Chapter 19 Moving Out

Monday morning brought a return to normalcy for Chris and Sherry, who both returned to work. I called my boss at the publishing company and explained the situation to her in-depth. Since she had been one of the shocked funeral attendees, she wasn't surprised to hear most of it.

The company offered a week's bereavement leave for the death of a spouse, which I had used last week. After hearing everything that was going on in my life, she reluctantly agreed to give me a thirty-day unpaid leave of absence. I knew I needed time to find my new normal, not to mention the myriad of details that needed to be sorted out.

I then called Melissa, the attorney who helped with my real estate portfolio, on the way to the realtor's office. I knew that Chris had called her to fill her in on the situation with David yesterday while Sherry and I were shopping, since the informal gag order on the investigation was lifted once they were arrested. She commented that she was pleased that the judge had denied the bond request and had frozen their assets.

I laughed and agreed, adding "I was also pleased to see Vanessa and Scott looking so rough. Scott got in a fight with his cellmate, and Vanessa looked on the verge of a mental breakdown. She wasn't her usual vision of perfection. I hadn't realized until Chris explained it, but did you know they remove your hair extensions when you're booked into jail? They can apparently be used as weapons or tied together to strangle yourself or something. I had no idea, but God, her hair looked awful when they finished with it. I'm petty enough to have enjoyed the hell out of it, too."

We both laughed at that, before she sobered and apologized that she and her staff hadn't realized that David had falsified and forged the documents adding his name to the condo's deed.

"He told me that you were having an extremely difficult time after the miscarriage, and the documentation he gave me looked in order. I believed him when he said he was handling this for you since you weren't feeling up to dealing with anything then. I should have confirmed it with you directly, and I'm so sorry I didn't. If I had, he would have gotten caught almost three months ago," she told me, remorse clear in her voice.

"I don't blame you, Melissa. He was my husband. I trusted him, and by extension, so did you. It's not your fault at all. I do need your help though. I want to sell the condo immediately. Vanessa won't be out of jail anytime soon, as she's being held until trial at least. Do I need to file for eviction, even though she has no legitimate lease and hasn't been paying rent?"

"Unfortunately, in this state if she has lived there for more than thirty days, she has established residency and you have to get a court order to remove her and her possessions. I can file an emergency order this morning. Under the circumstances, I can guarantee it will be granted quickly."

"Yes, please do that, and let me know the moment the court issues the order."

My next call was to Randall, who agreed to meet with me that afternoon once I finished getting the keys to my rental condo.

It didn't take long at my realtor's office to sign the rental agreement and get the keys for the new place, as Rachel had all the documents ready and waiting for me. I explained that I wanted to list my house for sale immediately, and that as soon as the current resident was evicted, the Meridian Street condo would need to be listed as well.

She had followed the story on the news, so I didn't have to explain much about the situation, for which I was grateful. I was tired of talking about it, and having people realize what a gullible fool I had been.

"I have movers coming tomorrow to get my personal items and a few other bits and pieces from the house. Then I'll hire a cleaning service to give it all a deep cleaning so it's ready for you to show."

"I have a service that I normally use. I would be happy to arrange that for you," she offered.

We discussed the details regarding the asking price, and she warned me that David's recent death on site would affect the sale price.

"I understand, and that's fine. I'll be happy if I can get enough out of it to cover the mortgage he took out."

After signing the listing contract, I headed out to grab a quick bite for lunch before going to meet Randall. Over lunch at a nearby deli, I scrolled through my phone, deleting voice mails and emails from local news reporters, asking for an interview, or at least a statement from me. Apparently, the salacious details revealed at the arraignment were too juicy to ignore and given my - as one reporter called it - high profile within the community, they wanted to get my account of things. Yeah, that would be a hard pass. My account of things would include way too much information.

My meeting with Randall went well. He ushered me straight into his office when I arrived, which meant I could avoid the awkward and inquisitive stares of David's and Vanessa's colleagues.

"How are you, dear?" Randall asked as we sat down in his office.

"It's been incredibly rough, but I'll be OK," I assured him. "I'm so sorry, Randall. I hate that David and Vanessa dragged you and the firm into their web of lies. I've instructed my accountant to write you a check to cover the amount of the missing funds."

He looked surprised. "Lila, you don't have to do that. This doesn't fall on you. Besides, David was a part owner, so technically, some of that could have been considered his."

"I want to do it Randall. I'm selling David's cars and his boat, so that will easily cover the amount, I think. As soon as David's will goes through probate, I will sign over his partial ownership back to you. I don't want it. The firm is yours. You founded it. You built it. I have no interest in keeping it."

His surprise gave way to a stunned incredulity. "Are you sure? You can certainly remain as a silent partner, and I can-"

"No," I interrupted him. "No offense, Randall, but this place is associated with nothing but bad memories for me now. I really want nothing more to do with it. It's all yours. I'll have the papers drawn up for you."

"Lila, I need to confess something to you. It's weighed on my mind for months, but David told me how worried he was about you, how fragile you were, and I didn't want to cause you more pain, so I kept it to myself. I deeply regret that now," he sighed. I braced myself, unsure of what was coming.

"I knew he had cheated on you the night of your miscarriage. He came to me two days later, appearing wracked with guilt. He told me that he'd had too much to drink and had met a woman in a bar. He promised me that it had been a one-time thing, and that he'd regretted it even before he found out you'd been rushed to the hospital. He said he'd told you he had been taking a new client out to dinner and begged me to cover for him if you ever mentioned it," he told me, the guilt and sorrow clear in his voice. "I am so sorry I believed him."

