They both headed upstairs and got dressed to head to the store for ingredients.
Chapter 10
A little over a month had gone by and Symóne was well into her third trimester and Trevor had gone through four of his cases. Now on his fifth, things became sensational.
It became intense and dramatic, and brought about a book deal and possible plans for a movie. It was such a high profile situation, that people traveled from near and far to watch this particular case in person.
A murder/suicide, what most would consider a crime of passion, between a Senator, his wife, and his mistress. Ultimately, the prime suspect would have gotten away with it, but when Trevor's instincts led him, he knew there was more. He began digging into all of their backgrounds, he and Vince questioning everyone themselves, from family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and anyone they had a name for, finding there was more to this story than most were willing to uncover.
It was becoming such a media circus that Vince and Trevor had to put a GAG Order on all sources of media to keep them from following them home, or hanging around their spouses' places of employment for safety reasons. At which point, the spouses were banned from attending any of the court proceedings.
Julia had begun calling Symóne daily, checking on her health and mental status surrounding Trevor's case. She wanted to be sure to do her part while Trevor spent long days in court, and longer hours at the office along with Vince and three full staffs of assistants.
She became so concerned, she and Drew decided they would come to stay at the house with them until the baby was born, and maybe for a short period after, if they would allow it.
Although it wasn't necessary security-wise, since Trevor commissioned the best security service in the State to watch their house, and accompany Symóne everywhere she ventured, he welcomed his mom and brother's presence at the house.
After Trevor's and his mom's conversation about keeping tabs on Lori, and her gut feeling that she wouldn't stay put, he decided to send someone there weekly to see for themselves with their own eyes that she was actually still residing and contained at the Institute.
As long as every time he or Vince called to check the status of her progress, and their agent seeing proof of her attendance, they would continue with their lives as normal as it could possibly be.
While Symóne was being chauffeured to her store by an agent, she was putting in a few calls to her subcontractors on a design project. She asked them to meet her at the store for a collaboration meeting, then she would be working with a seamstress on one of her client's new window treatments.
When she would visit her clients, her security had to pose as one of her assistants, so not to create worry or panic.
They arrived at the store, and as Symóne quickly stuck her tablet and phone in her tote while the agent moved quickly to get out and open the door for her, he walked her inside, then hung around outside her studio/office as instructed.
“Good morning Faye,” she chimed as she entered, eyeing the comical mindless daze her best friend was held captive in.
Startled, her daze turned into a look of guilty pleasure, then she quickly met her with open arms, giving Symóne a firm, but gentle squeeze.
“Sorry, my mind was somewhere else,” she grinned. “Good morning, how are you feeling?”
“I feel great, but where were you just now?”
Faye's expression became bashful as she bit her bottom lip and contemplated her answer. “Well, after giving it a lot of thought…” she paused, taking another deep breath, then continued, “Alex and I decided to put a contract on the house,” she chimed with elation and Symóne sat her tote on her desk and rushed to Faye, both squealing and throwing a girl fit of excitement.
“Faye! …this is so amazing! When do you close?”
“Well, we decided on the one that was already in construction, remember the one on lot fifty-three, in the cul-de-sac on the hill? That way, we wouldn't have to wait long on the build and we can still customize it our way!” she continued with her exuberance.
“You mean, your way. Alex doesn't care one way or the other,” Symóne chuckled.
“I know, but he seems to be developing an energy for it now. The more I talk about it and explain my ideas, the more he seems to be coming excited with the whole thing,” her eyes went dreamy. Faye hoped that Alex was as excited about their new purchase as he seemed to be letting on.
Ah, this is why she's so incredulous right now. “So have you already chosen your floors and wall colors?” Symóne returned to her desk.
“For the first floor, yes. I'm still deciding on the second floor. I'm torn with carpeting the bedrooms only, or the entire upstairs with the exception of the bathrooms and laundry room. Alex says he loves carpet, and I had to talk him out of putting it in the family room downstairs,” she sort of chuckled. His sudden interest in décor, humored her.
“Well, let him have his way on the second floor. I'm sure, knowing you, you have either chosen hardwoods, or tile throughout the main floor?” she checked.
“Both.”
There was a knock on the door, “Excuse me, Mrs. Harrison? Mr. Boyd is here for your meeting,” the agent announced as he peeked in through the crack of the door he held open.
She nodded, and gestured the contractor in to the conference table where she and Faye both took seats side by side across from where he was led to sit.
There were already floor plans and notes for this particular project laid out on the table, and a couple of packets with the presentation, suggestions, and budget waiting in front of him and in front of the girls.
After an intense discussion of the plans and budget, things were approved and set into motion for her next big design project. Faye even got the contractor to set aside some time in the next couple of months to build a man cave for Alex as a surprise. He would think it was just an additional garage or storage space, until it was complete, then she would surprise him with it for his birthday.
The contractor left, and Symóne and Faye got to work handling reorders for the store, balancing budgets, completing payroll, then finally heading out for lunch.
“I haven't heard from Trevor yet. Court must be in overtime today?”
“More than likely.”
