Bittersweet Revenge (6 page)

After she’d moved to San Francisco, Alison set up her home and life without consulting her parents about anything, which they were fine with. They believed they had given her the life to allow her to know who she was, what she wanted, right from wrong, and they actually did not interfere. Thankfully. 

Chapter Ten

The trip to Phoenix was uneventful, as usual. Alison was happy the car had a CD player as radio towers were few, which meant no radio, no cell phone, unless you had Serius radio or MP3. She’d taken a container of CDs from home and settled in for the drive. Fortunately, one night in a motel in Southern California was all that was necessary, so she stayed in Palm Springs with an ulterior motive. There was a fabulous deli in the area and the next morning she loaded up with goodies to take her family – corned beef, pastrami, chicken salad, breads, pastries, half sour dill pickles.

The visit went far better than Alison thought it would. Everyone was jovial, no issues thrown into her face, no one was critical of anything she was doing in her life, and she almost thought she was in the wrong house.  They made a video to send her grandmother, which was fun, something the family had never done before. When Alison left five days later, it was to hugs and bon voyage with the very best of attitude from everyone.

When she arrived home, she felt better than she had in a very long time, ready to go back to work and put her life in a new order. She’d thought a lot about what she wanted to do while she was driving, an exercise that always gave her focus and a good attitude. She still carried a small tape recorder with her in order to make notes as she went along. 

Back at work on Monday after a nice weekend in her own place, she was happy to see everyone and settled in to see where her life there had left off. She realized what an incredible staff she had as there was no garbage for her to deal with, everything was in order and ready to begin on the new case they’d just taken in. Mike had charged it to her as he knew she would be back and ready for a big challenge. She was.

It was the most beautiful October in San Francisco Alison could ever remember, until she got the phone call during the night from her mother. Granny Paula had died and her parents were heading to Connecticut to make funeral arrangements. Alison did not have to make the trip if it was not convenient as the funeral would be small, more like a memorial service, but her mother noted there would be legal matters including finances that would be dealt with immediately. 

“What does that mean, Mother? Why would that include me?” Alison wanted something more definitive in the way of an answer rather than a brush off with facts added later.

“Well, Alison, I happen to know that mother left you a great deal of money and the will is going to be read, so it’s up to you if you wish to be there.” Her mother sighed, that sigh Alison hated so much.

“Mother, if I am going to hear the will read, I am going for Granny’s funeral. How or why would I even separate? I will get a flight and call you back soon. When are you and daddy leaving?” 

“Our flight is at 9:00 a.m. Let me know. We’ll be at Granny’s apartment and you can stay there, too.”

Alison phoned Mike and her secretary at a reasonable hour after making her flight arrangements into LaGuardia. She didn’t need to take much in the way of clothes or incidentals, fortunately, pulled her passport and some money together, and was off to the airport for an early flight. She would actually arrive shortly after her parents.

On the flight back to San Francisco after the funeral, Alison recounted the visit with her family, her grandmother’s funeral, and the reading of the will. To Alison’s astonishment, her grandmother had left her five million dollars, tax free, to do with as she pleased. The money had already been transferred to her bank in San Francisco and the receipt was in her purse. She was too shocked to think beyond the fact that she had money.

She went back to work as if nothing had changed, but as the holiday season approached, she found herself restless again, thinking about Rick, remembering their time together. No matter how hard she tried, she seemed unable to move beyond him every year at the same time.

Just before Christmas, when the Firm was planning its schedule for coverage over the holidays, Alison went into Mike’s office and gave written notice that she was resigning. She’d not told anyone about the inheritance from her grandmother except Brenda, so his first reaction, naturally, was to ask if she was going to be okay financially. She assured him she would be, just needed time to sort things out. And she made it clear that she wanted no fan fare, no goodbye party, that the announcement could be made after the holidays when everyone came back to work … everyone but her. He agreed to her wish.

It wasn’t as if she had anything planned, just wanted to enjoy the holidays as much as she could and not get hung up in a lot of emotion. Maybe she would refurnish her apartment, something a bit richer perhaps, but when all was said and done, she still loved her furnishings, the Danish styling and clean cut easy lines of all the pieces, her dishes, and everything else she’d put together over the years. 

She did begin running again, this time putting more focus on marathon running rather than pleasure. Perhaps that’s when the idea first popped into her head. She wasn’t sure. What she was sure about was that she had to do something to change her focus and help her find a new direction. But she had to let go of Rick completely and she finally admitted to herself that was the problem.

She had enough money to do anything she wanted to, but the only thing we wanted to do was to pay back Rick. He had to be punished for what he had done to Alison. He destroyed her from ever being able to have a child. That’s all she ever wanted and he took that away from her. He had to pay for that.

Over a period of time, the idea came to her. 

And she knew she could not tell anyone. No one. Ever.

Chapter Eleven

The following week, Alison called an old friend of hers who worked for the Swiss Embassy in San Francisco, and invited him to dinner. They hadn’t seen each other for a few years, but had always been fond of one another and had a deep trust. 

Emil met her at MacArthur Park, on time, as he always was. They hugged and ordered cocktails while waiting for a table. He fussed over her, saying how good she looked. She did. It was the best she’d felt or looked in a couple of years. He told her about his wife and new baby, how happy he was to still be able to live in San Francisco, work at the Embassy. They talked briefly about politics as well. 

Alison told him little of her personal life but did mention her grandmother’s death and things going on at the law firm. He was shocked to learn she had quit, wondering to himself how she could possibly survive financially. The question in his mind was soon answered.

