The Italian Affair (9 page)

Rick exhaled. ‘We don’t know yet if it was him. But if it was, you’re not to blame for his actions, so don’t even think that way.’

‘Aren’t I?’ she asked, her heart sinking. ‘I’m not so sure.’

The watcher entered the church early before evening mass. He hovered at the back waiting for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, then when they did, he slowly he made his way to a wooden pew on
the left. He slid onto the seat next to the aisle. Several people were praying in the front row. An elderly lady, her back slightly curved, fumbled with her rosary beads. He heard her drop them on the floor. She muttered something. When she half turned around to retrieve them, he saw her face. It was Rosa Rosselini. If she was here, then Gina might be as well. But as he looked around, he couldn’t see her.

The chapel door creaked as it opened. He half turned to see who had entered, but kept his face down. It was her. Gina. A man followed her in. Rick Caruso, he realized. He should have guessed he’d be with her. He noticed she wore a white lacy dress emphasizing her olive skin and dark hair.

She whispered some words to Caruso and, while the private investigator sat down at a pew on the right, she continued walking towards the altar. She passed him by. She was so close to him, he could have reached out to touch her. The watcher curled his fingers into the palm of his hand to prevent him from doing so.

She picked up a candle and lit it and placed it on the iron holder at the alter. Then after crossing herself, she turned around and walked back down the aisle again. The watcher lowered his gaze.

The priest and other clergy entered. The smell of incense permeated the air.

The church was filling up, he realized. Should he stay, or go? He wasn’t sure, but the opportunity to observe Gina for a bit longer was just too tempting.

The next day, Gina called in to see Maria at the hospital. She paused in the doorway at intensive care and said to Rick. ‘I’d like to stay for a while.’

‘Sure. I’ll wait out here in the corridor until you’re ready.’

Gina entered the room, approaching her sister quietly. Maria was asleep. Her sister looked so pale, the dark shadows under her eyes even more pronounced. All of a sudden an uneasy feeling came over Gina as she moved closer to her.

‘Maria, can you hear me?’ said Gina softly. ‘I’m right here beside you. You have to get better … we have so much to do together.’ For a moment, the impossible ran through her mind. What if Maria died? She froze. But she couldn’t die, she told herself sternly. The doctor had already told them she was making good progress. She had come around very briefly earlier on, but the doctor had given her another sedative because she was in such a lot of pain.

She kissed her sister lightly on the cheek and said a short silent prayer.

It was evening when Gina arrived back at her apartment. The first thing she did was call in to see her grandmother to tell her about her visit to see Maria.

Her grandmother patted her hand. ‘She’s in the best place. The doctors said we have to be patient.’

‘I know, but it’s so hard.’

‘I have something for you.’ Her grandmother opened up her handbag and handed her a small white box. ‘Look inside.’

Gina did. A silver amulet shaped like a horn lay against the silky material. ‘Oh …’

Her grandmother smiled. ‘It’s a
cornicello
… to wear around your neck. It’s an old Italian custom to ward off the evil eye.’

‘Nonna …’ protested Gina.

‘Promise me you will wear it,
sí
?’

She kissed her grandmother’s cheek. ‘I promise.’ She slipped it around her neck. ‘
Grazie
. It’s beautiful.’

‘I’m going down to the beach for a swim,’ Gina told Rick.

‘Why don’t you use the swimming pool? It will be safer.’

‘Because I prefer the sea,’ she said simply.

‘OK. Give me ten minutes. I just need to see your housekeeper. She wants me to check the security alarm.’

Gina nodded. But she couldn’t help feeling resentful. Everything she wanted to do had to go through him first. It was driving her crazy. After grabbing a towel and changing into her swimsuit, she sat
down to wait. Ten minutes passed. Then another five. She stood up impatiently. Obviously Rick was going to be longer than he thought. Surely it wouldn’t do any harm to go on ahead? He could follow later. There were security guards patrolling the beach as well as near their house, and a police car was parked on the main road only a few yards away. She’d be within shouting distance if she needed any help.

Slipping on her sandals, she made her way out of the grounds stopping to speak to a security guard at the main entrance gates. ‘Please, will you tell Rick I’ve gone down to the beach?’

‘Perhaps you’d best wait, miss,’ he advised.

