Revengeful Deceptions (24 page)

“Dominique, I came by to say thank
you for the watch, it’s beautiful and the inscription is lovely as well. But I
also came by to give you your gift, I bought it weeks ago and I hope that you
like it.

Adam stared intently at Dominique
while she
unwrapped
the elongated box and opened it up
to see the dazzling vintage platinum tennis bracelet.

“Oh my god Adam, it’s amazing, it’s
beautiful, it’s...
it’s
gorgeous Adam.”

Out of habit, Dominique put her
arms around him and kissed him passionately, Adam returned her kiss but only
momentarily before pulling away. He could not get caught up in the kiss; he
knew that if he did he would become entangled forever. She meant too much to
him, he couldn’t risk her getting hurt. No, it’s better for me to suffer he
told himself.

“Dominique I can't, I have to go,
I
can't stay here with you. I just wanted to give you your
gift and say thank you for mine. Merry Christmas Dominique.”

“Adam wait, please! We need to
talk; there are so many things I need for you to know. Adam please don’t walk
away, PLEASE!” Dominique begged, but it was too late, Adam had already opened
the door and as the tears streamed down her face she picked up the box that
still held the bracelet and threw it, hitting him on the back of his head.

“I don’t want your fucking bracelet
she screamed, I never asked for this, I never asked for any of it but you can
rest assured that I mean to finish it Adam, get out! Get the fuck out!”

“Dominique I...”

As Pam went to console her weeping
friend, Rob stepped in front of Adam.

“Listen I think you've hurt her
enough buddy, it's time for you to go, and if you know what's good for you,
you'll leave her alone for good. You got that? Don’t come around here anymore
Adam.

The woman just got hit by a car for
god's sake, she needs to recover and rest. I know who you are Adam and I know
all about that scum bag brother of yours too and here I thought you were the
decent one, boy was I wrong, go home Adam and forget about Dominique, she's
better off without you.”

Adam let Rob steer him to the door
and push him out, he was broken, defeated. He had hurt Dominique so bad there
was no way she would ever forgive him,
it’s for the best,
he told
himself before getting back in the car and driving home for the holidays.

Dominique lay on her bed sobbing
like a child.

“Oh Dominique honey, I am so sorry.
What can we do to help Dominique, you name it and we'll do it.”

“There's nothing anyone can do Pam,
but I’ll be alright, I should be used to all this by now. You know what? No I
am not going to do this, especially not on Christmas Eve, god I wish I could
drink!”

“Well you can't so what's say I
pour you some sparkling cider and we try to salvage this Christmas Eve? Besides
we don’t want Santa to skip this place and he will if he finds a bunch of sappy
ass people moping around. Now let’s go wash your face and start getting you
cheered up.”

“Oh Pam I am so sorry! You guys
come all the way here to spend the holiday with me and look, I’ve done nothing
but cry and scream and curse. I am so very sorry Pam, can you please forgive
me?”

“Dominique you're pregnant, you're
hormonal already,” she joked. And you are a part of our family and believe me
when I tell you there is no place we'd rather be. You know what you can do to
make it up to us? Get out of this room and come and have yourself a Merry
Little Christmas,” she said with a smile. “And I mean that now come on lets go
young lady!”

“I love you Pam.”

“I love you too Dom,” she said as
she gave her friend a hearty hug.

While Dominique and her friends
spent the rest of their Christmas Eve eating, drinking and singing carols that
Dominique was sure were going to cause the neighborhood cats and dogs to join
in, Adam sat stone faced and heartbroken while all around him his family
celebrated the holiday.

After Pam and Rob left, Dominique
felt utterly alone. She had enjoyed their company so much; she was devastated
to see them leave. Once they had helped her get through the heartache that
seeing Adam again had brought her she was able to enjoy the rest of her
holiday.

She hoped that her many emotional
outbreaks had not harmed the baby. “It's just me and you kiddo, me and you,”
she whispered. Dominique knew that she had only a matter of days to pack
everything in her apartment.

