Killer Cupid (The Redemption Series: Book 1) (14 page)

Cisco laughed. “Well we had a nice dinner, then ended up at the theater, then ended up at her door, without ever talking about it. But I think the evening had more of a date feeling about it, than our usual…”

“Yeah?”

“I just kissed her – didn’t know what else to do at that point.”

Eduardo laughed.

“It was pretty awkward.”

“Yeah, well Nita told me you took up ice skating, just to get close to her.”

“Oh, she did, did she?”

“Yup. How cute.” He slugged his beer.

Cisco shook his head. “Well, she was on the streets of London every morning at five, just to get to these skating lessons, get some exercise, whatever. Anyway, she really liked it, and she had this coach that trains Olympic athletes. She wasn’t going to quit, and I was worried about her.”

“Oh, you were worried about her! Ha Ha Ha!”

“Well, it was a good way for me to spend time with her, and make sure she was safe. It was good exercise. And it was fun most of the time.”

“Most of the time?”

“That coach is a real witch!”

He snorted the beer. “Maybe she thought you were interested in learnin’ to skate.”

Chapter Nine

Glori

Agent Alain Dusseault was almost as good at flirting as I was. But I couldn’t be satisfied with just flirting, and being back at the Bainbridge mansion with the whole fam-damily wasn’t my idea of a good time. Worst of all, Alain and my buddy, Agent Jimmy, were only there to get everyone and everything organized so the security force would actually keep us all alive. I couldn’t even try and sneak him into my room after Cindy’s mom made some comment about me “adopting” a bodyguard.

Agent Jimmy – who gave me a sneering grin when I called him that – was giving Cindy’s dad an earful about policies and procedures, and how to avoid ending up missing or dead like our friend Kendra. It was painfully obvious I had to do something or maybe lose Alain forever.

Maybe he could see the heat rising from my brain – he invited me to go to the beach. And it was perfect, since he was already one of the best bodyguards ever. Even Dottie gave her nod of approval with a warning look.

Cindy followed us to the front door, and since she knew exactly what was on my mind, she opened the door for us and said, “We won’t wait up.”

It was a gorgeous evening, and we walked the boardwalk maybe three minutes before checking into the hotel. We burst through the door tearing at each other’s clothes. He kicked it closed, and positioned me on the bed in one swift movement. The guy was expert at separating a woman from her clothes in no time flat.

***

The next morning I knocked and entered tentatively through Cindy’s bedroom door. She was still in bed. “Glori, is that you?”

“Cin are you awake?” I jumped on the bed.

“I am now. So how was he? Did you have a good time?” Cindy sat up to look at me in the dim light, “I must say you have that – look.”

I burst out laughing. “Talk about sex from the chandeliers! He’s fantastic! We went at it all night. We had this great hotel room overlooking the ocean – got one look at it when I got dressed to leave.”

Cindy shook her head. “Glori, you’re unbelievable. Are you going to see him again? Silly question, huh? He’ll be calling you tonight.”

“He already asked me. He should be able to get away around four today.”

“So is this just like an extended one night stand, or what’s the deal? I mean is there real potential here?” Cin was always interested in serious relationships. She had marriage on her mind.

“If you had the time I had last night, you wouldn’t be wonderin’ about potential.”

Cindy laughed. “Well, in fact, I probably would.”

“Well,” I began peeling off what remained of my clothes. “I’m on his schedule under ‘recreation.’ And he needs recreation every single day. Probably for hours.” I headed to the bathroom that connected my room and Cin’s, and turned on the shower.

Cindy appeared in the door. “How do you do it, Glori? How can you be so much like a man?”

Nita

It was quite late, but Debbie and David’s parents remained by his bedside keeping vigil, as I reviewed the records of the day. By that point I was bleary-eyed. Eduardo and Cisco came in to check on him, and as we began to discuss the events of the day, David called out in German, obviously having a nightmare. He was going on about “where is the painting?”

Eduardo rose and reached him as his mother and Debbie did, all trying to comfort and/or wake him, and he quieted a bit.

“What painting is he talking about?” Maria asked in English, probably thinking she’d get a quicker answer from Debbie than Eduardo.

“Ah, it’s one of Debbie’s paintings, Auntie – a winter campground scene he liked,” Eduardo said.

“It was the day before.” David spoke in English, and his eyes were open, but he was a million miles away.

Irritation on Eduardo’s face instantly turned to a world of pain, and he heaved a noisy breath. “It’s okay, David. It’s okay.”

“It’s the day before.” He sounded so incredulous, like he was experiencing the day before whatever it was.

It was obviously something only Eduardo and David understood. The rest of us crowded around the bed in confusion. David’s eyes closed, and he slipped into sleep again, leaving Eduardo to explain
—
if it was not some classified nightmare they’d both endured.

I looked at him expectantly. “What is he talking about?”

He rubbed watery eyes. “Ah…” He looked around and seemed to understand he wouldn’t get away without an explanation, despite how emotionally this had hit him. “It was the day before the plane crash. That’s what he meant – the day before. We went there…we went hiking there the day before…” Eduardo grabbed a paper towel and left the room.

David’s father Frederick crumpled into Cisco’s arms. I tried to console Maria. And Debbie whispered to David, “Plane crash?”

***

It was probably an hour or more before tears were somewhat under control, and David’s parents agreed to retire for the night. Cisco and I escorted them to their room, and then he went to check on Cat, while I went to encourage Debbie to get some sleep too. I wasn’t looking forward to explaining what all that was about, but I knew she wouldn’t rest until she understood just how her painting had impacted David.

Cisco’s call saved me from all that. I ran to Cat’s room and found him by her bed, his face white with fright. “She won’t wake up! Not this again.”

