Killer Cupid (The Redemption Series: Book 1) (25 page)

“Oh, Maria, perhaps they could just be married and stay right here in Beverly Hills. I’m sure David could find a good job here.” Marion pulled out a well-used handkerchief.

George shook his head, and paced around the waiting room. Frederick leaned against the doorframe, not sure what to make of all this. And Cindy and I took the whole thing in. It sure was weird seeing ol’ George and Marion acting human.

Then the rest of the family showed up, and Cat prayed over Debbie. Cin and I thought George might actually approve of David marrying his daughter.

David

It was Sunday morning when Debbie was discharged from the hospital. David accompanied her and her parents to their home. He carried her upstairs to her room, and carefully arranged her on the pillows atop her bed.

Sitting beside her, he surveyed the room. It was the bedroom of a young girl, decorated completely in white. Debbie’s paintings and some fresh flowers added the only color. A gentle breeze tossed the sheer curtains on the large window next to the bed.

Marion entered the room with her nurse Sally, and introduced her to David. “Mr. David, I sure am pleased to meet you. I want you to know, I’m so grateful to you for savin’ Miss Debbie’s life.” Sally nodded emphatically, much the way Debbie always did.

“Well thank you, Sally, but I’m sure the doctors had much more to do with it.”

“I don’t think so, Mr. David.” Sally was adamant.

Debbie smiled and hugged him like she’d never let go. He used the opportunity to kiss her. He heard George clear his throat as he entered the room, but leisurely finished the kiss. They turned to George.

“David, I want to tell you and Debbie, I’ve decided to give you my permission to be married. I hope you two will have a long and happy life together.” George was too emotional to go on.

Marion ran to his side. George put his hand on her back and drew her in a sideways hug. That apparently was his idea of affection.

Regardless, David was grateful this struggle was over. Relieved and ecstatic, he picked Debbie up off the bed and onto his lap, kissed her, and held her. He felt a sense of joy radiating between them.

Some time later the maid delivered the news that Eduardo had arrived to bring David back to the base. Distressed, Debbie held tight to his arm. “It’s Sunday, David. Aren’t you going to stay for our picnic today?”

“I’ll be back later, Sweetheart. I just need to get everything straightened out with General Pearson. You mustn’t worry, okay?”

“Okay,” she whispered.

He kissed her again. “I love you, Sweetheart.” Reluctantly, he left the room.

***

“Agent Lambrecht, you’re aware you were to remain in this hospital? The doctors,
and I
, told you on a number of occasions, you are not to be discharged yet.” General Pearson let his aggravation show.

“Yes Sir.”

“I know, I know, you’re going to tell me you had to leave for Debbie’s sake.” Pearson put his hand up. “Dammit, David! I’m annoyed with you. And I’m more annoyed with myself.” He stood and stared out the window. “I know my judgment is clouded when it comes to the four of you. I’ve been too personal. Like you’re the sons I never had. I know I’ve joked about it, but it’s no joke. And you, young man, need to listen to me and obey orders. Do you understand?”

“Yes Sir.”

“Then get out of here and do what Earle tells you to do.”

David closed the General’s door behind him, and looked to Eduardo, sitting, waiting for him in the outer office. Eduardo grinned up at him as he passed by, “So? Did you get a spanking?”

“Shut up, Eduardo.” David strode out the door.

Nita

The Aldridges moved their Sunday afternoon party to the Bainbridge mansion. According to Cindy, her parents were much more comfortable entertaining a crowd than George and Marion. Cindy and Glori took me aside, and we ended a tour of their home in Cindy’s bedroom.

“Where’s Eduardo? Is he coming with David and Raphael?” Cindy asked.

“Yes, I believe so. He’s in yet another meeting. But I guess that’s good. At least he’s not out there getting shot at.” We sat in comfortable overstuffed chairs by a window with a glorious view.

“What a scary thing
—
to have a husband or a boyfriend that has a job like that.” Cindy rolled her eyes. “I don’t know how people do it.”

“I don’t know either.” I laughed.

We fell into a long, personal conversation. Cindy and Glori had some interesting stories on Hollywood, and what it was like to be the daughter of one of the most famous actors in the world. Cindy spoke at length about her wonderful family.

“Yes, it is a blessing to have such a loving supportive family. That’s really the only thing that has helped us through this hell since Eduardo and David left home.”

Cindy sympathized. “And you never heard from them in three years? Not a phone call or a letter?”

“They were supposed to be deep undercover, completely devoted to whatever mission they were assigned to. They lived a completely different life, a whole new identity. No contact with family or friends, or any part of their former lives. The only exception was an audio we would receive each Christmas. It made Christmas a particularly stressful time. Especially this last one.” I realized this was not the topic for a party. “We should really change the subject. This is supposed to be a celebration.”

“Okay,” Glori said, “So what does Raphael say about Cin?”

Cindy swiped her arm toward her friend. “Glori!”

“He’s smitten with her, of course.” I winked, and they both beamed at me. “I think you two are going to have a wonderful time. And I know I’m biased, but Raphael is the best. He’s a very special person, and the more you spend time together, I know you’ll find that out. And not to change the subject, but Cat and I just spent some interesting time with Debbie.”

“Interesting?” Glori smirked.

Cindy cast a sidelong frown at her friend, as she pulled her legs up under her in an attentive pose.

“Well frankly, I was shocked. I think she knows more about the Louvre and all it’s artwork than the people that work there. And she’s never set foot in Paris.”

Glori rolled her eyes. “Yeah! She can go on about that stuff for hours! Just don’t ask her about the artist’s use of color.”

I was confused. “What artist’s use of color?”

