Sealing Fate

by David P. Warren

  Cathy's expression suggested that she had been kicked in the stomach. “Is that what we did? Strayed?” She looked away and then back to his eyes. “I'm so sorry if that's what it was for you.” Her voice broke. “I had never been so much in love in my life. To me you were—and are—the one.” She turned away her head and fought back a tear.

  Both were silent for a time. All of this was swimming around in Brian's mind, new pieces in what had been a hopeless puzzle. Suddenly he heard himself say, “You knew that Barbara was being charged in the murders. You silently let her go to trial and maybe suffer the death penalty for killing you?”

  Cathy forced a smile in the face of his anger. “Did I?”

  Brian stared at her, perplexed. He was no longer sure of anything.

  She asked, “Did Barbara ultimately face two counts of murder?”

  Brian was stunned one more time. Words eluded him, and all he could say was, “No, she didn't.”

  “I couldn't announce I was alive without endangering my family, but I had to do something so I moved around behind the curtain. Turns out purgatory really does exist. I appeared to the assistant district attorney one night at his house in Pasadena. I left him a fingerprint. After he verified that I was who I said I was, we made a deal. Charges against Barbara Madsen in connection with my prematurely announced death get dismissed, or I go public and make sure they look like assholes. Turns out his boss wants to run for the Senate, so he can't afford to look like an asshole. I suggested to them that they make sure that a deal is struck with your wife where she doesn't do any more time than anyone would for killing an insane scumbag in the heat of passion.”

  She shook her head. “These guys were so caught up in the politics that they wouldn't acknowledge that someone else must have died, so no one will investigate the real murder. Jackie Carlisle is still just out of town, even though they know better.”

  “You did that?” Brian asked. “You got Barbara the deal.” The question was rhetorical, but gratitude was in his voice. “It's amazing. Thank you for helping her.” This time his voice broke as he held back the emotion.

  “Does anyone else know you're still alive?” Brian asked.

  “Just two others. I went to visit Carol Hayward. She was stubborn and angry. When I first encouraged her not to testify against Barbara, she was going to call the cops and have me arrested for blackmail and obstruction of justice.”

  Brian thought of the venom of her quotes against Barbara and how she seemed to be living for the opportunity to avenge her husband's death with her testimony. “You changed her mind,” he said, more as a statement than a question.

  “She and I stayed up all night drinking tea and talking about the wealth of things that would blacken her husband's memory if it were known that I was alive and I was forced to testify. By morning, we agreed that I would stay dead, and she no longer had any testimony to give.”

  “Damn,” Brian said, “you are amazing.”

  She forced a smile.

  “You said there were two others who knew you were alive. Who's the other one?”

  “Barbara,” she said softly. And Brian almost fell off his seat.

  “You met with Barbara?”

  “I wouldn't say we met. I helped her online anonymously. I also did a little research for her on the subject of extradition and pointed her in the right direction when she was looking for a couple of contacts in unknown places. Mostly she was scared.”

  “You know where she went?” Brian asked, astonished.

  She nodded. “Yeah, but I'm no threat. I'm dead, remember?”

  “I owe you so much,” Brian said, touching her hand.

  She shook her head. “No, you don't. I was part of the problem and wanted to be able to go on living with myself. I did what I had to do.” She looked gravely off into space. When she spoke again, it was with sadness in her voice. “Gratitude is not something I want from you, Brian.”

  Cathy stood up and looked around. “Best I disappear the way I came.” She looked toward the backdoor.

  “Well, wait,” Brian said, standing. A sense of desperation came over him. “Where are you staying? How can I find you?”

  She smiled. “I've been living in a suburb of London called Barnett. I got a job as a marketing director for a public relations company. I had to take some time off to come back here and move around like a shadow, but I really think I'm on the way to starting over.”

  “Is there a number in case something comes up?” he asked.

  She smiled and then walked over and kissed him softly. “Good-bye, Brian. I hope you won't hate me for what I've done. I'm so sorry.” She walked to the backdoor and then turned to look at him. “Have a good life, Brian.” She turned and walked out the door, closing it behind her.

  Brian sat down at the kitchen table. All of it made sense—the intricate plans of a madman, the undoing of everyone he touched, Cathy's movement behind the scenes to produce what had been unexplainable dismissal of charges for the murder of Cathy Jenkins, the sudden deal for a lenient sentence, and the non-appearance of a witness dedicated to burying Barbara.

