The Perfect Witness (4 page)

“Yes.” Her knees were shaking. She took a tentative step forward. “Give me a minute.”

“Screw it. Time’s still important.” He lifted her in his arms and headed for his car, parked by the road. “There’s one other thing that I have to tell you.” He was looking straight ahead. “Dantlow will ask you if you want to include any other family members in the Witness Protection Program. He’ll ask about your mother. I didn’t tell him that she wouldn’t be acceptable.” He smiled crookedly. “I didn’t know myself. But you’ll have to do it now.”

Pain. Sadness. Not acceptable? Who would ever believe that beautiful Gina wouldn’t be welcomed anywhere …

“Teresa?” He was looking down at her. “It has to be done. If it’s true that she betrayed you to Camano. Are you certain?”

She didn’t answer.

“Teresa.”

“I’m certain.” She cleared her throat. “I didn’t want to believe it, but no one else knew I was here. I know she didn’t want to do it. He probably lied to her. My mother knows she has to do what Camano wants her to do. She was always saying that we were both weak and had to obey if we were going to survive.” She could feel the tears sting her eyes. “And I knew it was coming. At my father’s funeral I could see it…”

“See what?”

“My mother. Camano. They were smiling at each other. She was remembering how much she liked being the queen that my father had made her. The fancy resorts, the designer clothes, the respect and fear she could sense in all the people around her when she was with my father. It was her whole life, and I could see that I wasn’t important in comparison. It was only the power and the glamour she’d had as his wife. Now Camano has the power.” She closed her eyes. “And I knew that she’d reach out and take Camano if she could get him. It would be her way to survive. I prayed she wouldn’t.” She whispered, “How I prayed…”

“She’s his mistress now?”

“I guess so. Anyone would want her. She’s so beautiful. I always thought she was like a wonderful butterfly.”

“And evidently with a soul that was not at all beautiful. And certainly not wonderful to you.”

“She never hurt me. Not like my father. She’d smile whenever she saw me. She even brought me presents sometimes.” She opened her eyes. “She dazzled me. She dazzled everyone. So beautiful…”

“You’ll be more beautiful in a few years. All her glamour and with character, too.”

She shook her head. “You’re crazy.”

“And you have a softness toward your mother that could be fatal.” He had reached the car and was putting her down on the passenger side. “You can’t have any contact with her.”

“I know. I’m not stupid, Mandak. Camano might force her to tell him where I am.” She reached out to steady herself as he opened the car door. “I knew when Tantona and the others came for me that I couldn’t trust her to save me. I have to look out for myself.”

“Right. And you may see a beautiful butterfly, but I’m seeing a prime bitch.” He settled her in the seat and fastened her seat belt. “Good riddance to her, Allie.”

She frowned, puzzled. “Allie?”

He reached out and touched her hair. “Such pretty dark curls. It shines in the moonlight. It’s a shame we’ll have to tint it, but it’s too eye-catching.”

“Allie?” she repeated.

He nodded. “Get used to it. No more Teresa Casali. She’s gone forever. You’re Allie Girard.”

Before she could answer, he’d slammed the car door and was running around to the driver’s seat.

Gone forever. No more Teresa Casali.

The words repeated over and over in her mind as he started the car and drove onto the road.

Loneliness … and relief.

“I was wondering how you’d take it.” Mandak’s gaze was on her face. “First shock and then…?”

“I can start over. No one will know I’m … weird. Fresh start. I can make my life what I choose.” She grimaced. “If I can keep from getting killed.”

“Not quite a fresh start. I’ll still be in the picture.”

“For the time being.”

He smiled. “And I can see you’re already plotting on how to rid yourself of me.”

“It’s possible.” She lifted her chin and stared at him challengingly. “If I don’t find a reason to use you as you say you’re going to use me.”

He chuckled. “I look forward to watching you make the attempt, Allie.”

“Allie,” she repeated, trying to get used to the sound of it. “What was the last name?”

“Girard.”

