Drama in the Church Saga (49 page)

Val cultivated the soil then dug a five-inch hole. This was her first attempt at trying to make her front yard look professionally landscaped like her neighbors' yards. Her house was the only one on the block that looked like a barren desert. Every garden tool she bought from Home Depot lay scattered around her.

She grabbed another flower bulb from the three dozen she had bought earlier that day and set it down in the small hole. She covered it with soil. She wiped the sweat from the bridge of her nose. It was high noon, and the summer heat was quickly approaching.

“I've only planted one and I'm already tired, hungry and thirsty.” She laughed at her efforts at manual labor. She knew she should have gone with her original plans to call a gardener.

The reason she'd decided to do it herself was to get Jonah off her mind. She missed him. He had only been gone for a few days, and the house seemed so quiet without him. She often daydreamed that he would come back, but her mind kept telling her he was gone for good.

Mr. Lawson called the house early that morning to let her know the court clerk called his office. They were scheduled to meet in the Judge Cohen's courtroom Friday afternoon. She told Mr. Lawson he could contact Jonah at work. As for herself, she didn't think she would be attending the hearing. She no longer had anything to do with the case.

“Excuse me.”

Startled, Val looked up at the owner of green eyes and sandy blonde hair.

“I was told Jonah Reynolds lives here.” Even in his casual blue Dockers, off-white polo shirt and loafers, he was still good-looking.

Val stood to her feet and brushed her hands off before offering her hand to him. “He's not here right now. Is there something I can help you with?” Val wasn't sure if this guy was from the courts or social services, but she guessed it had something to do with Hope.

“My name is Cole Haas, and I have a very important matter that I would like to discuss with him.”

Val's attitude quickly changed from friendly to untrusting. For some reason, she didn't trust this guy.

“It's concerning his daughter . . . Hope.”

Her leery looks made him continue talking.

“Are you his wife?”

“No, I'm just a close friend. I'm Valencia Benson.”

“I knew you looked familiar. I remember seeing you at a few of the Sonics parties held by my uncle. You were dating Julian Pennington.”

She slowly nodded her head and finally realized who he was.

“You're part of the Haas family.” Her voice turned threatening. Then she felt frightened. She thought Caitlyn had sent him to harm her. “If you're here to harass me, I'm calling the cops.”

She turned to run into the house, but before she got far, Cole grabbed her arm.

Val swiftly put to use her self-defense moves she learned in college. She gripped his wrist and twisted it so far that she flipped his entire body over her. He hit the ground hard.

“Please, don't hurt me,” he yelled. “I'm not here to cause you any trouble.”

“Then what do you want?” Val had her sneaker lodged in the crease of Cole's neck.

“I want to help Jonah get his daughter back.”

“Why would you do something like that?” Val was convinced he was lying.

“Please.” Cole could barely talk. “If you let me up, I'll explain everything.”

It took a few seconds before Val decided to give the man a chance to plead his case. She released her foot from his throat and allowed him to get up from the ground.

He tried to brush off the abuse he had just incurred. Then he sat on her front steps and chuckled to himself.

Val switched to her professional legal persona. “Mr. Haas, I'm sorry, but I fail to see any amusement in anything that's happening right now.”

“I'm sorry for laughing”—He rubbed his neck—“but I forgot that my sister and you share a turbulent past. You've experienced firsthand how manipulative and conniving Caitlyn can be.” Then he turned serious. “Val, I'm here to save you from any further trouble from my sister.”

“You're a few days late. Hurricane Caitlyn has already blown through here and left behind massive destruction.”

Cole dropped his head in front of him, disappointed. “It's not too late. We can still stop her,” he said.

“I'm telling you it's too late.” Val looked out. “She's beaten me this time.”

“You may not feel that way after I tell you what I know.”

Val turned toward him with a glimmer of
hope
in her eyes.

“The reason I'm here is because our grandfather passed away a few months ago. He was the founder of our family empire. Every Haas I know is an entrepreneur. We own a newspaper, a basketball team, hotels. Anything you can think of, someone in my family owns at least a piece of it.”

Val sighed loudly. “I already know how rich your family is. Can you get to the point?”

“Okay, I'm getting to that,” he fussed. “Anyway, like I said, every Haas I know is an entrepreneur, except for my lazy sister. Caitlyn has never worked a day in her life. My parents had her so spoiled that I believe she really thinks there's a money tree in my family's backyard.

“About a year ago my parents cut her off from all financial support. They told her it was time for her to grow up and get a job. Vowing to never speak to my parents or anyone in my family again, my lowly sister departed the Emerald City in search of her own fortune. Then we heard she started dating some baseball player out in California. That didn't last long. So I suppose she was broke again. Then my grandfather passed away. She missed the funeral, but managed to make it back to Seattle for the reading of the will. My entire family was aware that Grandfather was going to leave his fortune to the oldest grandchild, which is me.”

Val signaled her hand to tell him to wrap his long story up.

“Okay, listen to this. There was a clause in the will that none of us knew about until after his death. It stated that if a great-grandchild was born before his death then the oldest great-grandchild would receive the inheritance.”

“Cole!” she screamed. “What does that have to do with Jonah and Hope?”

“Think about it. Hope is Caitlyn's daughter. The first and oldest great-grandchild.” Cole had to practically spell it out for Val to understand. “That little girl is set to inherit billions of dollars. That's why it's so important for Caitlyn to get custody of Hope. If she does, then she will be in control of all that money.”

“It never crossed my mind that Caitlyn was doing all this for money, but it doesn't surprise me. We have to tell Jonah,” Val said.

“Great. When will he arrive?”

When Cole asked that question, Val remembered that Jonah wouldn't be coming home. That was when she explained how Caitlyn had gotten Jonah to move in with her.

