American Heroes Series - 01 - Resurrection (33 page)

“I can’t believe that; with his looks and personality? He should have women falling at his feet.”

“You would think so, but he chases them all off with his surly attitude. He may look like a Greek God, but he can be the biggest jerk in the world when it comes to women. So when I heard how he was reacting to you, I didn’t believe it until I saw it with my own eyes. You’ve changed him, whether or not you realize it. You’ve made him happy again and for Ethan’s sake, I’m really glad. He deserves to be happy.”

Cydney just stared at him, stunned. “He’s such a sweet man. I’ve never met anyone so thoughtful or considerate.”

“There are a lot of women in Los Angeles that would beg to differ with you.”

Cydney wriggled her eyebrows in shock and took a pensive sip of her wine.

“Then I guess I’m the lucky one,” she said softly, eyeing him after a moment. “You’ve known him for a long time, J.D. Other than being a jerk to women, what can you tell me about him that he wouldn’t get mad at you for divulging?”

J.D. grinned. “He can get mad all he wants,” he said with feigned bravery. “I can still hold my own against him.” When Cydney giggled, he continued. “To me, he has always been the most loyal friend I’ve ever had. He’ll give you the shirt off his back. He’s smart, too; brilliant. That guy can do math in his head like no one I’ve ever seen and he speaks four languages. Who else do you know that can do that? And he’s a good judge of character; he knows people and what they think.  He’s as honest as the day is long.”

It made Cydney feel warm and cozy to hear J.D.’s praise of Ethan. Even though she felt, deep down, that he was all those things; still, it was good to hear it from someone who had known him a long time.

“What four languages does he speak?” she asked.

“English, French, Spanish and Italian. He knows ‘em all.”

Cydney had to laugh; J.D. caught the chuckles and his eyebrows rose. She shook her head as if to apologize for the quiet laughter. “He and I were joking about that yesterday because he was trying to pull a fast one on me by speaking in French.  But I am fluent in it also so he threatened to speak Spanish next time he didn’t want me to know his plans. But I speak that, too. My minor in college was Languages.”

J.D. looked impressed. “We can use you for an interpreter, then. What languages do you speak?”

“English, French, Spanish, and Italian. I have a working knowledge of Russian, German, Swedish, and two Chinese dialects.”

“Good lord,” J.D. hissed. “You’re smarter than he is.”

“Not really,” she shook her head. “I’ve just always liked foreign languages. And I don’t want to read subtitles when I go to movies.”

“So with all these talents, you end up working in a museum?”

“I have to work somewhere.”

J.D. nodded in agreement and finished his wine.  He set the cup down. “Well, I am very happy for you both,” he said. “But I will say this; treat him right or you’ll have to deal with me.”

She grinned at him. “I promise I’ll make you proud.”

“Good.”

They grinned at each other a moment before J.D. reached over and stole a little hunk of gorgonzola cheese off her plate.  Cydney just shook her head at him; already, they were comfortable with each other. That was a good sign.

The plane landed at the Leonardo da Vinci Airport fifty-two minutes later. Ethan grabbed his carry on and Cydney’s as they departed the plane, leaving Tyler to lug his own backpack down to baggage claim.

Ethan and Cydney walked next to each other, very close, as they made their way to the baggage area. Ethan wanted very badly to hold her hand but with Dulay and the other two agents present, he didn’t want to create a scene of impropriety. So he settled for carrying her bag. Truth was, as much as he loved his son, he had missed sitting next to her on the plane.  J.D. walked on the other side of Cydney as Tyler walked slightly in front of them.

“Dad,” Tyler turned around, walking backwards through the terminal. “Where are we going first?”

“You and Cydney are going to the hotel,” Ethan replied. “J.D. and I need to head to the U.S. Embassy.”

“Can I come?”

“No, bud.”

Tyler made a face and turned around, walking angrily. “Can we go to the Colosseum first thing in the morning? I really want to see it.”

Cydney looked at Ethan and nodded faintly, but Ethan was obvious that he wasn’t pleased with his son’s request.

“I’m not sure what our plans are tomorrow,” he told Tyler. “We’ll have to play it by ear.”

“Dad,” Tyler whined; the word ended coming out of his mouth with two syllables. “I don’t want to sit around. Please, can I go to the Colosseum? Please?”

