The Truth of Never (The Never Trilogy Book 3) Page 16

  "Then we'll make sure that doesn't happen."

  "Damian this is too risky, even for you.” He said but I didn’t respond. I got up and picked up my phone to make a call and a little over an hour later, I walked into the Centre bar at the Columbus circle.

  I took a seat by the counter and ordered a drink. A few minutes later, I got a call from her and stood up so that she could spot me. Soon, she was seated beside me and had ordered a drink.

  "We seem to always be meeting in bars." She said, referring to the time she’d met me half-drunk at the bar of the hotel we’d stayed at in Portugal.

  "True.” I replied. “How's life been treating you since our last heart to heart?"

  "Well, she's still a bitch but she is keeping her distance. So, what did you want to see me about?" she asked.

  "This is a very delicate matter, so I do hope you'll hear me out and then take the time to think about it."

  "Well, I’ll try my best to." She said, slightly amused at how serious I sounded.

  "I'm sure you heard about what happened to my mother back in Portugal.”

  "I did, and I’m incredibly sorry about that. How is she faring right now?"

  "There are no improvements but I’m hopeful. I called you here because I want to get back at Nathan Roque and I need your help."

  Surprised, she picked up her drink to take a sip. “You want to get back at him? How?”

  "I planned to get him for second degree manslaughter on the basis of driving my mum to suicide but I changed my mind. I’ll file the charges against him, but I’ll make sure that the case is dropped before it goes to trial. And to do that, I need your help.”

  “I don’t understand. Why will you make sure the case is dropped if your plan is to get back at him?”

  “That’s because I’m not so interested in seeing him behind bars anymore. There’s something else I want to take away from him- something he probably values more than his freedom or reputation.”

  “And what is that?”

  “Lenora Baker. I met her this evening, and they’re engaged."

  An incredulous laugh escaped her lips. "That's ridiculous. Nathan would never get engaged that quickly. He barely knows her."

  "You really don't realize how deeply their relationship runs do you?"

  "I know they knew each other back in school but... She was engaged to you, and he just lost his father. That's too reckless.... It's too soon. He doesn't behave like that."

  "Well I'm telling you what I found out today, and you did tell me back in Portugal that you were still in love with him so that's why I’m coming to you now.”

  Her gaze went blank just above my shoulder, as she stared into thin air. "Did you see the ring?" she asked.

  "I did."

  "Does it have emeralds on it?"

  That surprised me. "It does, how did you know?"

  She smiled sadly and took a sip of her drink. "I know, because I walked into his office one day when we were dating, and found him staring at it. He put it away but I'd already seen in, and God was I happy. I thought it was mine, now I can see what was really happening then. Why he was so reluctant to handle her film, and why he showed more care to a woman that he hadn't seen in more than a decade, than I ever received from him in our days together."

  She lifted her glass to her lips but found it empty, so I signaled the waiter to bring her another.

  "What do you have in mind?" She asked.

  "I want to scare Lenora into leaving him."

  "And what good is that going to be to either of us? It’s not like her leaving will make him fall out of love with her."

  "Maybe not, but he won't be able to do anything about it because she'll be married to someone else."

  Her eyes widened in surprise. "And how are you going to do that?"

  "That's why I need your help. And if all goes according to plan, you'll have a chance at getting Roque back."

  “If I were to agree to this, what would you need from me?"

  "Not much. A perfect representation of his handwriting, maybe from a note he took or some instruction he handed out. And then his schedule, preferably for a time when he would be out of town for an extended period of time.”

  "Is that all?"

  "There's one more thing. I'll need you to be a witness. We’ll need that to convince the District Attorney, and Lenora."

  "And who will she be married to if I may ask?"

  I smiled. "Me of course. The plan is to hit them where it hurts the most."

  Lenora

  One Week Later.

  Wendy threw her head back in laughter and so did Carlie, while I and Elisa just exchanged amused glances and tried to control the smile on our faces. Wendy was telling a story about the time in her late twenties when she visited her parents for thanksgiving, high as a kite and ended up peeing on herself at the dining table because she was so out of it.

  We were at lunch at a restaurant in my neighborhood, for a small celebration of my engagement. Surprisingly, she hadn't said much about it so when we were done and about to leave, I went up to her.

  "You’ve not told me what you think.” I said as she was putting on her jacket. She gave me her signature dry look.

  "What do you want to hear?"

  "Nothing, it's just that...you sort of contributed so..."

  She smiled then and came forward to plant a kiss on my cheeks.

  "In so many ways you're my daughter." She told me. "Sometimes I look at you and wish I was as decisive as you when I was your age. I was smarter than you..." She emphasized. "But not as decisive.

  “Knowing what you want and going for it has literally saved your life, and you might not fully understand what I mean till you're my age. I'm happy about your engagement and that's an understatement. I don't know much about Nathan, but I don't need to because at the time when you were at your weakest he proved his strength. He truly loves you, and it's so rare to find that. I envy you, and I'm not joking about this but you need to become smarter. Now that you have what you want don’t forget that life is still cruel. You can lose it all so be prepared, okay."

  "Okay." I responded.

