“I think you know him better than you realize,” Vanessa said gently. “I’ve been in your shoes before, and I know how hard it can be. If you need to talk, I’m here.”
Carina stared at her. Her instinct was to keep her feelings to herself, but the truth was, she needed someone to confide in, someone who might understand. She saw the sincerity in Vanessa’s face and felt the first stirrings of friendship. “You got married in the temple, right?”
“I did.” Vanessa nodded. “But it took me twelve years to get there.”
“What do you mean?”
“Seth’s a convert. I dated him for six years and was on the verge of marrying him when I realized I couldn’t do it.” Vanessa’s narrow shoulders lifted. “Walking away from him was the hardest thing I ever did.”
“What happened?”
“A few years after we broke up, he was assigned to work with the Saint Squad. Of the five people in the unit, four of them were LDS. Working with them so closely, he found the gospel on his own. After he converted, we stumbled across each other and realized we still loved each other.”
Vanessa put her hand on the rail and looked out at the water. “It wasn’t easy when we were first dating. I kept praying for Seth to open himself up to the gospel. I wanted it so badly but always felt like it would never happen. It took a long time for me to understand that we don’t always get to operate on our own timetable. The Lord has a tendency of putting us on His.”
“Right now, I’m afraid to hope for anything beyond finding a way to keep me and my sisters safe.” Carina sighed and searched for the seeds of her testimony. “I’m trying to find my faith, but I keep wondering why the Lord is letting all of this happen to us. I’ve tried so hard to escape my past and protect my sisters from it, but it always comes back to me no matter what I do or where I go.”
“I don’t know either, but I do know from my own experience that the Lord is with us as long as we allow Him to be.”
Carina felt tears sting her eyes as an arrow of hope pierced her despair. She took a deep breath, followed by another. When she finally found her voice again, she asked, “Do you think Seth would be willing to give me a blessing?”
Vanessa reached out and put her hand on her arm. “I’m sure he would.”
* * *
Jay sat beside Carina on the wicker couch on the sun porch and listened to Seth and Vanessa recount the events of the night before. Fat raindrops splattered against the windows, a flash of lightning illuminating the crashing waves outside. Not for the first time, Jay felt a rush of gratitude that he had followed his instincts and left so early that morning. He couldn’t imagine trying to camp out in this weather, and if they had missed the ferry, he and Carina wouldn’t have had a whole lot of options of where to stay.
Eating a real meal that someone else had prepared had been just as much of a treat as the prospect of a real bed to sleep in. Vanessa had made them chicken and dumplings, and Bianca had contributed by baking a pan of brownies. Jay figured his father would understand her need for junk food, considering what she’d been through over the past twenty-four hours.
After they had finished eating, Seth had given both Carina and Bianca a blessing, one of those odd rituals Jay was getting used to when it came to Mormons. He had observed the practice before. With his teammates, it was an expected custom if someone was ill or injured. This was the first time, though, that he had seen one given for something that wasn’t health related, except for when Kel had blessed his baby.
He had to admit that both Carina and Bianca had seemed more accepting of their situation after Seth had laid his hands on their heads. They also seemed more hopeful. As Seth reached the point in his story where an intruder had made it into the house, he could feel Carina’s tension level rising again. Gently, he put his hand over hers, finding an odd comfort of his own when she turned her hand over and linked her fingers with his.
When Seth finished talking, Carina asked, “Who were the two men that were killed? What were their names?”
“One was Guido Manchione.”
Carina straightened in her seat and spoke before he could continue. “From Chicago.”
Surprised by her certainty, Jay’s eyes narrowed. “You knew him?”
She nodded. “He worked for my grandfather.”
“Doing what?”
“I’m not exactly sure.” Carina shrugged. “I know he ran messages sometimes. That’s how I remember him. He came to the house to meet with my father, sometimes carrying packages, other times just to talk to him.”
“Do you remember anything else?”
Carina pressed her lips together and nodded. She took a moment, as though gathering her strength before speaking. “There was one night that I came home early from a party. I wasn’t supposed to, but it was just down the block and my mom was busy talking to people. He was there with my father and a couple of other people.” Carina looked up at Jay with a wounded look and tightened her grip on his hand. “I heard a gunshot. A few minutes later, the door opened and I saw the body of the man who was killed.”
“You think he might have been the killer?”
“I don’t know who actually pulled the trigger, but he was definitely involved.” Carina turned her attention back to Seth. “What about the other man? Who was he?”
“Frank Tesan.” Seth looked from Carina to Jay before he added, “He was FBI.”
“Lou said that he thinks the top person in the Chicago mafia is FBI, but he said the guy’s name was Alex,” Jay said.
Seth nodded. “Vanessa and I were talking about that. Maybe this is the guy he was talking about. He could have been using multiple names.”
“Maybe,” Jay conceded.
“I did some digging into this Tesan guy’s background after we got here,” Vanessa told them now. “He’s the one who flagged your names and put you on the no-fly list.”
“At least now we know how that happened,” Jay said. “I still don’t understand why he was coming after Carina and Bianca though. And also, why did Nick keep trying to get them to go back to Chicago but never try to hurt them?”
