Finding Angelo (The Wine Lover's Daughter, Book 2) (19 page)

Angelo swallowed. “Hello Martin.” There was a lengthy
silence.
Did he hang up
? “Martin?”

“My God, Angelo, I never thought
I’d hear from you again.” Martin’s dark voice was thick with emotion. “How are
you?”

“I’m fine, thanks. I’m sorry about
not contacting you before. I …”

“It’s okay. But you need to come
back. Did Nicholas tell you about Fred?”

“Yes, well actually Sofia did. She
was the one who tracked me down. I didn’t kill Fred. You have to believe me.
I’ve done a lot of crappy things, but I’m not a murderer.”

“I know that.” Angelo heard
Martin’s somewhat muffled voice call Maria. “Still, you have to come back. They’ll
know it wasn’t you.”

“I hope so, Martin.” He hesitated.
“How has life been treating you?”

“Okay, Angelo. Everybody is fine.
We have a few new people in the family. One of them you’ve met by now.”

“Yes, Sofia is a wonderful person,”
Angelo said. “Nicholas is a very lucky man. I can’t believe how grown-up he is.
I missed so much being away.”

“Yes, I know. We missed you, too.
How have you been?”

“I’ve been fine, well for the most
part. At least I’ve tried to stay out of trouble, and I have actually done some
worthwhile work for a change.”

“Nicholas mentioned something
about a monastery, that you joined a monastery or tried to?”

“Not quite. I work for a
Benedictine abbey, but as a lay person.”

“Amazing.” Martin sounded puzzled.

“I can imagine what you think,” Angelo
said. “This must be some kind of joke. It’s true, though. But I’ll explain once
I see you. I have a lot of explaining to do.”

“When are you coming back?” Martin
asked.

“Nicholas and Sofia are making
reservations,” Angelo said. “As soon as they are finalized, we’ll let you know.”

“We heard that you renewed your
American passport, so you should be able to travel without problems. The
strange thing is, the police couldn’t find any additional information about
your whereabouts.”

Angelo hesitated. “This is because
I changed my name in Italy.”

“Oh, I see. Well, that explains
it. But … how was Sofia able to find you then?”

Angelo cleared his throat. “She’ll
have to explain that herself.”

“Okay. Anyway, Angelo, we can
hardly wait to see you again. I don’t even know what you look like anymore.”

“The same, only twenty years
older.” Angelo said. “I look forward to seeing you, too.”

“Wait, Maria wants to say hello,”
Martin hurried to say.

Angelo felt his eyes tear up as he
heard Maria’s voice. “Hello, Angelo, it’s so good hearing from you again.”

“Thanks, Maria, you still sound
the same. I bet you haven’t aged at all.”

“Oh, yes, I have.” Maria chortled.
“We’ve all aged, but the most important thing is, we’re still here, right?”

“Right.” Angelo tried to swallow
the knot in his throat.

“Well, dear brother-in-law, Martin
is overjoyed about the good news. We all are. We didn’t know if we’d ever find
you. But it sounds like we have a private detective in the family.”

“Yes, you can say that.”

“Come back soon, Angelo.”

“I will, Maria. Real soon.”

Angelo put the phone down and
wiped his eyes. He took deep breaths and once he felt calmer again, he stepped
outside on the patio. Nicholas and Sofia were sitting on the garden chairs.

“Everything okay?” Nicholas asked.

Angelo nodded.

“Ready to meet the family? Sofia’s
family?”

“Let’s do it.” Angelo forced a
smile.

At the main house, the clatter of
dishes from the kitchen told them that lunch was being prepared. Julietta, the
girl he’d just met, was setting the table in the dining area of the living
room.

“
Mamma
,” Julietta called.
“They are here.”

A middle-aged woman, who looked
like she could be Julietta’s mother, came out of the kitchen to welcome them.
She had the same chestnut-colored longish hair. Hers was streaked with gray and
her eyes were dark whereas Julietta’s eyes were that interesting kind of
purplish-blue like Sofia’s. The woman shook her finger at Sofia. “You scared
us. When we didn’t hear from you for a few days, we thought something happened
to you.”

“I know. I’m so sorry. The last
few days were just too hectic for phone calls,” Sofia said.

“I already gave her hell. But she
did track down our great-uncle. May I introduce Angelo, the famous and infamous
member of the Segantino family,” Nicholas said with a flourish.

