A Fresh Start
Chapter One Hundred Fifty Three
Detective Rossi walks out of the interrogation room. Stopping one of the other officers, he says. "I need the prisoner in there returned to the jail."
"Yes sir." The officer says, walking towards the interrogation room.
Detective Rossi leaves the station walking across the street to the crime lab. "Kent." He says, stopping beside the front desk.
"What's up, Rossi." Kent says, walking over to him.
"This is about the break-in at the apartment complex on Maple and Route 3."
"What about it?"
"There was some blood found on a couple pieces of glass, correct."
"Yes, but we didn't have anything to compare them to."
"Now, you do." Rossi says pulling out the DNA sample he got of Schultz. "If this DNA matches the DNA from the blood on the glass then we've found our suspect. Can you run a DNA test on this and get back to a.s.a.p?"
"Sure, we'll run the test immediately. Do you want me to give the results to the other guys involved in the case?"
"You can, but I want it first. I have this guy in custody right now."
"Okay, we'll get on it." Kent says.
"Thanks." Rossi says, turning to leave.
Marciano is sitting at his desk, staring at a picture of Julie when his assistant buzzes him. "Yes." He says, never taking his eyes off the picture.
"Sir, Mr. Banks wants to speak to you in his office."
"Tell him that I'm not in."
"Sir, he's demanding to see you immediately. He won't let me push him off."
"Think of something. Tell him I'm busy. Tell him I'm working on the Springfield deal." Marciano says, releasing the button. Ten minutes later, there's a knock at his office door. "I said…." Marciano looks up as Mr. Banks walks into his office, followed by one of the security men. "Mr. Banks, I was… I was working on the Spring…."
"Be quiet, Mr. Bertilla." Mr. Banks says, walking over to his desk. He holds out a letter.
"What is this?" Marciano asks.
"Read it." Mr. Banks says, crossing his arms.
Marciano reads the letter and then looks up at Mr. Banks. "This says…."
"It says that Springfield gave the property to the other bidder because they failed to hear from us. Is it true, Mr. Bertilla and how did this happen, if you were working so diligently on the Springfield project."
"I… I… I never heard anything from Mr. Winslow. The last that I spoke to him, he said that he would approach the mayor about our requests and that he would get back to me, but I never heard anything Sir."
"If you didn't hear anything, why didn't you call him?"
"I…."
"I'm going to save you the trouble of coming up with an excuse. You never contacted him after he sent you this letter." Mr. Banks says, opening the file in his hand. He hands them the letter. "Have you seen it before?" Mr. Banks asks, watching Marciano.
"I…."
"No, you haven't because you haven't been in the office more than a few hours a week since a few months ago."
"I've had some personal things that I needed to deal with. My wife left…."
"I'm not interested in your personal problems, Mr. Bertilla. I'm interested in the fact that you let a deal fall through because you failed to follow up on the details. We have to start all over because of this and we've spent thousands of hours and dollars on this project and you've put us back to square one."
"Sir, I'm sure I can find another…."
"You're not going to finding anything, Mr. Bertilla. You're fired, effective immediately." Mr. Banks says, stepping out of the way of security guard.
"Sir, please. I can save this project."
"It's already been assigned to Mr. Esme."
'What, no. This was my project, my idea. I…."
"You threw it away, Mr. Bertilla. Now I need you security badge and id." Mr. Banks says, holding out his hand.
"Sir." Marciano says, as the guard steps closer to him. "Please, I need this job."
"I can't help that." Mr. Banks says, stilling holding out his hand. Marciano hands him his security badge and id. "You'll follow Mr. Collins here out of the building."
"Can I at least gather up my personal belongings?"
"We will gather them up and send them to you." Mr. Banks says, as Mr. Collins taps Marciano on the shoulder.
"Don't touch me." Marciano says, turning to him.
"You need to leave." Mr. Collins says, looking at Marciano.
"You can't do this." Marciano says, looking at Mr. Banks.
"Mr. Bertilla, please leave." Mr. Collins says.