I just gave him a sad smile as I said "It's OK, Randall. He was very good at fooling people, especially me, and I was supposed to know him better than anyone."

After a brief discussion of my future plans and oohing and aahing over the latest pictures of his new grandson, I hugged him and thanked him for his kindness over the years.

"I'm not sure what went wrong with David, but I do know that his excitement when he first started working under you was real and genuine.I don't know what changed for him, and I'm not sure what to believe about a lot of my life with him, but I do believe that much at least. I'm sorry he betrayed you so badly," I told him tearfully.

His own eyes welled up, and he gave me a tight hug, telling me that he wished nothing but the best for me from here on out. I left a few minutes later, after declining to collect any of David's personal things from his office.

"Give it away, throw it in the dumpster, I don't care. I don't want any of it," I told him as I walked out the door.

My next stop was the rental condo, where I quickly unloaded the things that Sherry and I had purchased yesterday. I sat on the floor and placed a grocery order to be delivered the next afternoon. I needed absolutely everything since I was planning to follow James's advice to dispose of everything from my house. Even though I knew the GHB had only been planted in the one bottle, I didn't want to arouse suspicion.

I leaned back against the wall and contemplated my next steps. I checked off the items on my mental to-do list, trying to decide what I still needed to do.

I checked my emails, responding to a few, before spotting one from the attorney handling my mother's estate in Chicago. He needed my signature on some things to remove her name from the deed to her house. Since Mom had added me on when she first bought it, it didn't need to go through probate. I had just needed to present her death certificate to have her name removed, paving the way for me to sell the place.

I could take care of this via email, but I really could use a break from everything for a few days, and Chicago was as good a place as any. I responded back that I would travel to Chicago on Wednesday and could meet him then. I decided I would stay for a day or two and finish packing up Mom's house. I couldn't keep putting it off.

On my drive back to Chris and Sherry's, Melissa called to give me the good news that the judge had granted the eviction order.

"Already?" I asked in surprise.

"I interned for him back in law school, so he pushed it through right away as a favor. He was appalled when I filled him in. He told me to tell you - off the record - that he hopes Scott and Vanessa get the book thrown at them."

I chuckled. "That makes two of us. I'm hoping they're both in prison until they're old and gray."

She laughed and agreed before telling me I could get access to the condo in twenty-four hours. "She has to be notified, via her attorney, that she has twenty-four hours to vacate. The place is yours as of 4:00 pm tomorrow."

"So, she has to arrange for family or someone to pack her things and remove them by 4:00 pm?"

"Exactly," she confirmed. "Anything left at that time must be placed in storage for one month, which would be billed to her. If unclaimed or unpaid at the end of that month, the storage company will auction off the contents, and that's how they get paid. Any proceeds over and above the storage rental and their removal fees would revert to you as restitution."

My mental to-do list kept growing, as I added on a visit to the condo at 4:00 pm tomorrow.

Once I got back to Sherry's house, I sent a quick text to them both, inviting them out for a "goodbye" dinner for our last night together before I moved out of their guest room. After getting their enthusiastic agreement to meet at their favorite seafood place at 7, I put in a call to the travel agent that I had worked with to book the St. Bart's trip for our upcoming anniversary. I didn't bother explaining about David and she didn't ask, so presumably she hadn't made the connection if she'd seen it on the news. I made arrangements for an all-expenses paid trip to Greece, as a thank you to Chris and Sherry. That had been on Sherry's bucket list for years. I had the agent email the details to me, so I could present it to them at dinner.

I packed up my things, other than my toiletries and a change of clothes for the morning, then changed to head over to the restaurant.

We had a wonderful meal, and Sherry cried when I told them about the trip.

"I rented a villa in Santorini for you for ten days. I'll send you the email, with vouchers for first-class airfare and a rental car while you're there. You'll need to get with Cassie in the next few days to let her know what dates you want, and she will book it all and finalize everything for you."

Sherry squealed as she looked through the photos Cassie had included in her email, leaning across the table to excitedly show them to Chris. He shook his head and smiled at me, as she continued to swipe through the photos.

"You didn't have to do this, you know," he said.

"I know, but I wanted to. I couldn't have made it through the last seven months without you guys, especially this last week. I truly don't know what I would have done without you," I responded truthfully.

Later that night after I got ready for bed, I reached into the nightstand drawer and pulled out the burner phone Sherry had bought for me last week. I powered it on, pleased to see that it was still charged. Dialing the number, I waited as it rang, hoping he would answer.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Uncle Pat, it's Lila"

"Well, hello, sweetheart. I thought it might be you when I saw the Indianapolis area code. Is everything OK? I read about their arraignment. The accompanying photo of them being led out of the courtroom wasn't flattering at all, I must say," he told me with a low chuckle.

I snickered. "No, it certainly wasn't. I just wanted to let you know that I'm heading to Mom's place on Wednesday to get the last of her things packed up before I put it on the market. There are some photo albums and a few things of Grandma's that I thought you might like to have."

"That's very thoughtful of you, I appreciate it. I would definitely like to have them. I miss them both very much. I'm going to be tied up later in the week, so if I'm not able to make it over to see you, I'll send someone to pick them up."

"That's fine. I'm planning to stay overnight at least and drive back here Thursday evening."

"That sounds good, I'll try to make it over there myself before you go then. Love you, sweetheart, talk to you soon."