The Sandstone Affair (An Erotic Romance Novel) (21 page)

We park the junker in my space and leave the
key in the car. Mark texts Mr. Clank to have his helper leave my car in the
space and take this car back to wherever it came from. We walk up the stairs
hand in hand. I keep touching and rubbing Mark’s arm, reminding myself what
good touch feels like.
We sit down at the table and look at
everything in Blake’s folder carefully. Spreadsheets show how he used the Lynx
account number to attach funds to each order or payment I made. $300 for
printer ink for the staff became $3,000 with the overage going into a private
holding area, eventually transferred to Blake’s personal bank. That was just
one small transaction but the sheet was filled with them.
An envelope with smaller pictures reveals more
than a few additional shots of Valerie and Mark playing hanky spanky. Some show
Valerie on her knees or bent over for other men, all of whom granted some kind
of exclusive interview or content for Ladies World.
“Those were a long time ago. When she was
starting,” Mark said, attempting to explain the obvious.
I collected the pictures and put them back in
the envelope. “Give these back to her,” I say softly.
“I called Paul Fries today. He agreed to do
this work for us and let me pay him later. He’s got the rejoinder paperwork
ready. We have an appointment with him at ten o’clock tomorrow morning for him
to put the evidence in the request and then we have a one-thirty appointment
before a judge. You have to sign the rejoinder in front of an officer of the
court first, so we need to get there around one.”
“I’m surprised Paul’s helping,” I say, “He’s
always been clear his is a cash and carry law-firm.”
“Well, some people hate my brother even more
than they love money.” Mark smiled. “Blake has made more than a few enemies in
town.”
We keep looking through the stacks of fudged
receipts, threatening emails, and corruption when there is a sudden, loud knock
on my door.
“That’s probably Bob’s guy,” Mark says as he
gets up. I stop him.
“No. It’s not. You didn’t tell him my
apartment number.” I run and look out the peephole but see nothing. We both
crouch by the door waiting to hear the footsteps walk away. When we are sure
the coast is clear, Mark sends me to stand behind the couch with the phone in
my hand as he opens the door and looks out. Slowly he reaches outside and takes
something off the door knob.

He pauses, looking at it carefully, then
brings it in. I can tell from the look on his face it’s not good.
“You don’t need to see this.” He places it on
the table by my door. It’s my purse from this evening, dripping wet.
“I need to know. We’re in this together.” I look
at the purse. At first-glance everything seems fine. Soggy, but fine. Then Mark
pulls out the one dry thing inside the bag. It’s a picture of me on my knees in
front of Blake, my mouth open, his hand on my head. You can tell by the pixels
it’s a still he made from a video camera.
Across the photo he wrote in marker: “You’ll
pay, bitch.” As a piece of punctuation, there is a white glob of ejaculate
right over my face.
“Oh my god, Blake,” Mark says, the disgust
evident in his voice. “Julia, I— ”
He stops as he sees the tears pouring down my
face. I pull away from him, wondering if he feels that disgust from what Blake
did on the picture or what I almost did with Blake. Mark leans over and takes
my hand.
“Come on.” He pulls me toward my bedroom. We
cross in front of the bed and head straight for the bathroom. He reaches in and
turns the shower on; the room fills with the warm mist of the steam. “There is
nothing of him on you. There is nothing of him about you. He is scum and you
are beautiful.”
I feel him unbuttoning my blouse and I reach
to help him. Undressing myself, I imagine my time in Blake’s office falling
away from me like scales. I step in the hot shower and let the shame, the guilt
and everything wash off me. As I release my feelings, wracking sobs pulling
from body, I see his arm enter the shower, and the rest of Mark soon appears.
He stands behind me, holding me, kissing my
neck. I stand still and luxuriate in his healing touch. He takes the soap from
my hands, and begins to run it across my arms, back, breasts and body–washing
me then kissing each area he has washed before. We stay in the shower, hugging
and licking and loving each other until the water begins to cool.
Stepping out, he wraps me in a robe, dries me
off, and puts his arms around me. We end up in my bed, my head on his chest, as
he holds and kisses me. He doesn’t seem to expect anything. He just wants to
love me. I feel myself falling asleep, the warmth and safety of his love
healing my deepest wounds.

The sun streams bright into the window,
promising me a new day. A day filled with hope, justice, and most of all–love.
Today’s the day the wrong is made right. Today is when Lynx begins again. I
will be at court at one o’clock and free from this terror by two.
Mark is setting the table for breakfast, has
coffee brewing and smiles when I walk out, disheveled in a pair of sweats and a
T-shirt all sleepy-eyed.
“Hello, beautiful you.” His smile immediately
brightens my morning.
“Hello, Prince Charming. Can you tell me where
reality is? I seem to have left it some time ago.”
“No evil wizards here.” He looks around the
kitchen. I contemplate kissing him, even with my morning breath when a knock at
the door shatters the moment.
“Oh god,” I say wondering what special package
Blake has left us this time. Mark moves as if to answer but I reach it first.
I look out the peephole and see a face this
time. Two faces actually, each wearing a frighteningly familiar hat.
“Yes, Officer,” I say, opening the door just
wide enough to see their badges.
“Are you Julia Sharp?” The front one asks, the
one behind him taking something from his back pocket. Mark walks toward the
door.
“Yes,” I answer. Did they catch Mr. Clank’s
friend stealing my car?
“Turn around and put your hands behind your
back.”
“What?!”
The second officer began pulling out his zip
tie.
“Julia Sharp, you are under arrest.”

