ROMANTIC SUSPENSE : DEATH WHISPERED SOFTLY (13 page)

“I will be at your house at 7 pm, is that alright with you”?

“Yes, I will wait for you.” And before she could say anything else, Steve hung up the phone.

At exactly five minutes to seven, he drove up the long driveway in front of Grace’s house.  He was nervous about how she would react to his confession and his stomach was tied in knots as he parked his car, and made his way to the door.

And as he rang the bell the trepidation he felt consumed him but, he knew there was no turning back now. 

Grace opened the door. The moment she saw Steve she knew there was bad news.  The man looked totally stressed out, and this worried her, but she did not tell him anything.  Instead she just stretched her arms and hugged Steve. She didn’t know what he had to tell her but she did know the man she loved was in need of tenderness and compassion. And the moment she hugged him she felt Steve’s’ body relax almost instantaneously.

As they drove away, Grace asked Steve casually “Where are we going today my darling”?

Steve turned, looked at her affectionately and said, “It’s a surprise Grace” and smiled. Although it was a genuine smile Grace did feel there was some apprehension mixed with it. She was now very concerned what Steve would tell her. She did not want to lose this man…her man.

“I won’t be able to bear another loss”
she thought anxiously.

But her anxiety and gloom went away when Steve pulled up at a café on the outskirts of New York, in a forlorn area. It was her café –the Kingsbury café, where Steve had saved her life on that fateful night!

Steve had assumed that the Kingsbury Corporation must have fixed the café in these two weeks, from the mutilation it suffered from the accident.

But he was amazed to see the café as it stood now. There was no hint that anything had happened to it! The gaping hole made by the old lady’s car was gone! The broken furniture had been replaced and the interiors had been completely redone. It looked brand new!  Steve couldn’t help but gawk at Grace, who looked amused, but embarrassed by Steve’s astonishment and admiration.

“You guys moved quickly didn’t you!” was all he could say.

Grace nodded in humility. She was happy to see Steve’s obvious approbation for her (and her company’s) efficiency.

Steve looked around and saw that the waiter who was there on the fateful night was there today as well, and he waved to him. But the waiter didn’t wave back, but stared curiously at Steve, not sure why this strange man who had walked in with the proprietor of the Kingsbury Empire, would wave at him? 

Grace couldn’t suppress her laughter as she walked up to Chang Sui, the waiter, and explained who Steve was.  Chang was truly shocked to learn Steve’s identity and he came running to Steve and gave him a tight hug. He had seen how Steve had flung himself in harm’s way to save the life of his boss and owner of the Kingsbury Empire –Grace Kingsbury.

“Sorry Mr. Neal I didn’t recognize. But you... you look so different today!”  Sui exclaimed in disbelief. Steve smiled. He knew exactly why the waiter had not recognized him. He saw that Grace was now looking at him curiously. Steve knew what she was about to ask him. But it didn’t bother him. For, he had brought his darling Grace to her own café this evening
deliberately
.  He wanted her to comprehend and relate to everything he was about to tell her. And which place could be better than this –the place where he had come to assassinate her, and ironically ended up saving her life instead.

After they were seated in a comfortable booth, and had ordered some coffee, Steve looked directly into the beautiful violet eyes of Grace Kingsbury and said “Grace, the truth of the matter is I love you, I love you like crazy. But I have been fighting my conscience for the past few days.  If we are to start a life and spend it together, I realized it must be built on trust and honesty. “There is something I have to tell you and it’s something you need to know” Steve said solemnly. Steve’s serious expression worried Grace. She suddenly knew that what Steve was about to say could have serious impact on their relationship; and she braced herself to hear the truth.  In the past two months ever since the fateful evening at the café, she realized how deeply she had fallen in love with Steve. This ruggedly handsome man with his blue eyes and wavy blonde hair, mild mannerism and a boyish smile, had bowled Grace over. His kindness, gentleness and strength had made a huge impact on her, apart from the fact that he had saved her from certain death.

She knew that he too loved her very much and in these two months she had fashioned many dreams about Steve and their life together. Her love for him had increased every passing day to the extent that it had become unbearable even to think about life without Steve. But looking now at the tense expression on Steve’s handsome face she wondered uneasily “Could it be that
he
wants to duck out of the relationship?”

Even as she worried about that, Grace was eager to know what Steve had to tell her, and she steadied her thoughts to hear what he had to say.

Steve on his part held nothing back and recounted the whole story. From the time his parents died till the day he first saw her, Steve did not hold back anything from the woman he loved. He told her how he was handed over to foster parents at the age of five, and how they had treated him cruelly and how he had decided to run away from them and how he had landed in Los Angeles and joined a gang, and how he committed petty crimes for which he had to go twice to prison. He went on to tell her that he had, in the past few months, experienced a strong desire to change his life for the better, go clean and become an upright  person —like his dad and mom. And that he wanted to be the head of a major corporation, some day—something that would have made his parents proud, had they been alive.   He then went on to tell her how Ricardo was introduced to him and he had the key to what he (Steve) wanted so desperately– money, so that he could break free from the world of crime and gangs. And for that reason he had decided to accept the offer of his friend and fellow gang member’s cousin Ricardo of assassinating an heiress for a large sum of money.  This one last act of crime would not only enable him to quit his gang life for good but enable him to accomplish his dream of establishing a chain of restaurants on the west coast.

“And that heiress was me, wasn’t it Steve?” Grace interjected, looking calmly into his eyes. For a brief moment she seemed more like who she was – a millionaire and the owner of a large chain of highly successful cafes. Her candor was unexpected and took Steve by surprise.  But Steve was past caring. He had to tell her the whole truth, without holding back anything, and he nodded “Yes it was you Grace”.

