No Escape (35 page)

Los Angeles, California

Saturday, March 20

“I
like this cast much better,” Tessa said to Luke, as they made their way up the broad steps of her father’s home.

Luke eyed the glaring purple of Tessa’s new forearm cast with some suspicion. He’d secretly labeled it Moby Grape. “I guess the important thing is that no permanent damage was done when you bashed Bobby in the face.”

“Nope,” she said gleefully. “The other cast did its job, and gave its life for my wrist. I’ll think of it often and fondly.”

“You seem pretty cheerful,” Luke said.

“Why wouldn’t I be? The case is closed, and the bad guys are all in jail waiting for charges to be filed and plea bargains to be made. MacBeth will be out of the hospital tomorrow and can recover at home.”

“In short, you did it.”

“We did it. All of us. But yes, I’m very happy.” In a rare display of spontaneous affection, Tessa stood on tiptoe and landed a smacking kiss on Luke’s smiling mouth.

Of course that was the exact moment that Paul Jacobi
chose to open the door. She pulled away from Luke, aware that she was blushing, and greeted him.

“I’m sorry you guys had to jump ship and come back home,” Tessa said. She stood there awkwardly as she was carefully examined by her father. The knowledge that she looked a lot better than the last time he’d seen her didn’t help much.

Finally, Tessa moved forward and gave him a quick hug. “I’m glad you came back to see us.”

Paul Jacobi’s blue eyes closed with something that looked very much like relief, then he returned his daughter’s light embrace. “Come inside. Everyone is already on the back patio.”

Tessa moved ahead, and Paul took the opportunity to corner Luke. “Thank you for taking care of her.”

“She took care of herself, so I guess you should take some of the credit. I just followed in her wake trying to keep up.”

“Hmmph. I have a feeling you’re going to be running after my girl for some time to come.”

There was a question there, probably regarding his intentions. But Luke ignored it. “As long as I catch her once in a while, I’ll be fine with that.”

They made their way onto the backyard patio just as Tessa was being greeted by her brother, stepmother, and Kelly.

“Excellent cast,” Kevin said as he hugged his older sister.

“Thanks, it’s the latest color. I was just glad that there was no further damage to my wrist, so I was feeling like celebrating when I picked the new cast.”

“Kelly was just telling us that she’s going to be staying in Los Angeles to make statements to the police and stuff, then wait for the trials to start,” Kevin said. He spoke casually, with the complete disregard a teenager would have for a difficult subject.

Kelly smiled at him, obviously smitten and grateful that he was treating her so normally.

“My mom is going to work part-time helping Luke’s assistant
keep the books,” Kelly said shyly. “And my dad is going to look for work selling agricultural equipment up in the north county. If we can manage, we’ll try to move here so I have a better chance of getting a recording contract.”

“That’s great news, kiddo.” Luke tugged on Kelly’s ponytail like an older brother and smiled when she jerked away to smooth her platinum hair.

“How are things with the FBI and the US Attorney’s Office?” Paul asked as they all took a seat.

“They’re, um, cordial.” Tessa tried to keep the smugness from her voice. “We’re working together to file the appropriate charges. No one is going to walk on this case. Best of all, the AUSA is going to seek the death penalty against Ricky and Otis. It means Kelly will have to testify, but it also means that Ed’s killers won’t go free.”

Luke took her hand, knowing how much it cost Tessa to speak in an even tone about her best friend’s death a week ago.

But it didn’t feel like a week ago to her. So much had happened in such a short space of time, it seemed like she’d skipped over the initial phases of grieving and settled straight into acceptance. With the odd, lingering moments of anger when she thought of the men who had killed him.

She squeezed Luke’s hand in return as tears welled in her eyes. “It’s okay. I’m going to miss Ed, very much. But I really believe that he’s happy now. He’s spent the last eight years grieving for his dead wife, and he never got over losing her.”

