In Love by Christmas: A Paranormal Romance (16 page)

Where was he to go in this world? It didn’t matter. He needed to do his work.

Leroy turned on the sound-masking device Hannah’s people had left and spread out the pages with the names of the monasteries and spread them on the bed. He took one of the tapes out of the box and inserted it in the player. Leroy leaned back in a chair and closed his eyes. A smile came over his face, then rapture. He began to chant with the tape, a phrase or two. And with the next tape, and the next, until they were gone and he started with the CDs.

When he was finished, he incinerated everything, leaving not a trace of evidence that would lead to Kathryn Duane’s location. No trace of the desire to find her in his heart either.

She was protected. Legions of angels protected her. And all of God’s warriors stood between her and evil. The life she lived in her stone lair was sufficient to keep her safe. Kathryn Duane didn’t need him or anyone to guard her. The chanting of ages permeated her bones. That’s why Donatore couldn’t find her, and never would.

Leroy saw her as he chanted with the nuns in all those recordings. She sat in a stone garden wearing a simple black dress. Her hair was trimmed very short, an inch or so. Kathryn looked at him directly, blue eyes of amazing depth. Her beauty, even as an old woman, was astonishing. She spoke to him wordlessly. He was to give up the search and leave her alone. She needed nothing.

What about Cass, he’d cried back wordlessly.

Cass is in God’s hands, she always has been. When the time comes you will save her.
The vision disappeared.

He was so elevated that he couldn’t muster questions.
How can I handle your husband?
He won’t let me near Cass.

Leroy knew that question would be handled, too. In time.

When Leroy came out, he felt as though he could see to the end of the universe. He knew that his eyes had the bottomless look of his Grandfather’s to others.

“Are you all right, Mr. Watches?”

“Sure, Tom, do you have any more of that beef roast?”

“Oh, good, sir. I was so worried about you. I have food in the kitchen.”

While Leroy ate, Tom filled him in on what had happened while he was indisposed.

“Mr. Duane called six times.”

“Did he say anything about Cass?” Tom shook his head.

Leroy snorted. “I knew he wouldn’t.” He called for the cleaners and they came and debugged the place again. No new bugs; no one had been in there. They took away the portable incinerator. That was that.

“What do we do now, sir?”

“I don’t know.”

18

What’s Going on Here?

“
H
oney, do you
want me to come back there and stay with you?” Will had Cass on the line. She was both stronger and weaker each time he called. Her doctor said she was gaining weight and doing well. That meant not attacking anyone or having screaming fits—they’d had her there before.

“No, Daddy. I’m just blue. I keep having bad dreams and remembering things.” She sniffled. Weeping. She sounded broken. He was glad he couldn’t see it. “I’m so sorry, daddy. I …”

“Honey, you have to put all that behind you. No one holds what happened against you, certainly not me. That was another lifetime. What you’ve got now is new. You’ll get through this. We’ll get you through this.”

“I wish I had someone to hold me. To make me feel safe. Someone who loved me.”

“
I
love you. I’m there for you. Don’t you know that, sweetie? I’m your dad.”

“I know, Daddy. Not like that …”

Leroy didn’t trust Will. Something was off. He had spoken to his pop, who told him to “milk that cow for everything he could get.” Pop was mad at Will too, but he was up to something himself. He wasn’t telling Leroy everything, but his secret wasn’t about Cass.

Wasn’t there anyone in the world he could talk to and trust? Who would tell him the truth?

“Carl. It’s Leroy.”

“I know it’s you, Leroy. You’re the only person in the world who’s got a voice lower than Barry White.”

“Who’s that?”

“You wouldn’t know him, Leroy. He’s a sexy singer. Outside your universe.”

At least Carl still had a sense of humor. “What does that mean?”

“I’m jus’ bein’ as crabby as everyone else around here. Why are we speaking our own language? Are we code talkers?” The Diné—Navajo—code talkers played a major part in WWII. The Germans were never able to break their code: the Diné language.

