by Alexie Aaron
“No, I like scoundrels.”
“Is that why you like me?”
“You’re not a scoundrel.”
“Tell me more about my nemesis,” Dave said dryly.
“Nemesis? Father Michael? Hardly.”
“He hates me.”
“Priests don’t hate.”
“Well, call it a strong dislike,” Dave said, putting his arm around me.
“We ended up sitting together, and he got us both into first class with his priestly airs and blue eyes.”
“Hmmm, did I tell you, I hate him?”
“Really? You have got to be kidding. He’s handsome, rich, accomplished, sexy, arrogant, and a scoundrel. Why would you hate him?”
“I’m going to suffocate you, freckles.”
“Well Father Michael had put himself in my way on purpose. He was looking for his missing uncle, and I was headed to the place where his uncle was last seen. Long story short… I found him. I was tossed in a bog, and Father Michael’s uncle’s corpse hands got caught up in my bound legs…”
“Cin, you’re drifting away from me,” Dave said, pulling my face around and looking in my eyes.
“Whoa, sorry. I just remembered the music… Dave, do you believe in paranormal things?”
“Are you talking about vampires and werewolves?”
“No. In dreams and premonitions?”
“Yes, I think I do. Why?”
“I think Father Michael’s uncle was calling to me. Maybe this is why I keep seeing that mother-fucking-bastard Kyle. I had a dream that… No, you wouldn’t be interested. Anyway…”
“Cin, you are rambling a bit, but I am interested,” he told me and kissed me tenderly.
“I wish you wouldn’t do that,” I said, feeling uncomfortable.
“What?”
“Kiss me. You are… nevermind.”
“Tell me about the dream with Kyle in it.”
“I dreamed he stood in front of me. Sidney and Michael were standing behind me, and you stood on the other side of Kyle. I couldn’t get to you because of Kyle.”
“When did you have this dream?”
“After you rejected me in the parking lot.”
“I’m sorry, Cin. My head wasn’t in the right place. The dream means that you had already put Father Michael and Sidney behind you. You had moved on, but what Kyle did to you stopped our relationship.”
“That’s what I thought. See, we are of one mind sometimes.” I got up and went into the bathroom. After I had taken care of myself, I washed my face to hide the tear tracks. I came out, walked over and took more pain meds. It was early, but I didn’t want to talk anymore. I just wanted to sleep.
Dave watched me, helpless to interfere. I stopped and looked at Marco’s photo. “What have you done to me?” I asked the frame softly. “How dare you love me and leave me here alone.” I wanted to throw the picture, and I lifted it to do so, but a brief sanity settled in, and I just set it down. I got a glass of water and drank it. I got another, and brought it over to Dave. I set it on his side of the bed. I got in, curled up away from him, and cried.
I felt his hand on my back. And, with much effort, he curled up behind me.
Tradimento.
“Well, isn’t this a pretty picture,” Harry said from the doorway.
I was mega high and had no idea what was going on.
“Cin’s having a breakdown. Did you buy any ice cream?” Dave asked Harry.
Harry looked at the pill bottle and asked, “She took more pills?”
“I couldn’t stop her.”
“She’s pretty damaged, Dave.”
“Did she tell you what happened in Cornwall?” Dave asked.
“Bits and pieces. I do know about her killing those two people and a little bit about Father Michael. Cin’s, what we call, a wee bit sighted,” Harry said. “Her ex and her kids don’t believe she is, but I do. She heard Father Michael call to her before they even knew he was missing. They’re not even family. Although, they were pretty tight. Right, Cin?”
“Right, Harry. Did you know Dave was here?” I asked, pointing to Dave in my haze.
“Yes, I did,” Harry said. “He’s hurt, so you have to be careful and quiet.”
“Okay, Harry,” I said and lay still.
“Kyle has been visiting her. Cin assumes it’s a hallucination, but she does talk to him. He went away when Marco seduced her.”
