Curtis (12 page)

So the money was there. Now he had to
wait on the man Hunter to be brought to him so that he could ransom him back to
his family. That wasn’t going to happen, of course, but they didn’t have to
know that. Smiling for the first time in days, he moved back into traffic and
decided to treat himself to two women tonight. Yes, things were looking up.

~~~

“His name is Vaughn LaMancusa. His
father, LaMancusa senior, was found murdered a few years back and we think by
his own son.” Curtis looked at his brother Royce and then at Kylie. Jesse had
brought in the big boys, as he liked to call the Feds, when he realized how in
over his head they all were. The woman who he’d brought in went on as if she
had just told them that she was buying a cake for someone’s birthday. “The
older one ran a good game, I suppose you could say. He was a bank robber and,
until the one that caught him up, he and his crew had never killed anyone. Only
robbed banks, then later he tried his hand at armored trucks. That ended up
with him getting another long sentence that he never served because he ended up
on the wrong side of a knife. Oh, and he nearly never dealt in drugs.”

“Nearly never? What the hell is that
supposed to mean?” Jesse flushed at his outburst. “Sorry. I mean really, what
does that mean?”

“We have reason to believe that the son
would deal the drugs and claim his dad was behind it. He wasn’t. We think that’s
what the falling out was about that ended in murder. Junior wanted more and
more and Senior was content to keep what he had.”

Curtis took the file Agent Pamela Long
handed him. He’d thumbed through it already, knowing what most of it said from
Jesse. She sat next to Kylie and handed her one as well.

“This is the man that came to the door
that day. He said that he wanted to talk to me about the newspaper.” Kylie
closed the file and looked at him. “I don’t think he wants the building. I
think there’s something more in it.”

“Probably.” Pamela handed around another
sheet of paper, this one a clipping from a newspaper article. “That happened
twenty-nine years ago. The robbers were, from what we can piece together, the
LaMancusa men. The older, Valentine LaMancusa, Senior’s father, middle name
John and not Phillip like his son, killed two of the cops and the bank manager.
He was the reason that the police arrived like they did. Had they stayed with
the plan we’d still be looking for them.”

“Valentine John LaMancusa of the
LaMancusa Family?” Royce stood up as he asked. “Christ. That’s the family…the
LaMancusas used to try and get Dad to work for them. You remember, Curtis, they
wanted Dad to be their heavy. Dad never trusted them and always told us to keep
clear of them.”

Curtis nodded, the memory coming to him
now. “Dad worked as a dockworker on the ship lines most nights. He said that he’d
hear of a run coming in and would try to get the cops to go and see about
arresting them. Of course no one ever did. Dad said it was because they had the
cops in their pockets.”

“And they did.” Pamela moved to her
briefcase and Curtis went to sit next to Kylie. She’d not said much and he was
worried about her. Pamela started speaking before he could ask Kylie if she was
all right. “We got this from someone who ran. She’s been in protective custody
since she turned herself in. She wasn’t very helpful to us at first, but now…
well, now that she’s dried out, she’s very talkative.”

Kylie shuddered and Curtis put his arm
around her. She played with the ring he’d put on her finger. It wasn’t where he’d
put it, but he hadn’t officially asked her yet and could live with it being on
the wrong hand. For now.

“What does this have to do with my
father’s building? I mean, the guy wanted it so we’re all assuming that there’s
something there. What is it?” Kylie looked at Pamela. “You think you know, don’t
you? You think you know why he’s coming after my family.”

“The robbery that killed several people,
this one.” She pointed to the article. “At the time of this robbery Valentine
owned the building your paper is now in. When they were both arrested Valentine
was only about three blocks from the building. And Senior was coming out of the
parking lot. The money from the bank was never found.”

“So why haven’t you gone in and looked
for it?” Royce looked at the agent then at Kylie. “You thought they were in on
it?”

