Cruise: A Thriller Page 16

  As she sat down and poured herself a glass of wine, she thought how well she had managed to get through all of the court cases. Despite all of the misery, she had changed for the better. She had become stronger.

  The first trial had taken place in Nice. She was called to the stand as a witness by the prosecution. In a courtroom in the Palace of Justice, she had given her statement. The judge, the prosecutor, and Castellano’s attorney asked her questions, which she answered truthfully. An interpreter translated her words into French.

  All that time, Jorge Castellano would only look straight ahead. The look in his eyes was dead and empty. The aggressive drug user had become a sad and pathetic little man. Before the court case began she had pictured the man she hated. In her mind, she had seen the old version of Jorge Castellano. But the person who was sitting across from her now didn’t show even a hint of that aggression. His attitude was more of one belonging to a man who regretted his actions.

  But she felt no sympathy for him. Castellano had caused her much suffering, and now he had to pay for that.

  At an earlier stage, he had made a full confession about his part in the fraud. He admitted that he had administered the overdose to Gautier at the request of his sister and his soon-to-be brother-in-law. Here, he stated explicitly that the pressure they put on him had been enormous. So much so that he had feared for his own life if he did not do what they asked him to do. His sister and her boyfriend were ruthless. He also admitted to the attempted murder of Heleen van Rijnsburg, something he was also forced into by Frank and his sister.

  The case against Castellano was almost closed except for one point. He remained tight-lipped about the location of the money.

  The court ruling was two weeks later. After the trial Heleen had returned to the Netherlands. She had seen and heard more than enough. Besides, it was clear that Jorge Castellano would receive a very high sentence. She didn’t feel like traveling all the way to France again just to hear the sentencing. Christian and Etienne lived nearby and took the honors of being present in her name. They had called her and said that Jorge Castellano was sentenced to life in prison. In his judgment, the judge clarified and explained, the premeditated murder of Vincent Gautier weighed heavily on the court and because of this he had decided to impose the maximum penalty. Castellano had burst out in anger after the verdict.

  As he was being led away, Castellano had shouted that he had only carried out the instructions. Giving him the maximum prison sentence was ridiculous, according to him.

  Christian and Etienne had not enjoyed their trip to the Palace of Justice very much. According to them, the whole atmosphere surrounding the trial was extremely depressing.

  Frank and Romina’s trial took place in Girona. Taking the advice of her lawyer, Heleen had left for Spain a week earlier and would remain there until after the verdict. This way, she would avoid the media in the Netherlands, who, in preparation for the trial, would undoubtedly try and contact her. Later, she heard from Alex that swarms of reporters and camera crews had indeed gathered in her street.

  Before the trial started, she had made another appointment with the owner of her dream home. To her delight, the house had not been sold yet, and the man was now a little more open to her ideas. He had thought about her proposal. The negotiations took place in a friendly atmosphere. They came to a verbal agreement that would be put on paper by his lawyer. Despite her growing enthusiasm, she kept her head cool and stipulated that the contract should include a one-month cancellation period. Just in case she changed her mind.

  When she arrived at the court, she saw Frank and Romina sitting side by side on a couch, flanked by their lawyers. The months Frank had spent in jail had aged him quite a few years. His beard and excess weight were gone. His natural hair color was back, apart from some gray patches here and there. His face was marked by deep lines, and he looked exhausted.

  Romina, on the other hand, looked like a super model who had stepped straight off the cover of a glossy magazine and somehow ended up in this complicated situation through no fault of her own. The simple sweater she wore was delightful, and her hairstyle was flawless. Unlike Frank, who only lifted his bowed head during sporadic moments and made a deeply unhappy impression in the hall, Romina looked around the room confidently. Her body language and statements exuded a sincere sense surprise and wonder about the whole thing and about how she was being treated. She recanted all of her previous confessions, stating that they were made under duress. Everything was concocted and implemented without her involvement or direct knowledge. She was not a suspect, but a victim of circumstances. She had never received any money.

  After Heleen had answered all the judiciary system’s questions, a guard escorted her into the corridor. When he closed the door of the courtroom behind him, a great load fell off her shoulders. It was over. She had done what she had to do. Others would take it from here.

  As she walked down the hallway, she heard the door of the courtroom open. The sound of tapping heels followed her. She had stopped and turned around. A woman in a nice black business suit confidently came walking toward her. She had black hair and a rather broad and heavy stature. The high cheekbones gave her face a certain fineness that her body lacked.

  She stretched her hand out to her.

  “Hello, Mrs. Van Rijnsburg. My name is Ana Castellano. I am Romina’s sister, but let me start by saying that my sister and I are not on good terms.”

  Heleen needed a moment to fully understand and absorb the explicit context and fast-spoken words. Then she hesitantly shook Ana’s hand.

