Next to Me (31 page)

“That calculated bastard. He would get the inside scoop from this Cooper guy and that’s how he knew how to find what he was looking for. And as long as what he wanted was insured by Bouche and Renner, he could find anything in the world. Cooper would find its original registration and change the ID and ownership. Well this is about to get interesting.” The corners of my mouth involuntarily rise a little.

“Why is that?”

“Ambassador McKay is going to insure his fake V Nickel, and so is whoever my father sold, is selling, the real V Nickel. Ken Cooper is going to be sweating when he has to tell Dellinger there are
two
entries with Bouche and Renner for what is supposed to be the last of the five V Nickel’s Dellinger is searching for.” A giddy feeling wells up inside me, finally feeling like I have the upper hand.

“Well…you certainly have grown up,” Oz smiles. “Spring tells me you’re a nurse and that you’ve kept up with your dancing.”

“I’ve just tried to live the life my supposedly dying father wanted me to have. As terrible as what he did was, I’m kind of glad. I ended up living in the city of my dreams, with my dream job, and dream friends. And now that I have this, I’m not going to have to leave it all behind,” I tell him excitedly.

“Listen now…don’t get ahead of yourself, Angel. You still have no idea what Dellinger is willing to do to get what he wants,” Oz warns. He’s got that stern look on his face that I’ve actually missed. He used to give me that look when I would try to sneak ingredients off the counter when he was baking. “You could show him this and it mean absolutely nothing to him.”

“Well, if the possibility of being the center of an insurance fraud investigation and being dragged through the political mud in the process doesn’t do anything, I suppose I could always go back to the Ambassador and tell him what we did. I have a feeling he’d be happy to have me take the forged coin back to Dellinger. McKay would raise a toast every night knowing that Dellinger was holding a totally fake V Nickel.” I raise my eyebrows at Oz and smile.

“You got the best parts of your dad, you know that right?” he smiles back at me and pulls me in for a bear hug. Oh, how I’ve missed him.

“Hey…dinner will be ready in about half an hour. Anyone up for a drink?” Spring holds up a bottle of wine and spreads a smile on her face.

“I am
so
up for a drink!” I tell her as I stand.

“That’s going to take some getting used to,” Oz says. “You were a 19-year-old kid when I last saw you. You’re a grown woman now and I’m not sure I’m ready for this.”

“You just need to hang out with me more, Oz. I hope you’ll be sticking around for a while.” I take a sip of the red wine Spring just poured and decide to let it sit and open up a bit.

“Just long enough to meet Landon and give him the once over to see if he’s good enough for you,” Oz says with his mock-dad voice.

“You’re not going to get to meet him,” I say.

“What happened?” Oz asks. Spring looks at me with sadness in her eyes, already knowing the whole store.

“I cut things off with him, totally pushed him away when it seemed I was going to have a life on the run from Dellinger. He wanted to come with me, but I couldn’t let him do that. He deserved better than to be stuck living a lie.” I check on dinner as a way to avoid the conversation further, but Spring won’t have it. She turns my body around and sends me back to the other side of the counter bar.

“Now that you’ve got the upper hand, why don’t you call Landon? Tell him what’s happening and that things might not be as desperate as you once thought. He loves you, Jenna. He wants to be with you and would coming running if you called,” Springs says.

“I can’t do that. I pushed him away, and pushed hard. I said some terrible things to him to make it easier for him to cut himself off from me. He’s never going to forgive me,” I tell her. I feel the lump that precedes crying form in my throat.

“I don’t know a lot about love, Angel, but what I do know is this: when you love someone, you’re willing to forgive a lot. I know your mom forgave more than she should have with your dad.  When I asked her about it, she said it was because she loved him, and despite his deception, she knew he truly loved her.” Oz’s eyes are soft as he tells me about my mother. As I got older it was always a difficult subject for me, but it’s nice to hear how strong she was, how much she loved my dad.

“She knew he was lying to her? Even when she was really sick from chemo?” There’s a pain in my chest and I’m convinced it’s because my heart is breaking again for what my father did to her.

