A Shepherd Afield Pt. 05

"Good. Good. I'll get Walter to sit with you to make the arrangements. We'll get you to that clinic. We'll make this work for you. Ok?"

She nodded but her heart wasn't in it. She looked completely defeated. Ben glanced at her in worry.

"This is goodbye Wendy. We won't speak again," he said and she nodded once more, eyes on the table surface. He nodded to himself and moved back to his lawyer's side. He spoke briefly into his ear and Walter looked at him in surprise.

"Are you sure?"

"Walter, please make sure she gets to that clinic. First class and cover her costs. No cash, Holland and LaRue get nothing, but pay for her treatment. It's what she wants. It's the least I can do," Ben explained.

"I think it's more than you should but if that's your decision," he said and Ben nodded. Walter went over to speak with Wendy who was staring off at nothing.

With a final look at Wendy Ben joined his ladies who were looking at him in concern. He smiled at them.

"It's ok. I'm good. Wendy is going to get treatment in Switzerland. I don't know what they can do but it's an attempt at least. No money for Holland or LaRue as they're scumbags. Let's go!"

They looked puzzled but they moved with him as he made his way out of the court.

Ben felt... lighter. The pain he'd been carrying due to Wendy was gone. He smiled at his friends and shook their hands and kissed cheeks. He still wasn't looking forward to getting through the gauntlet of press outside but he hoped this might be the turning point for his popularity. Maybe it would fade now that the trial was over.

He was waiting for Walter as he was their lift back to the law office. When the lawyer finally arrived most of his friends had headed off. Chanel and Catherine were still there with her parents but her daughters had headed back to school. Lucy had left with his daughters. Gabriella gave him a kiss and headed out with her kids to get them to school. Trish stopped by and got a kiss as did Lisa and Lori which made Walter's eyes pop a little.

"Aren't they Daphne's kids?" he asked.

Ben just nodded and shrugged.

They all headed outside as Walter called the driver to pick them up.

Gretchen was walking on Tina's left with Trish on her right, putting the small woman in the middle and making her look so tiny. With the twins behind Trish, Tina looked even smaller. If Catherine and Chanel who were behind him had been up there too... Ben grinned at the idea. He would tease Tina about it when they got into the limo.

The barriers were up again making a walkway to the road. Paparazzi were out in force as were reporters with video cameras. Ben saw Gabriella and the kids heading off through the crowd to the left so the court officers must have let them through the barricade. He looked back down the channel as a taxi pulled up. The back door opened and a woman stepped out onto the sidewalk.

Wavy mahogany hair and caramel skin. Dark brown eyes locked onto his.

Ben began to smile. "Margaux?" Then he saw she wasn't smiling. She'd been crying, in fact.

Time slowed to a crawl as her right arm came up holding something silver and snub nosed.

Ben's smile faltered as Margaux's eyes held a terrible rage in them.

He heard a voice yelling something from behind him and hands were pulling at him but he was locked in place, focused on Margaux's eyes. Then he couldn't see her as someone stepped between them with her arms stretched wide.

A shot rang out.

Ben's eyes refocused on Gretchen's back as she dropped to the ground like a puppet with her strings cut.

Margaux came back into view but she was watching Gretchen fall as well. Her expression wasn't one of horror at what she'd done but just frustration. She looked back at Ben and her arm began to rise again.

Bang! Bang!

The noise was deafening and came from behind Ben's left side.

Margaux was suddenly knocked backwards but her gun went off one last time.

Ben felt a stinging bite on his left shoulder and staggered back a step but didn't go down as he watched Margaux slam back against the side of the taxi behind the open back door. The silver gun spun loose from her hand and dropped as her body followed it down. She fell like Gretchen had. Lifeless before she hit the ground.

He felt numb as people screamed and ran in all directions. Ben looked down and to the right and saw Trish had caught Tina when Gretchen protectively shoved the tiny woman at her. Trish had pulled Tina down behind the shelter of a concrete flower box. Lisa and Lori were crouched beside them. All four women were staring at him with wide, frightened eyes... but he saw they were safe.

Ben turned his head back to Gretchen lying on the cold concrete and found he was able to move again. He walked forward stiffly and knelt, pulling her up onto his lap to look into her unseeing eyes.

