UNAWARE: A Suspense Novel

by Susan P. Baker

  If Lucas wasn’t so tight, they could have gotten an electrician in there to put in some new outlets, so the other ones wouldn’t be overloaded. But Lucas didn’t want to spend the money, another reason Dena wanted her own office. When Meredith stopped venting and turned her attention to Dena, Dena said, “I’m sorry, but you’ll have plenty of time to redo it. They’re not coming until Wednesday at one.”

  “It wouldn’t be so bad if Mr. Barlow would just stay out from behind here. He’s so impatient. If he could have waited one minute while I finished what I was doing, I could have gotten the scissors. That’s the second time he’s done that. Luckily the first time he only disconnected the printer while I was printing an order.”

  “I can see why it’s been a bad day for you.” Dena started inching back toward her office.

  “It doesn’t exactly put me in a good mood to have to do it over,” Meredith said, her voice low and grumbling.

  “It can wait until tomorrow.” Dena would do it herself, if she had time. They shared the software, and sometimes she did do her own pleadings. Sometimes it was just faster.

  “That’s good, ‘cause it’s the pits typing out that list of property and doodads and everything.”

  “You don’t have to do that again. Ginny went over there on Saturday and got everything. All we need now is a decree that says they each keep the property in his or her possession, except for describing the cars and the vehicle identification numbers.” Dena paused in her doorway, ready to get back to other cases. “I know how you love typing numbers. Be sure to put in that he agrees to the divorce, and that he didn’t appear in court.”

  “If that’s all I have to do, no sweat. That other one was pages and pages of little stuff. Even with all the software we have now, it still takes a long time.”

  Annoyance tugged at Dena. Would Meredith ever just do something without having to complain? “Just one more thing. Will you call Sellers and set up an appointment for him to come in on Friday to read and sign the decree, and tell him we’ll do the divorce on Monday?”

  Meredith frowned and made a face. “If I have to.”

  Dena smiled back. “I’ll be in my office if you have any questions.” She closed the door behind her and breathed a long sigh of relief. She didn’t know why she was so impatient lately. She just was. Maybe it was that she just wanted to get the show—her life—on the road. Get all the details settled, get the break with Lucas and the break with Zach done. She wanted a fresh start all the way around. Only a little longer, she told herself. In the not too distant future, her life would take a big turn.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  ALAN SELLERS

  He paced back and forth from the living room to the kitchen. The veins in his forehead throbbed as if they were about to burst. He clenched his jaw and his fists. All his plans were screwed.

  Kicking over a chair in the kitchen, he bellowed at the four walls and pounded on them. How could things have gone so wrong?

  It was all that lawyer’s fault. He had worked it out so carefully, and she had to throw a wrench into his plans. Man, would she be sorry, but he wasn’t going to give up yet. She hadn’t beaten him.

  He had to pull himself together. Had to think things out. He’d just have to come up with a new plan for Ginny, that’s all. Or he’d have to put off taking out the lawyer until a day or so later. Or both. His new plan would have to work around the changes she’d made.

  Damn her anyway.

  He got his notebook out of the bedroom and flipped through it to find a blank page and then pulled a joint out of a drawer. He went back into the living room where he stretched out on the sofa and lit the joint, taking a long drag.

  He had to concentrate, had to relax. He took another drag and closed his eyes. A plan, a plan, he must design a new plan.

  Fact one, he was stuck with a Monday divorce date. He had to accept it.

  Fact two, he had to find out where Ginny lived.

  Therefore, he had to follow Ginny on Monday.

  He stubbed out the joint, saving the butt. His mind drifted. He dozed. He awoke.

  Too bad the secretary hadn’t told him when Ginny was reviewing the divorce decree. He could have followed her then. He could hang around the lawyer’s office on Tuesday and Wednesday. No. He needed a firm plan, not one based on possibilities. He also needed to get those old clothes.

  Fact three, the husband would be gone for a week.