“We are code talkers,” Leroy said. “None of Hannah’s bugs can figure out what we’re saying. You know she’s got someone listening. What is going on there? Will says Cass is fine, gaining weight, and doesn’t remember me. I don’t believe it. I feel like every second with her got branded into my hide. Into eyes, my skin …”

“Hold that, buddy. I’m married to my soul mate, I know all about that. You must be burnin’ up, it’s been so long since you held her.”

“Yes, Carl, I am. I feel …”

“You’re a spirit warrior and you’re going to stay one. You’re not going to go out an’ rub on some little,” he said a word meaning ‘loose woman,’ “just to scratch an itch. If it gets too bad, brother, take matters into your own hands.”

“What?”

“You got hands, use ‘em.”

Leroy blushed. He didn’t have a big brother; Carl was as close as it came. Carl kept talking, “I’ll tell you what’s going on and turning Will Duane into a lying asshole, which I think he’s been for a long time. First off, Numenon is at war. They want to get rid of Will, who has tried to put some of the ideas from the Meeting into place. It’s just that the Meeting turning into a massacre shot his mojo. He can’t say where he got the new ideas. They’re a little radical for corporate America. He’s fighting hard, but he’s in trouble.” Leroy knew all this. “Didn’t help that I stopped going to work with him.”

“Why?”

“‘Cuz of what he was doing to you, little brother. Lying. I can’t stand a liar. I told him to level with you or I’d quit helping him. Me an’ everyone here are about to pack up and get out.”

“Then he’d be alone.”

“Like he wants. Don’t you want to know what he’s not telling you?”

“Yeah.”

“He’s jealous of you.”

“What!?”

“I told you he’s crazy. He wants Cass to love him most. He wants a big father/daughter reunion like in the movies—the ones that would never happen. All pink clouds and ‘I love Daddy best.’ He thinks if she forgets about you, she’ll love him. Then, he’ll tell her about you. By that time, you will be transformed into the Stanford MBA that he thinks is the man of her dreams. He always tried to push guys like that on her.”

“How do you know all this?”

“Hannah. We’re good buds. She saw me working out and tried to recruit me to work for her. The woman
likes
warriors. She bugs everything, Leroy. Even Will’s phones and email. Good thing we’re code talkers!” Carl laughed. “She listens in on Will’s talks with Cass. She was around when he was trying to push all these suits on her. Cass got her MBA to make Will happy.”

“She has an MBA?” Leroy barely made it out of high school.

“Yeah. She’s really smart. Maybe she has some brain cells left to think with. Did you put the brain damage on her so Donatore couldn’t find her?”

“What? She’s brain-damaged?”

“Oh, shit. I thought you knew. Yeah, but she can talk to Will, so it can’t be too bad.”

Leroy was in free-fall.

“Leroy!”

“Yeah.”

“Remember this: Cass has touched you too. There’ll come a time when she’ll break out of the hospital and find you if she has to walk across the ocean. Until then, they’ll feed her and get her healthy. You need to get what you can for yourself.

“She’s here and Will is not going to let you near her, even if you could find her,” Carl added. “The name of the hospital’s secret, even in this house. Hannah isn’t divulging that.

“Stay there and do everything Will wants like it’s what you’ve wanted your whole life. Happy face, bro! Get what you can for yourself, Leroy. Nobody’s gonna give you what he’s givin’ you, ever. Take it. Know that whatever you’re turning into, the Great One wants.

“Know something else. Leroy, you weren’t at the Meeting to see Will in action. He’s a warrior’s warrior. He ran out to face Donatore and all of his monsters by himself, trying to get them to take
him
instead of killin’ us. I saw him stand out in the desert all alone, with the sky full of black demons and fire, screaming at Donatore.

“It was stupid, of course. Donatore would have killed him without Grandfather and the Great One, but he’s got balls, Leroy. More than that, he’s got a heart. He’s a good man, Leroy, just got lost somehow since the Meeting. If you can bring who he really is out, the whole world will benefit.

“We’ll stay here at his house, all of us, and try to keep Will from wrecking everything. I won’t leave, buddy, until he orders me out. That’s a promise.