“What your mom knew and when she knew it isn’t important. What’s important is that she loved him and, right or wrong, she overlooked a lot of his indiscretions. He was always faithful to her and provided for the three of you. Those were the things that mattered most to your mom.

“The point I’m trying to make, Angel, is that if your mom was willing to overlook the things your dad did because she loved him, how much more do you think Landon is going to forgive you for what you said? He’s not dumb. He knows why you did what you did.”

Oz has a way of convincing a person to do anything he wants. He could use his powers for evil, but he doesn’t. He only uses them for good, like the night he got me out of DC. Oz said I had five minutes so I made sure I was done in four.

I want to call Landon. I want to tell him what a terrible mistake I made, and how I jumped the gun in pushing him away.  I had no idea when Dellinger was going to rear his ugly head and I should have enjoyed as much time with Landon as I could until then. If I had waited, Oz would be here now with the insurance information, I would be preparing to expose Dellinger, and Landon would still be mine.

I let Dellinger get under my skin and scare me into letting go of the only perfect thing that I’ve ever had. For that, I’m filled with even more rage. Dellinger is going to pay for he did to my family, and to me.

“I guess. But…I can’t even think about trying to mend things with Landon until everything with Dellinger is really fixed. I’m meeting him on Thursday night at Fronterra. He thinks he’s going to give me my next assignment. I think I’ll just nail his ass to the wall.”

Chapter 19

“Are you sure you don’t want me to come, too?” Spring says nervously as I’m getting ready for my meeting with Dellinger.

“Yes, I’m sure. I’m feeling confident that it’s going to go well, but if it doesn’t, you have the copies and you know what to do, right?” I tell her.

“Yes, I know what to do. You and Uncle Oz went over it with me about a hundred times,” she says, rolling her eyes at me.

We did go over it with her about a hundred times. It’s really important that she delivers it to the right person in Washington and that she gets the other copy to the big national news affiliate here in Chicago, too. They’d chomp at the bit to be the first to release a story about a dirty Senator.

“Where’s Uncle Oz?” Spring stand and pulls my long hair out from the top I just put on.

“He’s meeting me at the restaurant, but staying hidden. Dellinger will have at least one of his lackies with him. Last time he brought muscle and brains. He’ll most likely have them both with him this time, too. One to intimidate me and another to disseminate information to me.

Spring looks worried. I can see the lines of stress on her forehead, and she’s wringing her hands, something she only does when she’s nervous.

“Hey…” I say, taking her by the shoulder. “It’s going to be ok. Oz is going to be there, and Dellinger’s not going to do anything to me in a public place like that. I made a reservation under his name, so even if he used a fake one when he had the reservation made, his name would be on the books. But none of that matters because he’s going to see what I’ve got on him and he’s going to walk away and find someone else, someone in no way connected me, to do his dirty work for him. Ok?”

“I’m just…I just want you to be ok…ok?” she says quietly, trying to keep from crying. Spring likes to cry even less than I do. We’re strong woman and if we’re even on the verge of tears, you know it’s bad. “I don’t know what I’d do without you. And I really don’t know if I’d be able to keep all this locked up inside me forever.”

“You’re not going to have to keep anything locked inside forever. Once this is all over, and I mean
all
over, I’ll be able to share more of my life with you guys. I won’t have so much to hide anymore.  Then everyone will understand why I’ve been so
not me
lately.”

I take a deep breath and check myself in the mirror. I don’t tell Spring this, but my outfit was completely chosen on how well I’d be able to move and run in it. I’ve got on black leggings and a green and white tunic top with a pair of black ballet flats with rubber soles. I’m hoping not to have to employ some of the krav maga or other defense techniques I used on the crack head from the hospital, but I should be prepared for anything. Being optimistic doesn’t mean you stop being realistic.

“How do I look?” I ask Spring with a smile?

“You look beautiful…and like you could kick ass,” she laughs.

“That’s the best compliment you’ve ever given me.” I give Spring a long hug and reassure her that it’s all going to work out just fine. I also remind her that Oz will be nearby and he won’t let anything happen to me, which is to make us both feel better.

