THE BADASS BILLIONAIRE'S SURROGATE

CHAPTER 63

Evangeline kissed Jason goodbye and opened the car, intending to step out. She had made him drive them down to her office, promising a little something later. Their weekend wasn't about to end just yet. Before heading home, she pleaded with him to let them stop at LA. That way, she could check in on Audrey and do some office work.

Jason smiled at her obvious ploy to play him. "Two days?"

"Two days." She agreed

"I'll come for you." He said, "In the meantime, Sloane stays here with you."

"And who stays with you?" She asked, closing the door again. She turned to face him squarely, "You can't afford to stay unaccompanied, not now."

"I've called James. He'll be in here shortly. But while I wait for him, I've got a couple of things to do."

She squeezed her face, "I'm not sure that makes me comfortable or relieved."

He pecked her and smiled, "Relax. I can take care of myself."

She didn't doubt he couldn't. She smiled at him and got out, "Bye then." He waved and drove off. The walk to the office was spent greeting everyone.

"Hello." She said to the building cleaners, the one assigned to her office came over. She had always been particularly nice. Every time she cleaned her office, and she was around, she would stop at her desk and ask about her day. Sometimes, they chatted back and forth on petty issues. She was an older woman and always had something to talk about. The few times she could spare her a minute or so, Evan made it a point of duty to listen and talk with the moment. But when she was busy, she gave a few words and a nod while doing her job, and the women knew to just let her be and get on with their merry way.

"It's been a while since I saw you." She said, walking with her to her own office.

"Yes. I've been staying at home doing my job there."

"Okay." She looked her over and smiled

"What?" Evan asked her, partly sure it had everything to do with her body changing. She had caught the woman looking her over.

"You're glowing." She replied, "The boy treating you well?"

She laughed.

"And you look..." She paused, then said, "Fatter?"

Evan refused to say anything to that, just a smile cast to the other woman's side.

"I'll come check you up when I'm through down here." She told her and went the other way, with her mopping things. Evan found herself staring at the woman as she walked away. Just as she stood, Audrey, who was coming down to get something, sighted her and stooped to greet her. Retrieving her boss's bag, she said, "It's been a long time, boss."

Handing her the tote bag, she said, "Thank you." And responding to her comment about being a long time, "We spoke yesterday."

"I meant since you came here. It's been almost a month."

"It couldn't be helped." She responded. They walked into the office, and when she was settled in, Audrey left for her office. She thought about Jason and wondered if he was okay. We should call him, she said as she sat down. She was barely seated when her phone rang. "Hey, Jase. I was just about calling you."

"He,y you!" he replied, "You're settled in?"

Smiling, she told him she had.

"I just wanted to check on you and let you know James is here."

"Better." She replied.

"Talk to you later, babe."

"Bye." She responded.

With Jason safely in good company, she focused on seeing to her company's file. Calling her PA, she asked that the account and record files be brought to her. Audrey brought the files and left her to it. Evangeline scanned the files with a frown. She reviewed the business file and wasn't satisfied with what she found. Then she opened her account files. It was just a reflection of the business account. Audrey had notified her about the Sims withdrawing from their business deal, and she had instructed her to work with the business manager to resolve the issue. It doesn't look like both of them have been able to resolve it. She called both of them to her office and waited impatiently for them.

"Sit." she told the account manager, Mr. Toby. To Audrey, she pointed at the chair beside the man. "Please explain to me what's going on with the Sims." She said to them before staring at the file, "Whatever the issues are." She shrugged, "It doesn't look like they've been resolved."

"The manager insisted on getting a side cut that we couldn't give, considering their budget." Toby, "We had a sit-in with hi,m and it was terrible. He wasn't being reasonable."

Evangeline looked at her account manager weirdly, "When did we start giving cuts?"

Toby squinted uncomfortably in his chair. "He wanted a..."

"Bribe?" Evan turned to Audrey, "When did we start doing this?" She asked her. Audrey looked uncomfortable in her seat, too. She stared at both employees aghast. "Okay, so let me get this straight, he asked for a cut before you got the deal, and like frauds, you had a meeting to sort things out with him?" She stood up angrily, "What are we? Fraudsters? It's not even a political deal. Why would he ask for a cut?" She screamed at them. Realizing she was getting overly worked up, she turned to her PA again. "Why didn't you tell me this yesterday?"