‘I’m sure he won’t be long. I’ll be fine,’ and she continued on her way giving him a bright smile, hoping it would convince him. As she glanced back, she saw the security guard looking worried and speaking into the hand-held radio.

Next to their property, on the other side of the high wall, winding steps led down to the beach. She hurried down them taking care not to slip. A warm breeze skimmed her face. Once she reached the golden sand, she kicked off her sandals, dumped her towel, and waded in.

It felt so good. The water cooled her skin and calmed her turbulent thoughts. The interview at the police station earlier on had really upset her and then afterwards seeing Maria lying so helpless in the hospital. Life was particularly hard at the moment, she thought ruefully. But she had been through tough times before, she reminded herself. And Maria would recover. She had to keep positive.

For a while she swam, then lay flat on her back floating as she gazed up at the sky, absorbing the crystal blueness. This was better than any work out at the gym, she decided, as the tension eased out of her. While she used to attend the gym regularly during the winter, in the summer she exercised in the pool or the sea, taking advantage of the warm weather.

Suddenly, someone grabbed her from behind.

‘Aghhh!’ She screamed as she lost her balance and slipped under the water. Her arms flailed outwards.

‘Please …’ she begged, half choking as she surfaced. She tried to twist around but she was pinned tightly. Whoever it was, she was no match for his strength. Oh God. Rick had warned her to wait. She steeled herself waiting for the blow to come.

Then she heard his deep voice. ‘I’ve been out of my mind looking for you. Why didn’t you wait for me?’

She turned to face him. ‘Because you took so long. You … you … you frightened me out of my wits.’

Rick grimaced. ‘I was just trying to make a point.’

‘Well, you did. Are you satisfied?’ To her dismay, tears sprang into her eyes. ‘I don’t need you to look after me. I don’t need anyone. Just leave me alone.’

‘Hey, take it easy,’ he said soothingly, as he grabbed her wrists. ‘You have to understand, there’s some crazy guy on the loose. You can’t just go off on your own whenever you feel like it.’

By now, she was past caring. ‘Can’t I? I’d like to see you stop me?’ She shrugged herself loose from his grip, trying to choke back a sob at the same time.

He must have heard it, because he reached out for her again, this time drawing her closer by the tops of her arms. ‘I’m sorry. I really am.’

For a few moments, she let herself be drawn into his embrace. Having him so near brought back memories of the past and she remembered a time when Jason had held her like that, apologizing and declaring he loved her. He had almost destroyed her. She would never allow
that
to happen again.

‘Are you OK?’ asked Rick, his face full of concern.

His voice brought her to her senses. This man was the complete opposite of Jason and this certainly wasn’t a romantic interlude. It was a business arrangement, she reminded herself. He was her bodyguard, damn him. He had no right to do what he did just now but he had done it for her.

‘I don’t know,’ she replied, still trembling. She pulled back from him even further. Her gaze slid to his chest, noticing his body was a deep mahogany, tanned from hours spent in the sun. Rivulets of water ran down his muscled chest, making his skin gleam in the sunlight. Her gaze shifted slowly across the planes of his body, where she saw the white scar, jagged and ugly, right below his breast bone. She stared longer than she meant to.

‘It’s a knife wound,’ he explained, his mouth twisting slightly.

Guiltily she flushed. ‘I … I didn’t mean to—’

‘Yeah, sure you did. I can see the questions in your eyes,’ he said quietly with a directness which disconcerted her. ‘So, aren’t you going to ask how I got it?’

Gina flinched at the hard note in his voice. ‘Would you tell me if I did?’

‘I might.’

She waited. Their eyes met, held. ‘Go on….’

‘I was a cop in Greymouth at the time. It was late at night and I was running after an offender. His accomplice was hiding in the shadows and I didn’t see the blade coming.’ His eyes flickered. ‘I guess you can imagine what happened next.’

She stared at him. ‘It must have been terrible.’ Her curiosity got the better of her. ‘How long were you in the police force?’

He pursed his lips. ‘About ten years … mainly front line duties. Burglaries, domestics, cruising the streets. That kind of thing.’

Her gaze fell to his chest. ‘And you left because of that?’

‘Partly,’ he answered carefully. ‘There were other reasons. But I won’t go into them; they’re long buried.’

Up to now, Gina realized, he hadn’t talked much about his police career, or his private life, and she wondered what else had happened there.

