Third Person
After their fall from grace and being hauled away like the criminals they were, Jeffrey and Sadie found themselves in a world of trouble. They were read their Miranda Rights and taken to the local police station, where Detective Corey separated them into individual interrogation rooms. Mrs. Galloway was released with a warning, but it wasn’t enough to alleviate her troubled heart. She was so shaken up by the accusations against her daughter and her husband’s sudden collapse, given that all hell had broken loose on what was supposed to be a joyous occasion, that she was on the verge of collapsing herself.
Flaunting her privilege per usual, Sadie wasted no time in asking for representation. The only problem was that it was impossible to summon the one person she desired most because he was in the room next door awaiting his own legal counsel. After Jeffrey was ousted as a two-timing liar and detained under suspicion of fraud and evidence tampering, the New York County District Attorney’s Office wasted no time in distancing themselves from him, subsequently firing him on the spot.
Due to the Galloways’ high-profile status and notorious background, numerous guests at the party inevitably captured and uploaded the riveting drama from Sadie’s celebration to various social networking sites and media outlets. The videos circulated and amassed millions of shares within less than an hour, and the backlash from netizens was severe. The negative comments and condemnation that poured in from all corners of the internet did not leave much wiggle room for Jeffrey and Sadie, even if they were acquitted of their crimes, which was highly unlikely.
A public defender was appointed to Jeffrey’s case, and the disgraced D.A. sized him up after he entered the interrogation room. A sigh of resignation flew out of Jeffrey’s mouth as he wondered whether Annika had somehow managed to curse him with a voodoo doll, for the young man might as well have shown up wearing a diaper while sucking on his thumb. It would be a cold day in July before this greenhorn could handle a case as thorny as his.
Jeffrey decided right then and there to take measures into his own hands, and if worse came to worst, he would have no choice but to represent himself in court. Although he was stubbornly optimistic, clinging to the hope that all of the so-called evidence was circumstantial, the writing on the wall told him otherwise. He distinctly remembered how Annika’s eyes had resembled two bottomless pits of hatred as she delivered her parting words, “See you in court, District Douchebag.” Her words cut deeper than a knife, so Jeffrey knew they weren’t empty words or threats. Annika was actually ready to take him to court. For what, he couldn’t be sure, but her confidence loomed over his conscience like a dark, ominous cloud.
Sadie’s representation, on the other hand, prematurely surmised that everything was simply a ploy set up by her ex-husband, Leon and that Annika was only trying to get under her skin by stirring the pot because she was jealous that her husband, Jeffrey, chose Sadie over her. So in an act of prideful ignorance, her lawyer only instructed her not to say anything, which would have carried weight if the police didn’t have substantial evidence of her crimes. And when it was time for Detective Corey to question Sadie, her posture was relaxed, and her demeanor reeked of insolence stemming from her inflated sense of superiority, which antagonized him from the get-go.
“Ms. Galloway, if I were you, I’d wipe that smug look off your face right now. Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten the charges filed against you?”
“Don’t say anything,” her attorney warned. “Detective, unless you provide evidence of my client’s actual crimes, I demand that you release her to me, and we will be on our way!”
“Counselor, you seem to be under the impression that the Galloway family has a get-out-of-jail-free card at their disposal just because they are paying you a generous amount. Well, newsflash, the evidence we have to charge your client could fill an ocean and then some. Would you like me to lay them out for you?” Detective Corey barked at the incompetent lawyer.
“Do not threaten my client, Detective Corey! What kind of evidence? That video of her and the D.A. shacking up? It’s not a crime to have an affair!”
“No, but lying in a court of law while under oath about it is, hence the perjury charge. Eleven months ago, your client, Sadie Galloway, was involved in a divorce hearing with her then-husband, Leonardo Von Doren. She claimed that he cheated on her when, in fact, she was the one engaging in extramarital affairs. This was already proven by the said video that shows Ms. Galloway, in your words, shacking up with former D.A. Hollands. Perjury in itself is a crime; however, not only did your client lie while on the stand, but she also fabricated false evidence that implicated Mr. Von Doren as the one who committed the affair.”
“You can’t prove any of that!” the attorney spouted as Sadie pretended not to listen and sat on her high horse as though their discussion had nothing to do with her.
“I don’t need to prove it. Your client has already admitted to it.” This seemed to pierce through the spell of indifference Sadie had cast upon herself, and both she and the attorney snapped their heads up in shock when they heard the detective. Detective Corey pulled out a tablet and played an audio file without further ado. It was a snippet of Sadie on the phone with Jeffrey as they discussed how they managed to generate fake evidence against Leon and used it against him in court to win. Sadie then further incriminated herself by confessing that she committed marital fraud by extorting millions from Leon through their divorce.
“Where did you get that!?” Sadie shouted and jumped to her feet as the sound of metal clanging against the table restricted her arm movement. Her chest was heaving with fiery hot rage at the realization that her conversations with Jeffrey had been taped.
“MS. GALLOWAY! SIT DOWN!”
“Detective, where did you obtain this?”