"I did ma'am." She replied meekly, "I informed you the manager wanted his cut."

"I assumed that was the CEO."

"We didn't meet the CEO. The manager blocked us from submitting our quotes to her." Toby added.

"So, our quotes aren't even on..." remembering he had said 'her' rather than 'him' for the CEO, she paused, "Wait a minute, the CEO is a woman?"

"Yes. Mrs. Sullivan is the new CEO. Her father passed away and she's the only child. The new project is to commensurate with her position and show the partners she is up to the task."

Evangeline suddenly realized she's been far too far away from her business. Sitting down, she thought of how best to handle the situation. Her staff waited as she considered a plan. "I need to deal with the manager." She said, more to herself than the two seated in front of her desk. "Audrey?"

"Yes?"

"Do we have Mrs. Sullivan's contact?"

She nodded, "We do."

"Get her on the line, please."

Audrey quickly stood up to get the office's telephone. She checked the file and dialed Mrs. Sullivan's number. It rang a few times before she picked. "Good afternoon, ma'am," she said before passing the phone to her boss.

"Hello, Mrs. Sullivan. This is Evangeline Swiss." She listened to the other woman respond brightly. Unsure if she was going to be easy to talk with, she took her time listening more to her response and tone, "My condolences about your late father's demise. He was a good man." She signaled to Audrey to bring the company's laptop and open the file too. "Yes. I'm calling in respect of the proposal." She listened, "I just got to know you don't have mine yet. It's been submitted to your manager since..." She beckoned to Audrey, who stood and pointed at the date on the file: "Two weeks ago." She told her.

"I am sorry to disturb you over this on the phone. Can we bring another draft and maybe discuss in person?" When the woman agreed, her face brightened up. "Today would be great." She murmured to her PA. Audrey instantly got her notepad and scribbled what was being said. "Cartels, this evening, 5p.m." She repeated so her PA could get the information. "Thank you again ma'am." She smiled at something the woman said, "See you then."

She turned to her staff and informed them, "We have a meeting with her soon. You both are coming with." With a nod, she dismissed them.

CHAPTER 64

The court resumed the second phase of the trial, with the standby juror called to the stand by the state attorney. During the short recess, the two attorneys had been at loggerheads as to who should call the second juror. But it was all a ploy by Adriana; she wanted the state attorney to call the second juror. That way, when she cross-checks the juror, her testimony wouldn't look bought. After all, she wasn't the one to call her to the stand. Finally, having given the attorney a tough time, she agreed to let him have the stage.

"Stand-by juror 2. Can we have you on a seat, please?" He called happily. As she walked upstage, Adriana smiled. This should be a win. After the usual court routine had been done, the attorney began his questioning

"How well do you know the accused?" He asked to gauge their relationship and whether this juror could be allowed to be the best of the accused's character.

"We are next-door neighbors." She responded calmly.

"Do you think the accused got those bruises by harming herself?" He asked

The woman looked petrified by the question, "Why would she harm herself?"

"The same reason why she wanted to harm her husband." The attorney replied.

"No." She shook her head, "She couldn't have. Swollen mouth, broken arms. Swollen face. I don't think she could have done that to herself." The juror said. "I happen to know how often he hit her. We could always hear her scream every time. There was nothing we could do. The door was always locked."

"Did you at any time call the police?"

"We did, once. She didn't" she looked at the accused and shook her head pitifully, "She didn't like that. Warned us never to." Then added, "Said it was because she didn't want her husband going to jail"

Some were petrified and very annoyed. They couldn't resist passing sly comments. The accused looked at them all, sadly. It was like they didn't understand why she did all these things for her late husband. The man had been a troubled man all his life. The clerk called for the order.

"Did you talk to her about this unsafe behavior?"

"And by unsafe behavior, you mean how she lets herself be beaten?" The juror asked.

"Yes."

"That one time, she was annoyed I'd called the police on her husband. She warned me never to interfere in her family's business. Her excuse was not even plausible. It was absurd. She claimed her husband was a troubled man and we should let him act out." She threw her hands in the air, at a loss for words to describe the situation.

