Gold Hill (47 page)

“
I do?”

“
You do,” Ava
said.

“
Oh,” Schmidty
said.

“
What’s so important that
you have your boy here lying for you?” Ava asked.

“
Your father,” Seth turned
to look at her.

“
My father?”

“
Should I go up front?”
Schmidty asked.

“
No,” Ava said. “Whatever
my father’s doing, I’m sure it’s all over the news and if it’s not?
I should know anyway.”

Seth turned and took Ava’s
hands.

“
Your father said he would
go in witness protection in exchange for his testimony in the
prostitution matter,” Seth said.

“
He did?” Ava asked. “I
wonder why Mom didn’t call to tell me.”

“
Just him,” Seth
said.

“
Just him,” Ava scowled.
“You mean
he’s
going into witness protection and the rest of us are on our
own?”

Seth nodded.

“
And?” Ava asked. “I know
by the look on your face there’s an ‘and’ so you may as well spit
it out.”

“
His deal includes one of
his . . . women,” Schmidty looked at Seth and he
nodded.

“
One of his
women . . . ” Ava’s voice drifted. She sat up
straight when she understood what Schmidty was saying. “You’re
saying he made a deal to live happily ever after with Tanesha’s
mother?”

“
I’m sorry,” Seth
said.

“
Against her will?” Ava
shook her head as if it was impossible.

Seth nodded.

“
Oh wow,” Ava said.
“Really?”

Seth nodded.

“
And my Mom? My sisters?
Me?” Ava shook her head.

“
He turned in his mob
connections in exchange for witness protection and Yvonne Smith,”
Seth said.

“
But . . . ” Ava’s mouth opened and
closed. She leaned forward and whispered, “What about
us?”

“
He’s ensured that you
don’t know anything,” Seth said. “The Marshalls have assessed that
you, your sisters and your mother are most likely not in any
danger.”

“
Most
likely . . . ” Ava said. “Does Mom
know?”

“
No,” Schmidty said. “I
spoke with her this morning. She thinks your father is on a
business trip.”

“
It gets worse, right?” As
if she couldn’t accept what she knew was true, Ava shook her head.
“Has to be worse.”

“
He made a deal for all of
his money,” Seth said.

“
All of his
money . . . ” Ava’s eyes went wide. “You mean
he cashed in our life, our entire life, for Yvonne and witness
protection.”

“
Seth had me go over the
documents,” Schmidty said. “He gave them everything and what he
couldn’t give them, the Feds will take soon enough.”

Ava fell silent. She
shifted away from Seth and looked out her window. Schmidty tapped
on the window and talked to the driver about lunch. He had just
chosen a restaurant when Ava gasped. She grabbed Seth’s
arm.

“
But Seth, what about
Yvonne? You have to do something. She can’t live her life as a
hostage to my father’s obsession. Seth, what about
Yvonne?”

“
She’s safe,” Seth smiled.
Seth took out his phone and showed her the last text he’d received.
It said, “Safe and sound.”

“
They got her to come
downtown on the pretense that she would testify against
Alvin . . . uh . . . your father,”
Schmidty said. “They greased the wheels to have her collected by a
few of their friends. The plan was to grab her. They would slip
away into Witness Protection.”

“
The plan
was . . . ” Ava said. “What
happened?”

“
Yvonne and Rodney are not
without friends,” Seth smiled.

“
Tanesha started it,”
Schmidty said. “She beat up that rapist.”

“
What?” Ava asked.
“Tanesha was raped?”

“
She was supposed to be
beaten and raped, brutalized, to convince her not to testify
against your father.”

“
Wow,” Ava
said.

“
She beat the guy bad,”
Schmidty chuckled. “And her dad scared the shit out of him. He told
the police everything he knew, which was enough to get some of the
wheels moving.”

“
Maresol is one of
Yvonne’s best friends,” Seth said. “She said she would be damned if
she was going to lose her friend again. So we’ve been in the loop
from the beginning. We’ve worked the Denver
police . . . ”

“
Homeland Security, the
NSA . . . ” Schmidty smiled. “That’s what I was
doing last night.”

“
Is Tanesha okay?” Ava
asked.

“
Her jaw is broken,” Seth
said. “But otherwise, she seems okay.”

“
God, poor girl,” Ava
said.

“
I’m glad you say that,”
Seth said.

“
Why?”

“
Rodney and Yvonne want to
get remarried tonight,” Seth said. “Late. We’re invited, but I’d
understand if you . . . ”

“
I’d like that,” Ava said.
“I want to see her and tell her how sorry I am.”

“
It’s not your fault,”
Seth said.

“
I went to private
schools, lived in big houses, had as many shoes and dresses as I
wanted, went to train at the FBI, lived in my posh condo with Beth
and Dale . . . I mean everything, all of my life,
happened because he kept her as his slave,” Ava said. “I might not
bear all of the blame but I share the responsibility.
And . . . Does my mother know?”

“
Not yet,” Seth said.
“Remember Schmidty talked to her this morning.”

“
Oh, right,” Ava said.
“When will she find out?”

“
Soon,” Seth said. “But
not right away.”

His phone
vibrated.

“
What was that?” Ava
asked.

“
Before we look, there’s
something you should know,” Seth said.

“
More?”

“
They’re preparing a case
against your father for what he did to Rodney Smith,” Seth said.
“They’re not sure the DA will take the case, but the evidence is
compelling.”

“
What did he do to Rodney
Smith?”

“
He prosecuted Rodney in
order to get Yvonne,” Seth said.

“
But there was a trial!
There must have been evidence . . . ” Ava said.
She shook her head. “Unless he paid off jurors
and . . . Fuck.”