She leaned back in the seat, her gaze on the darkness beyond the windshield. She could rid her life of that darkness. She could turn her back on all the ugliness. She could pretend to—no, she could teach herself to not let herself see what she should not see. If she was strong enough, determined enough, she’d be able to do it. She might even take Mandak up on his offer to help her conquer that helplessness that had made those years a nightmare. Why not? He’d made no secret that she was only a means to some complex, shadowy end to him. He had said use him, and she should have no compunction about doing it. Not if it meant that life could be different for her.

Teresa Casali was gone, never to return. Only this new, strange person was left to reach out and take hold and shape the world to suit herself.

A person named Allie Girard …

CHAPTER TWO

Stonebridge, New Jersey
3:40
A.M.

“SHE GOT AWAY.” CAMANO
muttered a curse as he hung up the phone. “And Tantona and the others are dead.”

“What?” Gina raised herself on one elbow in bed. “That’s not possible. How did it happen?”

“How the hell do I know? Navarro was driving the car. The last he heard from Tantona was that Teresa was running through the woods, and they were going after her. He tried to contact Tantona later, and there was no answer, so he went looking. He found the three of them in the woods. Whoever did the job knew what he was doing.” He got out of bed and strode naked over to the bar and poured himself a drink. “Maybe you should tell me what happened, Gina? You told me your freak of a daughter has no friends. There was no way she could have taken down Tantona and the others herself. Not given the skill Navarro said the kills were done with.”

“Of course she couldn’t do it.” Gina got out of bed and slipped on her cream-colored satin robe. “You don’t understand. She’s just a kid. Teresa is only interested in her books and music.” She moved across the room to the bar. “And I don’t appreciate your talking to me like that, Rico. Why would you think I’d know anything about how she got away? Haven’t I done everything you asked me to do? I took her to the cabin, didn’t I?” Her smile was dazzling. “Naturally, I know that you only meant to take Teresa somewhere more private than the compound and question her about a few things that are worrying you. I realize you would never harm her.” She reached out and brushed her fingertips against his hand. “Now, may I have a drink, too?”

Camano felt a jolt of pure lust at her touch. Long, shining, dark hair, breasts and buttocks that made him get hard just looking at her. What a magnificent bitch. How many times had he had her tonight? He couldn’t get enough of screwing her. He’d had a king-size craving for Gina since Casali had acquired her when she was only in her teens. She’d only gotten more sexy and alluring as the years passed. But then he’d had a craving for everything that belonged to Casali. It had been difficult to wait until the time was ripe to reach out and gather it into his hands.

But he hadn’t realized that Casali’s brat, Teresa, was something he was going to have to deal with. Not until he saw her looking at him at her father’s funeral. Freak. All he’d heard might or might not be true, but he wasn’t going to give up all he’d snatched on the chance that big-eyed kid could be a threat to him.

“I didn’t say that you had anything to do with this.” He poured Gina a glass of wine. “But I have to find out what happened. As long as Teresa is running around out there without you to guide her, she could be a danger to me.”

“Then find her and bring her back to me.” She sipped her wine. “I have no problem making her do whatever I wish. Antonio always relied on me to handle her.”

“I’m trying to find her,” he said through set teeth. “I’ve got men out there combing those woods to find answers. But she knows too much, dammit. I’m scared shitless that someone from the Vice Squad or the District Attorney’s Office has heard about your freak of a kid and wants to question her. I’ve put an alert out to all our informants to see if there’s any chat about her being snatched by the cops.”

She shook her head. “The police wouldn’t kill Tantona and the others, would they? Wouldn’t they get in trouble or something?”

“Yes.” Occasionally Gina came up with logic though that wasn’t her forte. She preferred to twist reality to suit herself. “But Teresa might be valuable enough for them to run the risk.”

“Because you’re so important,” she said. “And so smart.” She took his hand and slipped it beneath the silk of her robe to cover her breast. “Too smart for any of them. But you shouldn’t worry about Teresa’s being a witness against you or the family. Even if the police have her, she wouldn’t say anything if I didn’t want her to do it.”

His hand slowly tightened on her breast until he knew it must hurt.

She didn’t flinch, and her smile never left her lips. “Do you want it that way? I know you’re upset. You know I’ll never say no to you. I’ll love every minute of what you do to me.” She opened her robe, took his other hand, and put it on her other breast. “Do whatever you want with me.”

