Chapter 24 King and Knight (Some Anemones are Blue CROSSOVER Chapter)

Queen of Cups, Knight of Pentacles, King of Swords,

~~~~

"I need to talk to Tim Ballard." A woman asked in English.

"I get him. Do not hang up." Lalatos begged then ran out to the main level. She looked up and shouted, "Ballard! It's home."

The sun was barely over the horizon as Tim's head jerked up then he bolted down from the upper pipe fitting level. He was doing the math of the time difference. Several of his workers coming out to start their shift after breakfast, pressed themselves tight against the stair rail as he ran past. He owed his friend and boss Chan for letting the satellite number transfer from platform to platform with him.

"Hello? This is Tim Ballard." He panted out in English, trying to swallow his fear.

"Daddy?" Her voice sounded hesitant.

"Tiana, sweetie, what's wrong?" Tim worried at the tone in her voice over the scratchiness of the call. La shut the door to try to block out as much noise from the drilling rig as she could.

"Uncle Lloyd got shot by the guy who raped me." Tiana whimpered.

Tim suddenly realized the beeping and noises in the background were hospital sounds. He forced himself to inhale and exhale slowly as he asked, "Tell me what happened."

"They caused an accident that hurt Grandma Dorine. We came home from Mexico. He tried to kidnap me and Gracie and Willow from the Ridgeline Ranch. Uncle Lloyd came to stop him then they tried to take Coach Wally instead. There was a shootout and Donatello Valtini shot Uncle Lloyd before Coach Wally drowned him under the Ridgeline Falls."

"Did... did Lloyd... Survive?" Tim loathed to ask the question.

"Yes. They just brought him back to his room. He looks so pale," Tiana sounded like she was going to start crying. "It's my fault."

"No, Mermaid, it isn't."

"Yes, it is. Daddy, the guy said Mum sold me to him. He... he said he would have paid more to... to..." She sobbed out the story before she broke down crying hysterically. La shook her head in disbelief as they listened.

"Shhh, don't. Don't do this to yourself. None of this is your fault. Your mother caused this. I'm so sorry that Tonia... Ohgawd baby girl, I am so sorry," Tim apologized over and over. La set a cup of coffee next to him and rubbed his arm.

After several minutes, La looked at a monitor when it chimed. She gave him an apologetic look. He nodded, but he wanted to smash it so he could keep talking to his broken daughter.

"Tiana, I have to go. Call Grandpa Cordell, tell him to email me the details or call in a few hours. I love you."

"I love you too, Daddy."

He shook as he hung up, holding onto the bolted-in-place table to keep from going outside, throwing himself overboard and swimming for shore in his need to get back to his daughter. His friend stared at him in horror.

"I can't believe you were right. She sold her daughter to that... that..."

The phone rang.

"Platform 17, Engineer Tim Ballard."

"Tim, it's Chan. I've been trying to call," his boss and former poker partner sounded terse in English.

"Sorry, I was on the phone with my daughter. The guy who attacked her came to kidnap her and shot my cousin before her coach managed to kill him." Tim's words were growled out with more hatred than he had ever felt before. "He admitted that my ex-wife sold our daughter to him and bragged that he would have paid more."

Chan swore colorfully in Japanese, then announced in English, "I am here the with shareholders. They wanted to know if you would be stay on for five more platforms. I'll explain the situation."

Tim shook his head even though Chan couldn't see him. "I cain't. I'll finish these, but I have to go home."

"Engineer Ballard?" An older, accented voice interrupted in English, "We understand the situation with your daughter is difficult. You have done excellent work. The company will pay to have her brought closer so you will have a less worry."

Tim inhaled sharply realizing he was talking to the company president. "Sir, she has to travel with a chaperone."

"We will accommodate for the chaperon as well. Chan can explain the circumstances to us. Please, continue to be as successful as you are without worry, and we will visit this negotiation and your compensation on another day. Goodbye."

"Thank you, sir, goodbye, sir." Tim hung up.

La muttered a shocked profanity in Russian before blurting out, "That was Tanatsu himself... You could ask him for anything!"

"The only thing I want is the one thing they won't give me... I want them to let me out of my contract so I can go home." Tim scowled at the phone. "Let's get this one done so we can get the last one outta the way." He flipped on the speaker to the platform and called out in Japanese, "I need everyone to the dining room now." He needed to tell his crew this new development. They all knew what happened to Tiana and were hustling to help him get home to her. He needed them to know this new development because he knew he was going to be harder to work with than an angry bull until he could see her for himself.

It was the middle of the night as Tim listened to Grandpa Cordell describing Lloyd's injuries with Grandma Fern. The deputy sheriff was wearing a vest which saved him, but one bullet had got him in the hip bone only an inch from an artery. Lloyd was lucky to survive. The details would haunt Tim forever because he never would have imagined that the criminal who raped his daughter and his murderous cousin would have followed Tiana and her friends five miles deep into the immense Ridgeline Ranch or that only her coach's skill as a diver and swimmer saved the man who fought for the girls after he and Donatello Valtini went over the Ridgeline Falls.

"Tell Lloyd that I am brining Tiana out here and if he wants to come as her chaperon while he recovers, I got it covered," Tim promised. "Tell him thank you for protecting her."

"We will, Tim. We are sorry they won't let you come home," Grandma Fern sounded upset.

"Grandma, they are making a lot of allowances for me so I will stay and finish this group. They are hoping I will come back for the next project," Tim revealed, he didn't say he wouldn't because he knew all sat-phone calls were recorded. "It is a good opportunity. We will have to see what happens with Tonia. Have they found her?"

"Not yet, but from what that feller said to Camille and girls, Antonia was in on the whole horrible affair from the beginning," Fern revealed.

Cordell added, "We are so sorry we did not take Tiana from her. That we didn't fight harder for her. Willow Wallace gave me a piece of her mind and a lot to think about. We made a mistake trying to follow the letter of the law. I didn't believe Fern's instinct or your and Lloyd's bias, I apologize."

"Grandpa, it isn't your fault or my fault or Lloyd's fault. No one knew Tonia would do something this evil." He watched the seconds on the Sat-Call card counting down. "Have Lloyd call me when he wants to leave. I have to go. I love you."

"We love you too, son," Grandpa Cordell said, and Grandma Fern echoed the sentiment before the call ended.

Tim breathed out, regretting everything from the first moment of their first kiss. No one could have known Antonia Mosconi would turn into the woman she had, then he remembered something. The overweight girl who was his true first kiss, the one he never told anyone about had warned him about Tonia, Selene Rose saw Tonia for what she was and who she would become from the beginning. For a moment, he wondered what would have happened if he listened. If he had loved Selene and her voluptuous figure instead of Tonia's model thin beauty, Tiana would have had dark hair and dark eyes, she would have had siblings and learned to fly from Selene, instead of being sold like a prize heifer by Tonia. He swallowed against his years' long regret stemming from the Moon over the Mountains Dance and the camping trip that proceeded it.

Going out to stand on the highest walkway, Tim stared up at the stars over the South Pacific and wished for the stars over Pagosa with its familiar shadowy frame of the mountains of home. He folded his hands together as he leaned on the rain, and he prayed.