I leaned over and checked her vital signs. “It is this again. Don’t worry, Cisco, we’ve both seen this a hundred times. You need some rest. I’ll stay here with her tonight, okay?” He didn’t seem convinced. “Cisco, she’ll be fine.”

I elbowed him into the hall, and shut the door. I collapsed into a chair and realized Debbie really needed me more. But I was too tired, and I fell asleep in the chair.

***

“Nita?” I jumped. It was Debbie.

“Are you okay, Debbie?” I straightened up in the chair. The light from the hall lit her face, and I saw tears glinting in her eyes.

“Yes. I was trying to shake Cat awake, and I think she’s dead.”

Rising from the chair I flipped on the light and checked her vital signs again. “It’s okay, honey.” I hugged her. “This has happened before. No one knows why
—
she just can’t wake up. But she always does eventually. Sometimes she’s unconscious for a few minutes, sometimes hours. We can’t find anything wrong. It usually happens when she’s stressed.”

“Oh.” Debbie rubbed her eyes, but it served only to unleash more tears.

“I know – one thing after another!” I found a second chair and settled Debbie into it with a box of tissues.

“Cisco gets all bent out of shape over it though. I guess he’s afraid one of these times she won’t wake up. But Frederick and Maria have had her to all kinds of doctors. Like I said, they don’t find any reason. But it’s been going on since she was five or six years old.”

“What’s really going on, Nita?” Debbie mopped her face with a wet tissue. “What plane crash? What happened in my painting the day before? Is David having nightmares he can’t wake up from? And is Cat in a coma too? All because of my painting?” She began to sob.

I reached down inside myself to summon the strength to cope. I patted her hand, and took a breath. “Debbie, I think David’s recovery is going in the right direction, and that’s the main thing. He’s put himself in a tough situation with this job. We really don’t know the half of what he’s been through. But he’s strong, and tough, and resilient, and I think he’ll work his way out of this
—
whatever is bothering him. Cat, too. I know it’s just a matter of waiting this out. She’ll be fine. As to your painting, I can’t wait to see it. It sounds like it resembles a place where we played as children. And David somehow got the memory of the day before the plane crash by seeing your painting.”

I felt my heart start to pound
—
I really didn’t want to get into all this now. But how could I summarize the worst day of our families’ lives in a few trite sentences? I went into the bathroom and came out with two plastic cups of water – the best I could do. Debbie took a cup, and I watched the water swirl in her shaky hands. Mine weren’t much steadier. I took a seat and sipped water, the sadness enveloping me.

“What – what happened?”

“Debbie, I believe you’re going to be a part of David’s life. And I think it’s important for you to know what happened that day. It changed all of us forever. David’s older brother was his idol. I’m sure he still is.”

“Older brother?”

“His name was Paul Daniel, and we called him Danny. He was a few months older than Cisco. Being the oldest, he led the boys into any and all mischief. They had lots of fun, lots of adventures together. Danny was ten and David was seven, and it was Christmastime. Cat had just turned five, and she had a baby brother
—
he was just an infant.

Cat’s parents were living near Salzburg – her mother was Maria’s sister. She had married an Irishman, Jack Connors, so they spent some time in Salzburg and some time in Ireland. But the sisters were very close, so they ended up buying land near the Lambrechts. Anyway, most of the time, we would all be in Austria for the Christmas holiday. But for some reason, they decided that everyone would spend the holiday in Ireland. My father and Eduardo’s had to finish up some project they were working on, so we wouldn’t be able to join them until Christmas Eve. But David and Cat’s families left on December twentieth.”

It had been a long time since I let myself relive that day, and the emotion thickened my voice and clouded my eyes. “Well, it wasn’t the best weather, but they got on the plane anyway. I guess there was ice
…
Anyway it crashed on takeoff.”

Debbie leaned over and fell into my chair hugging me. I could barely speak, but I wanted this over. “Cat lost both her parents and her baby brother. Danny was killed. Frederick and Maria got thrown completely out of the plane. He ended up with badly broken legs and internal injuries. Maria was pretty much alright physically – lots of cuts, bumps and bruises.” I stopped to blow my nose.

“And David? And Cat?” Debbie whispered.

“They were both still strapped in their seats. David was okay, but Cat was badly injured. I guess he had to pry away some debris to get to her, and undo her seatbelt. Then he tried to get her out of there. But she didn’t want to go with him. Apparently, she was seeing a vision of her parents holding her brother and Danny, and waving to her. So she was struggling to go back with them. I suppose you’d call it some sort of near-death experience. Fortunately, David managed to drag her out of there. He laid her down on the pavement as the rescue workers came. They tried to grab him, but he ran back to the plane to find his brother. He couldn’t get to him because, at that point, the whole thing was in flames. The rescuers had to restrain him. He was hysterical, screaming for Danny.”

“So that’s what happened.” I tried to exhale the emotion, and blot my eyes. “Cat was in the hospital a long time – she had severe internal injuries. The doctors told Maria and Frederick that Cat probably wouldn’t ever have children. And
Frederick
was also in the hospital for awhile – it took him a long time to recover. Maria was beside herself.  Well, they never will get over the loss of their son. And Eduardo says David’s been trying to kill himself ever since. I think he’s right. I mean I know Eduardo is always taking crazy risks, but David is even crazier.”

I attempted to encourage Debbie. “Anyway, honey, I think if – when – David survives this, you’ll have a calming effect on him. Eduardo said the way he talked about you – well he took on a whole different demeanor. I think maybe you’ve given him a reason to live.”

Debbie sat silently for a long while, still snuggled in the chair with me. “David is a hero, and he was only seven years old?”

“Yes, a hero at age seven, but I don’t think he felt like one. I think he felt guilty he survived and his brother did not.”