Taken (35 page)

A few minutes later the lights went out and the screen lit up. The black-and-white film began with the discovery
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of California gold in 1859 at Sutter’s Mill, which triggered one of the most important chapters in history, the California Gold Rush. Pictures from the Gold Rush flashed on the screen.

“Within a few years the mines were producing an abundance of gold, yet there was a shortage of circulating legal coins in the Wild West,” the narrator said. “To relieve the problem Congress authorized the establishment of a branch of the U.S. Mint in San Francisco. By 1934, one third of the U.S. gold reserve was being stored in the vaults at the San Francisco Mint. All coins struck there were distinguished by the
S
mint mark. The San Francisco Mint was famous for many rare, legendary issues, including an 1870-S three-dollar piece valued today at well over one million dollars. That particular coin was believed to have been stolen during a robbery in the 1950s by three armed bandits, who not only stole a treasure trove of coins but also killed two guards in the process. It was the worst robbery in the history of the mint, and the coins were never recovered.”

Kayla sat up in her chair as the screen showed images of police outside the mint, crime tape, an ambulance arriving. A shiver of excitement ran down her spine as she realized she was seeing the mint minutes after her own grandfather had robbed the place. Someone was brought out on a stretcher and placed in an ambulance in front of a crowd of onlookers, held back by wooden barricades.

Nick nudged her arm. “Those women,” he said, “by the ambulance. Isn’t one of them your grandmother? The one next to the redhead?”

Kayla’s heart skipped a beat. Was that her grandmother?

The image was gone before she could tell, and the nar-TA K E N

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rator continued with the story of the mint after the robbery. A few minutes later the lights went on.

Kayla and Nick sat in the room, unmoving, until they were completely alone.

“I think that was her,” she said. “Or am I crazy?”

“Why would it be crazy?” he countered. “She knew Johnny. Maybe she was afraid he was the one being brought out on the stretcher.”

She looked into Nick’s eyes and saw that he believed what he was saying, and she knew that she believed it, too. “I think it’s time to pick up my grandmother from the hospital. But don’t say a word to her, not until we get her home, not until I make sure she’s strong enough to deal with it.”

“It’s your call, Kayla. But whether or not she’s strong enough to deal with anything, it may be out of our control. If Johnny is alive and he went to see her last night, then something is going down, and probably sooner rather than later.”

“I keep coming back to the fact that Johnny wouldn’t have stolen his own watch.”

“Maybe not. But perhaps he found out someone else did. And he wants it back.” Nick paused. “Nate could be alive, too. He could be trying to circumvent Johnny.”

“It’s been so long. If they made it to shore in the sixties when they escaped from Alcatraz, they would have gone after their treasure sooner.”

Nick nodded in agreement. “True, but many a man has found religion in jail. Perhaps one or both decided to change his ways, start over, live a new life, stay hidden.”

“Until someone started digging into their secrets,”

Kayla finished. “Let’s skip the tour. I’ve seen enough.”

*

*

*

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Sitting in the wheelchair by the front door of the hospital, Charlotte ran a comb through her hair. The doctor had discharged her a few minutes earlier, and she’d convinced the nurse to bring her down to the lobby to wait for Kayla. She hated being in the hospital. It reminded her of all the weeks she’d spent there while Edward was dying of cancer. She’d watched her once strong and vi-brant husband fade away, his body so thin and frail by the end that she barely recognized him.

Edward had always been solid, an anchor in her life, a safe place to rest. She was sure that Kayla wouldn’t find that romantic or exciting, and maybe, to be fair, she hadn’t felt that way in the beginning either. Those first few years she had yearned for Johnny, wished he could come back and see his daughter and hold her. In the dark of the night she’d had a few dreams of them together as a family. It had felt like a betrayal to Edward, and she’d forced the dreams out of her head as best she could. It had gotten easier with the passing of time.

Watching Edward with Joanna, seeing him treat her daughter as his own, had changed the way she’d looked at him. And she’d gradually begun to realize that the bad boys she’d run with were nowhere near as good or wonderful as Edward. He’d lived according to a high moral compass, and he’d raised her up to his level. She’d become the good woman he wanted her to be.

