Squire Wilson's Saga

Just then my phone rang, and when I answered I heard Amber's melodic voice. "Robert, it seems like all I ever do is apologize to you. I'm running late here at work. Is there any chance you could meet me somewhere near here?"

"Sure, I can do that. Where would you like to meet?"

"By any chance do you like jazz? There's a little place I love called The Down Beat where we can have a drink and talk."

I was pleasantly surprised. "I love jazz, and The Down Beat is my favorite place in Houston. I can be there in an hour."

"That's perfect - I'll see you there, then."

I was straightening up my desk when Maddy came in. "So you've got a date, Squire?"

I frowned at her. "I have a client meeting, not a date. Were you listening to my conversation?"

She folded her arms. "Pretty hard not to when you were talking that loud."

"Look, she just got stuck at work and couldn't get away. We're going to meet somewhere near her office and talk about her case."

She nodded. Then her face took on an expression I couldn't read. "Just be careful, Squire."

"I promise, Maddy," I reassured her as I headed for the door.

The Down Beat is located in an avant-garde area of Houston filled with lots of little shops, bars and eateries. It's almost always busy, but I was lucky enough to pull into the parking area just as someone else was leaving.

I walked up the stairs to the club and looked around for Amber. She was standing by a table in the back of the lounge, waving to me. When I hurried over, she took my hands and leaned over to kiss my cheek. A hint of her perfume wafted to me; I didn't recognize it.

"I hope you don't mind meeting here. I thought we could talk and listen to the music at the same time."

"No, this is great, a much-welcome change from my little office."

We ordered cocktails and I asked her to tell me about her case. She scooted her chair closer to mine and leaned her head toward me "so we won't disturb others." Again I inhaled her perfume - it was haunting but not over-powering.

The divorce she was seeking was about as simple as they come. "We met in high school, dated exclusively through college and married young. But gradually the two of us grew apart, developing different tastes, opinions and interests. 'Irreconcilable differences' - that really describes what happened to us. So we decided to do the civilized thing and divorce on friendly terms. We've basically agreed on a property settlement. All I need now is someone in my corner to make sure I haven't overlooked anything and to help me get through the process."

If only everyone would take such a mature attitude. "Sure, I can definitely do that."

"Thank you" she breathed into my ear. "Now, if we're going to work together, I'd like to know a little about you - you know, as a person."

That wasn't a request I normally got from a client, but I didn't mind telling her a little about myself. We began to exchange bits of our histories, some of the who/what/when/where and why of our lives. As we did so, the waitress brought another round and some nibbles, and two delightful things happened. First, Amber proved to be a good listener, drawing me out, showing real interest in what I was sharing. Second, when she began talking about herself, I discovered to my surprise how much we had in common. We liked the same music, had gone to many of the same concerts, enjoyed the same movies, preferred the same cuisines. It was almost uncanny. As we started on a third round of cocktails, I found myself thinking It's like we were made for each other.

Rene's face flashed through my mind, and I felt a twinge of guilt. Then I remembered how tense things had become between the two of us, and the way she had practically abandoned me this week. My guilt vanished.I'm not doing anything wrong, just enjoying the company of a new acquaintance, I rationalized.

We'd talked long enough that a fourth cocktail had appeared and been emptied. While the band was taking a break, Amber leaned close and said, "I need to run to the ladies' room. Please wait; I'll be right back." As she made her way to the alcove on the far side of the room, I couldn't stop staring at the way her hips and legs moved in the tight skirt she wore. "Damn!"

When she returned, I realized I needed to ease the pressure on my own bladder, so I excused myself. Standing in front of the urinal, all I could thing about was how lovely and charming my new client was. When I finished, I washed my hands and then carefully checked my appearance in the mirror.

Back at our table another round was waiting. Before I could say anything, she smiled and said, "After this one I'll need to be going." I really didn't want the evening to end, so I settled down beside her and picked up the glass, intending to nurse my drink as long as I could.

The band had returned, and as we sipped our cocktails, she leaned over and said fervently, "I just love this number." Indeed, the little trio was improvising on a classic Miles Davis composition, one of my favorites as well. I smiled my appreciation, and we sat there almost touching, enjoying the music. After a minute or two she laid her head on my shoulder, and her perfume came to me again. The moment seemed magical, and I suddenly realized I was getting an erection. There was no guilt this time, just a feeling of lustful euphoria. As we finished our cocktails, we turned to look intently into each other's eyes.