  
She would be renting yet another storage unit, this one in Boston, she
would bring only what she needed and purchase everything else once she got to
Nantucket. Rob had given her a wonderful gift, the gift of a new identity. With
Rob's help, Dominique was able to secure a new driver’s license and social
security card. He was even able to get her a few credit cards bearing her new
name, Jocelyn Reid.

“This is just a precaution
Dominique, you’re to use these if you get in a bind or you want to do some
online shopping, open up a library card, things like that. I've also got you a
new insurance card so that you can take care of my little nephew,” he said
jokingly, Rob loved Dominique like a sister.

“Or niece,” she joked back. “Rob I
appreciate all of this thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome, and don’t forget
Dominique, if things get too hairy, you stop what you’re doing and run you hear
me? The minute you sense any danger you get the hell out of there okay? Promise
me Dominique.”

“I promise Rob, but let's hope that
it doesn’t come to that.”

Molly and Neal helped Dominique put
the last of her things in storage on December 30. Neal had put the unit in his
name and Dominique had paid off the rental for a year. The sale of the house
had gone through some months ago and she was glad. If for some reason someone
went to New Hampshire looking for her, they would find that she hadn't lived in
that house in years.
Leave the new owners at peace,
she hoped.

That night Dominique lay wide awake
in bed, she had waited 2 years for this to happen and now, in a matter of hours
it was all going to come to an end. Everything would be let out and when it was
all said and done, Brandon Caruso would either turn himself in or die.

As far as Jonathan Caruso, Muriel
had plans for that no good son of a bitch, and so did Molly and Neal. Jonathan
Caruso had not only covered for his no good son, but he has mistreated too many
people for far too long, especially his wife.

To think that he allowed her to
be raped all for some tuition money, and then he fires Neal. Poor Neal, gets
discharged from the military, lands a job as an investigator for the firm and
does one hell of a job at it, and gets fired by Jonathan just so he can make
room for that sleaze bag Brandon.

But I have no doubt that Muriel
will get the better of him once she gives him the ultimatum. Then there's Adam,
Adam was totally innocent until he decided to keep the truth from me.

But Dominique knew that she could
not be upset at Adam because of that, she believed that he did love her and
that he did it so that she could move on. She had thought that on the night of
Christmas Eve when Adam showed up that he wanted to make amends but that wasn’t
the case.
He's done with me and there's nothing I can do to change that.

After only a few hours’ sleep,
Dominique woke up to the sun rising high in the sky. As she got out of bed, the
first wave of nausea took over and she raced to the bathroom.

“Oh god, not today, please don’t
start with the morning sickness today little one I can't be late.”

  
Dominique was all too familiar with the signs of morning sickness from
when she was pregnant with Teddy. She remembered how the same thing had
happened within weeks of
she
and Stephen finding out
that she was pregnant. She remembered calling her doctor and asking if it was
normal, “Of course.” She was told by the nurse.

  
“That’s your body's hormones starting to build up,” she said. She also
remembered that she was able to ease it by eating and drinking the traditional
crackers and ginger ale. “I promise I’ll stop on the way to the penthouse
little one if you just give me enough time to get ready and go.”

  
Dominique sat in front of the toilet until the nausea subsided.

“Thank you.” she smiled as she
turned on the shower.

After her shower, Dominique dressed
warmly in a pair of denim jeans, tank and wool cardigan. She wasn’t sure what
the weather would be on the island so she put on a pair of ugg boots. It's
something she would have worn back in New Hampshire she thought to herself.
Taking one last look around and grabbing her bags, she locked up and headed to
the penthouse.

“We're all here Dominique, just
waiting on you,” said Muriel dressed casually and sipping her coffee along with
Molly and Neal.

“I'm on my way up, I had my first
bout with morning sickness, see you in a minute.”

Once inside, Dominique set down her
small grocery bag and began eating and drinking her crackers and ginger ale.