“Emil, my grandmother left me a huge amount of money, so big that it’s almost obscene to mention. Five million dollars, tax free.” 

The look on his face said it all. His mouth dropped open, eyebrows went up, and he touched her hand as if to say, “You go, girl.” They both laughed.

“So, I kept working for awhile, then decided I couldn’t stand being in the office any longer and quit. I’m kind of working through what I want to be when I grow up, but in the meantime, there’s something I need to do and I need your help. And I am paying for that help because I trust you with my life and you deserve something for that. But I need to make clear that it is not for anything illegal, okay. Nothing illegal, no crime by me in any way.”

She reached into her purse and handed him an envelope. He was shocked and couldn’t help looking inside. Alison told him it contained fifty one thousand dollar bills. Emil gulped.

“Alison, my God, I can’t take this from you. I know if you tell me there is no crime, or you will do nothing illegal, that is to be the case, but we are friends. I will help you but you cannot pay me for it.”

She shook her head and said there was no other way she would do it. End of discussion.

“I am sure you can use the money for whatever, and I could care less, but it has to be this way. What I need is for you to connect me with someone in Zurich who can provide me with a new identity – passport, driver’s license, social security card, etc. The best money can buy. I will pay whatever the price and will need everything for about a year.”

Emil stared at Alison for just a few moments. Silent. This was not a person who would ever do anything to cause problems and again, he just had to trust what she told him.

“It will cost a lot of money, Alison. A lot. I’m talking about $100,000 or more in American dollars. Everything has to be without a hint of suspicion. No one could ever suspect that all the papers are not true.”

“I am prepared to pay the cost and a bonus. I understand completely. This is why I am willing to pay whatever it costs. It has to be the best, no slouch in any way. Do you know someone?”

“Yes, I do know someone. Let me be in touch and see what he says, how long it will take, the cost, that sort of thing. Do you have a timetable for plans?” 

Alison thought for a moment. “My timetable will depend on the job being done. If it’s a month, two months, whatever it will take so long as the work is not compromised. If he wants money first and you trust that, I will get the money there first. Just tell me what needs to be done and it’s done.”

They enjoyed their dinner and hugged goodnight, with Emil promising he would be in touch quickly. They agreed to not use email for this situation, and he would not call from the office as calls there were often recorded. He thanked Alison again for the money, still obviously in shock.

Several days later, Emil phoned and asked Alison to meet him for breakfast the next morning at the Embarcadero Center, close to his office. She knew from that call that he had the information she needed.

They met at 9:00 a.m., this time Emil having already gotten coffee and muffins, knowing Alison to always be on time. They chatted for a few moments and he told her he had gotten a safe deposit box for the money as he didn’t want to put it into his accounts. And he still had not told his wife about the money, mostly for fear that she’d want to spend it right away. He would not be frivolous, for sure, and reasoned there was nothing wrong with having a little “stash” of his own.

“I have a contact for you who will arrange for the work to be done that you need. It is of the highest quality possible on all levels. The wish is that you come to Zurich and make the contact, make the down payment, and wait there while the work is done, about a week. Then you will be ready to do whatever and go wherever. The price is $150,000 complete.” Emil searched Alison’s face for a look of surprise, but no such look was forthcoming. 

“Excellent. That is exactly what I am looking for. Thank you. Okay, I will make the arrangements to go within a couple of weeks. I have some things to do first as I will be gone for about a year. So here’s another proposition for you. You mentioned that you and your wife are renting a small apartment and will have to move soon now that you have a baby. I offer you to move into my apartment for the time I am gone, to live rent free, and you will have use of everything there.” 

Emil once again was stunned into silence. Here was a woman he’d known for years, never out of step about anything, practical, living an orderly life, and yet she’d managed twice in a week to knock him off his feet, so to speak. 

“Alison, I hardly know what to say. That’s an incredible offer from you. Why would you do that?”

“It’s simple. We trust each other. You need a place to live. My things will be safe and I don’t want to worry about renting out to just anyone. I know you don’t make a lot of money and this will help if you can save on rent for a year. The utilities are very reasonable, so I will leave you money to pay for them. I don’t use the garage as I don’t have a car, but you do, so it works perfectly. Emil, it’s only money to me. I have more now than I’d ever imagined possible, but you know I’m not into fru-fru things. My home is what I’ve built up for a long time and I love it, so why wouldn’t I want someone in it who would care about it? So talk to Lisa. What do you think she will say?” 

“Oh, are you kidding? She will say, ‘when do we move?’ She will be grateful and appreciative and excited. We have been talking every night about what to do when our lease ends next month and this is like manna from heaven.” They parted with Emil telling Alison that they would talk that evening after he’d been able to talk with Lisa; that everything would be in place quickly. 

Alison felt an enormous sense of relief, knowing that she could go forward with her plans and her home would be given over temporarily to someone she deeply trusted. When they talked later that night, she and Emil arranged for a time the next day for he and Lisa to come over and go through the apartment, review Alison’s inventory, and she would provide copies of everything from insurance policies to appliance manuals. 

She went through every room in the apartment and took photos as well as verifying the insurance logs she kept of china, silver, that sort of thing. It occurred to her that she should give Emil power of attorney for anything relating to her home, so she would take care of that in the morning. She also decided it would be best to put her financial records not to do with the home in her safe deposit box. 

As she was going through the rooms and checking, double checking, Alison also thought perhaps it would be a good idea to set up some method for communication in case something happened. She was telling everyone she would be in Zurich, but only she knew she would be there for just a short time. What if something happened to her parents or Brenda, any of her friends. She’d want to know. One more item on the list for the contact in Zurich.