She wiped at her face with her free hand and continued. “When he attacked me, I got so scared, and I tried to fight back, but he just wasn’t going to let me go. We were kind of… wrestling a lot; him trying to grab me, me pushing him away and trying to kick him and push him…” She trailed off and looked away from David, unable to meet his eyes.
“What happened?” he asked, a note of trepidation in his voice.
“I pushed him and all of a sudden, he went right over the side of the little railing on the bridge. He fell into the river. He drowned. Then out of nowhere, a cop showed up. He ran up the bridge to me, and he saw the whole thing. I didn’t know… I didn’t know who it was and I called out to him for help, but then I saw that it was a man I knew, a man I used to date. His name is Wendell.” She began to cry in earnest then. David held her closer to him and listened.
“Tell me the rest,” he urged, watching her.
“I asked him what he was doing there and he said that he was following me like he always does, because I’m his. See, we were a couple but he got possessive and controlling and I broke up with him. I guess in his head he never broke up with me. He still follows me and tries to be in my life. He stalks me. Well, he was stalking me that night and he saw the whole thing. He knew the truth. He told me that what I did was murder.
He told me that I would have to do everything he says or he would arrest me for murder and turn me in. He said I’d go to prison. He told me that if I did what he told me to, that he would report it as a suicide, not a murder. I was terrified. He told me to go home and he’d be watching me, and he does. He’s always watching me. Always coming after me. He tells me that I’m still his, that I’ll always be his.”
She began to weep in earnest then. “Now I’m afraid that you know the truth… you know I’m really a murderess, you’ll be gone! You wouldn’t ever stay with anyone who killed someone!”
David pulled her even closer and held her tighter, kissing her forehead, her cheeks, and her mouth, softly. “I’m not leaving, and you’re not a murderess,” he said firmly.
Celeste looked up at him through soaked eyelashes. “Did you just hear what I told you? I pushed a man off of a bridge into the river and he drowned! I’m a murderess! That’s just all that there is to it!”
He shook his head and looked her directly in the eyes. “I don’t think you are. You were acting in self-defense. I think that’s not murder, that’s self-defense. Now, I want you to calm down and dry your eyes. I’m going to call my attorney. We’ll get this straightened out.”
David rose from the sofa and got his phone, and a few minutes later he was in deep conversation with his attorney. When he got off the phone, he had a small smile for Celeste.
“This isn’t a clear case of murder. We’re both very sure that it’s self-defense. He’s going to check on a few things and call me back, and we’re going to see about making this right. Don’t you worry, I’m not going anywhere, I’m here for you.” David went back to her and held her for a while before taking her to bed.
She finally slept on his shoulder, and didn’t wake until the morning. It was the most peaceful sleep that she could remember having since the night on the bridge, and she was grateful for it.
David’s attorney called early in the morning, and after David spoke to him, he was delighted. “He said that the bridge where it happened has a surveillance system. There are cameras there. He’s requested the videos from that night and he’s going to review them.”
Celeste felt her heart drop right out of her body and go through the floor. “No! Oh god no! That’s just going to prove my guilt! That will prove that I’m a murderess!! I’m going to prison for sure now!” She began to weep again, but David calmed her down after a long while and talked with her again.
Later that morning, David’s attorney came to the condo to see them. Celeste was beside herself with fear, but David’s attorney was kind and comforting to her, and after he began to talk with her about what was really going on, her fears began to subside.
He put the tape in for them and all three of them watched it. He pointed out everything that was happening, exactly as Celeste had said that it had happened.
“That is a clear-cut case of self-defense, Celeste. There’s no way that that’s murder. What’s more, and I am sure that your police friend did not bother to mention this to you, but the attacker wasn’t dead because you pushed him into the river. He was dead because he had a blood alcohol content of four times the legal limit when they did the autopsy, and he drowned because he was drunk. He was wasted. He couldn’t swim or figure out how to breathe or get to the banks. That’s why he died.” The attorney was adamant about his position.
“There’s one more thing, Celeste. This video picked up everything that Wendell was saying to you. All of it. His threats to you and his blackmail and coercion will land him in prison. He reported this as a suicide when he knew otherwise, and he was using it to control you. I’ve already showed this to the chief of police and he’s arresting Wendell as we speak. You are never going to have to worry about him again. It’s over, Miss. Everett. You’re safe and innocent, and in the clear, and Wendell is gone.” The attorney was practically beaming.
Celeste wept again, and David held her, both of them delighted to hear it. When she was herself again, they thanked the attorney and bid him farewell, and he told them that she would probably have to appear in court to testify against Wendell, which she was more than ready to do.
When the attorney was gone, David took Celeste’s face in his hands and gazed into her eyes with something that she recognized because she felt it just as much as he did.
“Never think that I might leave you,” he told her in a sweet and comforting voice. “I couldn’t. Despite my best efforts, I’ve fallen in love with you. I can’t ever let you go, and I wouldn’t want to. If you let me, I intend to keep you always.”
Celeste’s heart swelled with bliss, and she laughed through her happy tears. “I love you, too, and I’m never going to let you go either. Thank you so much, David, for being a dream come true for me.”
“We are a dream come true for each other. Always,” he answered, with a deep and lingering kiss.
THANKS FOR READING!
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The Billionaire From Atlanta Page 15
