how foolish I’ve been. I owe you so much. I would not be who I am if you had not brought me to my senses. Without you I would never have walked away from the life I could have had. I would never have become a writer or turned into the woman I am. Even after I thought I had lost you, when I was struggling for recovery from your death, your memory still shaped my life. And now that you’re back, I have finally found completeness. And if our remaining together calls for a little sacrifice, then so be it.”
David leaned forward and kissed my forehead. “All this time I thought you wanted me just because of the great sex.”
I grinned at him. “That too.”
A shadow
of concern darkened his features. “I want you to be careful tomorrow night. Caston is a dangerous man, Nicci. Keep your distance and don’t let him touch you. Maybe I should give you my gun?”
“I don’t think shooting him will help.” I patted his hand. “I don’t need a gun. Dallas will be there tomorrow night to protect me.”
“What if Caston wants more than you are willing to give?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re going there to ask him to kill a man. Such requests usually come with a heavy price.”
“That’s why Dallas is coming with me. He will offer Simon’s organization to Greg as an additional incentive.”
“It won’t end there, Nicci. Even if Caston agrees to kill Simon in exchange for all you and Dallas have to offer, eventually he will want more. I guess what I’m trying to say is that you will be indebted to Caston. Very much in the same way I’m now indebted to Carl Bordonaro. Men like Carl and Greg Caston always collect on their favors. Sometimes what they may ask of you down the road, will be more than you’re willing to give.”
“What are you saying? You want me to call the whole thing off?”
“I’m trying to explain that even if Caston agrees to your terms tomorrow night, it still won’t be over. You need to be prepared for that.”
“I will do whatever it takes to end this, David. I have danced with the likes of Simon La Roy. I can handle whatever intrigue Greg Caston throws my way.”
“Yeah, well, just don’t get any ideas about having a career in espionage after we’re married. You’re a writer, not a spy.”
“I don’t want to be a spy, and I never said I was going to marry you,” I replied, jutting out my chin.
“You’ll marry me,” he stated with a grin. “I think at this point you had better marry somebody before you end up with another fiancé. I don’t think the world could survive it.”
I noted his swollen right eye and split lip. “Well, I’m not going to marry you looking like that. Imagine our wedding pictures.”
David reached for my hand. “When we get married, there will be no wedding pictures, Nicci. There can be nothing to link Dan Goldvarg to David Alexander. The wedding I’m talking about will be quick and done by a justice of the peace. There can be no witnesses. No chance that anyone can ever find me.”
The Nicci Beauvoir Collection: The Complete Nicci Beauvoir Series Page 78