“For a while, yes. The other agents
thought that soon enough the Washington’s, Jon and his new wife who had bought
the building in a state auction, would ‘claim’ they found the money and jewels then
make a claim for it as if they didn’t have anything to do with the robbery. But
it looks as if they hadn’t. As the years went by and nothing happened, they
thought they’d made a mistake. And soon no one was interested any longer. Not
until Jesse came along with the sample we didn’t have a match for from a few
other murders.”

“And now? Now what do you think?”

 Pamela flushed and didn’t answer Kylie’s
question right away. She cleared her throat and smiled. Curtis answered for
her.

“Now we’re going to get the shit and
have him put away for a very long time.” Curtis pulled her into his lap and
laughed when she squealed. “And then you and I are going to start our life
together.”

She looked at him sadly and he wished he’d
not said anything. When she started to rise off his lap he held her to him. She
wasn’t going to get off that easily. He didn’t pay much attention to the
conversation around them, only thinking about the woman in his arms. When the
room started to clear out he held her tighter to him.

“I should go home.” She didn’t move and
neither did he. “My father will need me to be there for a little while, but
eventually I’m leaving town.”

“Please don’t. I want you to stay here
with me.” He reached for the hand with his ring on it. “I love you, Kylie. I want
to marry you.” He moved it off her finger and she balled up her fist. After a
few seconds he was able to get it opened again and slid the ring onto her
finger, the correct one this time.

“Do you have any idea how much…of course
you know how much money we owe. You know everything about me, don’t you?”

He didn’t answer because he was sure it
was a trap.

“I can’t marry you because you feel like
you have to make things right for me. I’m a big girl. I can take care of
myself.”

“I have no doubt that you can. And I’m
betting there will be times when you have to take care of me. I’m a huge baby
when I’m sick and like to be pampered big time.” He kissed her quickly. “I don’t
care what your finances are. I don’t even care if you’re worth more than me. And
for the record, I will always try to make things right for you. I love you.”

“Why? Why do you love me?”

This question he’d been prepared for. He
looked at her and told her what had been in his heart since he found out he had
one. “I love the way you sparkle when you laugh. The way your mouth curls up
when you smile. I love the way you wear jeans and a silk blouse. I love the way
you talked to the flowers in your yard when you were a kid, the way you hug. I
love the noises you make when you sleep and the ones you make when we make
love.” He turned her onto his lap and held her face so that he could see into
her eyes. “I love you, Kylie Jean Washington. I have loved you with all my
heart and no other woman will ever be able to fill me with such happiness like
you do. I want to see you swollen with our child. I want to see you baking
cookies for our children’s parties. I want to see you when we get so old that
we can’t see beyond our noses.” He rested his forehead onto hers. “I will die
without you.”

She punched him gently on the arm. “Jerk.
How am I supposed to say no to that?” She wiped at her tears then at his. “Men
don’t cry. Didn’t anyone ever tell you that, bozo?”

“Yes, they do. Real men cry when
something they want and need so much wants to walk away.” He took her finger
again, the one with the ring on it. “Tell me you’ll marry me, Kylie. Tell me
that you’ll make me the happiest man on earth.”

“And if you change your mind, you—”

“I won’t. Ever. Is that a yes?” She
nodded and he kissed her. Then as he deepened the kiss, he laid her back on the
couch and cupped her breast through her bra. The small cough made him growl as
he looked up at his brother. “Go away. I’m busy breaking in my future wife.”

“I’d love to, but there’s a problem. I
think someone just tried to break into the Washington building.” He looked up
at Daniel and frowned. “Of course you could continue what you’re doing and I
can sit here and watch.”

“Bastard. Get out. And don’t think you
won’t pay for this. I’m going to love it when you find you someone to love.”

Daniel laughed on his way to the door. “Never
going to happen, big brother, never in seventy life times. I don’t believe in
marriage and never will.”

Curtis looked down at Kylie and smiled.
“I hope it happens to him soon. I so want to rub his nose in it.”

