Unrestrained Behavior: The Pleasure and Risk of Choice (The 'Un'missable Series Book 3) Read online

  UNRESTRAINED

  BEHAVIOR

  The Pleasure and Risk of Choice

  Book Three

  Jerry Summers

  Copyright © 2016 Jerry Summers

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 1944577056

  ISBN-13:9781944577056

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2016910964

  GeLaSy, Inc., Caldwell, IDAHO

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

  This is a book of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Revised date: July 21, 2016

  Prologue

  Chapter 1 Death of the Councilman

  Chapter 2 Execution of a Brilliant Plan

  Chapter 3 The Discovery

  Chapter 4 Selection Process

  Chapter 5 Interviews

  Chapter 6 Freedom of Information

  Chapter 7 What a Tangled Web

  Chapter 8 Aftermath

  Chapter 9 What Misunderstanding?

  Chapter 10 Courtship

  Chapter 11 Results

  Chapter 12 Mounting Tensions

  Chapter 13 The Seduction

  Chapter 14 Burn Out

  Chapter 15 Water Under the Bridge

  Chapter 16 Life after Death

  Chapter 17 Discrepancies

  Chapter 18 Excuses

  Chapter 19 Vengeance is Whose?

  Chapter 20 Bass Attack

  Chapter 21 No Place to Hide

  Chapter 22 Follow-Up

  Chapter 23 FBI Probe

  Chapter 24 Parma Ridge Winery

  Chapter 25 Cat and Mouse

  A Glimpse of Unanticipated Circumstances, Book 4

  ProLoGuE

  Wendy closes her office door, settles back into her chair, and ponders her intense, negative feelings toward Zach. Knowing she must keep her feelings out of her voice, she reaches for her trac phone. Quietly contemplating, she dials the direct number for Zach and exhales slowly when he answers.

  “You don’t know me, Zach,” she purrs, “but we have some common interests, and I believe I would very much enjoy sharing some of my secret abilities and unique skills with you…” She hears his quick intake of breath and smiles, knowing this will be a meeting she truly enjoys. “I want to see you.”

  “Who are you?” he asks.

  “My name is Monique,” she replies.

  He clears his throat. “When and where?” he asks huskily, and Wendy smirks.

  “Where is your favorite place for…” she pauses and chuckles, “meetings like this?”

  The appointment is set, and Wendy returns to her penthouse for the night to perfect her disguise.

  As she toys with the black stilettos that she plans to entice Zach Rawlins with, she contemplates the change in direction her life has taken since the death of her brother, Mark. Remembering Mark’s best friend, Sean’s, description of finding Mark’s body at the McCall vacation home, she shakes her head. Interesting, how Sean vomited when he realized Mark had been shot. It dawns on Wendy that she has seen far more death than Sean will ever see, or could ever imagine. Still, Wendy likes Sean and has become attached to him.

  The attachment she has to Mark’s widow, Bonnie, has also grown because of Mark’s murder, and Wendy plans to continue to be of assistance to Bonnie in ways Bonnie will never know. Working behind the scenes is exactly how Wendy prefers it, and she chuckles as she realizes that is also the way she became such a close friend to Sean and Jessica. She smiles smugly, knowing their fledgling relationship started mainly because of her.

  Wendy is proud, in a perverse way, of what her life has turned into. She is thrilled by her creativity in helping her domestic violence clients gain freedom from their abusers. She fantasizes about all the options available to her to continue to make abusers’ deaths look like accidents or suicides. Her relationship with Mark was what led her to counseling victims of domestic violence to begin with, and she recognizes what an odd twist it is that his death is what made it possible for her to become (as one of her clients so aptly put it) a powerful angel of mercy.

  Coming back to the present, Wendy stares at the provocative red-soled shoes. She’s even more aware than usual of how twisted people can be and how simple it is to ‘Spin’ her ‘Unmerited’ favors to keep the FBI from investigating any more deeply.

  She inhales sharply as the familiar rush of adrenaline from the mercy she is about to bestow on behalf of Zach’s wife, Jill, becomes almost overwhelming. Wendy can’t imagine not helping others when it is within her power to do so, so very easily. The fact that she enjoys it is simply an unexpected benefit.

  CHAPTER 1

  Death of the Councilman

  After setting the appointment to meet Wendy at his favorite rendezvous restaurant, Zach Rawlins quietly places his City Council office telephone receiver back into the cradle wondering who this mysterious woman is that seems to know so much about him. His mind races as he considers many hopeful women and likely candidates, but he remains baffled because no one has purred at him the way she did, and he can’t remember ever meeting a woman named Monique. “You’ll recognize me when I walk in,” she had said, “and if you don’t, we’ll never meet.” The mystery of going to his familiar restaurant and waiting without knowing who to look for fills him with anticipation about this chance encounter. Zach checks his calendar, recognizing his own building excitement. He quietly sits back in his desk chair, and wonders if Monique had this mental build up in mind for him, knowing the next twenty-four hours would create a bittersweet agony that will demand release in its own way. He chuckles, wondering if this mysterious woman has any inclination of what his fantasies consist of or the precarious position she may be placing herself in playing these types of games with someone of his caliber.