  Fact four, if he killed Ginny on Monday or Tuesday and hid her body before anyone found it, he could then get the lawyer when the husband wanted him to.

  He breathed a sigh of relief and reached for his pen. It was all coming together again, just like he knew it would.

  “Nothing has changed, You Bitches, except you might get to live a few days longer. Until Tuesday, Ginny. Until Wednesday, Mrs. Armstrong, Ma’am.” He laughed, his voice hoarse from the pot.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  DENA

  Meredith had barely finished printing out the divorce decree when Ginny and Martin arrived at precisely one o’clock Wednesday afternoon. Meredith fluttered around like a nervous little bird, except she was hardly bird-like. Dena hoped Martin wouldn’t notice Meredith’s admiring glances. She liked to think that as small as their firm was, Barlow and Barlow had a professional persona. Of course, cigarette smoke wafting in the air didn’t help.

  Ginny came in wearing a cotton tunic with white daisies on it over a pair of washed out jeans and sandals. She looked like a pregnant adolescent.

  Martin wore slacks, a nice shirt, a loose tie, and a blazer. He looked much like the detectives on television cop shows.

  When he shook Dena’s hand, she again felt a connection. His grip was warm and gentle, like a living, breathing teddy bear’s.

  “It’s nice to see you again.”

  “Nice to see you again, too. Everything going all right?”

  “Fine.” She cleared her throat and turned to Meredith who was practically gawking. “You remember our legal secretary, Meredith?”

  “Hello, Ma’am,” Martin said.

  If he’d been wearing a cowboy hat, he probably would have tipped it. That would have cinched Meredith’s crush on him.

  “Hi, Lieutenant.” She handed the paperwork to Dena on top of Ginny’s file, her eyes never leaving Martin.

  “Let’s go into my office,” Dena said, nodding in that direction. She gave Meredith her reprimand look before she followed them inside.

  “Guess what, Mrs. Armstrong?” Ginny said after Dena closed the door. “I’ve decided to go ahead with the abortion.”

  Dena stopped halfway into her chair. “What finally caused you to make that decision?”

  “Last Saturday.” She glanced at Martin who had his arms crossed. “I tried to talk to Alan, but he seemed so distant. I don’t know. I just think it’s for the best.”

  Dena glanced from her to Martin. Did he and Mary finally succeed in pressuring her to do it, or was it her own decision? “Your counselor know about it?”

  “I talked it over with her at my last appointment. The thing is, Mrs. Armstrong, I can get in next Monday if I go right when they open.”

  “Where will you go?”

  “The clinic is in Austin. I’m hoping to fly up on Saturday.” She rested a hand on her stomach. “I can stay with a girlfriend. We’d go to church on Sunday. Get to visit. She’d drive me to the clinic on Monday and take care of me after.”

  “So you want to be divorced before you go.” Dena glanced from Ginny to Martin. She frowned as she thought of all the other cases she had on her docket already.

  Ginny leaned forward in her chair, her small face wrinkled up in a hopeful expression. “If you can swing it. I know you’re busy, but now that I’ve made my decision, I don’t want to put it off.”

  Dena opened the calendar on her computer. Why not? The girl had been through a lot, and if there was a way to finalize the divorce b
efore she left, Ginny could put it all behind her and get off to a fresh start when she returned. Dena could understand her feeling that way.

  “Let me think a minute.” She clicked through the calendar. It was already Wednesday. They’d have to get Sellers into the office that very afternoon, unless she wanted to have him come to the courthouse and meet her during a break the next day, which she didn’t. She reached for the phone, pushing the intercom button.

  “Meredith, call Sellers and ask him if he can come late this afternoon to sign the decree. Tell him something’s come up, and I have to do the divorce on Friday. Tell him there’s no way he can come tomorrow, so it will have to be today. Okay?”

  “Okay, Mrs. A. Will you want me to stay late today then?”

  “Depends on what time he comes. I don’t want to be here alone with him.” Her eyes met Martin’s. He inclined his head. She’d started to say I don’t want to be alone with the creepy, scary guy, but that would be wrong to admit on several levels.