"Finally!" The accused sighed, and everyone looked at her. She smiled at them all. Everyone, including Adriana, looked shocked.

The juror shook her head, staring at the woman, she made her point loud and clear "Looks to me like she was the troubled one." It was a great punch to Adriana's build-up points. She slides down further in her chair.

The state attorney smiled at that. The juror had nailed it. Now, he had to ride on that confession. "Has she ever put anyone in danger or even herself?"

The juror sighed, recollecting an incident. "A while back, I came home to find her in another nasty fight with her husband."

"Before you proceed, I'd like to know. These fights with her husband, have they ever landed her in the hospital?" He asked. Knowing what the answer would be.

"No." the juror responded

"Not once?"

"No."

The attorney looked at the jury and commented, "Not once did she land in the hospital." Adriana sat up straight. Okay, that was wrong, mister. She smiled at herself. There's still hope... "Please go on with this incident you were describing."

"After their fight, he left the house. Some minutes later, she paused, unsure how long it took to get out, "I stepped out to get some things. She was outside with a knife."

"Who?"

The juror pointed at her. "She was with a knife, cutting through her own hand. It was a deep cut with blood everywhere. She just went. I screamed. And people started coming in. We rushed her to the hospital."

"I take it that was the one time she was rushed to the hospital after their fight?"

"Yes."

"And she inflicted that wound."

"Yes"

"The night of the incident, was there any fight?"

"Yes."

"Did you hear her scream?"

"No. It was awfully silent until the next morning, when we found her crying beside her dead husband."

"Members of the jury." He bowed slightly, "This woman had a fight with her husband and stabbed him severely with a knife." He flicked the remote, and vivid images of the crime scene were shown; the dead man and the stab wounds were on the screen for everyone to see. Some of the jury looked away. "They had a fight, and she stabbed him multiple times. And while she could have saved the man had she called for help, she waited until it was too late. He could have lived, but she wanted him dead, so she stayed till the next morning before asking for help. But then, he was already dead." He turned to the jury again, "I hope you're taking notes of all these." He turned to the judge, "That would be all, my Lord." He turned off the images and walked proudly to his seat. Adriana scoffed.

"Any cross-examination from the accused's attorney?" Asked the judge, who adjusted himself properly on his seat.

Adriana stepped forward. "Ma'am, the other time, you said that each time they fought, the door was always locked. Did I get that fact right?"

"Yes. The door was always locked." She confirmed.

"Who do you think locks the door?"

"Her late husband, I suppose."

"Objection, my Lord," the state attorney stood up immediately, "Couldn't it have been the accused who locks the door, considering her willingness to self-inflict injury?"

"Sustained." The judge approved, "Juror. You may answer that."

"I think it's her husband." She quickly corrected herself, "Late husband."

"Why are you insisting he's the one?" Adriana asked, hoping her response would ruin everything.

"I saw him more than once. In fact, I got to dread seeing him near the door because I knew what that meant." She looked at the accused pitifully again.

"Doesn't that sound premeditate to you?" She turned to the judge, then the juror. "The man locks the door while pounding his wife till she lays weak and helpless to the point where she sees nothing wrong in slicing her hands."

She moved towards the audience, "That looks like a premeditated crime with no remorse and it kept happening over and over again. The jury, my lord, this woman right here has suffered enough. It is wrong to keep her suffering by punishing her for a crime committed out of self-defense." Taking the remote, she flicked the picture back to the horrible wounds on the late man's body. "Members of the jury, please take a good look at these wounds." She zoomed in, "I know they look offensive, but please, just take a look because of a life that's at stake due to these." She cajoled. All the jury looked at the obscene sight.

"These are wounds inflicted by a kitchen knife. They are not deep cuts. Given the circumstances, the accused ran into the kitchen to defend herself. The multiple stabs were to get him off her back. And like anyone, seeing such a sight made her lose it. She didn't deliberately leave him unattended till morning. She tried to resuscitate him before passing away." She moved the pictures to where the wound looked like someone had draped clothes cover it to stop the bleeding, "She fainted while tending the wounds" Adriana said in a whisper, "She did her best to revive the same man who had molested her over and over and over again." She flicked the projection off and faced the jury, "The jury, please take these into consideration while you make your rulings." As she walked to her seat. Adriana waited with everyone for the jury to reveal its verdict.

