Killer Cupid (The Redemption Series: Book 1) (11 page)

Cat rubbed my arm to soothe me. I almost fell into those blue eyes of hers. God made her the most incredible eyes.

“Did your Grammy tell you anything else?”

I nodded. “She said I have work to do, so I couldn’t stay. I really wanted to stay there and paint. But she said there are souls at stake, and you’d help me. Will you help me?”

“Of course, I’ll help you if I can. At the least, I can pray, and I expect that’s what your Grammy meant when she said I’d help.”

I chewed my lip. “I suppose so.” I tried to flatten the wrinkles I’d sweated into my skirt. “Do you know what the work is that I have to do? I don’t know what souls are at stake, and what I’m supposed to do to help them. I was hoping you’d know. Or else how I can know, because I have no idea.”

I started to shake. “That would be awful if I can’t figure out what to do. Some souls could be in a real mess, I think.”

Cat looked me straight in the eye, and held my hands. I felt an odd calm coming over me.

“Debbie, you must know that, ultimately, God has a plan and God is in control. We don’t have to worry. When we surrender our life to God, and we trust God with everything, and we follow His Will, we don’t have to worry. With our prayer, our belief, our faith, our trust, we know we are divinely led. It’s like driving a car at night. The headlights shine far enough on the road that we can see, and we can drive safely. It’s often the same with God. He gives us direction one step at a time. When we follow that direction, we arrive safely at our destination. And it’s a good destination.”

“The right work will get done, and the souls will be safe?”

“Yes.”

“How do I know what step to take? How do I hear His voice?”

“Through prayer. That’s the most powerful way God transforms us. Read His Word – read the Bible, and pray. You’ll be fine. Meanwhile, I’ll be praying for you too. Let’s talk every day about your walk with God.”

I leaned over to hug her. “That’d be great!” I felt like a big weight was lifted, and a long sigh came out of me. “Do you think God would mind if I wait until David gets well before I get to work on those souls I’m supposed to help?”

A little curve of her lip woke me up. A lump formed in my throat, and I could hardly whisper. “We’re here to help David, aren’t we?”

Chapter Seven

Glori

“Cin, my flight got in half an hour ago. Where are you?” I practically yelled into the phone to be heard. There was commotion all around me, and I’m not the most patient person, especially when so much is going on.

The whole flight from New York was buzzing about all the hundreds and hundreds of drug dealers that were suddenly rounded up all over the country. Besides that, my friend Kendra was missing. Besides that, Cin was freaked because it’d been two weeks since the Aldridges were taken away. Plus I had good news for me.

“I’m walking around the terminal. And they’ve got my magazines at all the newsstands. It’s so cool!” It was my third cover, which was pretty good for a model that’s only 5’7,” and considering I’ve only done bit parts. My acting career wasn’t exactly on fire.

“I’m almost there, Glori. Meet me in the parking lot. Right out front. Did you hear about Kendra?”

“Yeah. Tamara called me, and she was so upset I could hardly understand her. She said Kendra’s missing?”

“Yes. Four days now! No one’s seen her since they went to the club the other night. It’s scary. She just disappeared.” Cin sounded frantic.

“Wow. First she loses her dad, and now her best friend is missing. Plus this whole thing with Debbie. Lots of weird stuff going on.”

“So how was New York?” Cindy tried to sound upbeat.

“It was fine. I made the Beachcomber top ten list. The magazine comes out next month, and they’re putting me on the cover. Hey I’m gonna check one more newsstand, and I’ll meet you out front.”

Alain

With a wide yawn Agent Alain Dusseault watched his charge, businessman Raphael Dominguez, remove his luggage from the carousel. He probably could have eaten for a year on what that bag cost. It occurred to him that he needed to focus. It had been a long, stressful trip from Kuala Lumpur. He tossed his duffel bag over his shoulder, and the two headed toward the terminal’s exit.

