Billionaire's Retreat (13 page)

C
hapter 30
             
             

Detective
Burks
and his colleague
Andrew
Durden discussed following up on leads d
e
rived from the statement given by Nancy Gi
v
ens.
Burks
stated, “The owner of the cabin next to Ms. Givens’ home according to our t
i
tle search is Janet L. Myers.
She was willed the property by her deceased father.
”

Durden
replied, “We have to gather enough evidence to search it.”

“Ms. Givens said she saw the male suspect throw something in
to
the
huge retention pond
across the street from the cabin.”

“I know it’s a long shot, but there may be a way to use Ms. Givens’ statement to have the
pond
searched. The idea about having it searched has already come up due to a missing young woman in the area. By interjecting the hopes of solving both cases we may garner enough community support to pressure the a
u
thorities to get it done.”

Vincent was relaxing at home when his doorbell rang. Upon opening the door, he n
o
ticed Lucinda crying profusely.

“What’s wrong lady?”

“Vince, we have got to talk.”

“Okay.”

After being invited into the house, she took a seat.

“You are going to be a father.”

“What did you say?”

“I’m having your baby.”

“We never discussed you having a baby
!
What ever happened to people planning to be parents? I’m a high profile attorney with hopes of running for a U.S. Senate seat
!
Why should I have to kiss my political ambitions goodbye?”

“I know your position on abortion
. Y
ou b
e
lieve life begins at conception.”

“That has been my view.”

“What do you mean?”

“I have changed my position
!
I have worked to
o
hard
to achieve
my current status in life for you to destroy it with a baby
.
I’ll arrange for the procedure. All you have to do is coo
p
erate to put an end to this nightmare before it gets any worse. What does your husband think about you being pregnant by another man?”

“I haven’t told him yet. I was thinking ma
y
be we could have a future together?”

“You have killed any chance of us ever ha
v
ing that kind of relationship.
You told me you
were on the pill. This never shoul
d have ha
p
pened. We both work in the same office. My law partners will never understand. Maybe you should quit
!”

“I am not quitting. I’m going to have our baby. You need time to make the right dec
i
sion. I’ll check back with you in a few days. For your information, I have already di
s
cussed our predicament with some of the girls at work. Your law buddies may already know I’m caring your baby.” Vincent looked as if his world had suddenly crashed down around him as she departed his
estate
.”

Mrs. Titanimum was now undergoing reg
u
lar scheduled chemotherapy. She only had a few patches of hair left on her head. At the urging of Sarah, she decided to go shopping for wigs. They made a shopping date for the coming Saturday.

Burks
convinced authorities the
large rete
n
tion pond
might hold the weapon to solve Ja
r
ed’s murder. After hearing Ms. Givens stat
e
ment, a date to drain the
pond
was set. 

Sarah’s new
Dallas Satellite
office clerk found her first day at work busy. Th
eir
adve
r
tisement targeting new customers was really paying off.

Lucinda called Sarah at work. “Hi Lucinda, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.
I
f you can pull yourself away from your work, I would like to talk.”

“You go right ahead. Talk, I’m listening.”

“First of all I would like to apologize for the way my husband treated you. I think he had a bad night at work.”

“I never knew him to be that way.”

“His attitude deteriorated once I told him of my law aspiration. Matters got worst when I started working at the firm with Vincent.”

“I guess his worst fear
ha
s
come to past.”

“I stopped by Vincent’s house the other day.”

“You told him I guess.”

“Yes.”

“And…”

“He feels I am destroying his life. The man wants me to kill our baby.”

“Now that you have his opinion it should be easy for you to make the right decision. If he doesn’t want the baby maybe you shouldn’t bring the child into the world.”

“I never intended to get pregnant. I was on the pill. I made a big mistake.”

“Try to think of the big picture and not just yourself. A baby should not be thought of as a mistake. If he is offering to help you abort the fetus then you should listen to him. It is time for my next appointment. I’ll have to call you back.” 

That night David took Lucinda out to di
n
ner. During the course of their meal he me
n
tioned that she appeared to be glowing. “A woman has a special glow about her when she is pregnant. We haven’t begun fertility trea
t
ments, however, anything is possible.”

“David, we are not going to have a baby.”

After they got home, she ran straight to the bathroom then started throwing up in the commode. He allowed her a chance to regain her composure before he firmly asserted, “I wasn’t born yesterday.
You are not sick and you haven’t been drinking. I believe you are going to have a baby. However, you said we are not having a baby.”

“David, please leave me alone! Why do we have to talk about this now?”

