You are Mine (9 page)

Brian gestured towards a chair. “To what do
I owe this unexpected visit? And make it quick, please. I’ve got a
staff meeting in about half an hour.”

“This won’t take long. I have some news, and
I was in the neighborhood so it was easy just to stop by. It’s
about Brickman.”

Brian sat forward. “What about him?”

“They’ve found him. He --”

“Where?”

Jack held up a hand. “Wait. Let me finish.
They found him in Italy. A man and his wife on a small island near
Naples called Procida were reported missing. The wife’s mother told
the local police that her daughter had been spending a lot of time
at one of the larger villas, which was being leased by a bunch of
Americans, including two brothers, and one of the brothers was with
a woman. When the police went to the villa, they found it empty of
people. What they did find, however, was freshly turned earth in
the back of the house. They dug and found the bodies of the couple,
Brunetta and Victor Ricci. She’d been dropped from a great distance
and he’d been beaten to death.”

Brian frowned. “Why do they think it was
Brickman?”

“Some of the islanders had done day work at
the villa, and when questioned, the men they described sounded like
Brickman and his brother Jonathan, and the description of the woman
sounded like Ida Martinez. But even more importantly, some of the
things the workers overheard made it even more likely that it had
been Brickman.”

“What did they hear?”

“Apparently, Brickman and his people just
assumed the workers didn’t understand English, but many of them
did. Some of them heard discussions around his drug and arms
businesses. Caroline’s name came up.”

Already anxious, Brian stiffened.

“Someone heard Brickman and his brother
discussing her. They at first referred to her as the artist, but
then one of them said her name -- her maiden name. The worker is an
art lover and recognized her name, even though she’s relatively new
to the art scene.”

Furious now because even thousands of miles
away, Brickman was still obsessed enough with Caroline to talk
about her, Brian had to force himself not to destroy something.
“What did he say about her?” he asked in a voice that was barely
understandable.

“He still wants her,” Jack said simply.
“Now,” he began before sitting back in his chair. “What do you
need?”

***

BRIAN walked into the dance school and
followed the strains of
This Old Heart of Mine
to the back
of the building where he encountered a huge room with hard wood
floors and mirrors covering all but one of the walls. He saw Jae
sitting in the corner of the room and nodded to him in greeting.
He’d already phoned ahead and told him the news about Brickman.
Brian’s gaze then found Caroline. She stood with three other women,
her friends K.K. Patrickson and Tracy, and her ex-sister-in-law,
Cat Singleton. Beautiful women all, they wore the same outfits. On
top of the go-go boots and fishnet stockings, they wore
mini-dresses with hems that at most reached seven or eight inches
below their waists. The dresses were sleeveless with black mock
turtlenecks and black vertical lines going down the centers and
separating large blocks of colors; yellow and white on the top and
blue and white on the bottom. The white squares were diagonal to
one another, giving the dresses a geometric look.

Ron Isley’s and Rod Stewart’s version of the
song was blasting through the speakers and the women practiced
their dance moves. Unaware, he thought, that they had an audience.
A few men leaned against a mirrored wall watching the show and
grinning appreciatively. The women were facing the only wall
without a mirror, and he would bet everything he owned that that
had been Caroline’s idea because he knew she wouldn’t want to watch
herself.

He watched as the women simultaneously
raised their arms one at a time into the air and then yanked them
back down again, rhythmically in tune with the jerking of their
torsos.

“I think I’ve got it now.” He heard Caroline
say excitedly. The other women stopped to watch her, and to the
beat of Rod Stewart crooning about his heart being weak for the
woman he loved, she bent her knees a bit and wriggled her hips as
she fluidly brought her arms up and in front of her so that they
crossed one another before she brought them back down. The hem of
the dress rose dangerously close to a behind that now moved
sensuously and seductively, making Brian lift a brow. She repeated
the move several times.

Brian watched the close fitting material
tighten over her butt for a fourth time, heard a low whistle escape
some male interloper’s throat and thought everyone had seen enough.
He knew he had. He walked across the floor and deliberately stood
right behind Caroline so that the other men’s view of her was
effectively blocked. “Hi, ladies,” he said, making them all turn to
look at him in surprise and then one by one, greet him with a hug
and a kiss.