~~~~

Suspended Pagosa County Deputy Lloyd McConnell glared out the window at the Rocking M cattle grazing. He needed a vacation and perhaps he would stay after taking Tiana to visit her father in the South Pacific. It would give him the space he to clear his head. Lloyd felt he definitely needed some time away from Pagosa Cliffs. Picking up the phone, he called his cousin in the South Pacific.

"Morning, Tim Ballard, please. This is Lloyd McConnell... Yes, I'll wait." Lloyd asked in Korean then he waited.

"Is Tiana okay?" Tim asked without preamble in English.

"She's fine. Stressed out, I... um... I talked to Bernie, he said Tiana could finish her classes online in light of recent events. And I need to get away too," Lloyd admitted, and Tim almost dropped the phone receiver.

Tim realized he had been quiet for several moments, so he quickly said, "Tiana's passport is in Grandpa's safe. I'll have tickets waiting for you at DIA."

"Can you make it Durango? I don't think I can drive that far yet?" he hated admitting his weakness, "I was shot."

"I know, T told me. Durango it is. When do you want to leave?" Tim asked.

"When do you want us there?" Lloyd asked in return.

Tim opened up the email server and looked at the tickets. For a fee, he could change them. "Can you get to the airport in Durango tomorrow morning?"

"Yep."

"I'll send you the confirmation numbers and flight information." Tim began typing rapidly and paid for the changes. "You and Tiana will be on your own for a few days before I can join you... Have... Have they found her?"

"Nope and I hope she's dead, but my gut says she's out there somewhere," Lloyd admitted.

"Keep my daughter close. Thank you for protecting her," Tim insisted.

