WALKING INTO THE CONFERENCE ROOM, I stopped and looked at the three men sitting around the table. I had asked for an update on how things were going for the trial. Clearing my throat, I glanced over to Mr. Walker, Dodge’s father, and smiled.
All three men stood as Mr. Walker motioned for me to sit down. “Wow, I’m going to guess y’all have bad news and Aaron was too afraid to tell me.”
All three laughed. “No, nothing like that Sierra. Aaron is running late from an earlier meeting. He asked us to be present during this meeting. Mrs. Jackson, this is Kyle Lenard and Bill Scott. They are both private investigators.”
“Got it,” I said with a smile as I looked at the private investigators. What in the hell is going on?
The door opened and I jumped when Dodge spoke. “Good afternoon, gentlemen, Sierra.”
Looking up at Dodge, I smiled. I hadn’t seen him in two weeks. I avoided Dodge because I was eaten alive with guilt by sending him a damn puppy to ruin a date. When I found out his big hot date was with his sister, I felt terrible.
Pulling my eyes off of Dodge, I caught his father watching me. Smiling the sweetest smile I could, I glanced down at my hands and slowly took in a deep breath.
“Aaron, I’m going to guess you have a good reason to call us all together?” Mr. Walker said.
Grinning, Dodge sat down. “I do. I’ve been looking into who might have broken into Mrs. Jackson’s house. My first guess was Lisa Blank, Dr. Jackson’s current girlfriend. After some . . . um . . . investigation, I was ready to rule Ms. Blank out; now, I’m not so sure.”
Mr. Walker leaned forward, “What do you mean? Are you thinking she was the one who planted the rose?”
Nodding his head, Dodge said, “Yes, I think she played a part in it. I have a theory. I think Robert was banking on us trying to go after him as the one who broke into the house. If we went after him, he was sure to have an alibi to say he was somewhere during the time you were in the tub.” Looking at his father, Dodge nodded his head as his father responded with a nod of his own.
Clearing my throat, I spoke. “Wait, I’m confused.”
Dodge looked at me. “He was trying to set you up, Sierra. Make it look like you were planting things against him to make him look bad.”
Sucking in a breath of air, I whispered, “That bastard.”
“Where does Ms. Blank come in to all of this?” Kyle asked.
Dodge leaned back in chair. “I think she paid the maid to plant the rose.”
Bill nodded his head. “I’ll do some looking around.”
Kyle nodded his head. “I’ve been keeping an eye on Ms. Blank like you asked. I haven’t seen anything out of the ordinary.”
Dodge nodded his head. “We need to find out who has been following Sierra.”
Looking between the four men, I shook my head. “Wait. What makes you think he is still having me followed? I haven’t heard from him at all in a few weeks.”
Dodge’s face fell for a brief second. Sadness filled his eyes.
Glancing over to his father quickly and then back to me, Dodge moved about in his seat before looking back at me. Something moved across his face, but it was gone as quickly as it came. “He has photos of you with a Dr. Elliot Emmerson together before you were legally separated. Since you appear to have started up your relationship again with Dr. Emmerson, your husband is now saying you were having two affairs while you were together.”
My mouth dropped open and my head began to spin. I wasn’t sure what I was more shocked by. The fact that Dodge just said I was having an affair or that Robert was pulling this card.
Standing up, I felt my entire body start shaking. “Are you accusing me of having an affair? I never cheated on my husband. Ever!”
Dodge reached into a folder and pulled out a handful of photos. Placing my hand on my stomach, I felt sick. I’d been out with Elliot three times in the last two weeks. I wasn’t even sure why; I didn’t like him, but it meant I wasn’t sitting at home alone. “Dr. Jackson is trying to offer a settlement. His lawyer sent these photos over yesterday afternoon,” Dodge said as he slid the pictures across the table.
Grabbing them, I sucked in a breath as I flipped through the pictures. One was of Elliot and me leaving the restaurant on our first date. The second one was of us jogging on the Town Lake trail. The next one made me feel sick. Leaning against my door at home, it looked like Elliot was about to kiss me. Finally I came across the one that Robert was trying to use to say I was cheating during the marriage. It was a picture of Elliot holding me in his arms as I was laughing. I knew exactly when and where that picture was taken.