A round of applause from the other patrons startled me, and I stood up instinctively as the house lights came on. Then Amber was standing directly in front of me, almost touching. She went up on tiptoes to reach my ear. "I took an Uber over here. Could you possibly give me a lift home?"

"Of course," I replied without hesitation, "I'd love to."

"Lead the way," she said, so I took her hand and led her out to the parking area and my car. I held the door for her, and as she slid into the bucket seat, her skirt slipped high on her thighs. Oh my god! my libido panted.

When i pulled out onto the street, she leaned over to take my arm as she gave me directions to her apartment. I glanced over at her upturned face, and it was all I could do to keep from kissing those maddening lips.

When I parked at the curb in front of her building, she gave me a meaningful look and breathed, "If you'll come up with me, I can give you a copy of that proposed property settlement."

All I could do was nod. The notion of being alone with her in her apartment drove every rational thought from my mind.

We held hands once again as we walked into the lobby, and she didn't let me go as we rode up on the elevator. Once inside her apartment, she led me over to a seating area. Her cellphone chimed softly, and she glanced at the text, thumbed a quick reply, and then smiled at me. "Let me just mute this so we won't be disturbed." After she set the phone and her purse down on the coffee table, she gave me a smile so full of promise I couldn't breathe. "Give me a second - I'm going back to the bedroom to freshen up."

When she disappeared down the hallway, I glanced around at her apartment. Everything was perfectly in place. It looks like a furniture showroom. Suddenly, a sound from the wooden coffee table startled me, and I realized her cellphone was vibrating with another text. I picked it up to put it on something quieter, and was surprised when the screen lit up. It displayed a "conversation" Amber had apparently been having with someone the whole evening.

Is he there yet?

      Just arrived

X in drink?

       Done

Don't forget vid

       OK

My foggy brain had difficulty interpreting the cryptic messages, but then I noticed something that set off an alarm I couldn't ignore. There was no name attached to the texts, just a phone number I knew by heart: Rene's!

Why is Rene texting Amber? What the hell is going on?

I couldn't piece it together, but I suddenly felt an overpowering urge to get out of there. I quickly tore a page off an Architectural Digest lying on the coffee table and scribbled a note in the margins:

Sorry, have to leave. Just got an alarm signal from my office. Call me tomorrow.

Robert

With that I dashed to the door and let myself out as quietly as possible. Once back in my car, I pulled away from the curb and drove off as fast as I dared. What was all that about? How does Rene know Amber? How did she know we were meeting tonight? What did those texts mean?

Between my alcohol-blurred mind and my panic, I paid no attention where I was driving, so I was surprised to find I'd auto-piloted to my office. Not knowing what else to do, I staggered to the door and let myself inside. I sat down on the Craig's List sofa Maddy had found for us and put my head in my hands, trying to stop the room from spinning. Finally I gave up and lay down to rest my eyes.

"Squire, wake up! Are you alright? What happened?"

I groggily opened my eyes to see Maddy's worried face hovering over me. "Oh, God," I moaned, awkwardly sitting up. "What time is it?"

"It's a little after seven."

"Oh, damn!" Then I looked up at her. "By any chance do you have some aspirin?"

She hurried to her purse and came back with two tablets and a coffee mug. I popped the aspirin in my mouth and took a big swig of coffee - and yelped. "Ow, that's hot!"

"Good," she said with her hands on her hips. "Maybe that will help you sober up."

I shook my head, which made it hurt worse. "I had a lot to drink last night, but I don't think that's all of it. I think I may have been drugged."

She dragged her desk chair over in front of me and sat down with a concerned look on her face. "What happened, Squire? Walk me through it and we'll try to figure it out."

I began to describe the night's events, omitting details such as the temptation I'd felt. Nevertheless, it must have been obvious to Maddy, because she sarcastically asked, "Is that how you usually conduct client meetings?" I didn't bother to reply - she knew the answer.

When I got to the part about taking Amber up to her apartment, Maddy's expression changed to something I couldn't quite identify. "So did you sleep with her?" she demanded.

