Ride to Redemption (22 page)

Chapter
39

M
oving
my attention slowly back to the Italians in a deathly quiet room, I asked both
how they were feeling, while I handed them their personal stuff, snagged from
the Fairmont. “I grabbed what we could carry,” I announced. “The rest, we sent
to Candi’s moms.”

“Thanks,
D. You’re the bestest,” said Gio.

Mile
concurred with, “
Sì
.”

Casually
observing them both more closely, I deduced Mile had a few contusions, a
twisted ankle, plus a dislocated shoulder, as evidenced by the sling that held
her arm. Gio, other than the fractured femur, I had so aptly set, (yeah me)
seemed to have no other serious injuries.

“You’ll
live,” I professed, “hospital should release you in a couple of days. That’s my
best guess, anyway.”

“D?”
called Gio, while motioning me to his bedside. “You, Candice be okay. I make
sure. Me,” he continued, “not sure. Find gun in back belt.
Polizia
not
happy.”

“Gio,
you brought a pistol into Canada?” I asked, as he confirmed by sheepishly,
shaking his head yes. “Not good sir. Bad, very bad.”

With
my mind spinning, 90 miles a minute, I realized he would need counsel, someone
who was licensed in Canada, and not this stuffed shirt, prick of an ex-husband.
Grabbing my phone, I dialed Vic’s number immediately and to my surprise, she
answered on the first ring.

“Make
it quick, D, I’m on hold with reservations.”

“Can
you possibly route through here, being Calgary, on your way home tomorrow?”

“I
can, I am, and
we
are. I gotta go babe. Will let you know when we land.”
Click.

What’s
with all the ‘we’ stuff I asked myself? I don’t know, I can only surmise she’s
found a new love interest on her latest gambling junket, compliments of me.

Looking
at Gio, I announced, rather excitedly, “My lawyer friend is coming here
tomorrow.
 
She will try and fix this
gun problem. Do you understand, Gio?”

“
Sì
,
I trust you, D,” looking over at Mile he added, “
we
trust you. You do right.”

Chapter
40

G
azing
out of the third floor hospital window, down into the parking lot, I recognized
the two suits standing off far to the side of Candi and her ex. The
conversation they were having was extremely agitated, as well as, animated.
Arms flaying, fingers pointing, feet stomping on the ground, I’d pay almost
anything to be a fly on a wall somewhere down there. Or would I? That’s the
million-dollar question of the day.

“Joseph,
I can’t believe you’re here. I’ve made great strides in gaining D’s trust and
you suddenly show up, telling him I’m your wife. You know better, or at least I
thought you did,” wailed Candi, while the suits stood silently by, far out of
earshot.

“You’re
mom instructed me to fly up here and bring Gio and his new squeeze, whatever
her name is, home. And hopefully, you and Mr. Happy Pants, for that matter,”
stated Joseph.

“Her
name is Mile, her name is Mile, remember it,” huffed Candi. “Mom didn’t say
anything about me going home, you’re lying. Why would she do that now?”

“Call
her,” said Joseph. “Here’s the phone. Oh, and I was instructed to bring Mr.
Happy Pants you’re riding with, back too. She wants to talk to him about why
Standford has a hit out on him. Personally, I’m more interested in collecting
the reward from Mr. Standford, than taking him back to your mom.” Looking over
at the two suits and nodding, Joseph continued, “That’s the main reason, I
brought Mike and Donny with me.”

“You
can’t do that, Joseph. That’s not who you are. You’ve always managed to stay
above the fray, keeping yourself far and away from the inner workings of family
business.”

“Two
million dollars is a lot of money, Candice. That’s hard to pass up, I mean,
he’s right here.”

“I
get it. And you think he’s all that stands between me and you? Nothing could be
further from the truth,” cooed Candi, as she lovingly, grasped his hand in
hers. “What if I could show you how we could collect ten million dollars
another way? Would you walk away from this madness and leave D alone?”

