Northern Moonlight (22 page)

Cooper stared back at him in cryptic silence as Kate said, “Glen, tell him how he’s mistaken.  You’ve never worked for any fire department.  You spent your career in exporting before you took early retirement.” She turned to face Gio now.  “I think we have a case of mistaken identity.  Cooper is a very common last name and…”

Gio interrupted her sharply, “No, I am definitely not mistaken.  My family’s house went up in flames fourteen years ago, killing my parents and younger brother.  It was you Cooper who interviewed me afterwards.  I remember it as though it happened yesterday.  Don’t tell me you could possibly forget Giovanni Salvatore.”

Gio watched the blood drain from Cooper’s face as he revealed these details.  Gio was categorically certain that this was the same Glen Cooper who had interrogated him, and he would not relent until he found out the reason for the man’s denial. Aggressively, Gio took another step forward, never breaking eye contact with Glen Cooper.

Chapter 11

Cooper looked away from Gio, like a cowering creature in the jungle that knows it’s met an unconquerable alpha male.  The older man’s sudden change in behavior did not go unnoticed by anyone, including Kate, who put a questioning hand on his wrist.

“Glen, are you OK?” When he looked as though he might surge into cardiac arrest, she turned to Gio and reprimanded, “Look what you’ve done!  Why can’t you just accept that this is not the man you’re looking for?”

“This is exactly the man I’m looking for and he knows it.” Gio said to Kate while never taking his eyes off of Cooper. 

Finally, Cooper spoke.  Smoothing his necktie in an exaggerated display of formality, he addressed his lady friend.  “Kate, let’s be on our way.  I don’t know how a psychopath like this got on the guest list to such a civilized affair, but I don’t wish to be subject to his misplaced rage any longer.  Shall we?” He bent his arm outward as she latched on, tossing a look of mistrust behind her as Gio’s anger built to a violent climax.

With a vice-grip, he grabbed hold of Cooper’s shoulder and spun him around, spitting angrily, “You’re not going anywhere!”

Distressed, Sabrina tried to stand between the two men and stop the brawl that seemed destined to ensue.  “Gio, don’t do anything crazy!  There are people all around us.  Please try to contain your anger.” She pleaded with him, wildly looking around the room and hoping for Max and Cara to come to their assistance.  Gio gently but swiftly pushed Sabrina out of the way, as Kate tugged on Cooper’s sleeve, trying to drag him out of there before physical harm could befall her man.

When Gio would have lunged for Cooper, he suddenly became aware that he was the center of speculation and whispers, as guests had paused their conversations to watch the scene unfold.  He shoved Glen Cooper away from him.  With a tremendous rein of control, he used words for weapons.  “You can run and hide under your woman’s skirts like a toddler,
Chief
Cooper.  I don’t know what you’re trying to cover up, but you’re behaving like a fugitive.  I’m not a psychopath as you claim, so you won’t see me throwing a violent fit at this ‘civilized affair.’  Go ahead and leave.  But know that I am on a one-way mission to the truth and if you have anything to conceal, it will soon burn in the sunlight for all to see.  Now get out of my sight.” Gio seethed as he willed his anger to simmer.  Cooper snatched Kate’s hand and walked as fast as he could to the exit doors.

“Gio, are you alright?” Sabrina came up close to him and touched a hand to his perspiring cheek. 

Still fuming and restless, he pulled away.  “No, I’m not alright.  That was a disaster.  I didn’t get to ask him anything, and now he’s on the run.  I don’t even understand what just happened.  Why does everyone I talk to about the fire react that way?  How many damn perpetrators could there be?  Or am I losing my mind like Cooper said?  Where was Max when I needed him?” Gio expelled the questions tumbling in his head at break-neck speed, leaving Sabrina overwhelmed.

“Gio, try to calm yourself.  Maybe we should find Max and Cara and get out of here.” Without a word, Gio circled the gallery to find them.  After searching everywhere including the washrooms, Sabrina exclaimed, “Did they just vanish?  Where could they be?”

Gio shook his head disgustedly.  “I don’t care where they are.  Let’s just get out of here.”

“I can’t leave my sister here!  Besides, we took separate cars.” Sabrina reasoned as Gio bolted ahead of her unexpectedly, making his way towards the exit.  Helplessly, Sabrina followed him out to the parking lot, leaving the still gossiping guests staring after them. 

The night air washed cool and cleansing over Gio, and he felt as though he had just escaped from a stifling furnace.  With Sabrina trailing behind, he walked over a cobblestone path leading to a small sculpture garden.  In the moonlight, two standing figures were discernable huddled close on the misty grass in the middle of the garden. 

“That’s Max and Cara!” Sabrina exclaimed in surprise.  “What are they doing over there?”

Gio rolled his eyes, annoyed.  “I apologize for my friend, Sabrina.  It seems he was quite taken with your sister.”  He took Sabrina hastily by the hand and traversed the cobblestone path into the sculpture garden.  “There you are!” Gio called, crossing his arms in blatant annoyance.  “We were looking everywhere for you two.”

Max looked at them apologetically.  “I’ll have to take full blame for this.  It was such a lovely evening that I thought it would be nice to come outdoors.  It felt like they had the heat on full blast in there.  They should have had the air conditioning on!” To Gio’s ears, Max’s good-natured explanation sounded like babbling, and he lost patience quickly.

