Stanton Box Set

“Stop it! Stop it!” Bridget screams. “You will kill him.” She pushes the policeman in the back.

“No, no,” Victoria, Tash’s mum, yells as she runs down the stairs in her pyjamas. “Bridget, stop it,” she yells.

Next thing I know I am in handcuffs being dragged into the back of the paddy wagon to the sounds of screaming.

Electricity is running through my body like fire… burning me from within.

The door slams with a thud… and I am alone in the darkness.

Chapter 22

Adrian

I am just drifting off into sleep when my phone rings. “Hmm, go away,” I murmur into my pillow. I’m frigging exhausted.

“Hello,” I answer groggily.

“Get over here!” Cameron yells.

I sit up instantly. “What’s happened?” I stammer. “What’s he done?”

“Joshua got arrested for Natasha’s murder,” he yells.

With my heartbeat racing through my chest I feel relief at that news—it could be worse. I’m half scared he’s got something else in mind. Then the knowledge sinks in. “What?” I frown. “Joshua,” I repeat.

“Who is our fucking lawyer?” Cameron screams.

Oh shit, I jump out of bed while rubbing my eyes. What now? “Um.” I shake my head as I try to remember his name. “I’m on my way.”

I hang up and get dressed as quickly as I can and call the lawyer. Luckily he has seen the news and is on his way to the police station now. How much more shit can we take? Half an hour later I arrive at Joshua’s house and walk into the lounge room to find Bridget distraught and the mothers crying as they watch the news on the television.

Now on breaking news, Joshua Stanton billionaire software developer has been arrested and charged with the murder of his wife Natasha Stanton. Natasha went missing from their luxury yacht 26 days ago in what can only be described as bizarre circumstances. Many are likening this to the Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood case thirty years ago. In explosive allegations a love triangle had emerged between Natasha, her husband and Natasha’s bodyguard only hours before her death. Police are yet to disclose the evidence they have found.

“Turn that shit off,” Cameron snaps. I look around the room full of people, but there’s no sign of Ben.

“Where’s Ben?” I ask Bridget.

She shrugs. “I don’t know.”

I walk through the house in search of him. He’s taking this hard and blaming himself for Natasha’s death. It’s not his fault; it’s nobody’s fault. I walk up the hall and the only light on in the corridor is coming from Joshua’s garage. With a heavy heart I open the door and between the two cars I see Ben, his back to me and his head down.

“Ben,” I call as I walk toward him.

He drops his head and doesn’t answer me.

I walk around to face him and he has tears streaming down his face.

Empathy fills me. “Ben,” I whisper.

He shakes his head, unable to speak.

I grab him in an embrace. “Ben, it’s ok. This is not your fault.”

“It is,” he grinds out.

I pull back to look at his face. “Ben, pull your shit together. More than anytime in Joshua’s life he needs you now to be strong and lead his security team.”

He screws his face up as he tries to hold in the tears. “I don’t know what to do,” he whispers.