ROMANTIC SUSPENSE : DEATH WHISPERED SOFTLY (14 page)

Steve knew that moment he had been set free from the beast of his past, even as a new exciting life filled with promise was now knocking at his door—in the form of Grace Kingsbury.

At that moment Steve did something he just felt powerless not to! He went down on one knee and said “My sweetheart, the love of my life, Grace Kingsbury will you marry me?” Grace who was watching Steve was stunned by Steve’s proposal. Although she loved this man profoundly, she had not anticipated this, and it moved her to tears. She wanted to shout for joy, but realized she couldn’t- her voice was choked with emotion and before she could control herself she found her eyes had welled up with tears which were now streaming down her cheeks. These were tears of happiness, of pure unadulterated joy, that she had never experienced before in her life. The man who she was deeply in love with and without whom she could not imagine life without was down on his knee proposing to her! 

Paralyzed with emotion, she was unable to speak; all she could say, her heart was full, “Thank You Lord; Thank you so much!”

When she could finally control her emotions she lifted Steve up gently and whispered “Yes I will, oh my darling I will marry you! I would love to spend the rest of my life with you Steve. You’ve changed it all for me, my life, my heart, all in the form of love.”

They kissed again. It was filled with passion, and ultimate joy.  One prolonged kiss which marked the end of all the suffering and bad times they both had been through, even as it signaled the beginning of a new season in their lives. At long last when they stopped kissing Grace said softly,

“When shall we marry Steve, my darling?”

“As soon as we can” Steve said with a smile. “But sweetheart there is one little job that still remains to be done. If we are going to start a new chapter in our lives, some old chapters need to be closed, and loose ends tied. Although Steve was still smiling, his eyes had hardened, there was steel in his voice.  He turned to Grace and said “I have to meet Ricardo Gomez, the man who had hired me to kill you Grace”.

Grace knew that unless Steve met with Ricardo Gomez, he wouldn’t be at peace,   so she reluctantly nodded.

“I understand it’s necessary for you to meet this man, but please be careful. He seems to be particularly dangerous. Your life is now precious my love… very precious.” Grace Kingsbury’s face was now a mask of worry.
Her concern for Steve’s wellbeing was evident on her face, and it moved him. No one had really showed Steve any such concern, ever since he had lost his parents; and he felt a deep connection and belonging that radiated through his entire being.

“Grace before I leave, I need to ask you something. I am sure you wouldn’t like to have Gustav Nilsson as a partner now that you know what he tried to do to you. I have a suggestion for you. Are you willing to buy his share for a reasonable amount of money? I’m asking because I have a hunch that this will come up in my meeting with Ricardo Lopez. And if it does come up, I would like to impress upon Ricardo and Nilsson that it would be in their best interests, given the situation, to let you buy him out.
Since I know the truth about what Gustav and Ricardo were planning, I will have an edge over them, Steve said with unconcealed resolve.

Grace was taken aback by Steve’s determination, but quickly understood that Steve had a point, and she nodded in concurrence.

“As a matter of fact Steve, I had offered Gustav four million dollars to buy his share—this was about six months ago. But he had chuckled and reviled my offer, calling it
utterly puny
and flatly refused. Obviously I didn’t know then that he wanted the whole company for himself. Why would he accept only four million, which I felt was a fair offer, when he wanted it all” Grace said.

I had no clue that Gustav’s greed would one day assume such evil proportions that he would actually plan to kill me. “Grace, what if Nilsson
accepts
to sell you his share, are you still willing to give him four million?”

Grace said, a grim expression on her face; “Why would he accept it now Steve when he refused and even scoffed at it in the past” Grace asked Steve doubtfully. “He will probably say no again”

“I am not saying he would do it. But things are different this time around Grace. I will make him an offer he can’t refuse…”  Steve said tenaciously. 

Grace was immediately worried. She knew Nilsson wouldn’t concede anything in a hurry. She knew he was too cruel and cold-hearted to agree to anything Steve offered, but since she didn’t want to upset Steve any more than he already was, she agreed saying “Steve do what you want to, but be very careful my love. I don’t want to lose you for all the money in the world.” And she hugged him.