  “I understand that all of this is very overwhelming and that I may be taking you by surprise,” Ana had continued. She took a business card from her purse and handed it to her. “I would really appreciate it if you would contact me at some point during the next few days. As Romina’s relative and the person raising David, I am very interested in hearing your story.” She shook her head. Her attitude expressed outrage and deep resignation. “Romina has spent her whole life hurting people. However, what was done to you was completely unacceptable. I’m so sorry that happened to you.”

  For a moment, Heleen did not even known how to respond. The first thing that came out of her mouth was a stammering thank-you.

  “She dragged my brother into this. He’s really not a bad person, impressionable and crazy about money, yes. He committed those crimes in a haze of drugs and with fantasies about the big money. For this, he must now pay a high price.” She closed her eyes and paused. “I was also at the trial in Nice. But I could not muster up the courage to speak to you then.”

  Behind her someone left the courtroom.

  “I have to go back inside now. But, please, contact me?” Ana said.

  41

  Heleen took another sip of her red wine. Her first encounter with Ana and the doubts she’d had about her were still fresh in her mind. She had found it strange that Ana had spoken to her at the courthouse. Why did Ana even want to talk to her? Maybe the Castellano family wanted revenge?

  After much deliberation, she decided to trust in her intuition about people. She had been left with a really good feeling after the conversation. The woman was clearly sympathetic to her case and truly seemed sincere. She had planned to contact Romina’s sister sometime in the next few days, while she was still Spain.

  During that phone call, the good feeling she’d experienced before had only strengthened. Ana did not seem to be out for any personal gain or revenge, but just wanted to know the truth. Meanwhile, Heleen confirmed that her assumption and gut feeling had been correct.

  Two days later, Heleen found herself driving to the south. The little house was snug and located in a little village near Barcelona. David played with his fire truck and barely noticed her.

  “When strangers visit, he always takes a cautious approach,” Ana said about her nephew’s behavior. “Later, he always loosens up.” Remembering the first time she met this child, Heleen had nodded understandingly. However, this was
not the right time to start talking about that meeting.

  Ana suggested that David go watch a DVD, which he immediately took to his room. After exchanging some small talk and polite comments back and forth, Heleen summarized what had happened to her during the past year. Ana had listened to her breathlessly the whole time she spoke. After she finished, Ana put her hand on Heleen’s leg. “The bastards,” she whispered. “I’m so glad you survived it all.” To let Heleen catch her breath for a moment, she went to make some coffee for them. The momentary silence that fell was a welcome break. Then, in turn, Ana had told her about her brother and sister. She’d had a good relationship with Jorge until she was about twenty. That’s when her younger brother first came into contact with drugs. After yet another collision with their parents, he had decided to leave and never return again. He ended up in the Barcelona drug scene and stayed there for years. He was a jack-of-all-trades and master of none, but at some point a friend offered him a chance to work on a cruise ship. He accepted the job and moved to Nice. She had only spoken to him a few times after that. He was always very busy, mainly with himself.

  “Jorge is a butterfly,” Ana said. “He flutters through life, always looking for new challenges and lovers, all of them usually ending badly. He is selfish and self-centered … but not a bad person. He was used by Romina. She has a way of manipulating people into doing what she wants.”

  Ana had looked sad when she said this, and although Heleen found it difficult to see Jorge as a good person, she could clearly see how much it had affected Ana to see her brother so far gone. The gentle tone in her voice disappeared quickly when Ana started to talk about her sister. They had never liked each other. Their personalities were totally different and that had caused problems since they were teens. Romina was their father’s favorite. In most cases, all she had to do was bat her eyelashes to get her way. She had mastered the art of manipulation at an early age. Because of her good looks, she was very popular with the opposite sex. Romina never had a group of girlfriends, but always had a boyfriend. She wrapped each of them around her finger and was already considered to be rather promiscuous before the age of eighteen. Miraculously, years later, she managed to find a decent man who married her. This marriage lasted for five years. During one of her many escapades, Romina had gotten a sexually transmitted disease. After her husband was told by the doctor that he had somehow picked up this nasty little bug “somewhere,” he went straight home, packed up all of his belongings and left. During their marriage, he had never been unfaithful. His illusion of the perfect marriage was shattered. The divorce was finalized three months later.

  During that period, Ana had made some attempts to get on better terms with Romina. But, as usual, it had ended in a fiasco. They may be related, but they would never be able to have a good relationship. Without verbalizing it, they had both finally decided to let each other go. There had only been some fleeting contact at their parent’s funeral.

  When David came back in, Heleen had automatically looked at her watch. They had been talking for an hour and a half and it felt like they had just gotten started. Apparently Ana felt the same way, because she suggested meeting up again. Heleen had agreed and driven back to her hotel. On the way, she had thought about Ana’s concise descriptions of her brother and sister. It had been a good conversation between two women who had both lost a lot and were now trying to fight back. She decided to stay longer and told everyone at home that she was extending her stay at least one more week. That way, she was able to attend the ruling at the courthouse, have extra time to cast a more critical look at her future dream house, and also to visit Ana and David again. During that week, she had made ​​more detailed notes about the renovation of the house and had booked a small victory when she talked to David, without him hiding his face shyly behind Ana.