Or perhaps she’d just grown up. Sometimes she thought that was probably it. Johnny was a part of her reckless youth, a time when she’d played fast and loose with the rules, when she’d lost herself in the excitement of danger, adventure, passion. At twenty-one, she’d wanted to live every moment as if it were her last, so she
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would have no regrets. Unfortunately, there was always room for regret.

And last night she’d felt the full force of regret when Johnny had emerged from the shadows and looked her straight in the eye. The image of him was so clear in her head now — his dark, almost black eyes, his square face, prominent jaw, and chiseled bones. His hair had grayed.

His skin had drooped, and his eyes were tired but oh so familiar. He’d said her name so clearly:
“Charlie.”

That was all she remembered. The next thing she knew she’d woken up in the hospital.

She cursed herself for fainting at the sight of him. She might have missed her chance to speak to him. But he’d taken her by surprise. All these years she’d thought he was dead.

But he wasn’t dead. Was he?

A lingering doubt went through her mind. Was she wrong? Had she mistaken someone else for Johnny?

There were lots of senior men living in her condo complex. Had the shadows played tricks on her? Was it just that questions about Johnny were so fresh in her thoughts that she’d created him in her head?

She hoped she wasn’t going crazy. She’d always been able to rely on her instincts, if nothing else.

And her instincts were screaming now that Johnny had survived.

But even as the joy washed over her body, it was tempered by anger. If he had been alive all these years, where had he been? Why hadn’t he contacted her? Why hadn’t he told her? Why had he let her grieve for him?

She looked up as Kayla walked through the hospital door. She could see by her granddaughter’s pinched, tight expression that there were going to be more questions to
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answer. She supposed she should have been more forth-coming in the beginning, but each time she’d had to tell Kayla anything, she’d felt as if she were putting another nail in the coffin of their relationship. She’d never been as close to her own daughter, Joanna, as she was to Kayla, and she would hate to lose her granddaughter to mistakes made fifty years ago.

“You look better,” Kayla said, appearing to force a smile. “Do you feel better?”

“Yes, much. I slept well. The doctor said I’m fine. I just have to watch my cholesterol and get plenty of rest.

Drink water, you know, all that.” She smiled reassuringly at Kayla, who didn’t look convinced.

“Nick has the car in front,” Kayla said. “Should I wheel you out?”

“I can walk. This is just for show,” she said, getting up from the chair. “Hospital rules or something like that.”

It felt good to get up and leave the hospital. The air was brisk. It was a cool day, with scattered clouds in the sky, leaving her with the sense that there was a storm brewing nearby. But for now it was dry.

She got into the backseat and said hello to Nick. He nodded politely. She wasn’t sure what he thought about her, and she wouldn’t have cared — if she hadn’t seen the look that passed between Nick and Kayla when her granddaughter got into the car. There was an intimacy between them that made her wonder just what was going on. But she didn’t dare to open up that conversation now.

She suspected there were more pressing matters to deal with.

“Grandma,” Kayla said, turning sideways in her seat so she was facing the back, “we need to talk about what happened last night, but I don’t want to upset you, so
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maybe you could just tell me briefly about this man that you saw outside your condo.”

“It was Johnny,” she replied. “I’m almost one hundred percent certain.”

“Almost?” Nick echoed, his gaze meeting hers in the rearview mirror.

“There were shadows,” Charlotte explained. “And since I passed out, I’m not completely sure of what I saw, but my instincts tell me it was him. I distinctly heard him say, “Charlie,” the way he used to.”

“That would mean he’s been alive all these years,”

Kayla said. “Where would he have been?”

“I have no idea.”

“Maybe the church,” Kayla suggested. “Maybe with his half brother, the priest?”

Charlotte’s heart sank. “How did you find out about Marcus?”

“We made a trip to St. Basil’s yesterday, thinking someone there might remember the altar boys.” Kayla paused. “I was explaining that I was looking for information about my grandfather, Johnny Blandino, when the priest interrupted me to say that he was Johnny’s half brother.”

