Chapter 9
Amelia rose to take her empty glass to the sink, rinsed it, set it aside, and got them both a bottle of water from the refrigerator. She settled back in her chair, and studied him. When he remained silent, she asked quietly, “What happened?”
He scrubbed his face, and sighed heavily.
This time, he walked back around the island and sat in his chair to face her.
“As I said, the four of us blended perfectly, no fights, no animosity, no power struggles, nothing. Melissa worked part-time, and the money from her job was hers to do with as she wished. I paid all the household expenses, and whatever events the girls wanted to participate in. After Opal graduated from high school, she went to one of the local colleges. Don’t tell me how I knew, but she wasn’t happy.
I never kicked her out, but I asked if she wanted to live in the dorm to get the whole college experience. ”
“Did she live in the dorm?”
“Yes, however, she hadn’t picked any real major.
She went in under the general studies umbrella.
That’s how I knew she wasn’t happy, but I didn’t call her out on it.
Opal and I had such a relationship that I knew when she was ready to tell me, she would.
She lasted for two complete semesters, and she even made the Dean’s List each time. ”
“So, even though she was unhappy, she didn’t let it interfere with her studies?”
“Correct. Two weeks after coming home for the summer, she actually came to my office at the law firm to talk. She sat there and told me about her feelings, and what she really wanted to do.”
“What was that?”
“Join the military.” He shook his head and gave a soft chuckle.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I ever suspect that. Anyway, she had brochures, and information, and even had set up a meeting with the local Army recruiter to meet us in my office. The three of us sat and talked, and by the time he left, I had signed the papers for her to join. She would leave for boot camp in five weeks.”
“Didn’t Melissa have to sign anything?”
“No, because she never legally adopted Opal, and I know this sounds harsh, but she was only related as a step-mother, not through blood. The recruiter also explained that all Opal’s life ending paperwork had to have me as the beneficiary.
It sounds morbid and harsh, but that is the way of the military. ”
“Was Opal in the military when she was injured?”
“Sort of, but let me back up. Opal went to boot camp down in Georgia, and did all her schooling there as well. When she was assigned a permanent base, it was in North Carolina, about three hours from home. She was thriving, so were Amber and Melissa. I forgot why now, but I happened to come home during the day, for something, and answered the phone. It was a landline. It was a shock and eye opener.”
“What was?”
“The bank was calling saying that Opal could come and pick up her interest check. See, when Ciara and I married, we both took out life insurance policies. We named the other the beneficiary, but when she became pregnant, we changed them to having the child the beneficiary, with the surviving parent having control until they reached the age of eighteen. I took Ciara’s money, put it in some smart investments, and once the interest got to a certain point, I moved it to a different account, keeping the initial principle alone. ”
“Smart business. What was the call about?”
“First, I need to tell you that I forgot all about that account. It had been over twenty years. I had it set up with my financial planner that when the interest reached ten grand, then to move it, or if Opal needed anything, I would cash it out, and give her the money. That phone call said that Opal could come and pick up the check for ten grand. I immediately told them to put a hold on the account until I got back to them. I even put a password on the account. Again, I forgot why I was home in the middle of a work day, and started digging into my accounts. I later found out that Amber had found Opal’s driver’s license she’d left in her jewelry box when she went to boot camp, and used it.
They looked well enough alike that at a quick glance, no one would question it. ”
“Holy shit, identity theft?”
“Yes, anyway, I worked in the shadows. I already knew that my business accounts, and the accounts with the interest over the years were locked down tight. I hired a forensic accountant, and realized that Melissa had been systematically stealing from our joint account, and household account for years. It started about five years after we got married. Once I had all the proof, I hired one of the divorce attorneys in my firm, and started that.”
“Where were Opal and Amber all this time?”
“Opal was deployed overseas with her unit. She was told nine months to a year, but it ended up being eighteen months. Amber did what Amber did. She would never really give a direct answer except to say she was with her cousins. She had three female cousins the same age as her, and they were thick as thieves. I never thought anything of it, until it happened.” He shook his head, leaned back in his chair, and sighed.
