Acts of Desperation (19 page)

Summer had officially arrived and the air was hot and sticky. People in Cincinnati complain about the weather in the summer all the time. It’s muggy and sometimes miserable, but I love it. Driving with your windows down, sleeping with your windows open, picnics in the parks, and hearing the crickets at night, there’s nothing better in my opinion.

After Anders was moved into the hospice facility, he began to go downhill quickly. It wasn’t long after that Sarah told the children—despite Anders’s requests not to tell them. Sarah said Anders didn’t want to appear weak in front of the children, but when she could tell he didn’t have much longer, she went against his will and did what she knew was right.

Sam and Will took
the news as well as two children of their ages could. At times they were stoic and at others they were confused and sad. But children are resilient, and they were spending lots of time with my parents, so I knew they were surrounded by lots of love, and they’d be alright.

I tried to stop by a couple of days a week to see how Sarah was doing. We met in the lounge down from Anders’s room. I’d bring her some food, and we’d talk while she picked away at whatever I brought. It seemed that as each day past, and as his death drew nearer, Sarah became mo
re and more distant. Her behavior was odd. She never kept things from me, but now I felt she was. I didn’t know what it could be and I couldn’t understand it.

Here was this guy who’d destroyed her life as she’d known it; he lied, he cheated, and he stole things from her emotionally that I wasn’t sure she’d ever recover, but now that he was dying, she was firmly planted at his side. I tried not to judge because I’d never walked in her shoes, but it was strange
to me. Nevertheless, I was going to support her through the process for as long as it took because inevitably it was going to end.

One day when
I’d finished with court earlier than anticipated, I decided to pop in to see Sarah and deliver her some lunch. She’d progressively lost weight since the beginning of the divorce, but over the last couple of weeks, she’d noticeably slimmed down even more. I thought it was stress getting to her, and my parents confirmed she was worrying a lot. They thought she was going to be fine, but something in my gut told me she wasn’t. The person I sat and ate with wasn’t Sarah; it was someone walking around in her shell. I needed to sit down and make her talk to me to find out what was really going on.

When I pulled into the lot outside of the hospice facility,
I saw a car just like our firm’s parked out front. I sat with my window open, letting the warm breeze kiss my cheeks. I reminisced about my first ride in a car just like that and the moment when Jax put his hand on my thigh. Then our first kiss by the elevators after. My heart pounded in my chest just thinking about all of it. I stared blankly into space remembering, and as I closed my eyes, I couldn’t help but smile. Then it was as if he’d opened my car door and slid into the seat next to me. I almost felt him and could practically smell him in the air. Everything was so crisp in my mind that when I finally opened my eyes, I sighed at my reality. I missed him—really missed it. Maybe it was time for me to wave the white flag.

My phone rang. Dee called me with a problem that had developed with one of my cases. It took about a half an hour and numerous phone calls to iron out some wrinkles. At one point I was forced to roll up my windows and hit the A/C when sweat started pouring down my back. When I thought I had everything under control,
I grabbed the subs I picked up on the way off the front seat and headed inside. I thought maybe after I left, I’d go and see Jax.

I
nside the automatic doors, I was greeted by a chilled whoosh of air and the receptionist. It was too cold in there, and I got goose bumps. After saying hello, I took the walk down the pale yellow hallway and inhaled the sterile air while rubbing my arms. My silky floral print skirt and light pink sleeveless sweater wasn’t doing much to keep me warm. I should have grabbed my cardigan from the back seat before I came in.

My heels tapped against the shiny floor and echoed off the
walls. They were decorated with various landscape scenes. I was sure they’d probably done all kinds of research on how to decorate a place such as this. The color yellow and landscape scenes must make people feel happy or something. But whatever their intent was with the decorations, it still felt cold and sad to me. People came here to die, and I wasn’t sure a paint color or a collection of pictures could spice that up.

As I rounded the corner, I was met with an unexpected familiar face.

“Fritz. What are you doing here?” I asked, smiling.

“Oh,
hi Sember,” he said. “I was…I just brought Jax by to…deliver some papers.”

“You did?” I asked. “
What papers?”

“You’ll
have to ask him,” he said then glanced back over his shoulder.

“Is Jax back with my sister then?”

“Uh…yep. He should be finishing up and be along any minute. He actually asked me to get the car started. It’s a bit warm out there today and he likes the car to be cooled down when he gets in.”

