Billionaire's Retreat (12 page)

On Friday, the Defense and Prosecution rested their cases and gave their closing stat
e
ments. After deliberating, the jury came back with a verdict finding Harry Brisband and Councilman Johnny Davis guilty as charged. However, Sarah was found innocent. They could not connect her to the bribery.

Sarah reflected back on how she used fake identification to open an out of state
bank
safe deposit box
. It was used
to hide her share of the payoff
.

Brisband and Johnny Davis were held in the local jail until it was time for them to be transported to the state penitentiary
.
Brisband was convicted of bribery while the Counci
l
man was convicted of accepting a bribe and money laundering.
             

C
hapter
28

The weekend after Sarah returned to Los A
n
geles, she followed through on her promise to go shopping with Mrs.
Titanimum
. While shopping Bridget stated, “Woodrow said you would like to open a satellite office at our r
e
treat.”

“Yes, however, I don’t want to burden you with work. We should be relaxing.”

“You are right. Woodrow will work out the details with you.”

Sarah kept up with
news in D
allas
via the i
n
ternet. Vera now faced vehicular homicide charges after being released from the hospital. Sarah blamed herself for the accident. She knew the elderly guy would still be alive if it had not been for her affair with Vera’s hu
s
band. Sarah got the victim’s wife to drop the charges after she paid her a hefty sum. The cash settlement came with the stipulation S
a
rah’s identity would remain anonymous. Vera would never have approved of Sarah provi
d
ing funds to have her charges go away.
             

Meanwhile
back in Dallas, Detective
Burks
received a phone call from a middle age wo
m
an who lived in a secluded wooded area ou
t
side of town.

“
This is
Private
Detective
Burks
speaking
. H
ow may I help you?”

“Hi Detective, my name is Nancy Givens. I may be able to help with one of your investig
a
tions.” She paused from speaking.

“Which investigation are you referring to Ms. Givens?”

“I may have information to help you solve the murder of Jared Jones.”

“How long have you known this info
r
mation?”

“Every since it occurred. However, I wasn’t quite sure of what I saw when it took place.”

“What do you mean?”

“I remember a woman
occasionally
fr
e
quenting the log cabin next to my house
.
I can’t remember her name. The reason she gave for visiting the cabin was to be alone. Her cabin is visible through the weeping willow trees separating our properties. On the day in question, she arrived at the cabin in a car driven by a nice looking man. About an hour later, I heard what sounded like gun shot
s
. I looked out my window in the direction of where the gun fire appeared to have origina
t
ed but did not see anyone. Several minutes went by before I returned to the window to see her with another man. They lifted something tied up in a wrap into the tru
n
k of the car
in which
the woman
came in
.
The person she was now with walked to the end of the pier situated across the road then threw something into the water. The man she came with fits the descri
p
tion of Jared Jones. The woman drove away in the car with what could have been the victim’s body in the trunk. The car matched the d
e
scription of a vehicle
that
the authorities said was registered to Jared.”

“Why didn’t you report this to the police?”

“I kept telling myself it wasn’t what it seems.”

“So why have you now come to this concl
u
sion
?
Also answer this second question.
What prompted you to come to me instead of the p
o
lice?
”

“I was having a casual conversation with a friend
, who
happen
ed
to
mention that
the murder of
Jared Jones
had been
brought up during a recent court case.
This friend
knows someone
working
for the local Police Depar
t
ment
that
is knowledgeable
of your
ongoing investigation into his death.
She
also
said
that
Jared’s disappearance
occurred around the same time as the incident
,
which I described.”

“Do you remember the ethnicity of the pe
o
ple that you witnessed during this ordeal?”

“They were all African Americans.”

“Would you be willing to give a taped a
c
count as to what you saw? You may also be subpoenaed to testi
fy
to
your
findings in court.”

“I know. I’m willing to do what ever is ne
c
essary.”

“I would like to take your taped statement this afternoon.” They disconnected after she agreed to come in to give her recorded stat
e
ment.  

Sarah signed a lease with Woodrow for a remote office/staging area within the retreat to facilitate tours to showcase her interior desig
n
ing.

She was at her new satellite office when she heard a knock on the door. “Woodrow, I didn’t expect to see you this morning. Come in. I’m almost done.”

“How is my new tenant fairing?”

“All the office equipment is operating properly. I am stocking the shelves. It’s nice of you to drop by.”

Just as Sarah stock
ed
the last item
,
Woo
d
row
walked
up
behind her and
then planted a kiss
delicately
on her neck. She smiled
and then
stated
, “You should not start something
if
you don’t plan on finishing
it
.”

