Chapter Eighteen
David drove away from Grant Simpson’s house, his thoughts racing through his head. It was already nearly eight o’clock, and he couldn’t wait to tell Dana what he’d found out.
Simpson had agreed to see them that night, but Dana had to stay behind to show the cleaners where everything should go. She wanted to come with him, but she also didn’t want to leave her place while someone else was there. And he missed her.
Desperately.
His phone rang. It was his mother. Grinning, he answered. Either Don or Caitlin or both probably told her he and Dana were in love.
“I’m just amazed it took you so long,” he greeted her.
“You could have told me first,” she scolded, but he could hear the smile. “What I want to know is why it took you so long to finally realize you’re in love with Dana. I could have told you that after your first meeting.”
“What do you mean?” David asked, amazed.
“The first time the Sutherlands came to lunch at Rosa’s, I noticed the way you looked at her. It was the same look I’ve seen on your father’s face for the past nearly forty years when he looks at me.”
David’s breath caught in his throat, and he had to swallow a few times. “I didn’t know then how I felt about her. I’ve always wanted what you and Dad have, you know? And I’ve been looking for someone who would touch my being, my core. And I’ve finally found her, Mom.”
His mother sniffed. “Now you have me in tears, and I still have a restaurant full of people to cook for. Bring her home, will you? We like your Dana. Your father says she has spunk.”
David smiled. That she had. In spades.
*
Dana smiled and turned around. The cleaners had just left and everything that hadn’t been broken had been put back into place.
She was still so angry at whoever did this.
Hopefully, David would have some answers when he returned.
He’d been very vague about why he wanted to talk to Simpson about her dad’s client.
And strangely, she wasn’t nearly as upset about her trashed house as she would have been a few months ago. This had been her haven, her happy place for so long, but now she’d found another place she’d rather be, another very happy place—with David. Now home was with him.
He hadn’t said anything about marriage, and that was fine, she realized surprised.
For so long, she thought she’d never meet someone who could love her, who’d want to be with her.
Her mother hadn’t ever been happy with her, so why would anyone else?
She’d always dreamed about finding that someone, though, the one who would know all there was to know about her but love her anyway.
And now she had. Or rather, he’d found her.
She wanted to be with him. Full stop. Nothing else mattered.
She heard footsteps on the porch and ran toward the front door. David would be so happy to see that the place had been put back into order.
Smiling, she switched on the porch light and opened the door. But it wasn’t David who was standing there.
*
Simpson’s house was on the opposite part of Hermanus from Dana’s house. The traffic was ridiculous, as it usually was with only a few days till Christmas. He should phone Dana to let her know he was on his way.
Swearing at a motorbike that cut in front of him, he dialed Dana’s number. But it only rang and rang. He frowned. That was strange. By now the cleaners should be gone, and she’d be alone. There was no reason why she shouldn’t hear her phone.
He looked for another number on his phone, stepping on the gas. Something was very wrong; he could feel it. He’d always trusted his instincts and they were screaming at him at the moment.
*
“Good evening, Mr. Johnson, I wasn’t expecting you.” Dana tried to sound cool but she didn’t like the way he was looking at her.
He rocked on his heels, his eyes bloodshot. “I tried to warn you.” He looked over his shoulder to the quiet street. When he turned back to her, his mouth was twisted.
With a shove, he pushed her into the house and closed the door behind him. “You should have listened; you should have been scared after the dead cat. You came to see me again; you kept stirring. I trashed your house, but you keep stirring. I’m not going to jail, and you would have put me there.”
He was wearing gloves, she saw. Gloves in December? Dana stared at the man in astonishment, a chill running up and down her spine. He was going to hurt her. She could see it in the way he moved; she could see it in his eyes.
Her phone rang from inside her room.
He advanced, and she moved backward, her hands behind her, trying to find something, anything she could use as a weapon.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She kept her gaze on him while she slowly moved in the direction of the bookcase. The cement flower pot was on one of the shelves. It was big and heavy.
He smiled while still coming closer. “You know. Or, if you don’t know yet, you’ll figure it out sooner or later.
And I’d much rather you didn’t. You see, the client your father phoned me about was someone I had approached with Hastings’s product.
By that time, I knew things were going south, and I knew I had to look after myself.
So I duped this guy into believing he should make a payment directly to me, told him that was how things were done, and that I’d make the payments to the company. ”
Dana kept her gaze on Johnson while her hands found the heavy pot behind her back. Johnson kept talking. Was that sirens she was hearing?
“This guy talked to your dad about it, and of course your dad told him that no money should be paid to an advisor. I knew that if your dad told the financial services board about this on top of the whole Hastings thing, I’d never see the light of day again.
So, I called in some favors, got your dad arrested, and had someone help him to leave this earth forever. ”
Dana caught her breath. He was confessing to organizing her dad’s death! From far away, she could hear sirens.