  "I am offended though that he hasn’t come to see me." Her tone then increased. "Hell he was supposed to ask for my permission."

  I laughed. "He'll come. He left town a few days ago for work."

  "Fine. But tell him to come straight to my diner from the airport otherwise I will shut this engagement thing down."

  "Yes ma'am." I said just as the others came to join us. We said goodbye to her and in no time were back in our offices. I met an Asian man waiting for me in my reception so I smiled politely at him, and accepted his handshake.

  "Miss Baker?" He asked, and I nodded. "I’m Andrew Chang from Chang and Anderson. We’re a law firm based in Manhattan. I don’t have an appointment but your secretary said you might be able to fit me in today."

  "Sure." I told him. "Come in."

  He followed and took a seat in front of my desk.

  "So, what can I help you with?" I asked.

  "I was directed here from the CNN studios. I'm looking to get in contact with Nathan Roque but his assistant said that he's not personally receiving any calls until he gets back from his business trip. I have some urgent information to pass on and since you're his fiancé I thought that maybe you could pass on my message to him."

  This was new. I thought to myself. It seemed really weird that he wouldn't just wait until Nathan came back but I just shrugged and told him to carry on. He placed an envelope on my desk which I picked up.

  "I have here the details of the pending criminal charges against Mr. Roque. Right now the case is being investigated by the DA's office so this is to serve as a heads up so that he can get prepared for when the charges are approved.”

  "What? Pending criminal charges? For what?"

  "He's being accused of manslaughter in the second degree. Damian Bach claims that he preyed upon his knowledge of the unstable emotional state of his mother an
d not only drove but also assisted her in her attempt at suicide."

  My eyes almost popped out of my head but he didn’t even give me a chance to recover. He rose to his feet and said.

  "I hope you'll relay this message to him so that he's not taken by surprise when the time for his arraignment comes."

  "Arraignment? Are you joking right now?"

  "I wish I was. Thank you for your time" He said, and turned around to leave.

  Immediately I shot up from my chair. "What's the penalty for this charge?"

  "It's a minimum of three years in prison, and a maximum of fifteen."

  All the blood rushed from my face, and I watched, as if from somewhere outside my body as he turned around and left the office. This wasn't a joke. When I looked down at my hands to see that they were shaking, I immediately hid them from my sight. No! I said to myself and picked up my phone. I stared at it for a few seconds without realizing what I was doing until a knock on my door jerked me back to the present. It was Dorothy.

  “Lenora?” She called, but I didn't respond. I immediately went to my contact list and typed in Elisa's husband name.

  "Peter I need to see you right now." I told him as soon as the call went through. “There’s an emergency so I'm coming over to your office.”

  "I'm not in my office right now. What's going on?"

  "Nathan's being accused of second degree manslaughter."

  "What? On what grounds?"

  "For assisting suicide. Is that possible? Is there even a law like that?"

  I heard his heavy sigh through the phone. "There is. It's under the Penal Code."

  My voice broke in anguish. "Oh my God."

  "Calm down Lenora." He said. "I'll take care of this. Can you stop by the house after work? Craig and I will be there to review it with you so we can figure out our options."

  "Okay." I replied and took a deep breath.

  "What did Nathan say about this?"

  "I haven't told him yet."

  "I don't understand. Then how did you find out before he did?”

  "He's out of town so they can't reach him. I'm the only one who can get to him."

  "Okay, can you fax me the document so I can review it before tonight?"

  "Okay. Thank you."

  "You're welcome, and don't worry yourself. We’ll handle this."

  He hung up, and the moment I was back in control of my emotions I called Nathan.

  "How are you doing?" I asked when he picked up.

  "I'm doing well sweetheart. How's your day going?"

  "Great so far, I had lunch with Wendy. She says to come see her and ask for permission for my hand the moment you arrive."

  He laughed and the sound of his voice caused tears to rush to my eyes. How would he feel when he heard about this? Why were there so many attacks against him all at once?

  "Tell her I apologize, and that I will do just that the moment I get to New York."

  "I will. How's Chicago?"

  "It's great. Sunny. I just got done with a late lunch at the university so, I’ll be returning to my hotel soon.”

  "You have another engagement tomorrow right?"

  "I do, and then I'm off to San Francisco."

  "How many cities is that again?"

  "Five; Seattle, Houston and Phoenix. It's like I'm on tour. Serves me right for piling them up."

  "I contributed to that. I'm sorry."

  "It's fine sweetheart."

  "I'll go search for the videos that are up on you tube so I can ogle my smart fiancé."

  "Ogle me via Skype. I'm calling tonight, I need to see you."

  "Alright, but I might get in late. I'm having dinner with Elisa and Peter."

  "That's fine; I'll probably still be awake."

  "Okay, let me let you go. I love you Nathan."

  "I love you too sweetheart."

  "Call me if you need anything."

  He chuckled. "Sure love. Later."

  "Later." I said and hung up.

  *

  The atmosphere at Elisa's that night was incredibly tense. We were all seated at her kitchen table; Peter, Craig, and I, with the documents spread out in front of us.

