Deadly Embrace (23 page)

It was Cooper she spent most of her imaginary time with. She and
Cooper had incredible adventures. They would laugh and play and do
things together. Most of all they always stood up for each other.

The truth was that when she was eight, Madison was an extremely
lonely child. Stella was a distant mother figure, blond and beautiful
with her Marilyn Monroe-esque stance and her way of always having a
headache when Madison needed anything.

And Michael, so handsome, was often away on some kind of a
business trip.

Whatever nanny her parents hired was the key person in Madison's
life. And they came and went on a regular basis. So her imaginary
brother became her very best friend, the only person she could
really
depend on.

When she'd met Vincent it had been a total surprise to discover
that she actually had a real-life half brother, one she'd never known
about. A brother who strongly resembled her and looked exactly like
Michael. It was quite a shock.

Now, as she sat in the middle of Mario's with the intense heat,
the killer gunman, and a bunch of hysterical hostages, she wished
that Cooper were there to save her. And if not Cooper, perhaps her
real-life brother, Vincent. Or Jake— her wonderful Jake.

But none of them was around, so she had to try and make things
work out herself. Screw it! She was going to get through this. She
had to.

"You
must
let me talk to the negotiator again," she
repeated to the gunman, who was strutting up and down the room, Uzi
swinging from one hand.

"You do that," he said, eyes burning with hate. "An' if you don't
get action, you'll be the next fuckin' bitch t' get a bullet in your
head."

She shuddered. This was turning out to be the most frightening
night of her life.

After failing to get in to see Vito Giovanni, and then his tense
exchange of words with Tommaso, Michael tried to decide on his next
move. He needed to explain things to Mr. G. and get his job back.
What else could he do where he made that kind of money? Besides, he
kind of missed being around the Giovannis; the two of them had been
like family to him. He'd certainly had more in common with Vito than
he'd ever had with his real father. And Mamie wasn't so bad when she
was in one of her good moods.

Unfortunately, getting back wasn't going to be easy, and when he
did
get in to see Vito, who would the big man believe? Him, or
Tommaso?

He finally reached the conclusion that Marnie was his only chance
of getting through to Mr. G., and
she'd
not exactly given him
the warmest of welcomes.

In the meantime, he was stuck on Max and Tina's couch, listening
to them both get on his case.

Max had persuaded Tina's dad to offer him a job at the car
dealership. "He knows you've been in the joint," Max explained, "but
he'll give you a chance anyway, so long as you give
him
your
word you're goin' straight."

"Hey," Michael said, thinking there was no way he planned on
selling cars for a living. 'You know me, I'm not cut out for a
nine-to-five job."

Max was immediately affronted. "Are you sayin' no?"

"Hey—listen—I gotta figure things out for myself.
Right?"

"You know what your problem is?"

"Spit it out."

"You're an ungrateful prick." But Max said it with love in his
voice, because Michael was the brother he'd never had, and he did
indeed love him.

A few days before his release from prison, Karl Edgington had made
sure he still had the number he'd given him to call.

"Trust me," Karl had said. 'You can make yourself a lot of
money."

Was he supposed to trust a man who'd embezzled two million
dollars? It was a move he wasn't sure about. He kept the number, just
in case.

Tina had plans to introduce him to some of her girlfriends.

"Gimme a break, Tina," he groaned. "I
know
your friends. We
were all in school together, right?"

"No, not right," Tina said, determined to fix him up. "I have
other friends now. Girls you should meet—
decent
girls,"
she added pointedly.

"I gotta get off your couch first," he said. "
Then
I can
start thinkin' about girls."

"I like having you on our couch, Michael," she replied, mildly
flirting.

He'd noticed she'd been doing that a lot lately. He hopedht didn't
piss Max off.

Every day, when Max left for work, Tina and he were alone in the
house with the kids. She usually sat the two children in front of the
TV in the living room, where they nibbled on cookies while watching
an endless stream of cartoons.

"Is that okay for them to do?" he asked. "Shouldn't they be goin'
out to the park or somethin'?"