  ***

  Wendy is equally focused upon her upcoming meeting and knows full well what the anticipation would be doing for Rawlins at the moment. She is confident in her ability to recognize him, having stopped by the library to search the Los Angeles City records, the City website, and the City Council blog in order to locate and review photographs of Zachery Rawlins. She is amazed at how easy it is to find the necessary material on the internet she’ll need to carry on an intelligent conversation with Zach tomorrow and smiles slightly, considering the thrill she is expecting and enjoying her own anticipation. She arrives at Jill’s hotel in La Jolla promptly at six o’clock to pick Jill up for dinner, knowing the information she intends to uncover from Jill about her soon-to-be deceased husband is important for the night to go smoothly. Jill comes into the lobby looking refreshed, less haggard and forlorn, albeit somewhat tentative. She knows the hotel can’t be cheap and is very grateful for Wendy’s generosity in paying for the room. She voices her concerns about cost to Wendy, worrying that she won’t ever be able to return the favor.

  Wendy quickly puts her mind at ease. “Jill, I know what you must be feeling right now, but don’t worry about it at all. This is what I do, and I do it because others did the same for me when I was in a similar situation. It’s important to me to pay back the benefits I received from others who struggled before me, and before you.”
Wendy pauses and sees Jill begin to relax as she accepts that she needs help and that Wendy wants to give it.

  Jill sighs. “You’re right, I know. Thank you.”

  “Of course,” Wendy replies, and explains further, “I have contacted Jessica Silva, who is more than willing to help with your clothing issue.” Wendy takes Jill’s arm and begins to escort her to the car. The story about Jessica isn’t entirely true, given the fact Wendy has arranged with the store to have her credit card charged without Jessica personally covering the costs. It’s her way of carrying on the tradition Bonnie started with her not so long ago, clothing a woman who needs to feel cared for.

  Jill tears up, unable to believe the kindness Wendy is showing her, but Wendy is quick to point out she is only repaying the gift of kindness she received from others recently. “Just enjoy it while it lasts, and remember that your time will come to repay this debt when someone else is in a difficult position, and you have the resources to help. Then and only then will repayment be expected of you.”

  Jill sniffs and nods at this statement, and Wendy continues. “I have a four o’clock appointment tomorrow that will take a couple of hours. After that I’ll pick you up again to go to Beauty Boutique Clothing for our shopping spree. If I’m going to be late, I’ll call the hotel and ask them to notify you.”

  Jill agrees and says, “We can shop another time if it’s more convenient for you.”

  Wendy insists. “No, no. Not necessary. I already arranged for this shopping excursion to occur after the store has closed in order to maintain your confidentiality.” Jill starts to speak but Wendy gently interrupts, “All the details are taken care of. Let’s just focus on having a wonderful dinner and try to relax for a few hours.”

  Jill sighs and reluctantly agrees. “You’re right. It will be nice to have a decent meal for a change.”

  Wendy snorts. “What? The rescue mission cuisine isn’t extraordinary?”

  “Extraordinary, no,” Jill chuckles, “but don’t get me wrong. I was delighted to get the meals I did. Let’s just say the food wasn’t to the standards I’ve grown accustomed to over the last ten years.”

  “I bet it wasn’t.”

  “It really wasn’t bad; it was just a rather basic dining experience.”

  “Well, let’s see if we can improve upon that just a little tonight, shall we?”

  Wendy glances over to watch Jill’s expression as they pull up to a funky little hole in the wall place and is amused with the slight look of apprehension on Jill’s face. Wendy kills the engine and puts her hand on Jill’s arm. “Relax. I know it doesn’t look like much from the outside but trust me the food is fantastic and the interior is eclectic and, most importantly, private.”

  Jill sighs. “Am I really such a snob that you could see my hesitation?”

  “Yes, as a matter of fact, you are!”

  “Oh, Dear God, I need to work on my attitude.”

  Wendy laughs. “Oh, lighten up, you’re fine. Everyone I bring here reacts the same way initially, but I have yet to have one person complain about the quality of the food or service.”

  Jill nods as they walk toward the restaurant. They enter and Jill looks around appreciatively.

  The owner greets Wendy warmly, welcoming her back.

  “Would you two prefer a group table for some interaction or a private space to chat?” she asks.

  “A private spot would be most appropriate this evening, thank you,” Wendy replies, and they are escorted to a booth tucked away from the fray of major activity. They order a nice bottle of red wine and settle in, studying the rather bizarre menu options.

  “An eel cocktail? Do you have a different menu than I do?” Jill asks, grinning.

  Again Wendy chuckles at her reaction. “Nope, same stuff on mine. Be brave. Everything on this menu is terrific.”

  “Well, if you say so,” Jill says, “I think I’ll try the wild boar in port sauce.”

