Queens Ransom (Sofie Metropolis) (19 page)

Twenty-Nine

Christmas Day was equally crazy, but in a far preferable way.

Well, for the most part.

Somehow I’d managed to return to moderate functionality directly after yesterday’s events. Michael – I mean, Agent James – had kept the questioning to a minimum, going easy on me so long as I promised to come back after the holiday. Which I found was only right, considering he’d used me as bait. Like Pino, he’d suspected Bubba would be making a beeline straight for me, and had been shadowing my movements, waiting for the gun-loving madman to show himself. The monitoring of my phone had led to them hearing Pete’s call and – bam! – they’d been there at the fourth shot of my gun.

Too bad they couldn’t have been there at the first or that I hadn’t known they were so close. Maybe now I wouldn’t be haunted by Bubba’s dead eyes staring at me accusingly, his voice echoing unsaid words into my ear:

‘Now you’ve gone and done it, bitch. Don’t even fucking think this is anywhere near over.’

I couldn’t imagine what life had been like for his sister, Sara. I only hoped that, now she was free of him, she no longer felt he was the only one on whom she could rely. She could gather her wits about her and perhaps regain visiting rights to her daughter.

In my bid to help her in that regard, I’d contacted my cousin, Nia, the first lawyer in the family, and laid the groundwork for putting her together with Sara, to see what could be done legally to help her.

While Nia wasn’t that experienced, I knew she wouldn’t give in until she won. And right now I was thinking Sara needed someone like that in her corner.

Well, someone like that who didn’t have a gun attached to his arm and thought kidnapping was the only way to go about it.

What I found more curious? My post-killing interview with Michael revealed that the ransom monies hadn’t been recovered.

Had Elizabeth somehow manage to access it? Her boyfriend, Danny, before he was picked up? Was it even now stashed somewhere, waiting for them to claim it when they got out of prison?

Who knew? Wherever it was, it was one mystery I wasn’t interested in solving.

Right now, I had bigger fish to fry.

Or, rather, cabbage salad to make.

I was in the kitchen with my mother and Yiayia, finishing up Christmas dinner preparations. Yiayia had poured the three of us glasses of wine in short, double shot-like glasses, which was Greek custom, signaling that after three hours of non-stop activity, our work was almost done, and this was to help us relax.

Me? I liked sharing the quiet moment with them and could have easily enjoyed cod liver oil just as much.

‘
Sten eyeia mas
.’ My mother toasted our health, raising her glass.

‘
Kala Christougenna
.’ I wished them a Merry Christmas.

Yiayia just grinned and clinked her glass with ours.

The three of us drank the contents down straight, which was also custom, then stood smiling at each other.

The doorbell rang. I finished squeezing lemon on top of the finely chopped cabbage and carrot shavings and volunteered to answer it.

I hadn’t told my mother what had happened yesterday. And, with any luck, she wouldn’t find out. Not just today, on Christmas, but ever. I knew she was concerned about me, about the choices I was making in my life.

As far as that went, so was I.

I took my apron off and laid it on the counter before pushing open the kitchen door. Efi was busy setting the table. I paused and gave her a brief hug from behind and kissed the back of her neck before moving on past where my father read the newspaper in his recliner.

‘Hey, where’s mine?’ he asked.

I smiled as I backtracked and kissed him on the cheek.

‘Thanks,
koukla mou
,’ he said. ‘
Kala Christougenna
.’

The emotional warmth of the day helped chase back some of yesterday’s shadows . . . but not far. I knew they were there, lurking, ready to seep back in and threaten to consume me. But I was glad the experience helped me better appreciate today. Not just because of Christmas, although I’d always liked the quiet peace and family togetherness of the holiday. No, the darkness helped me better see the light. And it seemed to glow around those I loved.

I opened the door to find Grandpa Kosmos standing on the porch.

‘What are you doing knocking?’ I asked, opening the door farther. ‘You never knock.’

Then he stepped aside and I saw why.

‘
Kala
, um, is it
Christougenna
?’ Iris Liotta said, holding out an apple pie that looked to be made from scratch. ‘I hope you don’t mind my coming.’

‘No, no! Of course, not. Come in, come in,’ I said. ‘And you said it perfectly. Merry Christmas to you, too.’

I kissed her on both cheeks and allowed her to pass, then hugged my grandfather hard, leaning back to give him a big smile.