I could understand that. I loved the heat, but getting into a car that felt like a sauna when wearing a suit was probably moderately close to torture for a man. They don’t get the variety in wardrobe choices that women have.
“Oh…ok.” I smiled. “Don’t let me keep you then. It was good to see you.” 

“You too,” he said. 
He smiled and nodded then continued down the hall. I walked past the lounge where Sarah and I normally sat, and when I didn’t see her, I walked up to Anders’s door. As I was reaching for the handle, the door opened, and I stared into the surprised faces of Sarah and Jax.

“Sember. W
hat are you doing here?” Sarah asked.

“It’s nice to see you too. I got out of court early so I thought I’d bring you lunch. What are you doing here?” I asked Jax.

“We had something we needed to take care of. Here,” he said, stepping past me and avoiding eye contact. “I’ll let you two catch up.”

I stared at him as he went past and couldn’t hide my confusion. I turned back to look at Sarah and saw a deteriorating Anders looking over at us from his bed. Our eyes met briefly, and I saw him chuckle under his breath before turning his head to look out the window.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“We should talk,” she said, putting her hand on my shoulder then turned to speak to Anders. “I’ll be in the lounge. Be back in a bit.”

“Ok, hon,” he said, his weakened voice straining to speak.

As soon as the door clicked shut, I asked, “Did he just call you
hon
?”

“Shh…let’s talk down here,” she said, grabbing my arm and leading me down the hallway.

We stopped at the lounge and sat in our normal seats by a set of windows that looked out onto a grassy area littered with geese.

“What the heck is going on? Why was Jax here?”

“He did us a favor.”

“Us?” I asked.

“Me and Anders.”

“What kind of favor?”

“Don’t be mad at him. I asked him not to discuss anything with you because I knew what you’d say and you’d try to stop me.”

My heart started to race. “What did you do Sarah?”

“Anders and I got divorced today. He brought a judge by and we had an unconventional divorce proceeding in Anders’s room. It’s official, we’re divorced,” she said, avoiding eye contact.

My mouth hung open. “That
has
to be the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. No. You’re kidding.” I started laughing, convinced she was joking. I even thought about looking for Ashton Kutcher again.

“See, I knew you wouldn’t understand.” She looked away from me and smirked. “And you would have tried to talk me out of it.”

“You’re damn right I would have and so would any other lawyer!
Why?
You just screwed yourself out of any kind of money that you could have had for you and the boys! Sarah
everything
he has would have been yours.
Why
would you do this?”

“Sember you don’t know….
you don’t get it. He doesn’t have anything. You saw the financial reports he gave to the judge,” she said.

“Yeah and it was full of lies and you know it. You know he’s got money hidden! You could have been taken care of for the rest of your life and you just pissed it all away!” I said.

“Would you be quiet?” She turned her head and looked around. “I did not! We’ve been talking a lot over the last couple of weeks. You don’t understand. He said he’s been drinking and gambling a lot since his dad died. He admitted that he pretty much unraveled and ruined everything he had that was good in his life. He’s lost everything. Me, the boys…and there’s no extra money.”

“And you believe that?” I asked.

“I do. He’s dying. Why would he keep lying now?”

“Because he’s
mentally ill. And, a liar. Just because he’s dying doesn’t change that. Are you forgetting everything he’s done? What about his business?”

“
I haven’t forgotten about anything. He is his business and it’s worth nothing without him, you know that.”

“He has money in some business accounts somewhere.” She only shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, dismissing
the thought. “And his house?”

“He barely has any equity since he’s only lived there a short time. There’s nothing to have. Nothing.”

“So then why even get divorced? It doesn’t make any sense.”

“He said he wanted to give me the peace and closure that I deserve. I know it’s hard to understand, but I think he’s finally realized how horrible he’s been to me and the boys.
He seemed so desperate and sorry. He said he owes me. It’s his last wish. How could I deny him that?”

“It should have been easy after everything he’s done.”

She rolled her eyes and sighed. “Well anyway, we asked Jax to draw up new documents.”

“And
he went along with this?” I was completely and utterly baffled.

“Yes. After Anders’s funeral is paid for, the remainder of his estate will be divided it up between the boys and put into a trust. It’s probably only going to be a few thousand each when all is said and done. He said he wanted to leave the boys with something…to take care of them still after he’s gone.”

“Well that’s great but what about now and the next fifteen years while you raise two boys on a teacher’s salary by yourself? Have you thought about that?”

