by Ivy Smoak
He smiled up at me. "You think I'm stressed out too? Rob was just telling me that the other day. Maybe I should just retire and we can move to the country."
"Maybe." Despite what he thought, I didn't save him. Becoming a professor did. And as his soon-to-be wife, I'd do anything I could to ensure that he was happy. "You can retire if you want, but I want you to consider teaching again. Besides, you'd be bored out of your mind if you didn't do anything at all."
"I didn't say I wouldn't be doing anything." His hand slid up my thigh.
"James!" I laughed. "I just want you to think about it."
"Okay. I'll consider teaching again. Will you accept those conditions?"
"Conditions accepted." I stuck out my hand for him.
"Oh, I have a better way to acknowledge our deal." He pulled me against him as he rolled over, pressing my back against the mattress.
This is so much better.
Chapter 6
Friday
James drove straight instead of turning right toward our apartment. The whole drive back to New York had been fun and relaxing. We had so desperately needed some alone time. And now I felt closer to him than ever. He had finally opened up to me about his worries and fears. I was so in love with him. Maybe he didn't want this car ride to end either. He made another turn, in the opposite direction of our apartment.
"Where are we going?"
"The police station."
"Why?"
He glanced at me for a second and then back at the road. "Blackmail is a felony, Penny. I'm not letting this go."
"You're going to report it to the police?"
"Of course I am. I'm sick of dealing with her shit. I told her to leave us alone. I gave her fair warning."
"James, I don't even know if there is any evidence of her blackmailing us. The money was sent to Tyler, not her. I feel like she was careful about covering her tracks."
"So they'll call Tyler about it."
"No, I mean, there's no evidence that she was even the one that sent it there. Yes, I was getting text messages from her, but it was from a restricted number. They might not be able to trace it."
"Her handwriting was on the pictures and notes she sent you too."
"Maybe. Or maybe someone was helping her."
"Well, that's what the police are supposed to find out. She should go to prison for this. It's not like 20 million dollars is a petty crime. I don't care about the money, but I'm not just letting this go. And we can at least file a restraining order while we're there. I'm not going to risk her showing up to our wedding. Not after all this."
"You think she'd try to stop it?"
"I think that's all she's been trying to do. She can't accept that I'm happy with someone that's not her." James pulled to a stop outside of the precinct. "I think maybe you were right when you called her a psychopath."
I laughed, but stopped when he didn't even so much as smile. "I don't think she'd ever try to hurt us or anything though. Right?"
"Well, I never would have thought she'd blackmail me either."
"James, technically you blackmailed her in order to get her to sign the divorce papers. Maybe she was just returning the favor. What if she gets arrested and brings that up?"
"A one minute conversation where I never even exchanged anything with her won't hold up in court. Besides, what she got from that conversation was half my money. And there isn't a shred of evidence anyway."
"There were photos..."
"Penny. I took care of that. Let me take care of this too."
"When I talked to your parents, they said they'd handle this. Maybe you should check with them first. Maybe they already filed a complaint."
"A complaint?" He laughed. "They invited her to our engagement party. As far as I'm concerned they're just as much to blame." He climbed out of the car and slammed the door.
I quickly climbed out of the passenger's side. "James, your parents seemed sorry about that. Especially your father. You should call them."
"Penny, Isabella tortured you for a week. She tried to break us up. She threatened you. She stole our money. Those are crimes. She doesn't deserve to be out there walking the streets. You said yourself that she had a backup plan when her original pictures and notes didn't work. What if she's planning something else? I won't have peace of mind until she's behind bars."
"Okay. If you think we should, then let's do it."
He grabbed my hand. "You seem like you're scared to go in there."
"A little nervous, maybe. I've never even been pulled over before. "I'm awkward around authority figures."
James laughed. "Oh, is that why we ended up together? Maybe I shouldn't let you in there then."
"No. That was different." I shoved his arm playfully. "I mean law enforcement. Those detectives that questioned us at the University of New Castle really knew how to crawl under my skin."
"You have nothing to worry about. Like you said, you've never even been pulled over for speeding. Which is great, because I have a terrible record. They'll trust your word more than mine."
"I didn't even think about that."
He pulled me toward the front doors. As soon as we stepped inside, the air turned stale. It didn't look anything like it did in shows and movies. No one was jumping up to talk to us, eager to close a case. There was a large desk where officers sat behind glass and their eyes were glued to their computer screens. I couldn't help but think that the glass they were behind was bullet proof. It made me glance over at the people sitting in waiting chairs. They looked harmless enough. One of them was clearly homeless. Well, at least the police officers were nice, letting him stay here like this. It was so hot in New York in the summer and it was definitely cooler in here.
I heard a fly and glanced toward my right. I grabbed James' arm. "Oh my God, there's blood on the floor," I hissed.
James laughed. "I'm pretty sure that's soda. Probably. Come on."
My eyes stayed glued on the spot as we approached the desk.
"Good afternoon officers, we'd like to report a crime," James said calmly.
