Walk Through the Valley (Psalm 23 Mysteries) (25 page)

“You know, there’s one thing I don’t understand,” Cindy said.

“What’s that?”

“I’m assuming it was Russo who was behind that whole purse snatching incident. What did he want with my purse? Did he somehow think Lisa would have given me the documents?”

“Actually someone else was behind that,” he said.

“Who? Was it the guys who took him?”

He was silent for so long that she finally looked up at him. She could see that he was struggling with what to say.

“I’m pretty sure this would be a good time for the truth, just in case you were wondering,” she said with a hint of sarcasm.

He sighed. “Martin was behind that.”

“Martin? What on earth for?”

“He’s not a salesman. He works for the C.I.A. and he was investigating the man who I told you about, the one who was coming after you last week.”

“The one you wouldn’t just come out and tell me you had killed?”

He looked at her in surprise.

“Come on, it was kind of obvious from the way you phrased things.”

“Yes, that man,” Jeremiah said with a sigh. “He was an especially bad man with ties to terror groups and they were investigating what he was doing in the country and what happened to him.”

“So he was spying on me?” she asked, feeling weird. It was like being told she had her own personal stalker. Her privacy had been violated and it made her anxious and vulnerable feeling.

“He was. Not anymore. He and I had a brief discussion, enough to satisfy his curiosity and get him to back off.”

“That’s just...creepy,” she said.

Jeremiah shrugged and she realized that this kind of thing was part of his world, or, at least, was. They were going to have to have a much longer conversation about that, but it could wait until they were somewhere completely private.

They finished breakfast and headed over to visit Kyle at the hospital. In the lobby they ran into her parents who were headed over to his room at the Excalibur to pack up all of his stuff and check out for him.

“The doctors say he’s going to be here a couple more days before he can be released. He’s going to need a lot of physical therapy, but he’ll recover. We’re going to stick around and help him get home and set up,” her father said.

Cindy nodded. “I’m just glad everything’s going to be okay.”

“Since he’s out of the woods, you guys can head back home whenever you like,” he said. “No need to take any more time off work than you already have.”

“We’ll make sure everything is cool here and head home tomorrow morning I’d imagine,” Cindy said.

Jeremiah nodded.

“Okay.” Her dad hesitated and then continued. “Lisa came by this morning and let us all know what had happened.”

“Is Kyle okay?” Cindy asked, knowing that couldn’t have been an easy conversation for any of them.

Her dad grimaced. “I don’t think so. Well, we’re off. We’ll see you two a little later.”

After they had gone Cindy turned to Jeremiah. “Maybe I should go alone and talk to Kyle for a few minutes before you come up.”

“That’s fine. I’ll be down here in the lobby for about half an hour or so and then I’ll come on up.”

“Thank you for understanding,” she said, spontaneously hugging him.

He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight for a minute. She closed her eyes and wished that the rest of the world would just fade away. When they finally broke free she steeled herself to go and face her brother.

A minute later she was walking into his room. Kyle had his head turned to the side and was staring out the window at the skyline.

“Good morning,” she said cheerily.

“Hey,” Kyle said, sounding tired and strained.

“You okay?” she asked as she pulled up a chair.

“The doctors say in a few months I’ll be good as new.”

“I heard, and that’s great news, but that’s not what I meant.”

Kyle looked at her. “What do you do when you find out the person you love is not the person you thought they
were? That they have this whole past that’s full of darkness?”

Cindy thought about Jeremiah. “I think that depends on you. How much do you love them and how much are you willing to just accept?”

“I’ve been dating her for a year-and-a-half. You’d think there would have been some sign, some clue. I feel like such an idiot.”

“You opened your heart up to someone. That doesn’t make you an idiot. It does make you blind sometimes, though.”

“I guess.”

Cindy took a deep breath. “I think the question is not about the last 18 months but about the next 18 minutes. Can you look her in the eyes and tell her that you forgive her, that her past doesn’t matter to you and all that matters is your future together?”

“You’re right,” he said slowly. “You know the thing about nearly dying? It suddenly makes everything crystal clear. It strips away all the garbage, all the crap that isn’t important and helps you really understand your life, your past, and what it is you want most. It’s powerful. It’s just sad that it takes something so awful to help you change your life.”

“It’s true, facing your own mortality does make things clearer,” Cindy said. She knew that from experience. “So, can you forgive Lisa?”

Kyle’s hands slowly curled into fists. “No, I can’t.”

Given his lead-up, that was not the answer she had been expecting. Obviously, though, it was one of the things that had been made clear to him. Cindy nodded slowly, her heart aching for him.

“Is that wrong?” he whispered.

“No,” she said, reaching out to take his hand. “Everyone has different things they want, and different things they can accept when it comes to a spouse.”

Kyle laughed a short, bitter laugh. “Want to hear something funny?”

“Sure.”

“I just want a normal girl. A girl with no deep, dark secrets. Someone I can love who loves me.”

His friend, Bunni Sinclair, popped instantly into her mind. She wasn’t sure what she should say, though. “I think you’re going to get exactly what you’re looking for,” she said.

“How can you be sure?”