“It also doesn’t make sense that the top man would go out and do his own dirty work,” Carina put in. “It just doesn’t work that way.”
“Maybe looking for you at the Whitmores’ was a last resort.”
“Again, for what purpose?” Jay asked. “And if someone really did go after Carina’s father in prison, why now? He’s been in prison since he was arrested two years ago. Surely, if someone wanted him dead, they could have tried earlier.”
“The other question is what were they looking for in Carina’s apartment?” Vanessa commented. “Seth said that it looked like whoever trashed the place didn’t find what they were looking for.”
“Was Lou’s apartment ransacked too?” Carina asked, her eyebrows drawing together.
Seth nodded. “It didn’t look as bad as yours but only because he didn’t have very much stuff. Why do you ask?”
“I was just thinking—wondering, really—if whatever they were looking for was something that I was supposed to have or something of Lou’s.” Carina shrugged. “I have to think that if Lou was killed in his apartment, the search must have started there.”
Jay nodded in agreement. “She’s right. Lou was like a watchdog. There’s no way he would have been sitting in his apartment if someone had broken into Carina’s.”
“You don’t know what they were looking for?” Seth asked.
Carina shook her head. “I have no idea.”
“I think at this point we have to start looking for connections between Tesan and the names of the people Carina gave us. Maybe from there we can find some answers,” Seth said. He looked over at Carina and added, “You and Bianca will be safe here.”
“What about Gianna? Your friend Amy found her a place to hide for this weekend, but then what?” Carina asked. “She’s already halfway through her summer semester at BYU. I know she’s not going to want to quit, but I’m afra
id if she keeps going to class, someone might find her.”
“Actually, I have an idea on that one,” Jay told her. “I think we should see if there’s any way we can set up surveillance on Gianna’s apartment.”
“Quinn and Tristan?” Seth suggested.
Jay’s shoulders lifted. “Or Charlie Whitmore.”
Vanessa looked from Seth to Jay, and then she smiled. “Or maybe both.”
32
Jay circled the house, determined to check the perimeter one last time before heading to bed. The wind was blowing full force now, the rain beating down steadily as the wind whipped over the water, pounding it onto the sand.
Even though Jay knew this island could only be accessed by air or sea, he wanted to make sure everything was secure.
By the time he had circled the house, the rain had soaked through his clothes. Once he was satisfied that the main level was secure, he stepped onto the porch railing and pulled himself up onto the second-floor balcony that ran along the front of the house.
Satisfied that no one was at the house who wasn’t supposed to be, Jay started toward the door leading to the upstairs den. That’s when he saw her.
Though Carina’s room was dark, a glimmer of light from the bathroom silhouetted her by the bed, where she had knelt to pray.
She looked so earnest just then, as though she was talking to a parent or older sibling rather than a higher being. Despite the biting wind and sheeting rain, an unexpected warmth seeped through him, starting in the center of his chest and spreading out until it filled his whole body. He stood there for a moment, trying to decipher this strange feeling. Then he stepped back to give Carina her privacy.
Oddly unsettled, he walked through the door leading to the den and made his way to his bedroom at the end of the hall. He kicked off his shoes, stripped out of his wet clothes, and fished a towel out of his duffel. After pulling on a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt, he headed downstairs.
When he entered the living room, he came upon another touching scene, one that pulled at him nearly as much as the sight of Carina praying. Vanessa was curled up on the couch beside Seth as he read from the book he held. Though his instinct was to leave them alone, he found himself caught by the words Seth spoke.
“‘If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God . . .’”
When he finished the passage, Seth glanced up and motioned to Jay. “Everything okay out there?”
“Yeah.” Jay nodded, undecided if he should move farther into the room or turn and go back the way he had come.
Seth marked his place in his scriptures and motioned for him to sit with them. “I assume Carina already went to bed.”
The image of her kneeling immediately flashed into his mind. “She’s heading there anyway.”
“You two seem to be getting pretty close,” Seth commented.
Jay lowered into a chair. “I guess so.”
“How long have you known her?”
“I just met her when I got home. My dad coaches Bianca,” Jay said and then corrected himself. “Or coached her. I doubt they’ll be able to stay in Miami.”
Seth’s eyebrows lifted. “With the way you two are together, I figured you had known each other for a while.”
Vanessa put her hand on Seth’s leg. “You know as well as I do that everyone falls in love on their own timetable.”
Jay stiffened at Vanessa’s casual mention of love. “I never said I was in love with her.”
“You never said you weren’t,” Vanessa countered. She stared at him for a long moment, like she was trying to gather her thoughts while Jay let her words roll through his mind. He was just coming to terms with the possibility of being in love when her next words hit him like a ton of bricks. “You realize you’re about to break her heart, don’t you?”
“What are you talking about?” Jay asked, immediately defensive. “I already told her that I’m going to be here for her and that I want to keep seeing her after all of this is over.” He let out a sigh. “If all of this is ever over.”