“What happened?”
“I did not know this was going on right under my own nose, but Opal met someone while stationed at Fort Liberty in North Carolina. They dated, then he was deployed, and when he returned, they got engaged. She said yes, but then she was deployed. When she came back, they spent the weekend together, then she was going to come home for a couple of weeks. She had thirty days leave after being deployed for over a year and a half.”
“Oh, okay, she wanted alone time with her fiancé before coming home to your house. I can understand that. Is that not what happened?”
“Yes, Opal and Ron spent the weekend together. Ron liked to ride dune buggies down in Myrtle Beach, and they went there for the weekend. When I didn’t hear from her, I didn’t think anything of it, thinking they wanted more time together.
Then I got a knock on the door from the local police.
Opal and Ron had been in an accident, and I needed to get to the hospital.
That’s all they told me. When I arrived, oh, it was just me.
Melissa and Amber weren’t home, and I didn’t want to wait for them, so I just left.
It took almost a week to figure out what happened, and when I did, I went on a rampage.
Nothing to get myself arrested, what I did was one hundred percent legal.
” He jumped to his feet and walked around the island several times before leaning his hips against the counter again to stare at her.
“I’m going to give you the Cliff Notes version of what happened.”
“Okay. I’m listening.”
“When Opal was deployed, Amber and her three cousins, started sleeping with Ron. The weekend Opal returned, he had made plans with Amber to get together, but he blew her off to spend time with Opal. I later learned that Amber was dating Ron’s roommate and fellow Army buddy in order to be closer to, and keep tabs on Ron.
When he blew her off, she stole the roommate’s vehicle, and hunted Ron down.
We didn’t find out until later that she had put a location tracker on his phone.
This next part isn’t pretty, and again, I’m basing it off of what Opal said when she finally woke up, and the trial transcripts. ”
“Jesus, what happened?”
“Amber hunted them down, she had a gun, and started shooting them. I don’t know what order it happened, but these were the injuries.
Bullet through her left elbow, then her left bicep, along with two in her upper abdomen, lower chest area.
Ron had a bullet still lodged in his shoulder, and two in his brain.
Well, one in his brain, but two exit wounds.
There was an exit wound that most of his brain blew out of.
” He shook his head again, and scrubbed his face.
“Due to the nature of the bullet in her elbow, it shattered on impact, and there was no amount of surgery that would repair it. While I was on my way to her, they, the doctors, made the decision to amputate her arm above the elbow. Trust me,” he said as he saw her expression.
“I saw the x-rays, and if I would have been there, I would have signed the papers. With the bullets in her abdomen area, it was life and death. They took her arm in order to save her life.”
“I’m not doubting that, but how did they know who did it?”
“I forget his name, but Ron was supposed to report back to the base on Monday morning. That was when Opal was going to come home, when he went back to work. He didn’t show up, when he was declared AWOL, his roommate went to the base commander and talked to him about his suspicions about Amber.
This guy worked with both the military police and local police.
They found the stolen vehicle in a seedy part of town, abandoned.
It was wiped clean, except for the prints on the bullets found beneath the passenger seat, and the lever to pull the seat forward. ”
“Just the fingerprint? I’m sure that could be explained away if she had a good lawyer. Not that I’m making any excuses for her, but still.”
“You would be correct, if I had been her lawyer, I would have done the same thing, call it circumstantial. However, they were able to remove that lever, and both Opal and Ron’s blood was found in that print.”
“Shit, that can’t be explained away.”
“Correct, and a combination of their blood was on the empty shells found beneath the passenger seat. I went back to my office and told all my lawyers that if they had any contact with either Melissa or Amber in any form, I’m talking phone call, e-mail, fax, face-to-face, or text, they would be fired immediately, and I would blackball them with any other firm in the area. ”
Amelia felt her eyes grow wide, but she didn’t say anything, because she knew he had been angry at the time this all happened.