David waved his hand at me. “But I had no idea Simon was going to drag you into any of this. When I saw you at the benefit last night, I knew then that I had to make my presence known to you. I had to find some way of stopping you from being involved. Simon is using you to find me. He doesn’t need you to get dirt on Caston. He could have exposed Greg Caston long before now with the forgeries. He wants to get me back, and he knows wherever you are I will soon be.”
I looked nervously around the small coffee shop and then back to David. “Is it safe for you to even be here?”
“As long as I don’t stay out too long. But we have to be careful, Nicci,” he urged in a deep voice.
“Then I need to tell Simon I’m not going to continue on with this Caston affair anymore. I’ll can tell him something has come up and—”
“No, keep playing along,” David interrupted. “We can’t let Simon suspect anything has changed. He needs to believe that you think I’m still dead.”
“But Simon offered me a job as a one of his specialists a few months back after he, and everyone else, thought I had killed Michael. This Caston business is supposed to be my debut with his organization. Didn’t you know about that?”
He furrowed his brow as he picked up his teacup. “No, he never said a word to me about any of it.” David analyzed my face for a moment with his gray eyes “I can see why he wants you. You would be an asset to the organization, but I could never allow you to become involved in anything so dangerous.”
“Yeah, Dallas had a fit about it when I told him. I had forgotten all about Simon’s offer, until he called the night of the wedding.”
David lifted his cup of tea to his lips. “Ah, yes, Colleen’s wedding. I saw the notice in the paper. I couldn’t resist going to see you. That was a lovely dress by the way. Couture de Colleen, I presume?” He took another sip of his tea.
“Do you know three days ago I was in therapy because everyone in my family, including your friend, Dallas, thinks I have lost my mind because I told them I saw you walking around Jackson Square?”
He calmly placed his cup back down on the table. “I figured once you saw me you would start looking into my death. I know you well enough to expect you would never have just chalked up seeing my ghost to some errant act of your active imagination.”
“Uncle Lance also suspects you may be alive. He had someone get a hold of your autopsy report. It soon became apparent to both of us that it wasn’t you who was described in that report.”
“Well, we may need Lance’s help before all of this is over. Simon knows I’m in New Orleans and he is hunting for me. He wants me back.”
“We have to tell Dallas.”
David frowned. “That name coming from your lips is somewhat disconcerting for me.”
“He can help you,” I insisted.
“I doubt it. Dallas isn’t going to be too pleased to find out I’m back in the picture. He might go to Simon and then we could have a real problem on our hands.”
“He would not do anything like that,” I assured him.
“To get rid of my competition, I would do just about anything if I were in Dallas’s shoes. Men don’t seem to have any limits when it comes to possessing you, Nicci.” He sat back in his chair and gazed out the windows on the other side of the room. “No, we have to keep everyone in the dark until I can be permanently free of Simon,” he reasoned.
“Exactly how do you get permanently free of Simon?”
“Turn the tables on him. When the time is right, I’m going to go to Caston and tell him the truth about me and about Simon’s plans to ruin him with my forgeries. Caston prizes his reputation in the art world above all things. If he thinks Simon is threatening his reputation, then he will want to cut a deal with me. Caston has wanted to get a hold of Simon’s organization for years. I will offer it to him, but on one condition. He must eliminate Simon.”
I said nothing. I could not believe what I had just heard. Was I going to take part in another man’s murder?
“I would have gotten rid of Simon myself, but I don’t want to risk spending the rest of my life looking over my shoulder and wondering who might be searching for me. Simon knows powerful people who may want to look into his death. That’s why I have to set up Caston. I need to make sure someone else takes the fall for Simon’s murder. It’s the only way to ensure that we would be left alone for the rest of our lives,” he calmly stated.
“We?” I asked, folding my arms in front of me.
He raised his eyebrows suspiciously. “Yes, we. You do realize that with me back in your life, you will have to end your relationship with Dallas.”
I sat back in my chair and looked down at the table. “Maybe I’m not ready to do that. There are things we need to figure out before…”
“What do you propose we do? Date?” He laughed and then he leaned in closer to me. “Nicci, for the past three years you have been the only thing that has kept me breathing. You better tell me now, before I proceed any further with my plans, because if I can’t have you then I might as well just go back to New York and spend the rest of my life being Simon’s lackey.”
“And what about your painting?”
He gave me a frustrated glance. “The only person I want to paint is you. You’re my muse. I couldn’t continue painting if I can’t have you in my life.”
He leaned back in his chair and pulled out something from his pocket. He stood up and threw a key onto the table. “It opens the gate to 1012 Royal Street. There’s a small carriage house in the rear of the courtyard. It’s one of many places I have been hiding since I left Simon. If you want to see me again, use the key. If I don’t see you in three days’ time, I’ll know you have chosen to stay with Dallas and I will never contact you again.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “Three days, you’re not serious.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He placed a twenty-dollar bill on the table.
“I want all or nothing of you, Nicci. I still love you and I have risked everything to come back for you because I believed we meant something to each other. Something I thought we could begin again. I hate to think I was wrong about you.”