“Oh, I will.” Gina was better than any professional whore he’d ever paid. She never disappointed. He found her acceptance of any erotic play he chose to be mind-blowing. “You’ll scream for me.” He bent down, and his teeth closed on her nipple.

She inhaled sharply at the pain. “Good. And when it’s over, I know you’ll forget all about blaming me for Teresa. After all, none of it is my fault. She shouldn’t have run when you only wanted to talk to her.”

No, nothing was ever Gina’s fault. But could she really be lying to herself to this extent? Yes, probably. It didn’t matter. She could control her daughter. And he could control Gina Casali. “Yes, it’s all Teresa’s fault.” He lifted his head and smiled into Gina’s eyes. “We both know that’s all I wanted to do. Don’t we?”

Flagstaff, Arizona

“What is this place?” Allie’s gaze wandered over the snowcapped mountains in the distance as she went down the steps of the private plane. “Where are you taking me?”

“I thought you’d never ask. You haven’t said a word since we got on the plane.” Mandak followed her down the steps and took her elbow and nudged her toward the small terminal. “It’s just a small private airport near the campus of Northern Arizona University. You’ll be attending classes there in a few months.”

“If I’d asked you anything, I’d have had to count on you to tell me the truth.” She shrugged. “I’d already committed to doing what you asked. I knew I’d find out eventually.”

His brows rose. “No curiosity?”

She’d been curious. But the entire situation was intimidating her, and she hadn’t wanted to plead with him to tell her what she wanted to know. Not until she gained a little more confidence. “Maybe.” She watched him as he signed out a tan Camry rental car at the curb. “Maybe not.”

“Well, that’s definitive.” He opened the passenger door for her. “How is the wound in your side?”

“Hurts.” She’d received a blood transfusion before they’d left Kentucky, and the weakness had almost disappeared. “But it’s okay.” She got into the car. “You made me rest on the plane. That probably helped.”

“I had to make sure you were in top-notch shape.” He went around and got in the driver’s seat. “Perish the thought that I had even an ounce of humanity.”

“I believe you’re very human.” She didn’t look at him. “I can feel you … seething.”

“Oh, can you?” He started the car. “That’s interesting.” He glanced at her. “Anger?”

“No. You’re like one of those lava streams from a volcano. It would sear you to touch, but there’s no malice present right now.”

“You seem sure.” His gaze turned speculative. “Perhaps you have another talent beside your gift for reading memory?”

“No. Heaven forbid.” She grimaced. “I just sometimes feel things. It’s not all that unusual for someone to be able to guess what others are feeling. It doesn’t have to be freak-oriented.”

“There’s that word again. No, it’s not that unusual. Quite common for anyone studying the human psychology. You just appeared to be more certain than I would have thought.” He chuckled. “Though I believe you’ve been studying and probing me since I wandered under your radar. I had the idea you were giving Josh Dantlow the same attention when you met him. What did you think of him?”

“Smart. Very nice.” She looked out the window. “What you wanted me to think.”

“And?”

“Did I let his memories flow to me? Yes, I had to be sure that he was what you said he was. He was relatively clean. A little tortured about putting his mother in a nursing home before she died. And he’s a little afraid of you because of something you did last year. It kept floating and interfering.” She looked back at him. “But I couldn’t see anything that would make me think that he would hand me over to Camano.”

“And that’s all that’s important?”

“I can handle anything else.” She paused. “Where are you taking me?”

“I’ve rented a lodge in the mountains a few miles from the university campus. We have some work to do before I can turn you loose on your own.”

“What kind of work?” she asked warily.

“Blocking, principally. You said that you couldn’t be sure of its working every time. Sometimes not at all. You couldn’t trust it. In crowds, you became overwhelmed.”

“I didn’t tell you all that.”

“No, let’s just say I had a ‘feeling’ that was your problem.”

“Because you’ve known other freaks like me.”

He flinched. “I’m going to have to insist that you refrain from using that word. It offends me. It should offend you. We’re going to have to work on your self-esteem.”

“There’s nothing wrong with my self-esteem. I just don’t lie to myself. I am what I am.”

“Because people told you that you’re a freak doesn’t mean it’s true.”