Killer Cupid (The Redemption Series: Book 1) (10 page)

“What?”

I thought he’d fall over.

“Apparently you’ve never checked your account. You could retire very comfortably right now. And David, too. As a matter of fact, everyone in the family has done well by supporting Cisco at the start. Our investments have paid off more than handsomely.”

“You’re kidding.”

“I’m not. Now why don’t we go find Cat and Cisco? Then we can get the latest update on David.”  I tugged him toward the door.

“I hope Cat’s got something better up her sleeve. I don’t think that ‘white-haired angel’ is gonna cut it.”

“Well, maybe Debbie is like the angel in It’s a Wonderful Life.”

He looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “Yeah. Honey, that was a movie.”

I couldn’t resist. “Let’s see if she gets her wings.”

***

Within hours of arriving, Cat had arranged with the chaplain to hold a service for us in the chapel. After the readings and prayers, Paulo took his guitar and Cat seated herself at the keyboard at the front of the room. I tapped Eduardo’s hand to wake him as I rose to go to the podium and lead family and friends in “It is Well with My Soul.”

I noticed we made an impression on him
—
it looked like he’d fall off the bench. In the years he’d been gone, Cat and Paulo insisted I join them in their voice training. I enjoyed it, and the three of us were often called upon to perform locally. Eduardo was now obviously impressed with our talent.

Paulo was indeed a musical genius. There was no instrument he couldn’t just pick up and play like a virtuoso. On top of that, his voice was a distinctive tenor that touched a person’s soul. And on top of that, he composed incredible music. Cat had a talent for lyrics, and together they made a wonderful team. On occasion we’d get silly, and I’d help them come up with some funny lyrics. Sometimes the entire family would come up with the words to a song. That was one of my favorite Sunday afternoon activities.

Because of Eduardo and David’s careers, and Paulo was still only sixteen, his work was not promoted online, or anywhere else really. He was often asked to perform in Salzburg, and from time to time his parents would let him go to Vienna, and Cat and I would join in. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, but Paulo’s parents were reluctant to let him go. His mother used his hemophilia as an excuse, but it was reasonably well controlled. In any case, I’m sure they knew they wouldn’t be able to keep him from the world for long.

By the time we were done, we had everyone singing along with us, even Debbie. Our spirits were lighter, despite our exhaustion. General Pearson shook our hands before he left, and George Aldridge asked if we needed a record producer.

Eduardo

Later that day Eduardo was back in General Pearson’s office. He was joined by his friend and colleague, Jimmy Hollinger. Eduardo was grateful to have him here today. Jimmy hadn’t been involved in Eduardo and David’s recent mission, but he knew many of the particulars
—
and he was moral support, for sure.

Colonel Jerry Lee Johnson ambled in with a six pack of beer in his hand. The beer landed on Pearson’s desk, and Johnson turned his attention to Eduardo and Jimmy, slapping both of them on the back and offering congratulations on surviving their latest exploits. Then he turned to Pearson. “John, the fun just never ends, huh? Thirty years we’ve been at this game together. Thirty years of blood and guts.”

Pearson gripped the Colonel’s arm in a sympathetic gesture. They’d been good friends almost from the start of their careers. Now the two of them would undoubtedly gang up on Eduardo to get to the bottom of this latest disaster
—
the ambush and slaughter of fourteen men in the jungle of South America.

The General sunk into his chair and rubbed his face. That was the signal for his men to be seated.

“I know we’ve been over this before, Clemente. But I’ve got to get this figured out. I lost fourteen men out there, and from the looks of things, it may soon be fifteen. I owe those men something. The least I can do is find out why they had to give their lives.”

Colonel Johnson reached for the six pack and offered everyone a beer. After his colleagues refused, he opened a bottle for himself and took a gulp. “Tell me what in hell Lambrecht was doin’ on that boat for two days.”