  “An excellent choice. I’m going to have the roasted Bob White quail. You can try that as well, if you’d like,” Wendy says and Jill nods. Their conversation is casual, and then Wendy says, “I know this may be a painful topic, but I need to gather some more information if I’m going to help you through this. How did you meet Zach, and what attracted you to him initially?”

  Jill nods and takes a deep breath. “I guess I’d have to say I was attracted to his sense of decorum initially. We met at a cocktail party for my bosses 50th birthday. It was Zach’s first date with Mindy, an office coworker of mine, and it became apparent pretty quickly that things weren’t going well for either of them. Yet Zach was polite and remained attentive to Mindy, even while she was getting toasted and belligerent towards everyone. I think he recognized she was about to do something she would later regret and instead of allowing her to do so, he got her out of the party and took her home, probably saving her career with the company. I found it sexy, so I did a little snooping about him with Mindy. She told me she wasn’t into him and asked if I wanted to meet him. I said yes, and the next time he called her she told him he wasn’t really her type but a coworker was interested, so she gave him my name and office number. I was pleasantly surprised when he called me immediately.”

  “I see. Tell me about your first date?”

  “We had coffee together, and he was attentive and charming with an edge of intrigue, but I sensed under the polite exterior he was a ‘bad boy’,” Jill replies, gesturing quotation marks around the term.

  Wendy raises an eyebrow. “I’m intrigued by the way you are describing him, and I get the sense that he would be pleased by your impression of his bad buy persona.”

  “Oh, yeah, he thrives on the persona of a polite bad boy, and he’ll tell you straight up that that’s what the women he is interested in secretly crave,” taking a big drink of her wine.

  “Well, that definitely makes sense given the circumstances you find yourself in currently.”

  Jill nods. “The problem is, he’s right. His fantasies were both enlightening and exciting to me, at least, until they took a turn towards the perverse. I found most of his desires and behaviors erotic and intense.”

  “Where did he cross the line from enlightening to perverse for you?”

  Jill considers. “I guess when things turned violent I realized I was in trouble. He got off on strangling me, especially if I struggled, and that’s just not okay with me.”

  “It sounds like it also didn’t feel safe for you anymore,” Wendy observes.

  “Precisely. Then came the perverse requests that I have no interest in whatsoever. They are just too twisted, and I don’t understand how they could be sexualized.”

  “I understand,” Wendy begins, but the conversation is interrupted with the arrival of their food, and Jill’s expression after her first bite tells Wendy this was an excellent choice for dinner.

  Jill moans at the flavors infused in the port sauce. “I have never tasted anything so divine. I’m so surprised!”

  Wendy smiles and says, “I told you it’s fantastic food.”

  “I had no idea a place like this existed anywhere near Los Angeles.”

  “Well, it’s not really near; it’s a ninety-minute drive from L.A.”

  “It’s one that I would make regularly for an experience like this one,” Jill says around a mouthful of boar.

  “I’m delighted you appreciate it,” Wendy says, smiling.

  “Oh my God, do I ever.”

  Wendy chuckles. “So, getting back to our conversation, what do you think happened to bring about his change from experimentation to perversion?”

  Jill chews slowly. “Personally, I believe it was extreme success and political power. The more important he became within the power base of Los Angeles the more women were willing to tolerate his extreme behavior.” She pauses, shaking her head, “Myself included.”

  “Have you considered what may have happened if you refused to cooperate sooner than you did?”

  “Recently, yes, but in thin
king back on everything I think he just would have left me sooner.”

  “Interesting. Why is that?”

  “Wealth and power go together and either extreme is manageable on its own, but when you combine the two, often the result is an over-inflated ego and sense of entitlement within one’s professional and personal life.”

  Wendy considers Jill for a moment. “You know; I find you to be very astute. Why do you think you missed the danger signs?”

  “Oh, I don’t believe I missed them. I chose to ignore them. Other than the way things were changing in the bedroom my life was picture perfect. I had an incredible home, a wonderful husband, I ran in all the right circles in town, I didn’t have to work, and there was always plenty of money to do whatever I wanted to do.”

  “Do you think Zach will ever change his preferences, especially when he realizes he’ll lose you?”

  “No, I don’t. Zach is all about Zach now, and if I no longer meet his requirements then unfortunately I’m no longer useful to him.”

  “But you’re not an object! You’re his wife. You’re the woman who put him through law school and got him his first elected position,” Wendy protests, pushing Jill to explain more.

  “Yeah, so what? From his perspective, he provided me with all the comforts any woman would need or desire, and the least I could do was keep him happy in the bedroom. I haven’t done that.”

  “He didn’t actually say that did he?”

  “Yes, he did, as he was throwing me out of the house and calling me a greedy, selfish bitch.”

  Wendy shakes her head. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Me too. Why all the interest in Zach?”

  “Honestly, I’m fascinated by your case. I told you from the beginning I haven’t dealt with the complexity of some of the issues you’re facing, and I’m trying to wrap my head around Zach’s personality, what drives him, and what has brought about the changes within your marriage and especially his personality.”