“Any artist!” Glori waved her arms to magnify her response. Cindy and I burst into laughter. “I’m serious.” Glori continued, “She can go on and on for hours about all that art shit.” She turned to Cindy. “Remember the day she made you stare at that purple dot till you saw a green dot?”

I tried to muffle my laughter. Cindy smiled and shook her head. ”Debbie was just giving me a lesson on the color wheel, and complementary colors.”

“I see.” I nodded. “Well, I know Cat has enlisted Debbie to do the artwork for all of the album covers. Apparently it’s her first real job, and I’m thrilled about it. She’s extremely talented.”

“That’s awesome!” Cindy clapped. “She’s going to do a great job for you.”

Glori agreed. “Wow. Debbie’s got an actual art job. Cool! The thing about Debbie, she’s really not as dumb as you think.”

“Glori!”

“I was about to say, Cin, if you let me talk, that she’s really really smart. In certain special areas, that is. Take for instance, anything, and I mean anything to do with art and art history and painting and all that stuff. She could teach college classes on all that without even having to prepare. She’s really unbelievable.

“And how dumb she is when it comes to talking to people? That’s pretty unbelievable too, and it’s all George and Marion’s fault. They actually made her sick with this anorexia disease. I don’t see the half of it compared to Cindy. But I’ll never forget that first day I saw George force her to eat her breakfast, and she spent the rest of the day goin’ up and down the stairs to burn off the calories. She was counting stairs and counting calories. And that was when she was probably eight or nine years old.”

“Oh! That’s so sad.” I hadn’t realized her eating disorder began at such an early age. “She’s such an innocent.”

“Yeah. She’s an innocent alright. George and Marion made sure of that. Do you believe before they let Debbie go to college, they met with the Dean and went through all the stuff she could and could not do, and what she could and could not study. No nude paintings for Debbie! No medical illustration classes. And just to make sure everything went George’s way, he donated a building to the college. Nice guy, huh?”

“Oh.” I didn’t know what to say.

Cindy blushed. “Nita, we probably shouldn’t be going on like this. We do really care about Debbie, and whether or not people think she’s bright, I know she’s amazing. I’m just grateful she ended up meeting David. Because I know he really did save her life. She wouldn’t have come home from the hospital in January if it weren’t for him.”

Glori chimed in. “Yeah, the doctors told us this anorexia throws off her whole system. It wrecked her heart. I bet it’s messed up her head too. Cin told me Debbie’s always had these voices inside that keep tellin’ her she’s worthless
—
like constantly.”

I sighed. “Yes, it’s a disease that affects the brain chemistry. And certainly, one would not appear too bright if one were so chronically malnourished.”

“My point exactly!” Glori nodded.

Cindy pressed her lips until they went white.

Chapter Sixteen

Eduardo

When David and Eduardo arrived at his door, Raphael was on the phone as he stuffed a briefcase with papers.

Eduardo pointed to his watch. “Geez, don’t you ever quit? It’s Sunday. Don’t you still do that respecting the Sabbath stuff?”

Raphael rolled his eyes at him while David’s laughter turned to a cough. They headed to the car, and arrived at the Aldridge’s mansion – all the while, Raphael had the phone to his ear.

Eduardo greeted the guard he knew.

“The Aldridges have left, but Miss Aldridge left a package for Agent Lambrecht with Sally.” He waved them through.

Raphael paced around the garden with his phone while Sally led David and Eduardo upstairs to Debbie’s studio. She gave David a package wrapped in white paper with his name handwritten across the top. He undid carefully tied string as they both surveyed the studio. Sally left.

It was a big airy room with huge windows overlooking the garden. All the cabinets and woodwork were painted white, and the floor was hardwood. The only color came from numerous paintings on the walls and stacked on tables and easels.

Eduardo was impressed with the variety of Debbie’s art. It looked like she could draw or paint anything. He flipped through a folder of diagrams of human organs and systems she’d obviously copied from pages ripped from textbooks. Every detail was reproduced as though it were done in a copy machine. Underneath the folder was an impressionist’s garden. On the wall, he noticed a herd of horses running through a field of wildflowers – the sunlight and colors were indescribable. He was blown away by her talent.

He stood at an easel, wondering about the portrait in front of him. She was a nice looking older woman with Debbie’s smile.

David’s groan and a thud as his knees hit the floor startled him, and he landed on the floor beside him. “Are you okay? What the—”

Eduardo’s stomach flipped. He stared down at David’s boat, covered in blood.
What’s going on? What?
“Unbelievable.”
She’s Cat with a paint brush.

David sunk to the floor, the painting tight against his chest. Eduardo rubbed his back. It had to be Cat behind all this. Or Satan.

He hauled his friend from the floor and guided him to a stool at the large workbench. David placed the painting on the table in front of him and rubbed his eyes.

“You want some water?” Eduardo retrieved paper cups full of water from the adjacent bathroom. David shook his head. “Here, take it. Drink it. We’ll get something stronger later.”

Eduardo pulled up another stool and took a seat, facing David. “Drink up.”

David took a sip of the water. “I knew she did this. She said the blood – the red paint – fell on it after she finished it – by accident. I had to see it. I had to.” He never took his eyes off the canvas.

“Look David – yeah – this is really weird. But we’ll take it and burn it. Nobody needs to see this, and you don’t either. I don’t care if it’s got a rainbow or six of them.”

“The name on the boat. It shows through. Most of the paint missed it. And she’s got the same title here at the bottom.” David pointed to the title.

Eduardo got up from his stool to take a look. “Forgiven.”  Whoa. He rubbed his hand through his hair, and the light bulb went on. He laughed. “That’s the Precious Blood Cat’s always talkin’ about.” He whispered into David’s ear. “It’s not Everett’s blood. It’s the Blood that washes it away. You’re forgiven.” He couldn’t believe he said that.

David’s tears rained onto the bloody boat.