***Chapter 5***
***Willow Pond***
Jonathan quickly ran to the garage, and used the car phone to call Lt. Grey.
"Herschel, someone is on my property and they've got Jennifer tied up. I need you to send officers, no lights, no sirens, and tell them to use #0826 to get in the gate, and to come in the backyard to the guest house. We will be in the main house, if I can get her there".
"Right away, Jonathan".
He hung up and snuck back to the guest house.
He snuck around to the back of the house, and when he was on the side, he heard them talking on the porch.
"I told you this plan wouldn't work. He only has eyes for her".
"Well, if she had gone with you and the other ladies, my wife wouldn't be dead right now".
"Where are the pictures, Brent? We know they know something, and we can't keep Jennifer tied up forever".
"I don't know. I looked all over and couldn't find them. I wasn't going to take her, honest. I just wanted her to tell us where the photos were".
"What did you expect? Her to just hand them to you?"
"I don't know…"
"The plan from the very beginning was to split them up and get revenge on her for falsely accusing my husband of trying to assault her. You messed it all up when you killed Stacy, Brent. I am not taking the fall for you".
"Look around Teresa, we are both in this up to our eyeballs and we are treading water! If I go down, you are going down with me".
"Why did you bring the photos here to them?"
"I thought it might throw them off the trail and I wouldn't be a suspect anymore".
"Well that was just stupid".
Jonathan snuck back to the front of the guest house. He quietly entered the house, locked the door behind him, and quickly went across to the back door and locked that from the inside. He went upstairs and opened the bedroom. No Jennifer.
He went through all the rooms, and finally found Jennifer in the final guest room at the very end of the hall.
She was crying, sitting in a chair, with her mouth gagged and her hands and feet tied to the chair.
He quickly untied her hands and her mouth, and started working on her feet.
"Darling, they are outside on the back porch. I locked the doors so they can't get in here to us, but if they know we are leaving this house, they can get to us if we are outside. I called the police and they are on their way. My plan is to see if they are still on the back porch. If they are, we are going to run to the main house, and meet the cops out front. If they aren't, we are going to stay here till we see the cops".
She nodded.
"Are you alright, can you run?"
She nodded.
She was doing that zone out thing that she did sometimes.
He grabbed her hand and they quietly went downstairs.
Teresa and Brent were still on the porch out back. So, Jonathan and Jennifer quickly and quietly started running to the main house.
They were about halfway there when Teresa and Brent caught up with them.
Brent quickly grabbed Jennifer and pulled her to the ground and put her in a headlock.
"Jonathan, if you move a muscle, I will take her out of the game. I mean it. I got absolutely nothing to lose".
"Whatever it is that you want, you aren't going to get unless you release my wife".
"You aren't in a position to make those demands, right now".
"Negotiations will not take place unless you release my wife".
"I am calling the shots here, not you. Now walk to the main house".
They all walked to the main house, and Jonathan was walking ahead of them.
Teresa and Brent ushered everyone into the den. He forced them to sit on opposite couches.
"Teresa, bring me a chair from the kitchen".
Teresa went and got a chair from the kitchen, and Brent pointed at it.
"Jennifer, get in the chair".
She went and sat in the chair and Brent tied her to it.
He wrapped her with damp rags that reeked to high heaven of gasoline.
"These rags have been soaking in gasoline. One false move, and I will light a match and she will go up in flames".
"What do you want?"
Teresa spoke up. "For starters, you are going to drop the charges against my husband. And you are going to go on TV and tell everyone that you made it all up and that he didn't assault your wife. And you are going to not only give him his job back, but you are going to give him a raise as well as a promotion."
"I cannot do that. Teresa, he did try to assault my wife, and he wasn't doing his job correctly. He would have been fired no matter what".
"I don't believe that".
"You don't have to, but it's the truth".
Brent was pacing back in forth in front of Jennifer. Jennifer made eye contact with Jonathan, and they sent each other signals about what she was going to do. He had tied her feet together, but he hadn't tied them to the chair.
She waited till he wasn't looking down as he paced back and forth, and stuck her feet out and tripped him. He flew across the floor, Jonathan lunged after him. They wrestled for the gun. While they were wrestling, Teresa lunged for Jennifer, and knocked her sideways on the floor. Jennifer was able to wedge the chair against the bar, and wriggle away from it, and stand up. Teresa had hit her head on the floor and was knocked out.
Jonathan got control of Brent with one final punch, and then untied Jennifer, just as the cops came in the door.
Jonathan held Jennifer in his arms and tried to calm her down.
She was trembling.
"It's ok, darling. It's over".
The police had both Teresa and Brent in handcuffs, and used smelling salts to wake them up. Jonathan and Jennifer both refused medical treatment, but they did give a statement to the police.
Teresa kept telling the police that her husband was innocent. Lt. Grey informed her that he confessed to everything Jennifer said had happened.
After they were taken away, Lt. Grey informed Jonathan and Jennifer that Teresa had cooked up the plan to split them up, and that she had recruited Brent to go take pictures of Jennifer in the hotel room, but Jennifer had refused to go, so he found his own wife instead. He went into a rage, killed her, and then tried to set up the dancer that she was sleeping with for the whole thing.