“It's time for us to ring the alarm.” Cole was eager to expose his sister. “If we go and tell him everything, everyone will win. Jonah can have Hope, and my sister will get nothing.”

“I don't think your sister is just going to hand Hope over that easily. She has the courts on her side. It makes no difference if she has an ulterior motive for wanting Hope back. The courts only look at if she's the child's biological mother. It's only a matter of time before she's granted full custody,” Val replied.

Cole slammed his hand into his fist. “She can't get away with this. There has got to be something we can do to stop her.”

“Why are you doing this?” Just because Cole was helping her didn't mean she had to trust him. “Are you doing this for Hope's sake? Because she deserves to be in a good home with a family who loves her. Or is it because, if Caitlyn returns to Seattle with Hope, then you lose your inheritance?”

He turned his eyes away in guilt.

“You're going to have a hell of a time getting into heaven. Your love of money is greater than your love of God.”

“God has nothing to do with my money,” he brazenly replied. “Listen, I will gladly set aside a trust that will take care of the baby for the rest of her life, but I need that money. I've been planning for this my entire life.”

Val was disgusted with him.

He pulled a business card out from his pocket along with a pen. He scribbled his hotel number on the back.

“Listen, I have a plan that I think would get us each what we want. Me, the money. You, Jonah and the kid.” He placed the card in her hand and walked away.

“Good morning,” Cole mumbled into the phone. One eye opened wide enough to peek at the alarm clock on his nightstand.

 

 

“Good afternoon,” Val replied. “By the sound of your voice it sounds like you had a very good night.”

“Better than you think.” He turned over and jumped when he saw a bush of red hair lying on his pillow. Thinking it was a wig, he grabbed the hair to throw it across the room.

“Ouch!” A woman screamed and shoved him away from her. Then she pulled the covers back over her head.

“Sorry about that.” Cole flung his legs over the side of the bed and rubbed his head.

“I hope that's a woman lying next to you and not a man.” Val giggled.

Cole looked behind him and lifted the covers to make sure it was a woman. “Yes. It's definitely a woman.” He strained his eyes to get a good look at his houseguest's naked body. She had to be the stripper he gave most of his money to last night at the gentlemen's club. He couldn't remember much, but he was sure he had one drink too many. “Val, I'm surprised you put my number to use.”

All night long Val weighed the pros and cons of getting involved with Caitlyn's brother. A bad omen hovered over her back, telling her it wasn't good to get into bed with any member of the Haas family. She wanted to trust her conscience, but Cole's offer to remove Caitlyn from their lives forever kept drawing her back in.

By the time sunlight cut through the darkness, Val was still undecided.

She convinced herself that it wouldn't hurt to call Cole and hear what he had to say. She twisted the telephone cord around her finger, something she only did when she was nervous.

“Meet me in the lobby of your hotel in twenty minutes.”

“For what? What's wrong with us talking on the phone?” he protested, but she had already hung up the phone. He was talking to a dial tone.

Twenty minutes later Val impatiently waited in the lounge area. She lifted a bottle of mineral water to quench her thirst and impatiently drummed her perfectly manicured fingernails against her chair. “What's taking him so long?”

She watched another busload of tourists crowd around the check-in counter, before Cole finally joined her. He showed up wearing gray sweatpants, slippers and a hotel robe.

“Sorry it took me so long. I had some unfinished business to take care of.”

The elevator doors opened, and out stepped Cole's overnight guest. She frantically waved her hands good-bye and flashed the money he paid for her services.

“I don't understand why we couldn't talk over the phone,” he dryly replied.

“I didn't want you to say anything incriminating over the phone.”

“Oh! So you think I'm planning on breaking the law?” He pulled out a pack of Marlboro cigarettes from his pocket. “Do you mind if I smoke?” He tapped the pack a few times to pull a cigarette out.

“As a matter of fact, I do.” Val immediately snatched it out of his hands. “I don't know how they do it in Seattle, but you can't smoke in public places here.”

“Darling, I didn't come all the way to go to jail. If I did that, I'd never get my money. I'm smarter than that.”

Cole raised his hand to get the attention of one of the waitresses from the hotel's bar. He ordered a gin and tonic.

It didn't take her long to return with his drink. She gently set it on the table, and he tossed her a twenty-dollar bill, which accidentally fell to the floor. Instead of him picking it up for her, he arrogantly turned his back to her and faced Val.

The bar maid stooped to the ground, picked it up and threw him a dirty look before switching away.

“Why are we here?” Cole stirred the drink in his hand.

“I slept on what you said, and it's no secret I don't like your sister. And even though Jonah and I aren't speaking, I still can't stand by and watch Caitlyn take Hope away from him.”

“I'm glad to hear you say that. But once I tell you my plans, you can't back out on me. There's no turning back from this point forward.”

Val fully understood.

“We need to get started as soon as possible. I'm going to run upstairs and change my clothes. When I get back we'll take a short ride and I'll fill you in on what I have planned for my sister.”

A half hour later they drove out of the city limits and into the suburbs. As they rode, Cole did everything, except reveal his master plan. He called his accountant, his lawyer and a number of other people.

After his last call, Val spoke up, “Do any of those people you spoke with have anything to do with your plans?”

He shook his head no.

“Then why am I here?” She threw up her hands toward the high school they sat in front of.

“Be patient.”

Val wished she had gone with her first instinct and stayed home.

Minutes later they heard the final school bell ring, dismissing classes for the day. Teenagers came rushing out the doors. Dozens of kids boarded school buses, while others walked home in hordes.

One kid walked past the car with arms the size of boulders. His muscles bulged under the T-shirt that represented his school's colors.