“I see”, Grace said quietly, “can you please go on”. And that’s what Steve did. He went on to complete the whole story. How he had put Ricardo’s plan into action and with what mind he had entered the café, how he had engaged her into a conversation with him, and while he was mulling whether to go ahead with the plan or not, the old lady’s car had crashed in, and how he had lunged instinctively to save her life.

With this Steve concluded his story. He was glad that he had told Grace the whole truth, for it seemed to have taken a huge burden off his chest and he was experiencing an extraordinary feeling of liberation.

“I’ve told you everything Grace” Steve said in a somber voice.

I’m not proud of what I have done or was attempting to do and my only hope is that you would forgive me; I  leave it all to you to decide what to do with me and our life together. But let me tell you this,
whatever
decision you make, will be acceptable to me. I can only ask you to forgive me for what I was going to do to you on that crucial evening. I know that something, call it fate or God, was determined that it was not to be. How else could that lady’s car have crashed in precisely the moment when I was contemplating pulling out the gun that was concealed in my pocket to shoo…?”

And without completing the word Steve abruptly stopped speaking. He loved Grace too deeply to finish the last word.  There was suddenly silence in the room. A silence that was hauntingly surreal, as Steve waited for Grace to react to what he had just confessed. Would she call the cops, or just get up and walk out of the restaurant in a fit of rage – and walk out on their newly found love, he wondered uneasily. His future now rested entirely at the mercy of Grace Kingsbury, and he was curious, more than anxious, to know what the verdict would be.

And when he looked up at Grace’s face, he expected her to explode at him, calling him every name under the sun. But that did not happen. There was no outburst of emotions or imputations.  Steve was astonished to see how calm, even serene, Grace looked. There was absolutely no sign of any anguish, hurt, or indignation that she had been betrayed.  Instead Grace seemed to have gone deep into thought and seemed very distant.

And after what seemed to be an eternity, she finally spoke.

“So my own partner wants to do away with me so that he may become the sole owner of the business conceived, created, and established by my father.” How strange life is Steve, the people we give opportunities to—like my father did to Gustav’s father—they, instead of being grateful, turn around and become your enemies, wanting everything you worked so hard for all your life.  But you know what Steve, I knew Gustav never liked me, but I could have never guessed that he would go so far as to have me murdered to take over my father’s business. It’s surprised me, but not shocked me. “That’s Gustav for you; even his own father never trusted him” She said wryly. It was ironically his own father who had warned me to be careful of Gustav. His father viewed daddy much differently than Gustav did. He was grateful for what daddy did for him. But not Gustav, he
pretends
that my father gave his dad a raw deal. The fact is that he is jealous of me Steve. Jealous, that it was I who got the entire business of my father, and not him. Besides, he is also mad at me, for spurning him” Grace said. He wanted to get close to me Steve; he wanted to marry me.  But I never liked him. I knew he loved the business and not me. He wanted to marry me only for my business, my share. Love means nothing to him. He was always after the money.

When I rejected him, he must have thought the best thing for him would be to get rid of me. When you can’t have ‘em, you get rid of ‘em” Grace said with a dry smile. 

“Steve, before I go any further, I want to thank you first for trusting me and telling me the truth; for if you had hidden all this from me and perhaps I found out later on, I would have felt cheated and deceived. But by telling me the whole truth, my admiration and respect for you has increased. When I first saw you Steve, I knew you were different from the men I met earlier in my life. There was something about you which told me here is a man who has seen much pain in life—much like I did. There was something about you which implored me to trust you with everything I have, including my life.  Steve, life has not been fair to either of us and even more unfair to you than me. We both lost ones we loved and fate dealt us some very cruel blows.  Yet today, even after hearing the appalling truth, I am glad I met you, fell in love with you. I have no regrets or complaints with life now Steve. They have miraculously disappeared, and have been replaced with thankfulness and gratitude, for having found you Steve.   My father taught me a lot from the Bible; and one of the things he taught me was that we are all sinners –there is not one who has not sinned, yet the merciful God forgives us each time we sin and repent. If I can be forgiven a thousand times over by our merciful God can’t I, a mere human being, not forgive the one who loves me so deeply, and wishes to change my life and his? Could there be a greater disservice to God than to not forgive, in spite of the fact that He forgives our sins daily?  Grace asked, in an emotion-filled voice. 

“My darling up until yesterday I just loved you deeply, but from today forward I will
respect
you deeply too, for you elected to tell me the truth; you chose to trust me with your life and be honest with me. Did you know how much the heart of a woman craves and appreciates truth and honesty?  How could there be love between two people, if they didn’t have those two important values in their relationship?” she asked ardently.

Steve knew Grace was a tenderhearted person, but sitting in front of her at this hour, he realized that she was not just a kindhearted person but someone far more than just that. She was a human being who was humble to the core and prepared to forgive those who had or wanted to hurt her. He was deeply touched by her virtuousness. With eyes that had turned moist, he acquiesced,

“Grace my darling, I want you to know something,
you
are my angel. I have learned from you today that it is possible to rise above situations in life, and that we can lift ourselves above the absurdity and ludicrousness of pride, revenge, and bitterness.  You are truly extraordinary.” Steve told Grace in a voice choked with love, gratitude and admiration.

Grace looked at him and smiled: “But do you know something Steve, what makes it possible to raise our selves above the ordinary?  It’s love.
Your love
, in my case”

Steve got up from his chair went round the table and lifted Grace up taking her face gently in his hands and kissed her ever so softly. The kiss epitomized a myriad of emotions going through him at that moment—emotions of love, gratitude, hope, victory, admiration, joy and optimism. And they kissed for a long, long time.