Peggy Holloway - Judith McCain 02 - Portrait on Wicker

by Peggy Holloway

  CHAPTER 46

  After that first experience with my step-mom, dad and I shared everything. He married a woman his age after changing identities several times. This was after we met Jupiter, wasn’t it dad?

  Now I always thought dad was smart but Jupiter must have an IQ of two thousand. Wait til you meet Jupiter. Oh, I forgot, you won’t be meeting Jupiter. You and the pathetic little nightly group have no idea how widespread this is, or how many powerful people it involves. We have made millions peddling young flesh, both sexes. You were one of the older ones. Some people will pay enormous amounts of money for tiny kid flesh. Your twin is an example, being taken at age three. That Mr. Reynolds was one sick dude. But he had so much money, if he had asked for an infant; we would have gotten it for him.

  Jupiter’s operation has been going on for so long you’re wasting your time with penny ante Lessiter and his part or Mr. Reynolds or any of those small people. The FBI arrested a couple of judges and a doctor. They thought they were a big deal, but no one will roll over on Jupiter.

  When he started coughing, his dad brought him a glass of wine and asked if I wanted one. I shook my head. I was so terrified I was afraid to speak.

  They sat there staring at me and I cleared my throat and looked at Bill, “Did you order a hit on Tricia Hunter before you and I got to Virginia Beach?”

  He laughed. “Not me, Jupiter. You really are gullible aren’t you? I can cry at will. When you saw me cry, your pitiful little heart melted. You were so easy to fool. You immediately fell into my arms and my bed.”

  He turned to his dad, “She was insatiable, dad. I wish you could have been there. I doubt either one of us could have worn her out.”

  Judge Gadsby looked at his watch. “I wish so too, son, but Mrs. Gadsby’s sleeping pill will be wearing off in a few hours. If you want to finish your story, you’d better continue.”

  Bill smiled, like he was glad to please his dad, and continued:

  There’s not a whole lot left. Jupiter has recruited so many people in high places, we’re soon going to rule the world. Jupiter will never be caught. People will kill themselves before they will rat out Jupiter, or else Jupiter will order them killed.

  Jupiter is the only person alive I’m afraid of. Even knowing you won’t be around to talk, I will not reveal Jupiter to you.

  I was terrified, now that the story was ending. I thought I heard something in the hall, but when I looked at Bill and his dad, they didn’t seem to hear it.

  “What do you want to do now, son? I’m getting horny as a horny toad. Let’s take her into the basement where all the toys are. I can’t wait to get started. She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”

  What happened next happened so fast it was like lightning. The door was flung open. Tracy, John, George, and Sandy, Bill’s partner, rushed in screaming. They had guns pointed at Bill and Judge Gadsby. They were all screaming at once.

  “Get down on the floor! Get down on the floor, now!”

  They were on them so fast that Bill, trying to reach for service revolver, didn’t have a chance. Tracy had kicked his legs out from under him and I could hear bones crack as his nose broke.

  The judge had eased himself down on the floor and now said, “What is the meaning of all this? Officer Wheeler came here asking me to marry him and Judith. We’re sitting her having wine, discussing it…”

  “Save it Judge,” Tracy said. “Get Judith’s shoes, George.”

  George eased me down onto the sofa and took off my shoes. I cringed as he popped the heels off my Prada shoes. He retrieved a tape from one and something else from the other.

  At my questioning look John said, “It’s a homing device, Judith. We were able to keep up with where you were at all times and we got everything on tape.”

  “Hand both those things over,” Sandy said. She had a gun pointed at my head. “Put both on the floor and slowly back away.”

  “Get up,” she said to me, and I got up.

  George put the tape and the other device on the floor and backed away. They put their guns on the floor also.

  Holding the gun to my head, she said, “Take the cuffs off these two idiots.”

  “Ju…” Bill began and Sandy shot him through the head.

  “Now, Judith, we’re going to stoop together and retrieve the tape and tracer and I want you to destroy them.”

  As we began to stoop, she was pushed from behind. Her wrist, that was holding the gun, hit the floor. I heard another loud crack as her wrist broke. The gun went flying and I saw a foot kick it and Tracy retrieved it.

  There was suddenly a hand holding a gun held to Sandy’s head and when my eye followed the arm and shoulder, I saw Mark.

  Suddenly someone in back of me put his hands around my waist and I turned my head and saw Ben.

  “They told me to wait in the car. I’m glad I didn’t,” he said.

  “I’m glad I didn’t either,” said Mark as he continued to hold the gun to Sandy’s head. I remembered the loud clink I had heard when he had hung his coat on the back of the chair, in the stockroom at Julia’s art gallery, when we were having lunch that day. He had a strange look in his eyes as he pulled back the hammer on the gun.

  “Don’t, Mark, think about Brad,” Tracy said and I saw tears in her eyes. Mark seemed to come out of his stupor and put the gun away.

  I turned to Ben, “Oh, Ben, I’ve been such a fool. I have some major therapy to do on myself, but would you please give me another chance?”

  We held each other and he told me we would work on our issues together.

  Sandy began screaming, “I need an ambulance! I’m dying here.”

  Tracy said, “Oh, shut up, bitch! Did you ever notice the bigger the criminal, the more of a pussy they turn out to be? She doesn’t think about all the poor kids she hurt.”

