Secret Past Read online

  “Agreed except we’ll walk in there.” Katie jaw was taut. “And we can’t go blasting in there with only one gun.”

  Daniel frowned. “Exactly, that’s why you’re going to stay here. Backup should arrive soon.”

  “No.” Katie reached for the door handle.

  She was beautiful and ornery. He’d tell her so...later. “How am I supposed to protect you if you keep disagreeing with me?”

  “We’re a team and who knows? Maybe I’m supposed to protect you.” Katie grinned.

  Daniel groaned. “Stay with me and do what I say without argument. Got it?”

  “Yes, sir.” She saluted.

  They exited the car and kept close to the abundance of foliage around the estate, moving along the iron fence.

  “What do we do if the gate’s closed?”

  Daniel didn’t want to think of the possibilities. There was no way he could climb the fence in his condition. “Pray it’s open.”

  A large bush at the front of the entrance gave them a place to hide. The heat bore down on them, and salty perspiration burned the lacerations on Daniel’s face.

  “It didn’t seem this far away in the car.”

  Daniel grinned. “C’mon, flatlander. This is no Manitou Incline. Keep up.”

  She winked and his pulse increased.

  He peered through the iron rods, spotting the foreign car parked in front of the house. The gate stood open and there were no guards.

  Daniel placed a hand on Katie’s shoulder, halting her. “We don’t know if anyone’s watching the cameras. I’m counting on Giovanni’s assumption that the explosion killed us. Otherwise, he’d have waited to finish us off.”

  Katie nodded. “Right.”

  “Stay flat against the house and behind the plants as much as possible.”

  Large-leafed vegetation lined the familiar gray patio where they’d first been introduced to the Marinos. Slate steps snaked their way up the side of the house.

  Katie and Daniel ducked behind the various decorative shrubberies, cautiously making their way up the steps. At the top, they moved toward the patio, using the home’s white stucco walls to hide them. Daniel put a finger to his lips. Katie nodded.

  He peered around the corner of the house. Lorenzo stood with his back to the glass doors in his familiar holding-a-gun-against-his-chest pose. Guess it was too much to hope he was still unconscious and handcuffed in the cement room.

  The sun glaring off the windows made it impossible to see inside from Daniel’s vantage point. He inched around the wall, pausing when he ran out of stucco.

  “Giovanni, please don’t do this,” Priscilla’s voice pleaded.

  “You’re a stupid woman. Always in the way. Never knowing your place,” Giovanni berated.

  “Son,” Anthony’s voice.

  “Don’t call me son! I have been loyal to you. Faithfully by your side, and you show your love for me by favoring Isabella?”

  “She is my daughter,” Anthony argued.

  “I am your son!” Giovanni screeched.

  He was emotional. Losing control. Excellent.

  “She is all I have left of Evangelina. My one true love.” Anthony’s words were barely audible.

  “Anthony, no,” Priscilla urged.

  “And what was I?” Giovanni asked.

  “You are my son and I love you. Your mother loves you,” Anthony calmly responded.

  “My mother is dead!” Giovanni bawled.

  Daniel held his place, listening for the moment he’d exploit and attack. Was Brittany inside the room with them? He hadn’t heard her voice. Giovanni no doubt kept her drugged, so she was probably unconscious somewhere. Unconscious he could live with... Please don’t let her be dead.

  “Priscilla is your mother,” Anthony interjected.

  Daniel jerked his head toward Katie, meeting her baffled expression. Had he heard Anthony correctly?

  “What. Did. You. Say?” Giovanni’s low tone carried tremulous rage.

  “We agreed we’d never tell you or Isabella. Evangelina cared for you like you were her own.” Anthony’s voice trembled.

  “My mother is the maid?” Giovanni roared.

  Daniel scooted closer to the doorway. He was stopped by two loud pops from inside.

  Katie scurried behind him.

  He swallowed.

  “No!” Anthony wailed. “Priscilla! Giovanni...why?”

  “I will not be reduced to the son of a pathetic servant.” Wrath hung in Giovanni’s steady voice.