Johnson put his hands around her throat. “So you see, Ms. Roux, I can’t let you tell people what you are bound to find out. Surely, you understand that?” he asked, as if he was making perfect sense.
She couldn’t hear any sirens now; she’d probably only imagined it. There was no help on the way as she’d hoped. It was up to her now whether she was going to live or die.
Dana got hold of the pot behind her with both hands. The front door burst open. Johnson turned, his hands dropped from around her neck, and she lifted the pot high above her head, ready to bring it down on his head as hard as she could.
*
David would never forget the sight in front of him when he crashed through Dana’s front door.
The big man in front of his beloved had his hands around her throat.
Her eyes were wild, her hair flying around her, and she stood like an avenging angel holding a big flower pot above her head.
If she were afraid, he’d never have guessed it from the determined expression on her face.
The police were right behind him, guns at the ready, yelling loudly at the man who, now deathly pale, stumbled backward. He obviously hadn’t been expecting anyone to come to Dana’s rescue.
David reached Dana in two strides, and he gently took the flower pot from her hands where she was still holding it above her head. He pulled her shivering body close to his and fell in love with her all over again.
“It’s over, sweetheart. Your window was open again, and we could hear everything he said. Grant Simpson, from what I could gather tonight, had his suspicions about Johnson being involved in your dad’s death, but he didn’t have any evidence. Now we have.”
Dana pressed her face into his chest while the shivering slowly subsided. He held on tightly. Some of the policemen escorted Johnson from the house, while the detective hovered behind. But David didn’t want to talk to anyone else just yet.
What had nearly happened to Dana tonight was only dawning on David now. He could have lost her. Never seen her again, never held her in his arms again.
“David, I’m okay,” she whispered, wiggling in his arms.
He slackened his hold somewhat, realizing he’d had her in a death grip. “I’m sorry,” he breathed into her hair. “He could have hurt you and I—”
He couldn’t get another word past his throat. Instead, he caressed her back, trying to tell her with his hands how glad he was she wasn’t hurt, how much he loved her.
From the corner of his eye, he saw the detective waving, trying to get his attention, but he wasn’t quite ready to let go of Dana.
“What about Sam Jordan?” she asked.
The detective cleared his throat behind them. “That’s what I’d like to talk to you about,” he said.
*
“So let me get this straight.” Darryn frowned. “Johnson has been in jail for selling Hastings’s Ponzi scheme, but nobody knew of his involvement in Dana’s dad’s death?”
The whole Cavallo clan had arrived early that morning at Don’s house in Hermanus, and Caitlin’s mother had hastened over.
It was a week later, but Dana still woke up at night, gasping for air. David had been a wonderful pillar over the past week and had waited until he had all the facts about Jordan and Johnson before he phoned his family.
Dale and Zoe had just arrived back from their honeymoon, and when they heard what had happened to Dana, they left their bags without unpacking and drove over.
Caitlin’s mother’s gaze took in Dana and David’s entwined hands. The gleam in her eye only meant one thing—as soon as she could, she was going to take Dana aside and find out what she’d missed.
Dana looked around at her new family. She’d always felt much more at home at the Sutherlands than at her own home, especially after her dad’s death. Now the Cavallos had also accepted her with hugs and kisses, and she already felt part of them.
The only person missing was Caitlin’s other sister, Hannah. Nobody was sure where the model was at this specific point.
David explained and talked about what they knew, and Dana sat quietly next to him, still amazed at the way greed could change good people into bad ones.
The whole money laundering scheme had been revealed, which meant Hastings wasn’t getting out of jail anytime soon, and Sam Jordan would join him in a matter of weeks.
“It’s going to take some time to find the whole money trail, but Jordan’s house was bought with cash.
The particular details still have to be unraveled.
But after Dana and I visited him and then she…
” David glanced at her. He tried to sound cross.
“Then she visited him again, he tried to flee the country. By that time, the police had been alerted, and he was taken into custody at the airport.”
“So now what?” David’s mother asked.
“Well, there is nothing more we can do; it’s now over to the authorities.
We’ll have to wait for the whole judicial system to do its thing and, as we know, it doesn’t work very quickly in this country.
But I’m sure justice will be served. And I’m very glad that Dana here has the answers she’s been looking for over the past two years. ”
Don shook his head. “The whole thing sounds like something out of a thriller, but I’m very glad you’re okay, Dana. Things could have been so much worse.”
“I know.” She smiled up at David. “But your brother here came to my rescue.” She looked around at all the worried faces. “Thank you all for being here. It means…” Her throat clogged up and she couldn’t say another word.
Darryn, who was standing close by, patted her back. “You’re family. Of course we’re all here for you,” he said gruffly.
And then everyone was talking together, asking more questions, giving her more hugs. And all the while, David had her hand in his, keeping her close to his side.