  “Thanks, Dena,” Martin said, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

  “You’re a doll,” Ginny said.

  “I know it.” Dena took her glasses off and rubbed her eyes. She’d be swamped the next few days but was glad she’d make at least one person happy. “Remember me in your will.”

  “You don’t know what this means to us,” Martin said, “to know that bastard will be out of our lives forever.”

  “I can make a wild guess.” She flashed her eyes at him and handed each of them a copy of the decree. “Why don’t you go over the decree while I check with Meredith to see if she’s gotten hold of Mr. Sellers. Since you already retrieved your property, we didn’t put that in, but everything else should be what we discussed. Of course, there’s no mention of any baby.” Dena left them turning pages while she went out to talk to Meredith. If Sellers was going to come in that afternoon, they really didn’t have a lot of extra time for visiting. Besides, like most of her clients, she was sure Ginny didn’t want to pay her hourly rate for chitchat.

  Dena closed her office door behind her. “Did you get Sellers on the phone?”

  Meredith glanced up from the computer. “God, have you ever seen a more beautiful man in your life?”

  “I know you aren’t talking about Alan Sellers.”

  “Ha. Ha. Very funny. That Martin Richardson. I could hardly take my eyes off him, but he could hardly take his eyes off you. What’s that about?”

  Dena’s face grew warm. She had thought what she felt between herself and Martin was her imagination, but if Meredith had noticed something, maybe not. Good thing she wouldn’t be seeing him any more except in passing at the courthouse. She had enough problems without another man in her life. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Meredith. Did you get hold of Sellers or not?”

  “Oh, yeah. Alan Sellers. He sounded agitated but said he’d be here. He wanted to know why the sudden rush.”

  “What did you tell him?”

  “That I didn’t know.”

  “We’ll discuss it later. Right now, I’ve got to get back in there and get them out of here before he shows up.”

  “He said he could come at two o’clock.” She looked at her watch. “You know it’s one-thirty now?”

  “We’ll be through in a minute,” Dena said. “Let me check and see if they’re finished reading over it yet.” She patted Meredith on the shoulder. “Thanks.”

  When she walked back into her office, Dena asked, “Did you understand everything?”

  “Yes, it seems simple enough, Mrs. Armstrong, but you left out a couple of things,” Ginny said.

  “What?” Dena picked up her copy.

  “You didn’t put who gets what property,” Ginny said.

  “I just told you why. It’s not necessary since you already have what you wanted. We put your car in there,” Dena said.

  “What if he comes around later claiming some of the stuff is his?”

  “Call the police. He’s not supposed to come around at all. That’s what the permanent injunction’s for,” Dena said. “The protective order is only good for two years, but the permanent injunction is good forever.”

  “I don’t see in here where it says that,” Martin said, flipping through the pages.

  “It should be toward the end.” Dena turned to the next to the last page of her copy and read it. The injunction wasn’t there. What was Meredith thinking? She glanced at Ginny and then at Martin.

  “I’m so sorry. We had an accident with the computer, and Meredith had to do it over.” She felt like an idiot for not proofing it before they got there. “I guess she misunderstood my instructions.” Feeling guilty, she looked from one to the other. “I’m sorry,” she repeated.

  Martin cleared his throat. “Can you put it in before you go to court?”

  “Sure,” Dena said, if you can wait a few minutes, we need to add those pages now. Meredith’s pretty fast.”

  Ginny said, “You don’t mind?”

  “Of course not, Ginny. It’s my mistake. We have to have it because of the protective order expiring, and we have to put it in anyway before Alan signs it.” Dena glanced at her watch. “Shoot, he’ll be here at two so we’d better hurry. You’ll wait?”

  “We’ll wait,” Martin said.

  “Okay.” Dena stood. “You want a Coke or coffee?”

  They both shook their heads.

  “Stay right here,” she said, and then felt like a moron. Where else would they go? “Meredith,” Dena said loudly as she went through the doorway.