“You guys almost finished?” he asked after
he’d hugged Cat and was reaching for Caroline.

She hugged him briefly and pressed a
close-mouthed kiss to his lips. “Hi. We’ve actually been finished
for some time, but they all agreed to stay with me and practice
until you got here. Did you get to see any of the rehearsal? What’d
you think? Think I’m up to snuff?”

“Oh, you’ll more than do,” he said wryly.
“Just ask those guys.” He indicated the men behind him with a flick
of his thumb over his shoulder.

Frowning in confusion, Caroline leaned to
the side so she could see around him. She lifted a brow. “Hmm,” was
all she said before kissing him on his chin. “Just give me a few
minutes and I’ll be ready to go.”

Brian nodded. “Sure, unless you want to stay
and practice some more.”

“No, that’ll do it for the day.”

“I take it Lee’s gone,” he said.

“Yeah, a little while ago. He had to leave
immediately after rehearsal. So did the choreographer for another
class.”

“So, how’d it go? You four ready for Friday
night?”

K.K., who was the same height as Caroline,
but sported a more voluptuous figure, said dryly, “As ready as four
unprofessional dancers with a total of a scant three years of
girlhood dance school experience between them will ever be.”

The women all walked across the room and
began to gather their things. As Caroline put on her coat and began
to belt it around her waist, Tracy said something, making Caroline
throw her head back as she laughed with everyone else, her eyes
sparkling with good humor. Looking at her, Brian wished he didn’t
have to tell her what he’d found out about Brickman. He knew he had
to though, as the last time he’d tried to keep something from her
regarding the man, she’d hit the roof. He sighed as he thought
about the fight they’d had about it.
Learned my lesson that
time.

He walked over to the group, deciding that
he’d wait until they were home to tell her. He took the slender
hand she held out to him, and holding it, left the building.

Chapter Six

Caroline aimed her camera on a happy faced,
chubby-cheeked six-year old and after adjusting the lens a bit,
snapped a series of pictures. Sitting atop the cheetah of the
endangered species carousel at Lincoln Park Zoo, the little boy
laughed delightedly just as his animal began to swoosh past where
Caroline and Brian were standing behind the barrier. “Too cute!”
Caroline exclaimed and lowered her camera. She looked over at
Brian, who was leaning back against the barrier and looking into
the distance. Her smile disappeared. She hated the situation they
were in and wished they could somehow wipe Alexander Brickman off
the face of the earth. Since he’d given her the update on the other
man the day before, Brian had been pensive and unhappy. She studied
his strong profile fondly, loving every inch of his six foot frame.
She brushed at some hair that had fallen over his forehead, causing
him to focus his attention on her.

She smiled gently and with sympathy. “Aw,
honey. I know it’s upset you that our least favorite bad guy has
left Italy, but maybe you could look at it in a different way,” she
suggested as she stroked his cheek.

“What way would that be?”

She let the camera hang free from the strap
around her neck and straightened the collar on his light blue
Oxford. “Well, it got us outside and into the fresh air because you
thought to cheer me up with a trip to the park and the zoo
today.”

Head cocked, Brian appeared to think about
it for a moment. “Yeah…sorry, no,” he responded with a shake of his
head, “but that doesn’t brighten the old mood any.”

Caroline pulled on the tab of the zipper on
his navy ball jacket until it reached the top, closing the metal
teeth. “Well, how about the fact that I love you even more knowing
that the zoo is the last place you would ever choose to go to, but
you chose it anyway because you know I like coming here for
inspiration? And if that isn’t enough,” she whispered as she kissed
his chin, “how about the fact that I’m going to reward you
handsomely for your sacrifice when we get home?”

This drew a lewd smile from him. “Really?
Just what exactly will be my reward?”

“I’ll let you have first dibs on the
television and the ice cream.”