  CHAPTER 47

  The yard to Judge Gadsby’s house was soon full of police cars, ambulances, medical examiners and the CSI unit. While the official people were doing their thing, I stared down to the basement to see what was down there.

  John came up behind me. “Remember not to touch anything,” he said.

  I sat on the stairs about midway down and watched as they gathered up whips, chains, masks and some things I had never seen before, nor did I want to see again. It made me sick, to think of what could have happened to me down there.

  Just as the sun was coming up, Tracy, Mark, Ben and I left for our suite at the Hyatt. We slept the rest of the day. Ben held me the whole time, but we didn’t get any more physical than that.

  We were all awake at 7:00 p.m. and ordered breakfast from room service. After eating, we went right back to bed and slept the rest of the night. We were exhausted.

  Bright and early the next morning Ben, Mark, and I were invited to go to the county jail where Sandy was being held temporarily. The three of us sat in a room behind a one-way mirror and watched while Tracy, John and George questioned her.

  At first she was cocky until Tracy reminded her that they had her cold on a murder one charge for killing Bill Wheeler and they were going for the death penalty.

  Watching her, I couldn’t believe she was the same woman who I had thought was so kind and caring. I had also thought that about Bill. She told Tracy she would give her all the names of the people in the organization in exchange for life in a minimum security facility.

  “No deal,” Tracy said. “We will give you life in a maximum security facility for a list of names and how this organization got started and how it operates. You also have to admit that you are Jupiter.”

  Sandy looked at the mirror. “Who all’s back there?” she asked.

  She laughed and I thought it was the most evil laugh I had ever heard.

  “You forget I’ve been out there too. I have more bargaining power than you do. If I keep my mouth shut, all the bad will continue. How about this? I give you everything you want and I get to go into a nice cushy mental hospital, maybe a hospital for the criminally insane. Those places are
locked down tight aren’t they?”

  Tracy motioned George and John and the three of them left her alone without a word. They joined us. We watched as Sandy stood and made faces at us.

  Tracy, John, and George called their bosses who called their bosses and word came down that she could go to one of the maximum security facility for the mentally insane if she gave them everything she said she would.

  The three of us civilians left as Sandy/Jupiter was writing a confession, a list of the bad guys, an organizational chart, and how the whole thing got started.

  Tracy later told us that Sandy was so proud of herself, and how she started everything, that she gave them more than they could hope for. She said she and Bill had picked Judge Meadows because they knew she would never get it. I couldn’t wait to hear Judge Meadow’s reaction to that.

  The FBI would be spending years arresting people and trying to find all the bodies. It was the biggest bust in years. It covered just about all the states.

  Some of the people, in high places, who were guilty, killed themselves rather than risk prison. Most all of the judges did, rather than be locked up with those they ordered to prison.

  CHAPTER 48

  Ben, Mark, Tracy and I returned to Houston where Tracy would be tied up with this case for probably years.

  Mark finally talked Ben into coming to work for McCain Oil. Ben had been waiting for me to make a commitment, before moving to Houston, which I did.

  We were married one month after the ordeal. By then Julia was out of Westpark and was my Maid-of-honor. Rosa, Tracy, and Trudy were bridesmaids and Mark gave me away.

  Trudy and Mimi loved each other right away. When Mimi heard Trudy tell her story, Mimi arranged for Trudy and her family to move to Houston.

  Ben and I live with Mimi. The sad thing was that Ben had to put his grandmother in a home, but he made sure that home was in Houston.

  Trudy and her family stayed with us. Mark gave Trudy’s mom a job as a technician at McCain Oil. Trudy loved the Daisy Room and wanted to sleep in there even thought the beds were too small for her. She didn’t know the history of the room.

  They now have an adorable little house in the Montrose area where I have my office. Trudy needed therapy after her ordeal, and I referred her to a friend of mine. I continue therapy with Dr. Anna by phone.

  Julia returned to New Orleans. She is painting, and running the art gallery again. She sold her condo and bought a house on the lake front large enough for a studio.

  She is dating an older college professor who teaches at UNO. He teaches Art History. I guess she’ll always like older men. She understands why, but has chosen to make sure they are healthy older men.

  Jesse and Arnold, the chauffer, have become a couple and I’m so happy for them both.

  My private practice is growing and the FBI has asked if I would consider working for them on a consulting basis.

  If you enjoyed this book, please take a few minutes to write a review. It is the best way to help the author, and will be greatly appreciated.

  About the Author

  After retiring, Peggy Holloway’s love for books and reading led her to try her hand at writing. She started writing her first book, Blood on White Wicker, a book that had been in her head for many years and the characters took over and the book took on a mind of its own. She has been writing ever since and feels that she has found her calling.

  Books by this Author:

  The Judith McCain series

  1. Blood on White Wicker

  2. Portrait on Wicker

  3. Terror on the Beach

  4. Jupiter Returns

  5. Monroe Beach

  Science Fiction/ Fantasy

  3037

  Time and Time Again (The sequel)

  Double Shock (Mystery/Suspense)

  Southern Greed (Mystery/Romance)

  She’s gone (Mystery/Suspense)

  The Christmas Tree Inheritance (A Christmas mystery)

  The Answers are Within (Self-help)

  A life of Confusion (Ms. Holloway’s Memoirs)

  If you like any of my books, tell you friends.