No Place Like Home Ch 11

1

Rose sat at her desk and stared at the calendar. With less than a week before Christmas she wondered when she’d find time to do her shopping. Morning sickness and fatigue seemed to make even the most enjoyable tasks arduous and her favorite time of year stressful. The phone rang and Rose let the answering machine pick up. Det. Thalu’s voice was on the other end informing her that Shandrea was in the State’s custody and on her way to the Shawnee County Correctional Facility. Rose grabbed for the phone, but the detective had already hung up. Rose called her best friend’s cell phone and started giving her the exciting news. 2

“They’ve caught the woman who kidnapped Sara!” Rose squealed. She heard Cassie start sobbing on the other end. 3

“That is such a relief.” Cassie said between sniffles. 4

They talked like best friends again for almost an hour and Rose felt that she’d been forgiven. Even Jeff seemed grateful for the news and Rose could hear the children in the background feeding off their parents excitement. After she got off the phone with Cassie, Gilbert burst into her office and gave her a big hug, Charlie close behind. Feeling that her day could not get any better, Rose invited them both out for lunch.5

Her happiness was short lived however when they entered the restaurant and the smell of food made her so sick she had to run to the bathroom. 6

“D-did you ever make a D-doctors appointment?” Charlie asked.7

Rose nodded.8

“What did you find out?”9

Rose debated her answer, but decided there was no time like the present. “I’m pregnant.” She replied and then waited anxiously for his response.Charlie started to say something but words wouldn’t come. Rose saw him struggling and tried to calm him down.10

“It’s alright. I’ve sort of gotten used to the idea. David doesn‘t know yet and I‘m not sure how to tell him. He‘s never had children and he may not want them for all I know. That‘s actually what I‘m hoping, because I don‘t have the time or money for a custody battle.”11

“I w-will take care of you.” Charlie said, looking rather pale. “If you n-need anything, j-just ask.”12

The next couple weeks went by quickly. Christmas morning Rose invited Charlie over to her new place. All of her stuff had been moved in but the house still seemed empty. Rose was starting to show, so she covered herself with a large sweater, hoping to avoid being chastised by her mother for gaining weight. Charlie showed up with Gilbert and several house warming gifts and her parents arrived a few minutes later with even more gifts, mostly things for her new place. They spent the day eating and unwrapping presents. Her mother, Kate had seemed to take a particular liking to Gilbert and her father and Charlie watched football all afternoon. Left to herself, Rose had time to relax, so she decided to do a little interior decorating. She was in her room hanging curtains when a sharp pain cut through her abdomen. 13

Laying down on the bed, she tried to stay calm, focusing on a pair of cardinals fervently pecking at each other on the other side of her naked window. Her feet felt cold and she curled up into a ball unsure of what was happening to her. The cramps eventually subsided, but as she was getting out of bed, another wave of sharp pain swept through her, hurting so bad she screamed and fell banging her head on the nightstand. Everyone rushed into her room and saw her laying on the floor.14

Rose awoke to the beeping sound of a heart monitor and room full chrome and white linen. Worried faces surrounded her bed and she could hear the sound of her mother sobbing.15

“What’s going on?” Rose asked.16

The somber faces told her that she'd gotten more than a bump on her head.17

“You lost the baby.” her father replied softly.18

“You should have told us you were pregnant.” her mother interjected. “I could have helped you more. But, instead you just had to move furniture and run around like a teenager....”19

“Kate.” her father warned “That’s enough.”20

Her mother began crying again and Gilbert rushed over to hug her. Charlie just sat next to Rose, holding her hand. Several minutes later the doctor came in began pushing on her stomach. He explained to her that she’d had a miscarriage and asked if she wanted them to run test to determine the cause. She agreed, and filled out the consent forms and checked herself out of the hospital.21

As they were all walking out to the car a Salvation Army volunteer cheerfully rang her bell and wished them a Merry Christmas.22

“Merry Christmas.” Rose replied, sarcastically, closing her eyes and letting the snow cool her burning cheeks. Charlie put his arm around her and they all went home.23

“The Shawnee County Correctional Facility has a collect call from Shandrea do you accept the charge?” 24

“Yes” David replied, feigning affection. “How are you sweetheart? Are they treating you well?”25

“I’m fine. I just want to get out of here. They have to evaluate me before I'm allowed to take any medication and I’m not allowed to smoke. My lawyer is not paying any attention to me and I have to share my cell with a crazy woman who keeps counting the tiles on the floor. They‘ve set my bail hearing for the 15^th of January and the trial for February 21^st. 26

“I’ll see what I can do about getting you a better lawyer. They’ve got you under some pretty hefty charges and I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re denied bail. What on earth possessed you to kidnap a child!”27

“I didn’t kidnap that baby. She wanted to go with me…you don’t understand. She came up to me and gave me a hug. She wanted me to be her mother. I thought we could raise her together.”28

David knew Shandrea was crazy, but sometimes she really scared him. He politely ended their conversation and got to work on his plan to get Shandrea out of jail so that he would finally be able to get rid of her for good. He called a friend who owed him a favor, a lawyer by the name of Bill Hecht, from the law firm Reichert, Hecht and Fincher. He left a message and his call was promptly returned.29

“How’s my favorite shrink?” Bill asked.30

“I have a problem.” David responded. “Do you remember Shandrea Sandal?”31

“How could I forget her. She tried to take you to the cleaners during your divorce. She wanted the house didn’t she, and two of the cars, plus alimony? I never understood why you finally gave her as much as you did, but that’s none of my business. I thought you had a restraining order against her.”32

“I did, but that’s a long story, too. Look, she’s in jail right now for kidnapping a child. Turn on the ten o’clock news and you’ll see her on every channel. What I need from you is to get her out of jail. If a judge allows her to post bail then I can take care of her for good.”33

“When you say ‘take care of her’ you don’t mean you want to tend to her needs, do you?”34

“Let’s just say I want to do her and the rest of the world a little favor.”35

“Why bother if she’s locked up. She can’t cause you any trouble behind bars. I guess I‘m not understanding the threat she poses. Does she know something about you that can damage your reputation?”36

“Something like that. I don’t have time to go into the details. I just want you to be her defense lawyer. I know you don’t like to take cases that might blemish the firm, but trust me, this is a slam dunk. We both know she’s crazy and that an insanity defense might actually get her acquitted. She was so medicated during our divorce I think that she still doesn’t realize that we ever got divorced. Go down to the jail and talk to her I’m sure she’ll be glad to see a familiar face, even if it is you.” David said, and they both laughed. 37

David did not want to risk Shandrea testifying for fear that she might ruin his career or worse. If she got up on the stand and told what she knew, he was running a risk of being exposed and maybe even arrested. In the past he had trusted her with many of his secrets and the ones he had not told her she had figured out on her own. Now that she was in prison, he knew that she would be dying for attention and closely monitored by others. A bad combination for him if he wanted to keep his reputation. For now all he could do was try desperately to keep her on his good side and hope that isolation didn’t lead to her running her mouth . He thought that if perhaps the judge allowed her to post bail he could pay it, leading her to believe that he still had feelings for her. In a sense, he could kill two birds with one stone.38

He looked around his office. Papers and were all over his desk and he could smell his own sweat. He slowly sipped his whiskey. The ice melting in his glass had left several wet rings on his solid cherry desk. Normally this would have greatly concerned him, but at the moment he didn’t seem to care. He had other things to worry about and he was feeling incredibly tired, so he placed the glass back down on the table and grabbed his keys. He couldn’t wait to get home and catch up on some sleep. He trusted Bill to do his job and felt relieved at having successfully completed the first part of his plan.39