Fallen Angel, Part II

by Tracie Podger

  “Stay with me. Don’t leave me, Robert. I’m begging you. God, help him, for me, please help him.”

  Somebody crouched down beside me, I looked up through my tears and saw a paramedic.

  “You need to move away now.” I heard him say.

  Travis came and pulled me into his arms and I watched as so many people fussed around him. I also saw Mack come running in to the room. I could see the distress in his eyes and I watched Travis shake his head. And then I flipped.

  “Don’t you do that, Travis. Don’t you fucking dare give up. Robert wake up, wake up. Please baby, wake up, for me. Don’t you die on me, don’t you leave me,” I screamed over and over again.

  It took both Mack and Travis to pull me away, the police were everywhere and the paramedics were everywhere. I saw Gary being taken out on a stretcher and I was dragged out of the warehouse where I sobbed and sobbed into Travis’s chest. It was chaos, people running and shouting but as much as I could see what was going on, I heard nothing, felt nothing.

  “Make him wake up Trav, please,” I cried, my voice so weak and I watched him close his eyes, a tear seep from the corner of one and roll down his cheek.

  Mack came and put his arms around me too, the three of us just stood in the rubble of the building site and I closed my eyes, I couldn’t watch anymore. Travis was talking to me but I couldn’t hear what he was saying, all I could do was repeat myself.

  “I’ll find you again, Robert. I promise I will.”

  I heard Travis sob, I felt his body start to shake as mine was. We stood together and cried for a man that we both loved so desperately and we clung to each other. He was the only thing stopping me falling to my knees. I wanted to curl up and die right there. On that cold January day, just a couple of weeks after my wedding I had never felt so alone, so destroyed and broken and I knew, I would never recover from this.

  ****

  The next couple of months were unbelievably emotional and so hard. I hadn’t slept nor eaten properly, I had lost so much weight that I had looked skeletal for a while. I played with the very loose wedding ring on my finger. I’d had to stop wearing the other one, for fear of it falling off and it was so precious to me that I couldn’t bear the thought of losing it.

  I lay on the bed, resting and felt like I had aged so much lately. I thought of Kerry. Her funeral had been a tragic day. I wasn’t sure whether I would get there or not at first. The sun had shone and she was buried in the dress she had worn to my wedding. I wanted her to look as pretty as she had back then. The kids, especially Gerry had been distraught and I remembered that they had travelled back from New York without knowing what had happened. They had peppered Ted with questions about why Kerry was not with them, but he felt it best to get them home, in their own environment before they were told. Evelyn, Ted and one of the counsellors had sat with them.

  Some cried, some got angry and some said nothing at all. Each had their memories of her and now each had their own way of dealing with their grief. They had been told nothing about Robert, it was enough to learn about Kerry and deal with that first.

  Evelyn had made the funeral arrangements, she had kept me informed of course and as much as I wanted to be part of it, I just couldn’t. I was glad I did make it in the end. She was buried at the same church as Joe, he would look after her, I was sure. Travis, Evelyn and I travelled together, following the hearse. There was a simple arrangement of white flowers on the top of the coffin and as much as I tried to be strong for the other kids, I found it so hard. I was still completely numb.

  The only moment of awkwardness came when we were standing, watching the coffin be lowered into the ground. I had walked forwards and laid a single white rose on top before I spotted Lucia. She was standing a little way away, dressed in black, as she would for some time, in mourning herself. We looked at each other and I simply nodded. She had been an innocent part to all of this. She had not known what was to happen when she told Luca about Kerry and me visiting the site. Yet she had waited at that restaurant for half an hour before she called Robert to let him know that I had not arrived, that was too long.

  She had buried her husband a couple of days before Kerry was laid to rest, in New York. I’d heard that it had been a huge affair. Many people came to pay their respects and I wondered if she really knew how he had met his demise, if she knew anything about what had happened. I imagine she had her suspicions but this was the world we lived in, no-one would speak, and the police were still trying to piece it all together themselves.