"It wasn't enough," Lloyd retorted in a self-deprecating tone and hung up without saying goodbye.

~~~~

Tim watched Lloyd try not to limp as he jogged down the beach. He wondered if his pelvis ached; it was healing from where Donnie Valtini's bullet imbedded in the bone. Tim tried not to think about Pagosa Cliffs and what happened almost happened as he, Lloyd and Tiana shopped or visited tourist sites or spent time on the beach but the terror of his daughter almost being kidnapped and his cousin almost dying haunted him. His cell phone rang and he answered it.

"Hello, Grandpa? What's going on?"

"They arrested Antonia in Mexico near where Mr. Hightower had them hidden. She was planning on kidnapping Tiana..." As the patriarch of the McConnell-Ballard clan revealed the details, his words were like a punch in the gut.

Outside, Tiana called from the patio, "Uncle Lloyd!" She waved a bottle of water at him.

Tim glanced outside at the sand that was finer than snow and water that was as blue as the Colorado sky in winter. It was too beautiful to look at with the words he was hearing so he turned his back on it. "Thanks, Grandpa, I'll tell Lloyd. Let me know when we need to be back. I love you."

"We love all of you too. Bye."

"Bye." Tim hung up then stood inside the doorway watching his daughter as she rubbed her pregnancy bump. "You better be worth all the chocolate milkshakes I'm wasting, little frog."

Lloyd chuckled as she informed him, "I'm out of ice cream again."

"We'll get some more delivered or go pick some up," her father assured her. Tim was smiling but he knew Lloyd could see something was wrong from the change in his cousin's dark eyes.

"T, darlin', can I get another bottle of water, I don't want to track sand inside." As soon as Tiana was out of earshot, Lloyd asked, "What's wrong, Tim?"

"They caught Tonia in Mexico with nearly a million dollars in cash on her and traveler's checks for almost that much. They are extraditing her in a few weeks for the trial but..." Tim stopped and took a deep breath.

"But?"

"Sheriff Tanner told Grandpa Cordell there is going to be a murder charge added for a dead maid. They have evidence that Tonia killed the woman herself, and maybe accessory to murder on four missing person cases. Tonia was staying at the Valtini villa in Colorado since she disappeared. She claims she was a hostage who escaped, but she had in her possession clothing and jewelry belonging to several missing women the investigators on the case believe the Valtini cousins may have killed at that location. Either Tonia is lucky to be alive or she was in on it." Tim gripped the rail around the deck with white knuckles. "How could I ever have married that woman? How could I have left my daughter with her?"

Lloyd put his hand on top of Tim's hand. "You weren't the only one. I should have taken T with me when I left."

Tim shook his head. "Lloyd, you paid the utilities, kept food in the house for my baby to eat, without you looking over Tonia's shoulder, it could have been so much worse."

"I didn't do enough."

Tim interrupted, "Don't. Tiana told me everything you did for her. It was..."

"Antonia aka Mum." Tiana finished for him, as she walked out into the sunshine. Holding out another bottle of water to Lloyd, she continued, "She played you both off each other since you were teenagers to make sure she was always loved and given what she wanted. I was just another thing she used to manipulate both of you."

"Baby girl, you're not a thing," Tim started.

"To her, I was! Admit it, Dad. Tonia played everyone. She used you to punish Uncle Lloyd for going in the Marines, then she punished you for divorcing her by marrying him when he came back. She was a thief and a liar. She actually convinced me that she wanted my baby to be born, but she would have hurt Tadpole too," Tiana snarled angrily.

"I will never let her hurt my baby, not the way she hurt me. I was just her maid, her slave, something she could sell. I was what she used to make you and Uncle Lloyd give her more money. When I was living with the Wallaces, I saw what it was like to have a real mom, a mom who would do anything for her daughters. Coach Wally treated me like I was her own. She was willing to fight Donnie and die so we could escape. She did fight him and my mum... my mum sold me to him like a freaking cow, and then went back for more money. I hope he killed her, I hope she is dead. I hate her!"

