Page 3 of Heartbeats Amidst Chaos: Part 2
Rissa couldn’t believe she was contemplating hiding evidence from the police, but that’s what it came down to. She couldn’t risk them drawing out some detail that they would later use to nail her down and discredit her if it came to her word against theirs.
Lifting her head, she looked at the clock on the wall above the one-way mirror. It was almost eight p.m. again, twenty-four hours after she had begun the graveyard shift that upended her life. She honestly couldn’t believe the two detectives were still on the job. She just hoped they wouldn’t decide to toss her in a jail cell and finish the interrogation in the morning.
Rissa was pretty sure she was already functioning on less sleep and more stress than either of them. If they kept going after herwhile she was in this state, they might get her to confess just about anything. She would have to be very careful about what she decided to tell them and how she told them.
Chapter three
“You could have at least taken me somewhere I could clean up and get decent,” Elio grumbled as Vince pulled into the open garage and closed the automatic door. “Don’t you think this will be the first place the cops check?”
“After your apartment,” Vince agreed without concern. “You can clean up here. Then, Nonno wants to talk to you—call it a debrief.”
Elio shook his head, frustration and anxiety vying for the top spot in his chest.
“This has nothing to do with the family,” he argued. His hands were sweating, and he wasn’t sure why. Vince would know any number of off-the-radar places where Elio could regroup and rest, but of course, his loyal cousin would always take him to their grandfather’s lair first.
Vince climbed out of the driver’s side without another word. With a groan, Elio pushed open his own door and slowly stood. He limped after his cousin into the house, pushing aside his misgivings. He was here now. He might as well face the music and get it over with.
As they entered the large kitchen, Iolana, Angelo’s housekeeper, turned from the sink where she was washing dishes. The middle-aged woman’s dark curls were piled atop her head, and her face brightened with a welcoming smile.
She clucked and tsked as she gave Elio a once-over.
“Boy, you look like you survived a bomb,” she said with a smirk.
“I feel how I look,” Elio replied, attempting a return smile.
“You go straight up to the first bedroom,” she said. “Everything is all laid out for you. When you’re ready, your grandfather will be waiting in the sunroom.”
“Got it.” Elio nodded. He took a deep breath. The scents filling the kitchen reminded him how hungry he was. It had been twenty-four hours with little more than a few vending machine energy bars and bottled water. “Hey, is there anything to eat around here?” he asked.
Iolana scowled at him, obviously grievously offended. “Have you ever been here when there wasnotsomething to eat?” she demanded. “You go get cleaned up and out of those bloody hospital duds. Then, we’ll talk about food.”
Returning to his grandfather’s house always gave Elio the feeling that he’d been sent back in time to when he was eighteen or nineteen. He wasn’t sure if either Angelo or Iolana realized that he was no longer a teenage boy who needed direction in his life.
Elio knew what he wanted to do with his life—or at least, he had up until twenty-four hours ago.
After seeing Elio safely into the house and greeting Iolana, Vince disappeared, so Elio was alone as he climbed the sweeping staircase to the second floor. He turned the doorknob on the first door he came to and entered one of many guest suites his grandfather’s staff always kept ready—likely for situations just like this.
Heading straight for the big bathroom, Elio turned the shower on as hot as it would go, then began slowly removing his clothes. It was tough going as every part of his body seemed to hurt. Here a sting, there a sharp piercing, elsewhere a throbbing ache.
As he gingerly pulled the blood-soaked shirt over his head, his mind flashed to Rissa gently helping him put it on. He could almost feel the brush of her fingers against his bare shoulders and smell the fresh sweetness of her hair. The memory of her ponytail falling over her shoulder and close to his face would not be forgotten soon.
Facing the mirror above the wide porcelain sink, Elio looked at himself for the first time since everything had happened. Iolanda was right—he was a disaster. His tan skin had a slightly gray cast. Turning his head, he could see the bristling arch ofstitches behind his ear. His torso was a mass of bruises and cuts. But it was the long line of sutures stretching from the middle of a huge red and purple bruise on his left side and up to the center of his lower chest that drew his eyes.
A few of the stitches had broken loose, and the entire wound was crusted with drying blood. Dragging his gaze from the gruesome sight, he met his own bloodshot eyes in the mirror.
You have got to put Rissa behind you,he told himself.She wants no place in all of this, and she’s way too good to get tangled up in your complicated family.
Because Elio knew it would always be complicated, no matter how he extricated himself.
He finished undressing and stepped into the steaming shower, letting it pummel him until his muscles relaxed, his skin tingled, and no one part of him hurt worse than another.
When he finally stepped out, he went to the cabinet above the sink, opening it to find an unusually comprehensive array of first aid items. It was a clear testament to the type of guests his grandfather usually received at the house.
Elio anointed his various injuries with antibacterial ointment and stuck a few butterfly bandages where the sutures had broken open on his abdomen. Then, he painstakingly dressed in the clothes that had been left on the bed for him and reluctantly headed downstairs to the sunroom.
When he entered the plant-filled sunroom, he found his grandfather seated in a cushioned armchair at the head of a well-spread table, sipping from a glass of red wine. Even though it was nearly nine p.m., the food was all breakfast fare: biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, and bacon. Elio’s stomach rumbled loudly as he caught a whiff of the tantalizing smells.
Thank you, Iolanda.
