Neighbors and More (High Rise Series) (22 page)

“Please, Officer, I want to ride with Dante in the
ambulance.”

“No, Ma’am. We can’t allow it. But you can visit him at Holy
Cross Hospital after the medics take care of his injuries.” The officer smiled
kindly.

“Detective Ladd, I insist you remove these handcuffs,” Greg
ordered. “This is outrageous.”

“You tried to kill a man.”

“I already explained I shot his hand to prevent him from
killing my ex-wife. It’s self-defense.”

“Shot him in the hand? Your bullet went straight into his
side.”

“So? I’m not an expert shot, but who cares? At least, I
stopped him from hurting Alexa.”

“We’re taking the three of you to the police station until
we clear the situation.”

Chapter Sixteen

It was late in the night when a policeman dropped Alexa and
Greg at the Blue Waves. Silence settled over them as they rode the elevator to
Greg’s tenth floor, but he didn’t step out. Alexa glanced at him. With his hair
rumpled and shoulders slumped, he looked his fifty-one years and more tonight.

Upset, disappointed, and angry, but also hurt, he banged on
the mirror. “I can’t believe she lied to me all this time.” Dianna’s duplicity
had taken its toll on his emotions. Alexa studied the tired lines around his
eyes. He had saved her life today, for once really protecting her as he’d
promised her father.

“I’m not sleepy. Would you like to come upstairs for a
drink?” Amazingly, he was the one who needed her. In spite of the day’s events,
she’d regained her calm.

His head snapped up. “You don’t mind?”

She smiled. “I can see you want to talk, and I’m not sleepy.
I appreciate your rushing to help in Carter’s apartment.”

“As if I were going to let you face that mess on your own. I
got the bejeebers when I saw you running down the corridor with a pan in your
hand. I’m glad you told me what was going on. It took me a few minutes to get
my gun.”

“Officer Raines called me when we were at the police
station. Dante had surgery. The doctors removed the bullet, and fixed the
shattered bones and torn muscles. He’s in Recovery.” She wouldn’t be allowed to
see him tonight.

Resolutely, she pushed the button to close the elevator door
and let it go to her twenty-first floor. As soon as she opened her door, she
deactivated the alarm. Greg followed her inside, nodding. “That’s a great idea
the alarm. You’ll feel safe again.”

“I don’t know if I’ll need it now that my enemies are dead
or arrested.”

As usual, Greg went straight to the bar and poured himself a
Scotch on ice. “What can I fix you?”

“Nothing.” She followed him and grabbed a bottle of water
from the refrigerator, and prepared a platter of cheese, sausage, and crackers.

Greg twirled the ice in his drink. A deep scowl gathered
between his eyebrows. “I can’t forgive myself for not being able to stop this
mess earlier.”

“None of us could have guessed that these honorable
residents of the Blue Waves would have plotted such a devious scheme to steal
my money.”

“Steal, and kidnap, and kill. To think we went out for
dinner with Steve and Julia. He got what he deserved, and I hope the two others
will be justly punished. That viper...” Greg cracked his knuckles as if he
wished to repeat the gesture around Dianna’s neck.

“Thank God, she’s been arrested on conspiracy to commit
felonies. Several felonies.” She counted on her fingers. “Kidnapping, theft of two
million, and more.”

“I still can’t believe I let her trick me this way.”

Alexa arched her eyebrow. Dianna’s treachery ate at his gut.
It was the number one sin in his book. “Greg, you have to put this behind you.”

“How can I? The viper,” he growled. “She had the audacity to
ask for my help when they handcuffed her.”

“She’s behind bars.”

“Yes, but I dated her, spoiled her, and I...” And he’d slept
with her. He lowered his head with disgust.

For the first time in her life, Alexa felt sorry for him.
She put a soothing hand on his. “Don’t give yourself a heart attack over her.
She’s not worth it.”

He brought her fingers to his lips, and then squeezed them.
“You’re an angel. You came into my life like a breath of fresh air. You made me
feel young and strong. But I was selfish. I didn’t deserve you.”

Alexa stifled a gasp, hardly believing her ears. Almighty
Greg apologizing in his own way. The events had shaken him beyond belief. She
should be the one seeking comfort, but in a strange way she’d reached an inner
peace she thought she’d never find.