“More infamous than famous,” Angelo
said quietly. “I’m very pleased to meet you.”

“This is wonderful,” the woman
said. “
Benvenuto.”
She shook hands with Angelo. “I’m Luisa, Julietta’s
mother and this is Donna, my mother. She pointed to an old woman who stepped
into the room, carrying a large soup tureen filled with what looked like
minestrone. She put it on the dining table and nodded at Angelo with a quick
smile. “
Buongiorno
.”

“Oh, and here is my brother,
Edoardo.” Luisa motioned at the door, where a tall, slim man with dark hair and
a short beard appeared. He gave a slight bow and shook hands with Angelo. “
Buongiorno,
signore
.” His eyes were quizzical, but not hostile. Angelo recognized this
look, this expression somewhere between suspicion and cautious acceptance. He
had met with it often.

Angelo guessed that everybody in
the family knew of his dubious reputation. The other members showed no
hesitation and had greeted him warmly. This man, however, reserved judgment as
to what he thought of this newcomer. Angelo appreciated his honesty.

They all sat down to lunch, which
was plentiful and excellent. They started with the soup. Aside from
bistecca
or steak, there was an assortment of vegetables as well as risotto. Edoardo
poured the wine, a Sangiovese.

Lunch was relaxing. They didn’t
ask Angelo any questions, for which he was grateful. In spite of a good night’s
sleep, he felt tired. His mind was still trying to digest all the changes over
the past few days. He missed Rivalta already, his work with the school, the
youngsters. He hoped that his assistant, a capable but still inexperienced
young man, would be able to manage the job. He missed Abbot Francesco and, most
of all, Miriam.

Seeing Miriam again had made him
realize how much he still loved her. He was wrong just disappearing, and he hoped
they would meet again and she would eventually forgive him. He had been able to
call Don Ambrosio from Vignaverde and explain the situation to him. All his
friends had wished him well and had told him to come back soon.

Would he be able to? Would he be
able to clear his name? Whenever he thought about what lay ahead for him in
California, he felt his heart constrict. What if he couldn’t prove his
innocence and ended up in jail?

Somebody had asked him a question
or said something to him. He realized that everybody was looking at him.

“I’m sorry, I was somewhere else
with my thoughts,” he apologized.

Edoardo smiled at him. “No
problem. Luisa asked if you would like an espresso with dessert.”

“Oh, thank you, yes, I’d love one,”
Angelo said to Luisa.

“Let’s sit over there,” Edoardo
suggested and motioned at the sofa and easy chairs next to the glass door
leading out to the patio. “Perhaps now, Angelo can tell us his story.” He
sounded determined and the message was clear.
I want to know if we are
hosting a criminal
.

Over coffee and ice cream, Angelo gave the family an
overview of his life back in California, what made him leave and come to live
in Italy, his work here, and, most of all, his sadness about the mistakes he’d
made, his friend’s death, and his fear of what awaited him back in California.

After he finished his story,
Angelo looked drained. It was quiet in the room for a while. Abruptly, Edoardo
got up and walked over to him. He put his hand on Angelo’s shoulder.

“Thank you for sharing this with
us. You have led an amazing life. Have faith. Things will turn out all right.
God has forgiven you. Now, you must forgive yourself.”

“
Grazie.
” Angelo took the
last sip of his coffee, then got up. “I think I’m going to step outside, get
some fresh air.”

“Perhaps Nicholas and Sofia can
show you the property?” Edoardo suggested.

“What do you think, Uncle Angelo?”
Nicholas asked. “Unless you want to be by yourself.”

“No, I’d love to see the estate.
Thanks.” Angelo seemed relieved.

The three of them went outside and
took a leisurely walk past the houses toward the vineyards. On the way, Sofia
told Angelo how she came to meet her sister and the Santucci family. She told
him of the double life her father had lived, that he had hidden the fact that
he’d had an affair with Luisa in Vignaverde, had fathered a child—her sister
Julietta—and had bought two of the vineyards because the estate was in
financial trouble and needed money. It was only after his death that Sofia
found out about all of this.

After Sofia finished telling the
story, Nicholas put his hand on Angelo’s arm. “As you can see, Uncle Angelo, we
are not the only family with an unsavory past.”