"No, that's when it got really weird."

"I thought we'd already gone way past weird."

I ignored her. "While Amber was back in her bedroom, her cellphone began to vibrate with a text. I glanced at it and it blew my mind - the text was from Rene!"

Maddy's eyes went wide. "Rene, like your wife Rene?"

"Exactly. I recognized Rene's cell number. That freaked me out: how does Rene know Amber and why would she be texting her at that hour?"

"What did the text say, exactly?"

"There was a whole series of messages, and I can't remember them all. But she was asking Amber about 'X' and 'video.' Anyway, I got totally paranoid, wrote Amber a note about a break-in at the office and got the hell out of there."

"That's about the first smart thing you did all night."

Maddy does "snide" well - I ignored her again.

"When I got to my car, I was having trouble thinking. Maybe it was all those cocktails, but it seemed like something more. Anyway, I wound up here and crashed on the sofa. And I still don't understand what happened."

Maddy was silent for a moment; then she leaned forward. "Squire, I think you were set up."

My head was still throbbing. "What do you mean 'set up'?"

"Did you suggest going to the jazz club to meet?"

"No, that was Amber's idea."

"And were you the one who plied her with cocktails?"

"Well, no, but I didn't object."

"Un-hunh. And did you offer to take her home?"

"Well, she asked, but I was glad to do it. Besides, she said she had a copy of her husband's proposed settlement back at her apartment."

"Right. So basically you're telling me she decided where you'd go, how long you'd stay, how much you'd have to drink, when you'd leave and that you'd end up back at her apartment."

"Oh, God," I moaned, holding my forehead.

"And those texts you saw: did Rene ask Amber where you were?"

"No, I don't think so. All she asked was, 'Is he there yet?'"

"What was the last text you saw?"

"'Don't forget the vid.'"

"So what do you think was taking Amber so long back in the bedroom?"

"She said she wanted to freshen up, but I was hoping she was slipping into something 'more comfortable.'"

Maddy rolled her eyes. "Listen, Squire, if a woman is that hot for you, it doesn't take very long to strip down to her undies. I'll bet she was making sure a hidden camera was all set to record what was going to happen next."

My head was feeling better by now, but my mood was growing worse. "Shit, shit, shit! I'll bet you're right." Suddenly it dawned on me. "And I bet I know why: Rene was going to use Amber's little porno shoot to blackmail me!"

Now it was Maddy's turn to be confused. "But why would Rene want to blackmail you, Squire? I thought she was the one who had all the money."

"Exactly," I said, the pieces coming together quickly now. "She wants to divorce me on the grounds of adultery so she can get out of having to split her assets with me." I shook my head in disgust. "I knew things were bad between us, but I never thought she'd try something as sleazy as this."

"But who is Amber, and how does she fit into all this?"

"Isn't it obvious: she's the bait to lure me into the trap. She's probably some high-priced escort Rene hired." Then I paused. "But if she is, she sure fooled me. She knew so much about me, and we had so much in common."

Just then, my phone rang, and I recognized the number. "It's Amber," I mouthed to Maddy.

"Get her over here. If we can talk to her, maybe we can get to the bottom of all this."

It amused me that Maddy wanted to play detective, but I wanted to know what was going on too, so I answered. "Hi, Maddy, sorry about disappearing on you last night. I thought there'd been a break-in at my office, but it turned out some wino accidentally set off the alarm. Listen, I was going to call you. Is there any way you can bring that property settlement over here this morning? And then," I let my tone of voice deepen, "if you're not busy after work, maybe we could get together and continue the lovely evening we were having."

Maddy made a face at me, but Amber sounded willing and even a little relieved. She promised to swing by my office before noon.

"You're not thinking of going out with her again, are you?" Maddy demanded after I'd hung up the phone.

I grinned at her. "No, even I'm not that dumb. But if she's still trying to entrap me, I wanted to give her some encouragement that she could make that happen."

Maddy nodded, and I noted the little smile that flitted across her lips. Then she was all business. "Listen, while we're waiting for her to show up, why don't we do a little research on Amber Thomas to see what we can find out?"