“Of course I have. People do it all the time. It’ll be tough but I’ll figure it out. Mom and dad can help. I’ll need to start tutoring and maybe get a second job over the weekends, but we’ll make it.”

“I-I can’t let you do this. You’re exhausted and you’ve let him manipulate your mind,” I said, shaking my head. Maybe if I drove quickly enough, I could get to the courthouse and stop the papers—or at least try. This was going to be the biggest mistake of her life. I had to save her from herself, defend her when she didn’t know she needed defending. I knew in my heart that Anders was hiding something and I couldn’t let him get away with it.

“You can’t stop it. It’s done. The judge already left and he said he’d file the papers immediately.”

“I’m sorry Sarah but I have to go,” I said and got up to leave. She grabbed my arm to stop me, but I shook her off and kept on walking.

I had to find Jax. If I could convince him, he could call the judge and maybe stop the papers. I called his phone and after I was sent directly to voicemail, I called the office. Dee told me that he’d been wo
rking from home the whole week so I drove like a complete maniac and within minutes, pulled up in front of his brownstone.

I tried the knob, but the door was locked, because yes, I was going to let myself in. I banged on the door and rang the bell until I heard his footsteps.

“Jesus!” he said, throwing the door open. “What the hell—”

I pushed past him and turned around as he was shutting the door. I paid little attention to the fact that he’d recently gotten out of a shower.
I assumed his ride home wasn’t air conditioned enough and that he sweated through his suit. Served him right. “No, it’s me Sember, but you might be meeting him by the time I’m through with you,” I said with my hands firmly planted on my hips.

“I take it yo
u heard,” he said, running his hands alongside his head to tame his towel dried hair.

“Yes, I freaking heard. Are you out of your mind? We need to go down to the courthouse and stop the papers
. Now!”

“Sem—
”

“
I can’t believe you went for this and didn’t try to talk her out of it. You said you’d take care of everything! You’re supposed to be the best.”

“I am the best, and if you’d stop talking for two seconds I can explain,” he said.

“Grab your shoes and you can explain in the car,” I said, walking back up to the door. I stared at him and waited for him to move. He had on one of my favorite pair of his low hanging, gray drawstring pants that clung perfectly to his hips and a white t-shirt. And God, he smelled good. “Come on.”

“No.”

“Don’t ‘no
’
me. Yes. Grab them and let’s go! This is some stupid scheme that Anders has cooked up. You know damn well he has money hidden somewhere.”

“I know. Seven hundred and fifty thousand
that I’ve found so far.”

I took my hand off the door. “What?” I said, gaping at him

“Come in and I’ll explain.”

“You found it? But…” He grabbed my hand
, and I walked through his freshly showered downdraft as he led me to the kitchen. I sat down at the island and he walked around and stood across from me at the sink.

“I knew he was full of shit when Sarah asked me to draw up new papers. I pulled her aside and told her it was a bad idea, but she wouldn’t listen. I’m not sure what Anders has been saying to her, but he’s got her completely convinced that he has nothing and that what he’s doing is for her benefit.” He laughed. “It’s pretty ridiculous.”

“I know. But I don’t understand.” I crossed my hands in my lap, trying to make sense of what he was telling me.

“I haven’t found all of it—
yet. I’ve only just found some, but I know there’s more. I started looking the day after he collapsed in the office. I’ve devoted every waking hour of my life since then to finding it. I’ve gone through every line of his records: business, travel, personal and then some. I was getting close then they approached me with this divorce idea. The way Anders asked for the papers to be written, it sounded like he knew eventually the money would be found, but this way when he does die, all the money would go into a trust for the kids. They wouldn’t get anything until they turn eighteen, so Sarah would have a tough time raising the kids on what she’d be making. That sick bastard really wants her to have nothing.”

“I know. I don’t understand it. It’s like a personal vendetta he’s carrying out,” I said.

“Exactly. And given Sarah’s state of mind at the moment, I was afraid if I said anything to her about it she’d tell Anders, and he’d have a chance to move the money or something worse. Hell, one phone call and he could give it all to a Nigerian prince, and then there really would be nothing.”

“Ok, then why did you go in there with a judge and have them sign papers if you found it? That doesn’t make sense.”

“Well…I didn’t.”

“I saw you, and Sarah told me what happened. She said they signed the papers—they’re divorced and the documents are being filed right now.” I was still waiting for that one piece of the puzzle to fit everything together.
None of this made sense.