Angelo gave a quick smile.
“Indeed. But Sofia’s story has a good outcome. She inherited two gorgeous fields
of grapes.” He pointed at the vineyards. “And a beautiful sister, and a family.”

“Yours will have a good outcome,
too, Uncle Angelo.” Sofia gently touched his arm.

“I hope so. Whatever happens. It’s
better than hiding.”

A little later, Julietta joined them. They walked past the
vineyards, admired the Sangiovese and Merlot fields, the spring flowers in the
meadows, and the stone pines and olive groves of the neighbors. The twittering
of birds was drowned by the sound of the trimming machine, which drove between
the rows of vines, cutting back the dense tops of the foliage.

At the bottom of the hill,
Julietta opened the door to the underground cellar where all the wine barrels
with the aging wine were stored in racks, four barrels high.

Memories flooded Sofia as she
entered the cellar. She had almost been crushed by one of the huge barrels when
she first came to Vignaverde. As they walked along the rows of barrels, she
inhaled the slightly musty smell.

After climbing back up the steps
of the cellar, Angelo stopped, his face pensive. He looked around the estate.
“It all comes back,” he said, quietly and put his hand on Nicholas’s shoulder.
“My brother’s and your father’s vineyards in California. I could’ve been part
of it, had I not been the lazy and greedy bum I was.”

“You can still be part of it, when
you come back,” Nicholas assured him. “We all need help, especially my father
who runs like crazy all over the world taking part in contests and advertising
rather than taking care of his vineyards.”

“Then who does take care of them?”
Angelo asked.

“My brother and sister and he has
a slew of employees, but he’s always short-handed.”

“As much as I enjoyed my job at
one of the vineyards in Italy,” Angelo said, “I did it mainly to support
myself. I don’t have the passion for it. I guess this was one of the reasons,
aside from my laziness, I never got into it back in California. My job as
counselor, working with troubled youth is more meaningful to me.”

“I know what you mean, Uncle
Angelo … may I call you Uncle?” Julietta smiled at Angelo.

He put his hand briefly on her
shoulder. “Of course, you may. You’re my great-niece’s sister, so yes, I’m your
great-uncle, too.”

“Well, I grew up on a vineyard,”
Julietta said. “I love to help out. I love our beautiful estate. But I decided
not to become a vintner and winemaker like the rest of my family. I am more
interested in science.”

“Good for you,” Angelo said. “You
have to follow your heart when you chose something you’re going to do the rest
of your life. Or at least part of your life. Sofia told me you’re going to
study at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo next spring.”

Julietta nodded. “Yes, I am very
excited about it … and very nervous.”

Sofia hugged her. “No need to be
nervous. You’ll do well.”

After their leisurely walk through
the estate, Julietta returned to the main house and the others went back to
Sofia’s home. Angelo told them he’d like to take a brief nap. He looked tired,
the lines in his face seemed to have deepened.

“Angelo is worried about going
back,” Sofia said to Nicholas, as they sat on the patio, drinking lemonade.

“I’d be worried, too, if I were
him. We don’t really know what’s going to happen,” Nicholas said.

“You don’t think, he’s going to be
arrested, do you?” Sofia asked.

Nicholas shrugged. “I have no
idea. Grandpa didn’t have any news when I talked to him last. From what I
gather, they’re still trying to figure out who killed Fred.”

Sofia, Nicholas, and Angelo spent a week in Vignaverde
before their flight back to California. They took Angelo to the town of
Vignaverde and showed him the neighborhood. It was a pleasant and, for the most
part, relaxing time. Julietta accompanied them when she was free. She was a
chatty young woman, who told him stories about her college and her life on the
estate. She most of all helped Angelo take his mind off the upcoming return to
the United States.

Although he was eager to see his
brother and family again, he dreaded leaving Italy, his second or by now his
first home, without knowing what would happen to him. Would he ever be able to
return or would he end up in an American jail for a crime he didn’t commit?

The few vacation days went fast
and a week later, they said goodbye to the Santuccis and Sofia drove Angelo and
Nicholas to the airport in Florence where she returned her rental car. They
flew back via Frankfurt. On the plane, Angelo was able to sleep a little. As
the plane descended toward the airport, his heart pounded.

In Los Angeles, they walked
through customs without problems. When the customs officer asked Angelo how
long he’d been abroad and he said twenty years, the man fixed him with a
quizzical look. “You haven’t been back for such a long time?”