Ethan sighed with exasperation, refraining from being harsh with his son by a tug on his arm. He looked down to see Cydney nodding her head firmly.

“I think that’s a good idea,” she told Ethan quietly. “Tyler and I will do a tour while you and J.D. take care of business.”

Ethan relented. “All right,” he said to her, looking at his son and lifting his eyebrows. “You can go tomorrow morning. But tonight you’re going back to the hotel and going to bed. And no argument or I’ll turn J.D. loose on you.”

Tyler grinned at his father’s friend. “Bring it on, dude.”

J.D., garment bag slung over one big shoulder and a carry-on in his right hand, rolled his eyes at Ethan’s brave son.

“Boy, you better be faster than I am because I guarantee you won’t like it if I catch you.” He watched Tyler do some fancy footwork, pretending to escape him.  J.D. looked over at Ethan. “He’s got your moves, man.”

Ethan and Cydney chuckled as Tyler’s fast moves suddenly turned into a Fred Astaire-type dance across the terminal floor. It was hilarious and the adults laughed as Tyler pretended to waltz with his book bag.  He jumped up on a chair and leapt gracefully off the other side like a gymnast.  Then he started twirling and crashed into a wall.  While Cydney, J.D. and even Christophe howled with laughter, Ethan put a stop to his son’s reckless behavior.

“If you break something, I’m going to pretend I don’t know you and leave you for the Italian police,” he told him. “Maybe you’d better straighten up for now.”

Tyler, still smiling, obeyed.  “First thing in the morning we go to the Colosseum, all right?”

Ethan sighed heavily and slapped his son lightly on the side of the head. “I won’t be able to go but Cydney will; you’ll watch out for her, right?”

“Sure.”

Ethan turned to wink at Cydney, who was still smiling at Tyler.  “He makes a great bodyguard. Or dance partner, whichever we decide to do,” she said.

Baggage claim was jammed with people at nine o’clock at night, but they found their baggage and made their way out onto the curb.  It was humid and overcast.  The U.S. Embassy had sent over a car and the driver found them just as they began to set their baggage down on sidewalk.

Tyler switched into Sky Cap mode again and grabbed Cydney’s bags along with his own, dragging them over to the car and swinging them into the open trunk.  Ethan sighed with exasperation and was opening his mouth to mildly rebuke the boy but Cydney stopped him.

“It’s okay,” she tried not to laugh as she watched Tyler create an unorganized mess in the trunk. “It’s very sweet that he’s trying to help.”

Ethan made a face as he looked at her. “Is that what you call it?”

She laughed softly. “What hotel are we staying at?”

“The Hilton Rome Cavalieri,” he told her. “I’m going to send you and Tyler over there now. J.D. and I need to head over to the hotel where Olivia’s message was found.  It’s been sectioned off since we received the call to keep the crime scene untouched.”

She watched him hand his bag to Tyler as the kid grabbed it and ran back to the open trunk. “What are you going to do?” she asked quietly.

Ethan was watching his son cram his bag into the trunk. “A CSI team from the U.S. Embassy is already on-scene. We’ re going to work in conjunction with the Rome Police to see if we can pick up any clues. We’re going to go over it with a fine-toothed comb, trust me.”

Cydney was silent a moment and Ethan looked down at her, noticing she suddenly looked extremely distressed. He nudged her gently.

“What’s wrong, baby?”

She glanced up at him, tried to smile bravely but failed. “I was just thinking,” she said softly. “That woman who called never said what the message was written in. God, please don’t tell me that it was written in blood.”

He went to put his arm around her but stopped when he realized he didn’t want everyone to see. “No, honey,” he said quietly. “I’m sure it wasn’t. There was no mention of it, not in any of the phone calls since the message’s discovery.”

“But isn’t that what a CSI team does? Looks for blood and…”

He cut her off. “A Crime Scene Investigation Team just looks for evidence, like hair or fingerprints. Haven’t you ever watched those television shows? If blood is there they’ll find it too. But nothing was said about blood so I wouldn’t worry about that right now.”

She just nodded and he reached out to touch her hand, squeezing her fingers quickly, firmly, before releasing.  Then he noticed that Tyler was in the process of trying to slam the trunk of the car, much to the driver’s distress, so he left Cydney to go call his over-zealous son off.  Cydney climbed into the car as the men piled in after her.

