Original Sin, page 11
part #3 of Joanna Mitchell Series
“Shut up,” she snapped. Renée flinched at the knife making contact with her skin. She started rubbing her wrists, and struggled to her feet. Joanna feared that she might fall if they tried to go down the same half-finished concrete stairs. “Stay where you are for a second,” she whispered to her. She kept the gun on Grant, not wanting to let on that she wasn’t entirely sure what to do next. With her other hand, she took out her cell phone and called Rue.
“Joanna!” Rue had picked up right away, and she sounded worried. “Where are you?”
“Listen. You all have to leave. Lawrence gave away Mary’s location. You need to go right now!”
“Okay. I’ll call you back.”
Grant was still highly amused, his stance much to relaxed for someone in his situation.
“Get down, or I swear I’ll shoot you!”
He shook his head, but complied after she fired a shot inches from his feet. Renée yelped.
Joanna saw the terror in her eyes a second before a hand wrapped itself around her ankle and pulled hard, making her stumble.
* * * *
“This is getting old,” Vanessa grumbled when they climbed into the back of the car. The blonde woman was coming with them, and she was on the phone with someone, updating them on the situation.
Rue could feel a numbness starting to creep up on her. She was terrified, but she couldn’t afford to feel all of it at this moment, the weight of the revelations, and the possibilities bearing down again.
If she allowed herself to consider them, she’d have to confront the fear that she might not see Joanna again. Rue wasn’t sure if she could survive the fear another time.
* * * *
She tried to brace her fall and kicked behind her, with moderate success. There was no time. Grant would try to run, or go for the gun, and she couldn’t let that happen…Another kick, and the man howled as she made contact with the gunshot wound. She got free, stumbling to her feet, realizing that Grant was trying to make a run for it.
“Stop!” she yelled. “You called me a killer, Grant. You know I won’t hesitate.”
“I will pretend I didn’t hear that. Mr. Grant, you’re under arrest…”
Joanna lowered the weapon to the ground, blocking out the rest of what Theo was saying to him. She went over to Renée who was still cowering in the corner and helped her up, drawing her into a hug when she realized Renée had trouble standing upright. Or maybe it was herself, it was hard to tell.
Renée started to sob, and it wasn’t until then that the full impact of what happened caught up with Joanna.
She flinched at the touch to her shoulder.
“Joanna,” Theo said. She turned around, still keeping her grip on Renée. “I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah, me too. Grant said something about his boys waiting downstairs…”
Theo made a dismissive gesture. “A couple of his minions.”
“You heard from Vanessa?”
“Yes. They’re okay. We arrested the guy who was on the way to the safe house. ”
Her own eyes were welling up too. Joanna cleared her throat.
“I guess you’re going to need my statement. She should go to the hospital.”
“I agree. And we’ll take you too.”
Joanna was about to protest, but when she reached up to wipe her face, she noticed the red smear on her hand.
“So you got my message.”
“Yes, I did.” Theo waited until a couple of paramedics had arrived and started to tend to Renée.
He laid an arm around her shoulders. “Let’s get you out of here.”
* * * *
Cleaned and patched up, Joanna sat on the edge of the examination table when the curtain was drawn back, and a moment later, Rue held her tightly.
“I am so sorry,” she said. Joanna’s stomach lurched, but then she saw Vanessa waving from a distance. Mary was with her.
“You’re all right. That’s all I need to know.” She sensed Rue’s hesitation, but Joanna wasn’t sure how to ease her mind. She should react somehow. Cry? She couldn’t bring herself to do that, not yet. Regrets? For sure, because Lawrence had managed to manipulate her one last time. If her involvement did anything to save Renée Madison, she didn’t regret it. Unlike what she’d been accused of, Joanna didn’t discriminate because of political beliefs.
Rue sat back, taking both of her hands.
“I know this has been a lot,” she said. “But we need to talk.”
