Sedona Law 4 by Dave Daren (ready to read books TXT) 📕

“He’s good,” I told her. “He’s in South America, trying to find himself. I think he found Buddhism along the way.”

“Ah,” Julianna said. “I practice a lot of Eastern mysticism. It can be a healing restorative experience.”

“Uh-huh,” I said.

“Plus, great sex,” Gabriel said.

“Is that right?” I asked.

“Oh, my gosh,” Julianna said, and she leaned into the table. “When you are in tune with your body, and your own energies, what you and your partner can experience together… ohh.”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow and nodded. “We can go for like, I don’t know, what, babe... six hours?”

“Well,” Julianna explained, “the problem in our culture, is that we are so obsessed with immediacy. Everything has got to be quick, quick, now. So, in our approach toward sex, we have so much focus on climax, that we often don’t take the time to really build that intimacy as partners.”

This was starting to sound like the X-rated cut of the Ghoti intro video.

“And it’s not just about sex,” Julianna continued. “It’s about a lifestyle of holistic health.”

“Are you talking about tantric sex?” Vicki asked.

“Yes and no,” Gabriel said. “Popular culture has cheapened the tantra to be about a sexual experience. But the tantra is a set of teachings that applies to all facets of your life. And when you live within those teachings, you can apply them to sexuality to achieve a mystical sexual experience you never thought possible.”

“I do workshops,” Julianna said. “I teach people how to maximize their energies to have mind shattering sexual experiences.”

“Mantra plus yantra equals tantra,” Gabriel stated as if this was a very meaningful observation to us.

“Yes, of course,” Vicki agreed.

“I have a spaghetti bolognese,” the waitress held a plate in her hand, and I smirked at her expression. God only knew how much she had overheard.

Gabriel claimed the plate, and I had my typical rigatoni, while Vicki had a salad, and Julianna had a small bowl of soup.

“Did you have a big lunch?” I asked her.

“I’m doing a liquid fast,” she said. “I’m only putting liquids in my body for seventy-two hours. It’s a spiritual cleanse.”

“A spiritual cleanse?” Vicki asked.

“It helps to reset all of your energies,” she said. “So much of our food is full of toxic waste, and we are constantly putting this in our bodies.”

“Right,” Vicki said. “I’ve heard of nutrition cleanses.”

“This is more than that,” she said. “This is about cleansing out the negative chi. Our stress and negative emotion can cause a build up inside of us.”

Gabriel nodded vehemently. “It’s best to think of negative energy like emotional cholesterol, that blocks your psychological arteries. If left too long like that, it can hinder your entire life, or even cause a mental breakdown. So, a spiritual cleanse is a holistic process, in which through the union of the spirit, mind, and body, you cleanse out all of the emotional toxins to achieve total mental freedom.”

“And when you achieve freedom,” she said. “There is no limit to how fully you can experience life.”

Or, no limit to how much bullshit you can spout, I thought. They went on like this for a while, and Vicki was better at listening to this than I was. I guess because she hadn’t grow up with it. New age philosophy struck a chord in me, somewhere deep where my acting skills couldn’t save me. Then, my phone went off. I checked the screen, and my eyes widened. It was the prosecutor.

“I have to take this,” I said and slipped out of the room.

“Henry Irving,” I answered.

“Hello, Henry, Chet Levinson,” Chet said.

“Hey, Chet,” I said. “Good to hear from you.”

“Sorry to call you so late,” he said. “But with the arraignment in the morning, time is critical.”

“Your timing is perfect,” I said. “I’m actually with the client right now. What can I do for you?”

“As you know,” he said, “We had a confession from Judith Klein on the murder of Beowulf Vandergarten.”

“Right,” I said. “Durant called me this morning.”

“Well,” Chet said. “We have reviewed the confession, and have decided it isn’t admissible, and we will continue prosecution against the suspects.”

“Why isn’t it admissable?” I asked.

“The suspect gave conflicting stories,” he began, “that did not hold up and did not match the evidence.”

“Did she recant her story?” I asked.

“No,” he said. “But we are pursuing criminal charges for a false confession.”

“Okay,” I said. “We’ll see you in the morning.”

“Will do,” he said.

I went back inside and found our party, they were laughing at some joke, and they all looked up at me as I sat back down.

“Who was that?” Vicki asked.

“Prosecutor,” I said.

“What did he say?” Julianna gasped.

“He said what we already knew,” I said. “They’re throwing out Judith’s confession.”

“Why?” Julianna asked.

“They said she gave conflicting stories that didn’t match the evidence,” I said.

“Why did she confess, then?” she asked, her brow furrowed.

“There are a lot of reasons,” I said. “Believe me, I’ve been investigating this woman for a while. She may not have used the dagger, but she’s far from innocent.”

“So what’s her ulterior motive?” Gabriel said.

“I’m not entirely sure,” I said. “But I know it has to do with money, sex, and John Malone.”

“And Olivia,” Julianna said sadly.

On that note, a somber mood fell over the table, and we sat in silence for several minutes. Finally Gabriel spoke.

“I think we need to do a group cleanse, to clear out the negative energy,” he said. “

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I think we should all have sex together,” his expression was deadpan. “It would cleanse out the negative energy, and help bring us into awareness, and into unity for the arraignment, and for the rest of the case, and the trial. Let’s bring