§ § § -- October 1, 2004
The triplets, once bathed, changed and fed, had had a peaceful night; having had their most basic needs met, they became contented and sleepy, and conked right out once Leslie settled them in their bassinets. Leslie's night had been less restful, and by seven she was wide awake and could no longer contain herself. She had to know whether Christian had made it through the night. She made a quick check on her children and saw that Karina was awake, though her brother and sister slept on; the infant smiled broadly at her, and Leslie grinned back, glad at least that her children were safe so that she could devote all her hope to Christian. "Come on, sweetie, Mommy's going to call the hospital and find out if Daddy's getting better." She slipped out of bed, lifted Karina from the bassinet and padded down to Roarke's study.
She shouldn't have been surprised to see him at the desk; he looked up and smiled at sight of her with the baby on her shoulder. "Good morning, Leslie and Karina."
Leslie shook her head, chuckling. "She's not even looking at you, and you still know which girl it is. Karina, sweetie, your grandfather's a very unusual man, all right." Roarke chuckled too, and she sat in one of the chairs, settling Karina in her lap so that the baby could watch Roarke. "I wanted to call the hospital…"
Roarke nodded. "I knew you would be anxious, and I did that as soon as I came down this morning. They say Christian is stable and holding his own, and that the morphine wore off completely sometime past nine last evening." He sobered a little. "Of course, he is still under the effects of the atropine, and I am told that once the morphine had worn off, Christian had at least two convulsive episodes during the night. They've administered an antidotal drug and given him Valium to control the convulsions, and as of fifteen minutes ago he was resting quietly. He's unconscious, but that is due to the antidote's effect, and it allows him to rest. So try not to worry."
Leslie sighed heavily. "It's hard not to, but at least he's still with us." She met Roarke's gaze. "I think once I've fed and changed the triplets this morning and we've had breakfast, I want to confront the Komainens. They spent most of my marriage to Teppo making my life miserable in some way or another, and I'm fed up with not knowing why they persist in this…vendetta against me."
Roarke nodded. "That's understandable. To tell you the truth, I find myself curious about it as well. Very well, let me know when you're ready to go, and we'll leave the triplets under the supervision of Mariki and her staff."
It was not quite ten when they left the house, with the triplets in the kitchen being entertained by the women working there. They decided to walk; the morning was warm and sunny, with just a few small cotton-puff cumulus dotting the expanse of blue over their heads. The walk helped Leslie relax and think of some of the questions she wanted to ask; by the time they reached the police station she was reasonably composed.
Mei-Lian smiled when they came in. "Are the babies feeling better?" she asked.
"They're much happier," Leslie said, "and I'm a lot more relieved, though I'm still very scared for Christian." She glanced toward the back of the front room and scowled. "If I lose him, those three in there will discover a whole new level of hatred—mine for them, which is going to far outstrip theirs for me."
"It's hard to blame you there," admitted Mei-Lian. "Well, good luck, Leslie." She let Leslie and Roarke through the door into the back room, where four policemen stood, two of them clearly about to go out on their regular patrol. They greeted Roarke and Leslie; then the patrolmen quietly wished her luck and departed. The sheriff sat behind his desk, while the deputy peered across the room at the maximum-security cell where the Komainen siblings were being held. Unlike the other cells, whose front walls into the main rooms consisted of bars, that room was fronted by a solid wall, with a door that was operated by a touch pad beyond the reach of prisoners inside.
"They've been pretty quiet," the deputy observed, "but I have a feeling that once they see you, Miss Leslie, there'll be a lot of invective. They seem to have the impression that they succeeded in killing Prince Christian. We haven't disabused them of the notion yet—we figured you might like to see their reactions when you tell them the news." He grinned a little, and Leslie chuckled soundlessly. "Anytime you're ready."
Leslie turned to Roarke. "Will you stay, Father?"
"Of course, Leslie," he assured her. "After what they have done, I have no intention of leaving you to their tender mercies. Deputy, if you'll do the honors…"
The deputy nodded and crossed the room to the cell. The door here was simply a large rectangle of narrowly-set vertical bars, with three horizontal bars at the top, in the middle and at the bottom for bracing and stability. Roarke and Leslie sat down a safe distance beyond the possible reach of anyone inside, and the deputy said tersely, "Okay, you three, you have visitors."
