Part 7: The Defense's Last Card
Sensing the ground completely giving way beneath her feet, Carmen Robles decided to play her ultimate card from her isolated cell at the Dallas County jail.
Through her defense counsel, she demanded a private meeting with me, claiming to possess information that would permanently destroy Alexander Bennett’s public reputation.
Alexander didn't want me to go, but I refused his protection; I needed to stand across from the woman who had turned my daughter's wedding night into a slaughterhouse.
I sat behind the reinforced glass of the visitation room.
Carmen appeared in an orange jumpsuit, her expensive styled hair now completely disheveled, but her eyes were still dripping with toxic malice.
"Elena," Carmen croaked through the phone receiver, forcing a lethal smile. "You think you've won?"
"Alexander Bennett is no saint. The divorce settlement between you two ten years ago contains clauses masking $12 million in federal tax evasion."
"If I release this file to the press, your ex-husband will be sitting in a cell right next to me."
I looked at her, without a single shred of fear or hesitation, taking a slow, calm, and deeply pitying breath.
"Do you still think we are the same kind of people as you, Carmen?" I replied, my voice a quiet whisper of ice through the intercom.
"Alexander voluntarily reported that disclosure and paid the full restitution along with interest to the IRS three years before he ever ran for the city council."
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"We cleaned our closet years ago."
I hung up the receiver, stood up, and watched the sheer terror freeze over Carmen's face as she realized her final blackmail weapon was nothing more than worthless paper.