Steve and Grace stood for a long time embracing—neither wanting to let go.

“What if we tell the cops that he and Ricardo planned to murder you Grace?”

“Oh no, not a good idea!” Grace cut in sharply; he will surely drag you in the picture and you may have to go through an ugly trial. I am confident that my lawyers will prevail; but it could be months before that happens, and I cannot afford to have him or anyone else come in the way of my love and my life”  she said resolutely.

Steve knew Grace was right. It would be counter-productive to get cops in the picture. He had no other option
but to confront these two. He
had
to take the bull by the horns! He also knew that anything could happen in that meeting. It could very well end up being his last meeting. They must be seething with fury at the unexpected turn of events, and might very well attempt to vent their frustrations by attacking him.  He was not underestimating the deadly duo’s lethalness. He just knew he had to do this for Grace.

With these thoughts he kissed Grace and assured her that all would be alright, and without a major problem, if he could help it. Grace nodded, but she, much like Steve, knew inwardly this would not be easy. And when they kissed, Steve could feel Grace unsteady, but he didn’t say anything to her. He was determined to finish this in the way he wanted, to put an end to it entirely and get Lopez and Nilsson out of their lives for good.

A myriad of thoughts went through his mind, as he drove away from Grace’s house. It was time to tie up loose ends. He knew that he couldn’t hope to start a new life with Grace, unless he settled this conclusively with Lopez and Nilsson. He fully recognized they were hard nuts to crack— one a professional killer, and the other a dangerously demented man! His meeting with Nilsson and Ricardo would be the most crucial meeting of his life—a meeting that would be fraught with perils. There was every chance that he may not come out alive…. But Steve was neither a wimp, nor was he a stranger to perilous situations. He had spent ten years of his life with as a gang-member in Los Angeles,  home not only to the biggest movie industry in the world – Hollywood, but also to some of the most dangerous and vicious gangs. Steve had never been scared of taking on precarious situations. In fact he found it uncomfortably weird that he would experience a “high” when such situations arose. They challenged his masculinity and presented him an opportunity to demonstrate his inner strength and courage. The meeting with these two loons was now doing a similar thing to Steve— it was challenging and exciting him. Even more so, since success with the meeting would mean a life time with his darling sweetheart Grace Kingsbury!

FINAL CHAPTER

After the plan was foiled on that momentous night, Steve had called up Ricardo only once. They had spoken scarcely for a minute. Steve had explained very briefly what had happened and before Ricardo could chew his head off, he had hung up on him.  He had thrown away the cell he was using earlier on, and had checked out of the sleazy hotel he was staying.

Ricardo and Nilsson had no means to contact him. Steve knew Ricardo and Nilsson would be furious with him. But he was not bothered about that. He had neither chickened-out nor had he messed up. It was by a sheer quirk of fate that the plan had fallen to pieces. He was not obligated to go ahead with a plan B, for
there was no plan B
. Ricardo and Gustav were so confident of the success of their plan that they had not bothered to think of an alternative plan in case the original plan failed.

And as far as Ricardo’s money was concerned, Steve had no intention of keeping any. He didn’t want any of that money anymore and he was incensed by the thought that blood money was paid for murdering Grace.

Ricardo and Gustav, on the other hand, had to lay low until this had all blown over. The cops had got involved and if they smelled something foul, Ricardo and Gustav could get into serious trouble. Unable to meet Steve until now, they were furious as hell and couldn’t wait to confront him.

And when Steve called up Ricardo and informed him of his desire to meet him, Ricardo let go a volley of cuss words obviously blind with rage.

But before he could go much further, he heard Steve’s rasping voice, stern and distinct, snap at him “Listen you jerk; if you say one damn word out of place, you will be in greater trouble than you’ve ever been in your entire freaking life!” The snap in Steve’s voice had abruptly silenced Ricardo’s cussing and all he could do was hear attentively what Steve had to say.

“I want to meet you two Lopez. You and Nilsson! Where should we meet? And let me tell you this, if you don’t meet me, the cops will soon be at your place. But before I send them for you, and that sick friend of yours, Gustav Nilsson, I want to see you both together… at once! He snarled.

