Legal Action - Box Set

by Kimball Lee

  “I remember your naked breasts in the sunlight and making you cum as we lay on the hot sand with people walking all around us on the beach. I remember you said you wanted a tattoo to seal your body to me forever and I remember that I never wanted to forget how much I love you,” he said and pulled her tightly to him, her head rested on his chest and he could feel her tears falling against his skin, “That’s what I remember, my love.”

  *

  The next morning they woke to snow that usually fell closer to Christmas; it spread a light blanket of white over the garden and the woods and the fences and the lane. Georgina and Henrietta came to the cottage early with Atticus to make breakfast and dress the baby in his little white smocked christening gown. Charlotte dressed in a pale grey fitted silk jacket and flowy knee length chiffon skirt and Finn looked fantastic in his dark wedding suit. They stood in the kitchen and Charlotte was tying his tie when they heard a car out front and in a moment the front door flew open.

  “Finnegan, my man!” JP yelled and pulled Finn into a gripping bear hug.

  Charlotte and Amanda hugged quickly then stood watching the two old friends reunited.

  “John how are you? It is John right? From…” Finn studied his friend’s face, desperate to recall events that hovered just beyond his grasp.

  “That’s right buddy, but you know for some fucked up reason everyone calls me by my initials now! So JP is good if that works for you,” JP said, making light of the situation, “and you’ll never believe it but this is my fiancée, Amanda!”

  “Oh that’s wonderful,” Charlotte said, hugging Amanda then holding on to JP for the longest time. “Congratulations to both of you! I think I’m gonna cry now, JP!”

  “Total shocker, right?” JP said and his smile when he looked at Amanda let Charlotte know it was for real.

  Finn kissed Amanda’s cheek and said he should probably remember her but to forgive him if he didn’t and they all laughed.

  JP whispered to Charlotte, “He calls me John now, I was trying to make him remember when we were in Taiwan and he was pretty doped up, they worked him over bad one day then threw him back in the cell and I said, “it’s me JP, John Paul,” so from then on he called me John.”

  Georgina walked carefully down the stairs holding Atticus for all to see as if he were the most precious jewel in the world. Henrietta followed her carrying his blanket and diaper bag. The cottage was full and noisy as everyone talked and admired the baby and Charlotte rushed upstairs to get an evening bag to take to the church.

  She heard more voices downstairs and smiled to hear Jude introducing his girlfriend and again more oohs and aahs over the baby. Goose bumps ran up her arms suddenly and she stopped in the middle of switching the contents between the two purses to try and think where she’d heard a certain voice. She reached in her everyday purse and found what she was looking for and moved quickly but quietly down the stairs. The small rooms were so full no one noticed her at first, then they all got quiet at the look on her face as she moved toward the young Asian girl holding Atticus. The girl’s face changed when she saw Charlotte and she hugged the baby to her and her hand disappeared into her coat pocket.

  Her eyes were insane and her face was a mask of fury as she spoke to Charlotte, “so you remember me from Monte Carlo even if your husband doesn’t. You’ve taken everything I loved, you’ve ruined my life and finally you’ll pay!”

  Finn moved fast and grabbed Atticus away and pushed her backwards so that she lost her balance.

  The girl who’d loved Jamey Huang and his father struggled to stay standing and pulled a pistol out of her coat pocket, but before she knew what hit her Charlotte had plunged the switchblade into her neck. She hit the floor screaming and blood flowed all around her.

  Finn still held Atticus and he pulled Charlotte away.

  Jude knelt with the girl as she screamed, “Fucking whore lawyer, cock sucking bitch!”

  “JP hand me a towel and someone call Accident and Emergency, dial 999 NOW,” Jude shouted and removed the knife quickly and pressed the towel hard against the wound.

  *

  While the girl was being loaded into the ambulance the paramedics spoke with Jude and they all agreed if the wound had been a few inches closer to her jugular she would have died. As it stood it was little more than a superficial wound that looked worse than it was.

  Charlotte and Finn sat together on the sofa talking with two policemen as Charlotte hugged her squirming son against her.

