One Christmas Wish by Brenda Jackson
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
SIERRAHADBUTTERFLIESflying around in her stomach as she was escorted to the judge’s chambers. Even though Marvin had told her that Judge Hargrove was fair, she knew everything that was at stake and she of all people knew how manipulating Nathan could be. It was nothing but a game to him.
She appreciated Velvet for keeping Teryn until she returned. Her sister and parents had given her pep talks and it felt good that she had their support. Dani felt she had blown the issue with Vaughn all out of proportion and thought she’d lost the best thing to ever happen to her. Dani believed any good man would want to come to the aid of the woman he cared about, and she’d seen that Sunday morning at breakfast, clear as day, that he cared about her.
As far as Sierra was concerned, if he cared so much then he would have honored her wishes and let her handle her business. His lack of confidence in her abilities was unacceptable. For the past few days she’d tried not to think about Dani’s words or to think of Vaughn, period. That had been hard. What he’d done had hurt. It had shown that he couldn’t be trusted to keep his word.
Yet knowing what he’d done had not stopped her from thinking about him whenever she closed her eyes or cried herself to sleep. She should not have fallen in love with him, but she had, and now another man had let her down, had tried stripping away her independence.
When she reached the door, the court assistant opened it for her. The room was empty and the man said, “The judge will be here in a few minutes.”
She nodded and entered the room and was about to take a seat at the huge table when the door opened again. Instead of the judge it was Nathan. She immediately saw the coldness in his eyes and knew what Marvin had said was true. He was out for blood.
At that moment another door opened, and the judge dressed in his robe entered. Sierra gave a sigh of relief, glad she would not spend a single minute alone with Nathan.
“Good afternoon, Ms. Crane. Mr. Flowers. I’m Judge Hargrove,” he said, shaking each of their hands. “Let’s sit at the table here.”
When the three of them were seated, Judge Hargrove covered the reason they were there. “As you know, Ms. Crane, although your divorce from Mr. Flowers was pending, and had already been filed with the court, since it did not become effective until after the date of your adoption of Teryn Andrews, legally, Mr. Flowers is also an adoptive parent of the child. Unless you can show just cause why he could not effectively fulfill the role, the law will have to stand.”
Sierra saw the smirk on Nathan’s face. “But what about the activities he was involved in that led to our divorce?” she asked. “Doesn’t that say anything about his character? And what about the fact that he has not once seen Teryn since she was adopted? He’s called harassing me, but not once did he ask about her.”
“She’s lying,” Nathan said in a loud voice. “I wanted to see the child, but she wouldn’t let me. She even blocked my number, Judge. That’s why I feel the little girl should spend the holidays this year with me so she can get to know me, and I can get to know her.”
“No,” Sierra said, shaking her head. “He only wants her to get back at me for not remarrying him. He is not sincere in any of this. He never wanted children and had a vasectomy so he never would. Now he’s trying to make you believe he wants Teryn but all he will do is put her through mental abuse of the worst kind. He has nothing to lose. He doesn’t have a job. He is a broken man with only one thing on his mind and that is revenge.”
The judge didn’t say anything for a long minute, and a part of her felt he was probably seeing her as a raving madwoman. He then said, “I understand you are upset about all of this, Ms. Crane, but Mr. Flowers does have legal rights to the child as well. And since you did have the child with you last Christmas, for him to ask that the child spend this holiday with him is reasonable and only fair.”
Fair?Sierra felt defeated and fought back her tears, knowing she had lost. The judge was going to give Nathan what he wanted, and from the look of victory in Nathan’s eyes, he knew it as well.
“Therefore,” the judge was saying, looking at them both, “to be fair, I have no choice but to—”
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and an older woman walked in. “Excuse me, Your Honor, this came for you. I believe it’s an emergency.”
The woman handed the judge a slip of paper. He read it and then looked at them both. “I’m sorry but I need to step out,” he said. “This meeting is recessed for an hour.”
“An hour?” Nathan said, in an angry, impatient voice. “Can’t you go ahead and make a ruling so we can get out of here?”
