An Uncertain Affair (The Affair Series Book 2) (14 page)

Monday
morning Sally sneaked me into the courthouse through a hidden side entrance.
The front of the building was crawling with cameras. I slipped into the back of
the courtroom as the proceeding was getting started. The room was packed with
people, including Valerie’s parents who sat with Dane and Steve on the
prosecution side. Sergio, Adele, and Cy sat several rows behind Nicole and her
lawyer. The tension in the room was thick.

Nicole
looked pale and had dark circles under her eyes. Sergio and Cy also looked
exhausted and nervous. Adele, as usual, was stoic. Robert had his arm around
Joy’s shoulder as she blotted tears from her cheeks. They both looked straight
ahead, making no eye contact with the Ramirez team or Nicole. The proceedings
didn’t take long. The judge read the charges and asked Nicole for a plea.

“Not
guilty,” she said, barely audible and obviously weak.

Based
on the amount of evidence against Nicole, the judge set bail at five hundred
thousand dollars and sent her back to jail.

I
ducked out the back door of the room and waited for Dane, Steve, and Valerie’s
parents to come out. They walked over when they saw me.

“I
don’t know what kind of resources the Ramirez group has, but maybe that will
keep her behind bars for at least a little while,” Robert said. Joy just shook
her head and wept quietly.

Sergio,
Cy, and Adele came out of the courtroom. Sergio saw me talking with Valerie’s
parents and started walking toward us. I made eye contact with him and just
shook my head. He got the message that he wasn’t welcome in that conversation and
turned to leave with the others.

“What
are your plans from here?” I asked Valerie’s parents.

“We
have to go to Valerie’s house and begin going through her things,” Robert said.
“We want to get everything moved out by Friday and shipped back to Ohio. We’ll
sort it out there.”

“Do
you need help?” Dane asked.

“No,
we’re going to spend today and tomorrow just figuring out what’s there. We’re
working on scheduling a mover to start Wednesday to pack and move everything,”
Robert said.

“Well,
if there is
anything
we can do, please let us know.” Dane said “We’ll
also start figuring out how many people might attend the reception. We should
have a pretty good idea by mid-week.”

“Thank
you all for being here and for helping us with that,” Joy said through her
tears. “It will mean a lot to have Valerie’s friends together to celebrate her
life.”

I
could see the press clamoring to get up the stairs toward the courtroom. I
excused myself and sneaked out through the same side door where I had come in.
I called Sally to tell her I had left and was heading home to stay away from the
cameras. I had a secondary motive. I wanted to see what had happened in Clint’s
hearing that morning, too.

It
was eleven-forty, and the news hour rattled on with a number of other human
interest stories and sports, but Clint’s story led the headlines at the top of
the next hour. The same correspondent from the other night was in front of the
courthouse in New York for Clint’s hearing. Clint was in protective custody
under tight security and on a suicide watch. They said he was quite despondent,
but naming names. A picture of Clay Orwell in his bicycle messenger garb and
splendid tattoos filled the screen. Clay was the missing piece in solving the
art theft and forgery case, since Clint was behind bars. There was speculation
that Clint’s life might still be in danger even in prison since he had confirmed
Clay was the Mob connection.

Thankfully,
they weren’t looking for me.

**

Sergio
called around two o’clock. “Hi,” I answered with no emotion.

“How’re
you?” Sergio asked. “I wanted to talk to you after the arraignment, but I
didn’t see you leave.”

“I
hate crowds, so I ducked out the back. What’s happening?”

“Cy
and I are trying to figure out how we are going to manage Nicole’s bail. I know
we only have to come up with ten percent of it, but we just don’t have that
kind of available cash lying around.”

“I
understand,” I said flatly.

“Adele’s
gone over to the prison to see how Nicole’s doing after the hearing and to let
her know we’re working on getting her out. I’m just not sure how quickly we can
make it happen.”

“I
guess she’ll just have to tough it out until you can get the money together.” I
was bitter.

