Page 36 of Second Chance At Love

“I promise, I won’t say anything,” spoke Cora as she set the tray of coffee mugs, cream, and sugar on the coffee table. She sat down on the sofa beside Henry. “I hope you don’t mind decaf. It’s all we have in the house.”

“My fault for that. I’m not allowed any caffeine,” explained Henry. “You have my word that nothing you say about Gerrit goes further than this room.”

“Just let me preface that Gerrit did this for Michael, Noah, Jake, and Dillion. If he hadn’t done the plea deal, they would all be still facing a lengthy trial with likely going to prison unless they chose to make a plea deal of their own,” cautioned Temple.

“He sacrificed himself for them,” Henry grimly stated.

Temple nodded. “We know that Gerrit pled guilty for his part in money laundering through RameslyHotels. Against the advice of his lawyers, he also pled guilty to the murder of David Ramesly, the murder of Nate Ramesly, the murder of James Ramesly, the attempted murder of Henry Ramesly, the attempted bombing and attempted murders a little over two months ago at the Ramelsy hotel, plus drug smuggling, drug trafficking, possessing illegal substances, and a few other minor drug charges relating to his personal addition.”

“That’s crazy,” Henry barely managed to say. “Gerrit didn’t murder anyone. No one attempted to murder me. I accidently created my own condition. It wasn’t anyone else.”

“There was a person charged in Asia for the misuse and overmedication of the herbal tea you were taking,” revealed Temple. “The herbalist was found guilty.”

“What? Why did no one tell me that?” questioned Henry in disbelief.

“They didn’t know if the herbalist was acting on behalf of another person to slowly poison you,” replied Temple. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “The FBI indicated that they never got a clear answer on that.”

“The FBI thinks that Gerrit colluded with someone half a world away to poison me over the course of several years to make it look like a natural death?” Henry shook his head. “That’s reaching. Why would Gerrit kill Nate? He defended Nate. He and Nate were the best of friends. Why would he kill Uncle David? There is no reason whatsoever that Gerrit would kill our uncle. He doesn’t gain anything from doing that. What possible proof do the FBI have?”

“They don’t need proof when they have a signed confession,” responded Temple with sympathy. “It’s simply a matter of sentencing now.”

“He can’t do this. Most of what Gerrit has admitted to doing is a lie,” Henry’s voice was muffled as he put his head in his hands. “How long? How long is he going to prison for?”

Temple hesitated. “I’m sorry. Gerrit will likely be sentenced to life in prison. He’s not going to come out. The only good thing is this state doesn’t have the death penalty.”

Henry could feel Cora put a hand on his shoulder. He sat in his thoughts, wondering why his brother had done something so drastic. He looked up at Temple. “How do we undo what Gerrit has done?”

“The only thing I can suggest is proving beyond a reasonable doubt that someone else committed these crimes. Then the case may be reopened, the court would have to reassess thesentencing,” answered Temple. “Currently, the FBI is closing their investigation. As far as they are concerned, they have done their due diligence. The governor will be happy that someone is taking the fall and making him look good for the election year. It will be splashed all over the papers and everyone will be convinced your brother is at fault.

“You might make some enemies with the FBI and the governor if you choose to go down this path to clear your brother of the murder and attempted murder charges. Remember, he is guilty of the drug charges,” warned Temple.

“Someone is killing people in the Ramesly family. That’s not going to stop just because Gerrit confessed to things he didn’t do,” grimly stated Henry. “We have to find out who is behind the murders and bombing on our own, no matter the consequences. Otherwise more people may be hurt.”

Chapter Twelve

Everett, Gabe, and Parker gratefully accepted the coffee that Cora put on the kitchen table before them. They were there to update Henry on what was happening with the Ramsely family’s investigation into the events surrounding the family.

“We can prove Gerrit didn’t take the cardioplegic drug,” mentioned Parker. “It’s all on video. However, we can’t prove it wasn’t given to him later by someone else. Nor was it returned to the drug dispensary.”

“We also are trying to get a legal copy of the autopsy reports for both Uncle David and Nate,” inserted Everett, putting cream and sugar in his coffee. “Bree’s assistant Marty already got us illegal copies. We sent them to a coroner for interpretation and expect him to let us know what happened.”

Britney was cooing at Adam, gently swaying with him in her arms as she walked around the living room. Adriana was taking a second tray of coffee items and snacks to the living room where the ladies were going to sit and visit.

Cora reluctantly followed her. She knew Henry would tell her everything about his conversation with his cousins later, but she was curious what they had found out.

Part of her didn’t know if she wanted to help Gerrit or not. Gerrit had never been much of a help to her in her marriage, always defending Nate, blaming her for any bad behavior Nate had, and hiding his brother’s wrong doings. The few times it had seemed like he was helping her, Gerrit had always managed to manipulate Cora into not reporting Nate to the police, or not saying anything to the family about Nate’s abuse. He had enabled Nate.

She wasn’t certain Gerrit didn’t deserve everything he was getting, even if he had pledguilty to things he didn’t do.

Yet Henry was hurting that his brother was possibly going to prison for life. That Gerrit wasn’t speaking with him, their relationship broken.

For Henry’s sake, Cora hoped they would be able to help Gerrit somehow.

Henry still found the good in his brother. He was just that type of person. He felt everyone was worth a second chance, an opportunity of redemption for their sins. He was a better person than Cora.

Leaving the men to their conversation, Cora headed into the living room to join Britney and Adriana. Both of the women had brought food with them. Adriana had gifted Cora with two large containers filled with assorted baked goods. One to put in the freezer for later, one for the visit. There was enough baking that there should be leftovers for her two growing boys when they returned from school. Britney had shown up with two large dishes. A lasagna which was currently in the oven, ready to be cooked for tonight’s supper, and a shepherd's pie which was in the freezer for another night.

Despite Cora’s protests, the women had insisted.