“I think Cin knew what she was getting into with Marco,” Dave said. “She used him to make a statement to the opera crowd.”
“No, you’re wrong. Remember, I was there. She was frightened to death to be in that opera house, but Marco steadied her. Something happened between the two of them, and she changed. He and she had two days together, and that’s all. Cin doubted she would see him again, but all this…” he said, indicating the boxes and pictures, “says something different.”
“She told me she died and was reborn,” Dave said. “Didn’t you, honey?”
I balled up my fists, and Harry lunged at me and stopped me from hitting Dave. “Stop it!” he demanded.
“Then tell him to stop calling me honey. Ed does that, and it pisses me off. I’m no one’s honey. I was Bella, and now I’m no one again,” I said and hid my head under the pillow.
“Sorry, Dave,” Harry said. “She tried to pull herself together. She even…”
“Don’t tell him,” I warned.
Dave picked up my pillow, and Harry lifted my head and plonked it down on the pillow.
“Do you know, I go through shoes at an alarming rate?” I asked him through the fuzz, that wasn’t getting any better.
“Yes, Cin, I do,” he said.
I think I fell asleep. It was dark when I woke up, sober and sane. I went to the bathroom to pee. I came back, and I felt someone in bed with me.
“Who’s there?” I asked.
“Cin, it’s me Dave.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought I dreamed you. How are you feeling?” I said, getting up and turning on the light.
He blinked. “I’m sore, but I don’t think I need to go to the doctor’s.”
“I would like to be a fly on the wall when you tell him how this happened,” I said, examining his back. It didn’t feel hot anymore. It was, however, warm. “You’re still warm. When was the last time you had any medication?”
“Harry gave me something a few moments ago. His closing the door must have woken you.”
“So you stayed here in the dark?”
“You were a little high.”
“I expect I was very high,” I said. “I feel bad about that. I should have been taking care of you.”
“You told me some things.”
I closed my eyes. “What did I tell you?”
“About meeting Father Michael. A little about Marco.”
I turned around. “I’m sorry, Dave.”
“Don’t be. You didn’t embarrass yourself too much. Harry was here. Do you remember any of that?”
“Bits and pieces, nothing concrete.”
“I love you, Cin,” he said.
“Thank you,” I said politely.
“Who was it that brought you out of your hell?”
“You never give up,” I said, crossing my arms.
“I narrowed it down to who it isn’t,” he said.
“Go on…”
“It’s not Father Michael because he isn’t here, and you’ve put him behind you.”
“That’s correct.”
“It’s not Marco D’Amore as you were already healed, and I use that word loosely, before you and he went to the opera.”
“That is correct.”
“It’s not Harry. I am suspecting it’s Tony. You’re way too nice to him. He and you behind closed doors in the den yesterday…”
“Tony, huh? Nope. I think I had a teensy bit of a crush during the serial murder thing, but him and me? Nope.”
“Well, damn,” he said. He went through the timeline. He was figuring it out.
I got up and went to the bathroom. I took care of things and loitered in there for a few minutes, detangling my hair. I came out and went into the kitchen. “Don’t worry. I’m not taking anything. Where is the bourbon?”
“Tell me about you visiting Tom Richards,” Dave demanded.
“Harry and I visited Tom. He called me because he’d seen the write-ups in the papers. He keeps in touch with the outside world through those papers. He told me about… Well, we went over that before, didn’t we?”
“Yes. What happened after Harry left?”
It must have showed on my face.
“Ah ha, Harry left you for… according to the prison records, an hour.”
“How did you…”
“I’m a cop,” Dave reminded me. “Sit down here right now and tell me, or so help me god, I’ll have him cracking eggs for the rich-crook quiche.”
“I arrived with Harry, and Tom held me, telling me he was going to make everything better, and I knew somehow he would. We three talked for a while, and I fell asleep and had that nightmare I talked to you about. I think Harry left thinking Tom was going to talk some sense into me. Tom’s been pulling strings for Alex. I figured it out. I’ve always felt guilty I got him in trouble.”