We sat down side by side at Maddy's computer. "First things first," I said, "let's check the court records to see if 'Amber Thomas' has filed for divorce." No surprise: there was nothing.

With nothing else to go on, Maddy did a quick Google search on "Amber Thomas, Houston, Tx." We got just over forty hits, with occupations ranging from teacher to technician to housewife and more. "This is gonna be slow going," I muttered. Then I had a brainstorm. "Let's check the police records and see if we can find anything. If she's really a hooker, maybe she's been picked up for soliciting."

It seemed like a good idea, but we found nothing to help us.

Maddy shook her head. "'Amber Thomas' is probably a fake name anyway." Then abruptly she perked up. "What was the address of her apartment? Maybe we can find out something that way."

When I gave her the address, she quickly went to the tax rolls. It took a while, but then she was looking at me with concern. "Squire, if I'm doing this right, the apartment where you took her was purchased by Baker, Norton and Vinson five years ago."

"Now that is interesting."

"Let me try something else, just to be sure," she said, and did a quick search on the law firm. Once she got to their website, she found a listing of employees. There were well over a hundred names, but they were in alphabetical order. Again a swing and a miss: no "Amber Thomas."

Maddy slumped in her chair and was about to close the window when she suddenly paused. "Wait a minute - look at this." Her cursor highlighted an Amber Thompkins in Accounting. When she clicked on the name, up popped a head shot of Amber Thomas! "Damn, Squire, she works for your wife's firm!"

I shook my head in confusion. "They may work at the same law firm, Maddy, but Amber is in back-office operations. She wouldn't have anything to do with Rene."

"Well, at least we know where Rene recruited her. Maybe we can fill in the blanks when Amber gets here."

We tried to get a little work done, but it was hard to focus. At 11:00 we heard a car pull up outside. Then Amber swept into my office, looking as gorgeous as I remembered her.

Before she could say anything, however, Maddy came in behind Amber, and I gestured. "I don't think you met my legal assistant, Madison Armstrong."

Amber was momentarily taken aback, but then extended her hand with a big smile. "Nice to meet you, Ms. Armstrong, I'm Amber Thomas."

"And nice to meet you too, Amber Thompkins," Maddy said without a corresponding smile.

Amber turned pale and gave a little gasp. Then she caught herself. "I think you misheard me; it's Amber Thomas."

Maddy glared at her. "I meant exactly what I said: Amber Thompkins."

Amber looked around nervously to me for help, only to find me standing with my arms folded and a stern look on my face. "We know who you are, Amber. Now I think it's time you tell us what's going on."

Amber looked from me to Maddy and back again with a stricken expression. Then, to our amazement, she burst into tears and slumped down in a chair. "I never wanted to do this. I told Rene it was a stupid idea, but she wouldn't listen." She cried a little more, then extracted a handkerchief from her purse and dried her eyes.

"Alright, I'll tell you the whole story. Rene set up the whole thing. She, uh, cut you off at home so you'd be, er, extra receptive to me. She coached me on what to say to you, your likes and dislikes, anything to make you more comfortable with me. And just in case that wasn't enough, she gave me some Ecstasy to put in your drink."

"When I went to the restroom," I said bitterly.

"That's right. Then I got you to take me back to the firm's guest apartment."

I looked at Maddy. "That explains why it looked so sterile and unlived-in." I stared at Amber. "There wasn't a single personal item anywhere in the room."

She nodded unhappily.

"And when you went back to the bedroom, what were you doing?"

"I was putting on a nightgown." She blushed. "Rene told me what kind of lingerie you like."

"I'll bet that wasn't all you were doing," Maddy interrupted.

Now Amber couldn't look at us. "And I turned on the spycam Rene gave me and made sure it was focused on the bed."

Maddy snorted angrily, but I had other questions. "Why, Amber? Why did you and Rene try to set me up like that?"

Now she looked at me with pleading eyes. "She wouldn't talk about that, but I think the answer is pretty obvious. She wants out of your marriage so she can take up with Hofmeister. Lots of people know they're having an affair."

"Vance Hofmeister? He's her boss. The firm would never stand for them having a relationship."

She shook her head. "The top brass doesn't know. And once they're both divorced, the firm can't say anything. All they'll do is assign her to a new boss."