The judge stared at Nathan. “Mr. Flowers, are you trying to tell me how to do my job?”
Sierra heard the curtness in the judge’s voice and figured Nathan heard it as well because he quickly said, “No, sir. I’m just anxious to fly to Louisiana and get the child today.”
She wondered if the judge noticed Nathan had yet to refer to Teryn by name during the entire meeting. “Mr. Flowers,” the judge said, “if I rule in your favor, I will give you the designated dates Teryn Andrews will be with you. Flying anywhere to get her today is a right that has not been granted to you. Ms. Crane will need time to prepare the child for your arrival and for the trip here to Chicago.”
The judge looked at his watch. “The two of you need to be back here in an hour. This unexpected emergency should be resolved by then.” The judge stood and left the room.
Sierra stood and looked at Nathan. “Please don’t do this.”
That cold, hard look reappeared in his eyes when he stood, leaned over the table, got right in her face and sneered, “You haven’t seen anything yet, bitch.”
SIERRAREFUSEDTOlet Nathan see her cry and quickly left the room. She kept walking until she came to the nearest restroom and then rushed into the first stall. Closing the door, she leaned against it.
Nathan was so full of hatred. Moving up in his career and becoming wealthy and wealthier was what had driven him, and now he believed Sierra had taken that away, and he would make her pay through Teryn. She could just imagine the mind games he would put her goddaughter through.
Then she thought of Vaughn. She had blamed him for everything when all he’d tried to do was help. Maybe she should have accepted his help, but it was too late now. She had failed and was all alone.
If she had to, she would take Teryn and run away. Leave the country. Change their identities. There was no way she would turn her over to Nathan, no matter what the judge ordered. She still had time. They had no idea how uncaring, cruel and selfish Nathan could be. Now, fueled by his desire for revenge against Sierra, he would destroy Teryn’s life.
Feeling overwhelmed and no longer able to hold back the tears, they came out with the sobs. She had only made a mess of things and it was all her fault. A knock on the stall made her jerk. Clearing her throat, she said, “Yes?”
“Are you alright?” a feminine voice asked, sounding concerned.
No, she wasn’t alright. After today, she would never be alright again. But to the stranger who’d been kind enough to inquire, she said, “Yes, I’ll be fine.”
She wasn’t sure how long she remained in that restroom stall, but when she finally checked the time, she saw it had been nearly an hour and it was time to go back. Leaving the stall, she dabbed cold water on her face and tried to redo her makeup. She stared at her reflection and saw that despite her efforts, the evidence that she’d been crying was still there. Her pain could not be hidden.
More than anything at that moment she wished Vaughn was there with her. To hold her like he’d done so many times, and to tell her everything would be okay. She had wanted to be strong but right now she felt so weak. She took out her phone and saw she’d missed calls from her parents and Dani. None from Vaughn.
Honestly, what had she expected? She was the one who had told him she never wanted to see him again and had insisted he not contact her. Not only was she losing Teryn, but she had lost Vaughn as well.
When she returned to the meeting room, Nathan was there and looked up when she walked in. A huge smile stretched his lips and he said, “You look like shit, Sierra. All those tears won’t help you now.”
Sierra wanted to turn right around and leave, but knew she had to stay and see this out, even though she had an awful feeling about how things would end. Nathan kept talking, saying mean, ugly and vulgar things to her in a low voice, but she tuned him out. She refused to be baited, although she was really tempted to reach out and slap him. She figured that’s what he wanted, so then he would claim she was unstable and possibly demand full custody of Teryn. She sat in her chair, refusing to give him any ammunition.
Nathan stopped talking when the judge walked in. He sat at the table and placed a familiar-looking packet in the middle of the table. Sierra stared hard and quickly recalled the dark gray packet looked very similar to the one Vaughn had tried giving to her. She drew in a deep breath knowing it was merely a coincidence—lots of packets looked like that.