  During the sentencing she had sat in the back row of the courtroom. Ana sat two rows in front of her and looked straight ahead. You could feel the tension in the air.

  The judges in Girona were ruthless and unforgiving. Frank received a thirty-eight-year sentence. He was convicted of being an accomplice in a premeditated murder, attempted murder, widespread fraud, and falsifying state documents. In its ruling, the court destroyed all of the arguments from Frank’s lawyer, who had gambled on acquittal instead of full cooperation and a confession, which would have gotten him a much milder sentence. With the two crucial witnesses and all the evidence supplied—such as the partnership contract between Frank and Gautier, the loan in Holland that paid for the French insurance company, Frank’s disappearance, and his false new identity—it was compelling enough for the court to impose a heavier than normal sentence. Since the maximum penalty in Spain amounted to thirty years, they sentenced him to life. With good behavior he could subtract ten years, which meant that he would get out in twenty-eight years at the earliest. He heard the sentence with bowed head, like a defeated elderly man. It matched the age he would probably be by the time he was released.

  Romina was also punished to the fullest extent. The court was not swayed by her behavior and innocent act in the courtroom. She was also convicted of complicity in premeditated murder, widespread fraud, and possession of forged documents. This led to a prison sentence of thirty-four years, also a life sentence. This judgment also relied heavily on the two reliable witnesses and the documents that were found in her home. Her lawyer’s defense, claiming that she knew nothing about any of it, was completely rejected by the court.

  After the ruling, she had screamed like a banshee. While court staff led her away, she cursed the judges. After that she cursed Frank, Ana, and most of all that puta holandesa. Even after the door closed behind her, you could still hear her shrill voice echoing through the courtroom.

  Satisfied with the verdict and the developments in Spain, Heleen had returned to the Netherlands, where a pleasant surprise was waiting for her. Her lawyer had conducted several conversations with Frank’s employer. They had reached an agreement that had depended on the outcome of the court ruling. Now that the conviction was a fact, all she had to do was sign the papers.

  The contract meant that she would remain quiet to the media and would not publish any memoirs in the future. If she needed to deviate from this agreement because of certain circumstances, a request would need to be submitted to the company management in advance. They would always have a veto right. In return, she could keep the insurance money that was paid out to her.

  Somewhat surprised, she had asked her lawyer for an explanation. How was it possible that a company could come to such an arrangement, especially when they weren’t responsible for anything that had happened?

  Her counsel gave her a detailed explanation about the mindset of the management and the how it resulted in this policy. It came down to the fact that the company struggled with the interaction between the business side and the human aspect of this case.

  Because the management had failed to notice that Frank was having an affair with a colleague, which was a violation of company rules, they were afraid of being dragged to court. Moreover, the entire lawsuit surrounding Frank would reflect poorly on their business. Any nonmaterial damage allegedly suffered by her in this case could not be expressed in figures.

  In addition, they had to deal with Heleen’s personal suffering, the wife of their former employee. They had to arrange some sort of compensation in exchange for her silence about the whole thing. Ultimately, the board took the advice of Peter Redderswaal to start fresh and come clean. The company would stay quiet about the whole thing and take it to the grave, as would Heleen van Rijnsburg.

  After she signed the contract, she thanked Peter. It was typical of him to give the all credit to her lawyer. She told him about her future plans, about moving to Spain. According to the law, the house in Eindhoven now belonged to her and Frank, any legal claims from her notwithstanding. Because she wanted to leave it all behind, her lawyer had advised her to make a deal with Frank. She had reacted negatively to that idea immediat
ely; she never wanted to have anything to do with him again. But with some reasonable arguments, he managed to convince her. He understood that it was a sensitive situation now, but in the future she would really be better off with a good agreement. If she could manage to do this, she could really go for her dreams now—instead of putting all her energy into endless court cases that could drag on for years.

  He contacted Frank’s lawyer to discuss selling the house and a divorce. Provided Frank cooperated on finalizing things quickly and smoothly, she would waive any claims for material and immaterial damage she had suffered from his actions. He agreed with both points. He really didn’t have much of a choice, given his financial situation. Frank wanted to finish his sentence in the Netherlands. To speed up that kind of extradition, a lot of money was needed behind the scenes. The money that became available after the sale of the house could help with that.

  She had gone to Spain and had put the house in the Netherlands up for sale for a reasonable price. On the assumption that it would take at least a few months before the first buyers would make offers, she hired a local contractor in Blanes to arrange the renovation of the villa. While the men started to revamp the villa, the first buyers already showed up at her broker’s office in Eindhoven. It was an instant match. They were people from Haarlem who had to move to Eindhoven because of their work. One week after the initial viewing, the house was sold. Half of the proceeds, minus the remaining mortgage, went to Frank. Three months later, he was extradited to the Netherlands in order to carry out his remaining sentence.