“I
know you’re still angry and hurt. So am I. Seeing Nicole in court this morning stirred
up a lot of feelings, but I have to try to help with this bail situation for
Cy. He is still completely convinced she is innocent.”

“I
am pretty sure the evidence says otherwise, so he’d better get used to the idea
that she’s going to end up in prison for a very long time.” My call waiting
beeped in. It was Sally. “I’ve got to take this call. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Okay.
I’ll…” I clicked over to Sally without letting Sergio finish his sentence.

“Bridget.
I have some news.”

“What’s
up?”

“You’re
not going to believe this. Adele has confessed to murdering Valerie.”

“What?!”

“Apparently
she’s in love with Nicole and has been for a long time. She knew her love would
never be fulfilled romantically, but if she could make Nicole’s life better in
some way, she would find joy in that. She killed Valerie so Nicole could get
all the glory from the book. She never imagined anyone would discover it as a
murder, let alone blame Nicole for it. When she got to the prison after the
hearing this morning, Nicole was in bad shape. They both realized it was going
to take some time for the Ramirez brothers to come up with the bail, and Nicole
was very distraught. Adele couldn’t stand seeing Nicole like that. She cracked and
confessed.”

“That’s
unbelievable!”

“There’s
more. The reason she said that she never imagined anyone would suspect this as
a murder is because she had done it before and gotten away with it. She told
the detectives that she had determined the effect of clear almond extract on
people with nut allergies when Sergio’s wife died. She had misunderstood Nicole
when she told her about the wife’s allergy to nuts. Adele thought Nicole meant
Cy’s
wife was allergic. She was trying to get Cy’s wife out of the picture so Cy and
Nicole would be out from under all the drama with the divorce. Cy’s wife was
having lunch with Marissa when Adele spiked the pitcher of water with the
extract. It had no effect on Cy’s wife, but Marissa died within minutes.”

“Oh,
my God, Sally! That’s so insane!”

“Yes,
it is. Cy called a lawyer for Adele while she was still at the prison. It
wouldn’t surprise me if they didn’t plead guilty by reason of insanity. The
whole thing is pretty crazy.”

“Did
Nicole have any idea how Adele felt about her?”

“I
guess Adele had made advances toward Nicole quite a few years ago, but
obviously, Nicole prefers men. Nicole pushed back, but since she had to work
with Adele, she managed to keep the relationship strictly a friendship. Or so
she thought. Adele never got over her love for Nicole and just wanted her to be
happy and successful. Obviously, it backfired.”

“What
happens next?

“They’ve
taken Adele into custody, and Nicole is in the process of being released. They’ll
have another arraignment for Adele, probably Wednesday. Now it’s become a crime
of passion rather than a crime of rivalry. It doesn’t change the outcome, but
it makes a little more sense, I guess.”

“It’s
still crazy. Thanks for letting me know. I’ll talk to you later.”

I
immediately tried to call Sergio back but got his voicemail. “Sergio, I’ve just
heard about Adele. Call me.” I headed for Sergio’s apartment. Adele’s
confession would hit him hard. Everyone thought Marissa’s death was an
accident. Dealing with the news that she was actually murdered and finding out
it was Adele who killed her would be devastating to Sergio.

I
called Dane on my way to Sergio’s to tell him what had happened. He and Steve
were still with Valerie’s parents. “That is right out of a Hitchcock movie.
How’d Sergio take the news?” Dane asked.

“I
haven’t been able to reach him since I heard. I’ll let you know when I’ve
talked to him.”

“Okay,
I’ll break the news to Joy and Robert,” Dane said quietly. “Later.”

I
tried Sergio’s phone again. No answer. Maybe he would answer a text:
Where r
u? Need 2 c u. R u OK?

It
took a few minutes, but he wrote back:
At the flat. Don’t know what to say….

On
my way there. C u soon.

