Billionaire's Retreat (4 page)

Chapter 8

Vincent
phoned
Lucinda, to his surprise,
she conversed
with him
. Lucinda informed
him of her desire to become a lawyer.

“
I have some information that you might find helpful since you are considering a law degree.”

“Let me h
a
ve your phone number
.
I’ll give you a call later this afternoon.”

Four
hours later
,
Vincent
answered his cell
phone
,
“Vincent
James
speaking.”

“Hi. V
ince
.
”

“Hi
. Lucinda.
I wasn’t expecting to hear from
you
so
soon
.”

“I know. I have
been thinking. Maybe we should not meet. This is not right.”

“Well maybe I can drop off the material at a friend
’
s house like you suggested before when I had your earrings. Do you remember that?”

“Yes Vince. I remember.”

“So what’s your decision? Shall we meet? I can always drop
them
off with a friend.”

“That want be necessary
.
M
eet me at Afaitu’s Tahitian Restaurant.”

“Where
’s your husband?
”

“You make it sounds as if we are
having an affair.
Don’t get things twisted or I will have to cancel our plans.”

“No Lucinda.
Why are you acting so i
rr
a
tional?”

“
That’s because you have me all
flustered. If you must know, David is currently working a new shift from 7:00
in the evening
to 3:00
in the morning.
”

“Good Mrs.
Stallings
, we’ll meet for dinner at 9:00.”  

A
t the restaurant, Vincent mention
ed, “There is a part time clerk slot open in our law firm. Maybe you should apply for the job.
That would give you some exposure to how the law works.
”

Lucinda submitted an application to be co
n
sidered for work at the firm.
Two weeks later,
after a lengthy interview process,
she
was hired to fill an
entry
level legal research
pos
i
tion.

One day while Sarah was visiting Lucinda with David present,
she
mentioned
how
she sought out Vincent to get Lucinda
a
position with his law firm. She went on to state that Vincent is a high profile
a
ttorney.

That night as David and Lucinda were pr
e
paring for bed, David said, “When were you going to tell me about this guy named Vi
n
cent
?
”

“There is nothing to tell. We met. I told him of my plans to major in law and that I hope to be an attorney
.
He offered to help me. Any mentoring that he could provide should be beneficial in my quest to be a lawyer.”

“I don’t like you keeping secrets from me.”

“
I never thought of Vincent as a secret.
However,
I know how jealous you are and didn’t want you worry
ing
needlessly.”

“I’m still not sure you need his help. Am I not man enough for you? Oh, listen at me. Forget I said that. Perhaps
,
I am
over reac
t
ing.”

“Yes dear, you are over reacting. You have nothing to fear.”

The following day at work
,
Lucinda drop
ped
in on
Vincent in his office.

“Come in
. C
lose the door behind you.”

She thank
ed
him for helping her
land
the job.
“I and my
A
ssistant Lora would like to take you out for dinner
to celebrate.
”
S
he agreed to meet
them
at the restaurant. When she got there, he informed her
that
Lora
would not be joining them b
ecause
she had
a family emergency. The
y had dinner at an u
p
scale seafood restaurant, bar, and grill.
After dinner, they went to a nearby lake.
During the process of conversing, Vincent picked up two
pebbles
then
threw them on the surface of the water. He made an analogy
which
he said
could su
rmise
her and David
’s
marriage. “I have two
pebbles
in my hands. They have nothing in common. When I throw them they will hit the lake surface making a
momentary
big splash
.
”

“I have enjoyed our conversation up until now. I feel it
’s
time for us to
bring this
night to an end. I’ll see you tomorrow at work.”

He puts his arm around her as they conti
n
ued to face the water.
“You should be able to do so much better. You deserve so much more.”

Suddenly, t
he
heavens
open
ed,
r
ain
poured, while off in the distance the sound of
thunder
could be heard.
He
took
off his suit jacket
, held
it over her head
, as
they walked hurriedly towards her car.

“Bye Vincent. Thank you for dinner and everything.” 

They reached the car, s
he got in
,
and
then
h
e
promptly shut the door.

C
hapter
9

The following month, Sarah and the women on her fundraiser
committee
arrive
d
at a local restaurant. They stopped
at the
reservation
s
desk.
Sarah said,
“We are the party of six for Sarah Giltry’s fundraiser
committee
lunc
h
eon.”

