Chapter 12
Celebrate
I had a miserable time trying to sleep. I woke up every hour on the hour no longer worried about proving House innocent, but proving that I wasn't a bitch who had a thing for my best friend's boyfriend. I kept having dreams of Greg and I having really hot, wild sex and just as I was about to come, I'd wake up with a sheen of sweat all over my body feeling like crap for dreaming about my best friend's boyfriend. So I forced myself to think about how much I hated House, how vulgar he is, how cruel. Between being sexually frustrated and feeling horribly guilty, sleep just wasn't on the menu.
I got up and took a shower, put on slacks and a blouse, a little makeup and my sandals. Once the smell of coffee wafted through the loft, House's body appeared in the middle of the living room in his boxers riding just low enough to see the start of his happy trail as it disappeared under the elastic. I turned quickly and started pouring him a cup.
"Ready to go clear your name?"
He took a deep breath through his nose, stretched in the air and yawned. "Yep. Man I slept like a baby last night."
"I'm glad. You needed it." I handed the coffee to him and as he grabbed it his fingers slipped over mine by accident. My tummy fluttered and I blushed.
He either didn't see it or pretended not to see it.
"I'm ready whenever you are." I told him.
"I'll take this back to the bathroom and get a shower. How's Susan?"
"When I called they said she was resting comfortably."
"Boring."
We were on the road within half an hour. I asked the detectives to meet us in Susan's room. I had everything we needed in a manila folder. When we arrived, Susan was sitting up in her bed smiling and talking with Matt. Her half-eaten breakfast was on the cart, ready to be taken away. Standing outside the room was her father and the detectives.
We walked inside and House went straight up to the bed and gave Susan a kiss. I think it was more to ruffle her brother's feathers than to give her affection. He sat down and asked her how she felt. Once the detectives came in I began to pull out all the information we had. When I got to the part about Keith and Matilda Kasinsky I saw Susan's face crumble. House sat on the edge of the bed and put an arm around her.
"Susan, she was a bitch who used you." I said.
"Still, it's hard to take. To know that someone you thought was your friend would conspired to kill you…and with your ex-husband no less!"
I went over to the other side of the bed. "Susan, Melody had to be involved too. She had to sanction allowing the premium to be paid by Keith. I'm sure the three of them were going to split the $25 million at Greg's expense. They did a great job setting him up."
Detective Hampson shook her head. "Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves. We're not really sure all of this is true—"
"If Finley says it's true, it's true." Susan said with an air of defiance.
Susan's father had called the chief of police, who had heard our evidence. He stepped forward. "I think we owe Dr. House an apology, Detective. With this evidence it's obvious that he was framed. Dr. Doyle, you and Dr. House missed your calling, you should be detectives." The police chief turned to Jack. "We promise you that we'll have these people in jail before the day is up."
"Don't promise what you can't deliver, they're all in Philadelphia right now. You need to lure them to New Jersey and I can do that." Finley said. "I'll call her ex and tell him that I want a meet and greet here in Princeton so that he can persuade me not to go to the cops."
"We'll get the Philly cops to grab them and then we extradite them back here." The Chief said. "But in the meantime, let's call the trustee and tell her that it doesn't look good, that Susan's taken a turn for the worse and we don't expect her to make it. Jack, can you make the call?"
Susan's father took out his phone and dialed Melody Caldwell. "Melody?...Jack Friday. I'm at the hospital with Susan. No, it doesn't look good, she started bleeding again. .. No, they don't expect her to make it through the morning. I think we need you to come down so we can go over some trust issues. When can you get here?...Fine, I have to go." He hung up and turned to the chief. "She said she'll be down by noon."
"Great…that will help." The Chief gave instructions to the detectives and then turned back to Matt and Jack Friday. "I'm going to have to leave, but we'll grab her as soon as she crosses the state line."
Within the hour, the detective notified Jack and Matt that not only had Melody Caldwell been apprehended on her way to Princeton, but Keith Jeffries had been a passenger in the car. The only one left to apprehend was Matilda and the police were already poised to grab her if she showed up for work at her beauty salon.
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