A Christmas Kiss (28 page)

Cori considered this. "It doesn't make a bit of sense. They wanted me set up as a witness, now they want to kill me before I can testify again. What's going on, Kit? That isn't logical."

Kit looked up at the sound of Joey's footsteps. He was coming with Jolene, his arm supporting her as she wiped tears from her face.

"Nothing about this is logical, Cori. Nothing. I'm telling you, forget the past. Forget you saw anything at all in Augustine's. Don't testify."

"I only wish it were that simple." She felt an overwhelming fury. "How can I forget a double homicide? A man who killed his own mother and father? You think I can walk away from that and let that man go free? I'm not like that, Kit. I have a duty to tell the truth."

"But only if you know the truth." His smile was sad. "Forget everything you saw, Cori. It's all smoke and mirrors."

"Are you saying Ben DeCarlo didn't kill his parents?"

"I'm saying you have the best visual memory of anyone I've ever met. You were the perfect eyewitness. In this case, though, you can't trust your eyes."

Joey stopped on the last line Kit said.

"Cori, are you okay?" he asked. He kept an arm on Jolene, who gave Cori a tearful smile.

"Kit is telling me I can't believe my own eyes."

"Can you?" Kit's smile was bitter. "You saw me get attacked by an alligator. You knew that I was dead. Yet here I am, standing right in front of you."

"How did you do that?" Cori asked.

"That time, I got lucky. I had a gun with a silencer."

"How did you get off the island?" Cori asked.

"Bailey. He worked free of the ropes and waved some poor old fisherman down and got a lift over to pick me up off the back side of that spit of land. We took the boat."

"And the fisherman?" Joey glared at him.

"He's okay. I wouldn't let Bailey kill him. I knocked him out, and when we got off the boat I cast him adrift. When he woke up, I'm sure he was lost, but he'll find his way home."

A loud pounding came at the door. They all listened to it. Kit looked around the Aquarium. "I have to get out of here. If they catch me, they'll kill me." He looked at Joey. "You know they will."

"Who's the leak in my department?" Joey asked.

Kit shook his head. "As far as I could figure, it was Jake. I was never on the inside. I was just some poor sucker who got pinched up in a plan that was a lot bigger than any one person knew."

"Is there someone in the marshals?" Joey pressed.

"I saw Danny Dupray over there today. That's why I ran away," Cori said. Her gaze shifted from Kit to Joey. There was such a difference between the two men. She could see it now, in the set of Joey's jaw, in the way he kept a protective arm around Jolene. He was tough, and he was honest. Kit was neither of those things. How had she ever believed she loved him?

Kit laughed. "Strangely enough, Danny is the only person in this town who's tried to help me. And you owe him your life, Cori. He's the one who let me know there was a hit out on you. If it hadn't been for Danny, I wouldn't have been able to kill Benny Hovensky, Jake Lewis's right-hand thug and gun-for-hire. He'd kill his own mother for two hundred dollars. The world won't miss him."

"That was you who shot him?" Cori didn't know if she believed him or not.

Kit nodded. He looked toward the door where the pounding was more pronounced. "I was doing my best to keep you from getting killed. When I snatched you on the island, I was going to take you out in the water and pretend to drown you. I thought I could stage it so they'd think you were dead, and then you could get away. The alligator complicated things a bit." Kit backed up several steps. He looked only at Joey now. "I have to leave."

Joey's hand twitched on the gun. It was his duty to arrest Kit.

"Joey," Cori said softly, "let him go."

He stared at Kit, who made no effort to raise the gun he still held in his hand. "I won't fight with you, Tio. I only want to disappear. I can go away, out to some of the islands or down into Central America. If I know that Cori is going to be okay, I don't have to hang around trying to protect her. You won't see me again, I promise."

Joey hesitated.

"Please, Joey, just let him go." Cori placed her hand on Joey's arm, the one that didn't hold the gun.

"He's in as much trouble as I was. If they do take him in, they'll get to him and kill him. There'll be some accident in the prison, or a fight. You know that."

Joey looked down into Cori's pleading eyes. He was afraid of what he might see—a flicker of love for the man she'd married only two years before. What he saw was pity. Nothing but pity.

Joey lowered his gun. "I'm breaking the law by doing this."

"But you're serving a greater justice," Cori whispered.

Jolene took a small step forward. "He tried to save my life, Joey. He could have killed me and then the man, but he didn't. Let him go. Let him disappear into the past."

"The records still show Kit Wells to be a dead man," Cori said carefully. "Let him rest in peace."

