Finders Keepers (37 page)
Authors: Fern Michaels
The attorney handed her a pristine white handkerchief. “Come inside, child. We'll talk where there aren't any ears and eyes.”
Jessie watched as Mendenares punched in a series of numbers. She was surprised when the door swung open. “Sophie designed the lock and the building. The building in New Orleans is just like this one. She said she didn't want to get confused. The code to the lock is Sophie's birthday.” The moment the door swung shut behind them, the room came alive underneath bright fluorescent lighting. “It's an art gallery,” Jessie said in awe.
“Not just any art gallery,” Mendenares said gently. “Take a better look.”
“They're my sketches. Where . . . how . . .”
“From the house in Atlanta. She told me you left pads and pads of sketches. She thought they were wonderful and deserving of wall space. They're beautiful. Do I dare ask if you at one time had such a beautiful animal. They all appear to be the same dog.”
“No, I never had a dog. I always wanted one, though. What a wonderful job she did. The frames are exquisite, the matting superb. Did Sophie do all this?”
“Yes. When she designed the building, she marked the front walls for just this purpose. It seemed to give her great pleasure. She worked tirelessly, around the clock actually. What this room is is a front. The offices are in the back and in the small loft overhead in the rear. Let me show you.”
Jessie watched as he pressed more numbers on a second keypad beside a heavy mahogany door. “The code to this door is your birthday. Copies of everything pertaining to Sophie's estate are in this room. A lot of the files have been placed on a disc. We have the latest computers here. Very high-tech. Sophie thought it was wonderful. She did love electronic gadgetry. We can talk about this later. Right now I need you to sign some papers. As soon as everything is signed, I'll have them input and placed on a disc. You will be able to peruse them at your leisure and offer any suggestions or changes you might want to exercise at that time. The last page in the green folder sums up your net worth.”
Jessie flipped to the end of the green folder. She gasped aloud. “My Lord!”
Arthur Mendenares smiled. “I take that to mean you're pleased.”
“I'm speechless.”
“Consider it a temporary condition,” the attorney smiled. “Now, Jessie, let's go upstairs to the loft Sophie designed for you. It has eighteen hundred square feet. You could actually live up here if you wanted. There's a kitchenette, a full bath, sitting room, and an extra room that Sophie designated as a bedroom. Sophie used the color red because she said it was your favorite. If you look downstairs over the railing, you have a clear view of the small gallery.
“On more than one occasion Sophie told me your views were the same as hers when it came to wealth. Are you comfortable with all this?”
“I don't know. What is it I'm supposed to do?”
“Familiarize yourself with all your holdings. I would truly appreciate input from you in regard to your different investments. Sixty days from now I will consult with you before any decisions are made. You can call me at any time of the day or night to ask questions. My office will always know where I am. I would appreciate the same from you. This last year has been very taxing, and I would like to discuss it right now.”
They talked then, like two old friends. A long time later, when Jessie leaned her head back against a plush red chair, she felt tears prick at her eyelids. “Now, Mr. Mendenares, you know everything there is to know about me right down to my awful nightmares and the fact that my husband manhandled me last night. I'd like to file for a divorce and would like you to handle it for me. I don't know anything about Texas law and property settlements. Every piece of paper, every document that has come into my hands is at the house in Atlanta. To my knowledge, the Kingsleys know nothing of my inheritance. I guess my next question is, could Tanner have found out I inherited Sophie's estate? Please remember, I lived in a fuzzy world for a year. It's true I was grieving for Sophie, and it's also true that I lost my baby. I don't want to believe I teetered on the edge. I don't believe I'm the type to have a nervous breakdown. A whole year is gone out of my life. I can't get it back. Right now my head is buzzing, and I need time to think and plan. I'll stay here, but Mr. Mendenares, I have no vehicle and I'm going to need money.”