I waved my hand at his empty chair. “David, sit down. We need to talk about this.”
He leaned over and kissed my forehead. “There’s nothing left to say,” he whispered.
He walked away, heading to the coffee shop entrance.
I watched as he stepped onto the sidewalk and disappeared into a group of tourists. I looked back to the silver key lying in the center of the table. When he had returned to me before, I had been engaged to Michael. But leaving Michael Fagles had never been much of a consideration. With this second reincarnation, walking away from David’s competition was going to be a lot harder for me. I did not want to hurt Dallas. In the short time we had been together he had won my trust and my love. I had spent more time in Dallas’s arms than David’s, but the highs with him had never reached the mountaintops of joy I had felt with David. Maybe it’s always that way with your first love. You spend the rest of your life wondering why no relationship feels as good, as intense, or as awe-inspiring as the first. But what if being with David again did not live up to all of my expectations? Could we ever recapture what we had once shared, or had time and circumstance irrevocably changed everything between us?
“You doin’ all right over here?” the waitress asked as she looked down at me. “Your man didn’t stay very long.”
I smiled into the woman’s long face. “He never does,” I admitted.
“Most of them never do,” the waitress said. “But when you find yourself one who does stick around, hold on to him. They’re worth their weight in gold.”
I shook my head. “And when you do find one, how do you justify breaking one man’s heart so you can spend the rest of your life with another?”
She laughed. “Ah darlin’, people do it all the time. We can’t choose who we fall in love with, but we can choose who we de
stroy.”
I stared into the woman’s tired brown eyes and shrugged. “When you put it that way…”
“Don’t spend the rest of your life with a man you don’t love, sweetheart. It ain’t worth it.” She nodded. “Can I get you anything else?”
I shook my head and handed her the twenty-dollar bill that David had left behind. The waitress pulled the order tab from her pad and took the money.
“I’ll get your change,” she said.
“Keep it,” I told her. “And thanks for the advice.”
She gave me one last brief smile and turned away.
I picked up the key from the table and held it in my hand. For three years David’s memory had been a poignant footnote to every significant event in my life. Second chances were hard enough to come by for politicians and religious men, but when the common folk were given this kind of opportunity, regret would be the only outcome if such providence were allowed to slip by. And I had collected enough regrets in my life; it was time to start pursuing my possibilities.
I stood from the table and placed the key in the pocket of my jeans.
I walked out the coffee shop and stepped into the bright light of the morning. I removed my sunglasses from my purse, put them on, and headed back to Val’s. I paid no attention to the dark clouds hovering just over the cottage rooftops to my right. I had no more time for dark storms. From now on, I vowed, I would only embrace the sunshine.
Chapter Eleven
As I headed down the French Quarter sidewalk, my insides felt like sludge and my stomach quickly filled with butterflies. What was I going to do? How was I going to be able to keep all of this from Dallas? The man could drive a common housefly to commit kamikaze after hours of his relentless interrogation. As soon as I saw Val’s gray Creole cottage looming before me, I felt my heart sink to my knees.
I took a deep breath and put on a fake smile before I opened the front door. Once inside, I was surprised to find myself immersed in darkness. Only a faint hint of the early morning light was shining through the front windows. I was trying to remember on which side of the wall I could find the light switch, when a shadow off to my right distracted me.
“You told me you were going to run errands,” Dallas’s strained voice called out from a darkened corner of the living room.
I quickly turned and saw his silhouette leaning against the hall entrance.
I shook my head and tried to think of something to say. But as my mind was filling with plausible explanations, he moved closer to me.
“After you left, I started thinking that there was something odd about your behavior this morning. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. So I decided to follow you. I stood outside of that little coffee shop and do you know what happened…a ghost appeared.” His face emerged out of the darkness and he stood before me. “Where has David been all of these years?” he angrily demanded.
My body tensed. “He’s alive, Dallas,” I pronounced trying not to sound as nervous as I felt.
Dallas scowled at me. “I gathered as much. And how long have you known about his miraculous resurrection?”
“I found out last night. Simon had just left me and I had started walking home when I saw him standing in front of me. He told me what happened. Everything that happened.” I inspected every inch of his face for the slightest reaction. There was none. His dark blue eyes once again had their familiar distant chill.
“Well, that would explain your distracted behavior in bed last night.” Dallas came forward and firmly took my elbow in his hand.
I tried to pry his hand off my arm. “You’re hurting me,” I cried out.
He dragged me over to Val’s deep burgundy love seat and shoved me down onto the plush fabric. “How could you not say anything to me about this? You should have told me everything as soon as you walked through the door last night. You lied to me, Nicci.” He stood over me as his eyes burned into mine. “Start at the beginning. Leave nothing out. I must know what you know,” he ordered in a harsh tone.
I calmly told him of my conversation with David. He listened attentively as I spoke of our meeting the night before in the shadows of the French Quarter, and all about our rendezvous at the coffee shop. I repeated everything that he had said to me about Simon, Caston, and Gerard. After I had finished my tale, Dallas stood quietly beside me, staring thoughtfully out the window as streams of sunlight danced across his somber face.