"Gretchen dear?" he said with trembling lips, gently touching her cheek, her soft lips.

She was gone. He saw the red flower of the blood on her chest where the bullet took her life. He was deeply shaken by how suddenly she'd been taken. He looked over at Margaux, crumpled face down on the sidewalk, her mane of thick brown hair spilling forward to hide her face. The beautiful, intelligent but tortured woman who'd... come all this way... just to kill him? He didn't understand.

Hannah and Dr. Granger, who had left just before Gabriella, were now kneeling next to him. They were saying something but his scattered mind couldn't make out their words.

Jack was suddenly before him, looking into his eyes. "Son. You've been shot. They need to take a look at that." Sounds snapped back into place for Ben when the man spoke to him.

Ben noticed the man had blood on his jacket. "You've been shot too?"

The older man looked down at the splotches. "No, this is your blood. The bullet went through you and deflected upwards just over my head. We were behind you."

"Anyone else hit?" Ben mumbled.

"No, just the two ladies and you. I'm so sorry," Jack said.

Ben looked up into sad eyes. "Did you shoot back?"

"No, that was me," Chanel said as she walked up holding Catherine's hand. "I am very sorry but she would not drop her weapon." She looked at him anxiously.

Ben nodded. He understood it wasn't her fault. "No, it's ok," he said roughly. His throat closed up because it wasn't ok. It was far from ok. Gretchen was dead. Margaux was dead. It was just too much. He slowly curled over Gretchen's lifeless body and wept. He made no sounds but his large body shook with his grief. Flashes of light painted the area where he knelt.

Jack and Chanel finally pulled Ben to his feet as Dr. Granger and Hannah gently took Gretchen's body from his hands. He was handed over to the paramedics who moved him into the ambulance.

As the door closed he saw the ones he loved standing in a group looking back at him. He closed his eyes and let his mind slide away.

Chapter 48

Ben walked up the driveway of his home five days after the shooting. He thought it seemed so cold to call it that. A shooting. The term was too impersonal for Ben. It was missing the shattering horror of losing Gretchen just as she'd discovered her new place and purpose in life. It failed to express the tragedy of Margaux's descent into her own personal madness driven by jealousy. The death of these two women needed a better label than 'a shooting'.

Ben shuddered as he dragged his thoughts back to the present. He'd spent a good deal of time with Dr. Granger over the past week and owed the woman a great deal for her guidance and patience. She immediately attacked his guilt for Margaux's murder of Gretchen. He recalled how intense those sessions had been.

"Ben, what about you was Margaux attracted to?" Granger asked.

He looked at her warily. "I- I wasn't after her money or her position."

"And?"

He shifted. "We were physically attracted to each other."

The doctor looked at him closely. "Did you behave differently around her? Did you act in any way contrary to who you are?"

Ben frowned but shook his head.

"So you were being yourself, Ben Shepherd, and she fell in love with that man," she said gently.

Ben's throat hurt so he just nodded.

"Without her getting help for her jealousy issues who would you have to be to ensure her jealousy never surfaced?" the doctor asked.

He thought about that but he couldn't find a solution.

"You couldn't be you, could you? But if you weren't you, you wouldn't be the man she fell in love with." She watched that sink in. "There was nothing you could have done if she wasn't willing to seek help in controlling her jealousy first. The problem resided within her. Not you."

"Gretchen didn't-"

"Are you going to deny her profound gesture of love?" Granger interrupted.

Ben stared at the doctor in surprise.

"I read the reports. Gretchen protected Tina then put herself between Margaux and you. To protect the ones she loved. It was a genuine and profoundly powerful act of love. Don't you think so?" She watched Ben closely as he struggled to come to terms with her sacrifice. He finally broke down and wept. He treasured Gretchen's final act of love but hated the cost.

Ben returned to himself standing in his driveway. He shuddered again and wiped the fresh tears from his eyes as he took some deep breaths. He made his way up to his front door. It opened immediately and concerned eyes looked at him. He stepped inside and hung his chilly jacket on the hook before hugging Tina and Lucy against his body, soaking in their love for him. He kissed them tenderly and let them draw him into the living room where they sat him on the couch and sat on either side of him. Lucy had to be careful of his left shoulder which was still healing.

