Treasure (version 2)

Chapter 28 Viral

The video streamed three times. It was hard for Zara to tear her eyes away from the jailhouse interview between T-5 member, Allison, and Ethan's victim, Jennifer Morrison. Watching it once was enough, but Zara couldn't stop rewinding the video stream.  Perhaps, it was the shock of what the tearful woman said. Or maybe, pure disbelief in acknowledging the monster she'd been with; scratch that – was still with the man.  Her dealings with Ethan weren't over - far from it. As she stared at the TV screen, it felt like a tight vice gripped her throat. Her stomach bottomed out and invisible led held her feet to the floor.  Zara was too numb to cry, though she felt the sting of tears behind her eyes. It ripped her heart thinking what Ethan had in store for her. With eyes locked onto the screen, she hit play on the remote.

***

"That evil man stole my baby and f**** my life.  The bastard set me up.  Get me out of here - PLEASE!"

The grief on Jennifer Morrison's face gripped Allison; she could no longer stay seated. She grabbed a fist full of hair and paced the room. The woman in the brilliant orange uniform had once been an executive at a pharmaceutical company.  Allison got permission to record the conversation and sent it in real-time to Gray Enterprises. "We're doing everything that we can to get the charges overturned.  Now, tell me what you remember."

Jennifer choked out the gut-wrenching story. Ethan invited her to a party in another state.  All she could remember was that it was somewhere in Pennsylvania.  She described how elated she was and felt like a star from Hollywood dressed in an elaborate red gown. Ethan told her that it was a gift of appreciation.  The entire flight he couldn't keep his hands off of her.

"He told me how much he loved me." The acid in her voice could have cut steel. She banged her hands against the cold glass.  The guard in the room approached Jennifer, but Allison raised her hand, beckoning that all was okay.  She signaled with her hand for Jennifer to calm down.  She acknowledged with a shake of her head.   "I believed him, damn it. When we got off the plane he took me to this huge mansion that looked like the White House.  It was deep in the woods."

"Who was your Ethan?"

"I didn't find out until I was in court that his name was Ryan Roberts.  He is a U. S. senator."

Allison arched her eyebrows.  The audacity of men of power to do whatever they want burned through her mind. She sat down, propping her elbows on the small desk in front of the glass. "So what happened the night of the party?"

"I just remember the grandeur of the mansion and more wealthy people than I'd ever seen in my life."

"How did you know of their wealth?"

"It wasn't hard to notice the Bentley's and Rolls Royce's in the driveway.   Ashton Martin's got parked right next to other cars. You could not miss the clothes and jewels that they wore. These were high rollers." She leaned back in the chair and sighed. Her eyes drifted into blankness as if she were seeing them at the mansion. "I immediately noticed it was a black-tie event. I was the only one dressed in red. I didn't understand why he bought the red dress - then."

Allison shook her head.  She continued to take notes and was uploading the information to Gray Enterprises, live.  She didn't trust anyone in this system and was taking no chances with the information that she was gathering. "And now?"

"He used the dress to mark me – the bastard." Jennifer paused for a few minutes, obviously feeling pain from the shift in her once-normal life. "We had a great time. I had a few drinks, no more than 3.  I've always been a moderate drinker. Three drinks would not get me drunk."

"So what happened next?"

"Ethan invited me upstairs to a private bedroom.  He took my dress off.  I thought it was odd that he hung it in the seating area of the suite and not the bedroom." At that point, Jennifer cried.  The memory that surfaced in her mind haunted her every day of her life. "He wanted that young man to be able to find me, that's why he left the dress in the seating area." 

Allison touched the glass as if she could reach through it and comfort Jennifer. It stung her heart when Jennifer responded by touching the glass, too.  Allison's eyes began to sting.  She was a woman and understood the fear women have when their biological clocks tick.  Allison knew that her own clock would tick soon. She had nothing but compassion for Jennifer. "I know this is difficult, but please continue."

"I had another drink with him and that's the last thing that I remembered. He drugged me, Allison. When I woke up, there was a young man in bed with me, snoring."

"You were both nude?"

"Yes.  I screamed and leaped out of the bed.  The man wouldn't budge.  They drugged him, too.  I ran from the room and grabbed my clothes, slinging them on as I went from the room.  The house was empty. I called for Ethan, but he was gone."

"What do you mean, empty?"

"There wasn't a trace that there had been a party.  The rooms were immaculate. I realized it was all a setup." She took another long pause and choked out the rest of her nightmare. Her chest heaved as terrible thoughts danced through her head. "I didn't know where I was so I punched in my cell phone, locations near me.  I found out that I was thirty minutes from the closest city. I got an Uber to pick me up, and I had to buy a plane ticket back to Georgia."

"That's incredible. And that was the last time that you'd seen Ethan?"

She pounded her fist on the desk beyond the glass window.  Her face contorted with hate and bitterness.  "I still can't believe this happened to me.  I just can't believe it!" she said, striking the desk again. "Yes!"

"Then the charges were pressed?"

Jennifer laughed, reeking with scorn.   "Oh – yes.  A week later I got a call from the court system in Pennsylvania saying that they had a warrant out for my arrest.  Parent's filed charges alleging involvement with a minor.  The young man in the bed was seventeen years old. He must have been told to take a lot of selfies, before he passed out – which, by the way, got posted online, and went viral."

Needless to say, within months, Jennifer was fully in the court system, on trial.  Senator Roberts stepped up and said that the child was his.  There was a scandal from him cheating on his wife that was suppressed.  He filed for full custody of the child and got him.  Jennifer got sentenced to seven years in jail. There were five more interviews on the video.  All with similar stories and even more horrific endings.

***

The soft-touch of Roman's hand on her shoulder brought instant calm.  He slipped down beside her, removing the remote from her hand. "No more of this."  He leaned over, kissing her cheek.

"Why Roman – why did he do this?"

His heart nearly broke seeing the distraught look on her face.  Rings formed under her eyes from lack of sleep and frown lines popped from her forehead. I wish that I could trade places with you.  " He's crazy, Zara. I deal with crazy people every day."

"I wish you had told me about what you do."

"Why - to have you worried? I would have taken that to my grave to keep you at peace."  Roman rubbed the knots out of her shoulder, and then pulled her on top of his lap.  "People like power.  They don't care if it's a good use of power or bad use of power." 

"Ethan wants pleasure from my pain."

He nodded. From now on he decided to be straight with Zara concerning Ethan, not holding back to spare her feelings.  Life or death circumstances surrounded them.  He wanted all of them to come out of the situation alive.  So that would mean straight talk, even if it hurt.  "And he saw was your desperation to have a child." God, I will have you pregnant as soon as possible. I don't care how many doctors we have to see. "How do you feel about Ethan right now?"

"I want to kick his ass.  I want to gouge his eyes out."

"Me too, Zara. I want to kill him."

Zara felt shock hit her spine.  It slithered down, turning her blood cold. There was an entire side of Roman that she knew nothing about. As close as they'd been forever, it was hard to imagine that he was able to compartmentalize his life. This 'bad-ass,' had been totally undetectable. Yet, she knew him better than anyone.  Nerves fired across her skin in tiny pinpricks. She knew that she shouldn't ask the question on the edge of her tongue, but it spilled out. Her voice was as fleeting as mist in the morning. "Would you kill him, Roe?"