“I
plan to finish it.
”

Sarah said, “Excuse me for a moment.” A
f
ter locking the door, she turned to face Woo
d
row. She removed her wrap around skirt
.
He lifted her up onto the
gla
ss
counter
top
desk
in the center of the room.
S
ounds of sexual grat
i
fication
exuded through the walls
.
The two r
e
ceptionists in the lobby outside of the door turned to each other laughing.
Sheila the older of the two said, “Our boss is a stud.”

Her
A
ssistant Jamila said, “Isn’t he ma
r
ried?”

“Yes. He is married. He is a dirty dog.
His wife is sick. She has a fatal illness.
”

“
We should not have laughed.
He ought to be castrated. Men like that are despicable.
”

When Woodrow and Sarah left they kept straight faces. Sarah spoke to the young ladies, “Are you having fun girls?
”

They tactfully ignored her sarcasm.

C
hapter
29

Sarah dropped in on Lucinda unexpectedly.
“I didn’t know you were in town.”

Sarah
said
, “I flew in to
help
close a deal for work on a mansion and to checkout my new
Dallas
Satellite
office
.
Two weeks ago I opened another Sat
e
llite office at the Titanimum
’
s r
e
sort in Los Angeles.
”

“I need someone to talk with. I’m glad you are here.”

“What’s wrong, Lucinda.”

“My marriage is ruined. I’m pregnant.”

“Congratulations. Does David know about the baby?”

“I haven’t told him yet.”

“Why haven’t you told him? Are you wai
t
ing for the right time?”

“I am waiting for the right time. But I’m not looking forward to doing so.”

“He will make a good dad.”

“Stop it! You hear me! Stop it!”

“Okay. What’s wrong?”

“David is infertile; he can not have chi
l
dren.”

“No Lucinda. Let me guess. You are pre
g
nant by Vincent James.”

“I am weighing my options.”

“There should only be one option.”

“I’m not going to have an abortion. I could divorce David and raise the baby on my own with support from Vincent.”

“Your life would be a mess. You should get an abortion.”

“Maybe I’ll reconsider, however, right now, I’m lending towards keeping the baby.”

“Does Vincent like the idea of being a dad?”

I haven’t told him either.”

“You should tell him
as
soon as possible. He will help you make the right decision.”

“You are not the best person to be asking for advice.”

“Okay, I know where you are going with this analogy. You are referring to the affair I had with Johnny. Everything was going right. The sex was great. When his wife found out about us, we drew even closer. However, tra
g
edy struck, his wife became stressed
, which
r
e
sult
ed
in a traffic accident
that
killed an elde
r
ly man. I paid to have the vehicular homicide charge against his wife dropped. To make matters worse, Johnny is now serving time in prison for accepting a bribe and money lau
n
dering.”

“We both should be a shame of ourselves.”

“I still wake up at night crying wishing my husband hadn’t died.”

“I miss him as much as you. Jared was a good man.
I know he was your husband. Ho
w
ever,
I wish he could have been
mine.
Would you like to join me for a drink?”

“Yes.”

“Sometimes at night, I get lonely waiting on David to come home. Life is not easy if you are married to someone working a night shift. So tonight, I was going to curl up with a pillow and my booze while watching a movie. By the time they finished the movie, Sarah was co
m
pletely smashed. Lucinda covered her with a blanket. She spent the night on the sofa.

The next morning when David got home, he observed Sarah asleep in the living room. He walked straight to his bedroom. Lucinda awoke and could tell that he was disturbed. “What’s wrong dear?”

“Why is that whore in my house? I worked all night long to come home to find that home wrecker lying on my sofa! I want that bitch out of my house! I want you to get up and put her out! Do you hear me! Tell her to get out!”

“What is wrong with you? You need to calm down.”

“If you don’t put her out, then I will throw her out. “Lower your voice. Sarah is going to hear you. She drank too much. She couldn’t have driven home safely.”

“I don’t want you hanging out with that woman.”

“David
,
you have over stepped your boun
d
ary.

“No! You over stepped your boundary by inviting her into our house!”

“You are my husband but that doesn’t give you the right to give me an ultimatum
to end
my friendship with Sarah!”

Sarah knocked on their bedroom door. “I am going to be leaving. I didn’t mean to cause any trouble. Please forgive me, David. I am sorry, Lucinda. You guys should make up; I should not have stopped by your house. I’m sorry.”

While she was apologizing, they remained quiet. A few seconds later, her quick steps could be heard on the wooden hallway floor as she walked away.

Lucinda said, “I hope she is not traumatized by your harsh words. She didn’t deserve to be
treated so badly. S
arah
has been through a lot recently.  She needed someone to show her compassion and understanding.”

“Are you done with your rhetoric? I need to get some sleep. I have nothing else to say.”

“Go ahead get your sleep! You don’t
care about my feelings anyway!”

Grabbing a robe, she stormed out of the bedroom. Lucinda broke down in tears kno
w
ing she would eventually have to tell her hu
s
band that she is caring another man’s baby.