Robert could feel the slight tremble that Farrah’s body made at the sound of Jasmine’s name. The sisters shared a look before reaching for each other’s hands. Robert released Farrah’s right hand and cupped her face. “Baby, no matter what Jasmine’s involvement may be, she’ll never hurt you,” Robert reassured.
“I’m not the one she tried to kill.” Farrah turned to find Meeks making a similar declaration.
“You’re safe. You know that, right?” Meeks asked as he slowly ran the back of his hand down the side of Francine’s face.
Francine covered his hand with hers. “Of course I am. Between you and all the security around me, not to mention that Jasmine was denied bail and is in jail—probably somewhere trading secrets with Alexia—I’m perfectly safe.” Meeks gave Francine a quick kiss before turning his attention back to Robert and Farrah.
“So Jasmine Black is Ruthie Lee Rutherford’s child. The child she abandoned for a man who never left his wife for her. Is that what we’re saying?” Farrah asked.
“Yes,” Robert said.
“Are we sure about this? I mean, I know we don’t deal in coincidence, but...”
“Farrah’s right. We have to be sure about all this,” Francine said, looking at both Meeks and Robert.
A knowing glance passed between Robert and Meeks, which was followed by an accepting nod from Meeks. He sighed and kissed Francine on the cheek. “When I first met Jasmine, she was estranged from her father and she told me that her mother died when she was a child. After a year together she told me the truth about her parents, at least her version of the truth.”
“Which was?” Farrah asked.
“Jasmine’s father was a brilliant, unemployed artist. He worked odd jobs to make ends meet, and they did for a while...” Meeks scratched his chin with his thumb “...until they didn’t. Her father got sick and her mother just left. Jasmine said she didn’t know anything about her mother or where she was and she wasn’t interested in finding out, either.”
Robert nodded, adding, “Meeks told me what was going on and I offered to help find her mother, but she refused.”
Farrah released Francine’s hand, stood and started pacing the room. “So Jasmine’s mother came to work for our company, where she met Ted Jefferson. They started having an affair and she left her family to become his—what? Full-time mistress?” Farrah said, tilting her head slightly.
“Sounds like it.” Francine adjusted herself in her seat. “Ted Jefferson never married her. Even after his wife divorced him. She kept all his secrets and even defended him to anyone that spoke bad about him when Dad found out all the things he’d been up to. Hell, I’d be pissed, too.”
“Me, too, but at him, not the company he worked for,” Farrah said as she continued to pace the room.
Robert ran his hands through his hair. “Ted Jefferson would have a better motive but he’s been dead for quite some time. Besides, whoever’s impersonating Ruthie Lee Rutherford—”
Farrah stopped pacing. “That’s it! She has the perfect motive,” she said, staring down at her sister.
Francine raised her head slightly and crossed her arms. “She’d kill multiple birds with one stone—”
“And manage to keep her hands clean at the same time,” Farrah added.
Meeks crossed his arms, mimicking his wife’s move, and said to Robert, “They figured it out.”
“They always do,” Robert huffed. “Care to share with the rest of the class?”
Farrah turned to face Robert. “It’s Jasmine. She’s done it again. She set this whole thing up. Jasmine’s been controlling things, even from behind bars. She’s used other people to do her dirty work. Jasmine took her mother’s name, so if anything went wrong, she’d take the fall. She hired Alexia for the hands-on sabotage work, while she supplied her with all the access codes and bogus documents that she needed.”
“But how did she get the codes to your safe?” Meeks asked.
“I haven’t figured that part out yet,” Farrah admitted.
“I have,” Robert said, getting up from his seat and going to stand next to Farrah. “Remember, this is Jasmine we’re talking about. She may be crazy, but she’s brilliant, too. If she was hell-bent on seeking revenge against all she believed wronged her, she would’ve found her mother, reconnected with her and somehow got her to share all the information, including intimate details that she needed to make her plan work, and get that backdoor code.”
“Backdoor code?” Francine asked, her brow knitting together.
“Most programmers leave a backdoor for themselves so they can get back into any system they’ve worked on. And remember, Ted Jefferson programmed all the safes in the early days. It’s safe to assume that he kept a list somewhere that Ruthie would have access to.”
“But how would Jasmine know that Ms. Ruthie would even know the code—or backdoor code—to the safe in Farrah’s office?” Francine questioned with a doubtful look on her face.
“Because that wasn’t always Farrah’s office,” Meeks reminded his wife.
“It was Richie’s office first. When we upgraded the security systems, we changed out all the safes after you both joined the company,” Robert explained, glancing between both women. “Your offices were the only two that didn’t get replaced.”
“Why?” Farrah asked.
“Your dad didn’t want to replace those antique safes, so for additional security, we just added a ten-digit key pad to the safe. However, it could still be overwritten by a backdoor code,” Robert said.
“Dad and his antiques,” Francine said, shaking her head.
“All right, so let’s say Jasmine was behind everything. What’s her motive?” Francine looked up at Meeks. “I know she wanted me out of the picture so she could have you, but this goes way beyond that.”
“I agree,” Meeks said. “Jasmine may have hated her mother for leaving her, but she would have hated Ted Jefferson more if she thought he’d only been using her mother, especially after she’d given up everything for him. If she thought that his loyalty lay not with her mother, but with a company that she believed had done them both wrong—”
“Yet he continued to do business with us and remained a friend to the company until he died,” Francine reminded them.
Farrah nodded. “If she had the opportunity to hurt the people she thought were to blame for her lot in life, including breaking up her family, she would—without hesitation.”
“Add the benefit of destroying our company in the process, and that would be too good an opportunity to pass up,” Robert added.
“So, how do we prove it?” Francine asked, scrutinizing the faces in the room.
“We show Alexia a picture of Jasmine and have her confirm and sign an affidavit stating that Jasmine Black aka Ruby Lee is the person who actually hired her to plant the false documents,” Farrah explained.
Francine’s forehead creased. “I wonder why she wouldn’t just use her mother’s real name if she was going to set her up to take the blame. Why use an alias...one so personal, at that?”
“She’s twisted,” Farrah said, with a smirk.
“No...well, yeah, but she’s also a sociopath. Caught or not, she’d want me to know she was behind it all and why,” Meeks said, shaking his head.
“Hell hath no fury...” Francine said, reaching for her husband’s hand.
“Alexia’s signed statement, along with the affidavit that Butch Johnson agreed to sign, should be good, right?” Robert asked Farrah.
“Yes but we’d really be in the clear if we had the forger,” she said.
“Jasmine could’ve forged those documents herself. She has the experience,” Francine said as she reached for Meeks’s hand.
Meeks helped Francine to her feet. “No, she can handle basic documents, but nothing as intricate as Robert’s designs. That would take an artist’s touch.”
A wide smile spread across Farrah’s face and Robert could almost feel the pride that he knew she felt. Robert’s right arm seemed to snake around her waist of its own accord. “All right, then who?”
All eyes turned to Meeks. “There’s only one person that she’d trust to do it, too.”
“Who?” Farrah and Francine chorused.
“Her father.”