part0017

He led her to a room walled with shelves spilling over with yellowed newspaper clippings. "Our morgue," he explained. "Where we keep the dead old stories. The newer stuff's on the computer, but anything more than five years old was before my time and is filed in here. Now let's have a look at Matt's file."

"Yup. An actual paper file. Everybody in town's got a file. Small-town press is nosier than the NSA."

He pulled out a file and set it on a table. "Let's see what we've got."

The folder was labeled DiPietros. Lori reached for the top clipping.

Football Team Sweeps Championship . Next to the headline was a picture of two young men, grinning, covered in mud, holding a football between them.

"The one on the left is Kyle Madrigal. And the other one's Matt, of course," Alec pointed out, but she knew. Even covered in mud, there was no mistaking Matt DiPietro from his rippling muscles to his devastating smile. But he looked younger, happier, without the weight he now carried.

"Old and New Meet in The Big Pass ," she read aloud. "What does it mean, old and new?"

Alec shook his head. "Old towns have old prejudices. It doesn't matter that the two of them knew each other since kindergarten. This town was founded on Madrigal land, and Matt comes from Wharf Flats. So the good citizens of Pajaro Bay will smile at Kyle Madrigal, but they'll always wonder whether Matt DiPietro is going to steal their car. The irony of course is that if anyone was a troublemaker in high school it was Kyle Madrigal. He was a real wild one back then. Matt was—" He broke off, and stared down at the picture.

"Matt was what?" She had to know.

Alec shook his head. "Nothing." He pushed that paper aside and shuffled through the stack. One clipping fell out of the stack onto the floor.

Lori bent over to pick it up.

Lori let Alec take the paper from her. "Her name was Juliet?" she whispered. I hate Romeo and Juliet , he'd said. Anything but that play.

Alec said softly: "They dated in secret all through high school. But it was after graduation, when they told their families they were going to marry, that everything broke loose. Her parents weren't about to let their precious daughter marry a wharf rat. Juliet joked that they were doomed lovers, that she was Juliet to Matt's Romeo, but nobody took her seriously. After she became a heroin addict her father slugged Matt's father outside Santos' market. Called him a filthy rat whose son ruined Juliet's life. But it wasn't Matt's fault. Millions of girls have parents who disapprove of their boyfriends—most of them don't destroy themselves to make a point."

"Mabel Rutherford didn't get the point."

"The Mabel Rutherfords of the world never get the point. But that's not what I brought you here to see."

Alec pulled out another story and began to read from it: "Local Connection in Gang Murder. Matteo DiPietro, son of local family, was arrested yesterday in San Francisco. DiPietro was alleged mastermind behind a drug dealing conspiracy at college campuses— "

Alec stopped reading and looked up at her. "He was acquitted."

"But that's not an answer, is it? He was acquitted because the witnesses disappeared."

Alec laughed. "The story gets more outrageous with each retelling. As I understand it, the witnesses were unable to remember what the killer looked like. The guy was three feet away from them, but apparently their eyesight failed them and at the trial they were unable to identify the killer."

It was hopeless. What had she thought she would find here? Something to excuse a brutal murder, and explain away the whispers of other, unproven crimes?

"Do you think Matt's a killer?" she asked.

Alec's grin vanished. "I don't care what Mabel Rutherford thinks: I will never in a million years believe he gave drugs to Juliet. His only crime in that case was in loving a girl from the rich side of town."

"But the murder? It was also about drugs. You think that's a coincidence?"

"Well," he said. "I've read every news report with his name in it. But if you asked me if the Matt DiPietro I knew back in high school was capable of committing the crimes he's supposedly committed, I'd have to say no."

He put the clippings back in the file. "But people are strange. Just when you think you know them, they go and do something unexpected..."

"It sounds like he had a lot of reasons to go bad."

Alec shook his head. "That's a dangerous line of thought, Lori. The world's an unfair place, and some kids get more breaks in life than others. But we're talking cold-blooded murder here, not stealing candy from the corner market."

He was right. She couldn't excuse his behavior. Whatever had happened to him, however he'd been wronged in the past, he was now someone she couldn't trust.

She gave Alec a half-hearted smile. "Thanks for your help. I've seen enough."

Matt looked up into a pair of vivid blue eyes that peered at him from beneath a wide-brimmed fedora.

"I'm not used to coming when called."

"I appreciate that, ma'am. Thank you for agreeing to meet with me."

Ms. Zelda settled herself into a chair near the bed. "I'm here because we apparently have a common interest."

"Then I might as well get right to the point," he said. "Lori can't go back to the island right now."

"I see. And why is that? Is she in danger?"

"Not directly. But she shouldn't be out there alone. There are, um, criminal elements in the bay area right now that could be dangerous."

"Really?" Ms. Zelda raised an eyebrow. "Criminal elements? Why don't you stop playing games and tell me what you want, Matteo."

Matt smiled. "I think we can be honest with each other, Ms. Zelda. You know what I am."

"Yes. I've done things that would make your skin crawl."

"It takes a lot to make my skin crawl, son. What crimes have you committed?"