“He got himself in trouble, and he’s hardly in prison - you saw the place. Now what happened after Harry left?”
“I’m not sure you should know. I made the first move. He was kind and gentle. We didn’t talk afterwards, and I left feeling whole, no longer broken.”
“You’ve been back.”
“Yes.”
“After you had been with Marco?”
I smiled.
“Cin, for cripes sake, why?”
“I had to tell him that we told you about Eldora. It’s actually all your fault. I had a wonderful day with him. He’s very energetic. Then I came home to find out Leora had killed Marco. End of story. Please don’t hurt Tom. He was in prison. It’s not like he could run away from me. And I can be quite persuasive…”
“There’s something else. Tell me.”
“I think Marco saw Eldora in me. I think that’s who he thought he was seducing. Tom and Marco admitted that I look a lot like her.”
“Damn. It’s all connected, isn’t it?”
“Just like I know those pink panties are Antonia Aldana’s.”
His face fell. He didn’t deny it. I wish he had. I continued, “You see, I understand. I wasn’t kind to you. You are free to make love to whomever you want, except Harry. I don’t want to have to share you with him.”
He looked at me as if I were crazy. “Would you have talked to me if you had known earlier?” he asked.
“No. You see, when someone hates me, I kind of hope my friends would stand on my side and not fuck the enemy. But I didn’t know yet that they were hers when I returned. At least we ate pizza in peace. Dave, Antonia knew what she was doing. Women don’t leave their underwear lying around unless they want the next female walking into the place to find them. That’s something for you to store in your memory, copper.”
“I was making love to her in her dressing room when Kyle was assaulting you,” he confessed.
I didn’t think I’d heard right. I looked at Kyle who was now standing there looking in the big box. He turned, looked at me, and nodded.
I sat down, stunned. “No wonder you wouldn’t see me in the hospital. Were you still dating her when I was recovering?”
“Yes.”
“Where was she when her daughter killed Marco?”
“With me. She left in a hurry, and I came here to tell you.”
I turned back to Kyle, pointed to my neck, and shouted, “You should have held on tighter, you fucking bastard!”
Dave tried to get up. I felt him moving, but I was across the room putting the table between us. “Was it you?” I turned around and stared at Dave. “Did you sacrifice me to Kyle, so you could take the diva home?” I looked at Kyle, and he put his hands on his hips and looked at Dave. I turned back to Dave and cried, “I felt guilty that I couldn’t fight anymore. I felt I had somehow shamed you! You can go to hell!” I made a move to leave, but I didn’t want to leave my things behind. “Am I stuck in hell?” I put my hands on my face.
Dave hobbled over to me. He grabbed my face and made me look at him. “I knew I was losing you. Preston and Antonia convinced me to help them by using you to make Marco insane. There is something they want from Eldora. You’re so good at getting to the heart of the matter.”
“Antonia Aldana prostituted her daughter Leora to watch Marco,” I said. “When he chose me, she was out. They had to get rid of me and him. He knew too much. Who encouraged her to kill him? You?”
“God no. You know me, Cin.”
“No, I don’t. I’ve been cheated on by my husband. I was used and almost killed by Sidney, and then I walk right into your arms without thinking twice. There you were, my handsome hero. Well, I couldn’t commit. Part of me must have known you weren’t true. I moved too fast. What a fucking idiot I was. I deserved this. You’re not the man I thought you were. You were kind and funny and understood Harry. I loved you, but something held me back. I think it was, you wouldn’t talk about yourself. Your CID days. Everyone has war stories, Dave. Oh my god, did I get Marco killed? Who’s next? Tom?”
I got up and picked up my cell phone. I didn’t know what time it was, but I called Tony.
“Tony, I need your help.”
“I’m on my way,” he said.
