The Devil's Intended-Love & Evil In Palm Beach

by Pamela Southwood

up his finger to gesture it would just be another minute. He then made another call and started walking back toward the table. She heard him telling someone to come and meet them. She gave him a curious look as he sat back down and jiggled his ice loudly in his glass. He reached into his briefcase which was on the floor next to him and pulled out some papers.

  “So, you want to get in on the action?” He laid several documents in front of her. “All you need to do is write me a check for $125,000 and I can give you back $100,000 right away as soon as we go to war with these guys.”

   Kristen looked confused and began to ask him a question, when an anorexic-looking, middle-aged brunette walked into the room. Kristen recognized her from The Patio bar. Her name was Anne and she squeezed in very close next to Robert. He said “Anne, did you bring the contracts?” She answered “They are right here.” She opened a briefcase with her bony hand. Robert took back the documents he gave Kristen and replaced them with the new ones.

   Kristen looked down at them. The first page listed the principals of his company. For the top officers, it showed Robert St. Germain, someone named Reynolds, and Anne was listed as Vice-President. “Anne as Vice-President?” Kristen thought “What the heck? How does she know him? He just came to town!” Kristen was never really friends with Anne, but she had seen her around the bar scene for years, knew some of her friends, and thought she was a credible person. 

   Robert spoke up. “Anne just passed her CPA test and has an MBA. I recently met her and knew she would be perfect for my newest company. In fact, she is flying to L.A. tomorrow to conduct due diligence for me.”  

  He continued “Anne has invested $50k with me and she knows a good deal when she sees one.” Anne nodded in agreement. Robert gloated “I am already giving back returns for some of the investors!” He rose to go back to the lobby, started dialing on his phone, and left Anne alone with Kristen. 

   Anne started to lay it on thick. “This is really a good offer. I checked him out thoroughly. You should invest!” Kristen started thinking about it. She flip-flopped and liked Robert again, especially, since it now did look like he was a rich businessman. She started feeling a bit obsessive about him and was afraid she would lose him. Maybe she should do it; she had the money. Why not? It was a win-win situation.

   Robert came back to the table carrying a fresh drink. He was all smiles and sat back down on Kristen’s side. Anne gave a brief look of disappointment at him. He pushed the papers closer to Kristen. “So, you want in?” Kristen smiled at him and said “I think I might.” He seemed legitimate. Those men had looked like they were big wheels and they were doing it.  

   Anne pulled out a pen and handed it to her. There were only a few places to put her signature. “So, how do I do this? Do I make a wire transfer to the company?” Robert said “No, it’s easier than that. Just write out a check for $125,000 payable to me.”

   Kristen said referring to the papers “Your name is St. Germain? Who is Reggie Reynolds? He laughed “Reynolds is my partner and attorney. You will meet him soon. I have known him forever. We are like twins!” Kristen said “Funny that I have never known your last name.” She hesitated and said “I am sorry Robert; I don’t usually make investments. I just know how to spend money, and I’m not ready to do this right now.”

  He indignantly walked out of the room dragging Anne behind him. He then had Anne pull her car up and they quickly drove away. Kristen did not hesitate and decided to tail him. She had to find out what he was up to!

  They only drove a few miles until Anne dropped him off in front of a restaurant. Kristen wanted to see who Robert was meeting, so she left her car in the front while she went in and looked around. Right in the middle of the room, Robert was looking like a family man sitting with a pregnant girl in her early twenties who had a small boy next to her.

   She at first thought the girl could be a daughter or something, but then it dawned on her it was probably the Jeannie who gave him the watch! Kristen walked right up and stood in front of him. “So, I knew you were up to something. Hello Jeannie.” The girl looked confused. Robert calmly said to Kristen “So, are you hear to tell me the news about Anne? Is she still at the hospital?” Kristen was dumbfounded. “What?” He continued “Anne. How is Anne? How did her tests go?”

   Kristen could tell he was creating some kind of wild story to explain her being there.” She just replied “Anne is going to be alright”, and walked away. It was pointless to stay there. Robert said “You are so kind to let us know” he really sugar-coated it. Kristen thought “God, he is such a loon!”