"Karen and Penny are coming over tonight for Chinese take-out," Tina said and Ben smiled at the idea as he watched Christopher playing with his toys.

The two ladies shared a look and held his hands.

"We followed your instructions and gave her computer to Daniel for working on his photography. Her tablet and cell phone went to Ashley for her daughters to use. Lisa and Lori took the clothes to donate. Walter took care of the arrangements for her. For them both," Tina said gently with tears pooling in her lashes.

Tears rolled down Ben's cheek unnoticed. He nodded to Tina and hugged her a little tighter. He kissed her forehead and then Lucy's.

They spent the rest of the day simply being together. Remembering Gretchen who had been in their lives for such a short but sweet time.

For Ben, memories of Margaux would have to wait until the pain faded. If it did.

Ben's celebrity was anchored in the minds of the public by the sordid tale of his jealous lover's murder of his newest love interest. The images and video of him weeping over the body of his slain lover while ignoring his own bullet wound went viral in minutes as they made their way around the world. It seemed like any chance of Ben fading from the public consciousness was gone.

During the next weeks the media filled their time slots and pages with a frenzy of speculation surrounding the events of the day. So called 'insiders' divulged juicy secrets only to be refuted by other sources 'close to the Shepherd family'.

Walter surprised Ben with a midafternoon personal visit in the midst of this media storm. His relationship with Daphne continued to grow so Ben was pleased to see the man, thinking he was just finding excuses to be in the neighborhood.

"Walter! What brings you around?" Ben smiled knowingly as he welcomed the man inside. The man's smile looked a little strained and Ben's smile slipped away. They were hard to maintain these days.

"Could we sit for a moment?" Walter asked and Ben nodded, worry plain on his face.

"Hello, Mr. Greyson!" Tina said as the two men entered the living room. Her smile also muted as she saw their expressions. She looked to Ben but he just sat next to her while Walter nodded to her. He sat across from them.

"So sorry to barge in on you like this but I wanted to speak to you before the media catches wind of this as I'm sure they will. You deserve to hear it from me first," he said.

Seeing that he had their undivided attention he began. "I received a call today from the Swiss clinic we arranged for Wendy to receive treatment in." He saw Ben's expression become wary and it hurt his heart to do it but he continued. "Ben, she wasn't getting treatment for her disease. The clinic informed me that she requested them to assist her suicide. She... passed away last night."

Tina gasped and took Ben's hand in hers as a tear rolled down her cheek. Inside she was raging that this woman's final act had hurt Ben one last time. She was glad Wendy was dead.

Ben nodded to Walter who was watching him closely. "Thank you for telling me personally, Walter. You're right. This would have been much worse to hear through the news."

"I'm so sorry-" Walter began but Ben held his hand up.

"No, you are a true friend and I really appreciate your compassionate delivery of this... information," Ben said.

"Are you ok?" Walter asked as Ben seemed... a little numb.

"Yeah... I think so. I suppose I should have expected it. I knew she wouldn't have wanted to endure what her mother went through." He smiled weakly at Walter.

With his news delivered Walter rose to his feet and Ben walked him to the door. After he left Tina crushed herself up against Ben's chest and they held each other for a long time.

Walter was right about how the story would get out. Ben's paying for his ex-wife's assisted suicide was just what tabloid television ordered and the spin was vicious and brutal. It went on for days dredging up the debate over the morality of assisted suicide and linking Ben's name to it. He was both vilified for his cruelty and praised for his compassion depending on the side of the argument.

Ben remained silent and refused all requests for interviews or comment on this topic.

With the permission of the Sheriff's department Ben hired off duty officers to set up a checkpoint on the entrance to Ashburn Court to ensure only residents and legitimate traffic gained entry. The noise and commotion proved to be too much for the occupants of 1, 2, and 4 Ashburn Court. Ben bought their homes at a generous premium allowing them to move to quieter locations.

Living in 1 Ashburn Court, Kevin and Wanda Baker, both retirees in their 70's found themselves able to afford to purchase a beautiful condo in Florida to spend the rest of their lives in comfort and, most importantly, warmth.