“
What?”

“
He made up evidence,” Ava
said.

“
Lost evidence. Left a
serial rapist and murderer on the
streets . . . ”

“
Bastard.”

The limousine pulled over
to the restaurant Schmidty had picked.

“
Listen,” Seth said. “We
don’t have to go in here but I do have to work this afternoon.
Schmidty can . . . ”

“
Are you kidding me?” Ava
asked. “My father just traded my life away like it was worthless,
like I’m worthless. I’ll be damned if I won’t live every single day
to the fullest just to spite him.”

They got out of the
limousine and walked into the restaurant. They were almost at the
table when Ava slumped.

“
What is it?” Seth
negotiated her to the semi-circle maroon booth.

“
Tell me he’s not getting
off easy,” Ava slid around to the back. “Tell me he’s not just
going to live well on some pile of money he hid.”

“
He’s not,” Seth said.
“He’ll have to get a job, a real job. He’s been assigned somewhere
where it’s cold and dark most of the year. My guess is that he
won’t last a year, but the people he’s sold out are pretty
dangerous.”

“
My money’s on a year and
a half,” Schmidty said.

“
Plus, there’s Yvonne,”
Seth said. “One thing is for sure, he’ll never see Yvonne again. It
doesn’t sound big, but it will surely kill him.”

Ava nodded.

“
It’s not enough,” Seth
said. “I know.”

“
It’s only enough if I
live well, really well, and help my mom and sisters do the same,”
Ava said. “In fact, what’s the most expensive thing on the
menu?”

“
Lobster,” Schmidty
said.

“
Nasty bug like bottom
dweller?” Ava asked. “Yuck.”

“
Maybe you get even by
just living your life in the way you’d like to live it,” Seth
said.

Ava nodded. They ordered
their lunches and the conversation shifted to the rerecording of
the movie score. Their meals had just arrived when Ava’s phone
rang. Looking at the phone, her eyebrows pinched.

“
It’s my older sister,”
Ava said. “Hello.”

Her sister’s stream of
words was loud enough for everyone to hear. Ava put her hand over
the mouthpiece.

“
Friend at the DAs office
called,” Ava whispered.

“
So they know,” Seth
said.

Ava nodded. Her eyes echoed
the pain and rage she heard on the phone.

“
I need
to . . . ” She whispered and pointed to the
phone.

Seth nodded and she went
back to her call.

~~~~~~~~

Friday afternoon — 2:15
p.m.

Rodney got into the
driver’s seat of his truck and turned to look at Yvonne.

“
Well,” he said. “We have
a few hours before your hair appointment. What would you like to
do?”

Yvonne looked at him for a
moment and then shook her head.

“
I never thought of it,”
Yvonne laughed. “Never. I only thought of getting you back
and . . . ”

“
Me too,” Rodney laughed
and starting the truck. He waved to Reverend White and his son as
they left the parking lot.

“
Are you hungry?” Yvonne
asked while she pulled on her seat belt.

“
I had a sandwich,” Rodney
said. “You?”

“
I want to see your
house,” Yvonne said. “You don’t live in our old house
anymore?”

“
Nah,” Rodney started
toward the little yellow house.

“
How come?” Yvonne
asked.

“
I couldn’t handle it,”
Rodney said. “Just couldn’t live there and not have you. It’s been
hard enough facing every single day without you. I don’t think I
would have survived it.”

Yvonne gave him a sad
smile. She took his hand and held it to her heart. He
smiled.

“
Where do you live?”
Yvonne asked.

“
I’ll show you,” Rodney
said. “We can take Mr. Chesterfield for a walk.”

“
Who’s Mr.
Chesterfield?”

“
My dog,” Rodney said.
“He’s a big old black dog. I got him when I was in prison. They let
prisoners raise puppies as service dogs. They let me keep him when
I got out. He and I, we’ve been through a lot together.”

“
Do you think he’ll like
me?” Yvonne asked.

Rodney laughed and Yvonne
smiled. Animals had always liked Yvonne. Rodney drove and Yvonne
looked out the window. She didn’t feel the need to chatter or talk.
Rodney glanced at her. She was just enjoying the ride. He pulled
onto Stout Street and came to a stop in front of a large yellow
house.

Watching Yvonne, he waited
for a moment.

“
I love this house,”
Yvonne said. “Remember how we used to come over here and dream of
buying it.”

“
I remember the time you
talked the owner into letting us look around,” Rodney
smiled.

“
Such a pretty house,”
Yvonne said. “Why did we stop here?”

“
This is my house,” Rodney
said.

“
No really,” Yvonne said.
“I want to see your house.”

“
Then you’d better get
out,” Rodney opened his door and got out of the truck. “Notice the
color?”

“
Yellow,” Yvonne smiled.
“Can’t go wrong living in a yellow house.”

“
Brings you luck,” he
repeated what she always said.

“
Yes it does,” Yvonne
said.

“
Well, I feel pretty lucky
today,” he said.

Rodney opened the knee-high
black metal fence.

“
You sure this is your
house?” Yvonne asked.

“
Well
actually . . . ,” Rodney said.

Yvonne followed him down
the walkway. She watched him take a key from his pocket and open
the door. Before she knew it, he’d swept her off her feet and
carried her across the threshold.

“
This is your house,”
Rodney said. “I bought it for you.”

Yvonne didn’t know what to
say. Her eyes shed tears but her mouth smiled. She wanted to hoot
and sob at the same time. In his strong arms, he gave her a tour
through his home. He’d left the walls white in the hope that she
would one day paint them. He carried her up the stairs and showed
her the small but comfortable bedrooms. Everything was spotlessly
clean and beautifully restored.