"I'm not going to give you details, ma'am. Confessing to any alleged crimes would be dumb. But you know that Lori would be safer far away from people like me."

"Yes. Keep her with you for a couple of weeks. Here in town she'll be safe."

"If she gets hurt—"

"You'll throw me out a window. Got it."

"Don't underestimate me, son. I'm not kidding with you."

He thought of the rumors that she had gotten the role in Lady Versus the Mob because none of the studio bosses had the nerve to say no to her. "Nope. You're not kidding."

"Why don't you tell her yourself about the dangers?"

"She won't listen to me. But you can convince her it's not safe."

"What makes you think she'll listen to me?"

Nobody's going to tell me what to do, Lori's voice echoed in his head, and he wondered if he'd gone about this the right way, calling her aunt instead of Lori. But if she wouldn't listen to her aunt, she certainly wouldn't listen to the Shadow. Lori was from Ms. Zelda's world. "If you love her, you'll find a way to convince her to stay out of the way. You can do it. You're her family. You're not a killer."

"Neither are you," Ms. Zelda said.

"I don't know what you mean, ma'am."

"Don't you? All right. We'll let it pass. We're here to discuss Lori."

Those eyes bored into him. He had underestimated Ms. Zelda. A little old lady, he'd thought. She was too much like Lori. Sweet, waiflike, and soft on the surface, but then bang! She turned her sights on you and you were dead meat. He'd seen all her old movies. Lady Versus the Mob —that was the film where the gangster had taken one look at Zelda Potter and had gone willingly to his doom. Yup. Lori and her Aunt Zee were a bit too similar for comfort.

"Lori's a lot like me," Ms. Zelda said, and he wondered if she'd been reading his thoughts. "She just doesn't know it yet. She's had a couple strikes against her, and it's taking her time to learn what a strong person she really is."

"But with all due respect, she's not quite as tough as you are. She needs protection. She's so fragile, so vulnerable." He tried to put what he thought of Lori into words—without revealing how much he cared. "She reminds me of the character you played in Lost Love . I think it was Lost Love —the one where you shot the villain who was after your lover, but then died before he found out you'd saved his life."

"You're not planning on re-enacting that one, are you?"

"Of course not," he said. "And Lori isn't going to jump in front of any bullets for me anyway."

Ms. Zelda took off her hat and examined the feather on it. "Let me tell you a little something about Lost Love , my dear. My onscreen 'true love' was a violent drunkard I wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole. I had garlic for lunch before every kissing scene to keep the creep from getting lecherous. And the tough city streets were a dusty back lot that still stank of horses from the western shot there the previous week. Things are not always what they seem." A knowing look from those eyes. "Are things always what they seem, young Matteo?"

"I don't know what you mean, ma'am."

"Don't play dumb. It's your least convincing performance. I know a bit about acting, young man, and if you're a cold-blooded murderer, I'm an innocent ingenue."

Matt felt the floor drop out from under him. "No," he said. "You're wrong."

"It's all right, Matteo. Your secret is still safe. I only realized it now. I always felt there was something suspicious about little Matteo DiPietro turning into a vicious killer. But it all seems clear now, seeing you here, so desperately trying to convince me you're evil so you can protect my great-niece from harm. What are you, really, underneath the gangster persona?"

This was too much like talking to Lori. How did this whole conversation get out of his control so quickly? "This is what I am," he said firmly. "It's not an act."

"Just the same, I think it's time I had a talk with your mother. She knows me better than you do. I have a feeling she'll tell me the whole truth, if I ask her nicely."

He instinctively glanced around the room, as if he could spot the bugs that might be there.

She noticed, because then she said with a little grin, "Of course I know you've been involved in a lot of criminal activity, but I don't believe you would hurt my great-niece." She winked at him.

He must have looked stricken, because she added, "Relax, son. I'm not going to pin a note to the bulletin board at Santos'. You'd be amazed how many secrets I've kept."

He swallowed hard. "Yes, ma'am. But spreading false rumors can be dangerous."

"I know, son. But I will insist you come clean to Lori before you marry her."

Before Matt could think of a suitable response to that, George re-appeared in the doorway.

"And now your friend's back." She smiled at George. "Nice gold chains."

She stood up. "I'll go see if I can tell Lori what to do without her defenestrating me, and you get some rest."

"Defenestrate?" George asked as soon as she left.

"Throw her out the window," Matt said. "You get the dvd?"

George handed it to him.

"This, my good man, will explain all."

"There's a football game on the other channel," George whispered.

"Shhhh!" Matt responded "Shut up and watch."

The petite blonde slinked across the screen, all eyes turning to stare as she passed. Even in a scratchy black and white film, the resemblance was uncanny. Pale, wispy curls, eyes wide as she glared up at the vicious gangster: "You mess with my kid sister and I'll... I'll kill you."

The villain laughed menacingly. Dumb ox had no clue what he was up against. Didn't the guy know he was in a Zelda Potter movie? He didn't stand a chance.

They watched in silence, a small crowd of nurses and other patients gathering around them as the story wound its way to the inevitable conclusion.

