Page 15 of Tango
Fred nods. “We heard someone come in the back door and thought it was an intruder, so I came down the steps and found Alice standing in the hall, looking terrified and hurt. I was furious. My baby girl—someone hurt her.”
“She’d been shot,” Jemma says. “That’s the injury on her arm. I didn’t get a chance to see what it needed or pull out the glass shards embedded in the injury.”
“So she’ll need medical attention.” I make a note on my notepad. “Go on.”
“We asked her what happened, and she told us that she killed someone. Alice is the most gentle person I’ve ever known.”
“Was she always?” I question.
Jemma’s gaze narrows on me, and I can see the anger at my perceived insinuation. “Alice ran away from nearly every foster home she was in because they made her feel unwelcome. She was lonely, troubled, and maybe a little angry, but she was never violent.”
“I didn’t mean to offend, but if I have a clear picture of who I’m looking for, it makes it that much easier to find them.”
“She was always an openhearted person. And only got more so once she found her faith.”
“She’s religious?”
Jemma nods. “She follows God. Actually, she’s the one who got us to step further into our faith.” She sniffles and grips Fred’s hand with hers. “We never missed a Sunday after she moved in with us.”
They speak about her with so much love; you’d never know she was adopted. Much in the same way our parents talk about Lani. She’s family—blood or not—and the time apart was merely a prologue to a wonderful story once she became part of it.
“What happened after she told you she killed someone?” I ask. “That had to shock you. How did she act about it?”
“Of course we were shocked. But we never—even for a minute—thought she did it on purpose,” Jemma says.
Fred continues, “She wouldn’t let us call the police. Said it would put her in more danger. Then she told us that—” The front door opens, and Frank walks in.
Here we go. This is either going to go well or horribly sideways. “Mr. and Mrs. Sterling, this is Frank Loyotta. He’s Ramiro Caine’s uncle.”
Jemma is the first to stand. She rushes over and wraps her arms around Frank in a move that clearly surprises him. “I am so sorry, Frank. You have to know we adored Ramiro as though he were a member of our family. He was such a good friend to Alice.”
She pulls away, and I can tell that Frank is barely keeping it together. His bottom lip quivers with the weight of his pain.
“You believe he’s dead too, then?” he asks.
Jemma looks back at her husband, almost as though she’s trying to decide if she should answer. “Alice said they killed him before they tried to kill her too.”
“Who killed him?” Frank demands.
“She didn’t say. She told us that she’s in trouble and that they killed Ramiro.” She wraps her arms around herself, and her husband stands to pull her in. “Why did she run off? We should have stopped her.”
“If you had, it’s possible she’d be in a cell right now, which would make her even more of a target.” I turn to Frank. “Alice seems to think someone at Web Safe is behind this.”
His face reddens. “Why?”
“She said that, if she got caught, she’d get tossed in a cell where Web Safe will find her. She seemed pretty scared.”
Frank considers that. “I don’t have any contacts over there—aside from Ramiro—but I can ask around. See what I can find out.”
“Just be careful,” I tell him. “If they are behind it, and they get the sense you’re looking for information, you could become a target.”
“I dare them to come after me.” He growls then shakes his head. “No, I don’t want to invite trouble. I’m just so—I’m so angry. He deserved better, you know?”
My mom crosses over and wraps her arm around him. “The boys will find answers,” she tells him. “And they’ll make sure justice is served.”
He nods, tears shining in his eyes. It breaks my heart that he’s the one now living a nightmare when he works so hard to do good. It’s evidence that, oftentimes, bad things happen to good people, and while we may not understand why, God always has a plan.
Even when it’s impossible to see.