“You're going to call me Arthurâremember? Mr. Mendenares was my father. I can have a vehicle of your choice here within the hour. As to money, a bank account that is quite robust was set up in the name of Ashwood Designs. The bank itself is within walking distance. If you'll give me a moment, I will give you the checkbook and bank statements. To answer your question, I suppose it's possible your husband or his family checked out Sophie's will. However, in order to do that they would have to know where the will was probated. With the senator's connections, I suppose it's possible, but I would say unlikely. The will was entered into probate in Athens, Greece. You might want to give some thought to updating your own will. As it stands, you inherited Sophie's estate before you were married. Your husband has no claim on it.”
Jessie sighed with relief. “How long did it take Sophie to set all this up, Arthur?”
“Not long. She knew what she wanted, and she had the money to pay out to set everything up. The only things money can't buy, Jessie, are happiness and good health. Sophie used her money to make things happen. I don't think the child ever slept. Now that I think back to the ways things were, I think she had a time schedule of sorts. Do you plan on staying here in Corpus Christi?”
“For now. I need to regain a little more strength. I think I'd like to take a trip to New Orleans or maybe Atlanta. Not necessarily right now, but soon. I need some time to come to terms with the events in my life. I feel like I've been blindsided. I left everything at the Kingsley ranch. I'm wearing someone else's clothes. Can you get me a credit card?”
“I can have one here for you in twenty-four hours. In the meantime, cash works.”
Jessie smiled. “I think I'd like an all-terrain vehicle. A Range Rover would be nice. Dartmouth green if that's possible. Where will I keep it?”
“Consider it done. In the garage. You simply drive around the back. The door is electronic. There's a laundry room also. The chute is in the bathroom. You can access the garage from the office part of the building. Sophie thought of everything. I have time for a quick cup of coffee before I leave. I'll make some calls now, if you don't mind.”
“Is there coffee?”
“In the freezer. Sophie said it lasts forever in the freezer. I myself didn't know that. There's also a fancy machine that grinds the coffee, then drips it. Quite remarkable.”
Jessie laughed at the amazement on the attorney's face. “I'll make the coffee.”
Ninety minutes later, the attorney wrapped Jessie in his arms. “Remember now, call me at any time of the day or night. I want your promise. If you take any trips, let me know your whereabouts. Now, think, is there anything you want me to do other than file your divorce papers?”
“No. That's it for now. I'll see you out, then I'm going shopping.”
“Your car will be here at four. I told them to drive it around the back and to leave the keys under the floor mat. Don't forget to garage it when you get back.”
“I want to take back my maiden name, Arthur.”
“Absolutely. Take care of yourself.”
It was six-fifteen when Jessie, with the help of a taxi driver, let herself into Ashwood Designs. Bags, boxes, and groceries filled the small gallery. Jessie tipped the driver generously before she closed the door. She was safe in her own nest, thanks to Sophie. It took her seven trips to climb the eight stairs to the loft and another hour to put her groceries away and to unpack all her new clothing and hang it up. It was nine oâclock before she parked her new truck in the garage, showered, brewed coffee, and fixed herself a dinner of scrambled eggs, which she wolfed down while she watched a mindless television show. At ten o'clock she called Luke Holt. She didn't realize she was holding her breath until she heard his deep resonant voice.
“Where are you, Jessie?”
“I'm here at Ashwood Designs, the building where you dropped me off. It seems there is a really nice loft here that I can live in, so I'll be staying here for the time being. I just wanted to thank you again for all your help. When I'm settled, I'll call and invite you and Buzz to dinner. Will you come?” she asked anxiously.
“Do I have to get dressed up?”
“No. Does that mean you'll come?”
“I never turn down a free meal. Can you cook?”
“Not well, but I manage. Do you want me to send you your ten dollars?”
Luke chuckled. “I think I can wait it out.”
Jessie smiled. “Okay, I'll call you when I'm settled. Thanks again.”
“My pleasure. Are you going to tell anyone where you are?”
“God, no!”
“Okay, just so I know.”
“Good night, Luke.”
“Good night, Jessie.”
Jessie sat for a long time, hugging her pillow. For the first time in a very long time she felt good. All thanks to Sophie. “I miss you, old friend,” she whimpered.