  “Why would I lie?” Anthony’s cries were choked with an emotion Daniel couldn’t quite name.

  “You lie to everyone. Your precious Isabella believed your ramblings about that ridiculous necklace. She almost had me convinced.” Giovanni’s wicked laugh boomed through the open glass doors. “She said your maid told her the locket held the key to stolen money. As if I’d believe that! Oh, well, it’s gone now.”

  “I knew it! Priscilla didn’t believe me, but I knew Bella had it,” Anthony pressed. “Wait, what do you mean it’s gone?”

  Daniel shot a sideways glance at Katie, the sadness evident in her eyes.

  “I dropped it into the ocean when she attacked me.”

  “You lost a priceless heirloom?” Anthony’s voice rose an octave. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” His deep grief-stricken wails reached them.

  “Stop crying like a little girl. What’s done is done,” Giovanni scolded.

  “Millions. You lost millions,” Anthony moaned.

  “It was true?” Giovanni’s question was less confident.

  Anthony’s howls rose. “Yes, it was true!”

  “One more secret you kept from me?”

  Daniel caught a glimpse of Katie out of the corner of his eye. Her jaw was tight and her eyes narrow.

  Anthony spoke desperate words. “I was going to surprise you. We’d start over. Go to Australia or Brazil.”

  “Liar! You planned to take the money and leave me. Again! If you’d been honest I might’ve reconsidered killing you.” Giovanni’s threat hung in the humid air.

  Daniel leaned closer to get a view of the room, but he couldn’t see anything without compromising his position. He held up his hand to still Katie.

  “I’ve given you everything you ever wanted,” Anthony argued.

  “Your devotion was never to me. No matter how good I was or what I accomplished. You only cared about Isabella.” Giovanni’s ranting continued, “How’s it feel to know your precious daughter had the locket and kept it from you? Like father like daughter.”

  Daniel inched around, moved from the cover of the house and slid behind tall foliage outside the glass doors. With steady movements, he peered around the plant’s dinner-plate-size leaves.

  “My son, we’re great together. Think this through. You’re right, with Isabella out of the picture, you’d be my sole heir,” Anthony negotiated. “Even now you have immense control over the business. Stop this craziness and let’s build our fortune without interfering women.”

  Lorenzo’s back to Daniel gave him limited advantage. Anthony sat tied to a chair, also with his back to the window. Priscilla was sprawled on the floor by Anthony’s feet. Blood pooled beneath her. Where was Brittany? Still in the cement cell? Where was Zach? Or the tobacco-smelling guard? He needed clear passage into the house.

  Giovanni paced with a gun in his grip.

  Daniel calculated his next move; it had to be precise to avoid a shootout that could result in hurting Katie or Giovanni escaping.

  “Sorry, Father, I don’t need you anymore. Without you and Isabella, I’m free to enjoy the entire inheritance. Why would I want to give that up?” Giovanni leered.

  Anthony shook his head. “Except for the clause I added.”

  “What clause?” Giovanni spoke t
hrough clenched teeth.

  “The clause that says if anything should happen to Isabella or me—outside of natural causes—you get nothing.”

  Giovanni’s murderous glare zeroed in on Anthony. He stood frozen in place. The news clearly threw him off. “That can’t be. I checked with Edward this morning before he left.”

  “I made the adjustment over the phone as soon as you dragged Isabella from the house. Do you think your ideas are new? That your covetous ways aren’t written in the way you act?” Anthony baited Giovanni.

  Daniel aimed the gun at Lorenzo and mouthed “stay here” to Katie.

  She nodded.

  “You ruin everything!” Giovanni’s face contorted, and he lunged at his father. The gun dropped to the ground as he plummeted the elderly man with both fists.

  The out-of-control moment was exactly what Daniel needed.

  Sirens in the distance acted like a pause button. Giovanni stopped in the middle of his bout and ran from the room, likely looking out the front door.