He winked at me. ‘Not a word.’

‘Did I say anything? I didn’t say anything. Nope, not a word.’

He hugged me again. ‘No . . . not yet, anyway.’

He came inside.

I was just about to close the door when I saw my cousin Pete coming up the walkway.

Hunh.

He never came to these things.

I was glad to see him.

‘Hey, you,’ I said, hugging him and exchanging Christmas wishes.

‘I can’t stay long,’ he said. ‘I just wanted to stop by to bring some of my mom’s home-made cookies . . . and to give you this . . .’

He placed a large briefcase on the floor between us.

I blinked hard. Then I reached behind him to close the door, suddenly feeling the need for extra safety.

‘Is that . . . I mean, what . . . Don’t tell me that’s the ransom money . . .?’

He looked sheepish. ‘Yeah.’

‘You brought twenty million dollars in bearer bonds to my parents’ house?’

I nearly shouted the words, earning a ‘What’s going on?’ from my father, and the curiosity of my grandfather, his date and my sister.

‘Hi, Uncle Pericles. Merry Christmas.’

‘Merry Christmas, Pete. Come in and keep an old man company.’

I heard my grandfather snort. Seemed the love of a good woman could only change so much.

I lowered my voice. ‘What are you doing with this?’

‘Long story.’

‘Shorten it.’

‘Well, you know I was following Bubba the day before yesterday, right? Well, I tailed him straight to Flushing Meadows. I saw you make the drop. Waited for Bubba to go pick it up. Only something spooked him and he ran . . . and I got the money.’

I squinted at him, trying to make sense of his words. ‘You . . . got . . . the . . . money.’

He looked down at his shoes, his hands deep in the pockets of a nice, full-length camel coat.

‘And you sat on it for two days?’

He gave me small smile. ‘Yeah.’

The old Pete? Well, the old Pete would have made off with that money. Would have raised a hand and waved goodbye and disappeared into the sunset forever.

And, it seemed, the new Pete had surrendered to the old one . . . for a couple of days, anyway.

Christmas?

Or was the change more permanent?

The concept was too large for me to work my head around just then. Especially since it would have been oh so easy for him to have kept the money with no one any the wiser. He could have taken the bearer bonds to Greece – anywhere! – and lived out the rest of his life without having to worry about working another case: ever.

I couldn’t say with any degree of certainty what I would have done had our roles been reversed.

I grimaced. Yeah, I could. The prospect of keeping it would have never entered my mind.

At least that’s my story. And I’m sticking to it.

Of course, none of that had anything to do with the here and now and the fact that I was now in possession of twenty million dollars.

I leaned forward and whispered urgently, ‘What you want me to do with it?’ I wasn’t sure I liked knowing I was going to be responsible for twenty million dollars.

No, scratch that; I definitely didn’t like being responsible for twenty million dollars.

‘Keep it away from me,’ he said. ‘Temptation’s too damn great.’

I stared at the briefcase. ‘I heard that.’

Well, I guess that explained what Chaney was doing following me around after the ransom drop. With the money still out there, he probably figured his best bet of finding it was through me.

Instead, he’d caught a shotgun blast to the ass.

I couldn’t help a small laugh.

Pete pointed inside the house. ‘I’m, um, just going to say hi to everyone, OK? And give these cookies to your mom.’ He held up the plate in his hands.

‘OK . . .’

I stood where I was for what seemed like forever before I guessed I needed to do something. I picked up the briefcase and moved it to sit next to my father, which I figured was the safest place in the house.

‘What’s this?’ he asked.

‘My life. Don’t open it.’

He went back to reading his paper as I pulled out my cell phone and walked across the room to dial Agent Michael James’ work number.

A receptionist answered. I asked that she have him contact me as soon as possible about an urgent matter.

He called back nearly as fast as I disconnected.

‘Be right there,’ he said when I told him.

I turned around to find my sister and father and grandfather had the case open and were looking at it.

I gasped and crossed the room to take it from them.

‘That’s not what I think it is?’ Efi asked, mouth agape.

‘No. It’s part of a counterfeit scheme I’m working.’

‘What are you doing bringing work to the house? On Christmas Day?’ Grandpa Kosmos wanted to know.

My mother came into the room with Iris. ‘What’s going on?’

‘Nothing,’ I said quickly. ‘Just some nosy-rosies who can’t keep their hands to themselves.’