As they approached the magazine stand, Alain found his focus. Sunshine poured in from the large windows, bouncing off her long tousled hair. She had curves in all the right places – her short dress and impossibly high heels accentuated them perfectly. He noticed she was staring at a magazine, and the cover model could have been her. He quickened his pace a bit, and Raphael wordlessly matched him.

Considering the consequences of introducing himself to a woman while he was on an assignment, Alain wondered if fatigue was clouding his creativity. She might be worth the trouble.

“What?” Raphael saw it too.

The cover girl moved away from the store unawares, just as a knife pierced the display. He looked at Raphael, and they took off after her. A crowd at the exit slowed them down. They pushed through the doors to see the woman heading across the street to a blonde standing beside a Mercedes convertible.

Two men approached them from behind, and neither one noticed until it was too late. The thug punched the blonde woman, and threw her into the car. Cover girl ran to her aid, only to be stopped by the second man. She bit his hand and shoved a soft drink can into his face. Then she took off a spike-heeled shoe and beat him to the ground. It was almost funny.

A crowd gathered as Alain reached the scene and grabbed the woman off the hapless attacker.

“No!” she yelled and aimed her shoe at Alain.

“No! I’m trying to help you.”  He snapped the heel off as it neared his face. “Really. You’re okay now.” He lifted her to her feet, and she grabbed her remaining shoe. He held up his hands in surrender. Green cat-like eyes surveyed him from head to toe.

She smiled and took the heel from his still-raised hand. “At ease.”

As he returned the smile, he realized the suspect had slithered off toward the crowd. “Excuse me.” Alain turned his attention to the criminal as a security officer arrived to handcuff him.

Looking around, he saw Dominguez comforting the blonde, who had a bad nosebleed. His formerly crisp white shirt was now covered in blood.
Yeah, Pearson would be pleased.

He ran around the car almost tripping over the second thug, unconscious on the ground. Dominguez flashed him a smile. He could see the family resemblance in that instant. Clemente had told him his cousin was a black belt. He could take care of himself, and from the looks of things, he could take care of the blonde too.

She was crying into his chest. “Is my nose broken? Is it broken? Is it…”

“You’re fine, honey. Don’t worry. You’re fine. Just keep your head back.”

“Don’t worry, Cin, I’m calling an ambulance! Don’t worry!”

Alain couldn’t help but return his attention to his green-eyed beauty, her bold voice emanated from somewhere under the dashboard. He did a double take. The dress was up around her waist as she crawled around apparently in search of her phone. “I got it Cin! I’m calling 911.” She rose up into the seat and focused her gaze beside him.

“Miss Glori Coulson?”

“Yeah?”

“Agent Hollinger. The ambulance is here, and they’ll take care of Miss Bainbridge. Come with me, please.” He reached past Alain to retrieve Glori from the vehicle.

Shit. He looked over to see Clemente slap his cousin on the back, and encircle him and the woman in his arms. They headed to the waiting ambulance. Yeah, Pearson would be so pleased.

Glori

Agent Jimmy Hollinger saw to it that Cindy got medical attention, and I got slippers for my shoeless feet. Then he escorted me to a conference room down the hall. This was no ordinary hospital or police station. This was a military base hospital. And there was practically no one around. I didn’t know what doo doo I stepped in, but this was really weird, and I was getting nervous. He pointed me to a seat, then sat down at the table across from me.

“Miss Coulson, for your information, this interview is being recorded.”

“Am I under arrest or something?” I had some major butterflies in my stomach.

He raised an eyebrow. “Miss Coulson, you’ve been the victim of a crime.”

“Glad you noticed.”

He talked to the laptop he was busily typing on. “Would you like something to drink? A soft drink or something? By the way,” he looked up at me, “that was a very creative use of the ginger ale can.”

“Umm… thanks.”
Who was this guy, and how did he know I crushed a can on the guy’s face?
“You a Texas Ranger or somethin’?” I was grasping at straws.

He actually smiled at me. “How’d you know?”