Tessa stopped speaking as she realized her words could seem like a criticism of her father. At one time, she might have kept quiet, but now she tried to set aside the last of her resentment toward her father. “Not everyone is as strong as you are,” she said, looking at Paul. “Or as lucky, to find happiness twice in a lifetime.”

Paul looked at Lana and smiled. “I’ve been very lucky to have all of you.”

Lana stood up and hesitated for a moment. “I’m sure
you’re very busy today, Tessa. But I’ve prepared lunch if you’d like to stay…?”

“We’d love to,” Tessa assured her stepmother. “Thank you.”

As Lana left the patio, Kevin turned to Tessa. “I heard there were mobsters involved. What’s going to happen to them?”

“I don’t really know,” she said with a sigh. “Most of the higher-level Ianellis are making themselves scarce in Mexico right now. It’s up to the FBI and their organized crime task force to follow up.”

“You’re taking their escape pretty well,” Paul said. “I’m sure it helps to know that their financial advisor is singing falsetto, and most of their bank accounts have been frozen.”

“Yes. And I got what I wanted out of the deal,” Tessa replied, watching Kevin and Kelly as they headed across the lawn to play badminton. “I made a promise to Kelly, and I feel like I’ve kept it. And we got all of the men who were directly and indirectly responsible for hurting her. The bastards are going to fry, and even if they get out of prison, their lives will never be cushy and privileged again.”

“Almost every state in the union takes a very dim view of rapists. Once they get out of prison in a decade or so, Jerry and Sledge will have to register with local authorities as medium-risk sex offenders,” Luke said.

“I thought you wouldn’t be able to prosecute for sexual assault,” Lana said as she came back out from the kitchen.

“We don’t have to. Both men have agreed to plead guilty to statutory rape and sexual contact with a minor. That means they’ll have to live as registered sex offenders for the rest of their lives,” Luke explained.

Tessa smiled grimly. “It’s some comfort. I hope it helps Kelly to know that those two will never hurt another teenage girl again. I’m also going to help her file civil suits against Sledge and Jerry. That should give her a nest egg while she kicks off her career. If that’s what she still wants.”

“I hear you were very determined in the case,” Lana said.
“Wouldn’t take no for an answer and didn’t let anything get between you and these men. It reminds me of Paul.”

Just a few weeks ago, Tessa would have bristled at being compared to her father. Now she just smiled. “I guess I am a lot like my dad.”

Luke smiled into the iced tea Lana handed him. Yes, there was still a great deal to be worked out between Tessa and her father. But he knew that Tessa hadn’t called Paul “Dad” in a long time. That had to count for something.

Lana jumped up as a timer went off inside. “Lunch will be ready in about halfan hour. I’ll just pop the quiche in the oven right now.”

Luke swiveled his head to look at Tessa. “Quiche?” he mouthed in feigned horror.

“Why don’t I show Luke around the property while we’re waiting for lunch,” Tessa said. “There’s a beautiful gazebo on the little hill over there.”

They held hands as they walked up the grassy slope to the redwood gazebo. The climbing roses that covered the structure gave off a sweet smell in the late-morning air. Tessa took a deep breath of scented air and looked around at the manicured gardens showcased by the perfect Southern California spring day.

“That was a nice thing to say to your father,” Luke said as they stepped into the gazebo. “What brought that on?”

“I don’t know. I guess I’ve realized that we both have made mistakes. And maybe it’s time to stop letting my life be ruled by the painful things that were done over twenty years ago. Maybe I’m finally just ready to move on, to be a real adult who takes responsibility for her own feelings and actions instead of blaming the past.”

“And maybe you’re just happy,” Luke said, and nudged her with his arm.

She laid her head on his shoulder. Expressing affection was getting easier each time she did it. “Maybe I am. I think I’ve got a good thing here.”

“In that case, would you mind very much allowing me to formalize this
thing
between us?” Luke asked. He took a small black velvet box out of his pocket and held it out to her.