  “Let me take the baby, dear,” Georgina said, “I’m sure he needs his nappy changed, I’ll take him upstairs away from all these horrible goings on.” She scooped Atticus up and Charlotte let him go, then she began to sob.

  “Shhh, my love, it’s alright now, it’s all over,” Finn said, holding her as she wailed.

  Jude had gone with more policemen in the ambulance to make sure the girl was put under arrest and would have no chance of leaving the hospital.

  Amanda and Henrietta were badly shaken and not sure what to do, and JP handed Charlotte an especially potent martini.

  “May I come in? I waited at the church but no one showed up, I hope I’m not intruding,” Charles Tremont said, as he stood in the front door. “My God, what’s happened? Is the baby alright? Here,” he said to the policeman, handing them his card. “Leave us alone now, I’ll be responsible for whatever’s happened, my daughter’s upset, can’t you see?”

  Finn explained what happened and he moved aside so the ambassador could sit next to Charlotte. Charles Tremont was a tall man and broad shouldered and he held his daughter to him and rocked her as he spoke to her.

  “It’s going to be fine sweetheart, don’t worry. The baby is perfectly well and this ordeal is over. Here, take a sip of this and then I want you introduce me to my grandson,” Charles told her, speaking gently and comforting her.

  “I’ll bring the baby down,” Finn said and went to get him. He came back down with Atticus who was in a great mood and totally unaware that anything was amiss.

  Charles stood up and took the baby and held him out in front of him, then laughed as he proclaimed him ‘a keeper’. “He’s definitely the image of you Finn, but he has the Tremont eyes for sure. Hey there, Atticus, I’m your Granddaddy, I’ll teach you to fish and eat mudbugs and oysters and all things Cajun and Southern!”

  The baby gurgled and reached his little hands to pull at his grandfather’s face and Charlotte laughed, then smiled, and said, “Don’t we have a baptism to go to?”

  CHAPTER NINE

  “Okay, you have to hand it to Alex; he’s trying so hard to get over you that he’s engaged to your clone!” Amanda said, taking a sip of tea then signaling the waiter for something a little stronger to drink.

  “What is that supposed to mean?” Charlotte asked. They were having tea at Claridge’s after a full day of shopping for Christmas and Amanda was getting ideas for wedding dresses.

  “Honestly Charlotte she sounds like you and she looks like you… kind of. I mean, like a bad copy of you actually, she was married to a plastic surgeon and she must have been his best customer. Her hair is just as black but it’s obviously straight out of a Miss Clairol box! Oh, my mother is having a nervous breakdown; she can’t stand her, she calls her a phony bitch and of course Mother says it in French so the stupid fake fiancé thinks it’s a compliment!”

  “I’m happy for Bly and you should be, too. He needs someone and he wants a family, let’s give her the benefit of the doubt.”

  “Well you’ll get to meet her soon enough; he’s invited us all for Christmas at the Grandhotel Pupp, his treat. Have you ever been there? It’s the most unbelievable place I’ve ever stayed, it’s in Carlsbad, or Karlovy Vary as they call it, in the Czech Republic. The absolute best hotel in the world and the village is nestled in these lost-in-time mountains and forests, oh you’ll be in heaven, trust me. Come on it’ll be great, we can ski and spa and shop and eat world class food and screw our men on bear skin rugs in front of b
lazing fires! Don’t be mad, Mother’s going on a world cruise with some ancient gigolo she met and Alex really wants you to meet this wonder girl. He probably wants you to give him your blessing or divorce Finn and run off with him. I think she’s ugly, but who knows, maybe she can suck a golf ball through a water hose! Men! Who knows how their minds work, or if they do at all?”

  “How does your mother feel about you and JP?” Charlotte spread a crumpet with jam and took a bite, she was still surprised at all the English traditions that she’d read about but never imagined really existed actually occurred on a daily basis.

  “She’s crazy about him, but who wouldn’t be? He’s got the perfect blend of good/boy versus bad/boy vibe going on, tell me the truth Charlotte, how did you live with both him and Finn and choose between the two?”