  Daniel rushed Lorenzo from behind, tackling him to the ground. His weapon skidded across the marble floor. Refusing to surrender to the pain in his side, Daniel got to his feet and aimed the MP5 at Lorenzo.

  Lorenzo scrambled on the ground, groping for the gun that lay out of his reach. Katie lunged, securing it and faced Daniel.

  “Nice,” Daniel praised.

  Katie kept the gun trained on Lorenzo and for the briefest moment, Daniel wondered if she knew how to shoot.

  Anthony’s head hung with his chin to his chest.

  Giovanni ran back into the room. “Lorenzo, we have to—”

  “Hello, brother,” Katie said.

  “You’re both dead...the bomb,” Giovanni mumbled.

  “Wrong.” Daniel smirked, enjoying the moment.

  Two police officers rushed into the house. “Drop the weapons!”

  Katie and Daniel lowered their guns to the floor, lifting their hands above their heads.

  “These people are intruders. They attacked my bodyguard,” Giovanni accused as an officer shoved him against the wall, handcuffing him.

  “I’m US Marshal Daniel Knight. This is Katie Tribani.” Daniel stood, arms still raised.

  A tall, slender officer entered and strode to Daniel. “Marshal Knight, Chief Bridges called in. I’m Sergeant Wes Crayton.” He waved off the officers. “They’re good.”

  “Giovanni would’ve killed your sister if I hadn’t intervened,” Lorenzo interjected.

  Daniel spun to face him. “Are you seriously playing the hero?”

  “I helped your sister and I could’ve killed you but didn’t. I spared your life. Giovanni wanted you dead from the beginning. Isabella too. Put in a good word for me. You owe me,” Lorenzo whined.

  Daniel snorted. “I don’t owe you anything. You’re pathetic.”

  Lorenzo sneered as an officer grabbed him and slapped cuffs on his wrists, dragging him from the room.

  “Please check on Priscilla,” Daniel called over his shoulder. “I’ve got to get my sister.”

  Sergeant Crayton and Daniel raced through the house, down the stairs and into the hallway. He tugged at the locked door.

  “Step back.” Crayton aimed his gun and fired.

  The door swung open, and Daniel rushed in sliding to his knees at Brittany’s side. Zach lay unconscious in the corner. “He’s another of Marino’s guards, but there’s one missing.”

  Daniel cradled Brittany’s fragile body and shallow breaths confirmed she was alive. “Thank God. Please stay with me, Brit,” he whispered, lifting and carrying her up the stairs.

  “Paramedics are outside,” Crayton informed, cuffing Zach as another officer dragged him from the room.

  Daniel rushed to a female EMT standing beside an ambulance, and placed Brittany inside. “I don’t know what they drugged her with.”

  The EMT nodded. “We’ll take good care of her.”

  He nodded appreciation, not trusting himself to speak.

  Another paramedic pushed Anthony out of the house on a stretcher. “Thank you, Daniel Knight.” He held out his hand.

  Daniel refused the gesture. “I didn’t do it for you.” He stormed past.

  Katie met him at the door. “Priscilla’s still alive!”

  He exhaled gratitude.

  A paramedic called out orders and pushed past them, wheeling Priscilla out on a stretcher.

  Daniel held Katie close as they watched the ambulance speed off the property, its screeching sirens blaring the urgency of Priscilla’s condition.

  “They’ll take good care of her,” Crayton assured.

  “I hope so. I owe her my life.” Daniel swallowed the lump in his throat, praying for the brave woman who lived a life of secrets to save the ones she loved.

  * * *

  A light breeze blew over Katie’s shoulders. She rubbed her arms to ward off the chill. Standing on the hospital’s patio, she gazed out over the city as the sun began its descent. The events of the past few days flipped through her mind, reminding Katie that she hadn’t finished grieving.

  Thoughts of Mama and the cost she’d paid to be free of the Marinos rushed at Katie. Tears welled in her eyes. The anger she’d held was gone, replaced by a deep admiration for her mother’s bravery. Katie welcomed the release. The truth had truly set her free.

  Heavy footsteps drew closer.

