Billionaire's Retreat (14 page)

C
hapter
32

Bridget went shopping with Sarah. She wore a scarf to hide her balding scalp. The chemo treatment kept her feeling mentally and phys
i
cally drained. Sometimes she would refer to Sarah as being her daughter. She said, “Daughter, see if the lady behind the counter can find me a chair. I need to rest.” Sarah e
x
plained the situation to the store clerk.
After she sat for a
while, they proceeded to pick out a couple of hairpieces. Bridget promptly paid for them. During the drive back she said, “Woodrow would like to go out again on the yacht. I may never get to go again. We would like for you to join us.”

“I’d be delighted to go. Actually, it was my idea. I asked him if we could go
yacht
ing.”

“Good. I’ll give you
a
call when we set the date.”

Once they got back to the house, Bridget stumbled and almost fell. Sarah assisted her in walking the remainder of the way into the house.

David after giving himself considerable time to cool
off
telephoned
Lucinda. He informed
her that he would be coming over to retrieve his clothing and other personal belongings.

“I am on my way out. Do you really need to come over today?”

“Lucinda, I only want to get my things. My attorney is working on our divorce. We should both be alright.”

“David, I still love you.”

“What did you say?”

“I still love you.”

“Even if you do love me, I could never trust or love you again.”

“I made a mistake. You have to understand. I made a terrible error.”

“In my heart I have forgiven you. What more do you want?”

“I want you to give us another chance.”

“You should have thought about that before you decided to have a child by another man. I’m not a fool. After our divorce is settled, I’m moving away, to never have to see you again.”

“I really messed up our lives. A part of me has died.”

“I don’t want to hear that shit. You always wanted more than I could give you. You and Vincent may grow to love each other eventua
l
ly.”

The following week the
big pond
was drained exposing the fully decomposed corpse of the woman that had been missing. Detective
Burks
also watched intensely as
crime scene investigators
packaged and then marked as e
v
idence a
small caliber weapon
retrieved by d
i
vers.
Forensic testing would try to link the weapon to
bullet
s
found lodged in the skeletal torso of Jared. The registry of the weapon was checked, it was owned by David Stallings. D
a
vid had reported the gun missing around the time of Jared’s disappearance. However, the police could not find any sign of forced entry into his dwelling. They theorized the burglar entered through a window they found open in the master bedroom.
The police detective div
i
sion was now stepping up their own investig
a
tion. They called David into their office for questioning. David only reiterated information that he
provided
to them when he reported the gun stolen.

Lucinda hit Sarah up on her cell phone. During their conversation she mentioned, “David came by and got his stuff.”

“Now you can get on with your life?”

“I thought I was ready to put him out of my life until he walked back through the door.”

“What did you do?”
             

“I poured my heart out to him. I asked him to give us another chance.”

“That is crazy. The man tried to kill you.”

“I still love him.”

“I don’t want to sound harsh, but you need to see a shrink.”

“You are right. The man I love is gone for good.”

“Perhaps I have some news to make your day. The young lady working in my
new
Da
l
las
office
will be quitting at the end of the week. She is returning to New York to take care of her sick mother.”

“If you need me to start next week, I will turn in my letter of resignation with the firm tomorrow. It’s not like I ever plan on working there again.”

“Good. The job is yours. I will notify Deloris Williams at my main office in Dallas to expect you on Monday. She will help you to complete your paperwork for the position and will get you up to speed.”

The next day, she turned in her resignation. Vincent stopped by her desk to question her leaving the firm. “You didn’t have to quit. You have a right to work here.”

“I know. It is time for me to move on. I will feel better not working for the firm.”

“Do you have another job?”

“Yes.”

“What would you be doing? Where …?”

“You are asking too many questions. I need to get back to my
task at hand
.”

Lucinda started work for Sarah the follo
w
ing week. Her new supervisor Deloris took a liking to her right away. At the end of Luci
n
da’s first week at work, Deloris phoned Sarah, “She is doing remarkably well. It’s as if the job was made for Lucinda.”

“She is probably over qualified for the pos
i
tion. But we are lucky to have her onboard.”

The moment Sarah disconnected from her call with Deloris, Kristy walked into her office.

“Excuse me
,
Sarah
;
I want to remind you that I’m leaving early.”

“That’s really sweet of you. I was reminis
c
ing about the yachting outing we had with the Titanimums.”

“I remember you
jokingly
made a bet that you would be the next Mrs. Titanimum.”

“I
t’s no
longer
a joke.
”

“
What do you mean?
”

“The old lady has been diagnosed with ca
n
cer. She is not expected to live much longer. I have been having an affair with Woodrow. Bridget has taking a liking to me as a friend.”

“I am sorry to hear of her impending death. Are you in love with her husband?”

“I’m in love with his money. I guess that would make me in love with him.” 

“I don’t agree with that analogy. However, his mind is so blown by having a young wo
m
an to satisfy his sexual urges that love doesn’t even figure into the equation.”

“
Y
ou are right Kristy. I am going to be the next Mrs. Titanimum. I hope she will be able to stand the heat when we are miles away from the shore.”

“Jared’s death has transformed you into someone else.”

“I am the same woman.”