“Hannah’s on the job, Leroy. She knows where the hospital is and Will’s plans for Cass. She won’t tell anyone, ‘cuz she’s loyal to Will. In love with him, if you ask me. But she’s
really
in love with Cass. Cass is the baby she’ll never have. Hannah’s got people workin’ in the hospital kitchen, and laundry. With the nurses. She’s got that hospital covered. Cass is safe there. As long as she’s there, you can do whatever you want.

“Go fox huntin’. Go to parties. Do what you want. For you. An’ remember, no matter what happens, I’m behind you. Your People are behind you. Also remember that you got hands.”

19

The Home Run Trail

“
N
o, I will
not go after her, Mr. Duane,” Leroy said. “The guy you been talkin’ to all these years is
dead.
There’s nothing to track her by. If I started pokin’ around, Donatore would be on me in a minute. Maybe
he’ll
find her. You don’t want that, I know.” Will didn’t reply.

“How’s Cass? You must be talkin’ to her. I never heard of a hospital tellin’ someone’s
father
he can’t talk to his daughter. How is she? Did you tell her about me?” Leroy couldn’t keep the edge out of his voice as he talked to Will on the phone.

“No, I didn’t, Leroy, and no, she didn’t ask. She’s fine, regaining what she lost in physical condition and in weight. They’re letting her work out a little, with a physical therapist.”

“What’s your plans for her, Mr. Duane?”

“Same plan as always …” Mr. Duane’s voice quit in the middle of a sentence. Line must have died. Leroy’s chest heaved up and down a few times. He couldn’t remember being so angry. If Cass was
alive
, she’d remember him. Sleeping was all he could do every night, her eyes never left his, once he got in bed and tried to sleep.

Now what was he supposed to do? He felt like going home. To the ranch, not Will’s fancy summer camp for Indian warriors.

“You ready to jump ship?” Doug phoned him unexpectedly.

“Yeah.” Hearing Doug’s voice unleashed him enough that he talked about his conversation with Will. “How’s Cass?”

“Mum’s the word, Leroy. I’m sure she hasn’t died. We would have heard about that. Will ain’t talkin’ and no one’s asking. I’m assuming he’s doing his ‘Daddy of the year’ deal. He wants Cass to love him and see him as her savior, not just the one who put her in harm’s way. So he won’t let anyone near her.

“If you still want to play ‘Leroy Watches as
My Fair Lady
 …?’”

“What?”

“It’s an old movie that Audrey Hepburn starred in,
My Fair Lady.
A snotty professor claimed a person’s accent and manners determine their social position. He trained up a pretty flower seller to take over London society. Which she did. That’s what we’ve been doing, but you’re not a pretty flower seller.

“Will loved your website, by the way. Ordered all your dad’s books.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. He said, ‘Why didn’t
you
know about this, Doug? This is significant.’ I told him I was a racist pig fooled by your skin color and the way you talk, so I didn’t look online, thinking you weren’t up to it.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. And I still work for him, but more as an advisor. You ready for your next job?”

“What is it?”

“Take over Italian society. I’ve got a tour of Italy planned. Good work at the Vatican: Leroy Watches walks in and the missing priest croaks.”

Leroy laughed. “OK. I’ll do it, what was that?
My Fair Lady
goes to Italy. What should I do …?”

“You’re going to spend a little more time in Rome, but the game plan is changing. You’re going to host dinner parties wherever you are from now on. That means people will be coming to your house and you’ll feed them.” Leroy felt his gut clench at the prospect of entertaining big wigs. “Don’t sweat it,” Doug said. “Use your staff.”

Doug provided him the guest lists and he let his staff do their thing. “I’m going to let you handle the table settings, Gianni. You know all that,” he said to the butler in his Roman mega-condo. “What do people like to eat here? In English.”

Gianni gave him a formal dinner menu with all eight courses.

“You know, that sounds good, but I’m American. How about if we give them a barbecue? Ribs and potato salad? Baked beans? I’ve got my dad’s recipes. He’s the king of barbecue. An’ we can have some strawberry short cake for dessert. Let me get in the kitchen with you all and we’ll cook up somethin’ people won’t forget. Be sure and have those little water bowls for your washin’ your fingers on the table. And extra napkins.”