  She turned and cringed.

  Daniel’s gait was sluggish and a butterfly bandage covered the cut on his eye. A compression wrap encircled his torso.

  “That’s a fashionable look.”

  “For your information, this is the latest in Paris. It’s the fall line for torn cartilage and cracked ribs.” He laughed and winced, holding his side. “Don’t make me laugh. It hurts too much.”

  She grinned, helping him to sit in the metal patio chair. “Shouldn’t you be resting?”

  Daniel shifted in the seat, obviously hurting. “I’ll rest when I get home. Pain’s a good reminder that I’m alive.”

  “I’m not sure the doctor would agree.”

  “Probably not but after all the probing, tests and X-rays, he’s cleared me to leave. Just waiting on Brittany’s release, then we’ll head to the airport.”

  “Did they give you pain meds?”

  He grimaced. “Yes, but I haven’t taken them. Didn’t want to dull my senses.”

  “Don’t make me request an injection for you.”

  Daniel held up his hands in surrender and groaned. “I’ll take the meds. I promise. No needles please.”

  She laughed, pulling over a chair to join him.

  “How’re you doing?”

  Katie redirected his question. “Have you heard from Sergeant Crayton?”

  “Anthony’s stable although he’s still moaning about Giovanni losing the locket.”

  “Wow, talk about obsessive. Has he even asked about Giovanni or Priscilla?”

  “According to the guards outside his door, he keeps crying about his losses. To be fair, he’s lost everything, or he will by the time this is over. Edward’s willing to testify to save himself. Sergeant Crayton said the Marinos’ bodyguards have all been apprehended and singing to save themselves.”

  “Anthony and Giovanni live in a world plagued with lies and half-truths. I wonder if anyone in their group knows what truth is.”

  Daniel snorted. “No doubt about that.”

  “Hard to imagine losing that kind of wealth. I can’t even fathom what I’d have done with the billions from the locket.”

  “Really? No ideas?”

  Katie tilted her head. “Well, I did have an idea to help women and children who spend considerable time in witness protection. I’d like to create a program that educates them in acclimating to the outside world. If Mama had a way to tell me the truth, m
aybe she would have. Fear kept her imprisoned and left me oblivious.”

  “That’s a great idea. I think you should make it happen.”

  Katie sighed. “Too bad the locket’s buried under the ocean.”

  “Never underestimate the possibilities.” Daniel shifted again.

  “So, what’ll happen to Anthony and Giovanni?”

  “They’re being charged with kidnapping and attempted murder to start. I’m sure there will be more charges to follow. They won’t see freedom again soon, if ever.”

  “And Priscilla?”

  “She’s out of surgery still in critical condition.”

  Sadness and relief passed over Katie. “Will she be charged with anything?”

  “Depends on how much she actually knew, but if she’s willing to testify against the Marinos it might help her.”

  “I can’t imagine her going against either Anthony or Giovanni, even to save herself jail time. Do you think she will?”

  “I don’t know—her devotion runs deep.” Daniel met her eyes. “Now, quit ignoring my question. How’re you doing?”

  Katie pushed up from the chair, pacing between Daniel and the patio’s iron railing. She wrapped herself in a hug. “My brain’s on overload.”

  “I’m sure.”

  “I never thanked you for rescuing me.”

  “Well, me and God.”

  She loved the way he spoke openly about his faith. “He’s amazing that way.”

  “I talked with Chief Bridges. The leak has been identified. You’ll have to return to witness protection until it’s determined you’re no longer in danger.”

  Katie considered his words. “It’s not like I have any place else to go.” She bit her lip. Speaking her fears made them real. Not knowing was worse.

  “What’s wrong?” Daniel reached for her, concern written on his bruised face.

  “Will you still be my handler?”

  He shook his head. “No—”

  “I understand.” Katie’s heart took a gravity plummet into her shoes and her gaze followed. So, she’d be passed along to a stranger. Daniel had made his choice. He had every right to; he shouldn’t have to give up his career. She strained to put on a brave expression.