NOTE: This is part of a multi-chapter story of which there are forty chapters plus an epilogue. An uncompleted version of this story appeared here at Literotica a few years ago in case it looks familiar to you. The story has been revised and completed. Chapters 37 - 40 and the epilogue are all new material.
It was after midnight now and Richard was tired as he headed back toward Palmdale. Richard thought to himself that he should probably send Richie and his buddies a thank you card. He doubted he would ever have gotten as much information out of Deborah if they had not softened her up first.
Deborah had confirmed Richard's suspicions about Rebekah and that would prove invaluable in his plans for her father. Richard decided to go ahead and spend the night at his home in Palmdale. He was too tired to drive back over the hill and the weather had turned ugly. He had put his Palmdale house up for sale the previous week and was now living full-time back in their home in Encino. There was no need to maintain the house in the high desert now that Martin was in prison and Jane was no more than a memory to those who had known her here locally before her transformation into Jana.
The first part of Deirdre and Richard's plan was now complete. He had resigned from the church board right before he stopped by the real estate office and listed the house. Fortunately, the church was only too willing to accept his resignation, since they felt he had betrayed his responsibility to them by defending Martin.
The board had been baffled by his decision to act as Martin's attorney, although they had been pleased when he had convinced Jane to move out of the house and relinquish she and Martin's salary, without them having to suggest or pursue costly legal remedies. That Jane had volunteered to move out was certainly a testament to Richard's negotiating skills, or her shame, they thought.
Richard was glad to be severing his ties to the high desert. He had never really liked the area. The people were too backward assed, he thought. Way too much Jesus juice and not enough Chardonnay was how he liked to put it. The high desert had never been anything but flyover country to them, or drive through country, more precisely. It had always been a blur out the car window as they sped by on their way to Mammoth for skiing or to their summer getaway in Tahoe, Richard thought to himself.
He was in Palmdale now and only a mile from his soon to be former home. Richard was low on gas and decided to drive a few blocks out of his way to the gas station just off highway 14. It would still be open, and it would be a fitting coda to this part of his plan, he thought. After all, if they had not stopped there for gas on their way back from Tahoe a couple of years ago, they never would have found Martin.
Richard really did not believe in God, but he had to admit that there must be a higher power to have let them find Martin after all those years. They had long since given up hope that they or the police would ever find him. Had Danielle not awakened from her nap at that precise moment and looked out the window at the man filling his gas tank next to them, they may never have found him.
As Richard got out of his car to fill his tank now, the memory was vivid in his mind. How Danielle had reached over and grabbed his forearm so tightly, how she turned away so quickly, so that the man gassing next to them would not see her face. He also remembered how fortuitous it was that Martin was wearing his collar that day and driving the church van. It could not have been easier to track him after that, since the church name was on the side of the van, along with the address and phone number.
"Oh my God Richard, it's him, it's him," he could still hear her whispering in his ear urgently as she leaned forward grabbing his forearm even tighter. "He is the one Richard. He's the one."
Richard remembered how he knew exactly who Danielle was talking about. There was only one such man in their lives, the man who had left that huge hole, that unfillable, empty place in their lives. He was the man who had changed the course of their young lives forever ten years ago...and who was now their singular focus since that fortuitous day at this gas station almost two years ago.
They had spent those two years planning and plotting their revenge. It wouldn't be enough to merely kill him, they wanted to destroy him and torment him...just as he had destroyed the promising lives and futures they had hoped for and left them in torment and anguish so many years ago.
"You're out late counselor," said the voice that interrupted Richard's reverie. As he looked up Richard recognized Ted, one of the guards from the prison.
"Good evening. Just getting off work," Richard asked Ted.
"Yeah, I'm on my way home to the valley," said Ted.
"Long drive," said Richard making small talk.
"Not too bad, just over the hill in Sunland," replied Ted.
"Drive safe," said Richard. It's raining over on the other side."
"Thanks," said Ted as he turned toward his SUV and then turned around. "By the way, your client wants to talk to you. I think he was pissed off when he couldn't get through to you this afternoon."
"Thanks for the heads up," said Richard. "Did he say what he wanted to talk about?"
"He said his wife had called him this morning and it looked like she had got him all wound up. See ya!" said Ted as he closed to door and pulled away.
FUCK, thought Richard to himself. He knew it was not Jane...err, Jana. It had to be that bitch Deborah stirring the pot. He decided he had better go see Martin in the morning before he left the high desert. It was only 15 minutes away from the state prison to his home.
He needed to know what Deborah had said and keep Martin on an even keel, at least for now. Richard wanted the exclusive pleasure of pushing Martin's buttons, right up until he was able to finally push him over the edge.
-----
Richard was finishing his coffee as the phone rang. He hoped it was the prison phoning back.
"Good morning, this is Richard," he said as he answered the phone. Richard listened intently for a minute and then said, "Thanks very much. I appreciate your getting me in this morning. I'll be there at 9:30. Thanks again."
As he hung up the phone, he was happy that the prison was able to accommodate his request and allow him to meet with Martin after they were through with breakfast. Richard just had enough time to make a couple of other phone calls and then he would have to start for the prison.
Richard was starting to dial the private number that Villarreal had given him when the doorbell rang. Jesus, what now, though Richard as he headed to the door. When he opened the door there was an attractive young couple in their late twenties. They were both well dressed and well-groomed and the girl was a knockout. Richard realized he was mentally undressing her and caught himself, changing his focus to the young man and looking him in the eye and asked what he could do for them.
"We're house hunting and saw the sign, and were wondering if we could take a look," said the young man.
"Well, I'm just on the way out to a meeting and I don't have time right now. I'm sorry, but if you call the agent listed on the sign, I'm sure they will be happy to show you the house," said Richard.
"Thank you, sorry to disturb you," said the young lady smiling and looking at him with her bedroom eyes. She and her husband turned and started back down the driveway.
"Tell you what," said Richard reconsidering, "my meeting is only going to take about an hour. If you'd like to meet me back here at 11, I'd be happy to show you the house."
Richard recognized something in the young woman, something he had learned to have a second sense about over the last several years. Richard wanted to talk to her and her husband more and draw them (her) out. Maybe there was an opportunity here. At the very least, he might sell his house, he thought.
"Thank you, that is very gracious," said the young man. "We'll see you at 11 then.
"I'll look forward to seeing you," said the young woman, with her best come-hither smile.