“I’ll
consider it Candice, but only if you agree to come back with me. Answer me
this, do you really think he has the ledgers or knows who does? I mean, why
else would Standford put out a hit on him, especially after all this time?
Recovering those docs for the reward is the main reason you persuaded me to
wait. It’s also why you started this whole charade to begin with. Remember? You
better call your mom. I’ll wait,” Joseph concluded, before handing Candi his
phone.

Tearing
the phone out of his hands, Candi dialed her number.

“Mom,
what’s going on, why is Joseph here with the boys?”

”Hi
Candice, I can tell by your tone you’re not happy right now. Joseph’s there to
make sure all of you come home safely.”

“Why
do you have to talk to D in person? I mean, I have no idea why Standford may
have put out a hit on him, and neither does he,” confessed Candi, somewhat
truthfully.

“Neither
do we, that’s why we want to talk to him. If he knows where the ledgers are,
and returns them to us, we can protect him, Candice. Tell him that.”

“But
mom, he’s already in Witness Protection, remember?”

“And
just how did that work out for him so far? We found him in less than a year. It
would have been even quicker had we thought he actually knew something. Honey,
you’ve been with this guy, going on what, three months? I’m sure you’ve done
your best to find out what he knows, but now it’s our turn.”

“I
forbid it,” shouted Candi. “If he’s got them, I’ll find them and bring them to
you. Mom he’s special. He’s kind, considerate, nothing like anyone I’ve ever
met. And most of all, I like him, a lot.”

“That’s
all for the better then, that Joseph and the boys bring him back where we can
keep an eye on him; at least until we figure out what this hit business is all
about. Tell me if I’m wrong, but my guess is, he now knows about you and who
you really are. Bet that’s not going over too well with him, and now Joseph, is
it? I’m sorry Candice, but the fewer people that know about this the better.
Joseph is, well, you know, family.”

“
Was
family mom,
was
family,” corrected Candi. “Let me talk to D one more
time and I’ll let you know what I find out. Not that you seem to care, but Gio
and Mile are going to be okay. They were lucky. We were all lucky, for that
matter. Had it not been for D, Gio could have lost his leg or worse.”

Sigh.

“I
know, I know, you don’t want to hear anything else about D. Bye, Mom.”

“Well?”
asked Joseph, walking back into the conversation.

“Well,
I told her I would talk to D one final time. Suppose, he does know something
and I can use what he knows to find and recover the docs. Would you be willing
to split the 10 mil reward with me?” plied Candi, sauntering up to him. “With a
cool five million dollars each, we could try again in grand style, couldn’t we?
Just think, you’ll be their hero and mine to. I’m willing to try and make it
work between us. Just you wait and see.

Come on,” suggested Candi, grabbing Joseph by the
hand, “let’s take a walk, while I tell you my plan. If you’ll follow it to the
letter, it will be a win-win for all of us.”

Chapter
41

I
was surprised to see Candi walk back into the hospital room without the three
suits. Well, the two suits and her Ex.
Exes
always deserve honorable mention.
I
guess that is why they’re exes;
I couldn’t help but think.

“Hi
Candi, welcome back, Gio has a bigger problem than his broken femur. Seems he
brought an unlicensed pistol into Canada. Doc found it on him when they got him
in ER. Police confiscated it and charged him I’m sure. Needless to say, I’ve
been in touch with Victoria, you remember Vic don’t you, and she’s flying here
tomorrow to represent him?”

“D,
you do know Joseph can defend him? Why did you have to call Victoria?” Candi
asked, considerably peeved.

“Because
she’s licensed to practice law in Canada and she’s on retainer. And besides,
she’s sharp as a tack. I can’t say that about Joseph. If he had any smarts at
all, he would have never, ever, let you go.”

“Ah,
D, that’s nice of you to say. It’s too bad he didn’t let me go. I left in a
hurry, and he’s been trying to get me back ever since.”

Looking
at the Italians, I realized, we had long since forgotten about them. “Guys, do
you need anything, anything at all?” I asked Gio and Mile simultaneously.

