Spoiled Fruit

by Sheila Horgan

It wasn’t until they were ready to leave that Granville, saying good night, handed Anna a business card and invited her to have her brother-in-law give him a call. “I would normally not do such a thing, but as you are a friend of mother’s, I will make an exception.”

  Anna gushed. “Thank you. He will be so excited. I hope you would be willing to just take charge. He doesn’t have a head for numbers.”

  “We will take very good care of him.”

  As the group walked through the double doors from the private dining room to the more public areas of the establishment, they heard not a DJ, but a swing band. The girls lit up.

  Carolyn swished her hips as she walked. “You want to stay, Adeline?”

  “I’d love to.” Looking at her children, she smiled and asked, “Would you care to join us for a drink?”

  The first thing that registered on each face was stunned disbelief. Piper recovered first. “Perhaps just one.”

  Instantly the group had the best table in the house. Once they were seated and drinks were ordered, it didn’t take long for a much younger man to approach Adeline and invite her to the dance floor.

  A comment was made — by Carolyn, perhaps — about the fun of being a snow leopard.

  Anna and Carolyn found it difficult not to laugh as Adeline’s children watched in amazement, and horror, as their mother was all but thrown around the dance floor. Her moves would make a woman half her age proud. All that dancing around with resistance bands each morning was obviously paying off.

  It was too loud for Anna and Carolyn to actually hear what was being said between the couples, but within a few minutes, they too were out on the dance floor and making their own impression on the couples.

  After two dances, the band took a break, and a handsome man who appeared to be in his late forties delivered Adeline back to her chair. It always seemed to work that way, one young man got up the nerve to ask one of the girls to dance, and then the others followed. The girls realized that they were just the novelty of the night, older women that danced well and were obviously fun.

  This young man was different. He started to ask for Adeline’s number, but then changed tactics and provided her with his business card. It was an ego boost for sure, but couldn’t have been better timed if they had hired an actor for the night.

  Talbot couldn’t hold back. “Mother, I thought you were unwell.”

  “Never better, Talbot.”

  “But I thought the whole reason to have Christophe come to assist you was that you were unable to put in the hours necessary to reorganize your interests.”

  “Not unable, unwilling. Not long ago I was quite ill. The doctors indicated had it not been for the intervention of my assistant Cara, the end would have been near and unpleasant. However, modern medicine is miraculous, and the effects of the mold are lessening each day. I’m very grateful to Cara. A stranger at the time.” Adeline let her voice drift off, but her facial expression never changed.

  “I didn’t know the severity of the challenge, Mother.” Granville should have been a better liar if he was in a multibillion-dollar scam. Perhaps he wasn’t able to lie to his mother as well as he could lie to others.

  Anna would have to chew on that for a while.

  Talbot tried to cover their butts. “I’m very grateful to Genevieve. She was able to discern something from such a great distance. We were only a few states away and didn’t have any idea.”

  It took all that Anna could muster not to point out that had they called or checked on their mother, they would have known, and further, they must know by now that Adeline was onto their little charade. They had to know that she knew that they had allowed her to wither. Nobody is that stupid.

  It came to her just as the band was walking back to the stage area, that perhaps Adeline’s family was unaware. Perhaps it wasn’t stupidity that legitimized their beliefs, but rather, arrogance.

  After an hour of the younger generation watching the girls dance with one younger man after another, they excused themselves for the night.

  Not long after that, Roland came to the table and advised the girls that the couples were on the road and that they were clear.

  Anna seemed energized. “Let’s get back to your place and see if we all saw the same things tonight.”

  The girls followed Roland out of the restaurant and climbed into the waiting limo.

  Anna thought, once again, if she lived to be a hundred, she would never get used to this kind of life. Not that she expected to experience it again anytime soon.

  Back at Adeline’s apartment, the girls were helped from the limo and escorted through the lobby and to the elevator. Roland wished them a good night and was about to walk away when Adeline invited him to join the discussion. His relief at being included was palpable.

  Once upstairs, Elsa greeted the group and offered refreshments. Moments later she wheeled a coffee cart loaded with gourmet coffee and tea into the library.

  Adeline thanked her and said she would pour.

  With Roland perched on the edge of a leather chair and Anna walking around inspecting first editions, Carolyn helped Adeline with the drinks and then settled into a comfortable sofa.

  “So, what’d ya think?” Anna smiled.

  “We observed nothing out of the ordinary. They did not intermingle with anyone, staff or guest. They kept to themselves. They came straight from the offices of Granville, where they all met for approximately twenty minutes before joining you at the restaurant.”

  Carolyn shook her head. “I guess we didn’t get as much as we had hoped, although it was all worth it to see the look on your kids’ faces when that young man in the black shirt and tie whipped you around the dance floor and you kept up with him every step of the way.”

  The other girls matched the smile on Carolyn’s face.