In the process of nuzzling her ear, Brian
stopped, paused briefly and then burst out laughing. “Gee,” he said
between chuckles, “that’s mighty big of you.”

Pleased that she’d brought him out of his
mood, she said, “Seeing as how the dish has practically become a
staple for me, then yes, I’d say the offer
is
mighty big of
me.”

“I know what you’re doing, and I thank you
for it, but I’ll be fine. I just wish we could somehow bring the
bullshit to Brickman, you know? I’m sick and tired of
waiting
for him to make his next move, giving him all the
control. I want to take it back.”

Caroline nodded. “That’s the worst part of
it, feeling as if we have no power. What can we do, though? We have
no idea where he is and when we’ll see him again. The only thing we
can be even minimally sure of is that we
will
see him
again.”

“And Ida too.”

She shook her head. “You know, as fanatical
as Ida was when we knew her, I still can’t wrap my head around the
fact that she’s actually caught up in all of Brickman’s
craziness.”

Brian snorted. “‘Caught up?’ That implies
that it’s out of her control. Trust me; she’s doing this --
whatever it is -- of her own free will. Ida is in it because she
wants to be, and to get whatever she can from the situation.”

“I suppose so,” Caroline said and backed up
against him as a group of pre-schoolers trooped past like a line of
ducklings following the mama duck. She smiled. As usual for a
weekday, the zoo was swarming with groups of school children.

“At any rate,” Brian said, “I’d rather not
think about her. I’ve got to figure out a way to wrest control away
from the sick little fucker.”

Caroline had started taking pictures again,
and said distractedly, “Maybe we can do that through Ida somehow.
Perhaps she can be of help to us for once.”

She paused because Brian was looking at her
quite intently, but she could tell that he wasn’t really seeing
her.

“Ida,” he mumbled.

Caroline didn’t say anything. She’d learned
to keep her silence when he was like this, so as not to interrupt
what he liked to call his rare moments of brilliance. She focused
on her surroundings again, immediately getting wrapped up in the
sights and sounds. The zoo was a favorite attraction of city
dwellers and was free and open every day of the year. She’d been
coming since she was a child and never grew tired of it. The
carousel was a relatively new addition and was located near the
east entrance. Caroline often positioned herself there because it
was one of the biggest attractions and usually afforded her too
many subjects to count.

The Gateway Pavilion, a two-story red brick
and glass structure with a small dome fronting it, served as a
visitor’s center and inevitably captured her attention before she
left the zoo. She headed over to it now, but not before snagging
Brian’s hand in hers to drag him along with her. “Gateway
Pavilion,” was all she said and still looking as if his mind were
somewhere else, he nodded and followed her.

She searched for Jae to make sure he was
aware that they were relocating and was unsurprised to see him
moving smoothly a couple of feet behind them as they snaked their
way through the hoards of little people running, jumping and
screaming in their excitement. After about a half an hour getting
lost in her own world in which nothing existed but her, her camera
and several unwitting subjects, she finally looked up. Brian and
Jae were talking to one another, but both had their gazes on her.
They’d obviously been following her as she’d walked around the
Pavilion and up the couple of dozen of wide, concrete stairs near
it. She smiled, thinking that she was probably the most protected
person at the zoo that day, up to and including the newly walking
toddlers who had more determination than actual balance.

She studied Brian. The pensive look was all
but gone, and he even laughed at something Jae said as she
approached them. “Hi, guys. Thanks for keeping up with me. I’m
afraid I got so engrossed in everything that for a little while I
forgot you were here. I take it you two geniuses have a master
plan,” she said to Brian.

He smiled and threw an arm around her
shoulders. “Is that sarcasm I hear from those usually adoring lips?
At any rate, it’s not exactly a master plan, hell it’s not even
brilliant, but it is enough to make me stop feeling so damned
helpless.”

“Good. What is it?”

“It’s pretty simple, actually, and you gave
me the idea when you mentioned using Ida. We can’t get our hands on
her, of course, but she does have a sister. Her name is Rose and
last I knew her she was still living in the area, whereas their
parents retired to Florida a few years ago.”