“Good,
D,” replied Gio, evidently feeling the effects of some really good painkillers.

“Good,
too,” replied Mile, while holding out her one good arm to me.

“Yes,
Mile,” as I bent over her bed and gave her a hug.

“Thank
you D, whispered Mile in my ear. “ You save him for me,” while looking in Gio’s
direction.

“You’re
welcome, Mile. Get some rest, I see you tomorrow.”

“Candi,”
I announced, “we’re outta here,” grasping her hand in mine and leading her out
the door. “Josie has a room ready for us. Is it okay if we go back to her Inn
and crash or would you prefer to stay close?”

“There
is fine, D. I like Josie. That’s the best idea I’ve heard all day. We’ve got
lots to talk about. No alcohol, no sex, no sleep until you hear all I’ve got to
say.”

“Works
for me,” I relented, knowing that what we had to talk about, included the new
elephant in the room (Joseph) and more.

Riding
in silence the entire way to Josie’s, I struggled with all the twists and turns
our relationship had gone, since we confessed ‘most’ of our sins to each
another. Gone were the masks of good times alone, now we were cast in the
throes of life, death and reality.

Josie,
again, met us at the door with out stretched arms, as well as a platter of
fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. “Welcome back, D, Candi, your room is just
like you left it.”

“Thank
you, Miss Josie,” oozed, an appreciative Candi, while giving her a warm and
affectionate hug.

“Thank
you, Josie,” I whispered in her ear, as I hugged her equally as hard. “We’ll
catch up soon, I promise. Right now, Candi and I need some quiet time.”

“I
understand, Jon David, just let me know if you need anything else. I’m always
here for you.”

Dropping
our day bag on the floor, I went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my
face. Drying off with one of Josie’s lavender scented, hand towels, I walked
into the room where I found Candi crying on the bed. “No alcohol, no sex, no
sleep remember? You forgot to add, no crying. I can’t do crying either, baby.
If you hurt, I hurt. Remember?”

“I
can’t help it, D,” relented Candi, in between the sniffling and tears, “I don’t
know what we’re going to have to do to make this all go away.”

“Neither
do I, baby,” I assured her as gently as I knew how. “If you’ll tell me exactly
what you want to see happen, I’ll try to make it come true.”

“D,”
Candi began, “mom has instructed Joseph and the guys to bring us, along with
Gio and Mile, back to Tampa. Do you know that Standford may have put a contract
out on you?”

“I’ve
heard rumors to that effect,” I replied, “but those rumors have been out there
for a long, long time.”

“Mom
says I’ve had my shot at you in finding the ledgers, now they want one, too,
especially since Standford wants you silenced in a real bad way. That’s all the
more reason for them to believe you have knowledge of them.”

“You
know, and I know, I have them. I can’t remember if I told Vic, but she’ll hear
it soon enough.”

“Mom
knows I like you a lot. She’s confident they can protect you, with or without
the ledgers.”

“Think
about that a moment, Candi. Why would they spend their time and energy
protecting me if I didn’t have the ledgers? Remember, the wild card in all this
is Joseph. The way he looked at you today, I could tell he’s still in love with
you. The way I see it, I’m the only thing standing between you and him to keep
that from happening.”

“I’ll
never go back, D. He knows that. Oh sure, he’s tried, promising me the moon,
telling me he’s changed, doing all he can to show me he’s different, but I
don’t love him, I think … I love you,” Candi readily confessed, and looking
somewhat relieved to have gotten out those three little words, whether she actually
believed them or not.

“That’s
only emotion talking, Candi. I’m flattered, I truly am. I love you too, baby,
for the way you make me feel when we’re together. But, love is more than
feelings. It’s more than good times. It’s bad times, it’s heartache, its
brokenness, it’s all these things, and more. It is giving, it is taking, and it
is sacrificing ourselves, for what is best for each other. Candi, forgive me,
I’m not preaching here,
 
I’m just
stating facts. We haven’t gone through all those things, yet. But, I'm here to
tell ya the way things are going, if we wind up staying together, it won’t be
long.”

