“Sounds nice,” I said. “You could use some relaxation with everything going on.”
“That’s for sure. We planned to play tennis when he finished his calls, and I was strategizing how I might not be totally trounced.” She chuckled.
“Kudos to you for even tryin’ to compete with him in sports. Alain told me he has a third degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. I have no idea what that is, but it sounds dangerous to me. And I bet he’s still adding those addendums he seduced you with.” I probably teased Cindy about addendums as much as Raphael did. But it was a cute story—they’d probably be telling their grandchildren about how Raphael got her to dance the tango.
Debbie got a case of the giggles, and the three of us ended up in hysterics about the day we met Alain and Raphael. At the time there was nothing funny about it. But Debbie surprised me with her skill at changing scary memories into a funny story. She threatened to paint it.
“That I’d like to see,” I told her.
“So, Cin, I still need to hear what happened next. How did he propose?” I was worse than Liz Anders when it came to gossip. Not that I’d ever breathe a word of it to a reporter.
“When he came out to the terrace he had a strange look in his eye, and I asked him what was wrong. Then he told me it was just that he had a very important proposal to make, and could he run it by me?” Cindy smiled.
“That’s so cute, Cin.”
“What?” Debbie asked.
Cindy turned to Debbie. “I really didn’t think I’d have anything helpful to say, but it turned out his proposal was—I was hoping you’d want to be my wife.”
Debbie’s jaw dropped. “Oh! That’s so sweet, Cindy.” She hugged Cin all over again. “Are you going to move to Salzburg with us?” Debbie was almost breathless.
I furrowed my brow, and I almost never did that—don’t want to encourage wrinkles. “What’s this stuff about moving to Salzburg? It’s not like there’s a reason. He could build a palace for you right here.”
Cindy deliberately replaced Debbie on her chair and turned to me. “I told him I’d go anywhere with him, and I meant it. It’s not like I’d never see my family again—or you or Debbie—you know you’re all my family. But it’d be fun to travel with him. And we discussed it, and we’ll probably do a fair amount of travel. But he wants to build a place and settle down and raise kids near Salzburg. He’s already got the land from David’s dad. He showed me pictures. The property has a spectacular view of the Alps. And he said if I don’t like winters there, we can go someplace else.”
“When did he tell you about the hundred million?” I had to block out all the Salzburg stuff—too scary. Besides I wanted to know every detail about the money.
“After I accepted his proposal. I wasn’t quite sure how his dad would be so accepting of him settling in Salzburg and giving over his projects to Carlos and some of the others that work for him. Raphael said he’d basically work from home and bring clients to him if he needed to. He said he’d be mostly consulting and bringing in new business. This big windfall means he can do it. He can do whatever he likes, and if his father disagrees, Raphael can just walk away from the whole business.”
“Wow.” I picked up a muffin and took a bite. Things were really changing, and I wasn’t sure where I fit in anymore.
Chapter Nine
Debbie
I wished David didn’t have to work on a Saturday, but Cindy, Glori, and I were having a fine time discussing Cindy and Raphael’s engagement. I was ecstatic that they’d be moving to Salzburg with David and me. Glori wasn’t so happy about that, but I knew she’d come around after visiting with us. We’d all be one big happy family, especially if my parents stayed in Beverly Hills.
Frau Ruppert came by for our German lesson. After the session Cindy and I went back out to the patio. Glori picked up her phone and took her frustration out on all the friends she could think to call. Glori didn’t like schoolwork of any kind, and languages were really tough for her. I wasn’t too worried though, because Glori always managed to get whatever she wanted in any language.
Cindy grabbed me in a hug and guided me to a comfortable bench on the far side of the patio. She kept her arm around my shoulder. “Debbie, I want you to be my matron of honor. Would you?”
Instantaneous delight disappeared as that little voice in the back of my head reminded me that Glori must be Cindy’s very best friend. “Well, that’s so nice of you to ask me. But—but—don’t you think Glori should be your maid of honor? I know she’s your—best—best—friend.” I nodded for emphasis.