“It was faked Sember—I staged it. They signed legitimate legal papers but there was no judge in that room.”

“What? Well someone was in there. If it wasn’t a judge then who was it?” I asked.

“Fritz,” he said
with a smirk. “And the papers have already been lost. It’s a pity how careless people are within the legal system these days.”

“Fritz?”

“I had him pretend to be the judge. We rehearsed, and he went in and gave an award winning performance. Anders and Sarah signed papers, and as far as they think, they’re divorced. Sarah thinks she did the right thing and Anders thinks he won. In the meantime, I’m going to keep looking until I find it all. I’ll tell her everything after he dies.”

“Jax, y
ou could get disbarred for this.”

“I could, but I’m trusting the people that know the truth to not say anything. I did it for the right reasons.”

“Why?” I shook my head. “Why would you do that?”

He looked down to his hands folded on the island. “I want to see your sister get what’s rightfully hers, but mostly…
” He looked up at me. “I did it for you.”

“Me?”

“You were right about what you said—I’ve been an idiot. It wasn’t fair to make demands and not consider your opinions.” He walked over and stood beside me and reached for my hands. “You’re the person I want, and if I can’t live with you, then I can accept that, but I feel like I’m dying without you.” I sat, speechless. “My life has no meaning without you in it. Please take me back. I need you, baby.”

My heart pounded and my mouth was suddenly dry. “Really?” I said. I hadn’t expected any of this
, and as soon as he said it, it felt like someone took a two thousand pound elephant off my chest.

“Yes.”

“Oh,” I said, and my eyes welled with tears.

“That’s all?” he said with a slight smirk. “Just
‘oh.’”

I blinked back my tears and looked up to him. “Took you long enough,” I said and smiled.

He pulled me up from my stool, and held my face in his hands. He tilted my face up and kissed the scar on my forehead. “I’m so sorry.”

“Stop it. It’s not your f—”

But then, he kissed me—desperate and hard. I savored the mintiness lingering on his breath. I reached my hands up under his shirt and caressed the smooth curves of his warm, sticky back and relished just touching him again. He released a throaty moan, winding his hands through my hair and tugging my head back, trailing his lips along my neck and up to my ear.

“God I missed you,” he whispered,
and the warmth of his breath melted the edges of my heart. “I want you…I need you, baby.”

I didn’t say anything because
I didn’t have to. His hands roamed downward until he found the zipper on my skirt. In one quick motion, my skirt and underwear were in a heap on the floor, and he was raising my sweater over my head. He unhooked my bra then lifted me up and placed my bare backside on the cold granite counter. I tugged his shirt over his head as he pulled the drawstring loose on his pants and lowered his boxer briefs. He took a step deeper between my legs, pressing his warm shaft against my stomach. As we kissed, I ran my finger nails against his damp skin and over his smooth, firm ass.

He reached under my backside and scooted me closer to the edge. Wrapping his hand around himself, he guided his shaft into my awaiting depth. I hooked my legs around his hips and clung to him as he cupped my frozen bottom and carried me to the furry rug in front of his couch.

Our bodies flawlessly transitioned to our new space, and he moved with rhythmic precision, touching me, kissing me, and loving me exactly the way I needed— and the way I wasn’t sure I’d ever get the chance to feel again. He slowed his pace and pushed himself completely inside of me until there was no more to give. Then with small precise movements, he teased and tormented my core. I widened my hips and pressed myself against him and we moved in perfect synchronicity as the sweet tingle of my release began to build, ebbing and flowing like the tides. He licked, nibbled, and sucked on my neck while I fought against my body to stop my tidal wave of desire from rushing up to his shore. But as his pace quickened, and his groans deepened, I couldn’t fight it any longer and let go. Swells of pleasure consumed me. Hearing my cries sent him over the edge as his cock twitched and filled my womb.

He collapsed on top of me and panted, trying to catch his breath.
He tucked his hand under my back and rolled me on top of him. I straddled him and looked down at his wet hair. He was so beautiful and perfect. I sat up to slide off and to assume my position on his chest, but he grabbed my hips and stopped me.

“No, don’t move. I want to stay inside you a little longer,” he said, then reached up and
palmed my breasts.

I giggled then wiggled on top of him intent on
ly on teasing him. But, his softening cock once again grew hard, and silently, I splayed atop him and gently tickled my nipples against his chest. I buried my face in the soft crease of his perfumed neck and rode him until we were completely exhausted.