The Hilton Hotel Cavalieri was a mile or so from Vatican City, a gorgeous structure with all of the Roman Italianate architecture that one would expect. The lobby alone was worthy of a world-class museum. Ethan and J.D. settled Cydney and Tyler into adjoining rooms, Ethan managing to steal a kiss from Cydney before he and J.D. went on to the Hotel Columbus.

Tyler’s instructions were to go to bed right away, but in the room next door, Cydney could hear the television on well into the night.   She could have opened the adjoining door and put an end to the disobedience, but she didn’t have the heart.

She lay in bed, in a dark room with moonlight streaming in through the open window, wondering where Olivia was at that moment and praying that she was all right. She just wanted her daughter back, in her arms, and the tears came as she thought of the tribulations Olivia had been forced to endure.  She whispered into the night as if Olivia could hear her.

I’m here, baby. I’m here and we’re going to find you, just be strong.

Somewhere along the line, she must have been whispering loud enough for Tyler to hear because as she lay there, the television next door suddenly turned off and there was a soft knock at the adjoining door.  She wiped at her face quickly and answered.

“Yes, Tyler?”

His voice was muffled on the other side of the door. “Can I come in?”

“Sure.”

He opened the door, his handsome face hesitant as he stepped into her room. The only light was that from the moon outside so he couldn’t see her red eyes or tear-stained cheeks. But just by his expression, Cydney could tell that he had heard her crying.

“I don’t mean to bug you,” he said quietly. “But… well, I heard you and… well, I just wanted to say that I’m sorry I couldn’t stop those people from getting Olivia. I should have tried to but they whacked me on the head when my back was turned. If I’d had the chance, I would have helped her.”

His expression of heroism undid her.  She held out a hand to him and he came to her, taking her hand before sinking awkwardly to the floor beside the bed.  Cydney held his hand tightly, gazing at the strong young face, into the boy who was growing into a fine young man like his father.  She thought she could answer him without sobbing but it was a difficult struggle.

“It definitely wasn’t your fault,” she whispered tightly. “In fact, I’m glad you didn’t try. They might have taken you, too, or worse. You might have really gotten hurt.”

He wriggled his dark eyebrows at her. “Maybe,” he said. “But I would have tried.”

“I know,” her eyes were spilling over as she gazed at him. “You’re a brave young man. I really appreciate that.”

He grinned modestly and averted his gaze, which happened to fall on her hand. He was holding her left hand, the one with the big ring on it.  He stared at the ring and Cydney watched him a moment, waiting for the inevitable questions.

“I’ve never had a sister,” he finally said. “I guess I’m going to have one.”

She realized that Ethan must have told him on the plane. He didn’t seem distressed and she smiled faintly.

“Olivia’s never had a brother,” she murmured. “She’s always wanted one.”

Tyler couldn’t decide whether to nod or shrug; it looked like he was working out a kink in his neck.

“My dad seems really happy,” he finally looked up at her, his blue eyes very wise. “I can’t remember ever seeing my dad so happy. But he’s smiling and talking about stuff, like me coming to live in California with him after you guys get married.”

“Are
you
okay with that?”

Again, he half-nodded and half-shrugged. “Yeah, sure,” he said. “I told him I wanted to come live with him, anyway.”

“Are you okay with having a new step-mom and step-sister?”

“It’s cool,” he looked at her hand as it still held his. “You’re cool. I’m okay with it.”

She laughed softly. “Thanks, Ty,” she squeezed his hand. “You’re pretty cool, too. I think you’ll like California.”

He nodded, pausing a moment. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Do you love my dad?”

“I do. You know what else?”

“What?”

“I kind of like you, too.”

He gave her a goofy grin and she laughed softly. But her smile faded and she squeezed his hand again.

“Thanks for talking to me, Ty,” she said softly. “I’m feeling kind of sad about Olivia right now.”

He sobered up. “I know,” he said. “I’ll sit here with you for a while if you want me to.”

She smiled at his sweetly chivalrous offer. “That would be nice. Thanks.”

“No problem.”

When Ethan returned to the hotel well after midnight, he was puzzled to find the room he shared with his son empty.  Noticing that the adjoining door into Cydney’s room was ajar, he entered the moonlit room silently only to find Cydney fast asleep, holding Tyler’s hand as his son slept the sleep of the dead on the floor.