Tim and Lloyd glanced at each other as Tiana ranted, the pregnant teen had already had too much stress in her young life.

"T, baby girl, you need to calm down," Tim said softly.

Turquoise eyes narrowed as she glared into her father's identical eyes, "Omigawd, they found her, didn't they?" When neither spoke, Tiana grabbed her uncle's shoulder, "Tell me the truth."

"Tiana, I didn't speak to Grandpa Cordell, but he told your dad, Sheriff Tanner told him they found Tonia and arrested her," Lloyd replied.

Tim wet his lips with his tongue before he spoke, "She was in Mexico, not far from the safehouse where you were staying. She was about to get on a plane with some woman named Sophia Varda, who has multiple restraining orders against her by the owner of Blue Water Resorts, and they were headed to one of the other resorts to look for you... Ms. Varda told the investigator that they were going to kidnap you back from Coach Wallace. Tonia convinced the woman that you were with Camille under duress."

Tiana burst out laughing bitterly. "Mum was running with Floats?"

"You know her?" Lloyd demanded.

"Yah... I know her...That model-wannabe cow is stalking Gracie's dad, you know Kyle Hightower? Anyways, she shows up on his plane when we were leaving for Nationals, telling everyone she was his fiancée and groping all over him and well... We roasted her. She was totes anorexic, bad hair, boring nails, last year's Prada, and oversized floats." Tiana sneered.

"Floats?" Lloyd asked, he shared a confused look with Tim, who shrugged.

"Seriously? Floats... you know, personal flotation devices?" When they shook their heads, Tiana rolled her eyes in a way that only an angry teen girl could manage, then she pointed at her own breasts. "These are reals. The queen of hemorrhoid cream has floats.... Like Mum." She smirked as they both realized what she meant.

"Your mother got breast implants?" Tim could not stop being enraged as he wondered how much of Tiana's child support went to pay for Tonia's cosmetic surgery.

"They weren't that nice," Lloyd responded.

"What?" For a moment, Tim felt like he was going to punch Lloyd.

"She was trying to get me to come back to her. It didn't work," Lloyd reassured him, holding up his hands in a placating gesture.

Tim's jaw ticked as he demanded, "Was that the same week you called me about the mortgage payment you made?"

Inhaling and exhaling in frustration, Lloyd apologized again. "Yes, I said I was sorry then and I still regret that call. She told me you hadn't sent her a check."

"I sent her an extra three thousand for Christmas," Tim snapped. "She paid to get her breasts done or rather I paid for her to..."

"Enough!" Tiana slapped her forehead. "You cannot seriously be fighting over who got to see Mum's fake boobs and who paid for them. They were a double C-cup and slightly lopsided." She had such a disgusted look that Lloyd chortled, then Tim started laughing too.

"We're not fighting, not really." Tim patted her back.

"We're sorry, sweetie, old habits are hard to break," Lloyd assured her.

"But you're going to break them, right? So, we can be a family for Tadpole?" Tiana asked almost timidly.

Lloyd put his hand over her left hand as Tim took her right hand. Tim vowed, "Tiana, we are both so sorry that your mother did this to you, to all of us, but we promise, whatever you and your baby need, you and your baby will get."

Lloyd nodded solemnly, "You have our word."

"And what about Mum?" Tiana chewed the corner of her mouth.

"Your mother is in jail in Mexico and will be extradited to Colorado for trial. I will call Tank and find out what I can, but you don't need to worry. Tonia is going to jail, not just for what she did to you but for the woman she murdered at the Valtini estate, for all the money she helped them steal, and for the other women she helped lure into the Valtinis' clutches. Now, get changed, you're out of ice cream remember?" Lloyd grinned after her, but his smile dropped once she was out of sight.