“It’s not my place to say,” Cindy said, not wanting to interfere. Still, he needed some hope and it was clear that Bunni cared deeply for him. “I just think you might one day turn around and find that a girl you’ve known for a while, a friend, is the one you’ve been looking for all along.”

“Thank you,” he whispered.

She sat and talked with him for a little while, catching up on what they had each been doing for the last few months. Finally Jeremiah joined them.

After a while they finally left when the doctor and nurses needed to check him over some more.

“We’ll be back later this afternoon,” Cindy told him.

They made it downstairs and had just crossed the street when she heard someone call her name.

They turned and saw Detective Sanders walking up to them. “Glad I caught you,” she said. “You folks heading out of town?”

“Tomorrow morning,” Jeremiah said. “We wanted to make sure the dust had settled first.”

“Smart. You should take in some sights, too. If you haven’t walked the strip yet, you’re missing out on some mindboggling architecture.”

“What’s going to happen now?” Cindy asked.

The detective shrugged. “It’s out of my hands for now. The Feds have something they want him for, and I was told by my boss in no uncertain terms that I was to keep my hands off. However, that might not always be the case and I have a complete copy of everything Lisa had in that file. Maybe someday we’ll bring him down. I’m just sorry all of you had to get caught up in this mess.”

“We appreciate the update,” Jeremiah said.

“Not a problem. Now that I’ve got that taken care of, I have to run. Things to do, bad guys to catch, and all that.”

“I like her. She’s an interesting person,” Cindy said after the detective had walked away.

“I bet she has an interesting story,” Jeremiah said. “I did like her one suggestion. I’ve never been to Vegas before.”

“Neither have I. Want to see some interesting architecture?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” he said with a grin.

They turned and headed for the main strip.

Several hours later they returned to the hospital. Cindy wasn’t sure how many miles they had walked but she found it amazing how your mind played tricks on you when it came to judging distance here. She’d think something was only a few hundred feet away and would walk half a mile before she got there.

Jeremiah had explained to her that it was the desert that did that to you. Still, as tired as her feet were, she was glad they’d had a chance to just walk and ogle everything. They hadn’t had any deep conversations, but there was time enough for that later. The last few hours had just been about unwinding and enjoying each other’s company.

Upstairs in the hospital they ran into her father coming out of Kyle’s room. “He’s exhausted and falling asleep. I figured it was best to let him,” he said.

“Where’s mom?” Cindy asked.

“Bunni came by and took her out to dinner. I think girl talk was also on the agenda,” he said.

“Dinner sounds good, I’m starving,” she admitted.

“I know a cafeteria where the food is pretty mediocre,” her father said with a smile.

“Lead the way.”

“Oh, I forgot my phone in the room,” he said, patting his pockets.

“I’ll go grab it,” Jeremiah offered. “I’ll meet you guys down there in a minute.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it,” her dad said, taking her arm and leading her toward the elevator.

They made it downstairs and inside the cafeteria. Cindy moved toward the counter, but he stopped her with a hand on his arm. He pulled her over to the secluded table that they had shared that first miserable night. The look on his face was serious.

“What’s wrong, Dad?” she asked.

“I needed to speak to you for a minute. Jeremiah. I know you care for him so don’t bother denying it.”

“Okay,” she said cautiously.

“I just want to make sure you know what you’re getting into.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s a dangerous man, do you know that?”

“Yes, I know that,” she said, trying to keep her voice as calm as possible.

“I’ve met one or two men like him in my day while working overseas.”

“Dad, he’s just a rabbi,” Cindy protested, not wanting him to get overly concerned.

“Do me the courtesy of being honest with me right now. It’s important.”

She nodded.

“He might be a rabbi, but he wasn’t always. I know how much you’ve always treasured safety, and there is nothing safe about that man. I would be a poor father if I didn’t point that out to you.”

“I know who he is.” She hesitated and then continued. “And I know who he was.”

“And you’re okay with that?” he asked.

She looked her father straight in the eyes. “I am okay with it.”

He searched her eyes for a long moment and then he reached out and hugged her. “That’s all I needed to know,” he said.

A couple minutes later Jeremiah entered the cafeteria. Her father grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the door. When they reached Jeremiah her father clapped him on the back.

“Change of plans. I’ve had enough of hospital food. What say we go to one of the steakhouses in town and get a real meal? I’m buying.”

Jeremiah smiled. “Sounds good to me.”

“Me, too,” Cindy said, realizing that she couldn’t stop grinning. Kyle might not be able to overlook Lisa’s past, but Cindy embraced Jeremiah’s. It was what made him the man he was today. The man she had fallen in love with.

Look for

KISS OF REVENGE

The final book in the Kiss Trilogy

Coming
October 2013

Debbie Viguié is the New York Times Bestselling author of more than two dozen novels including the
Wicked
series, the
Crusade
series and the
Wolf Springs Chronicles
series co-authored with Nancy Holder.  Debbie also writes thrillers including
The Psalm 23 Mysteries,
the
Kiss
trilogy, and the
Witch Hunt
trilogy.  When Debbie isn’t busy writing she enjoys spending time with her husband, Scott, visiting theme parks.  They live in Florida with their cat, Schrödinger. 

Look for

THE SHADOW OF DEATH