“You don’t have to worry. This will be cleared up easily. I sent a message to Theo from the car, but Lawrence…I didn’t know all of it. I had no idea he saw all of this as a challenge. He knew they had her.”
“He knew a lot more than that,” Rue said somberly. “But Mary should be the one to tell you.”
Chapter Sixteen
When she was younger, Joanna had often dreamed about what it would be like to find her mother. In later years, suspicion and cynicism, toward her family and the world in general, had been seeping in.
The reality was like nothing she’d ever imagined. Mary had made mistakes. Lawrence had played people to what he perceived as his advantage to the very end.
“There’s a lot to think about now,” Mary reminded her gently as they sat in a quiet corner of the hotel bar. Joanna would have liked to retreat to the room with Rue, but they still needed to eat, and apparently, she still needed to have this conversation.
Might as well get it over with.
Pain medication and a couple of Martinis had mellowed her disbelief, anger, and grief for the moment. Rue had not argued, knowing what kind of revelations Mary had for her.
“I don’t know,” Joanna said. “We’ll go home tomorrow as planned. I might have to come back to testify against Grant, which I’ll gladly do, but that’s it. Dad wrote me out of the will a long time ago, so I don’t expect any surprises there.”
Not that she’d ever been after his money. All Joanna had wanted was some basic human respect. She’d never gotten it from Lawrence Mitchell, and the only time he’d been fairly polite was when he needed something from her.
The story ended there.
She felt her throat tighten, but that might be more from the physical violence she’d endured rather than emotion.
“Lawrence wasn’t always like that. Money and power corrupted him.”
“He kept you in a prison without walls. With his money, Grant, and everyone he paid off or did shady deals with…” Joanna shook her head. “No. I can’t ever make excuses for men like this, not even my own father.”
Mary didn’t try to argue.
“You’re free now. What are you going to do?”
“I’m not sure. Jeff, Terry, Lawrence, they’re all gone.” Mary’s eyes glistened with tears. “I guess I have to sit down with my band, see where we go from here. I actually have to start making decisions for myself.”
Or maybe it was emotion seeping into her tone, into her mind, for all the time lost, for something that could never be returned.
“Mom. You didn’t deserve any of this.”
“I wanted this other life. With you, and Ethan.”
“I know. I think…I remember him a little. I am so sorry.”
“Thank you.” Mary took a tissue out of her purse and washed her face.
They couldn’t turn back time, but they could acknowledge what was real. Joanna could live with that.
“I would have come with you if I’d had a choice. But there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you for a while.”
“Ask away,” Mary said. “I can’t think of any more secrets I need to keep.”
“It’s not a secret, but…Would you like to come to our wedding?”
Mary enveloped her in a hug tight enough to remind her of every bruise she’d gotten today. Joanna didn’t care.
* * * *
The day they’d been dreaming about had arrived, and it came with a number of realizations.
Joanna had once intended to make a difference in the world. Had she? If she’d learned anything in the past years, it was that dreams and motivations could change. She wouldn’t feel remorse over ending a killer’s life, but her regrets would always be for the pain she’d caused others in the wake of her ambitions, or the lives that didn’t change as profoundly as she’d hoped.
She had never even dreamed about a wedding, and a white dress, but Mary had arrived early to go shopping with her.
With Rue by her side, her wife—and more friends to celebrate with than she’d ever imagined—Joanna felt truly happy. She wasn’t sure if it was something she’d ever had experienced, or taken the time to do so.
Zach and Dr. Sherman were present, reminding her that she, too, had unfinished business, issues to tackle. But she and Rue were home, and safe.
Mary was no longer living under Lawrence’s thumb. Kira was the surprise guest.
It was likely Vanessa had something to do with it.
There was someone Joanna didn’t expect. She all but jumped to her feet when Renée Madison came up behind her.
“Ms. Madison,” she said. “I have many questions. How are you? And what are you doing here?”
Given the fact that they’d escaped a life-threatening situation together, she held back a sarcastic remark about how surprising it really was to see Renée on a day two women said yes to each other.
