A Fresh Start

Chapter Forty Four

When William gets back to his suite, he immediately calls the pilot. After a couple rings, he picks up. "Captain, William here." He says, without giving him time to speak.

"Yes Sir."

"When can you have the jet ready?"

"Within the hour Sir."

"Get it ready. I'll be going back home tonight."

"Yes Sir."

An hour later, William pulls up at the private hanger where the royal jet is waiting. Handing his bag to one of the ground crew before he walks on board, stopping at the cockpit. "Captain, I would like to leave as soon as possible."

"Yes sir, as soon as the plane is ready we'll notify the tower."

"Thank you."

Turning, he walks back to middle cabin. Sitting down on one of the couches as one of the attendants come in. "Sir, can I get you anything?"

"No thank you." William replies.

"Yes Sir. We'll be leaving as soon as we're cleared."

"Thank you. Could you have the Captain contact the palace when we're in the air and advise them that I'm returning tonight and to have a car waiting for me at the airstrip?"

"Yes Sir."

"Thank you."

The attendant leaves as William lays his head back. Looking out the window, he watches the ground crew as they prepare the plane. A few minutes later, the buzzing of the phone wakes him. Pushing the button, he says. "Yes."

"Sir, we've been cleared for take off. If you're not in your seat or buckled up I must ask that you do so now."

"Thank you Captain, I'm ready to go."

"Yes Sir."
Slowly the plane starts to gain speed as it rolls down the runway and after a few seconds, William feels the wheels leave the ground as the plane takes off and starts to climb.

A couple hours later, he is still sitting on the couch, buckled up when the phone buzzes again, reaching for the button. "Yes."

"Sir, we are making our final approach to the airstrip."

"Thank you Captain." William says, glancing out the window.

A couple of minutes later, the plane rolls to a stop beside a private hanger and one of the palace cars, standing beside it is Colonel Mitchell and Jodi. Unbuckling his seatbelt, he picks up his briefcase and stands up as the flight crew opens the door. Walking down the steps he is met by both of them.

"Welcome back Sir." They both say.

"Thank you." William replies. "Colonel Mitchell, tell me what is going on?"

"I started the investigation as you asked."

"Have you found out anything?" William asks, as they get into the palace car and leave the private airstrip.

"Not yet Sir, most of the staff is reluctant to talk to us."

"Why?"

"I think many are afraid of reprisals Sir."

"Reprisals, from me?"

"Yes Sir. Since this investigation does involve the former Prince and Princess as well as your current heir."

"Then reassure them and make it clear that I simply want answers as to what happened, so I can explain this to my… to Will, Cassie and Richard, as well as the questions the country are going to have when this breaks."

"we're doing that sir, but it does take time to establish trust in this situation, but we will get the answers you're looking for."

"Alright, Jodi, did Natalie schedule the press conference and write up a statement?"

"Yes Sir." Jodi says, handing him a piece of paper. "That is the statement and the press conference is scheduled for Thursday morning Sir."

"I need to go to the hospital. Could you drop me off there?" William asks the driver.

"Yes Sir."

"I need to speak to Cassie and Richard and we need to talk to Will before we go public with the announcement. Driver, stop by the palace to let Colonel Mitchell and Jodi off before you take me to the hospital."

"Yes Sir."

A few minutes later, they pull up in front of the palace. Colonel Mitchell and Jodi get out. "Jodi, could you take my luggage with you?" William asks, handing her the briefcase.

"Yes Sir."

"Thank you, I'll be back after I've spoken with Richard and Cassie."

"Yes Sir." They both reply.

William leaves again. A few minutes later, they pull into the private parking deck. Stopping beside the elevator, he tells the driver. "Wait here."

"Yes Sir."

He gets out. Walking over to the elevator, he pushes the button. After a couple minutes, he steps on. Pushing the button for the private ward where Will's room is, he leans against the wall as the doors close and the elevator starts to climb.

A little bit later, the doors open and he walks out onto the private floor, turning left, he walks down the hall towards Will's room. He turns the corner as Richard and Cassie are walking out of the room.

"William." Cassie says when she looks up and sees him coming around the corner.

"Hi." He says, walking up to them.

