Sex, Lies, and Beauty Aides (25 page)

Travis sniffed and smirked.

“Shut it. Or I’ll do you both at once. I will not tell you again.” She shook her finger in Travis’ direction.

Travis’ jaw dropped, his hands covered his crotch as if castration were really that easily be done. Twice. For the first time in his life Travis caved to terror.

Knowing Kat it was not only possible, but probable.

“Kat, I’m sorry, you know that,” Trent pleaded.

“Trent, you need to calm down or you’ll never be able to convince the judge this is the mother of all mistakes”

* * * *

Sabrina wiped her eyes with shaky hands. Cold and afraid, she rubbed her wrists where the cuffs bit into her. The hollowness inside her refused to abate. She sniffed and whimpered, “Nothing will ever be the same. My life if over.”

Eight people faced the judge before her. Their charges and court dates were announced. Six returned to jail, two released on their own recognizance.

She didn’t like the odds. Fear steamrolled through her. What if she couldn’t reason with the judge?

She was the only person left to plead her case. At least she wouldn’t have an audience. She’d had enough humiliation to last a lifetime. At least she’d know the answer soon. She talked herself into believing positively. After all, wasn’t she the Pollyanna of the group? She had to believe things would be resolved. Think positively. She tried to find something to be positive about except everything hinged on the judge’s decision.

Travis. Travis had made her feel worse than she already did. Trent had played him well from the start. Damn him.

Now she knew what bothered him so much. Damn him for using her. Damn him for lying to her. And damn her most for understanding him and still loving him. Surely some part of her had to have known he was Trent. She wanted to be angry enough to kill him. She wanted to hate him. She didn’t.

The judge banged his gavel. “Remand. Next case.” He called the bailiff’s name.

The bailiff read the docket. “The city of Sacramento versus Sabrina Thompson, one count of solicitation.”

The guard took her by the arm and helped her rise. “You’re up next.”

They moved to stand before the judge. The door creaked. The last two times she’d heard that sound it was Travis then Trent, ruining her life.

Another uniformed guard entered the courtroom. “Excuse me, your Honor. I have a message for you.”

“Step forward.” The judge said.

He did and handed the judge a folded note.

The judge read the note, and banged his gavel. “There will be a ten minute recess.” He stood and disappeared into his chambers.

The bailiff stood next to her, looking straight ahead, stoic as a Buckingham Palace guard.

The judge returned. “Sabrina Thompson.”

She stood mentally prepared to plead her for her life.

“Case dismissed.” The judge banged his gavel and left the room.

That’s it? She let out a sob of relief when the bailiff removed her cuffs. “What do I do now?”

“Go home and stay away from that place. It’s always on the police radar.”

“Where can I pick up my purse and clothes?”

“You’ll have to go back to the jail with the rest and be formally released. Then you can sign your things out. At least the charges have been dropped. I hope you know how lucky you are. Judge Franklin’s known for his no tolerance views on prostitution. Whoever you have on your side, keep them there.”

“Thank you.”

Kat rushed in and hugged her. “Honey, I am so sorry. Really I am. I had no idea it would end like this.” Kat removed her jacket and put it around Sabrina’s shoulders. “Let’s get you out of here.”

“I have to go back to the jail and finalize paperwork.”

“I’ll meet you there,” Kat promised.

The ride back in the heavily barred bus gave her time to think. The knowledge she’d soon be free was by no means a comfort. She’d been to hell and back. Only when she had dressed in her street clothes and climbed in Kat’s car did she speak, “I can’t wait to burn these clothes.”

Kat said, “I bet.”

“Get me out of here.”

13

Back at the apartment, Sabrina took a long, hot shower. She’d need a month of scalding showers to get the jail stench out of her nostrils. By the time she got out her body was red as Mitzi’s scarlet lipstick. Yet the water hadn’t been hot enough to feel as if the shower had accomplished the job.

In the living room, Kat paced, gnawing on her thumbnail. She didn’t blame Kat. She didn’t even blame Trent or Travis. She blamed their parents.

Sabrina had been blessed with parents who always supported and never let their children question they were loved beyond measure even as they instilled a sense of right and wrong. The brothers hadn’t been as fortunate.

Oh, she was plenty mad at Trent. It didn’t matter though, since it was over between them. No use worrying about anything out of her control.

“Honey, are you okay?” Kat kept hugging her, and frankly, she needed her friend’s reassurance the ordeal was over.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Still a bit shaky, but I’m getting there.”

“Are you sure?” Kat squeezed her tightly then began pacing.

“Yeah,” she said. “Kat? How much did you know about this?”

Kat stopped pacing but didn’t face her.

Sabrina lifted Kat’s chin and forced Kat to look at her. “You knew. Unbelievable.” Sabrina stalked to the kitchen opening cupboards and slamming them as she went, with no idea what she was looking for, not that it mattered. She opened the fridge. The cool air hit her in the face, and instantly a calm reserve washed over her. She stared at the contents unable to focus on anything except the past several weeks.

“It’s not what you think.”

“You figured it out that first night. That’s why you yelled at Travis on the dance floor. If you knew it, why didn’t you tell me?”

Kat leaned against the back of the couch, staring down.

“How could you do that to me? You knew how I felt about Trent.”