Marciano stands there. "I can have him physically remove from the premises, Mr. Bertilla." Mr. Banks says.
Marciano walks around his desk. Mr. Collins follows behind him with Mr. Banks bringing up the end. He stops at the desk outside. "Mrs. Mills, you are not in trouble but I do need you to please report to human resources to fill out some paperwork. After that you can take the next three weeks off with pay while we look to replace Mr. Bertilla's replacement."
"Ah, thank you sir." Mrs. Mills says, standing up.
"However, before you go, could you please pack up Mr. Bertilla's personal belongings and have them shipped to him."
"Yes Sir."
"Thank you."
Marciano and Mr. Collins have already left the office when Mr. Banks finishes giving Mrs. Mills her instructions. When the reach the lobby, Mr. Collins escorts Marciano out of the building. "You final pay check and personal items will be mailed to you. You no longer have access to any of the facilities associated with this company, Mr. Bertilla. And if you are caught on company property, the police will be called and you will be arrested for trespassing."
"You're really enjoying this." Marciano says.
"Please leave the premises promptly." Mr. Collins replies, turning to walk back into the building.
Marciano stands there for several moments, watching him. Finally after five or so minutes, he turns and walks away. Walking to his car, he unlocks it and gets in. Leaving the parking lot, he drives home. Getting the mail, he goes inside. Sitting down at the kitchen table, he looks through the mail. The moment he sees the envelope from Julie's lawyer, rage fills him. Walking upstairs, he changes clothes and then leaves again.
Julie is leaving work for lunch. Leaning against her car, is Dr. Westbrook. "What are you doing here? And how did you find out where I work?"
"I have my ways of finding out information." Jacob says.
"That doesn't answer my question."
"I wanted to make up for… well I really don't have anything to make up for but I would like to take you to lunch."
"You don't have anything to make up for."
"No, I don't. You needed someone to step in. I did, I won't apologize for that."
"You sound like…."
"You're husband."
"No, you sound like Matt. If you want to take me to lunch to try to make up for interfering in my life, then I accept." Julie says.
Jacob looks at her and then shrugs his shoulders. "Shall we go in your car or mine?"
"Mine, I have to be back by one." Julie says, opening her car door. Pushing the button to unlock his door, she starts the car as he gets in. "Where to?"
"Would you mind the Lakeview?"
"No, that's fine." Julie says, backing out. They leave.
Marciano arrives in Oakdale about an hour after he left Chicago. He first goes to the hospital but soon finds out that Misty has been released. He didn't go by Julie's mom's, knowing that she would never tell him where she was. If she wasn't at the hospital, he was going to have to rely on luck to find her. He drives by Al's dinner but he doesn't see her car in the parking lot. After driving around Oakdale for about an hour, he decides to stop at the Lakeview. He's about to get out of his car, when he spots Julie leaving with the man that stopped him from leaving with Julie. Once he's found her, he decides to follow her.
Julie drives back to her office. They get out of the car, as Marciano parks a few spaces down from her. He looks over and sees Julie walks around her car. Rolling down his window, he tries to hear what she's saying, but he can't. "Thank you for lunch and you've made up for interfering in my life." Julie says, looking at Jacob.
"You're welcome, but I didn't have lunch with you only to make up for telling Tom about the attempting kidnapping. I like you."
"Well, thank you." Julie says, turning to leave.
"Do you think we could have dinner this weekend?" Jacob asks.
"I'm still married." Julie says, turning back to him.
"No, pressure or expectations, we can go as friends. We'll even split everything." Jacob says. Julie looks at him. "You can have friends and still be married." He says, watching her.
"Alright, how do I get in touch with you?" Julie asks, as Marciano walks up.
"Julie." He says.
Julie turns around, staring at him. "You shouldn't be here, Marciano. You're violating a court order."
"You need to leave." Jacob says, walking around Julie and standing between Marciano and her.
"I'm here to talk to my wife." Marciano says.
"You've been ordered to have no contact with her unless it's through her attorney."
"So, you tell everything to him." Marciano says, looking around Jacob.