The voting started immediately. The jury wrote their verdict and threw it into the box one after the other. This way, no one knows what the other wrote, and everyone is safe. Once done, the clerk goes to the box and brings out the papers.

"Guilty." She read. "Not guilty." She reads the next one. "Not guilty." She read again. As she read, Adriana, the other attorney, and the judge, along with others, counted. The jury had ruled in favor of the accused. Adriana tried to curtail her joy.

"The jury finds you not guilty." The judge announced, "You are hereby discharged and acquitted."

"Court." The clerk called, everyone stood, and the judge walked out. Adriana shook hands with the attorney and went to congratulate her client. "You're free to go home now." She said.

The woman looked at her and started weeping. It wasn't strange to see clients cry over their victory. At least that was what Adriana had thought until the woman said, "There's no home with Ben." And then she knew, her client might really be the one who's troubled after all!

Tired and in need of a quick shower, Adriana went through the back door as she usually does when avoiding the press. And the press this time was loud. Everyone was interested in the outcome, given the peculiarity of the case. It was twisted when the supposed victim turned out to be the accused. Everyone had concluded it was a murder case, that the woman's delay in calling the police or 911 was so her husband could be dead before help came. Nobody had cared to know what had happened between the hours she didn't call and daybreak. All everyone wanted to know was why she didn't call.

Peeping to be sure no one was there, she stepped down and started to walk to her car. Before she could open the door, a car drove roughly and stopped right in her front. In a quick flash, someone got out, pulled a black hood over her head, and bundled her into the car. She couldn't even scream. Everything had happened in a flash. But as her captors drove away, Adriana smiled inwardly. It wouldn't take long before her family discovered her missing.

CHAPTER 65

Never in her thirty-something years could she imagine she'd one day be kidnapped. She had handled so many kidnapping cases, had seen firsthand how nasty things could go. She had seen cases where kidnappers request a ransom and still murder their victim. Adriana had seen it all: the drama, the ordeal, the trauma inflicted on both victims of the kidnapping and their families. But she had never once thought she could one day be in such a situation.

As the car drove, she tried to follow the turning taken. The rights and lefts that would be taken before the final destination. That way, escaping would be a lot easier. She wondered if they were going outside Miami. The driver took another left, bringing the total to three. They were still in Miami, but towards the remote side. Suddenly, the man sitting beside her started to complain to the driver to drive faster and change the route. Focusing on their discussion became more important than she lost track of the turns the driver had taken. The conversation ended without her picking any word and she couldn't point exactly where they were anymore. Lost on both counts, she did what she could do, wait and hope help comes.

Finally, the car stopped. Adriana heard the driver get out while the man who had been sitting with her grumbled as he stepped out of the car. He left her sitting in the car and walked away. It was because the man driving had told him not to take her. The driver himself got down and came towards her. He grabbed her, and took her hand gently while walking her inside. Every time she stumbled, he calmly helped her up. She didn't understand why he was gentle. Somehow, too, he stayed aloof, avoiding any form of physical contact with her skin.

He was not hostile like his partner. They were both criminals of course. But he was the better one. With her brain quickly picking up an escape route, she figured he could be her pass if she played the game well. She let him take her in willingly, hoping he'd see her cooperating and they could talk, somehow. Once inside, the man let her in and closed the door. Adriana found herself all alone in the room where she was locked. Though she couldn't see anything, she could sense it. With her hands, she patted the walls down and finally settled on the floor.

Once seated, she thought about her twins, "What time is it now?" She whispered. 'They should be back from school." The sad part was that, because she had a hearing today, she had told her mother to pick them up. Of course, if she hadn't, their teachers would have called her family when she's running late. And it would have triggered an immediate search party. Now, her absence wouldn't be felt since she had asked someone else to pick them up.

Sadly, she leaned on the wall, imagining life for her kids without her. Hopefully, it wouldn't get to that, she thought. The door opened and she tensed when someone dragged in a chair. Adriana could sense this wasn't the driver. It was the man who sat with her all through the ride down here. This man wasn't as nice as that driver. He was hostile and easily angered. Maybe she could use that to her advantage. What do I know? She asked herself. There are two men involved... She knew two men had abducted her. If she was to leave, she had two men to tackle. If only she could fight them

She waited patiently for the man to say something, anything. He said nothing. Instead, he sat down, staring at her, she supposes. Doing what? She couldn't figure out what he was trying to do by that. She waited too. Eventually, she asked, "What exactly do you want from me?" That sounded funny to the man, who laughed and laughed and wouldn't stop. When he did stop, he stood up and she cringed back.

