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Myles took her hand, raised it up, and twirled her around, wrapping her up into him in one of his long forgotten dance moves. “I’m glad,” he’d said, leaning in, and kissing the tip of her nose before pushing her back out.
“Not bad,” Jess exclaimed, surprised at his ability to direct her exactly where he wanted her to go. “I suspect you’re talented in more areas than just the bedroom.” She thought for a second and then added. “And the kitchen. Oh, and the bathroom…”
Myles grinned. “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”
Myles lit a fire in the pit while Jess sat on the edge and watched as he made it come to life. He’d encouraged her to burn at least one of Spencer’s shirts, given that had been her intention to begin with, and maybe she’d needed to do it, he’d said. Plus that one is so ugly no one would want it anyway, he’d said. You always see it in movies, there’s nothing like a woman scorned, he teased. But men, or most men, don’t really care about clothes, he’d casually mentioned. Spencer cares, she’d retorted as she tore off the buttons, one by one, and threw them in. She held onto the shirt for a while and for reasons unknown to her, maybe instinct, she brought it up to her nose and inhaled one last time before she released it down into the flames and watched it burn.
“I think I’m going to give him the money,” she finally said. “On the condition that I get full custody of the kids and a quick divorce… I just want to close this chapter of my life as smoothly as possible and if that means giving him the money in order for his cooperation, then so be it.”
Myles watched the flames dance. He wasn’t surprised. “That’s a very mature position to take.”
She snorted. “I don’t know whether it’s mature or stupid.” She offered up a tight-lipped smile and then continued. “But it seems like the right thing to do for me… and especially for the kids. They’ve been through so much already. Seeing their parents go through a bitter divorce battle isn’t something I want.”
“This sobriety thing looks good on you. You know, you’re a lot wiser than you give yourself credit for, Jessica.”
She smiled wryly... “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”
He poked the fire and then met her gaze. How could he have ever not loved her? “No, I’m sure I haven’t.”
The following morning, they were awakened by a loud and urgent knock at the front door. Jess sat up, her expression panicked as she eyed Myles. “It’s too early to be the kids, right.”
He checked his watch. “Dean said around one o’ clock or so.”
Jess frowned. “I’ll get it.”
She tossed a robe over Myles’s t-shirt that she had thrown on, walked to the alarm system, and punched in the code. There was more knocking followed by the doorbell. “Coming!” Jess called as she hurried to the front door. She looked out the peephole and her heart sank. Oh, no. This couldn’t mean anything good.
Jess slowly opened the door and eyed the uniformed officers. “Mrs. Clemens?”
“Yes,” she answered her voice quivering. Myles was quickly at her side.
“Can we come inside?” the female officer asked, h
olding up her badge. “I’m Agent Hewitt with the FBI. And this is my partner, Agent James Lewis.”
Myles opened the door wider and Jess stepped aside.
She eyed the officers expectantly.
“Why don’t you take a seat, Mrs. Clemens.”
“How can we help you?” Myles asked his voice steady.
The female officer cocked her head and studied Myles for a moment before answering. In her black pantsuit, not a wrinkle in sight, trim with her red bob, not a nary hair out of place she looked as though she were ready to pounce. “And you are?”
He extended his hand. “Myles Ingram. I’m on Mrs. Clemens’s staff.”
The red head didn’t blink and the male officer tipped back on his heels, and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Right,” the woman finally said.
Jess took a seat. “All right. I’m sitting.” She folded her arms across her chest. “What’s this all about?”
The woman took a seat adjacent to Jessica. The male officer stood at the red head’s side, looking over her shoulder. It was obvious who ran the show here, Jess thought.
“Your husband is Spencer Clemens, is that correct?”
Jess swallowed. “He’s my soon to be ex-husband, yes. Why? Is everything okay?” Her hand flew to her mouth.
“We have your husband detained, Mrs. Clemens. He’s been under investigation for embezzlement for several months now. Given new information we received this week, we’re also considering extortion and attempted murder charges, among others.”