Cindy’s blue eyes sparkled at me. “Debbie, I was four years old and you were two weeks old when I begged your mother to let me hold you. When she put you in my lap, I didn’t ever want to let you go. You were my baby sister, from that day on. I still remember that day, and Mom always teases me about it. I had three older brothers to look out for me. And you were mine to take care of. Sometimes I feel like I let you down. Your parents were—well there’s no need to go back there.”
Grammy’s face filled my mind, and her smile was so radiant. That negative voice left. “Thank you, Cindy, I’d love to be your matron of honor.”
Cindy squeezed me in a hug and whispered, “You know, I can’t imagine my life without Raphael, and if it wasn’t for you, we would never have met.”
***
Everyone was back at the Bainbridge mansion Saturday evening to watch Amanda James’ special show. David was not excited to see it, and he seemed tired. Fortunately, Daddy kept quiet and left us mostly alone. Cindy’s dad buffered us, and I was grateful to him.
The others were in a jovial mood. Much of the entertainment involved Eduardo teasing Jimmy about Aubrey Rose. The chatter turned to wedding plans and then to the impending trip to Salzburg.
Glori combed her fingernails through her hair. She wasn’t so thrilled with the conversation. She told Cindy, “You guys are so lucky. You get to see all the sights of Madrid and Paris. Wish I was goin’ to Paris. When are you comin’ to Salzburg?”
Cindy said, “We’ll only be eight or nine days after you. We won’t have a lot of time on this trip, but we can see the sights, have some fun. Raphael has to go to the office one of the days in Madrid. But after the wedding we’ll have plenty of time to do what we please.”
“Yeah, well I hope you plan on staying in Salzburg. And Debbie’s counting on you, too.”
“Glori, I’m sure you’re going to have a good time there. I don’t know what you’re so worried about. I mean you’ve grown closer to these people than your own family. And Alain is going to be there. Why are you so worried?”
She rolled her eyes. “Come on, Cin. It’s a whole new country. They speak a language I can barely understand, never mind speak it. You know Frau Ruppert thinks I’m the worst student she’s ever had. And it’s a far cry from Beverly Hills. That’s for sure. We’re so popular here now we can just walk into all the best restaurants.”
Cindy burst out laughing. “I wouldn’t worry about walking into restaurants. You heard Joe. You guys are going to be superstars—known throughout the world. So you’ll be able to get into the best places everywhere. Besides, you’ve never really spent much time in any foreign country. Don’t you want to experience life in other places?”
“I guess.” Glori didn’t sound like she meant it.
***
Doug turned the massive TV to the Amanda James program while everyone found a seat. David gripped my arm just like he did watching the last show, and I knew it would be numb. I climbed up to whisper in his ear my favorite quote from Grammy, and he kissed me. Blood flow returned to my arm.
“Hey Paulo! Pass that popcorn.” Joe was in a gregarious mood. He grabbed the bowl and settled into an easy chair. “This is gonna be interesting—not to mention—profitable!”
Amanda’s face filled the huge screen. “Sex—drugs—and rock and roll—the formula for an irresistible story—the one we tell tonight.”
I nestled closer to Davi
d and watched his friends exchange uneasy frowns.
The camera focused on Amanda James in conversation with General Pearson, the military base in the background. She narrated. “We begin our story with a top secret—international—elite Special Forces alliance. These are men who carry out all kinds of classified missions to protect the interests of the United States and our allies in every corner of the earth. Agent David Lambrecht, an Austrian citizen, and his colleague, Eduardo Clemente, a Spaniard, were assigned to infiltrate the highest levels of the drug trade in the United States. Agent Lambrecht moved here to the West Coast, and Agent Clemente went to New York.
Over the course of a year, the men gained access to the most notorious drug lords supplying the United States. They lived the lives of drug dealers, immersed totally in their sinister new identities—cut off from all contact with family, friends, and all traces of their past lives.