"I think the better question is, what will I do for you?"

********

"Welcome." Mrs. Sullivan greeted Evangeline and her team as they walked in. "Please sit." She said. She had come to the meeting with her manager, PA, and another staff. It was a circular setting. They were seated in a semi-circle. Evan and team occupied the remaining half of the circle.

After Evangeline's call, Mrs. Sullivan summoned her staff to ask what had happened with the proposals. She was aware that five companies had submitted their quotes for the deal. But only three made it to her table. When Evan reached out, she had been forced to check up on the last bidder, who couldn't be reached. Her teammates stared at her, unable to say anything. The manager eyed his team suspiciously but said nothing.

Needless to say, she knew something was wrong somewhere. A full blown investigation would hold, but with Evan meeting her shortly, she waited to hear from this client first. She smiled at the young woman as she sat down sweetly. Mrs. Sullivan sensed she was pregnant but made no mention of it. As a mother herself, she couldn't help but admire the lady's smartness, given her condition. She signaled to a waiter and ordered for the newcomers.

"Your order, please."

Evangeline was surprised that the woman was a young lady like herself, almost like her age mate. She quietly gauges her while pretending to run through their proposal with her team. She asked Audrey if the manager was the man seated beside the CEO or her husband. When she confirmed it was the manager, Evan knew that it was it. She could deal with him by simply reporting him to his boss.

When asked about her order, she asked for water and something to snack on. Audrey and Toby gave their orders and they waited patiently for it.

Once served, Mrs. Sullivan asked, "Shall we begin?"

"Yes, please." Evan replied. She dropped her water glass and put her two hands on the table. Her eyes shone brightly with the intent of dealing with the manager. And what better way to do that than to have him be handled by his boss? Men like him deserve no high posts. They were the ones making the world unbearable for the less privileged. "The proposal should have been tabled for you, but your manager here kept sending my team back." She looked at the manager who shifted uncomfortably on his seat.

Mrs. Sullivan turned to him "I asked about this, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did.... But, I..."

Forcing a smile, she looked away from the manager and faced Swiss, "I'm sorry about this. I'll see what went wrong. Can we go through it now?

"Yes. Thank you." Evangeline replied. She knew the woman would handle her manager well. With a satisfied smile, she went on to present her proposal. The woman kept nodding as she explained what she hoped would be the best presentation out of all the proposals. The project was an idea she had once wanted to try out herself. Getting paid for it was all she needed to push things through. She had taken her time planning everything, and if all goes well, the deal should be hers.

This was the reason she had been following up on the project. Actually, fifteen companies had put in for the job. When she made it to the first five, it was a relief that the idea was worth running with. Hearing nothing afterwards had been disturbing. And she had been mounting pressure on her PA, unaware that the manager was holding back her quotes.

Done with her presentation, she leaned back in her chair and took a sip of water.

"I'll go through this again and get back to you, if that's okay." Said Mrs. Sullivan, "I must add, though, I'm impressed."

"Thank you." Evan replied sweetly, happy she had made a good impression. Hopefully, the impression would land her the job.

"Your face also looks familiar." She paused, "Are you related to the Swiss law firm, Miami?"

Nodding proudly, she replied, "Yes." If there was ever a time she felt proud of her family. This was it.

"I see now." She smiled, "Your father, Robert." She smiled at Evan, "I take it he's your dad?" She nodded and Mrs. Sullivan continued, "He's our family lawyer. At least my late father. He's helped me handle some cases, twice or so. My dad recommended him." She eyed Evan suspiciously, "He's a good man."

"That's good to know."

"Well, I'll go through and get back ASAP."

Evan thanked her and added, "Its okay."

Both women shook hands and Mrs. Sullivan stood to leave, so did the manager and the two others. Evangeline stood too and walked them out. Once gone, she beckons to Audrey, and they leave too.