Chapter 10

Kylie had asked him to keep it quiet for
a few days, but she’d told more people than she’d meant to. First there was her
dad when he woke. They were practically the first words out of her mouth when
he opened his eyes. Then the nurse, who brought someone else in to see her ring,
and after that she couldn’t seem to keep anything to herself. Especially where
the ring had come from.

“It’s his grandmother’s. She left it to
him to give to his true love.” She watched the way the light caught in the blue
diamonds. “I can’t believe that it fit me perfectly. I love it.”

And she did too. The blue five carat
diamond was in the center of the wide white gold band. And it was surrounded by
a dozen white diamonds. The band had a very detailed design with long lines of
flowers and hearts all the way around it. It was a ring made for a woman. And
she was even more surprised to find that the lettering on the inside of the
ring matched their initials exactly.
KJW and CJH
then the year they’d
married.

Her dad’s laughter had her looking up at
him. “You keep looking at it like he’s given you the keys to the castle.”

He’d told her that the ring was the key
to his heart. She flushed when she thought of what else he’d told her it was
the key to. The man was very inventive when it came to her body.

They’d made love several times during
the night, then again this morning before he’d left for work. She shifted in
her chair and glanced at her dad. She needed to talk to him about where she was
staying.

“I have to move out of the house. The
bank is going to take it any day now and then I’d have to—”

“You can stay with me. I know a child
doesn’t want to stay with their parents when they reach a certain age, but I’m
sure we can work things out to both our satisfaction.” He laughed. “Or did you
have some place else in mind? Maybe a certain young man that you’ve been
working with?”

“I sort of…Curtis has…Dad, it’s that I
think…” She took a deep breath and let it out. “I’m moving in with Curtis. He
said we’re getting married soon…though now that I think about it I don’t think
he said when. Though knowing him, he’s probably got it all planned out right
down to the type of dress I’m going to wear. That man can be a bit overwhelming
at times when he gets something—”

Her dad’s laughter caught her off guard.
He was wiping tears from his eyes and smiling so big she did as well. “Oh,
darling, you and he are well suited. I’m sure that you’ll get the details
worked out. I do hope you wait until your old man heals a bit more before you
have me walk you down the aisle. I don’t want to miss a minute of it.”

“You won’t. We want you there too. And I’m
going to make sure he doesn’t make too much out of this. I don’t want a big
wedding.”

“Too bad.” She looked up when Curtis and
his mom walked into the room. Curtis continued as if Kylie had agreed to what
he was saying. “We’re going to have a blowout of a wedding and you’re going to
be the star. Hello, Mr. Washington. How are you feeling today?”

“Better. Much better. And since we’re
going to be related soon, don’t you think it’s about time you called me Jon? I
like that better than mister anyway.”

Curtis nodded and picked her up. When
she ended up on his lap she tried to get away and he growled for her to sit. She
felt his erection and stilled.

“Jon, I was so worried when I found you.”
Mrs. Hunter hugged Kylie’s dad to her as she continued. “You’ve no idea what it
was like to walk up and find you all bloodied on the porch like that. Whoever
did that?”

Kylie looked at Curtis and he winked and
leaned to her ear. “Mom is trying to get him to give details without telling
him anything. It will go better for us all if he tells us who did this rather
than him hear what we know and go from there.”

She understood to a point, but didn’t
want to tax her dad. He’d been hurt badly and she didn’t want him to tire. She
was terrified that the man who’d done this to him might return and hurt him
again.

“He came right up on the porch like he
owned the place. I told him to get off or I was going to shoot him. ‘Course he
just knocked it out of my hands. Like it was nothing to him.” She watched his
face for pain. “He hit me with it. The gun. I don’t remember much after that,
but that I had to grab onto him. I was told that I got myself a little of the
little pisser and maybe you can figure out who he was. I’m thinking it was that
Howe person and he was a mite pissed that we sold to you.”