  Meredith flinched. She was pulling a page from the printer. “What?”

  “What are you so jumpy about?”

  “Alan Sellers. I’m still scared he’s going to come up here and do something crazy. What’s the matter now?”

  Dena frowned. That was the least of their worries at this point. “We screwed up. We left out the permanent injunction.”

  “You said I could leave out all that stuff.”

  “I know what I said. I didn’t mean the injunctive relief. I keep forgetting you can’t read my mind. I should have looked at it before they got here. The important thing is, we need to have it in there and have this signed and get them out of here before Sellers gets here. Can you add it real quick?”

  “Show me which sections,” Meredith said, turning her chair in an about-face so she could work at the computer. She pulled up the forms and paged to the correct section.

  Dena said, “From here where it says all the stuff about not coming into contact with her at her home or elsewhere, including the sections about not calling her, and add the part about her family and place of employment.”

  “Okay. I’ll insert it into the decree that’s on here and reprint the last few pages with the changes. It’s going to take me a couple of minutes.”

  “Just do it as fast as you can.” Dena stood behind Meredith.

  “If you don’t stand here looking over my shoulder, I’ll get it done a lot sooner.”

  “Okay, sorry. I’m going back in there. Holler when you’re through.”

  “Right.” Meredith started pushing buttons.

  Dena went back into her office, leaving the door open in case Meredith needed her for anything. What a mess. She felt like crawling under her desk and hiding. Still, it could have been worse. They could have failed to see the omission until the day of court, or, heaven forbid, after the divorce was final. Martin’s face was grim, his lips clamped together in a thin line. Ginny wrung her hands and kept glancing his way.

  “So what time are you leaving on Saturday, Ginny?” Dena drummed her fingers on her desk.

  “Early in the morning, around eight I think.”

  “My husband’s going out of town on Friday.” She didn’t know why she mentioned that. Just making conversation in the awkward minutes.

  “Where’s he going?” Martin asked.

  “J
apan, but it’s a quick trip. He’s practically flying there and then turning around and flying back again. Said he might be back as early as Wednesday.”

  “Wow. I’d love to go there,” Ginny said.

  “Me, too,” Dena said. She looked at Martin. “Are you taking Ginny to the airport?”

  “No, she’s going to take her car so we won’t have to pick her up when she gets back. Coming home she’ll be getting in after I start my shift,” Martin said, standing up and moving around the room. “It’ll be several days, anyway. Until she’s feeling good enough to come home.”

  “I don’t take Zack either. He flies out of Intercontinental. It’s too far away.” Dena said.

  The printer started up. Dena rose and rounded her desk. “We may get you out of here before Mr. Sellers gets here yet,” she said to Ginny. “Can I have your copies back so I can switch them out?”

  They handed her their copies, and Dena went out to Meredith’s office. Her stomach churned. She hated to be rushed, and she hated to make mistakes.

  Meredith pulled the staples out of the first copies and as the new pages came out, added them and stapled them together. Dena handed them over to Ginny and Martin who had moved to the doorway and stood there waiting.

  Ginny read over it and signed it and folded up her copy, putting it in her shoulder bag. Dena told her what time to be at the courthouse on Friday, said goodbye, and ushered them out of her office at two on the dot. Her whole body felt jittery.

  She was pacing back and forth next to Meredith’s desk bemoaning the fact they’d almost screwed up when footsteps approached in the hall. Dena flashed a look at Meredith and hurried into her office just as the door opened.

  “May I help you?” Meredith’s voice came out very loud, like she wanted Dena to hear everything that was said.

  “It’s me, Alan Sellers, in the flesh, here to sign my divorce decree.”

  “If you’ll have a seat, Mr. Sellers, I’ll tell Mrs. Armstrong you’re here,” Meredith said. She went into Dena’s office, closing the door behind her and leaning up against it.

  “He’s here, quote ‘in the flesh,’” Meredith said, puffing her cheeks out like she wanted to vomit.