“Counselor, how it was obtained is none of your concern, but I will say that it was lawfully executed and has already been authenticated by the judicial courts. If you’re pinning your hopes on the evidence not being permissible in court, you’re dead wrong.” The presumptuousness the attorney had spoken with earlier was gulped down when it sank in that this case wouldn’t go as smoothly as predicted.
“Detective, may I have a word with my client?”
“Certainly.” Corey stood up and left the room. As soon as the door shut, Sadie’s attorney turned to face her with a scowl, an obvious indication that he was disgruntled by the rude awakening they were just given.
“Are you out of your mind!? You admitted to all that s**t out loud and even boasted about it! And it was recorded!?”
“How the f**k was I supposed to know that would happen!”
“Sadie, you were warned to never speak about that day ever! Or did you forget your ex-husband was out for revenge and had a target on your back? Thanks to your big mouth, I have no way to rebuke the charges against you!”
“What are you saying?!” Sadie shrilled.
“I’m saying you’re f****d! That recording is more than enough evidence to put you away for the next five to ten years! Perjury and fraud are major crimes, you f*****g i***t!”
“You’re the one who told me that we could never get caught!” Sadie argued and gritted her teeth. She was on the verge of bursting a blood vessel and wanted nothing more than to shove her moronic attorney, but she was handcuffed to the table in the interrogation room. While the dynamic duo proceeded to bicker back and forth, preoccupied with placing the blame on one another, Detective Corey was preparing to question Jeffrey in the next room. Upon entering, the detective c****d an eyebrow at the sight of Jeffrey and his public defender on the brink of strangling one another.
“D.A. Hollands, or perhaps, I should address you as Mr. Hollands now,” Corey ridiculed Jeffrey. “You and your public defender just met; don’t tell me there’s already trouble in paradise?” Jeffrey gave Corey the dirtiest look he could muster over the blatant mockery but refused to take the bait. “No snide comeback, huh? That’s okay. You have the right to remain silent, so I’ll do all the talking.”
“Detective Corey, unless you have actual questions for my client or have plans to charge him, then …”
“Hold on there, son. Before you get all lawyerly on me, how about you listen to what I have to say first? Just like Mr. Hollands’ mistress next door, I have more than enough substantial evidence to charge him and have him convicted.” Corey’s eyes fell on Jeffrey immediately after putting the novice in his place. “Mr. Hollands, do you recognize these photos?” He passed a stack of images to Jeffrey, who peered down and saw snapshots of him and Sadie entering and exiting his hotel room together. Every single picture was date and time-stamped, taken on various days over the last several months. Jeffrey’s eyes bulged out as he realized the extent that his “sexscapades” had been chronicled. “Based on your facial expression, I’m going to take that as a ‘yes.’ What about this video still?” He passed another image to Jeffrey; this one showed Jeffrey and Sadie undressing each other in the hallway in front of his hotel room, which left him with cottonmouth after discovering he had been caught not once, not twice, but multiple times with Sadie.
“Where did …”
“You’ll find out about the source once you go to court, Mr. Hollands, so there’s no use in discussing it now. If I were you, I’d be more concerned with the actual charges against you. According to your soon-to-be ex-wife, you and Ms. Galloway were attempting to defraud her out of her assets by falsifying evidence that she was having an affair. Is this true?”
“I have no idea what you’re—” Jeffrey’s dismissal flatlined like an asystolic heart once Corey pressed play on the tablet. A recorded conversation between Jeffrey and Sadie began to play.
Sadie: Baby, we need to find evidence of your wife and Leon together.
Jeff: Sadie, we still don’t know if they’re even an item. Just because you witnessed them together at her office and the mall, there’s no definitive fact that they’re sleeping together.
Sadie: We could always just drug her and hire a male prostitute to sleep with her. Then we’d have evidence of her stepping out in general.
Jeff: Sadie! That’s cold, even for you. I’m not going to drug Annika. Even if I want to divorce her and take what we deserve from her, that doesn’t mean I will stoop that low. She’s still my wife, regardless if I don’t love her anymore. I refuse to disrespect her that way.
Sadie: Kind of late for that, don’t you think, baby? You disrespected her the moment you f****d me in the alleyway of the club that fateful night. The night you fell in love with me. So, stop being such a p***y and figure it out.
Jeff: Angel, there has to be another way. Drugging her is way too risky.
Sadie: You just said she’s your wife, didn’t you? Go home, have a glass of wine or two, and just spike her drink or something. Here.
Jeff: What’s this?
Sadie: It’s a date rape drug. It will knock her out in no time. Bring her to the hotel, and I’ll have the male prostitute ready for her. He doesn’t have to sleep with her for real. All we need is pictures of them naked together in bed. There’s no way for her to deny the claims after we get the necessary proof.
Jeff: Sadie, where did you get this?
Sadie: Where I got it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you do what you’re told. That is unless, of course, you don’t love me as you claim and only want me for my money.
Jeff: No, Angel. Of course not. I love you with all of my heart. Okay, I’ll do as you say.