“D,
you make me feel alive, I’ve told you that many times. I see in you what I want
to be, unselfish, giving, living to help others, caring more about other people
than you do for yourself. I want that, I want to share your dreams with you.”

“Baby,
those traits are mine, not yours. They’re either inherent to your God given
nature, or they’re learned. They just don’t appear. I’ve learned throughout my
life you have to give to get. And yes, sometimes that means sacrificially.”

“I
think I understand, D. Whatever I want the most, I have to be willing to give
even more. Is that what you’re saying?”

“It’s
close, Candi. It’s a continuous mindset that says you give whatever you need
the most of, a contradiction, in terms if you will, but it always works. If you
need love, you give all the love you can, till it hurts, and it will hurt. If
you need money, you give all you can and even more. If you need time, you give
all the time you can, then give all the time you can’t. Only when you’re
willing to sacrifice it all, will you be able to receive it all.”

Candi,
lying face up on the bed was staring longingly at the ceiling, “Can we just run
away tonight and start over, just you and me?”

“We
can and we will, if that’s what you want, baby. However, we’ll spend the rest
of our lives looking over our shoulders, each time we’re out in public, each
time the doorbell rings. That’s no life for you to live, with me or anyone
else, for that matter. It’s best we face this head on, now. Together, we can
find a way through this disaster I’ve created. And it starts with the ledgers.
You’re going to have to return them. Can you trust Joseph to return them?”

“Truthfully,
no, I could have once, but not now. He believes he’s destined for bigger
things. I really believe that’s why he married me, to get an ‘in’ to the
family.”

“Well,
it worked, baby girl,” I confided rather succinctly. “From what I’ve seen so
far, he’s deeply entrenched in your family’s business.”

“So
how do we turn the ledgers over to my mom,so that she’ll leave us alone?”

“Call
her tomorrow morning. Tell her I’ve given you a copy of all of them. We will
FedEx them to her overnight. They are highly encrypted. I’ll give you the code
to unlock them, once she has them in her possession, open them for her.
Convincingly, tell her I’m holding the originals until Standford calls off the
hit, or he is neutralized. You can convey to her that I’ve not seen them, I
don’t need them, and I don’t want them. My goal is to stay alive and to make
sure no harm comes to you.”

“Do
you think she’ll agree with it, D? I mean, I’m her daughter for God’s sake.
Nothing will happen to me. It’s you I’m worried about.”

“I
do. You’re her baby girl, aren’t you? I can’t see her alienating you
completely, just to continue coming after me once she has the ledgers. Can
you?”

“Not
unless there’s some directive floating around out there that says the family
still wants to talk to you in person. Like what other treasure trove you may
have found with the ledgers? Like the diamonds, maybe? After all, Standford may
have used a lot of their money to buy them, too.”

“Oh,
those, they’re now ancient history. I mean, other than a few packages, I still
have yet to give out, Standford’s 200 plus pounds are now scattered across the
country, heck, across the world. I wish them luck, trying to round them all
back up.”

“So,
once she has the ledgers, we can continue our ride, D?” asked Candi, not
completely sure she wanted to hear my answer.

“That
we can. I mean, that is if you still want to. I’d love for just the two of us
to ride across Saskatchewan. Saskatoon is beautiful this time of year. Wouldn’t
it be nice to get away from the chaos and have a few uneventful days to
ourselves? Once we leave here, you’re pretty much stuck with me, at least until
Sioux Falls. Remember, Calgary was one of the cities we selected in the
beginning that you could fly out of, and make it home with just two stops?”

“I
remember, D,” began Candi, carefully choosing her words. “Being with you is all
that matters to me now. That is, if you’ll have me.”

“I’ll
have you, baby,” bolting from the chair, and flinging myself on top of her as
she lay,sprawled on the bed. “Beginning now, if you please,” and we did once
again, until we were too tired to move, to talk, to breathe. But not too tired,
to sleep.