"I didn't tell him anything."
"I saw you try to kidnap her, remember." Jacob says.
"She's my wife. I was bringing her home, not..."
"It looked like kidnapping to me."
"I need to talk to you." Marciano says, ignoring Jacob.
"You can talk to her attorney." Jacob says.
"I was speaking to my wife."
"You need to contact Tom, Marciano. If you want to talk to me." Julie says, stepping around Jacob.
"This is between you and me. We don't need a lawyer…."
"Yes, we do."
"I'll change…."
"I'm not divorcing you because of that. I have to do this for me and because it's the right thing for both of us."
"I love…."
"You don't love me. You want to own me. And I won't be owned, not anymore. And I never loved you Marciano, not the way I should love my husband. I married you because I was scared after Matt died. It was wrong and I'm sorry I took advantage of you that way."
"No, you loved me."
"No, I didn't. I liked you and you seemed safe, but I don't love you. Now you need to go."
"I was fired today." Marciano says. "I was fired and it's because of you."
"I'm sorry you were fired, but I don't see how it was my fault." Julie says.
"I was fired because I've been focused on you, so focused that we lost the Springfield deal."
"Like I said, I'm sorry you were fired, but I didn't have anything to do with that. You need to leave. And Marciano, don't come back here."
"You're my wife."
"I haven't been… I never was…even though we were married I was never your wife. The hearing is in a couple weeks after that you'll be free."
"I wonder what the judge will say when he hears that the Feds are looking for you." Marciano says, grasping at straws.
"The Feds are not looking for me, Marciano." Julie says.
"If they're not looking for you then why were they at the house wanting to talk to you."
"Even if they were at the house looking for me. It will have no effect on the divorce and it will not help you any."
Marciano looks at her. "I'm not letting you go." He turns to Jacob. "You need to stay away from my wife."
"As long as she wants me around, I'll be here." Jacob says, watching Marciano's jaw clinch. "And I'm warning you, you don't want to come up against me."
"Marciano, you need to go." Julie says as he looks at her. "If you stay here I'll have to call the police and have you arrested for breaking the restraining order."
"You should do that anyway." Jacob says.
"Jacob, please. Marciano, go."
Marciano stands there for a few more seconds and then he turns to leave. Walking over to his car, he gets in and backs out, looking at them for a few seconds before he pulls away. When Marciano pulls out of the parking lot, Julie releases the breath she's been holding. "Are you okay?" Jacob asks, turning to her.
"I'm fine."
"You need to tell Tom about this."
"I'm not telling Tom."
"Julie, he…."
"Let me handle him, please." Julie says, looking at Jacob before she turns and walks towards the building. She a few steps away when she turns back to him. "And don't you go to Tom behind my back. I'll handle my soon to be ex-husband." Julie says, turning back around and walking away.
Jacob watches her until she's inside the building and then he walks over to his car. Opening the car door, he gets in but he doesn't leave.
Cassie pulls up to the farm with Reva behind her. Parking her car, she walks over to Reva's car. "What are you doing here?"
"Get in." Reva says.
"Where are we going?"
"You're wedding shower/bachelorette party."
"Reva."
"Come on, get in."
Cassie walks around the car. Getting in, she closes the door and buckles her seat belt as Reva back up. Ten minutes later, they pull up to Cross Creek. "Where are the guys?"
"They are… I'm not sure what they are doing. But this is your wedding shower/bachelorette party." Reva says, getting out of the car with Cassie following her.
"It can't be just you and me." Cassie says.
"No, it's not. Sam's coming along with Harley." Reva says, walking into the cabin.
"You didn't have to do this. This isn't like my first wedding. Richard and I…."
"Are basically getting remarried because of the accident, you deserve a wedding shower/bachelorette party. Did you have one in San Cristobel?"
"Well, no I didn't. But it was a different situation." Cassie says, following Reva into the living room.
"I wanted to do this." Reva says, going into the kitchen.
"Are you trying to keep your mind off Josh and Jeffrey?"
