Crown Jewel (30 page)

“I think so. I might have panicked when I told you to come here. I didn't know what to expect.”

“You were right. I think he's evil. When do you think he'll resign?”

“Not one minute before he has to. But he will. He's not our problem anymore, Lorraine.”

Ricky turned to Agent Zirconie. “You better start looking for someone else to protect.” Not expecting an answer, Ricky was stunned to see the agent give him a thumbs-up.

“What are you going to do now, Ricky?” Lorraine asked as she settled herself in the car.

“I'm going to get on with my life. How about you?”

“I think I'm going to do the same thing. I have a lot of things to take care of first, though. I'm so glad you agreed to let me move Caleb's body. He'll be good company for Armand. I'm going to erect a new stone. I know just what I want it to say. I'm going to bury his new birth certificate with him. That will make him…you know…
official.”

Hot tears pricked Ricky's eyes. “I think Philly would like knowing that. I'm sorry, Lorraine, he's always going to be Philly to me.”

“I understand. We make a pretty good team, don't we?”

“I think we did okay. Philly would have loved you.”

“Thank you for saying that.” Lorraine leaned back in the seat and closed her eyes.

Her life was just beginning.

 

Gracie feigned sleep when Max entered the room. This was probably the end of whatever chance they had at a relationship. Roxy had reluctantly given her a mirror so she could see her face. It was as red as her hair. And blistered.
What is he doing?

She felt like a greased pig that itched. The nice doctor had said she could get up and go outside. “You're going to start itching soon,” he'd said. Another nightmare to look forward to.
Damn, how could I have been so stupid? Why is Max tiptoeing around?

Gracie felt rather than saw Max sit down on the chair next to the bed. That had to mean he was staring at her.
Oh, God!
She wanted to cry.
Damn, I really like him
. Now she had to bolster her defenses and get smart-mouthed again. She strained to hear what he was saying without letting him know she wasn't sleeping.

“God, Gracie, I feel so bad for you. I wish…I wish so many things. When you wake up, we're gonna have a picnic. I brought some sand up from the beach and spread a blanket. It's a poor excuse for a beach picnic, but it will have to do for now.

“I had the chef make up all this food. You know, food the island is known for. We have pawpaws, bananas, and the Antiguan sweet, black pineapple, some mangoes and sapodillas. Crisp red snapper filets we can eat with our fingers. I had him make us a conch. We eat it raw, with a real fine mixture of chopped hot and sweet peppers, cucumber, and lemon juice. The chef said he'd make you some cockles and whelks, which you eat with a buttery garlic sauce. Some curries and my favorite, wonderful ducana, which is a solid hunk of grated sweet potato mixed with coconut and spices and steamed in a banana leaf. You can eat that with your fingers, too. I'm trying here, Gracie. I don't want you to go back home only remembering this miserable experience with the sun.

“Listen, I'm sorry about all that crap I pulled on you. You triggered a button in me, and I didn't know how to react. Like Tyler says, I tend to bluster and say things I wouldn't normally say. I liked you from the git-go. I really did. My grandmother would say you're full of spit and vinegar. I like that in a girl. You didn't let me get away with anything. I liked that business with the dogs, too. That showed me who you really were that day, and I liked what I saw.

“I want to get to know you better, Gracie. I'm going to ask my dad if I can transfer to the Crown Jewel when it's up and running. At least for a while. That way I can fly to California on weekends to see you, or you can come to see me. You have to finish college, that's a must. I know your family has to come first, and that's the way it should be. I'm not really an oaf, Gracie. I think what I am is a guy who is falling in love with you.

“I'll just sit here now and wait for you to wake up. Tyler's taking my shift this morning, so I can stay here with you.”

Lordy, Lordy, Lordy. How can I remain quiet after a confession like that?
She couldn't. She turned her head slightly. “I fell in love with you that night at Whispers. You pushed my buttons, too. When this is behind me, and I don't look like a lobster, let's start over and just be Gracie and Max.”

“You were awake the whole time I was spilling my guts,” Max sputtered.

“I don't know. At first I thought I was dreaming, and I didn't want the dream to end. Are you sure I'm still not dreaming?”

There were more ways than one to skin a cat, and she knew them all.

“No, you're not dreaming. I made us a picnic.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. You wanna be my girl?”

“Some guy said that to me when I was sixteen.”

“It's a universal expression. I heard my dad refer to Roxy that way. She's his girl. Donna is Tyler's girl. Ted's girl is named Inez. They're getting married over Thanksgiving. My dad is getting married at Christmas. Tyler's going to tie the knot next summer. Marriage must be a pretty wonderful thing if they're all doing it.”

“Hmmm. I think marriage is whatever two people make of it. I'm my own person, Max. I'll never take crap from any man. Either we're equals, or I'm gone.”

“Yeah, yeah, that's how I feel.”

“I'm keeping my own name, too. That's if we ever…you know. How do you feel about that?”

“Hey, I'm okay with it. Max Lick-Lam. Max Lam-Lick. It doesn't have much of a ring to it.”

Gracie burst out laughing. “Mine is going to sound just like yours.” She continued to laugh when the door opened.

“We can come back later,” Ricky said.

“No. Come on in. There's enough food for everyone. What better way to end a crisis than a picnic? Did everything go okay?”

“Yes, everything went just fine. I'll be taking my family home tomorrow,” Lorraine said. “I'm sure we'll see one another at your father's wedding. He very kindly invited all of us.”

“So, Nolan's going to resign?” Gracie said.

“I don't see that he has any other choice. He might fool himself for a week or so, but his party will put pressure on him. Two weeks tops.”