After a brief pause, he continued “I want to give you a break Ricardo” Steve allowed his harsh tone to relax a touch.

There was silence and Steve could hear the heavy breathing of Ricardo—he could picture Ricardo struggling hard to control his rage.  Then Steve heard Ricardo say in a hassled, yet submissive voice “Come on over here Steve, I will be waiting for you at my office tonight at 9 pm. Don’t cross me if you know what’s good for you Steve!” Ricardo hissed.

“I will be there at nine” Steve announced. “But Listen Ricardo, before you try anything funny I want to remind you that I am
not
the only one
who knows about the failed plan…. And he paused. Steve knew he could not let on about him and Grace, not yet. Steve heard Ricardo catch his breath and it was evident that he had hit him where it hurt him. “I will tell you the rest when we meet tonight Lopez” he said a smile on his face, and hung up before Ricardo could protest. He wanted to send a message to Ricardo, that he didn’t care a damn about him or his partner.

At the established hour, that evening, Steve sauntered into the office of Ricardo Lopez. The hours that preceded his meeting with Ricardo and Gustav were filled with planning and contemplation for Steve. He had no means of knowing what would transpire during their meeting.  He could easily be walking into an ambush. He had to be prepared for whatever may take place; so as a precaution he stuck a gun he purchased at a pawn shop, in his waist belt and took in deep breaths to steady his nerves. But he chose not to drink. He wanted to be alert and not reckless, when confronting these killers.  It was time, time to put an end to the past and walk into the future that awaited him—a future with his sweetheart Grace Kingsbury.

When Steve was about to enter Ricardo’s office, he felt his heart race and could feel the beads of sweat on his brow, but he quickly calmed his nerves as he reached for the knob of the door. Steve knew the man he was about to meet was a killer, and if he wasn’t cautious, there was every chance that he would not let Steve come out alive from his office. He knew he had to handle this very guardedly, very warily.  And he was prepared for any outcome, including his death.

Ricardo Lopez was sitting in his chair and the lights were dimmed when Steve entered his office. In his right hand was his automatic pistol whose gleaming barrel was pointing directly at Steve.

“Come in traitor” Ricardo Lopez said softly, a cruel murderous expression on his face, his eyes flashing with rage. 

Steve was expecting this so he was not fazed by his reaction and he said “Hello Ricardo” and then looked around. The dinginess of the office, the stale smell of cigarette smoke, and the state of the room made Steve wonder what the hell was he thinking when he had first come here and accepted Ricardo’s offer of killing Grace. The mere thought of doing something like that now revolted him.  He was also surprised to discover how much had changed in these past few weeks. He was now in love, and had clear goals for his life…with Grace.  He shifted his attention back to Ricardo who was still pointing his gun at Steve. He had not moved a bit from his chair, sitting there as if he was strapped to it. The tension in the room loomed around them like a thick fog. Steve was surprised that Ricardo had not yet fired his gun at him, but kept scowling at him amidst an uneasy silence. 

Taking advantage of Ricardo’s silence Steve asked “Where’s Gustav, Ricardo, I thought I had made it amply clear that I wanted to meet with
both
of you.

Steve took a chair right opposite to Ricardo. Then without any further delay he said with an edge to his voice “There are now more people involved in this Ricardo. They will immediately go to the cops with a DVD addressed to the sheriff and the DA, in which I have recorded all the sordid details of the failed plan. If anything should happen to me, even if I were to be slightly hurt, or go missing, the Sheriff and the DA will get to see the DVD, so also the press and the News channels on TV. You and Gustav Nilsson won’t stand a dog’s chance when the scandal breaks, and it is exposed to the authorities and people that you and Nilsson connived to murder the heiress Grace Kingsbury and take over her fortune and her company. You will have the entirety of the law after you. And I am not bluffing. I am telling you exactly how it is.” Steve said looking directly into the hostile eyes of Ricardo, and in that moment he felt he was looking into the eyes of the devil himself.  Steve had expected Ricardo to explode after he had told him what he just told him. But he was surprised to see Ricardo said nothing, but kept staring at Steve, his gaze hostile, their eyes locked.