My cab pulls up to the restaurant and I take just a moment before I step out onto the sidewalk. With my bag slung across my body, and my copy of the smoking gun in the case against Dellinger safely tucked away, I enter the restaurant and leave every ounce of fear in the Chicago air.

I tell the girl at the podium that I’m there for Senator Dellinger’s reservation at 7:00 pm. She tells me he’s not yet arrived and asks me if I’d like to wait for him or be seated. I tell her I’d like to be seated so I follow her to a table conveniently located in the middle of the room.

Our server introduces himself as Trey and I immediately give him my order for a glass of Merlot. I’m halfway through my glass when Dellinger arrives and begins following the same girl into the dining room.

“Oh, good, you found him,” I say to her with a cheery smile.

“You’re Senator Dellinger? Well then, this is your table,” she says with a sweet smile.

“Yes…thank you,” he says reluctantly.

I catch Trey’s eye and motion for him to come to us. “Trey, the Senator here would like a drink. Wouldn’t you, Senator?” I say. I can’t hide my smile and wish I had a better poker face. Although, I have to say I’m thoroughly enjoying throwing Dellinger off with my devil-may-care attitude.

“I’ll have a gin, straight up, and only the best,” he says. He doesn’t even look at Trey, but stares me down…trying to figure out what the hell is going on.

“Thank you for the flowers. They were lovely,” I tell him.

“I have to say, this isn’t the response I expected from you…not at first, at least. It took your father about a year before he was really on board with the fact that I was offering him more money than he’d ever make with his little locksmith company. I saw the fire in his eyes, and I can see it in yours now, too.” Dellinger’s drink comes and I have to decide if I’m keeping myself from laughing or stabbing him with my butter knife.

“Would you like to order, or do you need a few minutes,” Trey asks.

“We’re going to need a minute, Trey. Thanks,” I say. “There’s definitely a fire in my eyes, but it’s not what you think. You see, I’m going to make sure you never threaten me or anyone I love ever again.” A huge grin spreads across my face. “Take a sip of your drink…Senator.”

“Oh, I see. You think you’re going to do something like report me to the authorities, or have a reporter poke his nose in my business. You’re brave, I’ll give you that. But, seriously, who is going to believe you? Your father was a known criminal and after I counter any report with what happened with Ambassador McKay, it’ll look like the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” he says.

“What do you think happened in France?” I ask. I’m genuinely interested

in what McKay told him. I can only imagine that it’s the partial truth. McKay wants to hold onto his
I have the one thing you’ve been looking for
card.

“Poor Ambassador McKay’s security detail discovered you and your father red handed with some of his most prized possessions. He called me when it happened and I persuaded him to let you and your father go,” he explains. His arrogance would light a fire of rage inside me if I didn’t know I was about to take his ass down.

He didn’t mention Landon at all. The Ambassador said Dellinger had contacted him to add Landon to the guest list, but it must have been my father.

“Had I known your father was going to disappear with the coin I would have just made acquiring the coin part of Mr. Scott’s assignment,” Dellinger continues.

“How did you find the Nickel? You’ve been searching for so long,” I ask.

“I have my usual ways, but sometimes your father provided some very credible leads. It was his lead that took us to McKay,” Dellinger tells me. I’m beginning to understand the quiet bragging Dellinger enjoys by having something other people could never have. I’m sitting here listening to how McKay and my father totally scammed Dellinger and, I have to say, it feels pretty good.

You know he’s going to sell it, don’t you? How long do you think it’s going to take to track it down this time?” I say.

“All you’ll need to worry about is retrieving the things I send you after. Make no mistake, I’ll find that coin again.” He talks to me like I’m a little girl and I don’t need to concern myself with grown up things. He has no idea the arsenal in my possession right now, but I’m about to attack.

“Ways like, say, when someone files to have their newly acquired 1913 V Nickel insured?”

Dellinger’s face goes white from the initial shock of my informed statement.

“So you’ve done some digging have you? Impressive. You might be more useful to me than I had originally thought,” he says, regaining his composure.