"If it keeps 'em quiet, then it's okay," she replied. "Come in the
kitchen, I'll make us coffee."

He was sure that deep down Tina had never quite forgiven him for
breaking up with her. Every now and then she made bitchy comments,
alluding to the fact that they could have been together.

He decided he'd better address the subject before she said
something she might regret. 'Yknow, it's a real kick seein' you and
Max so happy," he said, sitting down at the kitchen table. "An' jeez,
Tina," he added, tossing a compliment her way, "even after two kids,
you still got that babe thing goin' on."

His words pleased her. 'You think so?" she asked, spooning instant
coffee into two mugs and adding hot water.

"I
always
thought so."

"Hmm ..." she said, handing him his coffee. "If I'm such a babe,
how come you broke up with me?"

"C'mon, Tina," he said, reaching for the sugar. "We were kids.
Didn't know
what
we wanted."

"
I
did," she said, fixing him with a meaningful look.

"I know
you
did," he said quickly. "An' it was marriage an'
all that goes with it. I wasn't into gettin' serious."

"Why?"

".'Cause
I'm
not Max," he explained. "Max is a stand-up
guy. Look at the two of you—with the house an' the kids. It's
great the way everythin' worked out."

"Maybe," she said noncommittally, sitting down at the table
opposite him.

"Don't give me that 'maybe' crap."

"It's just that... well... you and I, Michael, we were something
together, weren't we?" she said, suddenly going all dreamy-eyed.

This conversation was
definitely
heading in the wrong
direction. "I repeat," he said firmly, "we were kids. And thank God
you were smart enough not to put out."

"Even though you were begging!" she said with a knowing smile.

"Yeah, even though I was beggin'," he admitted, grinning at the
memory. Talk about blue balls! Tina had been an expert at not giving
it up.

She fingered the rim of her coffee mug in a suggestive way.
"Perhaps it's not too late ..."

"Whoa!" he said, holding up his hand. "Stop right there."

"I'm teasing!" she said, laughing.

"Yeah, if I remember right—you were always good at
that."

Later that day, Max came home early from work, and the two of them
went over to visit their old friend Charlie, who was still living at
home and looked like shit.

It wasn't the same Charlie that Michael remembered. The big, burly
Charlie with the Elvis sideburns and happy-go-lucky attitude was long
gone. In his place was a haunted twenty-five-year-old with horror in
his eyes, a marine crew cut, and liquor on his breath—even
though it was only four in the afternoon. He'd lost a leg in Vietnam,
along with his will to live. Michael recognized the look—
growing up, he'd seen it every day in his father's eyes.

"How ya doin', man?" he asked, falsely jovial.

"How'd
you
be doin' with one freakin' leg?" Charlie
replied.

"Sorry," Michael said. "It's a bum rap."

"They gave me this piece a plastic shit t' wear," Charlie
complained. "Hurts like hell."

"Isn't there somethin' better than that?"

"Too expensive."

The next day Michael found out the details, dug into his savings,
and handed Max the money to arrange for Charlie to get a
top-of-the-line prosthetic leg.

"Don't let him know it came from me," he instructed.

"Where'd you get this kind of money?" Max wanted to know.

"I've been saving up for a rainy day."

The following evening Tina had set him up with a date, refusing to
take no for an answer. She and Max were making up the foursome.

Susie and Harry were settled in bed when the Delagado twins
arrived to baby-sit. Two young girls, both exotic beauties, petite
and slender, with burnished skin, wide-apart brown eyes, full lips,
and lustrous black hair. Catherine was the quiet and studious one,
while Beth was somewhat wild.

"Where did you find
them
?" Michael asked, checking them
out.

"They live next door with their aunt Gloria," Tina said, primping
in the mirror. "They came over from Cuba a few months ago. Their aunt
gives Latin dance classes. I hear she's quite a mover; we should go
sometime."

"Hot little babes, huh?" Max said, giving Michael a furtive nudge.
"Dunno why my old lady allows them around me—lucky me!"