“Dominique are you feeling up for
this?” Muriel asked.

“I've never been more ready. Let’s
do this. Go ahead Muriel, make the calls.”

While Muriel made the necessary
calls to her husband Jonathan, and son's Adam and Brandon, Molly, Neal and
Dominique got out the supplies; heavy duty duct tape, plastic cable ties, and
box cutters for each of them. Three chairs were set out in the living room of
the penthouse.

  
Neal would be the one holding the gun. It was to be used for shock value
only she told him, but if anything went wrong, Dominique told Neal to use it.
“Just not on Adam,” she told him.

“They're on the way.” Muriel said.
“I did just like we rehearsed; I told Jonathan and Adam that there were police
and detectives here asking about Brandon's connection with Nick Kilarmo. And I
told Brandon that I had a check here for him, they'll be here in about a half
hour. Is everything ready?”

“Yup, all we do now is
wait
.” Dominique nodded at Neal who took his place directly
behind the front door. They only had to wait 20 minutes before Dominique
watched as Jonathan and Adam arrived together. “Okay they are together.”
Dominique spoke with authority, “Change of plans, Neal, you take Adam and I’ll
take Jonathan, he won't put up a fight if you’re holding a gun to his sons head
alright?”

“No problem Dominique.”

“Good but remember Neal, don’t hurt
him.”

Dominique’s heart began to race as
they stood quietly on either side of the door.
Please let this go as
planned,
she silently prayed
and don’t let anyone that I care about get
hurt
.

Just as the door opened, Neal's
military experience kicked in and he had Adam subdued within minutes. Dominique
simply pushed Jonathan, who was completely taken by surprise, to the ground and
had the cable ties around his wrists in a matter of seconds. Muriel smirked as
she watched Jonathan helpless and struggling.

Adam on the other hand was not
willing to go down without a fight. Not until he saw Dominique tying up his
father.

“Dominique what the hell is going
on?” He screamed as Neal held him in a choke hold.

“Adam, don’t fight, sit down and
relax, it'll all be explained once your brother arrives.”

“Muriel, did you have anything to
do with this?” Jonathan asked his wife.

“You’re goddamn right I did
Jonathan now sit down the both of you and let's wait for Brandon.”

Adam and Jonathan shared a
surprised look with one another before being forced to sit down. Neal returned
to his spot at the front door to await Brandon's arrival. He knew that if Adam
put up a hard fight, Brandon was going to put up an even harder one.

Dominique stood in silence as she
watched Molly and Muriel tighten the cable ties and bind her husband and sons
mouths with duct tape. Adam could not take his eyes off of Dominique, and she
returned his gaze as if to say,
you brought this all upon yourselves.

The room got uncomfortably quiet as
they waited for Brandon's arrival.

“Maybe I should call him again.”
Muriel said worried that Brandon was going to ruin the plan.

“Nope, get ready Neal; he's on his
way up.

Neal found taking Brandon quite
easy as Brandon had been up all night and was still hung over from his night of
partying. The nausea had returned but Dominique was determined to fight it.

Once they were all tied and bound
with cable ties and duct tape, Dominique began to talk, she wanted to start by
telling them a story, one they would never forget.

Chapter Twenty Three

“Good morning ladies and gentleman,
I’m sure you three are wondering why this gracious and wonderful woman summoned
you all here by telling you a lie. Well its simple, I asked her to. You see
gentleman I needed to tell you a story, a story that I only need to tell once
so I figured this would be the easiest way, so let’s get started shall we?”

Jonathan and Adam exchanged looks
while Brandon struggled to get out of his chair. Dominique did not like being
interrupted, especially by him. Walking over to him she leaned down and
whispered in his ear. “Brandon, you wiggle in your seat one more time, I'm
gonna shoot you dead, just like I shot your friend.”

Brandon had never seen such
coldness in her eyes. He sat still and remained seated.

