Chapter 6 - A Midnight Escape Foiled
By dusk, the Woodford County courthouse had processed the preliminary arraignment. Thanks to Frank Miller’s aggressive filings, Cole’s bail was set at two million dollars—cash only. With his personal accounts frozen under a federal sequestration order, Cole was remanded directly to the regional detention facility.
Jenna, however, had not been formally charged yet; federal prosecutors were still reviewing her degree of culpability in the paper trail. Released on her own recognizance under strict travel restrictions, she had returned to the farm under police supervision to collect her personal belongings.
Arthur stood on the second-floor balcony, watching through the shadows as Jenna packed the trunk of her leased Mercedes. She wasn't packing carefully. She was throwing designer handbags, expensive coats, and jewelry boxes into luggage with frantic, trembling hands.
Downstairs, Maggie watched her like a hawk from the kitchen window.
Jenna’s hands shook as she dragged a massive Louis Vuitton trunk down the exterior back staircase. She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a small black velvet pouch. She checked over both shoulders, slipped behind the rose trellises, and headed toward the old tack room adjacent to the guest house.
What Jenna didn't realize was that Arthur had already anticipated her final move.
As she pushed open the creaking wooden door of the tack room, a single overhead bulb flickered on.
Arthur was sitting on a wooden bench, holding a cup of steaming tea. Beside him sat Deputy Barnes.
Jenna stopped dead in her tracks, clutching the velvet pouch behind her back. ""Arthur... what are you doing here?""
""Looking for the Belmont pendant?"" Arthur asked gently.
Jenna swallowed hard. ""I... I don't know what you mean. I was just looking for my riding boots.""
""The Belmont pendant,"" Arthur continued, ignoring her lie. ""Solid platinum, centered with a four-carat emerald, presented to my grandfather in 1952. It went missing from the master safe three weeks ago. I filed an insurance inquiry, but the adjuster couldn't find any signs of forced entry.""
Arthur stood up and extended his open palm. ""Give it to me, Jenna.""
Her face twisted into a mask of pure desperation. ""It was a gift! You gave it to me for our first anniversary!""
""No,"" Arthur said firmly. ""I gave you a diamond necklace from Tiffany's. The Belmont pendant is a Whitmore family heirloom listed in the prenuptial agreement under non-transferable ancestral property. Taking it off this estate constitutes grand larceny.""
Deputy Barnes stepped forward. ""Ma'am, open your hand.""
Jenna looked at the deputy, then at Arthur. The fight drained out of her completely. Her fingers slowly uncurled, and the velvet pouch dropped heavily onto the workbench.
""You're cruel, Arthur,"" she spat, her voice shaking with venomous spite. ""You have tens of millions of dollars! You own square miles of Kentucky bluegrass! You could give me that pendant and never even notice it was gone! Why do you want to destroy me?""
""I don't want to destroy you, Jenna,"" Arthur said, picking up the pouch and slipping it into his pocket. ""You destroyed yourself the moment you decided that human beings are disposable commodities to be traded up when a better offer comes along.""
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""What am I supposed to do now?"" she cried, her composure shattering completely. ""My name is going to be in every paper in the state! My family won't speak to me! I have no money, no home, and nowhere to go!""
""You have your youth,"" Arthur said, quoting the exact words she had thrown at him twenty-four hours earlier. ""You told me I was too old for you, and that you needed someone who could keep up. Go find your future, Jenna. Just make sure you build it with your own hands this time.""