Not knowing how to deal with this new side of Greg, she
pulled her hand from his, to avoid a mushy situation. “Anyway, for me the most
important thing is that Carter is out of the picture. After the surgery on his
side to remove the bullet and stitch the tissues around the damaged kidney,
he’ll be arrested too. And I’ll be able to sleep in peace.”

“That guy, Cantari. He’s a good man. And he’s keen on you.”

“Oh.” She swallowed, unable to say a word after Greg’s
unexpected approval of Dante.

“He’ll take good care of you.”

“Oh no.” She raised her hand to stop him there. “I don’t
want, and I don’t need any one to take care of me. As soon as I learn that he’s
feeling better, I’m leaving.”

“What?”

“I was planning to leave the day Steve drowned. My suitcases
were already packed.”

“You never told me.” His hand shook around his glass. “Did
you tell him that?”

“He knows I want to go to New York and then study abroad,
maybe in Paris.”

Eagerness spread over his face. “I’ll be happy to help you
find—”

“Thank you, but I plan to do it on my own.” She stood, about
to end the visit, and reconsidered. Greg’s stony reserve had collapsed after
today’s event. Hoping he’d be more receptive to the delicate subject that had
burned her heart for too long, she crossed her arms over her chest and captured
his gaze—hers as stern as could be. “If you want to help me, answer my
questions.”

“What questions?” He arched a suspicious eyebrow.

“Why did my mother leave?” Her question fell like a bomb in
the living room causing Greg to turn livid. His jaw dropped and then locked. “Answer
me. Why did Annabelle leave her home and her family?”

“She ran away with a lover.” His unsteady voice betrayed his
emotion. Alexa knew he’d repeat what her father had often declared with the
tone of a judge sentencing a criminal.

“The truth, Greg. I don’t want to hear more lies. Why did
she leave her only child?”

“He didn’t allow her to take you.” Greg’s gaze flipped to
the window. Was he looking at a far away scene from his past?

“Why?” With a tremendous effort, she infused more strength
into that single word. “Tell me, damn you. Tell me what happened, or you’ll
never see me again.”

His exhale sounded like a wail. The tyrant who’d controlled
her for many years lowered his head. “After a few years of marriage, things
deteriorated between Dan and Annabelle. He threw himself into his work, and she
dedicated herself to her little girl. They never went out. She suffocated and
joined a tennis club. She made friends and never told him where she spent her
days when you were at school. He followed her and caught her kissing a young
man. He threw her out of the house, divorced her, and forbade her to see her
daughter.”

So her mom had never abandoned her as her father claimed. Alexa’s
heart filled with understanding for the young woman who’d tried to find an
outlet to her marital loneliness. Hadn’t Alexa been ready to run away too? “But
the judge didn’t allow her to see her child?”

“Dan was a powerful man. No one could cross him. He got a
court order forbidding Annabelle to ever come near you. He moved to this condo
and notified the security she should not be allowed in the building. After
several months of futile effort to take you, she left for New York.”

“Alone or with a man?” Alexa shrugged as soon as she blurted
the question. It really didn’t matter whether Annabelle had lived with a man or
not. Alexa wished her mother had someone to console her after losing her
daughter and home.

“I don’t know. She died five years later of cancer.”

Alexa stared at her former husband, hating him and hating
her father. For so many years, they’d lied to her. She wished she could cry or
yell, vent her anger and sadness. No tears came to her dry eyes. No words
formed in her parched throat.

“Alexa,” Greg ventured a look at her.

“Is there more?” she snapped.

 “Not about your parents. At the beginning, my wife Nancy,
who was a good friend of Annabelle’s, tried to interfere on behalf of your
mother. Dan was inflexible. And I respected his wish to protect you. So Nancy
took care of you as often as he’d let her. Until she died in the car accident.
I was left behind. Like him. Bitter and lonely.” Greg’s voice lowered to a
murmur. His breathing labored. His jaw tightened. Had she pushed him too far?

Worried, Alexa frowned. Her intention had not been to harm
Greg, but to get an answer to the question that had tortured her teenage years.
Relief flooded her heart. Her mother had never abandoned her.

Eventually, she’d learn the sordid details. But for now,
she’d prefer not to hear more. “I think it’s time you go back to your apartment
and get some sleep.”