  "So what do we do?" I asked Peter, and he looked up at me.

  "When you first told me about this, I was sure it was a bullshit claim but upon reading this, it seems that they do have a case. There are the letters, and although I don't know what it contains it is bound to be something substantial if they're relying on it, and then there's the witness. We can't take them lightly."

  "I don't believe any of this is actually happening." Elisa said and Peter lightly touched her clenched fist. She'd been so angry ever since she'd heard about it. Me, I was just lost. I didn't know how to feel or what to do. It was a nightmare that I was waiting patiently to wake up from.

  "So what do we do?" I repeated.

  "The first thing is for us to talk to Nathan. It's his decision."

  "No." I disagreed and they all looked at me.

  "What do you mean by no?" Craig asked.

  "He has too much to handle now. He won't be able to stomach this."

  "Lenora that's not your call." Elisa said, but I barely restrained myself from yelling at her.

  "Are you kidding me? Do you know what he's being going through these past few weeks? He had a panic attack a few days ago. A freaking panic attack. No!” I shook my head. "I'll speak to Damian. He'll drop the charges."

  "That's not his call anymore. It's in the hands of the District Attorney now."

  I gasped. "Oh my God."

  "Lenora, relax.”

  "How the hell am I supposed to relax? I'm sorry that I can't control myself right now but I am about to lose it. Why him? It's too much."

  Elisa stood up and came around the table to rest my head against her stomach. I was trying my best to breathe properly but I was so scared, I was trembling.

  "He'll be alright," she said as she stroked my hair but I couldn't believe her. I'd managed to keep myself under control for the rest of the day. But then I'd gotten here and seen the way Peter and Craig were acting. They were trying not to scare me but their demeanors in how Peter spoke so quietly, and how Craig kept looking at the papers as if it were a death sentence frightened me more than if they’d actually voiced their concerns. It showed me just how much of a disaster was staring at us in the face.

  "Lenora we’ll think of something." Craig said. "It's not all going to be resolved tomorrow so you need to try your best to maintain a clear head. At least for Nathan’s sake. He’ll need your support."

  "Let's not tell him now." I said and leaned away from Elisa. "Let's see what we can do before he gets back so he doesn't have to deal with this. I'll do whatever it takes."

  "Lenora it's not that easy. We cannot act or even think of acting without discussing this with him."

  "He might not even want us working on the case," Craig said. "He might have his own lawyer in mind."

  "Craig's right. He can even press charges against us for acting without his permission."

  "I'm giving you permission."

  "Lenora..."

  "For Christ’s sake why can't you just listen to me? He will not press charges."

  "You can't know that." Craig said.

  "I'm telling you because I know that he will not go against my wishes.”

  "That shouldn't even be what we’re arguing about right now." Elisa complained. "Irrespective of who his lawyer will be, what can be done? We have the facts on ground, now what are our options?"

  "The witness and the letters." Craig said. "In my opinion, if we can review and prove that they're not credible, then there's no case. The DA will have no choice but to drop it."

  "And how do we do that?" I asked.

  "The lawyer." Peter replied. "We need to have a meeting with Damian and his lawyer, hence my insistence that we speak to Nathan first before we take any steps."

  "Set it up." I told him. "Leave Nathan out of this for now."

  "Lenora." He
complained.

  "For now, until we understand what this is about, and what exactly they have on him.”

  "Alright." Craig said, but Peter looked unhappy. "And Lenora, please refrain from placing any personal calls to Damian. We need to settle all of this officially from henceforth so any contact with him might complicate the situation. Therefore unless we agree otherwise, don’t speak to him. I know he's thought all of this through and is ready for the worst otherwise he wouldn't have gone to these lengths. This is a very serious accusation especially since it's one against family. Whether he likes it or not, they both have the same mother."

  "He's right," Peter said, and I nodded in agreement. That promise I could keep because I was sure that if I set my eyes on him, I would become the one being charged and this time it would be for murder.

  "Can I stay here tonight?" I asked. "I don't want to go home."

  “Of course sweetie." Elisa replied, and showed me to the guest room.

  « CHAPTER 11 »

  Lenora

  Two days later, I was seated, and waiting for Damian and his lawyer to arrive in one of the conference rooms at Peter’s law firm. Peter was seated with me, along with one of his senior partners, Michael Sugg.

  They arrived right on time at 11am, and took their seats opposite us.

  "I was told we were having a meeting with Mr Roque." Damian's lawyer said.

  Peter responded. "Mr Roque is currently unavailable so Miss Baker will be representing him. There’s no need to bother about the formalities, this is just to get up to speed on what exactly your charges are about.”

  "Well it's pretty simple. We’re accusing your client of assisting the attempted suicide of Mrs. Bach."

  "And on what are grounds are you basing your accusation?"

  "Letters; Exchanged between Mr. Roque and Mrs. Bach within a period of three months. By now I'm sure you're aware of the estranged relationship between them. In fact I've learnt that one of the reasons Mr. Roque in fact did move to New York was because of Mrs. Bach, and maybe he initially had the intention of mending their relationship but in the end he ended up harassing her about it and this greatly affected her mental and emotional state."