Quietly, surreptitiously, the men gathered information and evidence that was turned over to authorities. Meanwhile, as they compiled this evidence, they lived as the criminals they pursued. For David Lambrecht, this meant a large comfortable home in Beverly Hills, complete with not one, but two mistresses. Women he’d met in the seedy strip clubs of L.A., and who helped him establish connections with the drug kings who owned the city.
Ultimately, literally hundreds of vicious drug dealers and criminals were arrested as a result of their efforts. And all this might have gone unknown by the general public, were it not for a simple twist of fate.”
My face appeared on the screen, and my heart pounded. How could I be responsible for ruining David’s life with this awful scandal and all this publicity?
David whispered in my ear, “I’m so sorry to put you through this again, Sweetheart. Would you like to leave?”
“No David, not unless you do. We should really know what they’re saying about us, don’t you think?”
“Yes.” He stroked my arm and kissed me.
Amanda James showed some of the video of our previous interview as she narrated. “Nineteen-year-old Debbie Aldridge, the daughter of prominent Beverly Hills businessman George Aldridge, was hospitalized due to complications from an eating disorder. Her heart was permanently damaged. As she lay critically ill, a chance meeting with Agent Lambrecht changed both of their lives forever.
He happened to be at the hospital the day after Christmas, in order to close the case on Dr. William Payne, allegedly one of the biggest drug dealers in the state of California. Dr. Pain-away, as he was known, was a colleague of Debbie’s doctor. In the course of meeting with the unwitting physician, he met Debbie, and it was love at first sight.
Unfortunately, timing was less than auspicious. The young man learned he was to take on a new mission that would send him to South America. After a two day whirlwind, Agent Lambrecht placed a diamond heirloom ring on Debbie’s left hand. And he was gone. He left behind a lovesick young lady, now determined to get well, and her very confused parents.
Weeks later, he was gravely wounded in the jungle of South America. David’s colleague, Eduardo Clemente, speaks publicly for the first time about their hellish experience.” The camera focused on Eduardo in relaxed conversation with Amanda James, and then went to commercial.
“Well, David, this seems to be another case of the lamp on the stand, huh?” I looked up at him.
He smirked at me. “I suppose so.” He cast a sidelong glance at Cat.
She was quietly tucked into a big chair with Cisco, and I think she was praying. I think she spent a lot of time in prayer, and that’s probably what saved everyone—so far anyway. I was just hoping everything didn’t have to be revealed by Amanda James tonight.
The show resumed with all four of our secret agents sitting around the conference table. Amanda sat across from Eduardo and David.
“Eduardo, I understand you and David have been best friends since childhood. Everyone says you’re as close as two brothers could be. You both decided to become part of this Special Forces group when you graduated college in England. Both of you trained together and worked together. Both of you ended up on this mission in South America.”
The camera focused on Eduardo. His handsome face—a slight grin, a twinkle in his eye, and relaxed demeanor—engaged the viewer. Amanda continued, “General Pearson told me you and fifteen other men were ambushed by a drug lord’s army after you had accomplished the mission you were sent there to do. I understand you and David were the only survivors, and that was because you pulled his body out of a river and dragged him through the jungle to safety. You were quite a hero!” Amanda gazed adoringly into Eduardo’s face.
“I was just doing my job,” Eduardo said.
Amanda pushed. “What was going through your mind as this was happening?”
Eduardo looked as though he was retrieving the memory from the back of his mind. “I guess my first thought was—I don’t know how anyone could have known we were there. Then Lambrecht got hit, and fell into the river right in front of me, so I didn’t have time to think. I just pulled him out. I found out he was still alive. Everyone else was down. I did the best I could with first aide. All the others were dead. So I did the best I could to get us to safety. It took a couple days to get back to California and some decent medical care.”
Amanda looked shocked. “That’s unbelievable! Two days with those severe wounds?”
