Double Identity (17 page)

He leaned his head back on the sofa, closed his eyes and ran his other hand through his hair. “This isn’t the conversation I’d planned to have when I drove out here tonight, Sophie.” He felt her body stiffen at his words.

“Why did you come?”

He opened his eyes. One look at the questions…the subtle fear in her eyes…broke his heart.

“Has there been a break in the case? Something I should know?”

He released her hand and slid his arm around her shoulders. “Federal marshals came to see me tonight. What I have to say isn’t going to be easy for you to hear.”

FOURTEEN

“F
ederal marshals?” Sophie’s hand flew to her chest. She jumped to her feet and faced him. “Did they find my father? Has he been arrested? Is he…is he dead?”

“Sorry. I don’t know anything more about your father’s disappearance.”

“The feds don’t know where my father is?”

Cain shook his head.

“Then why did they come?”

“They showed up in my office to question me. Apparently, Big Brother has any computer searches of your father’s real name flagged and it brought them running.”

“Wait a minute.” Sophie started pacing back and forth. “They came to you because
they
are looking for my dad? And they thought you might know where he is?”

“They wanted to know why I was investigating your dad. They wanted to know who I was working for.”

She froze in place and had to force out her words. “Me? They wanted to know about me?”

“Yes.”

“And what did you tell them.”

“I told them my client list was confidential and I refused to comment unless they brought a court order.”

Sophie blinked hard. Her legs trembled and she sat down on the wooden coffee table in front of the sofa before she fell. Her knees brushed against Cain’s. He leaned forward and clasped her hands in his. The warmth of his skin, the strength of his grasp calmed her, made her feel safe.

“Why, Cain? Are the stories about him true? Is my father on the run from the law?”

“Not exactly.”

Sophie thought her head would explode. What was going on? Why was Cain being so cryptic?

“Here.” Cain handed her his iced tea.

“I don’t need your iced tea, Cain. I need answers. What’s going on?”

Cain sighed heavily. He sat back on the sofa, pulling her off the coffee table so she could sit beside him. “I’m torn, Sophie. I have information you need to know but…”

“But what? You think it will hurt me? You think I’m some fragile little flower that can’t handle bad news?” She glared at him. “For your information, Mr. Garrison, I’ve been hit with both barrels over and over again for the past month and I’m still standing, so no more dancing around. I’ve paid you to find out information about my father. So deliver that information…. Now.”

Cain couldn’t help himself and laughed out loud. It took him a second to compose himself and then, still grinning, he said, “Wow, I wasn’t expecting that reaction. And you’re right. You’ve been a pillar of strength through all of this. I firmly believe, Miss Sophia Joy Clarkston Gimmelli, that you can handle just about anything. You have a backbone made of steel. It’s one of the things I admire about you the most.”

He pulled her to her feet. “Let’s go out on the porch. It’s a nice night. We can sit on the swing. I promise no more stalling. I’ll tell you everything.” He crossed his heart and smiled encouragingly.

He slid his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. Sophie liked the way she fit comfortably against his side, almost like jigsaw puzzle pieces meshed perfectly together. She just hoped before this night was over she’d find a way to make him see how well they fit together, too.

“Fine. Let me grab a pitcher of iced tea and some glasses. I’ll be right out.”

Once outside, she poured their drinks and handed one to Cain. She lit some citronella candles she used both for light and bug repellent before settling down beside him on the porch swing.

He threw his arm over her shoulder and cradled her against his side. The faint scent of his aftershave teased her nostrils and tempted her to burrow closer. The light summer breeze, a welcome relief from the prior heat of the day, tossed an errant strand of hair across her face. She reached up and tucked the hair behind her ear.

Cain rocked the swing in a slow rhythmic movement with his foot. The sound of crickets, frogs and small nocturnal animals rustling through the brush serenaded them.

Sophie thought this moment was perfect. Perfect weather. Perfect location. Perfect guy. A dream come true. And she didn’t want it to come to a crashing end. So she remained silent, resting her head in the crook of his arm, relishing his nearness and simply enjoying the moment.

