Convicted (Consequences)

paradise.”

 
     
     
    The evil that is in the world almost always comes of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence if they lack understanding.
    —Albert Camus
     
     
     
    Catherine sat at Tony’s grand desk. She didn’t consider it his any longer—it was hers, like so many other things. Besides, from all the reports she’d heard, he wouldn’t be sitting there anytime soon. Though the FBI wouldn’t confirm or deny, Catherine was under the impression Tony was either in custody or on the run. All she knew for sure was that he wasn’t in Iowa. After meeting with Tom and Brent, the provisions of Anthony Rawlings’ trust went into effect. Catherine Marie London was officially the executor of the Rawlings’ estate and anything related to it. The title came with a nice trust fund. That money, plus the large sum she’d accumulated over the years, left Catherine more than financially solvent.
    Once in a while, she thought about the money she’d given to Claire. Catherine wasn’t sure exactly how much it was; however, whenever she started to regret giving it all away, her mind would go to the possibility of Tony on the run. If he were out there, she knew, without a doubt, he’d go for that money. Imagining him finding an empty box brought a smile to her face.
    For almost twenty-five years, Anton had been in control, or so he thought. It was true; right after Samuel and Amanda’s accident , Marie had offered to work for Anton. After all, she was alone, and he was all she had left of Nathaniel. The arrangement wasn’t meant to last a lifetime. Nathaniel told Marie multiple times how he wanted her to live; never once did he say he wanted her to work as Anton’s housekeeper.
    It wasn’t that Anton had ever been unkind. On the contrary, if anything, he’d been indifferent. Perhaps that was worse. He seemed to take Catherine for granted—she just was. It never appeared as though he worried if she would or wouldn’t be there, if she would or wouldn’t carry out his objectives—he never asked . Smirking to herself, she admitted that his complacency worked to her advantage on more than one occasion.
    Maybe her name wasn’t Rawls, but what did a name matter? Now that she had the legal documents confirming her title as executor, Anton’s office was gone. It was hers—as was the house, the grounds, and the estate. Catherine Marie leaned back against the plush leather chair and scanned the room. The regal decor was very similar to Nathaniel’s office from a quarter century ago. She’d always liked that. Smiling, Catherine decided the view from her current side of the desk was definitely the more appealing perspective. She also decided the room could use a feminine touch.
    Catherine opened the drawer on the lower right to inspect Anton’s private files. She fingered the tabs; in this paperless world, it surprised her he’d kept so many printed documents. Thankfully, the Iowa City Police hadn’t felt the need to confiscate everything as evidence.
    They did take all of Claire’s documents. That didn’t matter to Catherine; she’d already gone through everything on Claire’s laptop and was honestly impressed with the amount of research Claire had accomplished during her short time in California. Catherine never imagined Claire would uncover Patrick Chester. The entire turn of events was far better than Catherine could ever have imagined or planned. The only possible better scenario would have included Chester actually killing Claire. If he had then Catherine would have been able to watch Anton’s anguish first hand.
    Reminiscing, Catherine admitted she did get the pleasure of witnessing some of it right after Claire’s disappearance; however, to see Anton’s face in Geneva when he realized Claire wasn’t taken, but instead, she’d left him again, and disappeared with his money and his bastard child— oh, that would have been priceless! Well, not priceless—it cost Catherine whatever amount of money had been in those accounts.
    It wasn’t that Catherine originally planned on extending Nathaniel’s decree to his grandson. Anton was safe as long as he stayed focused and on task. All the time and effort planting seeds, watering them, and watching them grow, paid off on more than one occasion. Everything was going the right way until—until his damn obsession with Claire Nichols.
    Catherine knew something had changed after the Nichols’ funeral. At first, she feared Anton