Leslie watched with a carefully expressionless face as the three prisoners got off their bunks and gathered at the door. The moment they spied her, their faces filled with loathing that Leslie felt sure was no less intense than hers for them. "Well, look who's here," sneered the slight young man. Leslie recognized Niilo, the second-youngest of the Komainen family and the youngest boy. "You must enjoy our abuse."
"Look what we have here," Leslie replied evenly, meeting his glare. "A career loser."
"So is he dead yet?" demanded the young woman impatiently. Liisa Komainen, Leslie noticed, might have been pretty if not for the cruel glint in her gray eyes. They'd all been like that, she recalled. Teppo and his siblings had shared enough facial features that there was no mistaking they were related: they all had the slight cleft chin, the fine, dead-straight light blonde hair, the gray eyes, the lean, sharply carved jaws. And somehow, the five youngest had all had the same cruel gleam that Leslie now saw in Liisa's eyes.
Unexpectedly Roarke spoke. "I'm surprised you don't know, young lady. After all, I understand you are trained as a nurse, and surely you remember what dosage you gave Christian in your attempt to kill him."
Leslie stared at him. "She's a nurse? I'd never trust her in any hospital!"
"How did you know that?" Liisa demanded, as if she hadn't heard Leslie.
"I know a great many things," Roarke replied calmly. "You are on my island, and I make it a point to know all I need to know about anyone who wishes to come here. When my daughter realized it was you three who had taken her husband and children—well before you wrote her that note, I might add—I asked her to tell me about her life while she was living in Finland; and when we received the note, I made further inquiries. I find it reprehensible that you wasted your medical training on petty revenge, Miss Komainen."
While Liisa gawked at him, momentarily stunned speechless, Niilo folded his arms over his chest. "What else do you know, then?"
"Plenty," Roarke assured him. "I know full well that you've ordered your lives around a worthless vendetta based on a series of lies fabricated by you."
Niilo exploded at that. "She killed our father and our brother! She deserves to be punished for that, and we attempted to deliver that punishment!"
"You dirty little crook," Leslie lashed out, losing her cool. "You were already showing signs of turning into a juvenile delinquent even back when I was married to Teppo. You were a school bully from your first day, and generally you were just a little insect I'd have been more than happy to step on. I can't say I'm surprised that you went into a life of crime. You seem to be as insane as your mother was."
She watched with a faint smile while Niilo's face reddened and he began to spit invective at her in Finnish. The tall, bulky male, Antti, rolled his eyes and cuffed his younger brother so hard on the cheek that even the cops winced. "So, the frightened little girl has learned to fight," he observed almost lazily, scanning Leslie from his vantage point against the doorjamb. Niilo, thrown to the floor by Antti's blow, slowly reached up and massaged his face with great care.
"You could say that," Leslie agreed tonelessly. She studied him for a moment, recalling him as the most intellectual of the family. It seemed incongruous with his bulk, since Antti Komainen had been a diligent bodybuilder in his younger days; but he was a very intelligent, somewhat introspective man, who rarely said anything without thinking about it first. His insults and accusations had cut deeply, and even now she had to hide her nerves, for fear he'd deliver another stinging blow. His insults had been nothing if not original, even if they hadn't been true.
Antti said nothing for a moment, still giving her a thorough once-over; then he asked, "Tell me, now, how could a scheming, icy-hearted little killer such as you attract a prince? You were nothing—some useless little orphan girl from the end of the earth, not worthy of our brother, to say nothing of a crown prince from a ruling family."
Riled already, Leslie lost a little more of her calm. "That does it!" she snapped, shooting out of her chair in an instant. "I'm sick beyond belief of listening to your lies about me! Where did you get the stupid idea that I killed anyone in your family? Why do you insist on believing your own filthy lies?" She saw Antti's little smile and knew she'd lost yet another round to him, but at the moment she didn't care.
"They are not lies," Liisa spat. "They're the truth. You're a killer and you know it."
"Prove it," Leslie spat back at her. "Right here and now—prove it."
"The proof lies in the ground," Antti said, still in that lazy voice, as if somehow Leslie were the prisoner and he her interrogator. "Our father perished on this island nearly twenty years ago, and you allowed it to happen."
"Is that so?" Leslie retorted. "I'd like to know where you get your information, since you think you know everything. You weren't even here when it happened. Do you have some kind of ESP, or did you consult your crystal ball?"
Liisa muttered something in Finnish; Antti, looking astonished, stared at her. Finally he nodded once or twice, as if in approval. "Hmm…so the kitten has claws. Perhaps even a bit of a brain in that silly head."