His guests were shocked at first, putting plastic aprons over their designer clothes.

“Consider yourself guests at my ranch. My dad’s in the yard, cookin’ on the barbecue. It’s been under that oak for over a hundred years. You can look out the window and see the giant sequoias right over there.” Leroy pointed. “It’s the prettiest place in the world. Makes you feel like takin’ a ride. We’ve got some fine horses. Yep, we’re in California, the California of the buffalo soldiers.”

Leroy wasn’t aware of the change in his voice and how he used it to move people. The dinner could have been a disaster if the VIPs and nobility didn’t buy into his California theme and took offense at the plastic bibs and messy sauce. But they didn’t. They loved it.

“I’m so glad you could come,” Leroy looked into their eyes and shook their hands as they came and went. As his butler introduced his guests, Leroy remembered everyone’s name and who they were effortlessly. He’d always been able to do that. Word got around. After that first dinner, his guests requested barbecue in advance. He served like an impresario and his father’s recipes typed up so the guests could take them home.

Something disturbing came up. He was escorting a very high style and attractive young woman to the door. She was pretty well lit. Leroy didn’t drink, but he knew his guests would want alcohol. He went skimpy on that, providing wine and beer, but nothing harder.

The girl took his hand and caressed it, running her lips along the palm. To his dismay, his body responded to her. She leaned into him, drunkenly, but maybe not so drunkenly. After rubbing against him, she looked into his eyes and said, “I don’t have to leave.”

Leroy jumped away. He was going to be faithful to Cass, no matter if he had to lock himself in his room. “That’s so nice, Signorina. I’m leaving for Venice tomorrow at five a.m.” He bent over and kissed to top of her head, prying her torso off his person and pointing her out the door. Shoving, maybe.

That sort of thing had started happening all the time. Something had changed. He put on his beautiful new clothes and walked down the street as though he wasn’t an impostor. The clothes fit and he fit. His step was firm and sure. He looked people in the eye and met the companions Will had arranged without being nervous or feeling like a hick. He was a different person than the rancher who had arrived in Europe. Or he appeared to be, anyway.

Everywhere he went, Will set him up in beyond luxurious accommodations. Numenon condos in Naples and Florence. His condos and houses were fully staffed. He had felt bad sending Tom back to England, but he was so busy he didn’t need the young man’s company or a valet.

Will hired guides and teachers for him, so he learned about the painters and history of art. He saw more cathedrals than he knew existed and more museums. Leroy loved them. The paintings took his breath away. Originally, Leroy had forced himself to stay in Italy and not go home, but it turned out he liked everything, especially the food. And the sights. The people on the street. The art. Buildings. Museums. The women.

The stone monasteries with tile roofs. Monasteries where the nuns sang. He asked his guides to point them out. Nothing existed that could point to Kathryn Duane’s whereabouts—except in Leroy’s brain. He recalled every detail of the photo of the tile roof and its odd little gargoyle. Kathryn’s soul had absolved him from searching for her, but if he ran across that monastery, he’d know. She was Cass’s mother. She might need help.

He stayed at a villa in Venice. The front end of it was open to the canal. Carved stone furniture and luxurious pillows furnished the wide veranda. Silk draperies billowed with the wind. The place was beautiful and old and ornate. He liked Venice the best of everywhere he’d gone. A town without streets. The sun went down and the water and stone buildings glowed gold. The light was like opals and milk. He had a guide, as usual. They walked all over the city.

“Venice does not smell, as some say,” said his guide. Leroy hadn’t known that Venice was supposed to smell.

He hit a low ebb, surrounded by the splendor of Venice. He wanted to share it with Cass. He wanted to glide along a canal with her and feel the magic of gondoliers and moonlight. He’d looked into her eyes for a few seconds, but they had branded him forever. Will said she was doing fine, gaining weight. No, she hadn’t asked for him. He knew that was a lie. She remembered him. She wanted to be there with him. But Cass wasn’t the only one haunting him.