Squaring her shoulders, Jessie dialed the ranch. Tanner picked up on the second ring. “It's Jessie, Tanner. I'm calling to tell you I won't be coming back to the ranch. I consulted an attorney today and am filing for divorce. Whatever I left behind, throw out.”
“What the hell! Jesus, all we had was a spat. You're filing for a divorce because of
that?
”
that?
”
“I'm not getting into the whys and whats of anything with you, Tanner. It is what it is. You can keep my six thousand dollars as a going-away present.”
“Wait just a damn minute, Jessie.”
“No, Tanner, you wait just a damn minute. I'm going to charge you with assault and battery. I have the bruises and the pictures to prove it. I don't want anything from you or your family. We'll keep it neat and tidy. If you provoke me, things will change. I'll add rape to the charges.”
“I didn't rape you.”
“You would have if I hadn't taken off my clothes and gotten into bed. To me it's the same thing. Good-bye, Tanner.”
17
Alexis looked around her husband's office. At one time, when Angus first came to Washington, the offices were neat and tidy, newly paneled with rich furnishings. Back then she'd had the mistaken idea that she could take her place here in this city and work alongside her husband even if it was just in a social way. That idea had never gotten off the ground, thanks to Irene Marshall.
She hated thinking about Irene Marshall. Even though the woman was dead, she still managed to insinuate herself into her thoughts.
What in the name of God was she doing here anyway? She'd risen at four-thirty, unable to get back to sleep. Her intention had been to head to the airport for the first available flight back to Texas. Halfway to the airport she'd had the driver turn around and bring her here, to Angus's office. Whatever she hoped to find was not forthcoming. Did she dare open Angus's safe? Why not. On one of Angus's trips back to Corpus Christi she'd managed to go through his wallet and had come up with the combination to the safe. For years she'd carried the little slip of paper in her wallet. It was wrinkled and frayed, the ink faded, but she could still make out the numbers.
Payback time, Angus
.
.
The moment she heard the click of the dial, Alexis yanked at the heavy door before she could change her mind. Thank God she'd had the presence of mind to lock Angus's door. She crossed her fingers, hoping she would find stacks and stacks of currency. There was no way in hell she was going to live in a cracker-box house and eat Hamburger Helper. She wanted to cry when all she saw were neat piles of papers in rubber bands. No money. Not even a stray dollar bill. She carried everything to the desk where she carefully examined each piece of paper.
Twenty long minutes passed before she snapped the rubber bands back into place. She used up another few minutes stuffing the packets into her purse to read more carefully on the long plane ride home. She wanted to cry with the injustice of it all. Instead, she swallowed the last of the coffee the young man in the outer office had prepared on her arrival. She closed the safe and then the built-in cabinet door.
Alexis sat down in her husband's chairâthe chair that his body had molded over the years. It smelled like Angus. She looked around and felt sadness well up in her. She clearly remembered how proud she was the first time she came to this place. She'd even been proud of Angus way back then. How short-lived that small window in time had been. The urge to cry again rushed through her. “You made me what I am, Angus,” she whispered.
She found her gaze going to the rich paneling that was dull now with greasy streaks and swirls where dust had settled. The plants were full of yellow leaves, the soil dry and grainy. The carpet was dusty, and so was the desk and all the rest of the furniture. Angus had always been so proud of his staff's housekeeping abilities. Obviously this new crew needed a refresher course. She raised her eyes to look at a picture of Angus and John F. Kennedy, Angus's idol. The opposite wall held a picture of Abraham Lincoln, Angus's second idol.
“You were such a fool, Angus,” she said, her voice breaking. “Didn't you see this coming? Didn't you care? I won't let you do this to us. I will not. I will not let you destroy everything. The ranch belongs to us, no one else. I will not move into one of those prefabricated buildings and wear housedresses with zippers down the front. I will not buy my cosmetics from a drugstore, nor will I color my own hair. I will not allow you to rip my life out from under me.” She cried, not caring if her mascara smeared. “I'm so tired of pretending I don't care. I'm sick to my soul at what I've become. Just once, Angus, couldn't you have patted me on the head and said something nice? I longed for a smile or a pat on the head from you. And now, when it's all coming down around your head, you want me here at your side to present a united front. And like a fool, I came because you asked me to. I tried, my God, how I tried in the beginning. All you did, Angus, was rub salt in my open wounds. You flaunted Irene for the world to see in my face and my children's faces. Acting like I didn't care was my only defense. I can't even fault Resa and Tanner for succumbing to Irene's coziness. It was the only way they could get next to you. You dangled Irene like a carrot for them, and they had no other choice but to nibble at it.”