Vanessa looked up at Seth, silently asking permission to share her thoughts. Seth’s eyes were serious, but he gave her a subtle nod. Then Vanessa shifted her attention back to Jay. “One of the most important things in our religion is temple marriage. Carina’s fallen for you, but at some point, she’ll have to choose between you and what she really wants for her future.”
He dropped his mouth open in shock. “I never said anything about marriage.”
“No, but you can’t see the way you look at her either.”
“Wait a minute.” Jay shook his head as the rest of Vanessa’s words caught up with him. “You’re telling me it’s that big a deal to her that I’m not Mormon?”
Vanessa nodded. “I’m telling you that I think her feelings for you are already strong enough that she doesn’t feel like there’s a way she can win.”
Jay considered for a minute, trying to imagine what it would be like if he couldn’t see Carina again, if she didn’t give them the chance to explore these feelings that were growing between them. A seed of terror took hold deep inside him and started to bloom. “You don’t really think she’d walk away from me, do you?”
“Vanessa did.”
“Huh?” Jay looked at Seth, completely out at sea.
“I wasn’t LDS when we first dated. We’d been together for six years when I asked her to marry me the first time.” Seth said the words, and Jay could see the hurt flash in his friend’s eyes. “She said no.”
Vanessa reached for Seth’s hand and spoke with complete sincerity. “I knew that if I’d pushed, Seth might have gotten baptized and gone through the necessary steps to take me to the temple, but I wanted more for him than that. I wanted more than that for both of us. I needed him to find out for himself that the gospel was true.”
Jay felt that inner warmth start to spread through him again.
She continued. “If you do love Carina or think you could be falling in love with her, you owe it to yourself to save both of you a lot of heartache.”
“How?”
“Read the Book of Mormon,” Seth said with conviction. “Pray about it. Find out for yourself if it’s true.”
“I know the guys have bugged you about reading it before,” Vanessa continued for Seth, “but before, they were just trying to share the peace and happiness we have all found. Now it’s not just your happiness at stake. Carina’s future and happiness depend on what you choose to do.”
“What if I don’t think it’s true?” Jay asked and felt some of that warmth fade away.
“Then at least Carina will know that you took the time to explore her religion, that you tried to understand.”
* * *
Carina walked along the beach, stepping through the icy water as waves rolled over the narrow strip of sand. The sky was crystal clear, the air crisp as it only is right after a storm. In the distance, she could see Seth and Jay swimming in the sound, both of them wearing only a pair of swimming trunks rather than wetsuits. How they could stand the cold water was beyond her, but they seemed determined to get in a workout this morning before breakfast.
Bianca was still sound asleep in her room, and Vanessa was working on her laptop at the kitchen table. Carina heard her mention something to the men about starting her analysis, but she wasn’t quite sure exactly what Vanessa was analyzing or why she felt she would be able to figure out who was after Carina any better than a couple of Navy SEALs.
A piece of driftwood washed up onto the sand, and strings of seaweed caught on one jagged edge. Everything was so peaceful here, so isolated, so safe. She started at the ringing of a cell phone. Jay had insisted she hold on to the one he had given her yesterday, but she hadn’t expected anyone to call her on it. The only person who had the number was Gianna, and with the time difference, it was unlikely that she was awake yet.
Carina answered it with a tentative hello.
“Carina?” A woman’s voice came over the line. “This is Amy Miller. I’m
a friend of Jay’s.”
“Yes, he told me about you. You’re Matt’s sister.”
“That’s right,” she answered, and Carina could hear the smile in her voice.
“I tried calling Jay, but he wasn’t answering his phone. I’m guessing he’s out for a swim.”
Carina looked out at where Jay was just turning back toward the shore. “You must know him well.”
“One of my jobs is to coordinate all of the squad’s training. About the only time the guys don’t answer the phone is if they’re wet or in hostile territory.”
Carina considered the thought of Jay being behind enemy lines somewhere, and a shudder worked through her. She supposed she had never really let herself think about what Jay normally did for work. So far, she had only seen him as the nice guy who was always helping her out, the guy who listened in a way that made her want to confide in him.
She tried to keep her voice casual when she said, “It looks like Jay and Seth are heading toward shore, but they’re still a ways out. Do you want me to have one of them call you?”
“Actually, Jay doesn’t need to call me if you can just pass along a message. Tell him that I e-mailed him a lot of information for the two of you to go over. Also, can you let him know the surveillance is in place?”
“Are you talking about the surveillance for Gianna?”
“Yeah.” Amy seemed to hesitate before offering her more details. “My brother’s boss helped him set it up through the FBI’s Salt Lake office.”
“But what if someone on my family’s payroll finds out? Amy, my family has people in a lot more places than you might think.”
“Trust me. There’s no way anyone would think that this case has anything to do with the mob.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because my brother had it classified under the hate crimes unit.”
“Seriously?” Carina’s eyebrows lifted, and a little smile tugged at her mouth. “That’s one thing the family definitely wouldn’t worry about.”
“That’s what we figured,” Amy told her. “I have to run, but if you need anything, feel free to give me a call.”
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