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I felt cornered and I was not sure which way to turn. I could tell them everything I knew and walk out of the room in a matter of minutes but that would mean Chris would have a long legal battle ahead of him. My other option was to stay silent while they kept spinning tales of murder and mayhem with me as the leading character. Neither option seemed enticing. I was not completely convinced the story the cops just recounted made much sense. Half of it was made up and the other half seemed convenient. The only problem was if I didn’t tell them what they wanted to hear my freedom may also be in jeopardy. I definitely need a lawyer. “Do I need a lawyer?”
It was Detective Brown’s turn to start appealing to my sense of goodness. “I don’t know, do you? Ms. Walker, I know you are just an innocent bystander in this entire process. Mr. Brooks promised you the world, he probably told you he was going to divorce his wife. Not kill her. I can tell you are a kind woman. You just got dragged into this by a man—a veryrichman—you fell in love with. This is your opportunity to get out from underneath this. Tell us what happened in the art room at the ranch.” They both stood looking at me, waiting for me to say something.
I gagged as I tried to keep my breakfast from spilling out my mouth onto the table. They both instinctively stepped back when to my surprise my morning sickness took over.
I was so embarrassed and apologized profusely as a janitor was called in to help clean up the mess and was scooping my bodily fluids off the metal table.
“I am so sorry; I must have had something that did not agree with my stomach for breakfast.”
The smell made me nauseous and I had to close my eyes to center myself. Everyone was silent as the gentleman cleaned the table and walked back out of the room. The silence gave me some time to think. What was I going to do? It was obvious to me that someone saw us in the closet and if I lied, that could mean perjury. I didn’t think Chris was guilty of everything they accused him of but something else was going on. There is no way a billionaire gets raided and hauled to jail in this town without some evidence. I was sure Chris had a team of attorneys working on getting him out. He would never spend a night in jail. On the other hand, I was screwed. I barely had two nickels to rub together and without getting paid for the job at the ranch, I would have no money to hire a decent lawyer.
Maybe if Chris knew I was pregnant, it would be different. I am such an idiot. Why didn’t I tell him? It was too late to worry about that now. My immediate concern was to find a way out of this mess and fast. As soon as the door shut Detective Brown asked if I needed water or anything. I remembered that was the worst thing in an interrogation room because they always used the empty container to lift your fingerprint. Damn, I sounded like a guilty woman. “No, thank you, but can I use the restroom?” I needed more time to come up with a strategy. Detective Parker stepped out and returned with a female officer. She escorted me to the restroom and stood guard outside my stall as if I was a convicted criminal. I sat on the toilet and felt happy to finally be by myself, even if I was sharing my space with the graffiti plastered across the walls in the stall.
I knew they had someone feeding them information, and they knew about our encounter in the master bedroom closet and probably about the kiss in the office. They knew nothing about the pregnancy but they had information on the blood on the art room floor.
They didn’t mention the music box and they didn’t say anything about any evidence they had linking Chris to his wife’s accident. That brought a few things to focus and my options were clear. I had to tell them that we were sexually involved and everything I knew about the music box and the bloody carpet. Or, stay quiet and hope to God all this just miraculously went away. As I walked back to the interrogation room, my stomach was in knots. I walked in and took my seat on the dirty chair; I knew I had no more time to keep the detectives at bay. I had to say something.
I started to speak and both men leaned in intently to hear my confession. “I—”
The door swung open and a well-dressed man walked in. “Ms. Walker, don’t say another word. He looked at both detectives. “Do you have any intention of charging Ms. Walker today?”
Both detectives looked perplexed. “That’s what I thought. I am representing Ms. Walker. If you have any further questions for her, I left my card at the front desk. You can call to set up a time and date that is convenient.”
With that, my apparent lawyer looked at me. “Ms. Walker, let’s go.”
CHAPTER 13
CHRISTOPHER
Iwas now sitting in a ten-by-four holding cell with a toilet that smelled like an open sewer. There was a bench in the corner and I sat with my back to the wall waiting for Peter to post my bail. I was relieved that the anticipation of the warrant was over, but now I needed to focus on the legal battle ahead. The first thing I needed to do was protect the company. Peter and I had already found a trustee that could step in as interim CEO so the company would be shielded. The media frenzy had already started, I was on a loop on FOX 4 News being hauled into the police station in connection with the death of deceased wife. We had plans in place so there would be very little impact to the stock and cause any uncertainty with the board of directors for Brooks Energy.