"I… I haven't figured out how I'm going to tell Josh I've already told Jeffrey about HB. Hawk says I should do it like you do a band-aid."
"Huh?"
"Fast and quick, just tell him."
"That's probably the simplest and easiest way."
"Let's not talk about Jeffrey and Josh. Is anything else going on besides the wedding and the baby."
"No, no wait, I found James and Olivia together today."
"Well, they are working together for the Beacon deal."
"Yes, but they are becoming more than just business partners."
"You mean they're involved?"
"I don't know how seriously. But I did warn him about her." Cassie says, as Sam knocks on the door.
"Good, they are here." Reva says, getting up to answer the door. "Hi." She says, opening the door.
"Hi." Sam says, walking in with Harley following behind her.
"Hello." Cassie says, standing up as Reva closes the door.
"Great, everyone's here." Reva says, walking into the living room with Sam and Harley following her. "You guys have a seat and I'll get you something to drink." Reva says.
"No liquor, I'm working." Harley says.
"This is an alcohol free party." Reva says, going into the kitchen.
"Sam, how's Jeffrey?" Cassie asks.
"He's doing okay. He's spending the day laying around the loft, resting for tonight." Sam says.
"I couldn't believe it when Frank told me what happened?" Harley says.
"Yeah, I was terrified before I go to the hospital and was able to see for myself that he was going to be okay."
"And the boy that hit him, Daisy knows him. They were in a couple classes together. The whole school is shaken up." Harley says, as Reva comes in with the drinks.
"We don't think about these things until something like this happens." Cassie says, as Sam and Harley takes a drink.
"You guys talking about Jeffrey and the accident." Reva asks.
"Yes." Sam says. "Thinking about that boy's mother, I can't imagine what I would do if it was our boy or girl."
"Josh is working to start a program at the youth center."
"There needs to be more than that. It's more than teens that text while they drive." Harley says.
"There should be a city wide ordinance." Reva says.
"I thought we came for a party." Sam says, looking at everyone.
"We did." Reva says, getting up. "And since it's my little sister getting married again, I get to go first." Reva says, walking into the hallway."
"Reva, what did you do?" Cassie asks, leaning over to see what Reva's doing.
"I was thinking the other day about all the years that Josh and I have been together and even with our ups and downs we've always been with each other. So I decided to find the things the have kept us together." Reva says, handing Cassie a box. She takes the box and begins to unwrap it. "I could only come up with one thing that's kept Josh and me together all these years."
"We can think of more than one thing." Harley says, laughing.
"The sex is good, but sex for sex sake is just a one night stand." Reva says, as Cassie opens the box.
Reaching in, she pulls out a piece of paper. "What does it say?" Sam asks.
Cassie opens the paper and reads what Reva had written on it. "It says love." Cassie says, turning the paper around to show Sam and Harley.
"That's the only thing that's kept us together. Without that, we wouldn't be here today. We have problems some of them more complicated than others but right now what matters is that we love each other. And I think we would all do well to remember that when we want to walk away or we think we can't go on."
"The whole world would benefit from remembering that." Sam says.
There are a few moments of silence before Harley says. "Okay, since Reva took care of the wisdom and serious part of this. I'm going the other direction and saying that there's something else that's just as important as love." Harley says, reaching for her gift.
"Why do I think this is going to be dirty and something I'm not sure James would want to know about?" Cassie asks.
"Umm, probably because it is something that James wouldn't want to know about." Sam says.
"Or Sarah." Reva says, looking at Harley.
"Come on guys, I've got taste." Harley says, as Cassie takes the gift bag and pulls the tissue paper out.
Reaching into the bag, Cassie pulls out a white lace negligee and robe. "Harley, it's beautiful." Cassie says, holding it up. It's made of white lace but it's not see through, it's lined with a white lining that adds depth and dimension to the negligee. The robe is made the same way.
"The white might not have been the best color to choose but I don't think anything black should be used on a wedding night, it seems a bit suspicious, to me."
"I think it's beautiful." Sam says, looking at the negligee.