“Oh no, I know you did not confirm my worst fear. Woman I ought to kill you and your bastard child!”

“Legally the child is yours because we are still married.”

“Stop fucking with me!”

“Go to hell David! If you had been taking care of your business at home, I would not be pregnant! Attorney Vincent James is going to take care of his baby and me!” Before Lucinda could finish speaking, David had fastened his hands tightly around her neck strangling her when he suddenly relinquished his grip. She fell down to the floor as she sobbed uncontro
l
lably. At that moment, he decided to leave with only the clothes on his back.

An hour later the phone rang, “Hello.”

“Hi Lucinda, this is Sarah. I’m sorry it took me so long to call you back.”

“He’s gone. He walked out on me.”

“You told him.”

“No he found out by observing how I look and my morning sickness. I couldn’t lie to him. When I admitted to being pregnant by Vi
n
cent, he tried to kill me.”

“You should have reported his ass to the cops.”

“I probably have hurt him enough. What am I going to do? I don’t have Vincent any longer nor do I have David.”

“Pull yourself together; you have got to be strong.”

Chapter 31

Several divers searched the
retention pond
as a crowd of onlookers including the news media observed.
Detectives
Burks
and
Durden
pulled up as
th
e s
earch continued
.
They joined the
gathering
as divers
looked
for the body of the missing woman hoping that they
would
find the weapon,
which could be linked to Jared’s death.

A local television station reporter knocked on the door of Ms. Givens.
“Good Afternoon, Ms
.
Givens the
huge pond
across the street is being searched for a missing woman. We were wondering if you had given the authorities i
n
formation to prompt this search.”

“The only information I have is that she was a nurse that disappeared a few months ago shortly after ending her late night shift at the nearby hospital. The only reason I know of this information is because it was reported on your competitor’s television news.”

“An anonymous source has come forth sta
t
ing that you may have witnessed an African American male disposing of a murder weapon in the
pond
, which
may have been used in the murder of Jared Jones.”

“I cannot comment on an ongoing investig
a
tion.”

“When did you report your finding to the authorities?”

“As stated, I cannot provide any info
r
mation at this time.”

When the divers finished scouring the water, their efforts did not produce bodily remains or a weapon. 

“
Durden
stated, “I believe the weapon may still be in the water.”

“I agree. It’s
not hard
to overlook a small hand gun imbedded in the dirt at the bottom of a murky
pond
.”

“Our next step is to make sure the author
i
ties follow through in draining
it.
”

Later that evening, Lucinda received a call from Sarah. “I was checking the Dallas news via the internet and it mentioned that divers would be searching a
pond
in a remote area today for the murder weapon, which may have been used to kill Jared.”

“Their searched wrapped up about an hour ago.”

“Were they able to find the weapon?”

“No.”

“So there still isn’t any evidence pointing to the murderer of my husband. The information I read said a woman that lives in the area may have tipped off the police.”

After a brief silence Lucinda
stated
, “She might be the perpetrator.”

“It wouldn’t make since for her to bring up something to implicate herself. Until she came forth, there probably wasn’t any other viable lead.”

“So let us change the subject, my fine, bea
u
tiful, black, and independent sister. How are you fairing in resurrecting your shambled life?”

“My current perils should not be taken lightly.”

“I take that to mean your rich lover and tr
i
fling husband, they’re still angry with you.”  

“I don’t know how much longer I can sto
m
ach working at the law firm.

“Why?”

“I used to be well liked there.”

“And now …?”
             

“No one wants to be associated with me.”

“Well Lucinda, it
’s
an awkward situation for them knowing you are caring an illegit
i
mate child for one of their partners.”

“However, I still would like to get on with my life.”

“You know it’s not going to be that easy.”

“If they feel I’m a distraction at the office, they’re going to try to find a legal reason to fire me.”

“You are probably right.”

“I need my job. I haven’t seen David since he left me hanging.”

“I may be able to hire you to work
at
my new office
in Dallas
. The young woman that works there is good with paperwork but lacks people skills. Some of my potential clients have complained about her attitude. In two weeks, I may be able to hire you as her replacement.”

“I am lucky to have you as a friend. I don’t deserve your kindness.”

“If the tables were turned, you would do the same for me.”

“Vincent has accepted the fact that I am g
o
ing to carry the baby to term. He has agreed to take care of all of my medical bills resulting from my pregnancy. He wants shared custody of the child.”

“
You may not
understand
hi
s
sudden
change of
heart;
however,
it’
s a great gesture
on his behalf.
A
t least he wants to be a part of the child’s life
, that’s commendable
.”