Eduardo rubbed his chin as he glanced at David beside him. “He’s a pretty strong guy. Besides—” He flashed a smile at Amanda. “He was real motivated to come home. He was in love. Remember?” Eduardo winked at Amanda, and she blushed.
Shuffling her notes, she composed herself and looked up at David. “Agent Lambrecht, what was going through your mind, as you were shot that terrible day?”
David was matter-of-fact. “All I can remember thinking—I was annoyed I was falling forward into the mud.”
His colleagues burst out laughing. Eduardo’s voice rose above the din. “Annoyed. He was annoyed!”
Amanda looked bewildered amidst the merriment. David explained, “I knew I didn’t have the strength to get myself out of the river.”
Amanda’s eyes popped, and I think mine did, too. I visualized the scene in my mind’s eye. David was annoyed that he was going to die. My stomach tossed.
“What a horrible thing—to realize you’re about to drown in all that muddy water. Well it must have been such a relief to have your friend grab you back from the brink of death.” Amanda sounded emotional.
David was calm. “Yes. I owe him my life.”
Amanda sat back in her chair, visibly affected by the men’s story, and their casual manner in relating it. She fidgeted in the seat before continuing. “It certainly is a miracle you both made it back alive. Under normal circumstances, to suffer a gunshot wound, then get to the emergency room and survive. That’s uncertain enough. But to get through a germ-infested jungle with such life-threatening wounds. I would think the mud alone would have killed you. Never mind two days before getting medical care.”
Amanda turned to David. “You must love your wife very much! I guess it’s like that song—Divine Intervention—she did pull you back from the dead.”
I heard David groan, and I knew he was upset to have that subject so thoroughly discussed and dissected by the press. He’d told me he thought the words of the song applied more than anyone should know.
He answered Amanda simply. “I love my wife with all my heart.”
Amanda went to commercial. I rose up and kissed my husband.
The program resumed with video of Amanda chatting with Nita, Glori, Cat, Cindy and me, all seated on the Bainbridge’s patio. Then she had to focus the camera on me, and I felt my heart flutter again.
“It was February first when Debbie and her parents received word that David was out of surgery, and the doctors were not sure he’d survive. At that point, George Aldridge still suspected he was a notorious drug dealer. General Pearson sat the family down and told them about his dangerous professi
on. The family literally moved into the military hospital where Debbie remained at her true love’s side for almost three months. Months of ups and downs, in and out of coma, as he fought the massive infection that had invaded his body. It was during this time that the Aldridges became close to David and Eduardo’s large extended family. And during this time, Paulo Clemente was discovered.”
Amanda spoke to Nita, the Bainbridge garden in the background. “Doesn’t this strike you as about the most unlikely story you could imagine?”
Nita smiled. “Yes, but they say truth is stranger than fiction. And I do think there is something to be said for Divine Intervention. I do mean the term, not the album! But really, I do think God was watching out for all of us. And in the course of one of the most stressful times of our lives, He put the most wonderful gifts right into our hands. Debbie and David found each other and are now married. Glori met Alain. Cindy and Raphael met. Eduardo proposed to me—finally!” There was laughter in the background, and Nita and Amanda joined in.
Nita went on. “Paulo met up with people who could bring his musical genius to the world. And Cat’s talent for creating such beautiful, meaningful lyrics—another gift to the world as far as I’m concerned. What is it but Divine Intervention? So it’s a fitting name for the song and the album. It really has perfectly described our lives.”
Amanda smiled sweetly. “Since you put it that way—I guess you’re right. I imagine the years of uncertainty you faced were extremely hard. Never knowing if your fiancé would return alive. How did you get through such a difficult time?”
Nita was pensive. “I did the best I could—lots of prayer, and I focused on my studies and my work.”
Amanda said, “And today you’re a medical doctor, and specializing in, of all things, emergency medicine.”
Nita laughed. “Yes. So I’m well qualified to deal with the stitches, the bumps and bruises and so forth.”
Fame, Fortune & Secrets (The Redemption Series: Book 2) Page 9