  I felt for her and her children, they didn’t deserve this, none of us had. So many innocent people had been caught up in Luca’s problems and it would take a long time for us to come to terms with it all. As she turned to leave, she looked one more time at me. I gave her a small smile, I wanted her to know that she had my forgiveness. She had tried to contact me immediately after but I couldn’t speak to her, I couldn’t see her. The only one I did tell everything to was Gianfranco.

  He had met with me a little while after. I had received a call that he wanted to speak with me and I was glad to see him. I told him everything I knew, about the Albanians, the trafficking, how Luca had been involved in it all. I knew who had killed Luca, but that information would stay with me. He hadn’t died that day, Mack had taken him from Travis and a week later he had been found dead, shot through the back of the head, execution style as the police called it, not before being tortured. I got the impression that they were not going to actively investigate, to them, it was just another Mafia boss out of the way.

  I thought about the police, I had spent so many hours going over and over statements and interviews. I freely admitted that I might have killed and I told them why. I left out the bit about Luca being there, not from any sense of loyalty to him but I didn’t want Robert tarnished with an association to him. I had spent a few weeks dodging the press, they seemed to be everywhere, wanting a story. Travis became an expert at outrunning them in the car, finding new ways to make the journeys that I had to make. He shielded me from them as we entered the police station for yet another round of questioning. Thankfully neither Travis nor I were charged, the autopsy could not determine who had fired the fatal shot.

  The story was simple and fairly accurate. I had taken Kerry to view the development. We had been ambushed by two foreign speaking men. Gary had wrestled with one, got shot before killing him. Kerry had been attacked, she had been stabbed in the neck and had bled to death. Travis and I pulled the triggers on the guns we were holding after the second Albanian had plunged his knife into Robert’s back.

  It was the first and, I hoped, the only time I would use the number that Robert had put on speed dial on my phone. I was connected to Vassago’s lawyers who immediately flew in to New York.

  Gary had needed an operation to remove the bullet from his back. He had lost a lot of blood and had needed transfusions, but once he was able, I had him transferred to a hospital in Washington, he would want to be near Pat. I doubted he would return to being my security but I had assured him there would still be a place for him at Vassago. Mack had promised me he would transfer him to a desk job. I’d visited Gary a few times while in hospital and he was so full of remorse. He blamed himself. The call he had taken from Robert had been to warn him, to get me away from the site but I had already walked into that building and my fate was sealed before he could stop me. Hindsight was a wonderful thing.

  ****

  It took a few months before I had the strength to smile. I was laying on a bed, eyes closed, resting. I felt him. I wanted to reach out, to touch, to feel his skin, and feel the heat that radiated from his body. I smiled with the comfort of knowing he was still with me and always would be. He was a part of me, our souls so entwined, we were one.

  Chapter Fourteen

  I felt the slightest breeze ruffle my hair and the gentlest of kisses on my stomach.

  “Are you going to get off that bed?”

  “No. How long have you been watching me?” I as
ked Robert, my eyes still closed and my body being warmed by the Maldivian sun.

  I stretched out as he lay beside me and turning on my side, I looked at him.

  “What did you see?” I asked.

  “Fish, lots of them,” he laughed, he had been scuba diving that morning.

  I ran my hand over his tanned, salt encrusted body and through his still wet hair and I looked into his black eyes.

  “What do you see?” he asked.

  “Everything I need to know. Did I tell you today that I loved you?” I replied.

  “Yes, twice I think or maybe it was more,” he smiled.

  His hand stroked the side of my face. “How are you feeling?” he asked.

  “Good, each day I feel better and can you believe it, I feel quite hungry.”

  “That’s great news, come on, let’s get lunch.”