The woman on the computer didn't look at us. "Is anyone dead or in immediate danger?" she asked as she typed something on her keyboard.
"Not yet," James said.
I elbowed him in the ribs at his joke. "Not funny," I mouthed silently.
The woman paused and looked up at us. "If you could please fill out this form," she said and shoved a clipboard under a small slot in the glass partition. "We'll be with your shortly."
"Thank you," I said.
James lifted up the pen and quickly filled out the information as I tried not to stare at the blood stain. He pushed the clipboard back through the slot and we walked over toward the seating area. Before we even had a chance to sit down, we heard a beeping noise. I looked over my shoulder at an officer who had just opened up a door.
"James Hunter, please come with me," the officer said.
That was fast. James kept his hand in mine as we followed the police officer through the door. We walked down a narrow corridor into a larger room with tons of desks. This was actually a lot more like T.V. shows and movies. Detective and police officers were on phones, a few guys were handcuffed to chairs, and there was a buzz of electricity in the air. There were even maps on the walls and pictures of wanted subjects. We followed the officer to a desk and sat down.
"I'm Officer Daugherty and I'll be handling your case." He glanced at his notepad. "I understand you're filing a complaint about blackmail against Isabella Hunter. Correct?"
"Yes," James said.
"Wife?" he asked as he jotted something down in his notebook.
"Ex-wife. I'm getting remarried tomorrow."
Officer Daugherty looked up and eyed me coolly. "Name?" he said.
"Penny Taylor."
"Okay." He turned to his computer and typed something on his keyboard. He scrolled with his mouse and glanced at me once more. "You have a much better record than your future husband."
It too
k every ounce of restraint not to ask about James' record. That was one thing I still didn't know about. I knew he had been arrested in the past. I just didn't know all the details. "Um...thanks," I said instead.
The officer smiled. "I'll need to know the specifics of the blackmail. What were the demands and what were the compromising materials that Isabella Hunter had against you?" He started typing on his computer again.
"Right," James said. "She had photos of us having sex in my office that she was going to leak to tabloids if we didn't send her 20 million dollars." He shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
Officer Daugherty paused in his typing and looked up at him. "Did you say 20 million dollars?"
"That is correct," James said. "And we gave it to her."
"Okay, well, that escalates this to a felony. Do you know if your ex-wife is currently in New York City? We're going to need to bring her in for questioning."
"I have no idea," James said.
Officer Daugherty typed something into his computer. "Do you have any documentation of her demands and threats?"
"She had been sending pictures and notes to Penny all week trying to get in her head. And then she sent her some text messages about the money yesterday. Show him, Penny."
I pulled my phone out of my purse, clicked on the text message thread, and slid it toward Officer Daugherty.
He picked up the phone and thumbed through the messages. "Okay, give me one second." He lifted up his desk phone and typed in the number from my cell phone into his phone. He immediately hung up. "The phone used for these texts has been disconnected. Are you sure it was her?"
"It was definitely her," I said.
"Were the photos and notes she had sent you signed?"
"No. But one of the things she sent was notes that James had written her when they were married."
"Was there anything else?"
I tried to think. "Yes, there were emails too that she sent me at work. But they were just from a random email account and she didn't say her name."
"Okay, we're going to need access to those as well. I can send an officer with you to pick up the pictures and notes she sent you. We will need access to your work email."
"I can give you temporary access to our server," James said and gestured for Officer Daugherty to hand him his pen and notebook. James quickly jotted down something in the notebook and pushed it back toward Officer Daugherty.
"Alright," he said. "Do you know what bank this account is in? We'll need to verify the amount you're claiming as well."
"Actually, she said it was her account as you can see from the text. But it went to one of my friends," I said.
"And you assume that this friend wasn't the one behind the threats?"
"No. Absolutely not," I said.
I could feel James' eyes on me. I knew what he was thinking. We knew Austin was working with Isabella. So why not Tyler? But I knew Tyler. He never would have done something like that. Even if he was still in love with me. Really, the fact that he loved me made it even less likely.
"Why would your ex-wife send your soon-to-be new wife's friend 20 million dollars?"
"She was trying to get us to break up," I said.
Officer Daugherty nodded, but it didn't really look like he believed me. "Right, right. Do you have this friend's contact information?"
"Yes. Tyler Stevens. His number is in my phone."
"Okay, great. I'm going to give your friend a call real quick."
"I don't really think that's necessary," I said. I pictured Tyler walking away from me back on campus. He had been so upset. This wasn't the way to tell him that James and I had worked things out. This wasn't right.
"It'll just take a second," the officer said as he lifted up his desk phone again.
"It wasn't him," I said. "He had nothing to do with this."
"I'm just verifying the bank account information."
"It did go to him," James said, clearly understanding my distress. "I talked to my bank and they said the name belonging to that account was Tyler Stevens. You can just verify it with my bank."
"Do you know what bank the money went to?"
"No, he didn't say. But I can find out if you want."