“No Sarah, the way you look at men has change
d
. You seem to look at them as
ponds
on a chess board.”

“Are you trying to tell me something? Are you insinuating I’m a high class gold digger? You think I’m a whore.”

“I’m not going to answer you. I
’m leaving.
I’ll see you tomorrow.”

C
hapter 33

Detective
Burks
tried to reach David by phone, Lucinda answered, “Hello.”

“How are you?”

“I’m doing fine. Who are you
? W
hy are you calling
me
?

“
I would like to speak with David. My name is Detective
Burks
.”

“He no longer lives here. This is his wife. We are in the process of getting a divorce. How may I help you, detective?”

“I need to speak with him. Do you have his phone number?”

She quickly provided his phone number. “May I help you with any other information?”

“No, thank you.”

“Bye!”

After disconnecting from Lucinda, he diale
d David. “We would like to pay you a visit. We
have
questions
regarding your gun that
is u
n
dergoing
forensic testing
.
”

“You would be wasting your time.” He pr
o
vided his address. A few minutes later
Dete
c
tive Burks and Durden
were on his doorstep.”

They introduced themselves upon arrival. “Come in gentlem
en
take a seat.”

“We would like to know if you have any knowledge of the cabin near the
pond
where your gun was found.”

“Why
are
you
concerned about the cabin? What does that have to do with my gun? It was stolen and I reported it to the police
.
”

“Have you ever been to the cabin? Do you know who owns it?”

“Okay Detective
s
, I feel any further que
s
tioning should be directed to my Attorney
A
l
ten
Sparks.”

“Thank you, for your hospitality. We’ll be leaving.”

After the detectives arrived back
at
their o
f
fice, they went through a brainstorming se
s
sion.
D
urden
said, “I believe David knows more than he is acknowledging.”

Burks
agreed, “I think he knows the owner of the cabin. He could be the guy that Ms
.
Gi
v
ens saw, which helped a woman to load som
e
thing suspiciously into the trunk of a car.”

“We could have her come in again to see if she would be able to identify him.”

“They tried to call Ms. Givens but received a voice message, “Hi, this is Nancy. I will be out of town until the end of the week. Please, try again.”

The detectives resumed their conversation. “Maybe we should go ahead with our plans to question Ms. Myers regarding her cabin.”

Durden
stated, “She does have three si
b
lings: two sisters and a brother. Maybe she can tell us if any of them visited the cabin and how often.”

“I know Sarah stated she would never have killed her husband, however, I’m still not co
n
vinced she’s not connected with his death.”

“I thought we had put that theory to rest.”

The following week, Detective
Burks
and his sidekick took a ride over to Ms
.
Myers home in Houston. She lived in a nice upscale two
st
o
ry home on several acres of land. They had called ahead the day before to schedule their meeting.
The timing was right since they a
l
ready had business planned in Houston for that afternoon.
W
hen they arrived, the maid answered the door inviting them into a plush area in the home set aside for entertaining guest. “Have a seat gentlemen
,
Ms. Myers will be right out. You must be thirsty
.
”  

“I can you use a tall glass of water.”

Durden
then replied, “I’ll have the same.”

“I’ll be right back with your drinks.”

They observed Ms. Myers as she entered the room. They stood to their feet. After introdu
c
ing themselves, they all sat.

During their questioning, they were told that her sister Cheryl L. Myers middle name is Lucinda. “She doesn’t like her first name so everybody refers to her as Lucinda Stallings. She is married to a poor man. His name is D
a
vid Stallings. They live in Dallas.”

Durden
said, “We understand you have a cabin on the outskirts of Dallas.”

“It is a gift from my deceased father. Luci
n
da visits the cabin to get away from the pre
s
sures of her hectic life. She is often depressed due to her and David being financially cha
l
lenged. Lucinda had a flat tire on her last drive to the cabin. She had to wait for an hour for roadside assistance. Sometimes I worry about her being at the cabin alone. My other three siblings have never visited the cabin. Maybe, I should have asked for more info
r
mation about your
private
investigation before I started blabbing.”

“We believe the murder we are investigating may have occurred near your cabin.”

“I can assure you detectives that Lucinda
would
never have been involved in a murder. 

The next morning,
Burks
telephoned Ms. Givens. “How are you? How was your trip?”

“I’m fine. It was good to get away for a few days.”

“We need you to come in for further que
s
tioning.”

“I can be there in an hour.”

“We will be waiting. Thank you.”

When she
got into the office
,
Durden
asked, “Was there anything unique about the su
s
pected female on the day in question.
”

“
When she first arrived, s
he was wearing a black head wrap
.
” However, I still reco
g
nized her as the lady I saw occasionally next door.”

Burks
stated,
“We have a photo album of possible suspects.
Look through the album and tell us if you recognize any of the people.”

She looked through the album until she came across a picture of Lucinda Stallings.

“That’s the woman.”

“Are you sure that’s the woman.”

“I’m sure beyond a reasonable doubt
,
she is the woman.”

“Take another look at the photos. Do you see the man that may have assisted her in di
s
posing of the body?”

After another look through of the album, she still was not able to finger him. “I don’t recognize anyone else.” Although she could not identify him, David was still theorized as the triggerman.