This can’t be happening. Today is not
supposed to be like this. I am supposed to drive with Mark down to the
courthouse to present evidence of Blake’s wrongdoing and sign the rejoinder.
Today is supposed to be the day I get Lynx back. Instead, these two cops are
here at my door, about to crush my hopes.

“Wait. What?” My mind reels as I feel the
officer’s rough hands holding my wrists together and slipping the cutting hard
plastic around them again. “I can’t be! I haven’t—”

“You have the right to remain silent,” the
second office reads off a card. “Anything you say can and will be used against
you—”

“Mark!” I scream as they begin to guide me
into the hallway.

“Officer, I’m Mark Stone,” Mark says rushing
to the door. He’s trying to play it calm but the look of shock and fear is in
his eyes. “Can I ask what’s going on?”

“She’s being arrested, that’s what’s going
on,” the first officer says brusquely as he blocks the door with an elbow, a
polite but clear gesture that says wherever we’re going, Mark is not coming
with us.

“If you cannot afford an attorney, one will
be provided to you.” The second officer continues droning.

“I can see that part, Officer,” Mark says
clearly but with severe tone I’ve never heard from him before. “I am Miss
Sharp’s legal contractor and I have the right to know why she is being
arrested.”

“Yes!” I gasp as he turns me toward the hall.
I see the neighbor’s door crack open but I am far past humiliation at this
point. “Tell him!”

Mark’s natural authority wins the day and the
policemen stop, momentarily, my progression to the elevator. The officer puts
away his worn little Miranda card and opens a notebook. Both men seem to be
standing straighter when addressing Mark. Having been over his lap for a
stinging rebuke, I can attest it’s the wise thing to do.

“Miss Julia Sharp is being arrested for New
York Penal Code Violation 251.15, Criminal Contempt in the First Degree.”

“But I’m not even going to court until this
afternoon!” I blurt my mind solely on saving Lynx. “It’s not possible.”

Mark stands silently trying to mentally work
his way through the information. One of the many things I realize I love about
him is the way he stays calm and strong, never wavering, always in control. I’m
not sure if it is a learned discipline or an inborn talent but it’s amazing. It
can’t be inborn though, because Blake certainly doesn’t… Oh my god…

“Blake!” Mark and I exclaim at the same time
having both mentally arrived at the answer.

“Contempt of court is cited due to the
violation of an order of protection issued to Mr. Blake Stone and the property
known as Sandstone Ventures,” the officer continues reading.

Dammit! That bullshit restraining order he
filed against me after my first visit to his office finally comes back to bite
me in the ass. Honestly, the pig had it coming to him, and despite the
predicament I’m in now, I don’t regret slapping him across his greasy face.

“But that’s not what happened!” I start,
however, I feel the officer pushing me down the hall away from Mark in the
doorway. Having dutifully satisfied Mark’s “right to know,” the second officer
accompanies the first in dragging me to the elevator.

“Julia, I’ll call Paul Fries right now,” Mark
yells down the hall, probably realizing that “legal contractor” isn’t really a
position recognized by anyone and deciding to withdraw before the officers
figure out they’ve been conned.

“Forget me,” I shout quickly twisting around
to call over my shoulder as the elevator doors open. “Save Lynx!”

If they’re taking me downtown for booking,
who knows how long it’ll take to get processed through the system? Maybe at
least Mark can go to the courthouse and present our case that Blake’s seizure
of Lynx is illegal.

Once the bell chimes, I am forcibly pushed
forward, facing the back of the elevator. One officer faces me, the other faces
forward to stop anyone from coming in as we make our way down to the waiting
squad car.

Approaching the car, I think about how many
times as a reporter I’ve seen people loaded into the back of these boxy caged
vehicles, and how different it feels when it’s your head being pushed down as
you’re put into the back of the car.

Turning to the one holding my arms, I try to
see his watch but can’t make the numbers out.

“Can you tell me what time it is, please?” I
ask. I have to sign those forms at one o’clock. I hope that’s enough time for
me to call Paul’s office and get out of holding.

“Why? Got a date?” he snickers as his hand
goes instinctively to my shoulder to lower me into the back. “Watch your head,
ma’am.”

“I didn’t violate any orders,” I say as soon
as they get in and close their doors. “He invited me. He said he wanted to meet
with me. So we could, well, so we could talk. You don’t understand, he asked me
to come to Sandstone. I’m innocent.”

“That’s not our job to determine, ma’am.” the
driver says as he pulls away from the curb. “It’s just our job to take you in.”

“Look, this is a mistake. I mean, I’m sure
Blake reported I was there last night, because I was there. But I was only
there to get evidence that he stole my company. He asked me to meet him because
he thought he could, well, um, he wanted to take advantage of me, of my situation.
Anyway, I swear to you I did not go there on my own and I don’t have contempt
for any court.”

“Ma’am,” the policeman in the passenger seat
says with his jaw locked and a stiff tone. “I am not a judge and he is not a
jury. Save it for court, ‘cause we don’t care.”

I settle as much as I can against the back
seat, feeling the bitter tears of anger and frustration fall down my cheeks.
How does Blake do it? Every time it seems like I’m going to get my life back,
or that we are going to finally outsmart him, he just pulls another ace out of
his pocket. The officer must have realized he was ruder than necessary because
he turns to me and speaks almost gently.

“In case you were still wondering, ma’am, the
time is eleven a.m.”

“Thank you,” I reply, wiping my tears on my
shoulder. I start doing the math in my head. If Mark and Paul Fries can get the
paperwork together, and I can get someone from Paul’s office to come bail me
out quickly, I can still make the courthouse by one to sign everything. I just
need to get that phone call as soon as I can, and hope when Mark calls Paul he
will have them set up and ready to answer my phone. My body starts swaying with
excitement and false hope.