“Now where was I? Oh yes my story.
So Jonathan, Adam, Brandon, I want you to sit back and relax, close your eyes
if you must, but make sure you listen and listen good because this is an
amazing story.  We start off in New Hampshire, it’s a quiet October night
and my husband Stephen and I are in bed, it’s almost midnight or so and the phone
rings, waking us up from our slumber.

It's our friend Beth, it seems that
our little boy Theodore has had a bad dream and wants his daddy to pick him up.
No problem said Stephen I’ll be right there.”

“Are you all following me? Nod if you’re
following me.”

Once the bound men nodded Dominique
continued.

“So Stephen, that's my husband;
gives his wife a kiss goodbye, that’s me, and tells her that he loves her
before he heads out the door. He hopes into his '66 mustang, he loved that car
by the way,” she says turning around to face Muriel and Molly. They smile and
nod at her because they know things are about to get difficult for her.

“Anyway, he goes to Beth's house
which is off of Route 101 and picks up Teddy. Okay now this part I have to skip
ahead a few hours because I was not in the car so I don’t know what happened
once Stephen picked up Teddy.

Of course only one person in this
room knows what happened but we'll get to that later. So it’s late and I’m
suddenly awake. I don’t know why but something makes me go and check in on my
boys, I mean here I am expecting to find Stephen and Teddy fast asleep in his
room right? WRONG! No one is there, it’s just me.

So I begin to panic as any normal
person would do right? I'm calling, and calling Stephen's cell phone but I’m
not getting an answer.  I'm about to drive myself insane so I call our
friends Rob and Pam and they rush over. Then the cops show up at my door and I
can't believe what they are telling me. They try to tell me that there was a
fatal accident and that my boys won’t be coming home ever again.

That their dead and that I don’t
want to see my little Teddy or my Stephen at their worst that I need to
remember them like they are in this picture. Look at this picture!” Dominique
screamed at them to look as she forcefully shoved the picture in each ones
face. Tears streamed down Adams face as he felt the extreme anguish spewing out
of Dominique.

“This picture is what the officer
handed me and told me what I should remember. You know why Jonathan? Brandon?
No? I'll tell you, it’s because my boys were so torn up they knew I wouldn’t be
able to recognize them, I couldn’t even give them an open casket you son of a
bitch do you know how that makes me feel? Do you know what it feels like to not
be able to say goodbye?

Do you?” Dominique shouted and
stomped over towards Brandon slapping him hard in the face. “Fuck you, you son
of a bitch! You took away my husband and you took away my son, my baby. He was
seven years old, seven years old and you took him from me you motherfucker.”

Rage filled her body as she began
to punch and hit Brandon repeatedly. Finally, Molly had to subdue her. 
Adam wanted so very bad to take her in his arms and hold her, he understood now
that keeping the secret that allowed his brother to get away with murder was
wrong if only he could tell her.

“Dominique,” Molly whispered,
“think about the baby, you've got to take it easy.”

Dominique had broken down in tears
but with Muriel and Molly holding her hand she continued. “I had no idea what
happened to cause the accident and neither did the police, but they found two
sets of footprints at the scene Brandon, and tire treads that belonged to a big
SUV.

An SUV that was no doubt
destroyed!” She said, glaring at Jonathan. “Oh they had no leads or witnesses
to go on so by and by the months go on, and I bury my son and husband. Still no
leads so they call the case cold, but I’ve got friends in high places Brandon,
just like you do except my friends work within the law not outside of it.

These friends do some digging on
their own and turns out the same night my boys are killed some drug dealers are
buying some cocaine, same time they finish up is the same time my boys are
driving home, home to me Brandon, except they don’t get very far do they. The
drug dealers get pulled over in New Hampshire and the suppliers are heading
back home to Boston. Then BAM BRANDON! Oh I’m sorry, did I scare you,
did
I make you jump? Don’t worry this story has a happy
ending, well for some of us anyway,” she laughed sarcastically.