Harriet Lambourne's Suicide


Harriet Lambourne's Home

Harriet puttered around her rose bushes and other flowers in her greenhouse. She loved gardening—it was one of the things she truly enjoyed in this world. But tonight, her mind wasn't on gardening. She had left the office mid-morning without telling her staff where she was going. She couldn't wait any longer to see the pain and worry in Jeanette's eyes, so she planned to arrive unannounced at Jeanette's home at lunchtime.

When Jeanette opened the door, she'd seen Nicolette, Anna-Marie, and Dom. Somehow that damned man had lived and saved his daughters. Harriet had no clue if Dom knew or not, but her mind decided he didn't because she was warmly welcomed into their home and asked to join them for lunch. She couldn't see any difference in of them. If Dom had known, he would've told Jeanette and if Jeanette had known, there is no way she would've allowed her daughters within a mile of her.

But, Nicolette and Anna-Marie were in the room. They were pale and less talkative than normal and seemed to cling to Dom. Jeanette said the girls had gotten ill and were not quite themselves yet. She'd also met the family that was staying with them. Dom said the man Andros was a good friend from Canada and his family was just visiting France on their way to do humanitarian work.

Everything had seemed so normal. She had a hard time covering her own anger at seeing both the girls and Dom healthy and hail—and alive. Her plan had not worked. Harriet needed to figure out a way to get rid of all of them. She'd gone back to work and sealed herself in her office for the rest of the afternoon.

When she left the office at the end of the day, Jean-Michel had asked her if she was alright. She'd waved him off and told him she was just tired and didn't feel quite herself today. It satisfied him and he backed off.

She was tired in fact. Harriet got up from her knees and headed to the back to her greenhouse to put her tools away then she would head into the house needing a drink to settle her nerves.

From inside Harriet's home, Jeanette and Dom watched Harriet turn off the light of the greenhouse and begin to walk towards her home. Jeanette turned to Dom and said, "Her dropping by unexpectedly today gave us a good alibi, especially when Jean-Michel called this evening to ask if we'd seen Harriet and if she was doing okay. Being able to tell him we were surprised by her visit at lunch and that she seemed off, will help."

Dom nodded. "That was brilliant when you told Jean-Michel that she seemed very depressed and asked him if everything was going okay with her at work. His reply will help a lot. It's good to know that her office staff have noticed her drinking getting out of hand. Harriet is really slipping these days."

"To our advantage. That woman—no, snake—that snake dies tonight. She crossed the line, harmed our girls, our friends and put so many others at risk. I will feel no remorse in her death." Jeanette then turned and with gloved hands finished typing out the suicide note on Harriet's computer.

Dom watched Harriet's progress towards the house. When she was nearly there, Dom set the vodka bottle back into the cabinet. Then both he and Jeanette slipped into the shadows of the room to watch.

Harriet entered her study and headed right to her alcohol cabinet and pulled out the vodka. She had many other types of alcohol, but that was for guests, she only drank the vodka. She poured a large portion and took a large drink, then another. She refilled her glass and then turned to go sit at her desk. She took the bottle and glass with her.

She sat down and took two more large drinks and refilled her glass again. Then she noticed that her computer screen was on. The color drained from her face as she read the note that was written in French.

I'm sorry I just can't live with myself any longer. I have betrayed my friends and my country—everything I used to hold dear. In the folder on my desk is a list of operatives whose very lives I have compromised. May god forgive me for what I have done, because I cannot forgive myself for such treachery.

Harriet reached for her right-hand drawer where she kept her gun.

Jeanette stepped out of the shadows with Harriet's gun aimed at her. "You won't find your gun in the drawer, Harriet."

Harriet froze.

Moving closer, Jeanette said, "Drink up, I think you'll need it. I have some questions for you."

She knew, oh god, Jeanette knew. Harriet took a very large drink of the vodka. "You won't get away with this, Jeanette. People who know me, know that I'd never commit suicide. Never. You won't get me to use my own gun on myself."

Dom laughed as he stepped from the shadows.

Harriet's hand started to shake at that laugh and she downed another large drink, looking for courage. They both knew. How the hell was she going to get out of this alive. She started to sweat. As she wiped her forehead she said, "What makes you think I have anything to do with your girls kidnapping?"

"Well, for starters … how did you know they were kidnapped. We never told anyone," Dom drawled as he came forward and with gloved hands poured more vodka into Harriet's glass.

When the glass was full, Harriet nervously brought it to her lips and drank as she realized her mistake. She tried another path. "Nicolette is my goddaughter, I would never hurt a hair on her head."

Jeanette cocked the gun and her voice was hard as she retorted, "No but you'd pay someone else to do it for you. Never get your hands dirty doing it yourself. Why Harriet, why? We were friends. I trusted you? You betrayed me. Why?"