"I bought it at Marsha's."
"Speaking of Marsha's, I found my gift there too." Sam says, picking up a large basket. "It's along the same lines as Harley. Some of the stuff in it could… well lets just say it could bring you and Richard closer." Sam says, clearing her throat.
"What did you get?" Cassie says, looking at the basket.
"There is a little bit of everything. There are bath salts, bubble baths and oils. There's massaging lotions and oils, some of those can be edible. The only thing I didn't get from Marsha's is the chocolate syrup." Sam says, drawing Cassie's attention to the larger bottle of Hershey's chocolate syrup there. "There are even some oils in there for Richard that he can use. Since I don't think he wants to smell like flowers all the time."
"This is wonderful." Cassie says, putting the basket down and hugging all of them. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." They reply.
"Oh wait, I've got one more." Harley says, pulling out another bag. "I was reminded of this the other day and realized your wedding day wouldn't be fit without these." Harley says, handing the bag to Cassie.
"What did you…? Harley!" Cassie says, pulling out a bottle of herbal pills.
"It's a tradition."
"Do not take any of those." Reva says, reaching for the pill.
"I'm not going to. Having my wedding almost ruined by these pills is enough for me. I can't believe you went and bought those."
"Well, since Blake can't be here physically. I thought I would let her be here in spirit."
"What's wrong with the pills, other than you can't take them because of your pregnancy?" Sam asks.
"When I married Richard in San Cristobel, I was a little nervous during the weeks leading…."
"You were more than a little nervous. You were petrified of marrying him."
"I wasn't petrified of marrying Richard, that much I knew I wanted to do. I was more worried about making a huge mistake and cause a complete disaster from Richard. The enormity of the situation freaked me out to say the least. I couldn't even open any of our gifts without hyperventilating. Richard was desperate to calm me down so he called Blake, which would have been fine if it was just her, but she brought these along with her."
"And the morning of the wedding she convinces Cassie to take some."
"I never asked you, how many did you take?"
"I don't know, but in my defense I hadn't slept in twenty four hours. I was exhausted from worrying about the wedding, the vows and making a mistake." Cassie says, as Reva puts the bottle on the table.
"Why were you worried about the vows?" Sam asks.
"Ms. Portman and I didn't see eye to eye on what vows Richard and I should say." Cassie says.
"Who's Ms. Portman?"
"She was the public relations expert that Richard hired when I was Princess of San Cristobel and I must say Cassie handled her much more diplomatically than I did." Reva says.
"Anyway, Natalie had said that we had to say the traditional vows. That the people expected it." Cassie says, sitting back.
"But you didn't want to say the traditional vows."
"No, I didn't. So the night before the wedding I was up all night writing out what I would have said to Richard if we would have been able to say our own vows when Blake gave me those pills."
"So what happened?" Sam asks.
"We found her passed out on her bed, snoring like freight train." Reva says.
"And we were about an hour away from the wedding and she's asleep and wouldn't respond to any of us."
"So what did you do?"
"Well, first we when to give her a cold bath." Reva says.
"Richard saw you carrying into the bathroom."
"He did."
"Yes, he stole upstairs, against Natalie's orders to see me. He saw you helping me into the bathroom, that how he knew that I had been up all night writing the vows, Blake told him and that's why he stopped the wedding when the Bishop was going to say the traditional vows."
"So how did you get ready in time for the wedding?"
"I finally slapped her." Reva says.
"You slapped her!"
"Yes, we were trying to get her ready and sober her up as well as wake her up and keep from spilling coffee on her dress while we got her dressed. I finally got fed up and slapped her."
"And that woke her up." Sam asks, looking at Cassie.
"That and a stern reminder of all the things we went through to get to that point. After that, I was pretty much awake. Although I did sleep really well that night. I don't know if it was because of Richard or the pills." Cassie says, smiling.
"I hope you didn't tell him it was because of the pills." Reva says.
"Of course I didn't tell him about the pills until later."
"You guys want something to eat?" Reva asks, getting up.