“Sorry, I had to leave,” the judge was saying. “However, this packet was delivered to me with a request that I review it immediately as it could have some bearing on this case.”
Sierra heard what the judge was saying and the more she stared at the packet the more she believed it was the same one. The judge said it had been delivered to him. By whom?
She looked at Nathan and saw a confused look in his eyes. “What kind of bearing?” he asked.
“If you recall,” the judge said, looking at them both, “earlier I said, specifically to you, Ms. Crane, that unless you could show just cause why Mr. Flowers could not effectively fulfill his role as an adoptive parent, the law would have to stand.”
She nodded. “Yes, I recall you saying that.”
“Well, it seems, Mr. Flowers, that you were allegedly involved in illegal activities and still are.”
“That’s a lie!” Nathan stood abruptly, almost knocking over his chair. “I don’t know who delivered that crap to you, but it’s lies. It’s something she’s cooked up that’s not true. I want to know who gave you that,” he demanded, pointing at the packet.
“Sit down, Mr. Flowers, and I will tell you everything you need to know.”
Hearing the tone of authority in the judge’s voice, Nathan sat down. The judge pulled the contents out of the packet and said, “This was delivered to me by the FBI.”
“The FBI?” Nathan and Sierra said simultaneously.
“Yes.” The judge placed what looked like over a hundred sheets of paper on the table. “Mr. Flowers, are you familiar with the club Sherwood Forest that’s located on the outskirts of town?”
Sierra saw the confusion in Nathan’s eyes immediately replaced with wariness. “Yes, what about it?”
“Then you are aware of what kind of club it is.” It was a statement, not a question.
“Yes, I am aware,” Nathan said in a cool tone. “It’s a private club where members are free to enjoy themselves. It’s all perfectly legal and consensual,” he ended smugly.
“And do you admit you’re one of the owners of the club?”
Sierra frowned. This was news to her. It didn’t surprise her that Nathan would go to a club like that, but he was actually one of the owners?
When Nathan didn’t answer, the judge asked the question again. Then Nathan said, “Yes, I am one of the three owners, but like I said, everything that goes on in that club is legal. We don’t even have a liquor license.”
The judge nodded. “That may be so. However, it is alleged that some of your patrons have brought underage girls into your establishment. That is illegal, Mr. Flowers.”
“That’s a lie!” Nathan said, jumping out of his chair again.
“Evidently, the FBI has been investigating. It seems one of your partners,” he looked down at one of the papers, “a Wiley Tyndell, was aware of what was going on. Even if you were not aware, as an owner, you may be just as responsible as he is.”
“I didn’t know any of this,” Nathan said, sliding down into his chair. “I just became a partner last year.”
“You will have your chance to prove your innocence in a court of law. Your other two partners were arrested a short while ago, and the authorities are here for you.”
No sooner was that said than the door opened, and two guys dressed in dark suits entered along with a police officer.
“As for the custody case,” the judge said, “it is closed, pending the outcome of your trial. For the time being, you are not to contact Ms. Crane or Teryn Andrews.”
The judge nodded and the men in suits came to stand on either side of Nathan. One of the men flipped his badge and said, “I’m Agent Frigate from the Chicago Bureau of the FBI. Mr. Flowers, you are under arrest.”
Sierra watched, speechless, as Nathan stood and was read his Miranda rights. The coldness in his eyes had been replaced with sheer panic. Then the FBI agents and the policeman escorted him from the room.
“What will happen to him?” she asked the judge, not understanding why she even cared.
“He’ll have his day in court, and it will be up to a judge and jury to decide his fate. My ruling will probably keep him away from you and the child at least until a verdict is rendered.”
The judge stood and, after shuffling the papers and putting them back in the packet, he looked at her and said, “Good day, Ms. Crane, and Merry Christmas.”
When the judge headed for the door, Sierra called out to him. “Your Honor?”
He stopped and turned. “Yes?”
“How did you get that packet?”
The judge smiled—the first she’d seen from the man that day. “Like I said, it was delivered to me by the FBI.”
He opened the door to his chamber and left.