   Kristen began to walk out and was surprised to see Robert following behind her carrying his briefcase.

  He braced it against one hip as he fumbled with the latch to open it. He pulled out papers and placed them on a front counter in the lobby. Kristen watched him carefully.

   "Kristen! This is it. You need to sign now or I am going to offer this opportunity to a man who is on his way to join me here. He started explaining the venture all over again and made it seem like easy money. She started feeling that it was a low risk, so she thought it might be alright.

   Robert continued “Are you ready to do this?” Robert remained very businesslike and shoved the papers towards her. As Kristen slowly reached for her purse, Robert perked up. He put his arm around her shoulders as she looked over the contract carefully. It seemed very official. She was afraid to upset him, and with great hesitation she said “I am only willing to put in $75,000, not $125,000.” Robert’s smile disappeared. Kristen quickly added “And I am paying cash!”

   His eyes almost popped out as she pulled several stacks of bills from her purse. He now stood behind her and produced a pen. Kristen took it from him and signed in the three places where he pointed. 

   Kristen said “Don’t you need a Notary for this?” He quickly answered “Don’t worry. Anne will take care of it.” Kristen wondered how much Anne was involved in all of this, and if she was sleeping with Robert.  Kristen thought again, and then greed entered the picture. “Wait Robert, I am going to invest $25,000 more. But I am going to have to do it with a check. I am out of cash.” Robert slowly smiled and had her sign another document. Then he pulled the papers from her like a hot potato as he grabbed the check. He scrawled his name and gave her the final page to serve as her receipt.

   Kristen stood up to leave. Robert began shoving everything back in his briefcase and said “I will see you later.” As she walked out into the parking lot, Kristen was feeling nervous about giving St. Germain the money. She sat in her car for several minutes to think about it. She then had an increasingly sick feeling and thought that she had better get out of the deal right away.

   She rushed back into the restaurant and looked around for Robert. He wasn’t there. Kristen felt panicky and sat at an empty table. There was nothing she could do about the cash, but she could stop the check. She called her bank’s customer service line.

   The bank agent told her not to worry because she had placed the stop payment right away. She put down her phone and was very nervous of how Robert was going to react to being blind-sided. She knew he wouldn’t be happy; but he certainly wasn’t a crook. She knew he would give her money back if she asked for it. And actually, she second-guessed herself, she still wasn’t sure if she really wanted to kill the deal yet.

   

  7 THE PYRAMID FALLS

   

   A few days passed before Kristen heard from Robert again. He actually drove to her house in the early evening and pounded on the front door. She was afraid to open it, fearing retaliation for her stopping the check.

  To her surprise, Robert said nothing except “I need to go back downtown. I had too many drinks at Mulligan's." He looked disheveled and shook his head like he was trying to wake up. "I am too messed up to drive my rental car back by myself.”

   Kristen replied "How did you even know where I live?" He didn’t have to answer. She knew it was one of h
er friends that had broken the "Girl Code" without even warning her!

   At first she refused him, but he had this charisma about him and she wanted to be around it. It was like she was enchanted by him. She knew this wasn't the right way to be thinking, but she couldn't help herself.  Things were different these days. The bad boys were more fun and definitely not boring. Her life was becoming an adventure!

   They left his car there because he was going to have the rental place pick it up later. She grabbed her car keys and soon they were on the expressway heading south. As they were driving, Robert said “I need to borrow a few hundred dollars to get something. I will pay you right back.” Kristen immediately said "No!” He quickly added "I'll pay you back double!"

   She then raised her hands up like she gave up on everything. “Go look in my purse.” Robert reached for it and put it on his lap. Kristen had planned to make a bank deposit the next day and had plenty of money in there. Robert grabbed a handful of bills and held them up. “Is this OK?” Kristen looked and said “Sure, but, seriously, only if you are paying me this week.” Robert looked angelic and said “Of course I am. By the way, I am not happy that you stopped the check. But it is alright, and I understand. Kristen began to feel nervous and wanted