"Sure, do you want to help?" Harley asks.
"No, I got it." Reva says, going into the kitchen.
"Sam, what happened with the guy that Frank arrested for the break-in at your apartment in DC?" Harley asks, as Cassie looks at Sam.
"They found the guy responsible for that." Cassie asks.
"Yes, a few days ago. He was arrested…." Sam says, as Reva walk in.
"Who was arrested?"
"The guy that broke into Sam's apartment in DC, Frank arrested him a few days ago."
"Actually he was originally arrested on soliciting a police officer for sex on the south side." Sam says. "This was while Jeffrey was talking to Frank and telling him about the break-in and how this Schultz guy fit the description that you told us in the apartment." Sam says, looking at Reva as she nods, sitting down a tray of finger foods. "Anyway, Frank called me down to the station to do a line up to see if I could id the man."
"But you didn't see him." Reva says, walking into the room again with four glasses of sparkling cider. She hands them out as Sam replies.
"Actually I briefly caught a glimpse of a man at the market down from the hotel where I was staying after the break-in. So Frank asked me down to station to see if I recognized the man that was arrested for the solicitation."
"Did you recognize him?" Cassie asks.
"Yes, I id'd him and told Frank about the other witness in DC. The maintenance man at the apartment complex where I lived, I also told him to contact Noah to see about getting more information on that man. And he did, and he spoke to the investigating Detective and faxed him Schultz's mug shot from his arrest in Springfield." Sam says, picking up a finger sandwich.
"In the meantime, the suspect was arraigned and release on bond for the charges here in Springfield before the investigating detective got back to Frank. Frank put out an APB for this Schultz guy and he was arrested north of Laurel Falls a few hours later." Harley says.
"So, he's in custody." Reva says, looking at Sam.
"Yes, Frank came by to tell us that he was arrested again and back in custody and that he was going to speak to the detective in DC to see if he wanted to extradite Schultz back there."
"And I believe he did, because Frank and Mallet flew to DC yesterday morning." Harley says, taking a drink and looking at her glass.
"So that's the end of it? Do you think they got everyone that's involved with this?" Cassie asks.
"We're not sure." Sam says, looking at Reva.
"Why?" Cassie asks, looking at Reva.
"Because I also told them that there was a woman involved and that, that woman is somehow tied to Jeffrey." Reva says, taking a sip of cider. "And I got sparkling cider because both Cassie and Sam can't have alcohol."
"Do you have any idea who this woman is?" Harley asks, as she nods to Reva's statement about the cider.
"Jeffrey has an idea."
"He suspects that it's Olivia." Cassie says, guessing what Jeffrey had thought.
"He can't figure out any other women that would want to hurt me." Sam says.
"And I'm assuming that Jeffrey didn't tell Frank this." Harley says.
"No, he hasn't and I don't think he's going to."
"Why?" Reva asks.
"He doesn't want to hurt Ava by accusing her of doing something to hurt him."
"I can understand why he's doing that." Cassie says, taking a sip of cider.
"I want to propose a toast." Reva says, holding up her glass. The others raise their glasses. "To Richard and Cassie, I hope they are as happy twenty years from now as they are today."
"To Richard and Cassie." Harley and Sam reply, as they all clink glasses.
They sit around talking for another hour or so before Cassie looks at her watch. "I've got to go."
"Why?"
"The staff from the Beacon is coming over to the farm to work out any last minute details for the wedding and reception and then I have to get ready for the rehearsal dinner tonight."
"I need to go too. I've got to work tonight." Harley says. "So, I guess it's a good thing you got the cider." She says, looking at Reva.
"And I need to go check on Jeffrey, make sure he's behaving himself for tonight." Sam says, standing up, followed by Reva, Harley and Cassie.
"Alright, we'll see you tonight then." Reva asks.
"Yes." They all reply.
"Sam, can you give me a ride back to the farm?" Cassie asks.
"Cassie, I can take you home." Reva says.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Okay." Cassie says, as Reva follows them all out of the house and they leave a few moments later.