Chapter 5
“How does it feel to be free?”
“Are you going to take over at Jamison Pharmaceuticals?”
“Will you have more children to replace the twins you killed?”
Tessa looked up and appeared ready to commit mayhem when she heard the horribly cruel words a local TV reporter had just uttered.
“Don’t say a word,” Sam cautioned, guiding her to the shiny black SUV parked close to the area where the members of the press were gathered. “All they want is to get a response from you, preferably a negative one. Remember, you don’t want to be the lead story on the six o’clock news. Be assured that I have noted who it was who asked that last question. And once this is over, I will personally see to it that she never again works for any television, radio, or newspaper company again. And you can take that to the bank.”
She walked as fast as she could, Sam’s arm around her waist holding her close to him, away from the reporters, with their hands outstretched, holding smart phones and recorders in hopes of getting a comment on the record. Trying to absorb as much of the outside as she could, Tessa raised her head, letting the warm December sun of Florida caress her face. A cool breeze carried the scent of the inmates’ next meal. She reveled in the fact that she would no longer be subjected to the tasteless slop they tried to pass off as food. Seafood, fresh vegetables, and fruit would be her diet for as long as she was free.
She took a deep breath, inhaled the noxious odors for what she hoped was the last time in her life, then, as soon as she reached the vehicle, a door opened, and she slid across the smooth leather seats. She inhaled the rich scent of leather and remembered her own vehicle. Briefly, she wondered if Sam had taken care of that as well but recalled she had asked her attorney to donate her vehicle and Joel’s to a worthwhile charity.
Slamming the door as soon as he was inside, Sam spoke to their driver. “Get us out of here, and make sure we’re not followed.”
Tessa felt as though she were in another world, sort of like Alice in Wonderland, through the looking glass, this large vehicle her own personal rabbit hole, where everything was the same but somehow her perception of it was warped, almost freakish. She closed her eyes and opened them again, hoping to dispel the distorted image.
“Where are you taking me first?” Tessa asked, realizing she had not bothered to ask exactly where she would go immediately upon her release. The words sounded false to her ears; she couldn’t even imagine what they sounded like to their driver and Sam. She had been told the process, but until she had actually walked out the prison door, she had resisted really taking in anything beyond getting out the door to the prison.
“You’re going home, Tessa,” Sam stated. “It’s what you agreed to. They”—he nodded toward the back window of the SUV—“won’t follow us all the way to San Maribel. Though I suspect we’ll have our share of media to deal with there, too.”
She nodded, admitting to herself that she had not thought that far ahead. It was her fear of her twin girls’ exposure to the jackals of the media that had sent her running to San Maribel all those years ago. And that fear had cost her everything she valued in life. She wouldn’t fear the media this time around. She might even find a way to use them to her advantage, but that was for a later time. When she had had a chance to think, time to plan how she was going to get at Liam Jamison, the son of a bitch.
“As soon as we get your ankle bracelet, you’ll have some time to yourself.”
Tessa inhaled and slowly exhaled. “At the sheriff’s office?” She knew this but wanted it confirmed.
“Yes, that, too, was part of the judge’s conditions for release,” Sam explained.
“I know, it just seems a bit, I don’t know . . . sort of like collaring an animal or something.”
Sam turned around in the front seat to face her. “That’s pretty much the point. While you aren’t going to have prison bars around you, you won’t be able to come and go, at least not until after a trial or the charges against you are dismissed.”
“Of course, I know that, but it still doesn’t keep me from thinking it’s barbaric. What happens if you remove it?”
“Tessa, that’s not—”
“I know, Sam. But humor me. I am just curious. What would happen if it were removed?”
“First, you’d need a massive pair of cutters to remove it, which would then send a high-frequency signal to a receiver. A phone rings, and whoever is in charge contacts the proper authorities, and they begin a search for you. If you leave it on, you’re fine. As long as you don’t leave your assigned area without permission, you won’t have a problem, but they can track your every movement if you do since it’s equipped with a GPS. Just so you know.” He was dead serious.
“Of course I wouldn’t dare remove it. I realize it’s what I have to do until after the trial. I’m fine with it, Sam. Really,” she added, and gave him a halfhearted smile.
“I know. I’m sorry it has to be this way.”
“Me, too, but it’s okay. Really.” She had not asked Sam why he’d brought her case to Lee Whitlow, but now she needed to know. “Why did you go to all this trouble? Bringing my case to Lee?”
Sam rubbed the bridge of his nose, then raked a hand through his hair. “Because you’re innocent.”
Not sure of what to say, she said nothing. No one had ever said these words to her. At least not as directly.