“I’m going to have Harry drive you home. But, tell me before you go, why did you try to make love to me? Was it to find all of this out?”
The look on his face said everything.
I looked over at Kyle. “You knew, didn’t you?”
Kyle nodded.
I walked out around the pool and banged on Harry’s door. He came out.
“Please take Buslowski home.”
“Cin, he’s in pain.”
“If you don’t take him home, I’m going to take that fucking gun of yours and kill him.”
Harry grabbed his shoes, stuck them on his feet and started around the pool deck.
“Make sure you search him. He was only here to get information on me, Marco and Tom. He’s in with Kyle’s killers. He may have set me up.”
Harry nodded.
I sat down in the living room. I heard them come through the house. Dave was protesting. He wanted to talk to me. It was all so tragic. I had lived through hell only to find out I was unknowingly in hell in the first place.
Tony stood before me, his notebook out.
“Kyle’s obsession was orchestrated by master manipulators, and they had gotten to Dave early. I’m worried about Tom. Please call and get protection for him. Don’t let him have any visitors but you, Harry and me.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know how they are going to hurt him, but they are,” I said.
“What do I do about Dave?”
“I’m sure he’s innocent of Kyle’s murder, but I don’t trust him. He’s working with two of the three suspects.”
“Who’s the third?” Tony asked puzzled.
“Why, Tony, it’s Eldora herself. She is a master manipulator. It was right in front of me the whole time. Tom said she felt she was entitled to everything. Eldora didn’t care that she took a newlywed away from his bride. She wanted Marco to marry her regardless of whose child she was carrying. Eldora is the essence of Carmen. She’ll get what she wants regardless of God’s laws. Check and see when she entered this country. She’s cleaning house. Tom told me her son is seeking a very important position in the European Union. He won’t be successful if there is any scandal in his family. I fear that Eldora plans on silencing the people who knew her intimately when she performed in south Florida.”
“So you think it was she that encouraged Leora to kill Marco?”
“I know that Marco has a memoir that paints a very different picture of the soon-to-be mother of a diplomat.”
&n
bsp; “But, even though Marco is dead, his memoir is still out there.”
“I think she was certain that his heirs would squelch the publication in order to save their mother from further embarrassment and scandal.”
“He wasn’t her only lover.”
“That is why you have to make sure Tom Richards is safe. When we started I thought this was all about Preston’s obsession with finding out what happened to the woman he never stopped loving. We looked at Eldora as a victim. Early on, Preston suspected that she wasn’t dead and put into motion a plan that would bring her out of hiding. If he cannot have Eldora totally, he will kill her. That is, if she doesn’t kill him first. After all, Preston knows every falsehood and scandal Eldora is trying so hard to erase.”
He nodded and went into the den to make some calls.
Harry came back and went, first, to check on me and then went in with Tony. I decided to spend my excess energy cleaning the master suite. I took the pieces of my beloved dress and tossed them.
Tony came out and found me dragging a large garbage bag across the living room floor. He took it from me. “Sit. I’ll be back.”
I did as I was told. He came back with Harry behind him. Harry took up a protective position beside me.
“Cin, Harry, I have some information to share with you,” Tony started. “The phone was Leora’s, proving she was there, watching Kyle kill you. There are a few numbers on that phone that are interesting. Preston did indeed pick up the phone. Cin, how deep in this is Dave?”
I told him everything I knew. Harry got up twice and kicked the back of a chair, and then sat down, dejected.
“Cin, I know you’re upset, but I don’t see any evidence that Dave’s involved, except his home number was the last call to Leora before the shooting. She got another phone but kept the same number, stupid girl. Now that I know that Antonia Aldana was at his place, this all makes sense. Dave was continually being used and would be set up by Antonia once we checked the phone numbers. He may have been untrue to you, but, Cin, he was being used too,” Tony stressed. “We men have fragile egos. If he gave any information to her about the case, he will be disciplined.”
“Thank you. I need to call and have some locks changed.”