"Everything you touch is doomed," Liisa broke in, sounding a little manic now. "You bring death everywhere you go, Leslie Hamilton. Why did you have to insinuate yourself into Teppo's life and condemn him to an early grave?"
Her second sentence froze Leslie, and out of nowhere she remembered her initial refusal of Christian's marriage proposal because of her belief that she was a jinx. Her sisters, her mother, her grandmother, Teppo, Tattoo… "No," she whispered. "Not again."
"You will cease your juvenile attacks, young lady," Roarke said sternly, his voice laced with a carefully controlled anger, "and you and your brothers will listen to the truth. If you refuse to believe it of Leslie, then perhaps you'll believe it of me. The day your father died, Leslie and I found him and your mother unconscious in their bungalow and Teppo missing. We had no way of determining how long they had been so. On my order, Leslie called for an ambulance, then promptly left the bungalow to search for your brother. It was I who stayed with your parents and followed the ambulance to the hospital. Unfortunately, the demon possessing Teppo had done too much damage for your father to survive."
"Why should we believe you?" Antti wanted to know. "After all, you're an influential man with your own island, and it's said you have strange powers—including the power to brainwash those who live here into being blindly loyal to you. What reason is there for us to accept what you say?"
"Not only that, but Leslie's your daughter, and of course you're going to believe her side of the story," put in Niilo from the floor. His voice sounded odd, as if Antti had knocked out some of his teeth, but he was understandable.
Roarke regarded them with a glint of pity in his dark eyes. "It appears that you'll accept nothing less than the most drastic possible testimony," he observed quietly. Leslie stared apprehensively at him, and for the first time the Komainens looked doubtful. Roarke took in their reactions, smiled at Leslie, then turned to the deputy and the sheriff. "If you two gentlemen would kindly leave us alone here for a few moments," he requested, "I will have Leslie summon you when we are ready again."
"Mr. Roarke, are you very sure?" the deputy asked.
"I know what I am doing," Roarke assured him. "Thank you for your concern."
"Come on, Bailey," the sheriff said, rising and heading for the door. "Mr. Roarke can take care of himself…and Miss Leslie too. Let's go." The deputy shrugged and preceded the sheriff out the door into the front room.
When the sheriff had pulled the door shut behind him, Roarke told Leslie to close the slats of the window blinds. Then she came to stand beside him while the room darkened even beyond the dimness created by the closed blinds. Only Roarke stood in a dim pool of light, his dark eyes open but unfocused, face raised in mute appeal. The light reflected just enough off nearby objects that Leslie could see the Komainens staring at Roarke, looking bewildered and distinctly nervous. Good, she thought, at least they have enough sense to respect Father and what he can do. Even Niilo, apparently the least sane of them, looked wary.
Perhaps five full minutes passed, and just when the Komainens began to exhibit impatience and skepticism, two forms shimmered into life almost directly in front of their cell door. Liisa screamed and stumbled backward; Antti and Niilo gaped openmouthed. Leslie recognized Teppo and Jaakko Komainen, their forms slightly indistinct and transparent, but very clearly there. Suddenly fearful, unsure of how Teppo's ghost would receive her—and of how she felt about him, knowing that Christian was in fact the love of her life—she edged away, trying to lose herself in the deeper darkness.
"It seems you have trouble here, Mr. Roarke," remarked Jaakko Komainen in the same faintly uncertain English Leslie remembered hearing so long ago. "My children have certainly gone to low things in these years."
"I am afraid so, yes, Mr. Komainen," Roarke agreed regretfully. "Perhaps you and your son can explain the truth of matters to them, in light of the harm they have attempted to cause my daughter and her family."
"She killed you, Isä!" Niilo shouted from the floor. "Tell him how that little scheming bitch killed you and then killed Teppo!"
"You will close your filthy mouth, Niilo Komainen!" roared his father's ghost, his voice filling the entire room. All three of the prisoners cringed. "More, you will now listen to the truth!" He switched to Finnish so that he could repeat Roarke's words in a language neither he nor his children could misconstrue the meaning of. Leslie watched their faces as he spoke; Antti looked aghast, and Liisa's eyes overflowed with tears. Niilo stared in disbelief, still lying on the floor cradling his injured cheek.
When he finished, Antti and Liisa looked at each other, both plainly in shock. But Niilo refused to be convinced. "What about Teppo?" he yelled. "I know she killed him!"
