Chapter 3

            Selena called Uncle Bill as soon as Christopher left the office. Uncle Bill had said that the clerk at the county office had called and told him some guy was asking about her family’s land. The description fit Christopher Hudson. The clerk didn’t know Selena owned the land, but she did know Bill was the overseer of it. Bill hadn’t thought anything of it at the time because a handful of folks had stumbled upon the serene land and inquired about it. Some folks were just curious. Others wanted to rent the property temporarily for something like shooting a movie. Selena had allowed movies to be shot on the property for a fee. The money always went back into the trust.

            “Do you want to sell the land, sweetheart?” Uncle Bill asked.

            “No. The only way I’ll sell that land is if someone offers me a billion dollars.”

            “If he wants the land bad enough, he might be willing to pay a pretty penny for it – just not a billion.”

            “No way.  That land is a part of me . . . what’s left of my family.  Besides, the trust and the land is part of my early retirement plan.”

            “All right, sweetheart. I’ll just wait for that New York boss of yours to track me down.  Tell him the property isn’t for sale for any price and that will be that.”

            “You won’t tell him I own it, right, Uncle Bill?”

            “Of course not, honey, not unless you give me permission. Lawyer client confidentiality, remember?” he said sweetly.

            Selena chuckled. “I remember. Tell Aunt Elle I said hi.”

            “I sure will, honey.”

****

            Early Saturday evening, Selena was home getting an early start on the booze before her girlfriends arrived for their Fantasy Fiction Writing meeting.

            She thought back to her conversation with Uncle Bill from a few days ago. A billion dollars for her family legacy. It’s not like Christopher couldn’t afford it. He was CEO of a five billion dollar company. According to Fortune magazine, the Hudson family was worth over eight billion dollars collectively. Selena shook her head. Having a billion dollars would be nice, but he’d never pay it. And she wanted more out of life than just a lot of money. Selena wanted companionship – male companionship. Sex was just the tip of the iceberg. She was tired of attending the company’s holiday parties alone. She was tired of telling hosts at restaurants ‘just one’ and trying not to act embarrassed about it.

            Selena leaned back on the flowered sofa with the white background. She imagined being Christopher’s girlfriend. They would go to the best restaurants. He would wear one of those tailored suits that fit his V-shaped physique perfectly. His brown hair parted on the side with that thick patch of hair hanging over his forehead would shine under the restaurant chandelier. Then when they get home, he’d take her. Driving her –

            Knocking interrupted her thoughts.

            Selena put her wine glass on the white coffee table and walked to the door. She opened it to Joanna and Beverly.

            “You picked Joanna up again?” Selena asked.

            Joanna didn’t have a car. When she left the Hudson Estate she would usually have to call a cab, an Uber, or a friend.

            “Not exactly,” Beverly said as she walked into the apartment.

            “The Uber guy ran out of gas halfway to the city,” Joanna said as she came in.

            “You’re kidding?” Selena asked with astonishment. She closed the door.

            “I wish,” Joanna said flatly. “Then, he had the nerve to turn around and say that this was a good time for us to get to know each other with a cheesy grin that creeped me out.”

            “What?” Selena blurted.

            “I hopped out the car and ran to the nearest house, which seemed like a mile away,” Joanna said with a frown. “I stood under the house’s porch light and called Beverly on my cell. I gave her the name of the road and the house number.”

            “I had just left my apartment. I got on the highway and raced like hell to get to her,” Beverly chimed in.

            “The people in the house didn’t notice you on their porch?” Selena asked.

            Joanna shook her head. “I tried knocking, but no one came to the door. I don’t think they were home.”

            “Either way, I got to her. I didn’t see a car on the side of the road.  I think the guy was just trying to pick her up or have a quickie with her. Not a psycho,” Beverly said.

            “I hope you gave that guy a bad review,” Selena said with disgust.

            “I did on our way here,” Joanna said.

            “Well, it’s not like I didn’t try to tell you about Uber. They hire anybody who has a car, I don’t care what they claim,” Beverly said seriously. “At least a cab company looks over an application and call the references. That’s why they cost more money.”

            “Lesson learned, okay,” Joanna said defensively.

            “Good. Now, let’s get a drink and start the fun,” Beverly said.

            Fifteen minutes later, they were in the kitchen. Joanna pulled out her notebook to read her little love scene. She didn’t know how to type. She grew up in an Amish community. Joanna didn’t see a computer until she was eighteen. Beverly had most of her stories on her phone. The ones that weren’t were on Selena’s flash drive along with all her stories. When inspiration hit Beverly during one of their meet-ups, she would dictate a story on the spot for Selena to type on her laptop. One time, Beverly had recorded a story using Selena’s computer mic. They listened to it every so often for fun.

            The wine was poured and Selena had her laptop up and running the only problem was she couldn’t find the flash drive.

            “You’re digging in that case like you’re digging for gold,” Beverly remarked. “What are you looking for?”

            “The flash drive. I always put it in here,” Selena said.

            “Maybe you put it somewhere else this time?” Joanna suggested.

            “Okay, let me think for a second,” Selena said.

            The room fell quiet.

Yesterday was the last time she remembered having it. She pulled it out at work to d******d the quarter statement from the trust Uncle Bill had sent her. She only had it in the work computer for a few minutes at the most. Selena pulled it out. She remembered that specifically. Then Christopher walked into the office and threw a flash drive on her desk along with a notepad. Christopher had told her he wanted her to d******d the list of files he had written down on the notepad onto the drive and to put it on his desk before she left at five. As he was dictating orders to her, he was taking off his suit jacket and loosening his tie which distracted her. She had bit her lower lip as he had unbuttoned the top buttons on his shirt.

            Selena’s dark eyebrows furrowed. “Oh no,” she whispered and started digging in the laptop case again.

            “What?” Joanna asked.

            Selena had several flash drives. One was personal and the others were for work. She grabbed the flash drives out of one of the pockets and dropped them on the table. Two were green, one was black with a green switch, and one was blue with a black switch. Her personal drive with all her and some of her friends’ stories was on a black flash drive with a red switch. It wasn’t there. But the black drive with the green switch was – the one Christopher gave her to use yesterday.

            “Oh shit,” she whimpered as she picked up the black drive with the green switch like it was a bomb.

            “What?” Beverly stressed.

            “Please, god. Please god, let me be dreaming,” Selena moaned as she put the drive in her laptop.  The drive loaded and sure enough, the files Christopher wanted were on it. She had laid her flash drive on his desk by mistake on Friday. “Oh fuck!” she cried with horror.