“You called him your grandfather?” Charlotte asked, feeling an odd sensation in the pit of her stomach.

“That’s beside the point. I’ve been running all over town trying to figure out the past, and it appears to me now that you’re the one who holds all the answers, only you haven’t chosen to share them with me.”

“That’s not true, Kayla. I honestly don’t know where Nate’s and Frankie’s watches are. Did you find that girl in Reno?”

“We found her,” Kayla answered. “But she was at-314

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tacked after we spoke to her, before we could get to her house to retrieve the watch.”

“No,” Charlotte breathed. “By who? Evan?”

“There was another man there who grabbed me, asked where my watch was,” Kayla answered. “And it wasn’t Evan, so there are at least two people involved, maybe more.”

“Oh, my heavens! Were you hurt? Why didn’t you call me right away?” Charlotte said with concern. Kayla did have scratches and bruises on her face, she realized.

“You’re all banged-up. I didn’t even ask you how that happened. It looks like you were in a fight.”

Kayla shook her head. “Not a fight, a car crash. We had a problem with our brakes on the way back from Reno. But I’m okay. I’m fine.”

“This is terrible,” Charlotte said, her heart beginning to race. “I don’t like this at all. You could have been badly hurt.”

“It’s all right, Grandma,” Kayla said quickly. “Don’t worry about me. We need to focus on the problem at hand.”

Charlotte drew in several deep breaths, knowing it was important she stay calm. “What did this other man look like?”

“I couldn’t see the guy who came up behind me, but I sensed was that he was stocky, muscular. He smelled, too, as if he’d been sweating a lot.” Kayla paused, glancing at Nick. “The guy in the restaurant was sweating.”

“What guy?” Charlotte asked.

“Someone I saw in Reno. He had greasy dark hair, not too tall, a little overweight, and he rubbed his face with a napkin to wipe off the perspiration.”

Charlotte felt sick to her stomach. Had she inadver-TA K E N

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tently sent someone after Kayla? Both Dana and Anne Marie had sons, sons who might want those watches. And short, dark men were fairly common in North Beach.

“What are you thinking, Grandma?”

“I don’t know. There’s so much to take in.”

“And so much you haven’t told us,” Nick interjected.

“If you’re trying to protect Kayla, you’re going about it the wrong way. Information gives her armor. Lack of information leaves her vulnerable.”

He had a point. And she realized deep down that she’d been so concerned about protecting her relationship with Kayla that she’d actually put her granddaughter in harm’s way. She should have known better. She knew firsthand how dangerous men could be where gold was concerned, especially this particular gold.

“You should have trusted me, Grandma,” Kayla said.

“It wasn’t about trust,” Charlotte answered. “But I’ll tell you everything.”

“Good.”

Charlotte took a breath, then realized they were pulling up in front of her condo. “I guess it can wait until we get inside.”

“But only until then,” Kayla said firmly. “You said some things last night when you were drifting in and out of sleep that I really want to clarify.”

Charlotte pursed her lips, trying to remember. She’d had so many dreams last night. She didn’t know if they’d given her medication or what, but the past had seemed so vivid in her head. Nick parked the car, and Kayla jumped out, opening the door for her and offering her a hand.

“I’m all right,” Charlotte said, ignoring Kayla’s help.

“I can walk on my own.”

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“I never realized exactly how stubborn you are until recently,” Kayla said dryly.

“It must run in the family,” Charlotte returned. “You certainly ignored my wishes.”

“I get my bullheadedness from you then,” Kayla said, looking pleased at the thought.

“And your mother. Strong women run in the family.”

“You can say that again,” Nick muttered.

Charlotte saw the smile in Nick’s eyes when he looked at Kayla, and then she realized it wasn’t amusement she was seeing, but love, or something very close. Maybe everything did happen for a reason. If Evan hadn’t run off, Kayla never would have met this man. And if Johnny hadn’t gone to jail, she might never have married Edward. Sometimes the darkest nights turned into the brightest days.