"Do you really think Tonia helped the Valtinis kill those missing women?" Tim asked skeptically.

"Maybe not directly but if she gained from it..." Lloyd shrugged, "Tim, there are a lot of things that have happened. The Tonia we fought over after high school, the one who seduced us both... Tonia isn't the sweet girl with a troubled mother we both fell in love with anymore. I'm gonna get a shower, but I need to tell you the crap Tonia did during and after our divorce. Stuff Tiana doesn't need to hear."

"Like Molly and Garrett's wedding?" Tim asked, then he raised an eyebrow, "Whatever happened with Miss Milli? She was so sweet. I can't believe she pulled off cupcakes for an extra thousand people. And those eyes, the way they would change color..."

"I don't want to talk about her," Lloyd growled at him then stalked inside, slamming the door to his room.

Tiana came out in a loose sundress and scowled at her father. "What did you say?"

"I just asked about Miss Milli the baker," Tim shrugged.

Tiana rubbed her forehead in a very adult gesture. "Uncle Lloyd stupidly told her to date someone else. Some guy who works for Mr. Hightower. Real rich, he has a boat and a beach house, and well, he kinda flew Miss Elizabeth, Mitch, Jackson, and Emily back from Hawaii when Miss Milli went missing."

"He flew them back... just like that?"

"Yep, on his private jet too. Mack saved her from drowning when she jumped in a pool to get Uncle Lloyd to cover up Mum's name on his tattoo," Tiana nodded as she talked, "But Aunt Ruby overheard him telling Sheriff Tank he didn't know if he knew how to love anyone but Mum because he loved her for so long. And when he OD'd on Grandma Fern's cannabis cookies, he told Grandma that he loved Milli, but he wasn't good enough for her."

Tim bowed his head with his forearms on the rail and hands folded tightly. "Tiana, how do you know all this? Because I know Grandma and Aunt Ruby wouldn't tell you."

"No, but they tell Aunt Molly and she practically went on rages about Uncle Lloyd being an idiot. Aunt Molly didn't have pregnancy hormones, she had horror-mones. She went on for a week when Milli went straight to see him first after she was rescued rather than go home and Uncle Lloyd told her to date Mack. I seriously think Molly and Mitch are planning on murdering him the next time he breaks Milli's heart."

"They won't kill me, Mitch knows I'm a cop," Lloyd said from behind them in a grumpy voice.

"You keep thinking that." Tiana gave him a snarky half smile, "Say Dad, did you know Mitch's dad is the personal driver of Don Valtini, the head of the Valtini family? That he told Mitch to protect Milli and that the family was okay with Donnie and Giovanni getting killed. And the only reason they let Mitch go was because Giovanni murdered Mitch's sister Ramona, and..." She grinned at them, "And because of what Donnie did to me, Don Valtini told Mitch to tell me they are going to leave me and my baby alone, but if I need anything, to just tell Mitch."

"You can't be serious," Lloyd growled. "They are criminals."

"And I'm their mafia princess." Tiana retorted matter-of-factly. "And you shouldn't get so high and mighty, Uncle Lloyd. Because you're a stalker, and you're not technically a cop right now. That and ignoring direct orders is why you have the time off for our vacation."

Tim's eyes were wide. "Wait... I thought you were on medical leave. You got fired?"

"Suspended." Lloyd's jaw ticked, as Tiana made a come here gesture with her index finger, "Tell the truth, Uncle Lloyd. No more secrets in our family." She waggled her finger at him.

"I thought you wanted ice cream." Lloyd growled.

"I want us to be a family more," Tiana admitted, "Us and Molly."

Tim smiled wanly, "Who are you and what have you done with my little tadpole?"

"She became a mermaid with a tadpole of her own. And the secret discussion you two were going to have tonight, I want in. I know stuff you never imagined... not even in your wildest, hate-filled dreams, Uncle Lloyd," Tiana declared. "But first, take me to the shops, tadpole needs a milkshake and fish sticks."

"Ice cream and fish every day? Are you sure you aren't having a penguin?" Tim asked as they filled the house with sounds of mirth.