  “Well, they annoyed me at first then they saved me a few times from perverts interested in the American Jock girl. Then we were friends and I fell in love with Finn. I don’t think being in love is a conscious choice, either you are or you’re not.” Charlotte stirred her tea and looked down as she spoke the next words, “I loved your brother and I thought I was in love with him, and I really wanted to be. It would have been so much easier than loving Finn when he… worked as an Operative, but I think things work out the way they’re meant to, for better or worse.”

  “I get it,” Amanda said, “and I better get going, my true love awaits and we have decisions to make.”

  “Where to get married?” Charlotte asked.

  “That and where to live, I think JP wants to go back to California. I’ve only ever lived in New York and Paris, but we’re working it out. You probably don’t know this but Alex’s father is not my father. I know, shocking, right? Mother was married to him but he had girls, you know, women he kept on the side. He loved my beautiful mother; she was a prize he’d won with his power and his money. So when she had an affair and got pregnant with me he tolerated it and gave me his name but not any of his money. Alex takes care of me, he set up a trust fund, you know how generous he is. I know his father loved our mother and even worshipped her, but maybe that’s how it would have turned out if you’d married Alex, he might have been like his father and eventually felt that one woman wasn’t enough for a man in his position.” Amanda reached across the table and squeezed Charlotte’s hand, “I know you were right to follow your heart.”

  Charlotte drove to the American Embassy after she left Amanda, Charles was handling everything with the court case concerning the Asian girl and he wanted to give her an update.

  “Hey sweetheart,” he said. Kissing Charlotte’s cheek and she blushed, unused to having a father’s attention. How’s that big boy, have you hung his stocking by the fireplace yet?”

  “No, I need to do that, he doesn’t even have one,” she said and wondered if she was ever going to remember every little detail that went with raising a child. Her mother hadn’t had material things to give Charlotte, just her love which seemed like enough, but she wanted her son to have as perfect a childhood as possible.

  “Well that’s good then,” Charles said and he laid a beautifully wrapped package on his desk. “It’s for our boy, but go ahead and open it.”

  Charlotte grinned like a kid and untied the bow and removed the box top, inside amidst clouds of tissue was an intricately embroidered stocking covered with sequins and tiny jewels. She lifted it out and smiled from ear to ear as she examined it. It was exquisitely made of silks and velvet depicting Santa in his sleigh with eight reindeer flying across the world on a starry night. Across the velvet cuff at the top, Atticus, was perfectly embroidered.

  “It’s unbelievable! I can’t believe how beautiful and intricate it is, I can’t wait to hang it over the fireplace. He’s going to love it Charles, and so will Finn, I’m overwhelmed. All I ever had growing up was a cheap fake fur stocking with my name in glitter. Where did you get this?”

  “I had it made; an artist I know in Chelsea makes them. I want to know about your childhood sometime in the future, Charlotte. Not now though, it’s Christmas time and also I have good news about the Asian girl. She went before a judge and was declared criminally insane; she’ll be locked up in Ashworth Hospital. It’s an excellent high security mental facility far away in the North East of England. She’ll stay there for six to thirty years or life depending on her rehabilitation or unless someone decides to extradite her to the U.S. which isn’t likely, she doesn’t seem to have any family.

  “I owe you for so many things Charles, how will I ever repay you?” Charlotte asked, her blues eyes meeting his.

  “By being my daughter and letting me make up for the years I missed, I know you suffered and that tears me up inside. Let me be part of your life and think about calling me Dad.”

  “I’ll work on that,” she smiled and he truly loved to see her radiant smile, she had that in common with her mother, they both brightened a room just by being in it. “We might be going skiing over Christmas, if you’d like to come out to Surrey and spend an hour or a day or a week, you’re welcome to,” she said.

  He asked if she would bring the baby to his home and meet his wife over the holidays but she said she wasn’t ready for that and she had an inkling that his wife wasn’t either.

  *

  Finn planned to start back working at the law firm in Surrey after the New Year, his memory had almost completely returned, only the details of his covert missions seemed permanently deleted. For that, both he and Charlotte were glad, it was a life better left unexamined, they decided. He was happy and content as a family man and the depth of love he felt for Charlotte and Atticus astounded him. He was not exactly thrilled when Charlotte told him they were invited to spend Christmas with her former boyfriend, but he did owe the man his life. Bly was engaged now, so hopefully that meant he wouldn’t be mooning over Charlotte all the time. JP would be there with Amanda and there was world class skiing so all in all he was up for it.