“I'll send him a text, to let him know we're going to lunch and where,” Symóne announced as she and Faye crawled into the back of her SUV, driven by the agent.
The girls chatted some more about Faye's soon to be new home and discussed some designs for it, when Symóne got a call.
“Hey babe!” she chimed.
“Just checking on you. I was going to come eat with you, but I have to meet with a new witness,” he sounded relieved with the opportunity, but sad that he couldn't spend as much time with her as he would like.
“It's okay babe. I completely understand. Besides, Faye is with me, and we have a lot to go over and I have some news for you when you get home,” she assured him, while eyeing Faye with a grin.
“Hmmm, well I should be home around seven tonight. Tell mom not to cook anything, I'll bring home dinner,” he promised.
“Okay, and…good luck Trevor. I love you babe,” she told him.
“I love you back.”
Chapter 11
Trevor met up with his new witness, an ex-coworker of the Mistress. She seemed jittery and had refused to meet in the same town she lived in. They had decided on a central location, a conference room at a hotel, to ensure privacy and assurance there would be no listening ears around.
“So Carla, what made you decide to finally come forward?” Trevor asked her. He wondered if her motivations were due to the reward his team offered for pertinent, useful information that would help his case.
“Because the information I'm about to tell you, I have proof to back up the path you are already on,” she drew in a deep breath, looking back and forth between Trevor and Vince. They urged her to continue.
“However, my coming forward comes with a price,”
she looked down at her hands. Her voice shaky, almost a whisper.
Vince and Trevor shared a look between them, waiting for her request.
“When I tell you what I know, the person responsible will know it came from me,” she sighed with exhaustion. “I want…well, need you to help me…and my son, to relocate. I want to move and get another job up north, maybe Canada even.” The fear in her voice led them both to believe that this was the key information they'd been looking for.
“Could you give us a few minutes to discuss your request?” Vince asked her.
She nodded, her chest caving with an exhausted breath escaping her lungs. She looked as though she hadn't had much sleep recently, and her face was clearly filled with worry.
Trevor and Vince stepped outside of the conference room and down the hall just a bit, but where they could keep an eye on the door to the room.
“What do you think?” Vince whispered.
“I think, we make no promises to her until we hear what she has to say. Once we verify her story and the facts, then…I say we oblige her. Considering the nature of this case, she may very well be in danger,” Trevor presumed. “Also, if her testimony confirms what we are already thinking, we could get this case wrapped up, and get back to our own lives as well. I miss my wife,” he breathed.
“I agree. I'm ready to put this debacle to rest,” Vince consented.
The two of them returned to the room to the awaiting, intensely nervous witness.
“Well, Carla…here's the deal. If you can give us iron clad information on our suspect that will lead to a conviction, we have to be allowed time to confirm your information and, you must testify to your claims. Then, and only then, will we agree to your terms,” said Trevor.
“But Mr. Harrison, if I agree to testify, I won't make it to see the inside of the courtroom to do so. My son's safety will be jeopardized and…” she began to bawl into her hands.
“Carla, we would assure you and your son protection from this moment until you testify and are relocated. If this information requires your testimony, then we will protect our investment of this case. Meaning you,” Vince added.
Her head raised, her sniffles slowing at hope.
“Please Mr. Harrison, Mr. Moore, I'm entrusting my life and my son's, into your hands,” she seemed to be pleading for a more definite settlement.
“Tell us what you know, and we promise you will leave this hotel with protection and once we confirm our suspicions, you and your son will have round the clock security. But…for your own protection, if what we find out here proves our case, you won't be informed of your final destination until you actually arrive,” Vince reassured her. They took these type matters in their cases very seriously. It would be considered high priority.
Carla took several panicky breaths, preparing herself to tell her story. Her legs violently bouncing under the table as she pulled her hands together to stop them from shaking as well. Trevor pulled out a recorder and set it on the table, which caused her to inhale deeply once more before speaking.
“God help me,” she whispered to herself. “Well, as you already know, Senator Delvine was a very wealthy man, even without his title. I'm sure many attempts have been made to reap even a fraction of his estate. But Jake, your suspect in the murder of Senator Delvine and his wife Adrian, well um…we've been seeing each other off and on for two years now,” she watched as Trevor's and Vince's faces acknowledged her confession of involvement. She continued, “It wasn't until six months ago, I became suspicious of his behavior patterns, where-a-bouts, and frequent angry outbursts, that I finally officially ended things with him. Of course he would do the random acts of kindness, sweet talk, anything to get me to give him just one more chance, as he always did. What made me really take notice of something else wrong besides his bad personality, were the things he would gift me. Expensive jewelry, purses, concert tickets, and to top it all, an all expense paid vacation to Disney World for me and my son,” she cleared her throat. “I wouldn't have thought anything of it, except…Jake didn't have a real job. He was a day laborer at best. I knew he had to be getting these things and money from somewhere other than his here-and-there jobs. When I asked him how was he getting these things, he lied smoothly. His answer was, 'I've been getting some regular contract work from the Senator and it pays really well,' but he never would give me any direct answers on what he actually did,” she paused for another couple of deep breaths.
