Trust Me

Chapter 27

Ranalla and Margaret found themselves sitting in a sterile room with only a table and its six chairs before them. Nothing hung on the concrete walls of the stereotypical police room. Ranalla sighed as she looked at the weary face of her resurrected mother.

They had been taken out of the once safe house and hurried into one of the dark vehicles that had rushed forward when the place was secure. As they left the house behind and made their way to the van, Ranalla turned around and tried to catch a glimpse of where Vince had gone. She saw nothing but trees and moving men in black with assault rifles and phones pressed to their ears. Margaret climbed into the van. Ranalla strained to look for Vince, but the man in charge, located behind her, pushed her forward and closed the door on the huddled women.

Within an hour, they had arrived at a plain official building where they were quickly ushered from the van into the room they now sat in. Minutes passed, then the door opened to a doctor and two nurses who came in to examine the mother and daughter. The exam didn't take long, and the doctor proclaimed them healthy. The guard outside the door was heard telling the doctor that when he was done, he was to report to another room down the hallway before leaving.

The women sat side by side on one side of the table. They clasped their hands together. They were silent as what all had transpired began to sink in. Ranalla's hand tightened the grip on her mother's, and she turned toward her with tears in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Mom."

Margaret blinked. "Whatever for?"

"If I had known you were alive, I'd have looked for you."

"Forget it, Ranalla. You were safer living your life the way you were. Or at least I thought so. Now, I'm not so sure."

"How could Father have been so cruel?"

"He always was. I just didn't realize it until it was too late, and I was his wife."

Before anything more could be said, the door opened. In stepped a man in a three-piece suit. He smiled and walked toward the woman with his hand out.

"I'm Agent Conrad. Glad to meet you both. And very glad you are both unharmed." He sat down on the other side of the table from them. "Margaret, if I may, now that the truth about you is out we need to make a decision on whether or not you are to stay in protective custody, or if you are ready to assume your original name and life with your daughter."

"Can she go into protection with me?" Margaret asked.

He looked over at Ranalla and smiled. "Yes, she can, but now that everything has been exposed and laid open, there are more options for you both."

The women looked at each other confused.

Agent Conrad continued. "You see, with your husband now out of the picture, that leaves his estate to you, Margaret."

"What do you mean out of the pictures? Is he dead?"

"No. Actually, he is in our custody now. He will be going to trial and will probably never see the outside of the prison again. That means, Margaret, that you now have control."

"I still don't understand."

Ranalla spoke up. "What would she get? Doesn't everything have to be confiscated or such?"

"Only the parts that were part of his illegal operations. All homes, most cars, one of the private planes, and one branch of his business were all legitimate. Those we can release to you."

"All his homes?"

"Yes."

Ranalla looked at her mother. "Mom, that includes the one in the mountains, the beach house, and the one in the Caribbean."

"He has all those? I never knew that." Ranalla nodded in response.

She then turned to the FBI man and asked, "What business did he have that would have been legit?"

"Seems about two years ago he bought an old bookstore downtown. He did nothing with it. Just bought it and let it run itself as it had before." He winked at her.

Ranalla gasped. Her father had bought the store she worked in. She had never really escaped him. Yet now her mother owned that very business. "You said he was in custody?"

"Yes. He is down the hall, where he is waiting on transportation to a secure facility."

Margaret looked at Ranalla and smiled. "Agent, may I see him?"

"Of course." He stood up.

Ranalla stood up along with her mother grabbing her hands tightly. "Mom, do you really want to do this?"

"Yes. There is something I need to tell him. You stay here. I don't ever want him to see you again. I want you safe from even his evil look."

Margaret followed the man out of the door leaving Ranalla alone, trying to understand how her and her mother's life had just changed.

Conrad led Margaret down the hall. They passed three doors before stopping in front of a windowless one with two armed guards on the outside at full alert. Conrad opened the door and stepped back to allow Margaret to enter the room.

Her husband sat at the far end of the room at a table similar to the one she had just left Ranalla at. He was not the man she had last seen. He seemed to have lost weight just in the few hours since he held a gun on her. His skin was pale and drawn. His lips were pinched. An aura of dejection surrounded him. She noticed a sling holding his arm up.

"Are you going to say anything or just stand there and look stupid?" His face was weary and ashen but his voice was as venomous as ever.

"Oh, I plan to say a lot." She moved forward. "What happened to your arm?"

"Are you suddenly caring?" He shrugged and grimaced at the pain that it brought to him. "I'm shot. Never thought I'd see the day it would happen, but at least I didn't go down alone."

"Where's Vince?" Margaret asked suddenly worried from the words he spoke.

"Last I saw of the snake was him lying on the ground bleeding like a stuck pig. He deserved worse."

Margaret bit the inside of her lip as she controlled herself so he could not see how she really felt.

"So, what are you hear for? To gloat at my arrest?"

"Actually, I came to tell you something."

"Get on with it. I have to go to prison soon."

She smiled with a look of secrecy and moved forward. Showing no fear of being close to the man, she leaned down to whisper in his ear. Conrad opened the door to see the look on the prisoner's face change from arrogance to shock. His mouth moving wordlessly. Margaret pulled back and smiled into his face.

"So long, Gregory."