"Listen to your wife," Tina said, shooting Max a warning look.
"And remember this: 'jailbait'!"

"Yes ma'am!" Max said with a mock salute.

"How old
are
they?" Michael asked.

"Too young for you," Max said with a dirty laugh.

"Fifteen," Tina announced triumphantly. "Ten
years
too
young for
either
of you."

Beth didn't seem to think so. The moment she saw Michael she began
coming on to him.

He pretended not to notice. She was a child in a woman's body,
plus she had trouble written all over her.

Michael's blind date was too tall, too serious, and definitely not
for him. Her name was April, and she worked in a bank.

The four of them went to a movie. As soon as they'd settled the
girls in their seats, Max and Michael headed for the lobby to buy
popcorn.

"Jeez!" Michael groaned, leaning against the concession stand.
"What've you
done
to me?"

"She's a nice girl," Max said, grabbing a couple of candy bars and
four cartons of popcorn. "Very smart."

"The last thing I need is 'nice'," Michael grumbled.

"Don't forget," Max reminded him. "The plain ones are always the
most grateful."

Did Max honestly think that because he'd been locked up for a few
years, he couldn't find his own date? This was crazy.

After the movie they went to the local diner. The girls sat there,
arguing about who was cuter—Paul Newman or Steve McQueen.

"I'll take McQueen anyday," Tina said, ordering a burger and
french fries.

"No," April said, shaking her head. "Paul Newman looks like he has
brains as well as brawn."

So it's brains she's after
, Michael thought.
Well, she
certainly ain't getting them from me. I'm the jerk who allowed myself
to get set up. The dumb fuck who sat in jail for five years
.

He was angry and frustrated, and as each day passed he was getting
more so.

Had to come up with a plan. Had to do something soon. Couldn't sit
around and do nothing.

The Delagado twins came back a few nights later. Max and Tina had
already left for a wedding, and Michael was supposed to meet them
later.

As soon as they arrived, Catherine went upstairs to check that
both children were asleep, then she took out her schoolbooks and
settled at the kitchen table. Beth wandered into the living room.

"Hi, Michael," she said, giving him a sexy smile as she perched on
the edge of his chair.

"Hi, schoolgirl," he answered.

He had to admit she was quite an exotic beauty, with her long
black hair that hung below her waist, devilish brown eyes, and full
pouty lips. She was wearing tight blue jeans and a checkered shirt
tied at the waist, exposing a couple of inches of taut, tanned
flesh.

"Missed me, did you?" she said, giving him a flirtatious look.

"Oh, sure," he said, playing the game. "Missed you
desperately."

"I'm not surprised," she said with a secret smile.

"How
was
school today?" he asked.

"Same as usual," she replied, pulling a face. "I have to sit in a
class full of baby boys. Don't you
hate
baby boys?"

"What're baby boys?"

"Boys who don't know anything about girls," she said vaguely. "I
like
men
. Real men."

"You do, huh?" he said, wondering why there weren't any girls
around like her when
he
was fifteen.

"Oh yes," she said, licking her full lips.

"And how many
real
men have you known?"

"You'd be surprised."

"I bet I would."

"Plenty," she said confidently.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," she said, imitating his voice, her brown eyes throwing out
a challenge.

He laughed. "You're a nutcase."

"Takes one to know one," she retorted, playing with a delicate
amethyst crucifix that hung around her neck on a thin gold chain.

"Fifteen, huh?" he said, yawning. "You'll be somethin' when you
grow up."

"Believe me,
Michael
, I am
all
grown up."

"Says the schoolgirl," he teased.

Her brown eyes flashed. "In Cuba we grow up fast."

"I can see that," he said, getting up.

Her pouty lips got even more so. "I break men's hearts."

"Thanks for the warning."

"I really do."

"Don't doubt it."

"My daddy told me I can get any man I want."

"He did, did he?"

"Uh-huh."

"And where
is
your daddy?"

"He's a political prisoner in Cuba," she said matter-of-factly.
"He arranged to get us out of the country. We've been here six
months."