“Not that I minded the gifts, but something just didn't seem right about the whole thing. My curiosity got the best of me, and I needed to put my conscious at ease. So for three weeks, whenever I had the opportunity between my job and my son, I would do a little investigative snooping, including following him at times,” she stopped, rested her elbow on the table, then sighed as her head fell to rest in the palm of her hand. She swallowed audibly, as this must have been a difficult discovery for her, then she raised her head to tell more of the story.
“He pulled into a driveway belonging to a fairly upscale home in a gorgeous development. I had originally thought, this must be one of the jobs he was doing for Senator Delvine, that is until the garage door opened automatically and he pulled right inside. It had confused me, because who allows the hired help to park in their garage?” she sort of dry chuckled.
“Since I was following him, I continued down the street then turned around and parked about six houses down and waited. It was late, and most of the houses were either dark or dimly lit. It was a Saturday night, and I had allowed my son Dylan to spend the weekend with one of his friends, just so I could really investigate Jake appropriately. While I waited, I became tired, sleepiness plaguing my body from sheer boredom, until my phone rang. It was Jake, calling to check in with me. When I answered, he lied and said that he had just gotten off work and was too tired to come by for a visit. He claimed that he was going straight home to shower and go to bed. That he had to work the next morning. I questioned him, 'On a Sunday?' but he snapped at me and said, 'I have to work if you want to continue to get everything you've been getting!' then I let it go to keep from arguing with him.
“Excuse me, Carla?” Trevor interrupted her. She looked up in response.
“We'll get back to the minor details, but what we need to know right now, are the facts that led you to believe Jake was indeed the murderer of Senator and Mrs. Delvine,” he urged her to utilize her time wisely.
“Okay,” her voice trembled. It seemed as though she was prolonging getting to the nitty gritty of the situation. “After finding out that he was cheating on me with Heather,” she was interrupted by a sudden recognition of the name, and a quick look between Trevor and Vince, who then both encouraged her to continue. She blew out a gush of broken gusts of wind, then persisted herself to finally tell them what they wanted to hear most.
“I got up the nerve to question him about her, after several more visits, then finding her name in his call log on his phone after he'd passed out drunk one night. I figured, if he was going to screw up and say something to incriminate himself, this would be the time. So, after having to wake him for every question I asked, he finally admitted to sleeping with her. He told me that she was sleeping with the Senator and that he was keeping her. He, the Senator, bought the house she lived in, the Bentley she drove, and funded her bloated bank account to keep her on a short leash. She wasn't allowed to meet with him, until he gave her the okay and a secret location, which was always out of town. She kept Jake around because she would get lonely during the sometimes long stretches between visits with the Senator,” she stopped abruptly, looking up at Trevor after he cleared his throat.
“Okay, so Senator Delvine eventually found out about Jake when he made a surprise visit to Heather that ended in a heated argument. He ultimately broke off his relationship with her and told her she had thirty days to vacate the property and he was freezing her account. Of course Jake's greed took over and he devised a plan of action. I know this, because he asked for my help. He actually t
hought that I would help him and Heather kidnap Mrs. Delvine, to hopefully give Heather an opportunity to reach out to the Senator in a time of distress. I refused of course, but he became angry, threatening even, and I was scared for my son. He wanted me to lure Mrs. Delvine off on her own, to visit the Traveling Agency that I work for, to give him the opportunity to take her,” her shoulders slumped with exhaustion. “Mr. Harrison, I didn't know what to do. I gave in and promised to help him. He had everything planned out, I had my mission, and he and Heather would do the rest. When the time came, I chickened out. She was going to come visit one of our virtual vacation stations to get a realistic feel of one of the packages I offered her. I canceled our appointment at the last minute. She was on her way, but then decided to return home. After waiting for more than a hour for her to make a twenty-five minute drive, Jake became impatient and came inside and demanded answers. 'She never showed up' I lied. He knew it too, then had to work to calm himself in front of my co-workers. He stormed off and then I assumed he left to reconstruct another plan. That is until later that evening, I saw on the news that Senator Delvine and his wife Adrian Delvine were found shot to death in their home. I was in shock, my hands shaking just like they are now. I knew then, it had to be Jake. Just as they were announcing that it was a possible murder/suicide, someone pounded on my door. I didn't answer it at first, because the front of the house was dark. I was watching the TV in my bedroom. I turned it off, just in case he searched around the house to see if I was home. He pounded again, long and hard, and it woke my son. He got up and I tried calling out to him in a whisper but he didn't hear me over the loud banging. Dylan turned on the light in the living room before I could reach him, and Jake pounded again, calling out my name loudly. I didn't want him to disturb the neighbors, so I went to the door. 'It's late Jake! I'm tired and Dylan's got school in the morning!' I said to him through the door. 'You either open this damn door, or I will break it down!' he yelled back. I sent Dylan back to his room and told him to close and lock his door and don't come out for anything. Then I opened the door and Jake pushed his way through, almost knocking me to the floor.”
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