Dwayne and Melanie Robinson from 2 Ashburn Court demanded twice the going rate for their place but Ben paid it. The owners of a Logistics company they invested the extra cash in upgrading their fleet of trucks with improved GPS trackers and moved... south. They didn't want any contact with Ben or his mess.

Wally and Carolyn Green, occupants of 4 Ashburn Court and owners of the 'Yogurt, Now!' frozen yogurt chain moved to California to get away from the other cold stuff.

Dominic Sellini asked Ben if he could buy the Green's home from him so he could fix it up for his son's family. Ben gladly gave him a deal on the price and was happy to know another good neighbor was moving into the neighborhood.

Luis and Jaclyn Hernandez in 3 Ashburn Court had no intentions of selling or moving now that their family had moved into the neighborhood. They just stayed in their son's guest suite while the press were making a nuisance of themselves.

Ben's financial advisor didn't bat an eyelash when Ben told him he was purchasing the additional properties. Not since the royalties from his filter began pouring in. The orders were exceeding the capacity of Sturn Manufacturing so the company bought out the neighboring property and expanded once more. Bill and his team were happy indeed.

The people on the list Ben had sent to Jerry started seeing statements indicating income coming into their accounts. There had been delighted responses when the initial notices went out indicating a trust had been created by Ben for them. It only truly sunk in what that meant when the monthly statements started showing up. Ben's phone line was busy with happy people thanking him enthusiastically.

Along with this windfall, Ashley Beaumont was suddenly presented with another fortune. She was contacted by a lawyer in Austin, Texas who informed her of the passing of Jacob Sturn, the father of her late husband. Ben heard the news the same day from Bill Freeny. The lawyer notified Ashley that she was the sole inheritor of Jacob's entire estate as the man had no other family. The lawsuit the company had been under was settled after the dissolution of Sturn Enterprises and there was still a considerable amount of money left in the estate for her and her children. The first thing she did was buy her home back from Ben though he insisted she pay no more than what he had.

Rain, Karen, and Penny got their family van after a fierce tournament of video game racing to determine the color. Penny was the overall victor so the van was deep blue. The girls wanted to begin driving lessons immediately so Ben signed them up for classes in defensive driving. In the meantime, Rain was their chief driver and got to use the van when she did late shifts at the clinic.

Months after his brief conversation with the woman, a couriered envelope arrived for Ben from Margaret Dawson in Australia. Inside was a letter and a key. Reading the letter he learned that during her interview with Gretchen when Ben had been on his way to Margaux's condo, Gretchen had signed over her inheritance to him. Every investment, every property, every piece of furniture in those properties, right down to the contents of the safe deposit box in Germany, which was still an unknown, now belonged to Ben. The key in the courier pack was for the safe deposit box. The contents of Rainor's condo in Sydney had been shipped to the states and were waiting in a storage container in San Francisco for him to deal with it. He also learned he now owned a penthouse condo in Berlin, the keys for which he would get from the landlord as Rainor's set was probably at the bottom of Sydney Harbour.

While the storm of attention raged outside the little pocket universe Ben had made of Ashburn Court, life simplified for him as he worked on projects for the engineering boards, both the public and military ones. In the tranquility of his office he set his mind on the projects and produced a steady stream of solutions for his 'clients'. Captain Kendricks was thrilled and Ben's status as a significant contributor soon spread to other branches of the government. He was offered other projects but he insisted if they wanted his help they'd have to submit the requests through an engineering forum board as he had no time to deal with alternate systems.

As he was spending so much time in his basement office he finally got around to replacing the panic room door. He was pleased with the faster closing rate of the new, stronger door. He ran drills with his family to ensure they knew how to use it. Tina already knew and helped Lucy get comfortable with it. The front door had been replaced with a much stronger one so Tina felt very secure in the home.

When the winter finally showed signs of passing Ben went ahead with the renovations on his home, extending the building back and upwards. The huge room he built on the back was going to become a playroom for the kids with a five level, padded jungle gym, complete with slides, tunnels, a ball pit, and cushioned floors for tumbling and running around.

During all this crazy renovation work in mid-March Tina went into labor in the wee hours of the morning. Ben and Lucy rushed her to the hospital while Ashley came over to watch over Christopher. After four hours of labour Tina gave birth to an eight pound baby boy. To Ben's great relief both mother and baby were healthy.