How was it possible that her husband had succumbed to temptation? All that money people were saying he collected from illegal foreign sources boggled her mind. Who were the slimy lobbyists he was in bed with? When exactly did he sell out? If one were to believe the newspaper stories, it was when Irene Marshall's husband become ill so many years ago. The papers in her purse were proof that Angus had paid for astronomically expensive experimental treatments in Mexico for Henry Marshall. He'd also paid for a costly villa for years so Henry would be comfortable while Angus cuckolded him. Add Irene's medical bills to the list, and it was easy to understand why the mortgages and trust funds had wiped out the ranch accounts long ago. The ranch was now down to zero monies. Zero accounts meant a cracker-box house, Hamburger Helper, and housedresses with zippers.
“Like hell!” Alexis muttered.
A discreet knock sounded on the door. Alexis wiped at her eyes before she stirred, gathering up her purse in preparation for leaving. Standing in front of her was one of the tallest, shaggiest men she'd ever seen in her life.
Alexis Kingsley stared at the man standing in front of her, then at the credentials he held out for her inspection. Joseph Delbert Long. Special prosecutor. Her nostrils flared as her nose went up a notch. “Is this supposed to mean something to me?”
“I'd like to see Senator Kingsley, please.”
“He's not in yet. You're welcome to wait. I stopped by to pick up some personal things,” Alexis lied. “The senator should be here shortly.”
Alexis walked over to the young man who had replaced Jessie Roland. She dropped her voice to a low murmur. “Under no circumstances are you to allow that man into my husband's office. I don't care who he says he is.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
Alexis's nose went up another notch as she sashayed from the office, her heart beating so fast she could barely manage to take a deep breath. Her face a mask of fear, she rode the elevator to the ground floor without once glancing at her fellow passengers.
Outside in the pouring rain she raised her umbrella. Directly in front of her, walking like he was crippled, was her husband. He was soaked and from the obvious strain on his face he didn't appear to realize it was raining. “Angus, step out of the way. I need to talk to you,” she said gently. “There's a man upstairs named Joseph Delbert Long. He's a special prosecutor, to what I have no idea, and he wants to have a talk with you. I want you to listen to me and I want your total, undivided attention. If you like, you can step under this umbrella. It's pouring rain, Angus. You're soaked. Even summer rains will give you a chill.”
Alexis's voice changed to a low-voiced hiss. “I want you to look at something, Angus, and I would advise you not to make a scene.” She opened her purse to reveal the packets of papers from the safe. “I have it all right here. As soon as you get rid of that shaggy bear in your offices, you will call the financial planners who set up these trust funds for Irene Marshall's twins. You will revoke them or do whatever it takes to put those monies into the ranch accounts. If you don't do this, I will drag both Irene's and Henry Marshall's names through every court in the land. Then I will move on to the twins. I always suspected you were their father, and now I have the proof. I will destroy them, Angus. You had no right to take what was ours and give it to that family. You destroyed me, but I will not allow you to destroy Resa and Tanner's inheritance. How dare you disgrace us like this. How dare you, Angus! If you think for one minute those twins are going to take you in, you are sadly mistaken. You're tainted now. They're just starting their life. They aren't going to want reminders of this horrendous scandal. Give them all that money, which by the way is enough for several lifetimes, and they won't need you anyway. Why? I need to know why you did this?”
“It's not important. I did it, and that's the end of it. I'd do it again, too! You are a vicious, hateful woman.”