"That would be great. How about you give your bank a call while I give Mr. Stevens a call." He lifted up his phone before I could say anything else to stop him.
"Hello, Tyler Stevens?" He paused. "This is Officer Daugherty with the NYPD." Pause. "No, everything is fine. For now." He gave me an accusatory glance.
Why is this happening right now?
"I'm going to call my bank," James said and squeezed my arm. "Don't worry, we're going to figure this out." He stood up and walked toward an empty desk to make his call. I focused back on what Officer Daugherty was saying. He was reading the account information to Tyler.
"No?" Officer Daugherty said. "Yes, if you wouldn't mind checking your account." Pause. "Are you sure, Mr. Stevens?" Pause. "Yes," he said as he glanced up at me. "I'm sitting with her right now." Pause. "I will let her know. If you'll please just keep an eye on your account. We may need to contact you again." Pause. "I'm sure she'll be happy to fill you in. In the meantime, please don't discuss this incident with any outside parties." Pause. "You too, Mr. Stevens." Officer Daugherty hung up the phone and typed something in his computer.
"What did he say?" I asked.
"He said he wanted you to call him."
I thought back to our conversation on campus. We had never talked about the money. He had never even asked about it.
"Did he have the money?" James asked as he sat down next to me.
"No," Officer Daugherty said. "He claims that account doesn't belong to him and that he doesn't have the money." He glanced down at his computer. "His account currently holds only $24,000. According to him." He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "If there is any more information that you haven't provided, now would be the time."
"My bank verified again that the money was transferred to Tyler Stevens," James said. "The account number was from a Bank of America in New York City."
"Mr. Stevens said he banks at WSFS. Whatever that is," Officer Daugherty said.
"It's a bank in Wilmington," I said. "He grew up in Delaware like me. I use the same bank. When I talked to him earlier today, he didn't mention anything about the money. He would have brought it up if it just suddenly appeared in his account. Maybe Isabella just opened an account under his name?"
"You can't just open an account under a random name that isn't your own," Officer Daugherty said. They'd want verification. That would be breaking all sorts of laws."
"Which Isabella doesn't seem to care about," I said.
"Either way, we're going to need to bring Mr. Stevens in for questioning."
"I'm not sure he's even in New York anymore," I said. "He said he was moving this morning."
Officer Daugherty leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk. "You must see how that looks."
"It looks like I hurt him and he can't stand to run into me in the city."
"No, it looks like he's fleeing with 20 million dollars. Look," Officer Daugherty said. "If you want my honest opinion, all the facts point to him being your guy. If you want me to open this case, he will be one of the key suspects."
"I don't want him to be a suspect."
"That's not how it works..."
" Officer Daugherty," James cut in. "We don't want Tyler to be a part of the investigation. We're just worried about Isabella. That's it."
"Okay. We'll look into it as best we can. If we can't find the money, though, you don't mind if Mr. Stevens just...keeps it? Is that what you're saying?"
James looked at me. "Yes. Because I know Isabella has it."
Officer Daugherty sighed. "Okay. We'll try to track the cell phone and emails. And we'll work on fingerprints from the notes and pictures you'll be giving us. If that leads to a dead end, we'll have to drop the case, though."
"That's fine," James said.
"Is there anything else I can help you with?" Officer Daugherty said as he typed something on his computer.
"We'd also like to file a restraining order against Isabella Hunter. For both of us."
Officer Daugherty looked up at him. "Even before you know she's guilty?"
"She's guilty," James said.
"Okay. Well, restraining orders take one to two days to process. We should be able to get you a court hearing within a few weeks. Let me get the paperwork for you."
"Two weeks? Officer, this is kind of an emergency," James said. The calmness was gone from his voice.
"We can look into having the hearing later this week, but that's the earliest we can do it."
"I'm worried about the safety of my fiancée. Isn't there anything you can do?"
"Has Isabella made any threats against your person?"
"No, but..."
"Then as far as the state of New York is concerned, she is not an imminent threat."
"She just stole 20 million dollars from us!" James slammed his fist against the desk.
"James." I grabbed his arm.
"If you would please calm down," Officer Daugherty said.
"This is ridiculous," James said as he stood up.
Officer Daugherty stayed completely calm. "Officer Kemp will be by your residence within an hour or so to pick up the evidence."
"Thanks a lot," James said. He started to walk away. "New York's finest, my ass," he said under his breath.
Officer Daugherty looked angry now. "What did you just say?"
"He didn't mean that, Officer," I quickly said. "We really appreciate all your help. And we'll have the evidence ready when Officer Kemp arrives." I glanced back at James who was pushing through the door. "Thank you so much," I said and stood up.
"We need a signature if you want to file the restraining order, and a little more information," Officer Daugherty said.
"That's okay, I think we're going to pass on that. But thank you," I said again.
"No problem. I'm sure you'll have plenty of experience filling out those forms soon enough," Officer Daugherty said coolly.
"What?" I turned back toward him.