“Simon lied to both of us from the very beginning. I can’t believe he sent me on a wild goose chase to find David’s killer,” he snarled.
“It looks like he pushed us together for a specific reason. He wanted both of us out of the way so he could control David,” I stated, shaking my head with disgust.
“No wonder he was so accommodating when I left his business. I remember when I told him I wanted out, he never hesitated to let me go. He actually seemed happy for me,” Dallas muttered as he began pacing in front of me.
“But you told me Simon let you leave because of those files you had kept on all of your assignments with him. You said it was your way of guaranteeing nothing happened to you after you left Simon’s employ.”
He stopped pacing and turned to me. “David always warned me about leaving Simon. He’s the one who encouraged me to keep those files. Simon never liked to let anyone go unless he was forced to. I thought I was being smart, but it seems Simon was being smarter.” Dallas took a step toward the love seat. “That may be part of the reason why he wanted you in on this Caston business. He knows that wherever you are, David will be close by.” He glared down at me. “I need to see David, Nicci. We need to talk.”
I stood up next to him. “Fight or talk? There’s a difference Dallas.”
“There’s nothing to fight about,” Dallas insisted, raising his voice. “Before you can decide which one of us you want, we need to deal with Simon.”
“So you’re not angry?” I asked, sounding surprised.
“How can I be angry? David’s alive. No matter my feelings for you, I’m happy he’s alive. He was my friend, and I hope he can be that again.” He took a step back from me. “I guess you got your secret wish after all, Nicci. Now what are you going to do?”
I moved closer to him, but he turned his face away from me.
“Tell me where he is and I will go and see him right now,” he said in a low voice.
“I’ll go with you.”
“No.” He shook his head. “We both can’t be seen heading over to his place. And we need to see each other without you present. There are things we need to discuss; things that cannot be said if you are there.”
“I understand. He’s staying at 1012 Royal.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out the key. “Here, he gave me this earlier. He said to use this to open the street gate that leads to the courtyard. He’s in the carriage house in the back,” I instructed as I handed him the key.
Dallas took the key from me. “I assume he gave you this for a reason.”
“I have three days to make up my mind about him. After that he said he would leave me alone for good.”
Dallas looked down at the key in his hand. “He doesn’t waste any time.”
I placed my hand on his arm. “Dallas, I don’t know what to say. Since last night everything has been a blur for me. I wanted to tell you, but how could I? I wasn’t even sure it really happened until I saw David at the coffee shop this morning.”
He gently removed my hand from his arm. “It doesn’t matter. What’s done is done. Now we have to make sure we all get out of this alive.” He walked through the doorway and down the hallway.
When I heard the back door by the kitchen slam closed, I felt my body sag with regret. I fought back the lump that was forming in my throat. Dallas had been good to me. If David had not returned I was sure I would have eventually married him. Never before in my life had I felt such elation and bitter sorrow at the same time. My happiness at finding David alive had hurt Dallas, and I had never wished to cause Dallas any pain. We had
shared so much; we had tried so hard. But like the waitress had said, we cannot chose who we love. We can only love and be damned for the choices that we make.
***
I spent the next hour nervously pacing around the house. My mind kept filling with scenario after scenario. Dallas punching David, or David punching Dallas, or someone running to the kitchen for a knife while the other man went for a hidden gun. After I had butchered each of the men in more ways than a John Carpenter horror movie, I walked into Val’s gourmet kitchen. I went past the two convection ovens and built-in refrigerator to Val’s imported coffee maker. I figured a cup of coffee would help bolster my weary body. I found the pot of coffee I had made earlier that morning and poured myself a cup. I decided to go outside to the courtyard and try to distract my mind with the busy sounds of the Quarter.
As I stepped out the back door, Val’s quaint courtyard came into view. Red and white azaleas had been planted in flowerbeds at the bottom of the high red-bricked garden walls. Above the walls, the second floor porches of the home cast long shadows on the brick paved courtyard floor. To the rear of the property, the carriage house had been painted the same color of gray as the main house and had two flickering gas lamps located on either side of the front entrance.
I sat down at a black wrought iron table, located close to the street entrance, and listened to the bustling French Quarter around me. Beyond the garden walls I could hear the rumble of heavy trucks passing by on the street while echoes of laughter filled conversations hovering about in the warm, humid air.
In that instant, I was keenly aware of the world around me. Everything smelled sweeter and the colors of the greenery in Val’s meticulously groomed gardens appeared brighter. Even the bustling of the city around me felt more alive than ever before.
I curled my hands around my coffee mug and smiled. I had lost something when David had died. And as I flashed back to our meeting from the night before, I realized what I had been missing. Life. Not the everyday reality that we all struggle to hold on to, but the subtle vibration that exists around us and fills our hearts with wonder. I had lost the magic of life when David had died, and in that moment all my wonder and excitement for the world had returned. I guess sometimes it takes another’s love to awaken a dormant life from the numbing act of existing to the fulfilling art of living.
Sacrifice Page 12
