Chapter 30 #2
Heart racing, I glanced around the room to make sure there was no immediate threat, then looked at the TV screen and did a double take at the sight of Mitch’s picture on the evening news.
It was a mug shot – and not a flattering one. He looked as if he’d aged twenty years, with dark circles and bags under his eyes, unkempt hair sprinkled with more gray than I had, and a scruffy beard.
I’d missed the first several seconds of the broadcast, but got there in time to hear, “Baylor, forty-three, of Indianapolis, was arrested Friday afternoon on eleven counts of mortgage fraud resulting from the nearly two-month long investigation,” the news anchor reported.
“Prosecutors allege that the suspect ran a Ponzi scheme in which investors were told they were partnering with him to buy, renovate, and sell area homes for a profit, only for Baylor to pocket the money without purchasing the homes. The alleged victims, many of whom are elderly, were reportedly never paid back. The family of one of those alleged victims eventually contacted the authorities, which triggered the investigation. We’ve been told that Baylor will face additional related charges, including wire fraud and forgery, although those were not included in the initial arrest warrant. ”
I blindly reached for Melanie’s hand, my own shaking as I stared in disbelief at the TV.
The newscast cut away to a video of the county prosecutor holding a press conference this morning.
“The investigation into Mitchell Baylor’s alleged activities was accelerated on Friday morning when we received information that he had purchased an airline ticket to the Maldives, which currently has no extradition treaty with the US.
The ticket was a one-way flight, scheduled to leave Friday evening.
After receiving that information, we felt strongly that Mr. Baylor had learned of the investigation and was possibly attempting to flee the country.
Therefore, he was taken into custody earlier than planned, and at the time of his arrest, was found to be carrying a substantial amount of cash.
The current charges are based on the evidence obtained during the initial phase of the investigation.
However, we do anticipate filing further charges in the coming weeks. ”
Mitch’s mugshot was replaced with a photo of a house fire, as the reporter switched to the next story. “A two-alarm fire at a residence in…”
The buzzing in my ears drowned out the television, and I turned to stare at Melanie in shock, only to find her in a similar state.
I lowered myself to the couch, tugging Mel down with me. I worked my jaw, trying to unclench it enough to be able to speak.
“What the fuck?”
It wasn’t eloquent, but it summed up my thoughts exactly.
What. The. Fuck.
“Holy shit,” Melanie breathed shakily. She gripped my hand harder, and I took a good look at her. Her eyes were wide, and her face was pale as she continued to stare sightlessly at the television.
“That day, when he came here and demanded money…that’s why,” I said, swallowing hard. “Right before you kicked him in the balls, he was saying something like ‘if you hadn’t yanked the purse strings closed last year, then I wouldn’t’...and that’s when you nailed him.”
My eyes slammed shut and bile rose in my throat as the truth hit me. “He was going to steal from us, too. When he asked me to invest last year, he was going to steal from me.”
I spent the next few days in a dark spiral of hurt, anger, and shock. As more details came out that week, his demand for money that day made sense. The son of one of the investors had confronted Mitch, demanding his father’s money back or he would go the police.
Mitch had been desperate to come up with the money to pay the man back to prevent that from happening.
After his blackmail scheme with me failed, he’d sold his Corvette but since he owed quite a bit on it, was only able to make a partial payment to his victim.
The man’s son agreed to wait for the rest of the money, then contacted the police anyway.
Unbeknownst to Mitch, they opened an investigation and he scrambled to find the money elsewhere.
That included trying to swindle another couple, who were actually undercover officers.
He met with them the day before he was arrested and must have sensed that something was off because he bought the plane ticket late that night, using his employer’s company credit card.
He’d also taken a sizeable cash advance on the card.
That little stunt resulted in a charge of grand theft and credit card fraud being added to the stack of other financial misdeeds, and Mitch was facing some serious time behind bars.
Sessions with Kim helped me work through my feelings of betrayal, which obliterated any fond memories that may have lingered of Mitch through the years.
It also tarnished any memories of Grady and my dad which included Mitch, and that was the part that truly hurt.
Kim and Melanie, and even Tanner and Garrett, helped me pick through my recollections, sorting out and preserving the parts that Mitch didn’t touch.
“You should have let me punch him again that day,” I muttered after watching yet another news update on his case a week later.
It was Friday evening, and we’d just finished dinner when I turned on the TV so we could watch a movie and snuggle.
The local evening news had caught my attention as soon as I turned it on.
“I only stopped you because I figured that asshole would call the cops and have you arrested for assault. Your hand was bruised and swollen for a week the first time, so I knew there would have been no way to hide the evidence if you did it again. I didn’t think he’d want to admit to the cops that I’d taken him down, and I knew I wouldn’t have any bruising or injuries to give myself away.
Besides, it was fun to see him writhing on the floor like a dying worm. ”
“I’ve always said you’re smart as well as beautiful.” I laughed then, for the first time in days. “I guess Mitch was right about one thing…he warned me you were a ball-buster.”
Melanie picked up one of the throw pillows on the couch and smacked me on the arm with it. I grabbed her around the waist and pulled her down on top of me, then rolled us both so that she was trapped between me and the couch cushion as she laughingly struggled to get away.
I hiked one of her legs over my hip and held it in place, palming her jean-clad ass as I leaned down to kiss her, just as the front door opened.
“Oh, shit.”
Melanie and I both froze, then I slowly lifted my head to see our sons standing in the open doorway. Tanner had his hand up over his face to shield his eyes, and Garrett gaped at us before whirling around and giving us his back.
“Uh, do you two wanna stop whatever you’re doing before you scar us for life?”
Melanie stifled a giggle at Tanner’s aggrieved tone as Garrett added, “Yeah, we’re glad you’re back together and all, but you really need to learn to lock the door before you do that. I still have nightmares from walking in on you in the kitchen when we came home last month.”
I sat up and pulled Melanie up to sit next to me. She ran a hand over hair to smooth it, as I assured our sons that it was safe to come in.
Tanner peeked through his fingers as if not quite believing me, before dropping his hand and shaking his head at us as if we were naughty children.
Garrett sighed in relief at the sight of us fully dressed this time, since Melanie had just whipped my shirt off when they’d caught us the last time.
It could have been worse than just a passionate kiss, and if they’d shown up a minute later, it would have been.
It wasn’t the first time they’d walked in on us over the years – the most memorable being a few months after we’d gotten married, when they’d caught us “wrestling” in bed early one morning.
Melanie had been under me, but my bare ass had been on full display, but thankfully they had believed my explanation, and had been too young to remember that occasion.
Either that, or they’d both blocked it from their memory banks in an effort to protect their fragile minds from the horror, I wasn’t sure which and I wasn’t about to ask.