“We are delighted to have you. Jim will show you to our private
dining area?”

During the meeting,
Vera
disclosed three p
o
tential golf courses where they could host the fundraiser. After she presented the details and advantages of each,
they made a
final sele
c
tion
.
Ms. Shereka Oakley was chosen to be the foundation’s treasurer. The
y
also formed a publicity
team
.

The following day, Sarah was back
in Los Angeles
. S
he decided
once again
to check on the progress of the castle renovation.
When she arrived, Woodrow informed her that Mrs. Titanimum was out of town attending a senior women convention.
After her crew left,
Sarah
and Woodrow
elude
d
the hired hands
to spend
the night
in an upstairs bed
room suite. He
watched as she dis
r
obed admiring her well
e
n
dowed anatomy. Sarah stood still as his hands
felt her
silky
body. For a night, Woodrow
e
n
joyed
making love to a young woman, som
e
thing he hadn’t done in ages. As Sarah
was
leaving the next morning, the maid
spotted
her before she reache
d
the front door. S
he
look
ed
back
after hearing the maid
sheepishly gri
n
ning.
Sarah
had her briefcase and a small tote bag in one hand and in
the other hand the
6
-
inch heels
that
s
he
sported when she arrived.
She was now
bare feet.
“Ms. Sarah it’s rather early for you to be here. Did you forget som
e
thing?”

“Good morning
,
darling.”

“
M
orning
, Mrs. Giltry.
”

Snootily, Sarah said, “Do not tell anyone that I was here, so early. Remember, you didn’t see me.
”

Sarah turned up her nose, lifted her head i
n
to the air,
then commenced to leaving.

The maid shouted, “You are wrong!”

Still walking, looking straight ahead, Sarah shouted
back
, “It’s none of your business! Get over it!”

C
hapter
10

Sarah was resting at home
when
the doorbell rang
. S
he
peered
through the peephole
prior to
open
ing
the door. 

“
Hi ma’am, I’m
o
fficer Ted Driggs
with the Los Angeles Police. I have a message for
Mrs. Sarah Giltry.”

“
Hi officer,
I’m Mrs. Giltry. Is there som
e
thing wrong? ”

“May I come in
?
”

“
Yes.”

“I think you might want to have a seat.”

“I hope this isn’t about Jared.”

The officer entered
. T
hey both sat. 

“Mrs. Giltry.”

“You can call me, Sarah.”

“Sarah, I have some bad news. The Los A
n
geles Police
have
been informed by law e
n
forcement in Dallas that the decomposed body found two months ago has been identified as
Jared Jones
.”

Sarah stood to her feet with tears flooding her eyes
before dropping to her knees.

“Lord no. Tell me this isn’t so Lord.”

“I’m sorry, Ma’am.

As she covered her nose and mouth with her hands she stated, “There has to be a mistake. It cannot be
him
.”

Stooping down to her level, he put a hand around her shoulder
s
. “I wish it was not Ja
r
ed, but the report is final.”

After awhile
,
still crying,
she
stood
to her feet. “I’ll be alright officer. You may leave now.
I’m sorry you had to be the bearer of bad news.
”

“Take care of yourself, Sarah.”

“The only man I ever loved is gone. It’s g
o
ing to be hard for me to go on without him.”

Sarah completed
the funeral arrangemen
ts
. The body was flown to Los Angeles. The f
u
neral was to take place the next
w
eekend on a Saturday
a
fternoon.
When Am
anda
arrived in town, she spent a considerable amount of time consoling Rachelle and Sarah.
Several friends
of Jared from the
f
ire
d
epartment
had flown in to say goodbye to their fallen comrade.
The funeral took place as planned
.
Jared was laid to rest.

Before leaving Los Angeles, R
a
chelle met with Sarah.
“Sarah, I have hired
a Dallas
pr
i
vate investigator
to find out
who killed Jared.
I think you should walk lightly. I believe you
had something to do with
Jared’s d
eath.”

“Mrs. Jones I think you should go. I know you are still hurt because of your son’s death. However, I am still moaning the loss of my husband. I wish we could have had a more ci
v
ilized conversation. First
,
it was my sister doubting my loyalty. I don’t know how much more of this I can take.

Before
Rachelle
turn
ed to walk
out the door
, she
said, “Remember to walk lightly. I am g
o
ing to make you pay for the death of my son.”