  Pulling a sundress over my bikini we headed off to the Blue Bar. It was a fantastic restaurant at one end of the island, white wooden floor and tables with blue chequered cloths. The sides were open and the restaurant stood on a platform jutting out over the sea.

  We had been one week already on our delayed honeymoon. Landau Giravu was an Island in the Maldives, owned by the Four Seasons and was simply five stars. The word paradise was invented here. There was nothing anyone could fault about the place. Our villa was spacious, we had a private garden and pool, outdoor and indoor showers and a wonderful terraced area with a sofa. There was a wooden winding staircase to a mezzanine floor with a day bed. We had made love there, under the stars, it had been just perfect.

  He held my hand as we walked along the water's edge to the restaurant. So far, our holiday had been amazing, it had given us both the chance to recharge, to relax and for him to heal properly. It still amazed me when I thought back though.

  ****

  I had been standing in the rubble, my head buried in Travis’s chest and with Mack pacing on the phone when the paramedics had rushed past us with Robert on a stretcher. What I noticed was the speed and the fact that he was not totally covered up. I expected him to be dead, for there to be no rush, for his body to be covered and when it wasn’t I knew he was still alive. I ran after them and climbed into the back of the ambulance just before it sped off to the hospital.

  I was kept out of the way while IV lines were being put into veins, paramedics calling instructions to each other and an oxygen mask placed over his face. He was connected to a monitor and I was transfixed by it, a small beep, and way slower than it should be, but definitely there. He was still alive, only just, but still with me. I sat and prayed the whole way.

  When the ambulance arrived, they ran him straight through emergency and into theatre and I was shown to a room where I would have to wait. A nurse gave me a blanket to put around my shoulders as my shirt was torn and I was covered in Robert’s blood. Perhaps it was the shock but I wrapped the blanket around me tightly, I could not seem to stop my body shivering. I paced that room for what seemed like ages before a door opened and I watched Mack come in.

  “Any news?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “He’s alive, Mack. I thought he was dead.” Tears fell down my dirty cheeks.

  “Let me go see if I can find out, I’ll be right back. Taylor is on a plane honey, she’ll be here as quick as she can.”

  “Where’s Travis?” I asked as he headed for the door.

  “Police have him but don’t worry. Do not speak to anyone until I get back,” he said and I nodded.

  I constantly checked my watch, the clock on the wall and I paced then sat for a while, paced then sat again. All the time I kept whispering to myself.

  “Please be okay, baby be okay.”

  At some point Mack came back into the room and he took my hand, made me sit.

  “At the moment he’s still alive, but he’s lost a lot of blood. His body was going into shock, shutting down. He still might not make it, Brooke,” he said.

  “Oh, he will Mack, I know he will. Now he has found me, he can’t leave me,” I said and continued my pacing.

  Mack looked at me, not understanding. “Brooke, the police are likely to turn up here soon, they will want a statement from you.”

  “I’ll tell them everything except Luca being there. I don’t want Robert associated with that scum. He caused this and I mean what I say Mack, he needs to pay for this. You know what I’m asking, you make him pay and you make him pay bad.”

  We stood and stared at each other in silence. He understood, he gave a slight nod of his head.

  “I’ll tell the police I pulled the trigger. I don’t know if I killed that man or Travis but if I did and there’s a price to pay, then I’ll gladly pay it.”

  “The lawyers are on the plane with Taylor, you tell them what you are going to tell the police, nothing more. You won’t do Robert any favours if you’re carted off to the station, now let’s go through it.”

  We talked, I sat and cried and he held me until I was confident in giving my statement and as the hours passed with still no news I began to feel such utter exhaustion. I curled my legs under me on the sofa and closed my eyes. I was not asleep but dozing when the door flew open, I jumped up, Taylor had arrived.

  “Oh my poor baby,” she said, letting her tears fall as she hugged me. “Is there any news?”

  I shook my head but repeated what Mack had told me. He had left the room to speak with the lawyers outside. While I cried against Taylor’s chest, she stroked my hair.