Angelo shook his head. “No, this
is my first time back. I probably won’t recognize anything anymore.”

The officer stared at the computer
screen for quite some time and Angelo began to worry. Was there something about
him being a fugitive? They might arrest him right there. “Well, welcome back,”
the man finally said and handed him back his passport.

“Thank you.” Angelo took a
relieved breath.

After the short flight to San Luis
Obispo, they picked up their luggage and walked into the arrival lounge.

“Damn.” Nicholas stopped.

“What’s the matter?” Sofia asked,
then exhaled deeply. “Bummer.”

Angelo stared at them. “What?”

“It’s the investigator I told you
about, George Silver.” Nicholas motioned with a quick movement of the head
toward the exit.

“This is it,” Angelo said with a
sinking heart, as he examined the middle-aged, robust man with a crew cut
walking toward them.

He nodded a greeting to Nicholas
and Sofia, then faced Angelo with his sharp gray eyes.

“Angelo Segantino?” The voice
wasn’t threatening or unfriendly.

“Yes.” Angelo’s voice was
trembling a little.

“It’s been a long time,” the man
said. “I’m Inspector George Silver. I’m in charge of the investigation of Fred
Leonardi’s murder.”

Angelo took a deep breath. “So
you’ve come to arrest me.”

Silver stared at him, but Angelo
detected a humorous spark in his eyes. “Why would I want to arrest you?”

Angelo looked at him puzzled.
“Well, I’m the prime suspect, am I not?”

Now Silver gave a quick smile.
“You’re right. You were the prime suspect … until about a week ago.”

“What happened?” Nicholas asked.

“There have been new developments.
We have a confession from the killer.”

Angelo, Sofia, and Nicholas looked
at each other, then at the investigator.

“Who was it?” Angelo asked. “Anton
Leonardi?”

“No, but he ordered the killing.”

“I knew it,” Angelo said, anger
rising in him. “The bastard. He shot a man, and Fred and I witnessed it. That’s
why he killed him.” The anger disappeared, replaced by relief. He was no longer
a murder suspect.

Silver glared at Angelo. “Why
didn’t you report the murder? Why did you just disappear?”

Angelo lifted his arms, then
lowered them again. “Many reasons. For one, I was terrified. I wasn’t exactly a
model citizen. Nobody would’ve believed me.”

“We need you to make a statement,”
Silver said. “And because you’re so good at disappearing, I want you to hand
over your passport. You kind of remind me of Houdini, you know … the old
magician.”

“I have no intention to disappear
again.” Angelo handed him the passport. “I hope I’ll get it back. I do need to
return to Italy, eventually.”

“You’ll get it back when you come
to my office to make your statement,” Silver said.

“What about Anton Leonardi?”
Angelo asked.

“He’s no longer a threat. This is
the second piece of news,” Silver said. “Anton Leonardi is dead.”

“Dead?” Angelo looked at him
stunned. “Somebody killed him?”

“No. He shot himself,” Silver
said.

There was a moment of shocked
silence. “How? Why?” Sofia asked.

“I guess destiny finally caught up
with him. He discovered he had terminal cancer and wouldn’t live long.”

Angelo’s heart skipped a beat. The
thought that the man from whom he had been hiding for so long was dead was only
slowly registering in his mind. “My God. Well, I’d have to lie if I said I was
sorry.”

“I think nobody is sorry, except
maybe his wife,” Silver said. “We also have a statement from one of his mobster
friends that he killed a man twenty years ago in California. It must be the
murder you witnessed. In order to fully close the case, your statement is going
to be very important.”

Angelo took a deep breath. “I’m
sorry I should’ve done it a long time ago.”

“Perhaps you could’ve prevented
further crimes, had you come forward.” Silver touched him lightly on the
shoulder. “But be this as it may. You’re a free man.”

Angelo cleared his throat. “I was
involved in what I think was illegal work. We were transporting goods for
Anton. I don’t know for sure what it was, but it couldn’t have been legal.”

“Tell me about it in my office,”
Silver said. “The statute of limitation for smuggling contraband has probably
expired after twenty years. Anyway, I’ll let you go. There are some people from
your family waiting for you.”

Angelo glanced toward the exit.
The emotions overwhelmed him when he recognized his brother.