All necessary documents were filed and I had secured enough votes on the board to push it through. Once the police filed charges, the transition would be triggered automatically. I could not let my birthright get swallowed up by this mess. The next thing was to protect Natasha at all costs. My Aunt Helen was granted emergency guardianship, in the worst-case scenario she would take care of my peanut for me.
Having safeguards in place made me feel ready to mount a strong legal defense against the charges. I was still puzzled at what the motive was. It couldn’t possibly be money. Victoria had signed an ironclad prenup that could only be overturned by the infidelity of either party. I was never unfaithful to her and to my knowledge she was never unfaithful to me. If I found out she was, that would mean no money for her. So, what exactly was the story they weaved to get a judge to sign off on the warrant? I sat in my smelly holding cell deep in thought when I had another flashback of the night Victoria died.
I remembered standing at the accident site. I was buzzed but not drunk. I was angry with Victoria but when I saw her car my anger immediately disappeared and was replaced with fear. The car was badly distorted. I remembered smelling the burning plastic in the air as I tried my best to get closer. I was a few feet away when I saw something…. Or was it someone coming out of the wreck? No, it was two people coming out of the wreck. I remembered feeling relieved because it seemed as if Victoria was getting help. Someone was carrying her out of the mangled car.
I recognized a rose tattoo on the inside of her left arm that was dangling down in front of her limp body. I was just about to see the face of the person who had her cradled when the occupant in the cell to my right started yelling for his phone call. The next few minutes were filled with cursing and shouting between him and the officer on duty. After everyone calmed down, I began to piece my memories together. I still wasn’t sure of everything that happened that night, but my last flashback gave me something to move forward with. I still wasn’t sure why we were arguing but I knew it had to do with the letter from the genetics lab. I know I was at the scene of the crash but now I also know I was not the only one. These all by themselves didn’t exonerate me but they didn’t prove anything definitive against me either.
My job now was to keep focusing on putting the pieces together so I could defend myself in court if it came to it. I closed my eyes for about two minutes to try and clear my mind but the stench from the toilet was overpowering. I hoped Peter was able to get me out soon. I didn’t know if an entire night in this cell was possible without being wasted. My mind drifted to a more pleasant thought: Sam. I wondered if she was worried that she wasn’t going to get paid. I had already taken care of that. I had Peter pay the staffing agency that referred her in full. I even added a few thousand dollars to show my appreciation. I tried to remember her scent; maybe it could stifle the stench of the toilet bowl next to me. I was halfway into a reenactment of taking her in my master bedroom closet when I was pulled out of my daydream by the rustling outside my holding cell. “Mr. Brooks, you posted bail.” I would have enjoyed the solitude if the stench from the toilet bowl wasn’t so pungent. I walked out, looking at the occupant in the holding cell to my right. The poor guy was intoxicated and still hadn’t gotten his phone call. He was now out cold on the bench, snoring so loud I could hear him halfway down the hall. I gave the officer a gruff goodbye and walked up to the clerk to gather my belongings.
After a few minutes of verifying, I got everything I came into the station with. I walked out the front entrance to find Peter and the press.
“Mr. Brooks did you kill your wife?”
“No comment!”
“Mr. Brooks why were you arrested?”
“No comment!”
I pushed my way past the obnoxious reporters and walked over to Peter who was on his cell phone confirming something was done. “They tipped off the press to humiliate me?” I said, I was trying to keep my anger in check. “Thanks for getting me out so quickly. How is Natasha?”
“Yeah, she’s fine. The house, on the other hand, is a mess. I had Brandon rally the staff immediately to get things cleaned up. They have the art room cordoned off but I just got off the phone with the crime lab. They got all they needed so we can get that cleaned up as well.”
“Do they know whose blood it is yet?”
Peter looked at me with tired eyes. “No, nothing yet. Do you know where the blood came from? Did you remember anything else?”