I
buzzed the intercom, and the elevator door opened. When I got upstairs, Sergio
was in the living room, staring into space, tears streaming down his face. He
didn’t get up. I sat down and held him; he fell into my arms, sobbing. We cried
together.

“I’m
so sorry, Sergio. I can’t even imagine what you’re going through,” I said
softly.

He
didn’t speak. We sat in silence, holding each other for a long time.

**

Wednesday
morning’s proceedings were not unlike Monday’s but, as we suspected, Adele’s
lawyer pled guilty to all counts by reason of insanity. She would be held
without bail and examined by a psychiatrist to determine her mental state at
the time of the crimes. Regardless of that outcome, she would never be a free
woman again.

After
the hearing, I stood in the hallway outside the courtroom doors, waiting for Dane
and Steve to come out with Valerie’s parents. Sergio, Cy, and Nicole appeared
first. Sergio came up to me and kissed me on both cheeks.

“How’re
you doing?” I asked.

“I’m
seeing my grief counselor this afternoon. I think that will help me. Right now
I’m still pretty shaky.”

“I
know. We all are.”

Valerie’s
parents, Dane, and Steve joined us.

“Well,
I guess we all expected that,” Robert said with little emotion. Joy was holding
onto him, blotting her eyes with a tissue.

Sergio
spoke up. “Mr. and Mrs. Essex, Cy and I were talking inside, and we would like
you to consider letting us host the gathering at Buena Comida on Sunday. We
would close the restaurant to the public, and it would be our pleasure to provide
the food and drink in celebration of Valerie’s life.” His eyes filled with
tears. Robert and Joy looked at each other, stunned. “Please? It would mean a
lot to us.”

I
was shocked, too. Dane whispered to me that Robert and Joy had stopped Sergio,
Cy, and Nicole on their way in to the arraignment and invited them to Anthony’s
for Valerie’s memorial celebration. After they heard the whole story, including
the part about Sergio’s wife, they felt it was the right thing to do.

“We
would be honored to be there,” Robert said as Joy nodded in agreement.

“Thank
you,” Sergio said, with great appreciation. “We will make all the preparations
and plan on starting at six Sunday evening.”

“Thank
you, Sergio,” Joy said, hugging him.

**

The
gathering for Valerie on Sunday night at Buena Comida was perfect. Framed
pictures of Valerie were staged on the buffet table and at the bar. Joy brought
Valerie’s iPod so it could be hooked it up to the sound system to play her
favorite music. Sergio and Cy had put out a beautiful buffet in addition to the
tasty finger foods the wait staff was passing around. Joseph was at the bar.

“Hi,
Bridget,” he said warmly as I sat down. “How’re you doing? I’m very sorry for
your loss.”

“Thank
you, Joseph. She was an amazing woman. So much energy and so talented.”

“What
can I get you?” he asked.

“I
guess a glass of Prosecco. Thank you.”

Sergio
walked up and sat down with me. Joseph automatically poured a glass for him,
too, and left us alone.

“This
is a beautiful reception, Sergio. Thank you for putting it together,” I said.

“I’m
glad that Valerie’s parents agreed to let us have it here. We really wanted to
do this,” he said sincerely.

“Well,
it’s perfect -- exactly what Valerie would have wanted, I’m sure.”

“That’s
what we hoped for. Listen, I’m going to go up to the beach house for a few
days. I need some time to myself to deal with everything that’s happened.”

“That’s
probably a good idea. Dane is keeping the studio closed for another week. We’re
going to reassess after that. He isn’t sure he wants to stay in that space.”

“I
understand. Maybe we could --”

Our
conversation was interrupted when the music died down and Robert came to the
microphone.

“Thank
you all for being here. This is Valerie’s kind of party. Great friends, great
food, and her favorite music. I know she’s with us in spirit tonight. She was
the light of my life….” he said, choking up as he spoke. Trying to regain his
composure, he went on, “If anyone would like to share any stories about their
time with Valerie, we welcome you to come up.”