He nodded, and without protest he followed her to the door.
“Whatever you decide, Alexa, I wish you the best.” For a change he hadn’t called
her sweetheart, or tried to belittle her.

“Good night, Greg.” She turned on the alarm and picked up a
bottle of water from the refrigerator. A chapter of her life had closed. She
couldn’t undo the past, but she’d build her future, her way.

Calm and composed, she strode to her bedroom, grabbed her
little Bible from her night table, and extracted the cherished old picture from
between the yellowish pages. “I love you, Mom. I know you’ve been watching over
me from up there.”

Independence and poise would be her new motto.

“What about Dante?” a little voice nudged.

“I love him, Mom. It’s going to be damn hard to leave here
and go away.”

****

“You can enter,” the nurse said, as Alexa raised her hand to
knock on the door. “He’s awake and can use some visitors. He’s already asked me
ten times when he’ll be discharged.”

“Good morning, Dante.” The sanitized hospital smell of the
room greeted her.

“Ah finally, you’re here. I thought you’ve forgotten me.”

As if she could! Every thought that had invaded her mind
since last evening’s battle had involved him. And now as she approached the bed
where he lay covered only to the hips, her pulse raced at the delicious sight
of his brawny naked chest, and her heart commiserated at the bandage on his
right shoulder and hand, and the sling holding his arm against his side.

“It’s only 10 am. Visit hours start at eleven.”

His grin denied his disapproval, and he held out his good
arm. “Come, cheer me up. I need some compassion to stop me from falling into self-pity.”
Humor and mischief flashed in his blue eyes as he offered her a childish pout.

“Don’t be a cry-baby.” But his arm encircled her and brought
her down against his hard chest. “Aw, I’m losing my balance.”  

“Good, hold on to me for support.” His fingers cradled her
neck and immobilized her to receive his kiss. An eager tender kiss on his
part—a passionate response with a hint of confusion on her part. Would this be
one of their last kisses?

The depressing thought tanked her mood. She wriggled out of
his arms and straightened. “I’m glad you’re recovering fast. The detective
called me. He’ll be here anytime now. He wants to check on you and talk to us.”

“Bad timing. I didn’t get a good enough dose of
antidepressant.” He pouted his lips and blew her a kiss. “Come back here.” He
patted the side of his bed and sent her a bone-melting smile.

“Good morning.” Ladd called as he banged on the door. “I’m
glad you’re recovering fast, Mr. Cantari.”

“Hello, Detective Ladd. We were expecting you.”

“Really?” He arched a sarcastic eyebrow. “Hmm, and here I
was afraid I was interrupting something.”

“Alexa said you wanted to talk to us.” Dante recovered a
serious expression. “So what’s going on now?”

“Carter has gone through surgery. Tomorrow he’ll be moved to
jail to await his trial. Dianna spilled the beans to try to lessen her
sentence. What she told us confirmed the information we found on Carter’s
emails. She’s been Carter’s girlfriend for years, although she managed to
attract Mr. Partson. And she had Carter’s key, which explains how she entered
into the 502 as soon as she heard the gunshot from her next door condo. In the
frenzied situation, she didn’t lock the door behind her.”

“How did they plan to abduct me?” Alexa braced herself for
the answer.

 “They concocted to have you marry Steve. When you refused
his proposal, he brought you the drugged Amaretto. The Valium was provided by
Dianna. The three pills missing from your own bottle were used to put you to sleep
the night you signed the two-million check.”

“Were they planning to take Alexa to Las Vegas?”

“Las Vegas?” Alexa shuddered and spun toward Dante.

“I found three tickets with your name, Steve’s and
Carter’s.”

“Oh my God.”

“They wanted you drowsy enough to go with them without
protest,” Ladd explained. “They would have even dragged you to the car. At the
airport they’d have claimed that you were tired and needed a wheelchair,
according to Dianna. They’ve arranged for a quick wedding in Las Vegas.”

“And then what?” Alexa bit her lip.

“Dianna would have kept Greg occupied and maybe drugged too,
while they drugged you for weeks, signing more checks until they got the bulk
of your fortune, and then...” Ladd’s voice trailed away, and he glanced at
Dante who nodded.