"We weren't expecting you back so soon." Richard says

"My business in Springfield finished up early. How is he?" William asks, nodding towards Will's room.

"He's doing much better. Dr. Simon thinks that he'll be able to go home in a few days." Cassie says.

"That's good, so adjusting his meds worked?"

"It would appear so." Richard says, looking into his son's room.

"Have you said…?"

"No, we were waiting till you got back. How did it go with Ava?" Cassie asks.

"Nothing has changed." William says.

"So, she's not coming…."

"No."

"I'm sorry William." Cassie says, reaching out to touch his arm.

"Do you know what you're going to do?" Richard asks.

"There is a press conference scheduled for Thursday morning. We need to tell him before that." William says, looking into Will's room.

"Okay, but his nurse is in there with him right now." Cassie says, looking over her shoulder.

A few minutes later, the nurse walks out of Will's room. Nodding to Richard and Cassie, and bowing to William she leaves them standing in the hall. After a few seconds, Richard asks. "Are you ready?"

"I guess." William says, as he reaches for the door and they all walk in.

Will has a huge smile on his face when he sees William. "Father." He says reaching for him.

William walks over to him, trying to hide the pain from him. "Hey buddy, I hear you're going to be going home here in few days." William says, after giving him a hug.

"Yeah, I can't wait to get back to the palace. I'm tired of this hospital room, and I want to see my friends at school."

"Listen, Will there's something we need to talk about." William says, sitting down on the bed.

"Okay."

"It's about you coming back to the palace."

"Okay." Will says, looking curiously at his parents.

"There are going to be some changes…."

"You're still Prince?"

"Yes, I'm still prince, but…." For the first time, William struggles to find the words to explain what is going on to his… Will.

"Will, what your… William is trying to tell you is that you're not going to go back to the palace." Cassie says, sitting down on the other side of Will.

"But why, I like the palace." Will asks, looking at his mother and then William. "Did I do…?"

"You didn't do anything, and I know you like the palace, but you like the villa too, where your mom, RJ and I are staying." Richard says

"Sure, it's fun there."

"We thought that it would be good if you spend sometime there with Richard and Cassie." William says.

"But why, I want to go home."

"Will, I know you want to go home and you will be." Cassie says

"But the palace is my home, I'm going to be Prince and rule San Cristobel like my Daddy, isn't that right." Will asks, looking at William.

"Will you remember how I told about how the heir to San Cristobel has to be a direct descendent of the crowned prince?"

"Yes, and that's why I'm going to be Prince one day."

"Will, I'm going to tell you this straight out…" Cassie starts to interrupt, but Richard reaches out to stop her, shaking his head no. "Well because I can't think of an easier way to say this and because I think it's better if we just get it out in the open. Now when I'm finished I know you're going to have some questions and we'll all do our best to answer them." William says, looking up at Richard and Cassie.

"That's right Will." Cassie says.

"Okay." Will says, clearly afraid and not at all sure how to react to what his parents are saying to him.

"You know that your mom, Richard and RJ have had some test done to see if they would be able to help you if you needed a transplant."

"But I don't…."
"I know." William says, reaching out to touch his hands. "When the doctors ran those tests they discovered something different than they should have, between your blood and Richard and Cassie's."

"What do you mean something different?"

"You know that everyone is related through little particles in their blood. It's called DNA, and everyone has them and DNA can be tested to see who you are related to. Now you are a special case, because you were adopted by your Uncle, you and Richard would have DNA in common, but that shouldn't be the case with Cassie."

"I don't understand?" Will says, looking at them.

"What William is trying to tell you, is that Richard is your father and I'm your mother." Cassie says.

"I know you adopted me from Camille and my daddy when I was a baby." William says.

"Yes we did adopt you, but you remember me telling you about the baby that Richard and I lost just before we adopted you." Cassie asks.

"Yes ma'am. It made you very sad, but you said that I made you happy again."

"That's right you did, but the day that our baby died, the hospital made a mistake and they told us that our son had died when it really didn't. You are the baby that Richard and I thought died."

"So, I'm the son you thought died?"

"That's right."

"But how?"

"We don't really know that. I'm asking questions but we haven't found out any answers." William says.

"Is that why I'm going to stay at the villa with Mom and… what do I call you?" William asks, looking at Richard

"You can call me Richard." Richard replies, looking at William.