Taking another drink, Harriett's mind sought out a plausible lie that would save her skin. But seeing the look in Jeanette's eyes she realized that no lie would work. She spat out, "I hated you. You stole Dom from me. Then you had the audacity to ask me to be your brat's godmother." She turned to Dom. "I hate you too, you should be dead now."

Dom grinned and just topped off her vodka glass.

She took another drink and then finally stopped and looked at the glass in her hands. Her eyes widened in horror. "You poisoned me, didn't you?"

His voice slow and languid, Dom said, "It's a new poison I learned about. Nearly killed William Braddock's son as he helped rescue our girls from the sick bastard you sent them too. Rest assured, we saved the girls before any permanent damage was done to them. And William's son will make it.

"However, watching the pain he was in was very difficult. And he only got a very small dose of the poison. You however had consumed enough now to kill twenty cows fifty times over. It will give me a sense of pleasure to watch you in pain. It is justice for the evil you have done."

A stab of pain hit Harriet in the gut. She bent over and the vodka glass fell from her hand as she wrapped her hands around her stomach. She was sweating profusely now. As the pain ebbed a moment she looked at Dom. "You won't get away with this. A toxicology report will show the poison and they will know it was murder."

Jeanette stepped forward to the desk and moved a box of herbicide from behind the computer monitor and set it in the middle of her desk. "Yes, it will show, but it won't be classified as murder. It'll be seen as suicide because this box of herbicide comes from your very own greenhouse—it has your prints all over it. And statistically, women tend to choose suicide by poison more than blowing their brains out."

Harriet stared at the box as Jeanette sprinkled a tiny bit around the bottle of vodka that was sitting on the desk. She begged, "Give me the antidote. I'll pay you, I'll pay you everything I have. Everything. Then you will never see me again."

Dom shook his head. "There is no antidote. No amount of money is going to save you. You tried to kill my girls—sell them into sexual slavery. You endangered the lives of good men and women in your quest for money. You're despicable. Your own hate brought you to this point. This is justice being served—you have been found guilty by a jury of your former peers and death is your sentence."

Harriet screamed as pain gripped her gut. She convulsed and fell from the chair. Harriet withered in pain on the floor for several minutes as Dom watched. Jeanette turned her head, unable to watch. She set the gun down on the desk and headed out of the room.

Fifteen minutes later, Dom found Jeanette sitting on the stairs with her head down on her knees and her arms wrapped around her legs. He heard the quiet cries. Dom sat down next to Jeanette and wrapped his arm around her and drew her close to him. "It's done. She'd dead. Let's go, my sweet Jeannette."

Jeanette wiped her eyes, nodded and blew out a shaky breath. She turned to Dom and said, "My tears are not for Harriet, they were for William's son. For all he did, all he was willing to do, and all the pain he went through to save our girls. That is a debt that we can never fully repay."

Dom kissed Jeanette on both cheeks, then both eyes, and finally on her lips. He stood and held out his hand to the love of his life and her hand landed in his. As she stood, Dom said, "I know. Should William or Sam ever need anything, I will be fully at their disposal. Let's go home to our innocent hearts."

"Did you get the contents from her safe?" Jeanette asked.

"I made copies and left the originals. I will covertly notify those that have been compromised so they can take whatever protections they deem necessary. I would have loved to divert her funds to help in our new cause, but I felt they should remain intact to avoid any suspicion," Dom answered as they stealthily slipped out of Harriet's home and into the dark of the night.

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AN: Hey, another chapter - sorry about the very slow posting but all my efforts are going towards getting BELONGING: Hope, Truth, and Malice ready for publication.

It's exciting to take my original story and revamp it—making it better with tons of new content, fixing some plot holes with new intrigue. If you like all the twists, turns and connections of my fanfiction– then you'll love the books—they are filled with them and Dan's and Lexa's relationship is getting off the ground in the third book—it is quite a ride.

I'm hoping to have BELONGING ready for publication by the end of the month. While you wait for that, check out the first two books, FORSAKEN: On the Edge of Oblivion and SOLACE: Behind the Shield. Both are available on Amazon in ebook or print versions for a small price. Just search for Laura Acton on Amazon and my books will appear.

The books are also available as part of Amazon's Kindle Unlimited subscription program – which I believe they offer a free 30-day trial for. So you could essentially read the first two books for free during the free subscription period and get to know the new story line so you are up to speed on all the happening when Belonging comes out.

Thanks to everyone that has purchased a book. It really makes my day. If you've purchased them, I'd love to hear what you thought of them. You could leave a review on Amazon, PM me via fanfiction site or you can email me directly at lauraacton1 at gmail dot com (no spaces and replace the at and dot with the appropriate symbols).