  “Hush now, you need to be strong,” she told me.

  I whispered quiet prayers while we sat and the night began to settle in. Mack came back with coffee and someone he introduced as James Peters, my lawyer. I went through what happened, he took notes and as we finished there was a knock on the door. Mack opened it to allow two police officers to come into the room.

  “Mrs Stone, we need to ask a few questions, are you up to talking?”

  James stood and introduced himself. “I have a full account of what happened, perhaps we can go through that. I’m sure you can see how distraught Mrs Stone is and right at this moment, we still don’t know if her husband will survive.”

  “Why would Mrs Stone need a lawyer?” one asked, a little arrogantly I thought.

  “Because a child in my care is dead and I may have killed the man who tried to murder my husband,” I replied.

  “I’m sorry, Mrs Stone, but we really need to hear this from you,” the other said, giving his partner a glare.

  I gestured to the chairs and recounted what I had told James.

  “Where’s Travis?” I asked them after.

  “At the station making a statement, albeit one not completely the same as yours,” I was told.

  “Well, forgive her for not being accurate. I’m sure she has something far more important on her mind right now and having just been through such a traumatic experience, you should be able to forgive whatever small difference you have,” James said.

  I smiled my thanks at him.

  “We will need to come and see you again, Mrs Stone. Can you let us know where you will be staying?”

  “Right here, until my husband is well enough to go home,” I replied.

  James escorted the police from the room and when he returned he asked to speak with Mack, outside.

  “Well done honey, you did good,” Taylor said as she comforted me.

  Until Robert was out of danger he was to stay in the intensive care unit. When he was able, we would arrange for him, like Gary, to be transferred to Washington. I wanted out of this City as quickly as I could.

  “Taylor, I need the bathroom, will you come with me?” I asked.

  “Sure thing,” she said as we made our way to the door.

  I stood in the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. My shirt was torn and the front stained with Robert’s dried blood. My hands were still covered and when I looked at myself, the tears I had been crying had left clean lines down my blood streaked face. I just stood and stared at myself. Had that
light that Robert always saw in my eyes been extinguished? I couldn’t tell. I looked anguished for sure and my face had a haunted, pale look about it. Someone came into the bathroom and when they saw me, they made their apologies and quickly backed out.

  “We need to get you cleaned up a little honey,” Taylor said.

  I stripped off my shirt and washed my hands and face. Using tissues, I wiped my chest and stomach where the blood had seeped through my clothes. Taylor removed her cardigan and placed it around me, pulling my arms through the sleeves and buttoning it up. We left the shirt in the bin.

  Arriving back in the room I saw Travis and I ran to him. He folded me into his arms and kissed the top of my head. In my absence Mack had told him how Robert was doing and then about the statement I had made. Thankfully, it was not too dissimilar to his. All he had added was that he and Robert had arrived, saw me with Kerry and when Robert ran over the Albanian had leapt up and stabbed him. He told them that I had fired the gun I was holding and so had he. There was no point saying anything else, they would find two different types of bullets and a gun with my fingerprints on.

  It was gone midnight and I was dozing on the couch when a doctor came to see us. He sat and explained that Robert was still critical, but they had stabilised him. He had lost so much blood and had a punctured lung but the fact that he was so fit had saved him. He had been heavily sedated, something that was needed to let his body start to heal, if it was to.

  “Can I see him, just for a moment?” I asked and he nodded.

  I followed him to a room, brightly lit. Robert was on a bed, his face pale against the stark white pillows. He had drips from either arm and was hooked up to machines. I watched a heart monitor as it beeped away. He looked so fragile that it broke my heart. Taking his hand in mine I raised it to my lips.

  “Hey baby, I’m here,” I said and I stroked his hair, letting my fingers wander over his face.

  “You had me scared there for a while, but I know you’ll be fine. I know you can hear me, I love you, Robert,” I whispered.