Page 5 of Beneath the Dawn

In Italian, the name Dante meant enduring or steadfast. Protecting those he cared about was in his blood, and he took the role seriously. He’d done just that with his godbrother Skylar, Silas Kingston’s only son. Two years ago, he had promised Silas on his deathbed that he would protect Skylar with his own life if it came to that.

Skylar got married last month and had connected with his siblings on his biological mother’s side, the Montgomerys. Dante knew Skylar’s new family were good people. And now that Skylar was in a good place in his life, Dante felt he could step away and concentrate on taking care of himself. That was the reason he was here, in Wild Rose Point. And he intended to use that time to rejuvenate both his body and mind.

As Dante flipped through the magazine, he thought back to his conversation with Marti. He’d told her that he was the general manager of the Ursala Hotels and Resorts, but he hadn’t gone into detail about what that job entailed. Being general manager was just a small part of it. He was also Director of Security for all of Skylar’s corporations, and there were plenty of them. His security team consisted of ten men and women who were experts in their field.

After he’d graduated from Harvard Law School with a concentration in criminology, criminal justice, and criminal law, he worked for a few years with the FBI before joining his father’s security firm. He would have to say that his most intense training came from working with his father, who had taught him the fundamentals of being street smart. Dante had an uncanny ability to extract what he needed to know from someone, simply through natural conversation. In other words, he could get people to start spilling their guts before they realized it. They would talk freely, not knowing he was taking in their every word.

Of course, there were times when a more ruthless, merciless approach had to be taken. Then, he allowed the spirits of his mafia-connected ancestors to dictate his every move. He was glad that it was something that did not happen often.

Still, because of his security background, he could always detect when something seemed off. And something had definitely been wrong with Marti’s initial reaction when she saw him that morning. There had been fear in her eyes, no doubt about it. And he couldn’t help wondering why.

Of course, maybe he’d just startled her. And though he had recognized her, she hadn’t recognized him. In fact, she hadn’t seemed to notice him at all, until he spoke. So, it would be understandable that he might have frightened her. Given the current climate, any smart woman would be on her guard if approached by a stranger.

So why couldn’t he get her reaction out of his mind? What he needed to do was stop acting as danger was everywhere, and just enjoy his time off.

Tossing the business magazine aside, he picked up another one that he had purchased that same day ─ Motor Sport magazine. He stopped flipping through the pages when he came across an interesting article and began reading.

***

Marti spread the huge towel on the sand and then eased down on it. She’d been looking forward to spending a day on the beach for so long. She reached for her huge tote bag that contained a book, her cell phone, a tumbler of cold water, and snacks. After settling into a comfortable position, she gazed out at the ocean, loving the sight of the huge sea stacks─those jagged-looking rocks in the ocean─not far from the shoreline.

She thought back to that summer. She and Kara used to swim over to the rocks, convinced at the time that it was a big deal. At least they had made it one. The Oregon coast was beautiful, and after avoiding this place for several years, she was glad she was back.

And so was Dante Avera.

It was hard to believe they were both here, now, in Wild Rose Point, and that he remembered her after all this time. But then, how could he not when he could have lost his life that summer because of her? The eight-year-old Martina.

She frowned. Malcolm had always preferred to call her Martina rather than Marti. His sicko friends had as well. That was why, when Dante had called her by that name earlier, she had panicked, hoping that the person who had been harassing her for the past month had not tracked her here.

There was someone out there who was deliberately making her life a living hell, just as they’d promised. A week after receiving the shrub, she’d received another surprise in the mail. This was a packet of pictures…of her. They’d been taken while she had been out shopping, taking her daily jog in the park, and watering the flowers in her yard. In all the photos, her face had been mutilated.

The police claimed that all they could do was beef up their presence in the area for a while. There were no leads--the person was very good at covering their tracks. As they suggested, she had installed security cameras around her home. Still, she hadn’t felt safe.

The final straw had come when she’d almost been run off the road while driving home the other day. She had considered calling Warren Overstreet to open an investigation, to find out who was harassing her, but decided not to bother. She had a good idea who was behind it. There was no doubt in her mind that Malcolm blamed her for Larry’s death. But how could he try to exact revenge while in prison? Did he have someone working for him? She just didn’t know.

What she needed to do was decide on her next move. Should she tell the police the entire story—something she’d avoided doing earlier? Doing so would bring everything out in the open. The fact that she had been a victim of sexual assault herself, and that she’d been the one who sent that report to the DA’s office. For years, both the media and law enforcement hailed the anonymous savior of the abused children as an angel, while actively trying to uncover their identity.

Was she willing to come forward and make the whole story public after all this time? She didn’t want to think about the media coverage it could generate and what it might do to her family. Except for her sister, no one knew what she had gone through. And she’d only told Kara when she’d had no choice but to do so.

She needed to carefully weigh the consequences of any action she might take. That was why she decided to leave town for a while. She had told everyone, including Kara, that she would be vacationing in London for a month, and had even gone so far as to purchase an airline ticket.

As much as she would have liked to confide in her sister, she didn’t dare. Kara was pregnant and in her condition, the last thing Kara needed was to be stressed out about anything.

Marti had left for the airport as planned--just in case she was being watched. She had even caught the plane to New York. However, instead of taking the connecting flight out of JFK to London, she had spent the night in New York, then flew to Wild Rose Point. No one knew where she was, and for the first time in a month, she wouldn’t have to constantly look over her shoulder.

Then again, maybe looking over her shoulder wasn’t such a bad idea. She would definitely be checking out her handsome neighbor each morning as he took his pre-dawn swim.

***

“What do you mean Titus has no idea where Martina is?” Malcolm Edwards asked in a steely voice, staring at the man on the other side of the glass wall as he spoke into the phone handset.

“All I know is that he tracked her to the airport where she took a flight to London. He would have followed, just to make sure she got there safely, but couldn’t leave the country while on parole. But he figures she won’t be gone long, and he will be watching for her return.”

Malcolm glared at the man, displeased that they were forced to choose their words so carefully. They had to be mindful that their conversations were sometimes being monitored.

The man shrugged and said, “Hey, I’m just the messenger. But don’t worry. I know how much you want to let her know you’ve been thinking about her.”

Clearly angered by this turn of events—and the fact that there was no damn privacy in this jail--Malcolm hung his head and released a few expletives. Titus Blinken had been released from the Sacramento prison last year after serving a ten-year sentence for armed robbery. Because Malcolm had been his protector against bullying by other inmates, Titus owed him.