Forever After (Unrestrained 5)

Even Drake was happy to watch the news, eating up every tidbit of information we learned. We plopped down on the sofa side by side, a whole mountain load of stress slowly falling off each of our shoulders.

Chapter 23 : Drake

The next week was a blur for both Kate and me, as we sat entranced and watched the developments in the Richardson case. Kate sat beside me, both of us glued to the television set while waiting for updates from Lara. She had her connections in the legal world and so did Ethan, so we got a few tidbits of information that were not generally known to the public.

Apparently, Jones didn’t like me, had seen me at a few dungeon parties, and was jealous of Lisa’s obsession with me. I examined images of him in the newspaper closely, but for the life of me, I couldn't remember him. I was only vaguely aware of male submissives, and never took note of them other than to acknowledge one of Lara’s latest partners.

Jones had never been one of Lara’s subs so I didn’t recognize him, despite the fact he was quite distinctive, with his Mohawk hairdo and tattooed neck and shoulder. The tabloids went crazy posting images of him found on his website, showing his leathered-up tattooed body in various submissive poses. One was of him licking the boot of his Domme, while another was of him in chains, a mask and ball-gag in his mouth.

“I’ve never seen him before,” I said to Kate as we read the Saturday paper together.

“He’s a big guy,” Kate said and shook her head. “He’d be hard to miss.”

“Not my area of expertise,” I said and turned the channel to see what the other local station was covering. “I haven’t seen anyone mention that I’m no longer a suspect.”

Kate sighed beside me and squeezed my hand. “My mother always said no news is good news,” she said and met my eyes, hers filled with sympathy. “If they had decided to arrest you, you can bet it would be all over the news with gaudy headlines. But the fact that you’re not a suspect? Not a mention.”

I exhaled heavily. “How am I going to get my reputation back? I wonder if I should call Lara and see if she could release a statement about it so the news shows would actually say it out loud.”

Kate shook her head. “I think you should stay under the radar for as long as possible. This will all blow over once the trial finishes. After that, some other criminal or freak will take center stage in the news, and people won’t even remember Doctor Dominant.”

“I hope so,” I said and sat back, considering how long it might take to get back to the old normal, if that was even possible.

As to Jones, he was only too happy to deny that I was in any way involved with Lisa and recounted how angry Lisa was with every rebuff I made. Despite how he felt about me, it turned out Jones was the one sending the emails to Lisa, posing as Dr. D. It was all part of an elaborate fantasy that Lisa concocted involving me as her Dom. Lisa was undeterred and imagined that if Kate was out of the way, she could fulfill a need that Kate was no longer filling for me – be a true submissive in other words – and that I would become her Master.

She was confused, obsessed, and she manipulate

d poor Jones, who apparently wanted to be Lisa’s footstool as well as her bum boy. He’d gotten in over his head with Lisa, letting her call the shots, and went along with her harebrained plot to kill Richardson and use his income so they could afford to live the luxurious life that she felt she was entitled.

How she could keep it all up – the residency, the kidnapping of Derek, and the attempted seduction of me – was surprising.

She almost did get away with it, but she didn’t realize that Derek’s staff would check the cabin once a month. Not being used to having properties and staff, Lisa wouldn’t know about those routine duties. Unfortunately, none of Derek’s staff were concerned when he told them he went away to Malaysia after he sold the mansion. They were used to his freewheeling ways and wrote it off to his massive wealth.

Lisa impulsively attacking Kate, and doing so after renting a car in her own name, was proof that she wasn’t thinking straight and that her hatred of Kate was so strong that she would risk it.

The next day while I was sitting in my office going over some financial reports from the foundation, I received a nice telephone call from Detective McDonald. I smiled when I saw the caller ID.

"Detective McDonald," I said, jubilant. "Just the man I wanted to hear from."

"I guess you've been watching the news and already know about the arrest of our suspect in the Richardson murder case."

"I have. I also spoke with my lawyer and she let me know a few details."

"Yes, Mr. Jones came clean as soon as he realized we had more than enough incriminating evidence about his involvement in the murder and his connection to the email account. He admitted that he and Dr. Monroe were carrying on an email exchange, with him pretending to be you. According to Mr. Jones, he thought it was just role playing, but he now suspects that Lisa was setting all of you up and that she was planning on killing Kate."

I shook my head and sighed. "Honestly, I hardly knew her back when we first met. We never spoke privately and I didn't remember her. It must have really bothered her that she was forgettable to me."

If I hoped to have an apology for the way the police detectives treated me during the case, I was mistaken.

"I want to thank you for cooperating with us during the investigation into your wife's attack. You were remarkably cool under pressure. I guess a neurosurgeon has to be, given your line of work."

"We do," I said with a chuckle, guessing that was as much of an apology as he could give. “Oh, I wanted to ask. My wife and I are planning a trip to Africa in the summer. Do you see any reason why we can’t go ahead and book flights?”

“The case isn’t ready to go to trial so it won’t be scheduled to start until the new year, based on how the lawyers are proceeding. You’re free to go, but it would be a courtesy to let us know how we can contact you, in case we need any further information.”

“Sounds good,” I said. “Thanks again, Detective. I hope your case against Lisa Monroe goes well and that we don’t have to meet again under anything but personal and friendly circumstances.”

“Me, too, Dr. Morgan. Me, too.”