Normally a sexy guy like that smiling at me would’ve caused a whole different reaction. Now I just felt stupid. “Can I go home now? I really don’t need to press charges or anything.” I got up.

“Please be seated, Miss Coulson.” I guess I had my answer. I was a prisoner.

He began with the questions. Did I know my attackers? No. Would anyone want to hurt me? No. At least not physically. Another arched brow. Well, my parents seem not to mind beating me up emotionally. Sympathetic grunt. What brought me to New York? Work. Did I have any idea who would want to hurt Cindy? No, she’s like a little puppy dog. Who could hurt a puppy dog? He didn’t know. I didn’t either. Has anything else unusual happened to me lately? Everything unusual has happened lately.

Another arched brow. “How so?”

“Do you want to know about my career or my personal life?” Yeah, I got two arched brows with that one.

I explained my friend Debbie got messed up with a drug dealer named David Henning, and he gave her a huge diamond he stole from a museum. Then he disappeared, and the CIA came and took away Debbie and her entire family. Now I’m missing my friend, Kendra. Don’t know where she disappeared to. Maybe it was the same guys that came after Cindy and me. Maybe they even killed her.

When we were done, he had a good chuckle.

“Glad I entertained you,” I said.  Little did he know, I told him the truth. “Now I need to see Cindy. I need to make sure she’s okay.” I got up, and he didn’t stop me this time.

He escorted me down the hall, and I went into the exam room where Cindy sat on a table with a man’s bloody dark suit jacket resting over her shoulders. Underneath she wore a hospital gown. Very attractive look.

I ran over to hug her. “Cin, are you okay? Your nose looks okay.”

“I’m okay. It’s not broken or anything. I was lucky. Did they ask you a lot of questions?”

“Yeah. You?”

“Yes. I don’t know what they’re looking for, but they scare me. I can’t wait to get out of here. They wouldn’t let me call my dad. They made a lot of excuses.”

“Let’s get outta here, Cin.” I pulled her off the table.

“Glori! I can’t go anywhere dressed like this.”

“We’ll find something to wear along the way. Let’s go!”

I dragged her out the door and smashed headlong into that muscular French guy. He was like a brick wall, and the impact threw me like a ragdoll. I landed on his boot. He righted me in his arms, and there I stayed perched on his foot. By now he was dressed in fatigues, and I couldn’t help but notice he really did them justice.

“I didn’t know you were with them. I wouldn’t have been so scared.” I batted my eyes at him.

I saw Agent Hollinger rolling his eyes behind him, and Cin groaned behind me. I slid off the guy’s boot. At least he was smiling at me. I smiled up at him, appreciating his physique along the way. His muscles had muscles.

I barely noticed as Agent Hollinger handed Cindy her clean clothes with my shoes all repaired on top of the pile. She pulled me back through the door and shut it.

***

Back in the exam room Cindy rushed to get dressed while I chatted nonstop about this sexy French guy. Cin just wanted to get the heck out of there, but I was re-evaluating the situation. I closely examined my shoes. “I don’t even see where he snapped it off. Wow! And who knew they have cobblers at military bases?”

There was a gentle knock at the door, and Cindy let out a fearful sigh. Before I could say anything, it opened and Debbie was in Cindy’s arms.

Cin burst into tears hugging her. I really couldn’t tell whose tears were whose. “Are you okay, honey? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Cindy, but David’s very sick.”

“David? David the drug dealer?” I said. They both stopped hugging and looked at me.

“Oh no, honey,” Cindy said. “You’re not with him? The drug dealer
—
Henning?”

We both picked up her left hand. Sure enough the ring was still there, and we were baffled.

“He’s not a drug dealer. He’s … he’s…” She looked like she had no idea who he was still. “He’s a undercover guy… an agent … an undercover agent.”

“You sure?” I couldn’t believe she knew what she was talking about. “I thought he was a drug dealer. He was involved with Dr. Payne
—
who got arrested by the way!”