"You call him your father." William says softly.

"Okay, so this is why I'm going to stay at the villa with Mom and Dad?"

"Yes."

"What about being Prince? Will I get to rule, like you do?" Will asks, looking at William.

"I'm afraid not, buddy."

"Because I'm not a direct descendant of the crown prince?"

"Yes."

"But I'll make a good prince. You said I would make a good prince." Will says, turning to William.

"I know, but you remember how I explain the monarchy to you and the line of secession."

"Yes, the next in line to the throne has to be the blood son or daughter of the ruling prince to be able to assume the throne."

"That's right, and because you are not my son then…."

"I can't be prince."

"Yes."

"But it's a stupid rule. I would make a good prince. I love San Cristobel." Will says, starting to cry.

"I know." Cassie says, putting her arms around him and holding him.

Jeffrey is looking over some paperwork when Stacy buzzes him. "Sir, the State Attorney's assistant is on the line for you."

"Thank you Stacy."

"She's on line one?"

"Thank you." Jeffrey says picking up the phone and pushing the button for line one. "Jeffrey O'Neill."

"Mr. O'Neill, would you please hold, Mr. Maxwell would like to speak with you."

"Of course."

She puts him on hold while she buzzes Mr. Maxwell. "Sir, Mr. O'Neill is on line two."

"Thank you." He says, pushing the button to connect the calls. "Jeffrey."

"Yes Sir." Jeffrey replies putting the papers down that he was looking over while he waited.

"I've spoken with the Governor and we discussed all the evidence that you and Detective Mallet gathered on Mr. Spaulding and Ms. Wolf and he agrees with me that we have no choice but to prosecute both of them for bribery and other charges. I've already informed the Deputy District Attorney to the charges."

"Okay, I think it would be advisable, to move the case out of Springfield, Mr. Spaulding as a lot of powerful connections."

"I see your point, I'll discuss it with the Governor, but right now we have to file the charges and get Mr. Spaulding into custody as well as Ms. Wolf."

"I'll contact the Deputy District Attorney and have him move immediately."

"The governor has scheduled a press conference for tomorrow morning; we need to have both of them in custody by then."

"Yes sir, we'll get on it immediately."

"Good."

They hang up and then Jeffrey dials the number to the Deputy DA. After a couple rings, his assistant picks up. "This is Jeffrey O'Neill…."

"Yes Mr. Mayor."

"I need to speak with Chris."

"Yes Sir." She says. "Could you hold while I buzz him?"

"Yes of course."

She puts Jeffrey on hold and then buzzes Chris, when he answers she says. "Sir, the mayor is on the line for you, line one."

"Thank you." He says, pushing the button and connecting the calls "Sir."

"Chris, I'm sure you've heard from the State's Attorney."

"Yes sir, early this morning."

"Have you filed the charges?"

"I've spoken with Judge Richards and he signed arrest warrants for both Ms. Wolf and Mr. Spaulding. Detective Mallet is serving the warrants."

"Good. The Governor has scheduled a press conference for tomorrow morning; we have to have them in custody by then so I want to know the moment they both are in custody."

"Yes Sir. They should be in custody within the hour. Ms. Wolf is in court, but they should be finishing up before too long."

"Okay."

"I'll call you as soon as I receive word that they are in custody."

"Alan is probably at Spaulding Enterprises, tell the officers to be mindful that my daughter is his assistant, and I don't want anything to happen to her, should he decide to resist arrest."

"I will, Sir."

They hang up as Mallet and a couple of Detectives walk into Alan Spaulding's office. Ava is sitting at her desk, finishing up some correspondence that Alan had dictated to her before lunch when they step off the elevator. "May I help you?" She asks Mallet.

"We need to speak to Mr. Spaulding."

"He's on and important phone call with investors in China. If you would like to wait…." Mallet starts around Ava's desk and back towards Alan's office. "Wait, you can't…." Ava says, following behind as Mallet opens the door. "I'm sorry, Mr. Spaulding. I tried…."

"Alan Spaulding, you are under arrest for bribing a public official, blackmail and other charges." Mallet says, interrupting Ava.

"Detective, as you can see I'm on the…" Mallet takes the phone out of Alan's hand.