“I won’t bother you for long,” Renée said, her tone impassive, not giving Joanna any clue. “You know that Lawrence wrote you out of the will.”
“Yes, I do. You came all the way to tell me this on my wedding day?”
“He left a lot of money to conservative organizations. Some that I agree with, some that are out of bounds.”
“I still don’t see the surprise.”
“He left the lion share, and his business, to me.”
Joanna could feel her jaw drop. Had he loved someone after all?
Renée shook her head. “I don’t need the money, at least not that much, and I already have a job I like doing. It’s because of you that I’m not dead and instead able to keep doing that job, so I figured I owed you. I’m going to take my share and run. After everything Lawrence has done, I think you and Mary should be the ones to get most out of it, and decide what to do with the business.”
Joanna was still speechless, so Rue, who had joined them, spoke.
“This is very generous. Do we have to worry about a catch?”
“I’m sure you’re aware what it’s like to be scared to death,” Renée told her. “It puts a lot of things into perspective, doesn’t it?” She produced a folder she laid on the table. “Have those look over by your lawyer and sign it as soon as possible. I’ll be here for a few days. God knows I deserve a vacation.”
“Thank you,” Joanna finally said, still dumbfounded. Renée got up and left, and Rue sat in her place.
“Wow. Are you going to be CEO?”
“No way in hell. I’ll talk to Mary, and we’ll figure out how to sell. My share anyway, she’s free to do whatever with hers.”
Vanessa came over to them, a glass of champagne in hand. “Happy Wedding Day,” she said.
“Thank you. And thank you for everything you’ve done for us. We’ll never be able to repay you.”
“No need, I was happy to do it. There’s something I wanted to talk to you about. Alexandra and Tamara send their best wishes.” She didn’t give Joanna and Rue any time to process. “I hear you got a generous gift,” Vanessa continued. “I have an idea what you could do with all that money.”
Rue and Joanna shared a look. They hadn’t figured out yet why Vanessa had been able to intervene in Mary’s story, or why she’d managed to help Joanna and Rue start their life on the island. Everything regarding her actions had been vague and mysterious, and probably they didn’t want to dig too deeply for the fear it could all fall apart.
There was no reason to be afraid any longer. Vanessa obviously had ways to help women in desperate situations, with her friend who had arranged for them to leave the country, the security staff guarding Mary in the safe house.
“Yeah, it’s not like we have all that money yet. How come you know about this anyway?”
Vanessa smiled as if she thought Joanna could answer that question all by herself.
“Someday we need to have a good long talk about what you’ve been doing since you left IA.”
“So you’d be ready to invest in a worthy cause?” Vanessa ventured.
“If it’s about freeing women from the influence of people like Lawrence, there’s poetic justice in it. I’d like to hear more about it.”
Perhaps, more than one dream of hers would come true, now that she and Rue were finally home.
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Suspense/Thrillers
Joanna Mitchell thrillers:
1. Killer Instinct
2. Exit Strategy
3. Original Sin
The Carpenter/Harding thrillers:
1. Indiscretions
2. Insinuations
3. Incisions
4. Intrusions
5. Initiations
6. Intentions
7. Infatuations
8. Impressions
9. Implications
10. Infractions
+ Introductions (the Carpenter/Harding prequel)
Jayce & Emma (romantic suspense, series complete)
1. Halfway Home
2. Familiar Places
3. New Rooms
4. Close Quarters
5. Honeymoon Suite
The Amnesia Project
Amber Alert
Secrets
Paranormal/Suspense
Rise
Romance
Bells Will Be Ringing (A Sweet Lesbian Christmas Romance)
The Interpretation of Love and the Truth
The Design of Everything Perfect
Open Spaces
Callie & Rebecca (series complete):
1. Autumn Leaves
2. Winter Storm
3. Spring Fever
4. Summer Wine
Utopian/Dystopian
The Exodus Strategy
Cypher
Barbara Winkes, Original Sin