Tessa couldn’t have been more horrified if he’d offered her a snake. The expression on her face said so, and it made Luke laugh out loud.

“The look on your face, Swiss. It can’t be a surprise that I love you.”

“You’ve been saying it for the last two days,” Tessa breathed, unable to lift her eyes away from the box he held.

“You said it first,” Luke pointed out. “I’m not letting you take it back now that the heat of the moment has faded.”

“I do love you,” she said mournfully. “But this is just so…”

“Cool? Wonderful? Unexpected? Scary?” Luke supplied.

She gulped.

“Look, I didn’t want to rush you, but I do want a couple of things here. One, I want you to wear my ring as a commitment to me—a commitment you’ve never made to anyone else.”

“That sounds kind of primitive.”

“You have no idea. Two, I want to have children while I’m still young enough to keep up with them. So sometime before I’m forty. That’s a couple of years from now, which should give you time to get used to the idea of marriage.”

“Marriage,” she repeated, before raising her blue-gray eyes to him. “I think we should slow the heck down and talk about this.”

“So talk. I’m listening. But you can’t tell me this is a surprise.”

“The idea of marrying you? I guess not. Not really,” she said, pleasing him with the knowledge that she’d considered their relationship in a serious light. “But not now, not yet. Remember the Plan?”

“Why wait another year or so? You know it’s right, and so do I. Will waiting a predetermined period of time make it more right?”

Tessa was beginning to feel slightly trapped. “I thought you understood how I felt and why. You’re the first person to really comprehend what makes me tick. You should realize that I might be feeling hesitant about…this.”

“I do understand, and I sympathize. But I won’t be an enabler.”

“What?”

“That’s what love is all about, baby. Understanding the pain and helping the person you love move beyond it—not be trapped by it. If I continued to dance around your fear of commitment, I’d be helping you stay trapped in the past.”

“Instead, you’re going to drag me somewhere I’m scared to go?” Tessa asked.

“You’re not scared. Not really. You’re just looking back and thinking that you’ve been hurt in the past. But I’ve never hurt you, and I never will.”

“I know you haven’t, but how can you be sure about the future?”

“You can’t. There’s no safety net in this situation, not with the way I feel about you. And the way I hope you feel about me.”

Tessa looked at him while her heart pounded with both fear and something else. Something good.

She should have known Luke would pull a stunt like this. Ever since they’d met he’d been carefully, persistently trying to pull her out of her self-constructed shell.

To be honest, it was one of the things she loved about him. The fact that he looked inside her, understood her, expected more from her—and got it. He’d been doing that in so many ways, both physically and emotionally, for the few weeks that she’d known him.

Why on earth had she thought he would stop?

“Do you understand, baby?” Luke asked. “Ours is not going to be some comfy weekend relationship. So just decide if you want to be with me, and we’ll hop in the car and go to Vegas.”

“Vegas?” She squeaked in surprise. “What happened to being engaged?”

“We will be engaged. All the way to Nevada,” Luke pointed out with a smile.

“You’re crazy,” she said.

“Crazy in love, maybe. Crazy about the woman I want to have kids with, and build a home with, and get senile with.”

Tessa laughed and grabbed for Luke’s hand—the one holding the box.

“No one gets married after two weeks,” she said. “We’d be insane to try.”

“Here you go, quoting that invisible book of rules again. Who wrote that sucker, anyway? I want to beat the jerk up.”

“Shut up. You’re ruining my proposal,” she said. “Are you going to get down on your knee and finish this?”

In a heartbeat, Luke was on bent knee in front of her, holding her hand to his heart. “Will you be Mrs. Crazy in Love with Me?”

Looking at his gorgeous hazel eyes, Tessa caved in completely.

Sometimes, she figured, you just have to throw out the rule book.

“I will.” She leaned down and kissed him thoroughly. “But we’ll get to Vegas that much faster if we take a plane.”