Jonathan pressed charges against Teresa and Brent for breaking and entering and trespassing, and they were also charged with false imprisonment, holding someone against their will, and conspiracy to kidnap.
Everyone finally left the house around 11, and Jonathan went out to the guest house to make sure it was locked up and all the lights were off.
When he got back, Jennifer was out of the shower and had just climbed into bed.
He changed into pajamas and climbed into bed with her.
"Darling….why do our friends keep wanting to split us up, or hurt us?"
"I don't know. I was thinking the same thing".
They were quiet for a bit, and just held each other.
He rolled over and started kissing the side of her face. She ran her fingers through his hair and lightly scratched his back. He pulled her on top of him, and took her nightgown off her, while she unbuttoned his pajama top.
She leaned down and kissed his chest, and then raised her hips and lowered herself down on to him.
She rode him slow at first, then faster. He was squeezing her boobs and pulling her hair. He pulled her close to him, and kissed her passionately, as they exploded together in ecstasy. They laid together, all wrapped up in each other's arms and drifted off to sleep.
About an hour, Jonathan woke up.
"Darling…I just realized, we never ate dinner."
"No, we didn't".
"What do you say we go downstairs and raid the fridge?"
"I say that's the second best idea you had all night".
She kissed him, and they headed to the kitchen.
***Epilogue***
Within a few days, the news about Teresa Owens and Brent Tipton had gotten out. Jennifer and Jonathan had made arrangements for Stacy to be cremated. Lt. Grey told them that Brent had confessed that Stacy really didn't have any family. Her parents had passed away a long time ago, and she was an only child. Jonathan had convinced Lt. Grey to go in the Tipton's house, and get a copy of Stacy's will. It stated, as Brent said, that she wanted to be cremated and spread in the Pacific Ocean at sunset, on her birthday. Jonathan's lawyer told them that they would win big if they sued the Owen's, but they didn't want to do that. They had kids that would need caring for and Jennifer didn't want to take money from them.
Brent had signed over the house to Jonathan and Jennifer, effective when his prison term starts after he is sentenced. If they ever sell it, the money is theirs. However, the possessions inside are not. So, it wasn't really a win for the Harts on that front.
Today is the next ladies lunch, and Jennifer is going.
She pulls up to Miriam Davis' house, and parked.
She went inside and was escorted out to the back patio.
"Hello ladies".
"Hi Jennifer".
Everyone was staring at her.
"I came to explain things to you guys and to tell you, this is my last ladies lunch. Now, Teresa is in jail, and I don't want to talk about that. It will all be a matter of public record soon enough. However, I am here to tell you that I didn't tell the investigators about the adventures that you ladies have. That's not my place. It is my understanding, though, that Teresa did. So, your husbands might find out, if they haven't already."
They all nodded.
"Why is this your last lunch?"
"You all are lovely ladies, but we have different interests. I am not interested in cheating on my husband. This past two weeks when I thought he was cheating on me was awful. I would hate for him to ever feel that way about me. Like I said last time, I am up for girl talk and eating lunch and mani/pedi's and shopping, and the movies, but I will not cheat on my husband nor will I cover for someone else to do the same."
They nodded. "We understand".
"We are sorry, Jennifer. Teresa told us that you stepped out regularly, and we just thought you would do it".
"I understand. She was wrong."
"Jennifer, what is going to happen to Stacy?"
"Well, Jonathan and I paid for her to be cremated, in accordance with her wishes. And tomorrow, on her birthday, we are spreading her ashes in the Pacific Ocean, at sunset. That's what she asked for".
"What about her stuff?"
"Well, that's the tricky part. Brent signed a form giving us control of the house. But he didn't give us control of the items in the house, and we don't get to take possession till he is sentenced and starts his prison term, and who knows when that will be. So, I imagine, we will probably sell her home, after it's emptied."
They nodded.
"I never figured he would kill her".
"Same. He didn't seem like the type".
"Like I told Jonathan, you just never know what goes on in someone's house".
They all toasted Stacy with tears in their eyes, and shared happy memories of her. After a nice lunch, Jennifer said her goodbyes and then headed home.
***The next day***
Jonathan had taken the day off work. He and Jennifer went to the marina and took the boat out. They sailed up the coast a bit and out to sea, and anchored.
They laid in the sun and spent time together just enjoying the peace and quiet and the waves. This was the first time in months Jonathan wasn't reachable by phone, and Jennifer was determined to make it last as long as she could.
She had set an alarm on her phone, according to when sunset was supposed to be.
The alarm went off, and she put on her cover up.
She and Jonathan went to the bow of the boat, and peacefully, they spread Stacy Tipton's ashes at sea, in accordance with her wishes.
They were both quiet as they watched the ashes float away, through the waves. Stacy wasn't someone that Jennifer knew really well, but nobody deserved to die like she did.
After a few moments, they turned and went back to the captain's wheel. Jonathan pulled the anchor up, and steered them home, with his arm around Jennifer the whole time.