But like all moments, perfect or not, time passes and Cain broke the silence.

“The marshals tried to play hardball at first. Shooting a million questions at me and answering none. But we continued to talk. Eventually, they thought it would be in their best interest if they shared what they knew and then see where it would get them, since nothing they were about to tell me would jeopardize their current investigation.”

Sophie nodded and took another sip of her tea.

“Sophie, you already know that your father was the son of Vincent Gimmelli. The feds helped fill in the gaps to the past.”

“This is the part I’m not going to like, isn’t it?”

“Probably. But it’s a part you need to know.”

She nodded. “Go ahead, I’m all ears.”

“Your father was not just the son of one of the capos of organized crime. As you already know, he was the
only
son and heir to everything.” He let that sink in and took a sip of tea before continuing. “He should have been groomed to be his father’s replacement as head of the ‘family.’ But Vincent didn’t want his son to follow in his footsteps.”

Sophie tried to stop her teeth from chattering as she listened to this story of her family history. “You’re telling me that even though my grandfather ran the whole thing, was king of the hill, so to speak, that he didn’t want my dad as his heir to the throne? Why?”

This time it was Cain’s turn to lift a questioning eyebrow.

Sophie stood up and began to pace back and forth on the porch. She wondered why Cain was grinning at her until she realized she was kneading a block of clay in her hand as she paced.

“Your grandfather had a love for the arts. Rumor has it that as a very young child he displayed quite a creative side of his own. Won a few art awards in grammar school.”

Cain rested a foot on his knee and leaned back in the swing. “He’d been denied the opportunity to follow that dream…to build that talent. When Vincent recognized your father’s talent at an early age, he decided to live vicariously through him and shielded him from his business.

“Of course, as your father matured into an intelligent young man, Vinnie wasn’t able to hide his business dealings from him as easily. The feds told me when their surveillance team discovered how upset and angry Dominic was with his father, they thought he’d be an easy mark for them to turn him into a state’s witness.

“Before they could make a move, Vinnie shipped your dad off to school in Europe. He went to college, got a master’s degree in art, lived in Paris, England, Italy. When your father finally moved back to the States, your dad refused to return to Maryland. That’s why he accepted a teaching job in Virginia. And that’s where he met your mother. She’d signed up for a summer art class. He was the instructor.”

Sophie stopped her pacing and leaned against the porch railing and stared out into the darkness.

She felt Cain’s presence behind her, felt his breath fan the back of her neck.

“You okay, Soph?”

She nodded but didn’t turn to face him. “It’s all sort of sad in a way. My dad was a good guy. It must have been so difficult for him when he learned the truth about his father, to have to sever ties with a man I’m sure my dad loved. And then to have to live his life being unjustly accused of things because of who his family was.”

She glanced back and smiled at him. “But at least he met my mother. And fell in love with her. That had to bring him happiness.” She sighed. “But he found himself accused again…and forced to run. My parents obviously loved one another deeply.”

“More than you know.”

Sophie turned to face him. The graveness in his expression made her pause. “What?” She tilted her head and stared at him when he didn’t immediately answer her. “What else do you know, Cain?”

“Your mother was so young, Sophie…naive…idealistic…sort of a Pollyanna. She told your father that the only way she would leave Promise with him was if he went to the authorities and told them what he knew.”

Sophie gasped. “She asked him to betray his own father?”

Cain sighed. “She asked him to do the right thing, to make the world a safer place, to protect the people being exploited by his father’s business.”

“Wow,” Sophie kneaded the clay faster. “Obviously, he did as she requested. She left with him.”

“He told her he would. That’s why she went with him. But when it came down to the wire, he couldn’t do it.”

“What do you mean?” Sophie was glad the candlelight wasn’t strong enough to reveal the mixed emotions racing across her face.

“He loved your mother…but he also loved his father, even if he didn’t approve of the things he did. When the feds first approached him, he turned them down.”

