Read Online 03.She.Wanted.It.All.2005 by Kathryn Casey - Free Book Online
Authors: Kathryn Casey
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remember her as a good waitress, popular with the members. At first Celeste was well-liked. She told more than one member about troubles at home, claiming she was hiding out from an abusive ex-husband, like Julia Roberts had in the 1991 movie
Sleeping with the Enemy.
Few knew she was actually living with Jimmy. “She always seemed to be dating some new guy,” says a waitress. “I felt sorry for her that she didn’t have anything positive in her life.”
After work, the staff traveled downtown to Sixth Street, where run-down storefronts housed Austin’s music and bar scene, mingling taverns with vintage clothing stores and tattoo parlors. There they listened to music and drank. Celeste was often the center of attention. When she imitated von Hapsburg or a snooty member, she was dead-on, and the others roared. One night, while they circulated from bar to bar, Celeste flirted with a chauffeur, then took the others with her for a limo ride. “This is the only way to live,” she said, throwing back her head and laughing.
On such nights, Jimmy wondered about her absence, but the next morning she always had a good excuse. Often, she would tell him she’d been home all along, arriving after he’d fallen asleep. Instead of waking him, she claimed she’d slept with Kristina. Perhaps he didn’t investigate, or maybe he was beyond caring, for the marriage was already cooling. By the summer of 1993—not quite two years after their wedding— the bills were streaming in. Jimmy, who’d always been fastidious about his credit, discovered that Celeste had run up tensof thousands of dollars in debt. He called the credit card companies saying they were Celeste’s cards, not his, and asking to have his name taken off the accounts.
“Your wife opened these accounts, and you’re responsible,” he was told.
“When I tried to talk to Celeste about it, she’d take Kristina and leave,” he says.
As usual when all didn’t go well, Celeste told those around her that she was sick. That year, she had herself tested for throat cancer. At the club, some members felt sorry for the pretty young waitress with the sad stories; others had a different impression. “She was husband-shopping,” says one woman. “She flirted with every man with a bankroll.”
In June 1993, when the twins were twelve, the custody battle escalated. Craig and Kathryn, who had by then married, went to Austin for a hearing. In the courtroom, Kristina looked tired and bowed, as if she’d gone through a horrific ordeal. “The brief glances we received from her were full of fear, trepidation, and sadness,” Craig wrote in his letter to the judge. “She is obviously going through a great deal of emotional turmoil.”
“Why didn’t you bring Kristina home?” Jen asked Craig when he returned.
“She told the judge she didn’t want to come,” he answered.
“Mom told her to say that,” she replied.
In July, Craig and Kathryn wrote their letters to the judge, detailing reasons Kristina would be better off with them:
“Celeste is a pathological liar… She often takes the facts of situations … and twists them … taking something she did to someone and twisting it around as if they did it to her. It almost seems as if she believes it herself after a while.
“Celeste Martinez is a greedy, uncaring, cruel and evil individual …She is an accomplished con artist and is extremely dangerous.”
A month later, on August 10, in Washington, Jennifer met with the lawyer the court appointed to represent her interests. She was nervous, fidgeting in the chair as they talked. But when he asked, she was resolute: She never wanted to visit or live with Celeste again.
“Why?” she was asked.
“Mom makes me tell people lies, and I don’t like that,” she said.
At the country club, many members grew fond of Celeste. Among them were Anita Inglis and her husband Jerry. “She was charming. And she talked a lot about trying to regain custody of her
Sleeping with the Enemy.
Few knew she was actually living with Jimmy. “She always seemed to be dating some new guy,” says a waitress. “I felt sorry for her that she didn’t have anything positive in her life.”
After work, the staff traveled downtown to Sixth Street, where run-down storefronts housed Austin’s music and bar scene, mingling taverns with vintage clothing stores and tattoo parlors. There they listened to music and drank. Celeste was often the center of attention. When she imitated von Hapsburg or a snooty member, she was dead-on, and the others roared. One night, while they circulated from bar to bar, Celeste flirted with a chauffeur, then took the others with her for a limo ride. “This is the only way to live,” she said, throwing back her head and laughing.
On such nights, Jimmy wondered about her absence, but the next morning she always had a good excuse. Often, she would tell him she’d been home all along, arriving after he’d fallen asleep. Instead of waking him, she claimed she’d slept with Kristina. Perhaps he didn’t investigate, or maybe he was beyond caring, for the marriage was already cooling. By the summer of 1993—not quite two years after their wedding— the bills were streaming in. Jimmy, who’d always been fastidious about his credit, discovered that Celeste had run up tensof thousands of dollars in debt. He called the credit card companies saying they were Celeste’s cards, not his, and asking to have his name taken off the accounts.
“Your wife opened these accounts, and you’re responsible,” he was told.
“When I tried to talk to Celeste about it, she’d take Kristina and leave,” he says.
As usual when all didn’t go well, Celeste told those around her that she was sick. That year, she had herself tested for throat cancer. At the club, some members felt sorry for the pretty young waitress with the sad stories; others had a different impression. “She was husband-shopping,” says one woman. “She flirted with every man with a bankroll.”
In June 1993, when the twins were twelve, the custody battle escalated. Craig and Kathryn, who had by then married, went to Austin for a hearing. In the courtroom, Kristina looked tired and bowed, as if she’d gone through a horrific ordeal. “The brief glances we received from her were full of fear, trepidation, and sadness,” Craig wrote in his letter to the judge. “She is obviously going through a great deal of emotional turmoil.”
“Why didn’t you bring Kristina home?” Jen asked Craig when he returned.
“She told the judge she didn’t want to come,” he answered.
“Mom told her to say that,” she replied.
In July, Craig and Kathryn wrote their letters to the judge, detailing reasons Kristina would be better off with them:
“Celeste is a pathological liar… She often takes the facts of situations … and twists them … taking something she did to someone and twisting it around as if they did it to her. It almost seems as if she believes it herself after a while.
“Celeste Martinez is a greedy, uncaring, cruel and evil individual …She is an accomplished con artist and is extremely dangerous.”
A month later, on August 10, in Washington, Jennifer met with the lawyer the court appointed to represent her interests. She was nervous, fidgeting in the chair as they talked. But when he asked, she was resolute: She never wanted to visit or live with Celeste again.
“Why?” she was asked.
“Mom makes me tell people lies, and I don’t like that,” she said.
At the country club, many members grew fond of Celeste. Among them were Anita Inglis and her husband Jerry. “She was charming. And she talked a lot about trying to regain custody of her
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