Eduardo exhaled. “Sir, I’ve been over all of this in my mind a thousand times. As far as Lambrecht and Senator Everett go
—
all I can say is Lambrecht always knows what he’s doing, and he gets the job done as efficiently as possible. He must have had his reasons, but I don’t know what they were. We weren’t in that close communication at that point. I was in New York, and I had my hands full there.”

“What about Santoro? I heard he had some guy in New York after you.” Johnson always leered at people. Eduardo wondered how the guy got so far in the organization.

“Yeah, he always had a guy after me. That wasn’t news. And Santoro was always a pain in Lambrecht’s ass. Has he been apprehended, Sir?”

Johnson cast a sidelong look at Pearson.

Pearson shook his head. “We’ve got everyone else, including the dogcatcher. You and Lambrecht were very thorough. But Santoro’s managed to evade the authorities so far. He did routinely pay off Everett, so he may very well know more than we think.”

Johnson made a face. “Seems like just a two-bit scumbag to me – trying to look important. Wasn’t Payne the real boss?”

“No, JL, you’d be wrong. Santoro had a host of those doctors under his thumb. Payne was crying tears of joy to be locked away from him.” Pearson rubbed his chin. “Yeah, Payne was white as a sheet. Santoro had told him Lambrecht ‘offed’ a U.S. senator and his bodyguards. Called him a ‘Nazi gunslinger’ and said he’d have him take care of Payne too. Of course all the gory details were all over the six o’clock news. So Payne was living in terror, and I’d say Santoro was pretty much in the loop.”

“How’d Santoro hear it was Lambrecht?”

“I believe Lambrecht told him what he did to keep him in line. I’d told Lambrecht we might not be taking in Santoro right away. Now it looks like we don’t have a choice. We’ve lost track of him.” Pearson leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on the desk. He sat silently for a few minutes as Johnson leisurely polished off his beer.

The Colonel tossed the bottle in the waste basket and opened another. “I have a feeling there was something goin’ on with Lambrecht. He’s crossed that fine line a number of times.”

Eduardo felt his blood start to boil.
Yeah, now they pick on the one that can’t do anything about it.
He noticed Jimmy shifting in his seat, turning red. Pearson took his feet off the desk and leaned forward to hear what Johnson had to say.

“Well, he was on a bloody boat for two days. What was that all about? Then he hooks up with a teenage girl in a hospital bed and gives her an expensive ring after knowing her a matter of hours. We all know he’s got a history of post traumatic stress, and he’s probably screwing a dozen women at any given time. He had a recent deposit of two million dollars U.S. in his personal account, which totals five million U.S., by the way. Doesn’t any of this sound a bit strange?”

“Ya know
…
” Eduardo shut up, but his superiors had already taken note of his sarcastic tone. They weren’t pleased, but this was just plain wrong. David deserved better than that.

“All right, Clemente, what would you like to say?” Pearson nodded at him.

Eduardo knew Pearson would listen to reason. He’d always trusted him
—
and David.

“Yes, Sir, thank you.” He swallowed hard. “We all know he has a history of post traumatic stress, and he’s impulsive in a lot of ways. And that’s part of what makes him suitable for this job. He’s willing to take risks and put his life on the line. He doesn’t seem to care if he lives or dies. You knew that already. Don’t condemn him now because he’s not the average guy. Let’s face it – you need to be crazy to do his job. And he’s never – ever
—
given you any reason to think he’s been disloyal.”

Pearson chuckled. “You’re right, Eduardo. You’re right.”

“What about the money?” Johnson wasn’t going to give up.

Eduardo put his head in his hands. “I don’t know. He didn’t update me on his personal finances. But look in my account and you’ll probably find the same thing. Jimmy and Alain, too. My brother does asset management, and he does these complicated deals – arbitrage. I’m told he’s been really successful lately. I don’t have time to pay attention to personal money and neither does David, or Jimmy, or Alain. So we put our salary with Cisco and trust him to have some money there for our retirement. That’s all I know.”

Johnson sniffed. “Looks like I should open a new account.” Pearson joined him in a laugh.