  Brian felt a sudden emptiness when Cathy had walked out the backdoor. He tried to recapture her words. She had said that she was madly and completely in love with him. But that was then. He thought about the look on her face as she had spoken the words. She still loved him.

  “What else did she say?” he said aloud. “Gratitude is not what I want from you.”

  But there was something she had wanted. And she had been deeply disappointed when he had spoken of their relationship as his “straying.” He thought of his dreams of her when she came back to him.

  Brian found himself with a foreboding feeling, a sensation that he had just made a terrible mistake. She had come back into his life, and he had let her get away again. Not dead, but gone from his life with a parting wish that he have a good life. He found himself feeling quietly desperate. And the revelation was complete.

  Brian called the airlines and made a reservation for a flight to London on the red-eye. What was the name of the town? Berkeley? No, Barnett. That was it, he thought. He would make a hotel reservation on the way to the airport. He would be on the way to regaining his life with the woman he loved. He would come back to his role in the Senate, but only if Cathy were prepared to return with him. Otherwise, he would mail in his resignation and become a barrister or open a pub. He would practice dropping the letter “h” from the beginning of his words and driving on the left side of the road, and he would do it all with Cathy by his side.

  Chapter 29

  Brian looked in the mirror as he walked through the lobby of the mansion. His hair was all gray now, but it served to enhance his image as the elder statesman. He walked into the ballroom where the who's who of national politics schmoozed, toasted, danced, and celebrated in accustomed black-tie. Balloons drifted overhead, and the orchestra played an old Glenn Miller tune. The faces had changed, but the room was timeless.

  Brian strode up to the microphone, and the band stopped playing. “Hello, my friends,” he said to an outpouring of applause. “I want to thank you for coming out to celebrate the welcoming of a great teammate. I have the honor of introducing California's new junior Congressman to the fold. I have been proud to count his late father among my closest friends for the entire twenty-five years I have had the pleasure of serving in office. Please welcome Francis Orson Jr., an accomplished lawyer with a brilliant career ahead of him. You'll want to be good to Frank because he will succeed us old-timers one day.”

  Brian raised his glass. “A toast to California's newest treasure. Frank, come on up.” Brian hugged Frank Orson and handed him the microphone.

  “Thank you, Brian Madsen, from me and on behalf of the people of the State of California. My father counted you among his closest friends also. I'm convinced that there were things between the two of you over these years that he never shared, but I know how much he valued you and your friendship. I am privileged to have you as a
mentor as I enter Congress, and the people are privileged to have had you looking out for them for twenty-five years, with many more to come.”

  Applause filled the room and then gradually faded. A large group crowded around Orson, and the music resumed.

  As Brian looked on, he heard a loving voice at his side. “His big night,” she said, taking his hand.

  “Yes, it is. And he's right about how wonderful the last twenty-five years have been. But the best part of those years has been you.”

  She squeezed his hand affectionately. “You remember the night of your inaugural?”

  He looked over at her and grinned. She wore a strapless blue dress and a single strand of white pearls. As they always had, her blue eyes drew him in and held him.

  “How could I forget,” he said, smiling. “It changed my life.”

  Cathy Madsen kissed him on the cheek. “I love you, Brian,” she whispered. “It would be just as wonderful today.”

  “It will be even better.” He took her hand, and they walked up the marble staircase toward the bathroom down the hall.

  About the Author

  David P. Warren is an experienced attorney, mediator and arbitrator. He has represented many clients in employment and business litigation and draws on his experiences to provide a suspenseful thriller that centers on politics, business, ambition and betrayal. David has a passion for storytelling, for characters, and for plot twists and turns that keep the reader spellbound. Sealing Fate is David's first novel and one you will not forget. He introduces you to successful attorney and new Congressman Brian Madsen, whose life is about to be forever altered by an affair, a murder and blackmail.

  David has since written 'Altering Destiny,' the story of Lynn Kelly's life on the run after finding money and proof of crimes. His newest book is 'The Whistleblower Onslaught,' in which employment attorney Scott Winslow has his life turned upside down when he takes on a whistleblower case against an energy company. Each is a page-turner you won't want to put down.

  Dear reader,

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