Chapter 18
Marti sat at the kitchen table and looked out the window at the Pacific Ocean.
This was the first morning since she’d been here that she hadn’t seen Dante out there to welcome the sunrise.
Yesterday, after his swim, they had showered together, made love, and shared a cup of Avera coffee before he’d left for the airport.
He had pulled her into his arms and asked her to stay in his home while he was gone.
She missed him but was determined to stay busy. Unfortunately, she couldn’t spend time on the beach since it had begun raining an hour ago.
That meant she would have to implement plan B, which was to curl up on the sofa and challenge her brain with the word-puzzle book she had picked up the day she’d gone to the Wild Rose Point History Center. Rossi had already called to make sure she was okay.
She had been so busy with the word puzzles that she nearly jumped out of her skin when her phone rang. It was Kara. Hadn’t they talked just a few days ago? She was surprised that her sister was calling her again so soon.
She clicked on the phone. “Hi, Kara. What’s wrong? Are you in labor?”
“Labor? Of course not. “I have a few more weeks to go. What makes you think that?”
“Because you are only allowed one call a week to be nosey.”
“Well, I have a reason to call today. There is something I need to tell you, since I’m sure you’re not keeping up with the news stateside.”
“You’re right, I’m not. What’s up?”
“It’s about those guys.”
Marti lifted a brow. “What guys?”
“The ones you told me about. The only one you mentioned by name was your boyfriend at the time--Malcolm Edwards”
Marti went completely still right before she felt a knot forming in her stomach. “What about him?”
“He and three of his closest friends took part in a suicide pact.”
“What!”
“It made the news. It seems that one of their friends had been murdered in jail a couple of months ago--the one who was a police officer. And because they believed in sharing everything, the other four agreed to participate in a suicide pact last night. They even left notes.”
“They left notes?”
“Yes, all four of them did. Three of the guys overdosed on drugs. Malcolm Edwards had obviously intended to overdose as well—an unused needle was found by his bed. However, for some reason, he decided to hang himself instead. I guess it didn’t matter how the suicide was to be carried out as long as they all died in the end. ”
“How on earth did they get the drugs?” Marti asked.
“According to a spokesperson for the prison, one of the four helped out in the infirmary. The officials didn’t miss the drugs until this morning, right before the men were found.”
Kara paused a moment and then continued.
“The spokesman mentioned that records showed that all four had visited the prison commissary to purchase writing supplies earlier in the week. It looks like they’d coordinated their suicide notes.
Each one stated they were ending their lives because they had pledged to share everything, including death.
Weird, isn’t it? But after what they did to you, good riddance.
They aren’t getting any sympathy from me. ”
When Marti didn’t say anything, Kara asked, “Marti, are you still there?”
“Yes, I’m here. I’m just shocked and trying to wrap my head around everything you’ve said.” What she was really doing was trying to figure out how on earth Dante and his team had pulled such a thing off, even going as far as to have forged suicide notes in place.
She recalled that during one of their ‘after-love-making’ talks, Dante had explained that his training as a fixer and enforcer had taught him and his team to plan things to the very last detail, leaving no room for failure, suspicion, or loose ends.
They knew how to dot every I and cross every T.
They were also pros at directing media narratives when needed.
He’d told her about underground anti-crime networks, both in the United States and internationally, that existed for the good of humanity.
They focused on rooting out evildoers. And so, he’d approached them about helping out with what he was doing.
Because, in his opinion, men didn’t get more eviler than Malcolm and his friends.
Dante had also confided that his company’s top private investigator, a guy named Kendall, had been able to identify four other women whom Malcolm and his friends had sexually assaulted.
Like her, they hadn’t pressed charges because of Larry Upshaw’s threats.
The reason her private investigator, Mr. Overstreet, hadn’t told her about them was that the women had not wanted to be involved in the investigation.
They had moved on with their lives and hadn’t wanted to relive the horror they had gone through.
Uncovering the men’s roles in a child pornography ring had been the best way to get solid, cut-and-dry convictions, especially with all the documentation Overstreet had obtained, including videos.
“The people being interviewed by various reporters have a lot to say,” Kara said, intruding into Marti’s thoughts.
“Many are people who knew them in college, former co-workers, and prior neighbors. Most are stating that the men were deeply loyal to each other and are not surprised they would participate in a suicide pact.”
“I wish I had never met them,” Marti said.
“I debated whether to call and tell you since I didn’t want to ruin your vacation and all, but after what they did, I see it as good news.
Now you don’t have to worry about them getting out of jail one day and trying to get even with you for blowing the whistle.
Participating in that suicide pact just proves how mentally ill they were.
I hate to sound callous, Marti, but as far as I’m concerned, the world is a better place without horrible human beings like them in it. ”
***
It didn’t stop raining until late that evening. Rossi called twice to make sure she was okay and had something to eat. She assured him she was fine. The truth of the matter was that she wasn’t hungry. She had lost her appetite after Kara’s call.
Knowing she should eat something, she had warmed up the spaghetti Dante had cooked a couple of days ago. She had called Rossi to see if he wanted any. He had prepared a grilled cheese sandwich and salad and said he was good.
She had walked out of the kitchen to head up the stairs when the front door opened. Marti’s heart leaped inside her chest when she saw Dante. The man she loved. Quickly crossing the room, she rushed into his open arms.
***
Dante exhaled heavily. It was over, and everything had gone according to plan.
With that behind him, he needed to hold Marti, needing everything that was her.
Last night, he’d seen a side of himself that he’d known was always in his DNA, but it had never had a reason to emerge.
Taking a life wasn’t easy, but those vile human beings deserved to die.
Especially when they had tried to harm the woman he loved.
The first three assumed he was there as retribution for what they had done to the children, and had been surprised when he mentioned Marti.
The one named Sonny had had the nerve to call her a bitch.
Dante had really struggled to keep his anger in check, so as not to leave bruise marks on the bastard.
“I handled it, Marti. It’s over. Now I need to make love to you.” Losing himself in her body always gave him a sense of total completeness, both mentally and physically.
Sweeping her into his arms, he headed for the stairs. They barely had a week left, and he would make sure they didn’t spend any of it looking back. Instead, he hoped they could make plans for next summer. But then, did he honestly believe he could wait that long to see her again?
No. So he would use his remaining days with her to lay it on thick, to convince her that there was a reason their ‘Things in Common’ list was so extensive, and why they enjoyed spending so much time together.
More than anything, he wanted her to believe, as he did, that their destinies were entwined.