‘How much is it?’ Dad wanted to know.

‘Would you guys stop? An FB . . . a friend is coming by to pick it up now.’ I stashed the case in the front closet, leaning against the door for good measure.

‘FB . . . as in I? FBI?’ Efi asked.

‘Is he staying for dinner?’ Mom asked.

‘No, he’s a friend. And, no, he’s not staying for dinner.’

Thalia shrugged and walked back to the kitchen with Iris.

Thankfully, everyone else also lost interest.

But I wasn’t moving more than ten feet away from that door lest that interest reignite.

Five minutes later, a knock sounded on the door. I stopped pacing and opened it.

‘That was fast.’

Only it wasn’t Michael’s face I was staring into . . .

It was Dino’s.

Thirty

‘Oh my God!’

My instinct was to throw my arms around him, so I did.

Without reservation.

If you had asked me to list the people I least expected to see on the other side of the door, his would have topped it. Hadn’t I just talked to him the other day? Hadn’t he been in Greece?

‘
Kala Christougenna
,’ he murmured into my ear, holding me so tightly I could barely breathe.

Which was the way I was clinging to him.

He felt good . . .

He smelled good . . .

Mmm . . .

Words sprouted wings and fluttered from my mind.

My father cleared his throat loudly behind me.

I reluctantly released Dino, my cheeks hurting from smiling so wide.

‘Welcome home, Konstantino,’ my dad said, stepping forward to hug him.

I accepted the bottle of wine and a box with a ribbon tied around it from him along with his coat then put all where they needed to go while he greeted the rest of my family.

Dino was here . . .

I wasn’t sure what surprised me more: that he was there or my reaction to his being there. Probably it was a tie.

I caught my mother’s eye, seeing the warning on her face.

I looked quickly away.

I didn’t want today to be about anything more than today. Surely, she could understand that? I didn’t want to censor myself, think about hidden meanings or tomorrow or three months from now, much less a lifetime.

Dino was here. And I wanted to enjoy that. Enjoy my family. Enjoy Christmas.

I wasn’t being selfish . . . was I?

Dino came back to stand near me and I couldn’t help beaming at him. Didn’t want to stop myself from beaming at him.

Truth was? He was the best Christmas gift I could have received.

And if somewhere in the back of my mind I knew Jake was the one who had given him to me . . . well, I wasn’t going to think about that, either.

Another knock at the door.

I opened it to find Michael on the porch. He wore a casual pullover sweater, jeans and a leather jacket, looking so un-FBI-like I almost didn’t recognize him.

‘Hi,’ I said. ‘Thanks for coming so quickly. The last thing I wanted to do was keep this in the house.’

‘I’m not even going to ask where you got it.’

I smiled. ‘Thanks.’

‘Not now, anyway, but . . .’

‘Yeah, yeah . . . after the holiday.’

I debated whether or not to tell him I had a thing or two to discuss with him, as well. An idea on how he might help me settle an outstanding debt. Then it occurred to me he wasn’t the person to go to. I glanced at Dino who was obviously trying to figure out how Michael factored into my life, and decided that the man responsible for both Dino’s deportation, and return, was more the person to go to.

Jake Porter.

The question remained whether or not I’d be able to find him.

‘Who is it?’ Efi called.

I resisted giving an eye roll as I got the case out of the closet and handed it to him, feeling a million times better already.

No . . . twenty million times better.

‘You’d better run, quick, or else you’ll be sucked in by the family Metropolis,’ I whispered.

‘Merry Christmas,’ Dino said, appearing next to me and extending his hand. ‘I’m Dino.’

Michael looked surprised as he apparently recognized both the face and the name. He shook Dino’s hand and said, ‘Michael. I just stopped by on an official errand.’

‘Official?’

He lifted the briefcase. ‘As official as it gets. Have a nice Christmas.’

He turned to leave just as my mother came up to see who was there along with my sister.

I soundly closed the door, unfortunately on Michael’s face. Hey, I not only didn’t want that case in the house one moment longer, I didn’t want anyone to know everything that had happened over the past couple of days. Especially since I had yet to process it all.

It was Christmas. Was it bad that I wanted to leave it that way?

‘Sofie!’ Thalia gasped. ‘That was rude.’

I smiled at her. ‘Yes, it was, wasn’t it? Let’s eat, shall we?’

I linked arms with Dino and headed in the direction of the dining room.