Finally, he said, ‘Come on, let’s get out of here. We can talk back at your apartment.’

‘I need a few more minutes,’ she told him, still feeling raw. He might be protecting her but she wasn’t going to let him take over
completely, not after the fright he had just given her. He could wait for her until she was ready. She lifted her chin, ready to challenge him.

To her surprise he relented. ‘OK. Go right ahead. I’ll wait on the beach. Just shout if you need me.’

Being on her own gave her time to think. Rick’s confession had been unexpected. He’d been honest with her and that couldn’t have been easy for him. No wonder he had left the force after something like that had happened.

A few minutes later, she made her way out of the water. When she reached Rick, he was sitting on
her
towel watching her. He was now wearing a tracksuit top with his swim shorts. Conscious of his gaze, the dark glasses he wore made it impossible to read his expression.

‘Enjoy your swim?’ he asked.

She was going to say she had until he had come along, but the unfairness of that thought prevented her.

She nodded. ‘Swimming always clears my thoughts.’ She stood there, dripping wet. He handed her the towel. ‘Thanks,’ she murmured. After shaking the sand off the towel, she dried herself, then slipped on her sandals.

Rick stood up. ‘Ready?’

She nodded again.

As they walked side by side, he said, ‘I know you’ve been asked this before, but is there anyone at all you can think of who has a grudge against Maria?’

She paused thoughtfully, turning to face him. ‘I’ve been thinking. Some years ago there was a court case involving Maria to do with Rosselini Fisheries. Maria had to give evidence against an employee, Dani Russo. It caused ill feeling with some of his crew.’

‘You mean, someone might have held a grudge?’

‘It’s possible, I suppose.’ She thought again for a moment. ‘Apart from Dani Russo, I suppose Jason is the obvious suspect.’

Rick removed his sunglasses. ‘We’re looking for a motive. But
sometimes people don’t need a reason to hurt others. There’s a lot of crazy people out there.’

‘Jason got angry when I refused to go back to him,’ she pointed out.

‘Angry enough to shoot Maria?’

Gina hesitated. ‘I don’t know. Surely he would have shot me, not Maria.’

Rick shrugged. ‘He could have shot her to get at you. He’d know how close you were. Or maybe he hit her by mistake. Realistically, there could be a thousand reasons and scenarios. We need some leads and at the moment there aren’t any. Not until the police come up with something, anyway. Or until they find Jason and question him.’

Gina bit her lip. She dug the tip of her sandal into the sand making a pattern. ‘Maybe the attacker was after Anthony and hit Maria by mistake?’

Rick’s eyes narrowed. ‘What makes you think that?’

She shrugged. ‘Just an idea I had.’

His finger brushed against her shoulders briefly. His touch was so light, she almost thought she imagined it. She hadn’t.

‘Just because you don’t like Anthony, that doesn’t mean to say he’s a suspect. You need to have a stronger reason.’

Gina shook her head, not convinced.

He took hold of her arm, his expression serious. ‘Gina, what is it? Is there something you’re not telling me about Anthony? If there is, I’d like to know what it is?’

Gina hesitated. Anthony and Rick had been good friends for a long time. They had even gone through high school together. ‘You’re right; I was just speculating. Anthony has been known to be very fond of women. Maybe some woman took offence after he dumped her and wanted revenge.’

Rick frowned again. ‘You mean a disgruntled girlfriend?’ He thought for a moment. ‘You really don’t like Anthony, do you?’

She cocked her head to the side. ‘I guess that’s obvious. We have
never got on. And that makes things difficult because he was made a trustee of my financial affairs. My grandfather made an arrangement with him to safeguard both Maria’s and my inheritance. It’s not something I agreed to. I had no choice.’

‘He’s a trustee?’

She nodded. ‘Our parents left us five million dollars each. Half was paid to us when we reached twenty-one, the other half when we marry.’

Rick whistled. ‘That’s quite an inheritance.’

‘My parents loved us,’ she said defensively.

‘What about Maria? How do you feel about her marrying Anthony?’

‘Things won’t be the same without her, but I’m not selfish enough to prevent her having the happiness she wants. I do know she loves him and wants to marry him. I would never stand in her way. We might be twins, but we respect each other’s opinions and choices.’