"Someone will call you back." He says, before he hangs up the phone.

"That was an important client…."

"You have more important issues to take care of, Alan." Mallet says, helping him to his feet. "As I said, you are under arrest for bribery of a public official, blackmail, attempted murder and manslaughter as well as other charges. You have the right to remain silent anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law, you have the right to have attorney present during questioning, if you can't afford one then one will be appointed for you. Do you understand these rights as I have stated them?"

"You're making a mistake, I own this town."

"Answer the question Alan; do you understand these rights as I have stated them?"

"Yes." Alan answers as Mallet leads him from the office. "Ava, call my sister and have her call the Spaulding attorney's and Gus."

"I don't think Gus is going to help you Alan." Mallet says before Ava can reply.

"When you finish with that, take the rest of the day off." Alan says, as the elevator arrives.

"That's very generous of you, Alan. Considering, you'll be in jail."

"I'll post bail before you're through processing me." Alan says, as they step onto the elevator with Ava watching in shock.

When the elevator doors close, she picks up the phone and dials the number to the Spaulding mansion. As Alan is arriving at the police station, the case that Doris is prosecuting is just wrapping up for the day. She is walking out of the courtroom, talking to her assistant when two uniform police officers walk up to them. "Ms. Wolf." One of the officer's says.

"Yes." She says, turning to them.

"Could you please turn around? You're under arrest for bribery, coercion, jury tampering, blackmail and other charges." He says, turning her around and pulling his handcuffs from his belt.

"What are you talking about? I'm the DA. You can't arrest…."

"You have the right to remain silent…." The other officer says, as the first officer puts the cuffs on her.

"I know my rights."

"… Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to have an attorney present during questioning, if you should not be able to afford one, one will be appointed to you by a court of law. Do you understand these rights as I have stated them?"

"Yes." Doris snaps. "I'll have your jobs and badges for this." She says, as they lead her from the court house.

Jeffrey is sitting at his desk, when Stacy buzzes him. "Sir, Ava is on line one."

"Thank you Stacy." He says, picking up the phone and pushing line one. "Hi."

"Do you know what just happened?" Ava asks, coming straight to the point. "Mallet was just here and he arrested Alan."

"Yes, I know. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, but why didn't you tell me? Did you know about this when I was at the loft the other night?"

"No, I knew that he and Doris were being investigated by orders of the Governor. I turned the file over to the state attorney, but I hadn't heard the Governor's decision concerning the case until this morning."

"They arrested him for bribery, attempted murder and manslaughter, along with blackmail."

"I know."

"What's going to happen?"

"He'll be arraigned and the judge will determine if he's a flight risk, which I believe he is, at least if I was prosecuting the case I would argue that way. If the judge decides that he's not a flight risk then he'll set bail and we'll go from there."

"What do I do? I mean do I still have a job."

"I can't tell you that, but if I were you. Judging by the evidence we have against him, I would start looking for another job because he's going away Ava, for a long time, bribery, attempted murder and manslaughter are not minor offenses, he could face serious time if he's convicted."

"He's Alan Spaulding; do you really think that's going to happen?"

"I know who he is, but he still has to face what he's done. All I'm saying, is I don't want to see you in middle of this, he'll fight dirty Ava and he'll attack everyone related to this investigation."

"Meaning you."

"Yes, I don't want you in the middle of that. It's not good for you or the baby, besides you have enough to deal with right now?"

"William went back to San Cristobel."

"So, you…."

"I told him that I wouldn't be going down there. Dad, I've got to go. Alex is here."

"Okay, but think about what I said."

"I will." Ava replies hanging up the phone as Alex walks up to the desk.

"So, what happened?" Alex asks, taking her sunglasses off.

"Mallet came in and arrested him and took him to the police station.

"Did he say what the charges were?"

"He said something about bribery, attempted murder, manslaughter and blackmail. What's going to happen?"

"First we have to try and do some damage control, keep the investors from panicking. I've already sent the company attorney's down to police station."

"What do I do?"

"Business as usual, if any clients call, tell them that Alan had to leave the country for an emergency."

"He was on the phone with the China group when Mallet arrested him."

"I'll handle that." Alex says, walking into Alan's office.

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