At night, he felt soft arms around him, smoothly covered with white flesh. He saw light blue eyes and nougat-colored hair. Lady Arabella. He buried his lips into her hair, only to have Cass’s tortured face leap at him, terrified.
Don’t leave me, Leroy. Don’t forget me.
He could hear her silent voice.

In the day, dark eyes caught his. Dark eyes and glossy black tresses. He couldn’t get away from the Italian women. The content of his dreams seemed to be broadcasting from his forehead: come to me.

His clothes became a problem. Silk boxers sliding across his buttocks. Fine cotton shirts slipping over his arms, touching his back. When he brushed his trousers, the feel of their fabric clung to his hands and lingered. Touches, sights, sensations.

Women. Leroy had never been bothered by sexual urges. Oh, maybe once in a while, but not like this. He felt like his body might set his clothes on fire. Or worse, he might throw off his clothes and go after one of the lovely signorinas that were
everywhere
.

He had no dinner parties in Venice. A few luncheons, mostly with businessmen, occasionally a woman. The women dazzled him. He wanted to run. The beauty of Venice was a temptress wanting to coil around him.

Leroy was delighted when Will sent him to Milan. Maybe the fire that Venice stoked would simmer down.

“It’s where Italian fashion begins,” Will said, “Go shopping Leroy, get the best.”

Milan was having a week of fashion shows. Leroy got ready for them without thought, putting on an easy-fitting, slubbed silk jacket with a finer black silk shirt under it.

He walked loosely, as though his joints weren’t quite jelled. His walk had changed since England. There he watched men move like they were holding a raw egg between their butt cheeks, very different from his rangy lope. That lope got him from his barn to the house efficiently when he was at his ranch. It didn’t work here.

In a sudden burst, he figured out how to walk like the elegant men around him. He slunk along on the balls of his feet as though he was trying to catch a spooky horse out in the pasture. Worked perfectly. He put an eagle feather in his ponytail for the fashion show.

“Oh, trés chic,” said the Fashion Woman Will hired to escort him, looking him up and down. His gut said she was as old as the Elders at the Meeting, but she had utterly smooth skin and teeth so white they glowed. She dressed like a teenager in shocking pink and shiny black shoes.

“We are going to the shows of …” she reeled off a bunch Italian names he’d never heard of. “We were lucky to get tickets.”

Leroy was glad he was wearing his eagle feather. Fashion Woman turned out to be the most normal person he saw, but one. Every place they went was an auditorium with a raised walkway. Every single one had a backdrop going up to the ceiling behind the stage. Movies were projected on the backdrop. They ranged from a multi-color waterfall to men wearing suits rolling around on the floor shoving their butts in the air. Loud rock music blared.

He couldn’t imagine anyone wearing the clothes anywhere. One show was built around women wearing tight-fitted pink panties with see-through pink jackets hanging open with no blouse underneath. People applauded. Some cried.

Leroy ended it by jumping to his feet and bolting for the door. Fashion Woman stood up, bewildered. The models were so thin; they were dying. They reminded him of Cass. Where was she? Was she dying?

He made it out to the executives’ parking and signaled their driver. Photographers were everywhere. They took pictures of him; they seemed to think he was famous. He waved his hand and shook his head, saying, “No”. Didn’t stop them.

Then he saw her getting into her limousine. She was older now, but she looked wonderful. Her hair was smoother and not bushy the way it had been. Her fine Creole skin glowed. She wore a skirt above her knees, showing off those great legs. Everything about her was beautiful. Not thinking, he walked over.

“Ma’am, I admire you more than any woman on Earth. I have been your fan as long as I’ve been alive.” Her bodyguard started to push him away, but she stopped him.

She looked Leroy up and down, the way almost every woman seemed to those days, smiling broadly. “Oh, my. You are
something fine
. Come over here, my young man.” She held his hand to her cheek through the car window. About twelve paparazzi jumped them, shooting wildly.

Her driver moved the limousine out of the lot.

Leroy wanted to invite her for dinner. The woman from Nutbush, Tennessee, would love his father’s barbecue sauce, no matter how high and far she had flown.