“Oh, Zach, how thoughtful,” Susan said, smiling through her tears.
Opening one bottle and putting the other in the refrigerator, Zach poured it out into six wine glasses that he found in the kitchen, insisting that Liam and Lauren join them, pointing out that there were six other agents outside protecting them.
“To Susan,” Zach said, raising his glass, “the finest woman I’ve ever had the privilege to know.”
“And to David,” Krista said softly, raising her glass.
They all clinked rims and then drank, tears coursing down Susan’s face.
“I would like to see the footage that you got in Quinn’s office,” Gerard said when they had finished their glasses of champagne.
“Me, too,” Krista said, all of them sitting down in the living room while Lauren took care of the details.
Then, suddenly, there was the view Zach had had as he approached the Financial House in Cherry Creek.
“What a creep,” Krista said when Brian made his first appearance. “That’s Quinn?” she asked when she saw him.
“That’s my son,” Susan said, staring at the screen.
“Oh, god, Zach, you are such a fucking stud,” Krista laughed when she saw him lift Brian to his toes by the neck.
“I felt like he belonged in that hole with Chet and Pavel,” Zach said, immediately sobering Krista up as she remembered.
“God, what a disgusting pig,” Krista said when she saw Quinn’s reaction to the braid being tossed onto his desk, her arm around Susan’s shoulders as tears poured from her eyes when she saw the elation on her son’s face at the sight of it.
“Jesus!” Zach said, stunned when he saw what occurred after he left the office.
“She’s fucking dead,” Quinn crowed, picking up the braid and twirling it around in the air above his head. “She’s finally fucking dead, along with that fucking pervert father of mine. It’s a shame that all of the researchers had to die, but that’s the way it goes. Now it’s all mine. I am Kumms Corporation!”
“Susan, I am so sorry,” Gerard said softly when the screen went blank. “The only thing that I can tell you is that you mustn’t blame yourself. You and David did everything in your power to give him a good life and to instill good values in him. That he turned out to be a monster is not on you.”
“If only that were true, Gerard,” Susan said, wiping her eyes. “If only that were true.”
* * * * *
“I’ll send for each of you as I need you,” Gerard explained on the morning of the Trust hearing at the Denver Federal courthouse. “Nobody will enter this room except for the FBI agents guarding the door. Agents O’Shea and Rose will both be in the hearing room. You have nothing to be afraid of, just answer the questions put to you.”
At Susan’s insistence, they had dressed, the two women wearing their Cayman Island summer dresses and Zach his raw-silk suit.
“It seems like it’s been a lifetime since we bought these clothes,” Susan said.
“It seems like we’ve known each other forever instead of just a few months,” Krista said.
“Zach, are you okay?” Susan asked, seeing the thunderclouds in his expression.
“I’m just afraid that I’ll go in there and see that fucking shit and rip his face off and shit down his neck,” Zach said. “I’ve never hated before, but now I hate and I don’t like the way it makes me feel.”
* * * * *
“This administrative hearing of the Kumms Family Trust is now in session. I am emeritus Judge Thomas Crenshaw. Since this is a hearing and not a trial, it will be conducted in a more informal manner. Mr. Jordan, you represent the petitioner in this case, one Quinn Reginald Kumms; is that correct?”
“It is, Your Honor,” Mr. Jordan replied.
“And you are petitioning to have the Trust dissolved; is that correct?” Judge Crenshaw asked.
“That is correct, Your Honor,” Mr. Jordan replied.
“Mr. Smithers, where is your client?” Judge Crenshaw asked. “Without her present, I will be forced to grant the petition to dissolve.”
“Your Honor,” Mr. Smithers began to reply when the door to the hearing opened and Susan entered, a smile on her face.
Quinn gasped, jumping to his feet, his face going white when he saw her, his eyes wide in shock as his lawyer tried to get him to sit down and control himself.
“May I present Mrs. Susan Gloria Kumms,” Mr. Smithers finished, getting to his feet and pulling out the chair next to him for her.
“Good morning, Mrs. Kumms,” Judge Crenshaw said.
“Your Honor,” Susan replied.
“Mr. Smithers, does your client contest Mr. Kumms’ petition?” Judge Crenshaw asked.
“She does, Your Honor,” Mr. Smithers replied, sliding a sheet of paper over to him and a copy to Mr. Jordan.
“Then by the rules of the Kumms Family Trust, whereby each member of the trust has an equal vote and share, the petition is hereby denied in that there are now only two trust members and both would need to agree, and they do not,” Judge Crenshaw said.
“Thank you, Your Honor,” Mr. Smithers said.
“Is there anything further?” Judge Crenshaw asked.
“No, Your Honor,” Mr. Jordan replied, seeming stunned by the turn of events.
“Just one more thing, Your Honor,” Mr. Smithers said. “My client petitions to have Mr. Quinn Reginald Kumms removed as a member of the Kumms Family Trust.”
“You can’t do that!” Quinn said, white-faced. “I vote no. Stalemate!”
“Your Honor, my client makes this petition under the Moral Turpitude clause of the Trust agreement,” Mr. Smithers said, passing a sheet of paper to the judge and also to Mr. Jordan. “Under the conditions of the Moral Turpitude clause, any member of the Trust can petition to have another Trust member removed for Moral Turpitude.”
“And are you prepared to present conclusive evidence of moral turpitude, Mr. Smithers?” Judge Crenshaw asked. “Understand that the bar for the preponderance of conclusive evidence is necessarily set very high.”
“I understand that, Your Honor, and am prepared to present such evidence,” Mr. Smithers replied.
“I object,” Mr. Jordan said. “We have received no notice of a Trust hearing for a petition of any sort.”
“Your Honor, the provisions of the Trust agreement allow for a petition to be presented at any duly called Trust meeting or hearing,” Mr. Smithers said. “Nothing is mentioned about providing notice of any additional petitions to be presented.”
“Objection overruled,” Judge Crenshaw said. “Do you have witnesses to call, Mr. Smithers?”
“I do, Your Honor,” Mr. Smithers replied. “I’d like to first call on my client, Mrs. Susan Gloria Kumms, to testify.