"You're still the same little fool you always were, Niilo," Teppo's ghost said in a weary voice. "Leslie didn't kill me, either. When Äiti took her last ramble through the woods, if you'll remember, we all split up to look for her, and Leslie and I went together. I'll never know if it was a deliberate thing, or if Lempo orchestrated it, but we found her on the other side of a clearing that we should have known was suspicious. I called to her and she refused to come join us, so I went to get her. That's when Lempo attacked and killed me. Leslie was no more than a bystander, and there was absolutely nothing she could do. The three of you and Kerttu and Ilta have all wasted your money and your lives trying to punish someone who never deserved it. Now that you've been stupid enough to carry through with your lunatic folly, you can damned well take the punishment you have coming to you!"
"We only meant to avenge you, Teppo," Liisa said in tearful appeal.
"There was nothing to avenge, you little idiot," Teppo told her, sounding exasperated. "It seems to me that madness runs in the family—first Äiti, then the lot of you, from Antti on down. I wouldn't blame Mr. Roarke if he suggested the death penalty for you three, for your diabolical plot. And if your murder attempt succeeds, he'll have all the more reason to do so. Now that you know the truth—and Niilo, you useless weed, be assured that it is the truth—you have no hope of clemency left. If Mr. Roarke doesn't push for death, then I don't doubt Leslie will. You're at her mercy now, you three."
Liisa began to sob, and Antti stood in silence, head hanging. Niilo muttered in his own tongue but otherwise didn't protest further. Jaakko's ghost nodded his head once in satisfaction, thanked Roarke and promptly disappeared; but Teppo's specter remained. He turned to Roarke and requested, "Might I speak to Leslie a moment?"
"If she agrees," Roarke said.
Leslie watched Teppo's ghost approach her; her stomach danced within her, and she felt her pulse and breathing accelerate with trepidation. Teppo must have seen it, for he chuckled. "Relax, Leslie," he said. "I know all about your life now."
"You do?" she asked inanely, gaping at him. He still looked like the lean 27-year-old he had been when Lempo had killed him, and it took her back to a time and a place she had long preferred not to revisit.
"Oh yes," he said. He studied her thoughtfully for about ten seconds, then smiled, as if resigned. "You're very much in love with your prince, Leslie, aren't you? Your whole life revolves around him. I see a difference in you. I know you're older now, but that's not the whole story. You're very happy with Prince Christian and those babies of yours. I can see that they're the center of your existence, in a way I never could have been."
"Yeah," Leslie admitted shyly, with a tiny sigh. "It's true, Teppo. I still don't know just what Christian did, but I do know that I love him more than I ever thought I was able to love anyone. If he dies…"
Teppo nodded slowly. "I understand," he said quietly. "Don't feel guilty for giving him your whole heart, Leslie. I'm glad you were finally able to move on, to get past that silly jinx problem you had and to take another chance on love and life. I hope he does make it; he obviously is the best thing that ever happened to you."
"I was afraid you'd…" Leslie began.
Teppo grinned and said, "Be jealous? Of course I'm jealous. But there's nothing I can do about it. Look at me—I'm a ghost." He laughed at Leslie's startled giggle. "And no, I'm not going to haunt you. I've got other places to go. You just be happy, Princess Leslie Enstad, and live the fullest life you can."
"I didn't think you'd understand," Leslie admitted. "Thank you for that."
"Anytime," Teppo said and smiled again. "I could've been a better husband to you when I was alive, but we were both too young to know that. You're much better off with your prince. I just wanted you to know that you have all my best wishes."
"Thank you, Teppo," Leslie said again. "Go in peace."
"Thanks," Teppo said, smiled once more, then turned away. "Mr. Roarke, I'm ready now. Is there anything else you need?"
"I believe you have accomplished what we needed, Teppo," Roarke said. "I am grateful for your assistance. As Leslie said, go in peace."
"You as well, Mr. Roarke," Teppo replied, then walked a couple of steps towards the cell his siblings were in before vanishing. The room's dim lighting returned, and Leslie wandered toward the window to open the slats on the blinds again, amazed at what had just happened. It had been the strangest thing in the world, staring her deceased first husband in the face and discovering that he not only knew she was more in love with Christian than she'd been with him, but that he gave his blessing to it. Her stomach was still jittery with nerves and surprise, and she felt very peculiar indeed. It was going to take a while for the whole thing to really sink in.