  Jude had become somewhat a stranger to Dovecote Cottage after the incident with his crazy “girlfriend.” He was horrified and embarrassed that he’d been so taken in by a mad woman, but Finn and Charlotte didn’t hold him responsible for what happened. The girl was psychotic and he had no way of knowing, they told him, but the thought that he’d inadvertently put his nephew in danger haunted him. He’d thrown himself into his work and spent his free time volunteering for various charities and finally made the announcement that he was leaving for India to join Doctors Without Borders.

  You really aren’t to blame, Jude,” Finn told him as they sat in front of the fire the last night Jude stayed at the cottage before leaving for Calcutta. “The girl is mentally ill and how could you have known she wanted to get to us through you? Let it go, Charlotte and I refuse to think about what might have happened, you just have to let go and say a prayer of thanks that all is well.”

  “We’ll miss you Jude, Atti especially misses you already. Don’t stay gone for long, promise me that, and you know how I am about our happy family unit!” Charlotte said and stood behind his chair then leaned forward over his shoulder to hug him and hold her cheek against his.

  *

  A few days before Christmas with all their bags packed and the beautiful stocking Charles had given Atticus hanging from the mantle, Charlotte laid her sleeping son in his crib and turned to Finn who sat in the rocking chair.

  “What are you doing in here,” she asked, curling up in his lap and kissing his beautiful mouth.

  “Just watching my very beautiful love and thinking how lucky I am to have you and Atti,” he said, releasing the elastic band holding her long ponytail and burying his face in it. “I remembered some incidents, some missions I once took part in, what a fool I was to have risked missing all this.”

  “All this, as in our drafty little cottage and two older ladies for best friends and getting snowed in for days at a time? Or other things?” she asked running her hand along the stiffening bulge in his jeans.

  “Hmm, a little of b
oth I suppose,” he popped open the buttons of her favorite soft ragged jeans and slipped his hand inside and she winced. “What’s wrong my love, are you hurt?”

  “It’s my Christmas present to you,” she said, her eyes twinkling.

  He lowered her to the floor and pulled her jeans off carefully while she smiled up at him. She lifted her hips as he removed her panties and then he smiled too, and said, “I think I love it, but I’d better take a closer look.”

  She’d stopped in at a tattoo parlor that morning and low on her left hip, not far from her smoothly shaved pussy, was a small heart with his name inside. It was fresh and raw so to keep from hurting her he lay on the floor of the nursery and she mounted him and they tried hard not to wake the baby.

  *

  Amanda hadn’t exaggerated; the mountain village of Karlovy Vary was straight out of a fairytale and the Grandhotel Pupp was indeed heaven. Amanda and JP were there in the lobby waiting to meet them and Finn and JP grabbed their ski bags and hit the slopes immediately. Amanda went upstairs to help Charlotte settle in to her room, Georgina had come along to help with the baby and of course Charlotte asked Henrietta to join them as well. Charlotte had texted Bly to say she would pay for Henrietta, that she was alone in the world and lived for Georgina and Atticus. In his usual fashion he told her to bring Georgina’s friend and he didn’t want to hear a word about money.

  “Can you believe these people?” Amanda asked, as they wandered through the opulent hotel, it seemed that every country on Earth was represented, at least the wealthiest from each country.

  It reminded Charlotte of Monte Carlo, beautiful people strolled through the hotel lobby and shops and the bars and restaurants, all were dressed in furs and jewels. Bellmen trailed behind them with brass carts overflowing with Louis Vuitton luggage and exotic pets. Charlotte saw assorted dogs on leashes and in designer pet carriers, one woman carried a tiny monkey dressed in a silk suit, while a man in a business suit wore a turban and had a huge green parrot on his shoulder. Nannies dressed in stiff uniforms herded small groups of children into a restaurant where tables overflowed with mountains of creampuffs and tarts, cupcakes and every manner of sweets. In the middle of the room stood a fountain that flowed with chocolate for dipping strawberries and cubes of fruit and cake that were cut into whimsical shapes and threaded onto wooden skewers.