“Wow, my mom must have felt betrayed. Why didn’t she leave him?”

“I imagine she stayed because she loved him. And she understood the deep relationship between father and son. It’s one thing to be angry with a parent, to not approve of their actions, to close yourself off from them. It’s quite another to be the one responsible for putting that parent behind bars for the rest of his life. I think your dad kept convincing your mother that he would do the right thing he just needed time to work up the courage. But time slipped away and his promises became nothing more than empty words.”

“So what happened?”

“You did. The feds got wind about an internal battle in Vincent Gimmelli’s ranks. Some people thought it was time for him to retire, permanently. The feds approached your dad. They told him that the people trying to overthrow Vinnie might decide to use your dad and his family as pawns against him. The feds told your dad their sources had confirmed this and that he and your mother were in danger. With you on the way, Dominic felt he had no choice. He agreed to testify against his father and enter the witness protection program.”

“I don’t understand. My dad and I were never in the witness protection program. I know I missed a lot of things growing up, but I don’t believe I’d have missed feds appearing in our lives on a regular basis checking up on us.”

Cain’s eyes darkened and his mouth pulled into a tight, straight line.

“What haven’t you told me?” She noted his hesitation and placed a hand gently on his cheek. “Tell me,” she whispered. “I need to know it all.”

“Your parents did go into the program. But before your father could testify, your mother was killed.” He removed her hand, kissed the back of it and stared into her eyes. “You were told she had been killed in an auto accident.”

“Yes?” Her chest tightened and she could hardly breathe as she braced herself for what he was about to say.

“It wasn’t an accident, Sophie. She was killed in a car bomb.”

She blinked…tried to breathe…blinked again.

“Your parents, living under their new identities, were leaving an art exhibit. When they reached their car, your mother had forgotten something. She asked your father to retrieve it for her and said she’d pull the car up front and wait for him. When she turned the key in the ignition, the car exploded. Your father was close enough to be knocked to the ground with a serious concussion, but that didn’t stop him. The burns on his hands came from trying to pull your mother out of the car.”

Tears streamed down Sophie’s face. She remembered questioning her father about the terrible scars on his hands and arms. He made up a story about being injured experimenting with chemicals during an art project.

A car bomb?
The pain in Sophie’s chest was almost too much to bear.

Cain brushed the tears from her cheek with his thumb. “I’m so sorry.”

“What happened then?”

Cain led her back to the swing and gently rocked it as if the rhythm would help soothe her. “Your dad knew then that witness protection couldn’t protect him…or you. And he believed he’d have a better chance protecting you on his own.”

“I don’t understand. If his father found him the first time, what made my dad think they wouldn’t find us again?”

“I don’t know, Sophie. Maybe someday we can ask him.”

His words caught her attention. “You think he might still be alive?”

“I don’t know. The feds think he’s dead. They believe that when the Mob caught up with him, they killed him. But they also don’t think they found the evidence your father had against them. They think your father left the evidence with you as leverage for protection. That’s why the feds believe the Mob is looking for you. The feds want to offer you their protection in exchange for that evidence.”

Sophie let the information sink in before speaking. She almost laughed out loud but realized Cain would think her insane. She already believed she was caught in a living nightmare…. Now this.

The Mob was targeting her for information she didn’t have. They must be the ones responsible for her near hit-and-run, her ransacked home, nearly being run off the road at the cemetery. Suddenly, the dark, evil eyes of the driver following her earlier today popped into her mind and her stomach roiled.

Federal marshals wanted her, too, for their witness protection program. Wanted to take her away from Promise, from Holly and Mrs. Garrison, from Cain. For the first time since this nightmare had begun she was grateful she didn’t have the evidence to give them.

Sophie stood up. She clasped her arms tightly around her body. “Well, it’s all over now, isn’t it? The feds are convinced my father is dead. And we both know I don’t have any evidence to hand over to them or to the Mob. So it’s over.”