Joey finally looked into Kit's eyes. "Go on," he said, tossing him the keys. "One of those will open the delivery door. Go now before they get in here."

Kit held the keys in a clenched fist. He started away, then turned back to Cori. "I did love you, as much as I was capable of loving anyone," he said. "None of that was a lie." He turned and started running down the corridor, his footsteps fading slowly as the sounds of the front doors crashing open came to them.

Joey put his arm around Cori and motioned Jolene over. "We don't have all the answers about Ben DeCarlo. Maybe we never will. What matters most is that we're alive." He kissed Cori's cheek as he whispered in her ear. "And we have each other."

Cori stood before Travis Shanahan and waited. His handsome face was perplexed as he considered all of the evidence that had been presented to him. It was a tough call. Finally the prosecutor spoke.

"The two men captured and being held in Lafayette have been charged with attempted murder. Bail hasn't been set, and we're doing everything we can to hold them until they answer some questions. I can promise you, Ms. St. John, that we'll investigate the problem you and Mr. Tio have unearthed.

Corruption within our law enforcement branches cannot be tolerated."

"It seems to be confined to Jake Lewis, but we have to be sure," Joey pointed out.

"There are grave issues here, and the manipulation of Ms. St. John as an eyewitness is of great concern to me," Shanahan said. "I don't believe it changes Ben DeCarlo's guilt, but it does change matters for you, as a witness."

"Do you still want me to testify?" Cori asked. She felt Joey's arm slip around her waist, and she had never felt as safe and secure and ready to face the future, no matter what it was. "I'm not refusing. I'm just not certain any longer what the truth is in the Ben DeCarlo case."

"This entire mess with the ghost of your husband has put your testimony in jeopardy." Travis wanted Ben DeCarlo to remain behind bars, where he belonged. Brently Gleason--Cori St. John had been through a rough time, and he wasn't certain she was stable enough to withstand the counter-attack of the high-priced lawyers Ben DeCarlo had surely hired. What would be worse than not having her testimony would be watching her crack up on the witness stand. When a prosecution lost the credibility of a key witness, it could spell doom, no matter how strong the rest of the testimony.

He still had three very strong witnesses, one tough little waitress and an angry ex-model among them.

He examined the woman in front of him, noting the earnestness of her expression. She would testify if she was called. What he had to decide was whether, in her current situation, she would help or hinder his case. He nodded, his decision made.

"You're dismissed, Ms. St. John." He couldn't help but notice the relief of the US. Marshal who stood by her side. "You're released into the custody of Mr. Tio." He gave them a half smile.

Cori turned into Joey's arms with a cry of delight. "I don't have to leave New Orleans. I can have my old life back," she said. For the first time in days she felt the threat of tears. Blinking them away, she kissed Joey's cheek. "Or the parts of my old life that I want. My sister. My nieces. My art and studio."

Joey steered her out of the D.A.'s office and into the busy corridor. Kissing her cheek, he whispered in her ear. "Got any room for some new stuff in that life of yours?" he asked as he hugged her so hard he lifted her off her feet. He put her down and escorted her out into the warm December day before she could answer.

"What kind of new stuff?" Cori could hardly breathe. More than anything she wanted Joey Tio in her life.

"First a question. Is the annulment filed?"

"Filed and in the process. My marriage was in name only."

Joey lifted her left hand, kissing each finger. "Well, that new stuff includes a ring." He brought the case out of his jacket pocket and handed it to her. "And a proposal. It wouldn't have mattered if you'd had to testify, Cori. I would have gone with you into the WP program. Who better than me to figure out the best place for us to start over?"

"And leave Laurette and Cliff and the rest of your friends and family? You would have done that for me?" She knew he would have, but she was doubly glad that he hadn't been forced to make that choice.

"Do you accept my proposal, or are you going to make me get down on my knees in this very public place?"

Cori held the ring box and tilted her head as if she were considering making him get down on his knees. Unable to keep up the pretense any longer, she opened the box with trembling fingers. The diamond solitaire caught the sunlight and cast it back in a million glittering fragments.

"Joey..." She held the box so he could remove the ring and slip it on her finger.

"Will you marry me, Cori St. John?"

"Yes, with all my heart." She put her arms around his neck and kissed him. "I love you, Joey."

Across the street an old woman collecting for the Salvation Army rang her bell and cheered them on. "Merry Christmas," she called out.

Cori looked up at Joey. "This will be a merry Christmas for me. For both of us."

"And from now on, all of your kisses are going to be the real thing, Cori. None of those chocolate stand-ins. Real, live kisses, just like this one."