“The crime unit is still here, but the real estate agent was taken away in the back of a police car three minutes ago. The detective is knocking on the neighbors’ doors asking questions.”
Jason paused and shook his head, then sighed heavily as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Thank you, Mrs. Hastings, I’ll check in with my co-counsel here, and if you see that detective, tell him I’ll be calling him within the hour.” They hung up, and Jason went into the room.
“What’s wrong?” Ilsa demanded as soon as he turned to face them after shutting the door behind him.
“There’s a mess at home,” he said. “The call was from my housekeeper. She used to come in daily, when I lived there, but since being in Colorado, and now here in California, she goes in once a week. While there this morning, someone from my sort of past broke in.”
“What do you mean, sort of past?” Kevin asked in confusion.
Jason told him and Lyle about his former girlfriend and what she tried to do by claiming his home was hers, and she involved her boyfriend, the man she was cheating on Jason with, and a real estate agent in her scheme to take Jason’s home from him.
“Let me get this straight,” Kevin said with a frown. “This real estate agent broke into your home, and was taking measurements? For what?”
“According to Mrs. Hastings, this woman had Amber’s permission to be there so they could sell the home. However, I’m confused about one thing, and I’ll have to discuss it with the detective when I call him.”
“What is it?” Ilsa asked gently.
“The real estate agent lost her license for what she tried to pull with Amber. Amber and the man she was with ended up going to jail for three years. This was fourteen months ago. I’ll have the detective look into whether they got out on good behavior.” Everyone froze as Jason’s phone rang, he looked at the number, answered without saying a word, then hung up. He sighed heavily.
“The jury is back.”
“Holy shit,” everyone else in the room said, and stared at one another. It took roughly two minutes for them to gather themselves and go out the door. An hour later, they stood in the parking lot looking shell shocked.
“Does the judge always issue the sentencing the day the verdict is read?” Kevin asked.
“Sometimes, if they feel it’s the right thing to do. I’m glad he did, this means this case is closed.” Jason turned to Ilsa and grinned. “Guilty on all counts, life in prison. This makes the mess I have to go back to not so bad.”
“You’re going back to Washington?”
“I am. I need to settle this mess once and for all.” He paused and stepped forward and took her hands in his. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back, however, I won’t be returning to California.”
“Where will you go?”
“Fool’s Gold, Colorado. I like the idea of Erin wanting to hire me so I can represent her when her trouble goes to trial. After winning this case, I have the evidence and statements that Larry Mason and George Grayson were involved in the sale of the guns that Royal used in trying to take Erin out. It will only be a matterof time to connect the dots with the people in Wyoming that took out the life insurance policy on Naomi.”
“Wow, you didn’t forget about that?”
“Not at all, I just didn’t say anything because I wanted to get this case finished first. I plan on going back to DC, deal with this shit, find this real estate agent’s arch nemesis, and give her the commission to sell my townhouse.” He grinned and the others laughed. “However, I need to go back to your house to pack. If everything works out, I can catch a flight out later this afternoon.”
Lyle went to his car, Kevin, Jason, and Ilsa went to Kevin’s, and he drove them back to Ilsa’s place. As he went to his room and packed, he sent a text to Ilsa to have her meet him in his room. When she arrived, he only pointed to the bed to have her sit. He made sure the door was closed, then got down on his knees before her.
“I have one question to ask before I go any further.”
“What’s that?”
“Do you like me? I don’t mean to sound like a middle schooler here, but I really, really like you, Ilsa. I was wondering if you were going to move back to Colorado permanently. I want to see if we can start a relationship. I’ve gotten to know you pretty well, I think, and I was going to ask you if you wanted to start a sexual relationship after this trial, but I have to go home. When I’m there, I’m going to clean up any loose ends I have there, with my townhouse, my banking, my job. I plan on moving permanently to Colorado, and was wondering if you were going to also.”
“Yes,” Ilsa said, then laughed at his expression of confusion. She reached up and placed a hand on the side of his jaw. “Yes, I like you. Like really, really, really like you. Yes, I’m planning on moving back to Colorado to be Erin’s lawyer, or one of them, alongside you. Plus, my daughter lives there. Yes, I want to havea sexual relationship with you. You proved your worth to me when you didn’t pressure me back in Colorado when we both knew we had the means and opportunity to take this to the next level. You respected my boundaries, and the fact that I was newly divorced. Yes to everything.”
Jason grinned as he reached in and wrapped his arms around her, then they ended up on the bed together locked in a passionate kiss for several long moments. He lifted his head, and placed his forehead on hers. “I will return, but I don’t know how long it will take.”
“That’s fine, while you’re back in DC, I’m going to call Katherine to see if she wants anything from this house, double check with Erin that I can move onto the ranch, and see what I might need to take with me. It’s going to take me at least a month to do all that, then I’ll have to talk to Lyle about quitting my job permanently. I was only gone from the office with a leave of absence.”
“I understand, and I look forward to seeing you again real soon.” They kissed again and finally broke apart. When they went back downstairs, Kevin handed Jason a small sheet of paper.
“What’s this?”
“Your flight information. You should arrive at Dulles in DC around midnight tonight.”