"I warned you," Zelda said as she pushed the evil gangster out the window in the final reel. The man plummeted to his death, the look of surprise frozen on his face.

The woman turned away from the window. "I told him I'd stop him, one way or another," she whispered.

The nurses applauded. "You showed him!" one said.

"It's her eyes," Matt muttered, watching the screen.

"Her eyes?" George asked.

"They see right through you. You can't lie to them. They know you. They know who you really are."

George reached over and felt Matt's forehead. "You're getting delirious, man. The aspirin must've worn off. How long did the doctor say it would take for those antibiotics to kick in?"

"I'm not delirious," Matt responded, brushing away George's hand. But maybe he was. He stared at the TV, as if watching the ancient celluloid images would somehow help him break free of the spell.

But other images were burned into him. The sight of Lori. The heat of her touch. The sound of her voice, deceptively soft, but not able to conceal a razor wit.

"Wow," George whispered. "The spitting image. You guys weren't exaggerating."

Matt glanced over at George, ready to tell him to shut up again, but George wasn't watching the movie. He was staring at a petite blonde silhouetted in the doorway.

Matt grabbed the remote and turned off the movie. The audience booed. He felt as guilty as if he'd been caught watching Buxom Babes From Betelgeuse .

Lori stood in front of Matt, anger written all over her face. "We need to talk."

"Not here," Matt said.

She seemed to pull herself back from the emotion gripping her—which Matt believed was a good thing, because she had appeared to be about to strangle him.

George helped him down the hall to his room, and Lori followed close behind.

"You really do look like Zelda Potter," George said to her while Matt maneuvered himself back into bed.

"So I've been told," she responded.

"About a million times, I suppose. Listen, don't throw him out a window, okay? He's a good guy."

"I am not a good guy," Matt quickly corrected.

"Oh, right. He's not a good guy. How's the dog?"

"Didn't you take his dog? What was its name?"

"Shadowfax," Lori and Matt both said.

"Yeah, Shadowfax. That's from a book, right? What was that book about? Heroism and self-sacrifice or something like that?"

"Say goodbye, George," Matt said.

"Goodbye, George. I'll see you later, Ms. York. Please don't kill him."

Lori didn't smile. "I'm not making any promises."

Once he'd gone she laid into Matt: "How dare you go to my great aunt behind my back and order me to stay off the island!"

He put on his most dangerous expression and growled, "Just stay out of the way, kid. You've got no business here."

"You don't own the island. The historical society decides who can work at the lighthouse, not you. They wouldn't have given me the job if I couldn't handle it." She paced in the narrow space between the bed and the door. He'd never seen her so mad, even when he'd destroyed her radio.

But he pushed her harder anyway. "The hysterical society?" he sneered. "A bunch of blue-haired matrons trying to preserve the historical integrity of the town? When did they become experts on what it takes to live out on an island alone?"

"Aunt Zee invited me to come here."

"And now she's saying it's not okay."

"Only because you did something to scare her. What did you say?"

"It doesn't matter. You're not going back out there. You could get hurt."

"Hurt? I'm the one standing up, and you're the one in the hospital bed."

"I'm not hurt that badly."

"That's unfortunate."

He laughed. "Nobody's denying you have guts. But it's not safe for a woman to live alone out there right now."

"Charity Aiden lived alone out there."

"And rum smugglers threw her off a cliff. Come on, Lori. I know how smart you are. They're not smuggling rum these days. The stakes are high."

"What are you talking about? Nobody's smuggling anything." She paused, and then she got it. "Except you." Her eyes grew wide.

"Yeah. And don't get in my way, little girl, or you'll regret it."

She looked scared to death. He hated this. But this would keep her ashore.

"I should've let you freeze to death out there," she muttered.

"You don't mean that. That would make you as bad as me."

"And I'm not. But I'm not helpless either."

"No. You're not. You saved my life, Lori. I'm grateful. Now I'm trying to protect you."

"You mean you're trying to keep me from getting in your way."

"Okay, that too." Tell her the truth, Ms. Zelda had said. No. He couldn't. He had to stay undercover. Something else inside him warned that there was another reason not to tell—a reason having to do with risking his heart, with opening himself up to the danger of loving a woman far out of his league, far beyond anything he could ever hope to have for himself. He pushed that thought away. It was irrelevant.

"Stay in town, Lori," he said. "Don't listen to the Shadow. Listen to Ms. Zelda. Call the Coast Guard and ask them if you should be out there on that island alone right now. They'll tell you to stay on shore. Okay, you don't like to be told what to do. So hate me. I don't care. But keep yourself safe."

She seemed to waver, then nodded slightly. "I'll stay with my aunt for a few days. And I'll tell the Coast Guard what you said about smuggling." That was a threat.

"They can't catch me."

She glared at him. "You really think you can walk all over people. Not with me. Don't you ever interfere in my life again."

"Do you understand? You're right—I saved your life once because I'm not the kind of person who'd let an injured man die. But don't count on my softheartedness protecting you twice. Don't get in my way again. Don't mess with me. Don't tell me what to do. Don't even speak to me. I am not falling for your game, Matt DiPietro. Don't cross me."