By the time the recording had stopped, Jeffrey looked like his head was in a guillotine, waiting for the ax to fall. He had no idea his private conversation with Sadie that day at the hotel bar was being recorded. He never once noticed anything out of the ordinary whenever they were together and wondered how he could have been so complacent, especially when Annika had her suspicions. Jeffrey remembered that night vividly because it was a few days after he found out Annika had removed his biometrics from the penthouse, and he had only complied with Sadie to get her off his back. Jeffrey never intended to drug Annika, but he knew his claims would fall on deaf ears.
“There’s plenty more where that came from, Mr. Hollands. As I said, I have more than enough evidence to convict you and Ms. Galloway. The question is, which one of you will do more time for the crimes being charged against you two? Will it be Tweedle Dee, former D.A. Hollands, or Tweedle Dum, the dumb blonde? I’m sure you’re aware that Ms. Galloway also planned to have your wife murdered.”
“She what!?” Jeffrey snarled, legitimately shocked by the detective’s statement. When he had heard the conspiracy to murder charge against Sadie during the party, he never anticipated that her target was Annika. “There has to be some kind of mistake!”
“Oh, there is no mistake. We have a recording of her plotting the murder with an unknown associate. We’ve subpoenaed her phone records, and it’s only a matter of time before we find out who she hired.”
“What recording?” Jeffrey asked, the frown lines on his forehead becoming more pronounced by the second. Corey smirked and decided to humor him since Jeffrey truly appeared to have no clue what his mistress had planned behind his back. The detective pressed play, and only Sadie’s voice could be heard this time, but there was no room for misinterpretation due to the words she had chosen to use while issuing her demands to her confidant—his mistress’ target was Annika. Jeffrey’s world screeched to a full-on halt. “This is insane! I had no idea she was planning any of this! She’s crazy! Sadie Galloway is certifiably insane!”
“That’s no way to speak about your girlfriend, Mr. Hollands, now is it?” Corey mocked once again.
“She’s not my girlfriend! I broke up with her!”
“Yes, apparently you did, but you waited until all’s said and done, unfortunately. So, even if you weren’t aware of the plans Ms. Galloway was scheming on her own, you can still be considered an accessory after the fact. At the end of the day, you agreed to drug Ms. Silverton.”
“Who is Ms. Silverton?” Jeffrey asked, confused whether Detective Corey was attempting to mess with his head.
“Don’t tell me you don’t even know your ex-wife’s maiden name?”
“What are you talking about? Annika’s maiden name is Hiller!” Corey looked at Jeffrey incredulously and found that he was being honest.
“Oh wow, she’s good. She’s really good,” Corey said, clearly impressed by Annika’s methods. “She played you like a fool, Mr. Hollands. She played you like a damn fiddle all these years.”
“WHAT ARE YOU BLABBERING ON ABOUT!?”
“Jeffrey Hollands, you’re dumber than a sack of potatoes. Have you ever bothered to look into your wife’s identity?” Corey asked in return. Jeff furrowed his brows with even more confusion. “Had you done so, then you would have found all too easily that her maiden name is not Hiller. It’s Silverton. Her colleague, Dr. Kenzie Malloy? Her maiden name is actually Hiller.”
“What are you …”
“It appears that your wife was quite smart, even for a young teen.” Jeffrey stared vacantly at the detective after being rendered speechless. He was completely baffled by the fact that Annika lied about her surname in high school.
“But why would she lie all these years?” Jeff asked no one in particular. He started to rack his brain as to why she would conceal her real identity from the very beginning. What did Annika have to hide?
From the outside looking in, there was nothing left to see once the look in Jeffrey’s eyes suggested that nobody was home, and Sadie and her lawyer were still going in circles, arguing over who was at fault for their current predicament. While the atmosphere inside the two interrogation rooms remained somber, Annika, Hunter, and Leon were in the viewing room enjoying the plethora of laughs they received from the spectacular show. To them, it was the gift that just kept on giving. Although the intercom to Sadie’s room was turned off to uphold attorney-client privilege, it was no secret what they were discussing. Jeffrey’s room, however, was on, and they heard every word exchanged. As the plaintiffs, Annika and Leon were allowed to witness his interrogation. Since Hunter was their attorney, he was also privy to this information. Even though the trio had covered their bases, it was reassuring that Leon’s connections with the Police Commissioner permitted them to do so anyway.
“It doesn’t seem like he knows who your family is,” Leon told Annika as he gently placed his hand on the small of her back as if drawn to it like a magnet.
“He doesn’t. Jeff comes from a poverty-stricken family. And now that he’s lost his job and his family knows what happened between us, it won’t take long for them to show their faces to demand answers.”
“You don’t feel bad?” Leon asked.
“About what?”
“Well, you pretty much cut off their supply of money.”
“As harsh as this may sound, whatever happens to the Hollands family is of little consequence to me. Our bonds were severed clean once their golden goose betrayed my trust. I’m more concerned with the incoming blowback from my family once they get wind of this.”
“You ready, Anni?” Hunter asked.
“No, but I can’t avoid it anymore. With everything being shared on social media right now, I’m positive my family has been contacted about all of this.”
“Do you need some moral support?” Leon offered her. Annika shook her head and kindly declined. It was a heavy cross for her to bear, but she had a duty to see it through to the very end. It was time to assume her real identity and prepare for the fight of her life.