Lorraine Farquar looked from one to the other. “This is just like a movie where everyone ends up happily ever after. I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for all you've done for me and for…my son.”

Ricky reached for Roxy's hand and squeezed it tightly. “You can rest easy, now, Philly, your mom has it under control.”

“Thanks, little brother.”

 

Later, when they talked about it, everyone in the room had a different take on what happened.

Roxy had just finished helping Gracie slip into an oversize muumuu for her picnic with Max when the door opened, and a tall man entered after a brief knock on the door. He identified himself as Agent Carmody and said, “Everyone, stand down. Clear the room except for Miss Grace Lick.”

The occupants froze in place as they stared at the man in front of them, except for Ricky, who moved forward. “What's this all about? I just came from the vice president's house. Everything has been settled. Perhaps you should call him before we call our own security.”

“I gave you an order, mister. Stand down and clear the room except for Miss Lick. I won't tell you a second time.”

“It's okay, Mr. Lam, I'll talk to him. Do what he says,” Gracie said.

“Like hell!” Max blustered.

“Yeah, like hell,” Tyler chimed in.

And then everyone moved in different directions. Ricky saw Gracie totter forward on her sunburned legs, watched as Max moved to her side and Tyler leaped over a hassock. He saw the man pull out a gun and move it to chest level, saw the stance agents always assumed when they were prepared to fire. Closest to Gracie, Ricky raised his arm, an instinctive move, the kind of move his mother used to make when he was in the front seat of the car, and she stopped short. A protective gesture, nothing more. Lorraine Farquar stumbled, bumping into Roxy, who then collided with Agent Carmody. The gunshot sounded like thunder in the small room as they watched Ricky Lam fall to the floor, the front of his white shirt stained with blood.

It was Lorraine Farquar who called for the ambulance while Tyler and Max wrestled with the agent. Roxy and Gracie were on their knees screaming at the top of their lungs as they both tried to cradle Ricky against them.

The agent subdued, his ankles and wrists bound with belts, Max slammed him into a chair with Tyler behind him, a tie wrapped around the agent's neck.

“Is Dad okay, Roxy? He isn't going to die, is he?” Max demanded, his voice choked.

“Oh, God, I don't know, I don't know. Where's the damn ambulance? Where's that doctor who is staying here? Somebody do something! Oh, God, oh, God!”

The door burst open, and the paramedics rushed through. Everyone stood aside, allowing the medics to do what had to be done. Everyone babbled at once, but they were all asking the same thing, is he going to be all right? The medics' response was low and hushed. “We're doing our best. Move aside now.”

Max wiped at his eyes, as did Tyler, when the gurney was wheeled out of the room. The three women huddled together, crying uncontrollably.

“We need someone to stay here with this guy till the locals get here. They'll know what to do with him.”

“I'll stay till they get here. The rest of you go to the hospital,” Lorraine said.

“Do you know how to shoot a gun, Lorraine?” Tyler asked.

“Actually, Tyler, I do. Hand it over. Ah, a Sig Sauer. My husband had one of these. Go on now, he's safe with me. I'll join you as soon as I can.”

“If the bastard so much as twitches, shoot him,” Tyler snarled.

“I can do that, too. Run along, son, your father needs you now,” Lorraine said, waving the heavy gun in every direction.

An hour later, in the small, island hospital waiting room, Gracie wailed that it was her fault. No amount of comforting helped her; even Max couldn't comfort her.

Roxy cried into a wad of tissues, oblivious to the others.

Max walked outside into the balmy air. Even there at the hospital he could hear the sounds of revelry. It sounded obscene. He felt a hand on his shoulder. “Do you think he'll make it, Ty?”

Tyler didn't trust himself to speak. He shrugged. He finally found his tongue. “It was an accident, Max.”

“Yeah, I know. That doesn't make it any better. He was trying to save Gracie. You have to ask yourself what kind of man would do something like that. Do you think he thought the agent was going to shoot her? What? I need some goddamn answers here, Tyler.”

“We can worry about all that later. Our only concern right now is our father. I wish…I wish…so many things.”

“Yeah, me too. Isn't it funny how you just take life for granted. We should have been a little nicer, less hard-nosed. The guy has done everything humanly possible for both of us. Did you ever thank him? I didn't. I wish I had now. I wish I had said it every day. I wish I had called him every day just to say, hey, Dad, how's it going?”

“Yeah,” Tyler said, sitting down on a low wall. “Would have, could have, should have. I was praying before.”

“Me too. What the hell is taking so long?”

“I don't think there's a time limit when you're trying to save someone's life, Max.”

Both young men looked up when a shadow crossed their path. “Any news on your dad?” Lorraine asked.

Both Max and Tyler shook their heads.

“For whatever this is worth, the locals took Mr. Carmody away. They called the vice president's residence from the hotel. The Secret Service descended en masse just as I was leaving. They said Carmody wasn't one of them. He's a private security guard Nolan employs.” She patted both of them on the shoulder. “I hope you both know what a very special person your father is.”

“We know. We were just talking about that before you arrived.”

Lorraine patted them on the shoulder again before she entered the hospital.

The three women all huddled then, sitting as close to one another as they could, hoping to draw strength from one another. No words were spoken.

It was four o'clock when the surgeon strode out into the waiting room. “I can't make any promises,” he said, “but I feel confident when I tell you I think Mr. Lam will fully recover. The next twenty-four hours will tell the tale. He's in recovery now. He'll be moved to Intensive Care in about an hour. You can each see him for a few minutes. I'm sure seeing you all will aid in his recovery. We'll talk tomorrow.”