Unbreakable:
Chapter I
Pine Valley, PA
"I'm sorry Mr.Marick, I'm so very sorry, but all the evidence we have indicates that your wife fell from the yacht last night and subsequently drowned."
The words had repeated themselves in Dimitri's mind, like an echo.
He hadn't wanted to hear them. After all, fate couldn't be this cruel. After everything they had been through; his devastating illness, Alex's terrible past, Charlotte's machinations; they had managed to overcome it all and emerge more in love than ever. And now Lieutenant Frye was telling him that Alex had died of a simple, preventable accident?
"You don't think I'm going to accept that, do you?" Dimitri had questioned.
"A police diver found a bracelet and a pearl necklace in the water, both of which you yourself admitted belong to your wife," Lt. Frye had tried to reason with him.
But Dimitri hadn't wanted to listen to reason. "There could have been a struggle, between her and someone else," he argued. "She could have lost the jewelry that way. Just because you find some of her belongings in the ocean does not mean she drowned!"
"Harold, one of the stewards on duty that night, admitted that the deck was slippery that evening due to the light rain. But there is also the blood stain," Frye had reminded him.
"You tell me you found a blood stain on the railing, and that you did genetic testing and you can guarantee me with a hundred percent certainty that the blood was my wife's, yet how does that her blood being on that railing automatically result in her drowning?"
"She could have slipped and hit her head. If she were unconscious when she hit the water, she would have drowned almost instantly. It would have been quick and painless. "
"You give me all these theories about what 'may have happened' and 'could have happened' and yet, you haven't found a body! But you don't have single witness who saw my wife on the deck and yet you expect me to just stand back, accept this and start planning a funeral? If you think that then you don't know me very well!" Dimitri had been furious.
"Mr.Marick," Lt. Frye, had continued, patient and gentle, "We could keep searching the water for your wife, but in all, honesty, the currents could have transported her miles beyond the harbor at this point. If we do find a body, it won't be pleasant sight."
"Go away. I don't want to hear this!"
"Mr.Marick I…"
"Please leave, Lieutenant." Dimitri had not been able to look at him any longer.
It had been two weeks since that conversation, and little had changed. There was no news from the police. Dimitri now spent most of his time waiting by the phone in the hunting lodge. He slept very little and ate even less. The frustration of being unable to do anything weighed heavily on him. He prided himself of being a man of action and now he felt completely and utterly helpless.
He was looking at a picture of her when he heard the door open, and Edmund entered.
"Dimitri?" Edmund was obviously shocked at how much the last two weeks had aged his handsome brother.
"Go away." Dimitri didn't look at him.
"Gillian, Eugenia, Sam and Maddie all loved Alex. We are planning a memorial service and we feel you should be a part of it. We need you to be a part of it."
"Alexandra is not dead."
Edmund hated to see his brother endure so much grief without letting anyone help him.
"You denying the cold, hard evidence that the police found, is not going to make it go away," he reasoned. "Alex would not want you to hold on to something that isn't there. Please, I want you to be there with us tomorrow when we honor her. The love she gave us and generous spirit that touched all of us. Please Dimitri."
Dimitri didn't say anything. Instead he waited patiently until Edmund left, then shook his head in frustration.
Near Brynn Wydd, Wales
Charlotte Devane stood next to Justin Black. Black was one of her top agents and one of the few men she trusted implicitly.
Then she turned to the sleeping form of her daughter on the bed.
"She's going to wake up soon," Black told her. "It will be good to have her back, but getting her to comply with us is going to be a challenge."
Charlotte smiled. "That's alright. I've never been one to back down from a challenge. Alex will come to appreciate her situation. I need her talents and she owes me. It's that simple. She had enough time to live her life as she pleased."
Charlotte heard Alex groan. Her daughter groggily opened her eyes.
"Well hello Sasha. Welcome home darling."