“Well, while you were gallivanting on the lawn under the stars, I almost got into a fist fight with Glen Cooper.”

“What?  Why didn’t you tell me that you were going to talk to him?  That was the plan.” Max said urgently.

“I know what the plan was.” Gio spoke through gritted teeth.  “But Cooper approached me and there was nothing I could do about it.”

“Why did he approach you?” Max asked, confused.

“Never mind.  I’ll tell you on the ride home.  I want to get as far away from this gallery as possible.” Gio turned to walk towards his truck without waiting for Max to respond.

Max looked at Cara and asked, “Can I call you at Sabrina’s house tomorrow?”

For a moment, Cara hesitated then said, “Yes, that would be fine.  I enjoyed talking with you.”

“I enjoyed talking with you too.” Max said with twinkling eyes.  Sensing that he was about to kiss her, Cara waved a flirtatious good-bye and accompanied a wide-eyed Sabrina to her car.  Inside the car, Cara immediately rolled down a window.

“I’m feeling warm.” Cara burst out, giggling stupidly.

“You’re feeling
flushed
.” Sabrina corrected.  “It’s all that wine you drank.  What got into you anyway, disappearing into the sculpture garden with Max?”

Cara tossed her hair and laughed.  “I don’t know!  At first, I thought he was a complete oaf, but then we got to talking about careers and the law…and he’s so interesting!”

“And now he’s going to call you at my house tomorrow?  What’s wrong with you Cara?  You’re only in Vermont for the weekend and, more importantly, you’re on the rebound from Bruce!  You have no business starting something with Max.” Sabrina scolded as Cara continued to giggle hysterically before expelling a giant hiccup and giggling even more.

“You have no business telling me what to do.” Cara pointed her finger dramatically at Sabrina.  “You have a man, so why shouldn’t I?” She hiccupped again and then stared sulkily at the road ahead.

“I have a man?” Sabrina snorted.  “Sure, that’s been going very well.  Gio just left me in the parking lot without even saying good night.  I don’t know how many times he thinks he can just dismiss me before it’s his last chance.” Sabrina said with mounting anger. 

Gazing over at her sister, she noted that her eyes were closed, and she appeared to have dozed off.  Disenchanted with the whole evening and everyone with whom she had wasted it, Sabrina drove home silently fuming. 

Pulling into the driveway, Sabrina could see that Mrs. Benjamin’s porch light was on and the ground floor of the house was also illuminated.  Rushing around to the passenger side of the car, Sabrina hoped that her neighbor wouldn’t notice as she helped Cara hobble into the house in her drunken stupor.

“Are we going inside now?” Cara queried in a conspicuously loud voice.

“Hush!” Sabrina hissed, putting a hand over Cara’s mouth. “I don’t want my neighbors to hear you.  It’s late, and your voice will wake everyone up.” 

Too tipsy to formulate a response, Cara passively allowed Sabrina to lug her to the front door and safely inside the house without a peep from Mrs. Benjamin.  Unceremoniously, she dumped Cara onto the sofa, put out a fresh bowl of food for Softy, and ascended the staircase to her bedroom for a much needed repose. 

The following morning, Sabrina awoke early after a fitful night of sleep.  Her first waking thought was how she had carelessly left Cara fully dressed to slumber on the couch.  Feeling pangs of guilt, Sabrina made her way to the living room, only to be greeted by an empty couch.  A heartbeat later, Cara emerged from the kitchen looking disheveled and irritated. 

“I need some coffee.” She announced.

Sabrina responded calmly, “Certainly.  There’s milk on the top shelf of the refrigerator and sugar in the cupboard above the stove.”

“Last night was awful, Sabrina.”

“Was it now?” Sabrina snapped moodily.  “I thought you made a new friend.”

“Yes, that’s the point!  I had so much wine that Max began to seem attractive.  Now he’s going to call today, and I’ll be stuck going out with him.” She fumbled with the coffeepot as she spoke.

“Yes, you are going to be stuck going out with him, at least for this weekend.  Nobody told you to drink so much.  Besides, you’re the last one who should be complaining.  You didn’t witness the wreckage inside the gallery.”

Sabrina proceeded to share with Cara the entire disastrous story of their botched interrogation with Cooper.  When she had finished, both women fell silent, each
conjecturing about possible reasons for Cooper’s claim of mistaken identity and his extreme reaction to Gio’s mention of the fire.

Finally, Cara concluded, “On the surface, this investigation seems to have a lot of roadblocks, but I think it’s crystal clear that Gio has been going after the right suspects.  One basic principle I learned in my first year criminal law survey is that few criminals work alone.  There’s almost always an accomplice.  In this case, there is a definite connection between Gio’s uncle and this Cooper guy.”

“I think that you’re right, Cara.  Plus, I have the advantage of having seen both these men face to face and coming away with a very dark impression of both of them.  Still, the motive is what’s missing.  Gio claimed that his parents were penniless and, as a carpenter, his father couldn’t have made many enemies.” Sabrina pointed out, finally relenting to help her sister prepare the coffee and retrieving pancake mix from the cupboard to make breakfast.