Pearson offered around a pitcher of his favorite lemonade, then poured a glass for himself. “Well then, let’s take a trip back to South America—”

“Your biggest mistake was Pizzaro,” Johnson interrupted. “Who else would’ve known?”

Eduardo grimaced. “I have no idea who could’ve known we were there. There was no one left – just Pizzaro’s wife and four little kids. The three maids were old peasant women. They were grateful to escape with their lives. They couldn’t have done anything.”

Pearson shook his head. “And why did you leave the wife alive?”

Eduardo’s gut began to ache. “Well, Sir, we didn’t think she was a risk. I mean she didn’t seem like –”

The General snapped. “That’s just the kind of talk to get yourself killed.” He rose from the seat and strode to the window. “I’m surprised Lambrecht didn’t take care of that.”

Eduardo sighed. “Well Sir, he didn’t want to shoot her any more than any of the rest of us did. The last time he shot a woman, he wasn’t himself for days.”

Jimmy almost let out a laugh. It triggered a howl from Johnson. General Pearson’s aggravation turned to rumbling laughter.

Eduardo’s face got hot as he appreciated how he sounded. “Ya know.…” Realizing he was using this sarcastic tone again, he stopped himself. His superior’s quizzical face prompted him to continue. “Well I – I mean, Sir, Lambrecht is dedicated to the job, and I know you always think of him first when you need these things done. But he really doesn’t – I mean, I know it makes him feel better that the guy has some kind of chance against him.”

Pearson was irritated. “Listen Clemente, no one ever said this job was going to be easy. Lambrecht had his orders.”

“Yes Sir.”

After a moment the General composed himself. He let out a long, heavy breath. “It probably wasn’t her, anyway. It’s doubtful she’d have any reason to want to inform Rodriguez you men were there. But that ambush sure in hell was no accident. Someone told Rodriguez you were there.”

Debbie

When Dr. Earle threw me out of David’s room again, I found Cat in her room unpacking. I knocked lightly on the open door.

“Come in, Debbie. Let’s take some time to talk.” She embraced me, and rose up to kiss me on the cheek. “It’s such a beautiful day – let’s go out to the garden.”

“Yes.” Since I’d only been as far as the third floor deck, I thought a garden would be a nice change. She took me by the hand, and we strolled out through the deck and down the stairs to a well-maintained lawn. The garden was another story. It looked like weeds, but Cat said they probably meant them to be wildflowers. She had a funny way of shrugging that I thought was so cute.

I ended up sitting on the lawn, and Cat lay down, resting her head in her hands. It was a pretty blue sky overhead with some streaks of clouds.

“How long have you been a Prayer Warrior?” I asked.

She gave me a curious look. “All my life, I guess.”

My elbow on my knee, I rested my head in my hand. “I guess there’s a never-ending list of things to pray for. I never really thought about it till lately.”

“Prayer is really just talking to God, and through that conversation, a relationship develops. God’s love flows to us and through us, and we are changed. We are transformed. And as we are transformed, we can help others.”

“Yes,” I agreed. I liked Cat’s way of explaining prayer. No wonder she was a Prayer Warrior. Why wouldn’t God be interested in hearing from us in plain everyday language? Then it’d be much easier to have a relationship, and realize how much He loves us. No wonder Grammy recommended Cat to me.

“I haven’t told anybody about this, but Grammy said you’d help me. And I need help, I think. She said, ‘Remember, nothing can separate you from the love of God.’”

“You have a smart Grammy.” Cat smiled. “You are a treasure to God. He loves you with a love beyond your understanding.” She sat up to face me. “How can I help you?”

“I – I haven’t even told my best friend Cindy about this.” I grasped the ring on my left hand and took a breath. “On Christmas Eve, I collapsed and the doctors said my heart stopped for a little bit. I never told anyone what happened when my heart stopped, but I was in heaven. It had to be heaven because it was such a beautiful place, and Grammy greeted me. She died more than ten years ago, but she didn’t look old like when I knew her, but I knew it was her.” I scrunched my skirt up with my hands to dry the sweat.