Alexis started to cry. Her voice was weary and choked with tears when she responded. “I never should have believed all the lies you told me. I did, though, because I was young, foolish, and I loved you. If you remember correctly, I did not want to marry you. I was prepared to move on as long as you supported the child. You wouldn't hear of it. Irene wouldn't hear of it. Then Irene goes all noble and divorces you so you can marry me while I protest all the way to the altar because I wanted to believe you. You promised me many things, Angus, and none of those promises ever came to pass. I had every right to expect you to be faithful. Were you? No, you were not. From day one you carried on an affair with Irene. Her marriage to Henry was a sham. You probably arranged for that marriage, too. Paying his medical bills was his payoff, I suppose.
“Now listen to me very carefully. I am prepared to live out my days under the disgrace you created, but I am not prepared to do it in poverty. You will revoke those trust funds and that's final. Irene's twins don't even know you're their father. How are they going to handle your disgrace and the scandal that's erupting? You paid for their college, they'll inherit their mother's house, mortgages and all, and get on with their lives. They will not become part of our lives. Is that clear, Angus?”
“No! I can't do that to them. They expect the trust funds. Irene and I talked to them about it. They are my children.”
“Your first obligation is to our family. This is all your doing, Angus. You created this mess, and you're just going to have to get out of it. The first step is the trust funds. Know this, Angus, I meant ever word I said. I will destroy them, and if you get in my way, you will feel my wrath, and it won't be anything like what you're experiencing now. It's payback time, Angus. One last thing: Take the twins' names off the deed to the ranch. I want this all taken care of by the end of business today. I will not give you one hour longer.”
“Alexis?”
“What?”
“I never loved you.”
“I know that, Angus. I hoped that some way, somehow, you would learn to love me as much as I loved you. I guess I knew even then that it wouldn't happen. Hope springs eternal. That's why I didn't want to marry you. Put the blame where it belongs, on Irene.”
“She wasn't perfect.”
“Neither am I. You aren't either. We're talking about our financial survival here. I think I can handle the scandal and the disgrace. I cannot handle poverty.”
“I have a press conference this afternoon to announce my resignation. I'd like it if you were there with me.”
“Yes, I can see how you would want me at your side. I don't owe you anything, Angus, not even consideration. You, on the other hand, owe me my life. How do you expect me to forgive all those years of disgrace and neglect?” Alexis choked back a sob. “What time is the press conference?”
“Four o'clock.” Angus felt his shoulders stiffen. “I imagine you prayed for me to die when I had my heart attack.”
“On the contrary. I prayed you would live. I even went to church to light a candle.”
“That's probably the biggest lie you ever told.”
“Believe what you like. I'll be here at your side, Angus. Where are you going to live when this is all over?”
“What do you mean where am I going to live?”
Alexis looked at her husband with clinical interest. She saw the fear in his eyes and played to it. “Forget the twins. They won't want any part of you. Resa and her husband went off God only knows where. Tanner lives at the ranch. I live at the ranch. Do you intend to stay in that studio apartment with the press and the authorities breathing down your neck?”
“The ranch is mine. It's been in my family for generations. It doesn't belong to you.”
“It belongs to us, Angus. The children and I are not prepared to share our half. Any fool can see you aren't well. Meet me halfway, Angus, and you can come back to the ranch. I'll take care of you. I'll devote my life to you if necessary. I think you should go inside now and get out of those wet clothes. Remember what I said. I'll call Tanner to pick us up at the airport.”
Angus Kingsley stood in the pouring rain, watching his wife walk away. He was oblivious to the curious stares of people rushing indoors to get out of the rain. He knew he would do as she asked. His options were all used up, just as his health was. The best he could hope for was to live out his remaining days at the ranch, a place he'd once loved.
As he shuffled forward he felt a hand squeeze his chest. He struggled for a deep breath. He'd do it all over again. He wouldn't change a thing. By the time the hearings and indictments got under way, he'd be with Irene. Probably the only thing he'd ever done right was not telling the twins he was their father. As much as he hated to admit it, Alexis was right about them, too. They no longer returned his phone calls. What he did know for certain was they would both take the trust-fund monies once he was gone if he didn't do what Alexis wanted. Sometimes life just wasn't fair.
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