“I did it for Travis. There’s more going on than you know. I only got the whole story earlier tonight, before we heard you were arrested. That’s where I was. Trent and I were having dinner. He explained everything. No one knew Travis was back in town yet. He showed up unannounced at Trent’s, picked up his cell phone and everything fell apart from there.”

“No shit. I was there, remember?” She even wanted to be mad at Kat, but what good would it do?

“I’m sorry Sabrina. Truly I am. I can’t tell you how sorry I am for what you’ve gone through. I can only imagine.”

“No, you can’t. I assure you.” Sabrina sat down before she collapsed. It was too much to take in. She sat on the sofa, rubbing the marks left by the handcuffs. “I’ve never been so humiliated. The worst part was when it dawned on me Trent has been playing me the whole time. Hell, I don’t know if I even have a job.”

Kat sat on the edge of the coffee table, taking Sabrina’s hands in hers. Kats hands were ice cold. Kat lifted Sabrina’s chin. “Do you want it? Even considering everything they’ve put you through?”

“What does it matter? My life is over.”

“Not necessarily. Do you still want it?” Kat gave her a tentative smile.

“It depends. Why?” She shrugged.

“Seeing as how those two boneheads screwed up I sort of took charge. I told Travis to step down, go back to Boston, and leave the magazine to Trent.

“Why would you do that? Why would he even consider it?”

“It pays to know where the skeletons are buried. Since I hold all the cards, I can tell you some things in confidence, but you have to swear to keep them to yourself.”

“Of course, Kat, I’ve never broken a confidence.” God help her, confidences were what put her in this mess in the first place.

Kat got up and started to pace again. “It’s like this. Travis was given way too many responsibilities by the family. Rather than speak up, he shouldered them at a cost to his health. He started to drink and it got out of hand. Travis agreed to take over the magazine but only if Trent covered for him for the first month while he checked into a clinic. The family was never to know. The boys agreed. It was a perfect cover.”

“Oh, I see. So, that’s what happened.”

“Now, the thing is, on Monday Travis will go to the office and announce he’s heading back to Boston and Trent will take his place. He can save face by telling the family Trent can definitely do the job and he’ll resume some of the duties and delegate others within the foundation.”

“Sounds like a workable solution, for him.”

“You’d work for Trent. Can you do that knowing what you do now?”

“I don’t know. Will Trent even want me there?”

“That’s the point. He’s scared shitless you won’t come back.”

“What?” Sabrina stiffened and stared at Kat. “How can that be? Are you sure he’s okay with this?”

“You have no idea.” Kat shook her head and grinned with a horrifying gleam in her eyes.

“You’re wearing your devious kitty cat look. You have a secret and someone is about to die at your mercy.”

“You better believe it.”

“And?” Shivers ran down Sabrina back, as if was about to be the recipient of another strip search.

“Glad you’re sitting down because I’m going to make you the happiest woman on Earth.”

“Oh really? How?” she asked. No way was anything going put her in that status.

“Trent’s in love with you.”

“What?” She jumped to her feet, stunned. The room spun. She focused on her breathing before she passed out.

“You heard me. He’s gone and fallen in love with you.” Kat crossed her arms and grinned wide.

“I’ll be damned.” Sabrina dropped back in her seat, ruminating what planet she’d landed on. She drew a slow, steady breath, heat flushed through her body. “How dare he?”

“I tell you the man of your dreams loves you and you look like you’re mad enough to spit.” Kat wrinkled her nose and shook her head.

“You’re right. I’m furious.”

“Good. Now what are you going to do about it?

“I want to make him suffer, just like he made me.”

“Uh-oh. Why do I feel like you’re going to make me proud? From your expression I’m almost afraid of you.”

“No matter what those two nitwit cousins of yours put me through, I still can’t help myself. I’m in love with Trent, too. However, I refuse to make it easy for him.” Sabrina’s nerves had stretched taut enough to slingshot her into outer space.

“And?”

“I’m not sure, yet. I’ll make it up as I go.”

“Good for you. How can I help?” Kat rubbed her hands together.

Sabrina laughed. Someone was bound suffer. It wouldn’t be her. Not this time.

“I need personal information on Trent. I need to know how to embarrass him. I want to drive him crazy. He deserves some kind of misery, anything to let him know he’d better never ever lie to me again.”

“That’s my girl.” Kat eyed her curiously. “I’m a bit surprised at you. You’re not taking this like I expected. I was sure you’d never want to speak to him again”

“That’s the thing. Travis, well Trent and I had this long-winded conversation over the weekend. The pretext was future relationship articles for the magazine. He kept dwelling on lying, wouldn’t leave it alone. I had a sneaking suspicion something was up.”

“Huh?”

“The topic was white lies versus confidences. Something genuinely bothered him and he held back. I believe he really wanted to tell me.”

“Yes, he told me he planned to, only Travis came back before he could.”

“When they stood side-by-side in the court room it hit me.” She rubbed her forehead, her fingers still chilled. “Now that you’ve told me why, I can’t honestly hold it against him. Travis is his brother. He loves him and wanted to protect him from the family. I don’t like to be played, but I also believe in second chances. Seriously, I’d have understood and I’d have kept their secret.