“Does Rosa’s story have anything to do with your belief in my innocence?” Tessa asked. Since learning about Rosa’s story, she was sure this had influenced Lee and his team probably even more than the Florida Supreme Court’s ruling.
“No. I have never doubted your story,” Sam stated. “No one in their right mind could do . . . you would never have harmed your girls, or Joel. I know that, Tessa. I have always known that. But I was never called as a witness.”
“I don’t think your testimony would have changed anything. There wasn’t any evidence that required your testimony. In fact, when you get down to it, there really was no evidence against me at all.”
“I could have vouched for your character,” Sam said. “Not that it would have mattered. The district attorney had his eye on you from the beginning. Any evidence that could have turned their investigation around, they simply ignored. If Rosa had not decided to speak up, they would have fought like cats and dogs against your being released even now. I seriously doubt that they even care whether or not you are guilty. All they care about is not having their precious theory shown to be the garbage it is and always has been and their utter lack of competence exposed to the world.”
Rosa. Tessa remembered her well. She had been in her early forties when she came to work for them. The girls were four. It was during this time that Tessa had considered going back to work part-time, with the knowledge that both Piper and Poppy adored Rosa, and she loved them in return.
Tessa had spent many sleepless nights pondering her decision. In the end, she had decided to stay home with her girls. Rosa was a great sitter and kept their large home in shipshape order. Tessa had suspected there was more to Rosa, but her being an undocumented worker who had entered Florida illegally had not been anything she suspected back then. Joel had hired her as soon as Tessa gave her seal of approval. He’d personally taken care of the financial side, and Rosa took charge of their home. To think what Rosa might have witnessed blew her away.
“Thanks, Sam. Really. I don’t know what I did to deserve your devotion, and all of this.” She gestured to the car, her clothes. “I don’t know if I can ever repay you.” Financially, of course, she could and she would. That part was easy, but there was no price for gratitude.
“You have thanked me enough. Wait until your new trial is over or the case against you dismissed, and maybe then you’ll have something to really thank me for.”
A warning voice sounded in her head. What did he mean? Did he expect something more? She needed to clear this up now.
“Sam, I’m not interested in—”
“I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. If you’re proved innocent, that’s what I meant. You can thank me then. For that only. Nothing more, Tessa. Joel was my friend. I . . . you know what I mean.”
Not really. It wasn’t as though they’d been in constant contact since her imprisonment. Yes, he was in charge of Jamison Pharmaceuticals; after all, he was the CEO, and he gave Lara what she needed, but she really didn’t know Sam well. Yes, he’d been good friends with her husband, but that had been their friendship, not hers.
Uncomfortable silence, then Tessa said, “My social graces need polishing. It’s going to take a while for me to get used to this.” She looked out the passenger window. “My last car ride was to prison. This is all so . . . unexpected. You just keep on doing what you have been doing, and I plan to take one day at a time.”
“Good plan,” Sam agreed.
Thirty minutes later, they were driving up Alligator Alley, which was what the locals called I-75. Because of the many accidents that had been caused by the gators in the nearby swamps coming onto the highway, not to mention the endangered Florida panther, the roadside had been fenced off. Not, everyone understood, to protect the drivers, but rather to protect the wildlife. Tessa had always been afraid to travel this desolate road, and now some of the old panic of her past filled her as she stared out at the nothingness. Dried grass, swamps. It wasn’t the sunny Florida of postcards and sandy beaches.
“I have never liked this part of Florida,” she said.
“Not much to like,” Sam commented.
For the next hour, they rode in silence, both of them thinking their own thoughts. Tessa was glad. It would take time to absorb her new reality. People seemed different, and uncaring, at least the few she had had contact with. She had always been the caring type, wanting to make things right for those around her. In doing so, she had ruined so many lives. It had cost her everything that was dear to her.
Wanting to know but afraid to ask, she wondered what kind of changes had been made to her home on the island. She had always thought the place was much too extravagant, too flashy. After a few years of living there, she had gotten used to seeing yachts moored in the deep canals, Bentleys and Lamborghinis casually parked in driveways, their owners uncaring of the damage from the brutal sun. Fearful, yet curious, she wanted to focus on anything but the day that her life fell apart. She knew that once she arrived home, she would break.
Maybe this was all a bad idea. Maybe she should ask the driver to turn around and take her back to the place she had called home for the past ten years. She had accepted the fact the she would spend her life behind bars, and now, this. She was getting a chance to start over, a chance to prove her innocence, and the thought scared her to death. Tessa knew what she would have to do to make things right.
And she would. In due time.