  Adeline clapped her hands. “It’s always nice to banish someone’s mistaken belief, isn’t it?”

  Anna agreed. “It sure is, but where exactly does this leave us?”

  Roland volunteered, “In the perfect position.”

  Carolyn’s brows met in the middle. “And what makes you say that?”

  Roland looked at ease for the first time that evening.

  Anna spoke with complete confidence. “They were so scared, you could smell it on them. They’re also desperate.”

  Roland was unconvinced. “And what makes you say that?”

  Anna shrugged. “They took the bait.”

  “Which bait is that? And why were you baiting them? I thought we had an agreement.” Roland was stern.

  “We said we wouldn’t do anything dangerous. Mentioning that my brother-in-law might want them to invest his money wasn’t dangerous.”

  Roland was incensed. “It certainly was. Wait until they go home and do background checks and find that you don’t have a brother-in-law, or that he is unable to invest.”

  “That’s the beauty of it. Everything I told them was true, so they can check all they want to, and all they are going to do is confirm what I said.”

  Carolyn laughed. “You have a rich brother-in-law?”

  “I do. He invented a little widget thing, something to do with manufacturing. He worked in a factory, told his bosses a million times how they could improve the process, offered them the idea for free, but they wanted no part of it, so he developed it himself and sold it to the highest bidder, which happened to be their direct competition.”

  Roland shook his head. “I had no idea.”

  “He is a nice man. Gentle soul, really. When I lost my husband, there wasn’t anything in the world he wouldn’t do for me. I’m sure if I ask him to meet with the boys, or do something else, he would be more than happy.”

  Roland couldn’t contain himself. “No!”

  Anna’s voice showed her annoyance. “Excuse me?”

  “I’m sorry. Let me rephrase that. Mrs. Harris, please do not get your brother-in-law involved. This is not a game. These people are dangerous.”

  Anna was ins
ulted and didn’t try to hide it. “Roland, I am not a fool. I understand the ramifications should this project go awry. However, just because I do not work for you or have your credentials does not in any way mean that I would be careless with the life — or fortune — of one of my own.”

  Roland took a breath. “I understand that, and I’m sorry, but please, try to take a step back and look at this situation for what it is.”

  “I have, and I have a plan.”

  Later that night, when Roland ran the conversation through his overworked and sleep-deprived mind, he couldn’t remember if he’d rolled his eyes at Anna. He sure hoped he had not.

  NINE

  THE GIRLS WERE up early. They had a lot to do. Anna had been in contact with her brother-in-law, who was completely on board. Really, there wasn’t much for him to do. His involvement was to simply not respond to the call if and when Granville called. In return, when the girls got back to town, they would bring him to lunch and fill him in on every detail.

  Since his wife had passed, his life had become quite a bore. He lived in the same house they had shared for decades. He had the same friends, most of whom were still happily married. Every day he felt just a little bit more alone than the day before. When Anna had called, he was pleased to hear from her and hoped that he would be able to get back in the swing of things, not only with his family, but with hers as well. And after hearing her so lively and animated, he thought that just maybe it was time for him to stick his toe in the water again. Maybe it was time for him to find some new friends. Time for him to get something going. Get the juices flowing. Just the thought of the possibilities made him smile for hours.

  Doug Jackson showed up right on time. Roland had suggested that they have one of his people represent himself as Purnell, keeping Anna’s brother-in-law a safe distance from the whole project. Initially there was no need for him to make the call from Adeline’s place, but Roland insisted it would be better for the girls to hear the whole conversation.

  Anna was absolutely against it. She figured they would hear something they wouldn’t have heard if there had been a real conversation between Granville and her brother-in-law Purnell. Purnell was in Florida, and the girls were in New York. What if they slipped and said something they shouldn’t? The whole plan would fall apart.

  On speakerphone, in the library, Doug sat back from the phone, crossing his legs and putting one hand behind his head. When Granville came on the line, Doug introduced himself as Purnell, brother-in-law to Miss Anna Harris and asked what all the nonsense was about. He informed Granville that Anna had called all excited about an investment opportunity and that as a courtesy he had called Granville, but had to disappoint him as he just wasn’t interested at this time.

  Doug, as Purnell, allowed Granville to engage him in conversation, running one tangent to another. Doug was very aware that Granville was on a fishing expedition, and he played the part well. He informed Granville that he had a little money set to the side, but that with all that had happened in the economy over the last few years, he felt safe just leaving it where it was. He explained to Granville how the small change in the manufacturing process that he was fortunate enough to notice was a real cash cow — information Doug had garnered from Wikipedia while preparing for his role — and he wasn’t worried about his future.

  After approximately an hour of shooting the breeze they got around to the meat of the discussion. It was after Doug mentioned that the real reason he didn’t need to invest was that he had an even better idea for an even more lucrative process. Doug laughed and said that if he had the knowhow it was probably a trillion dollar idea, but that in all honesty it would probably only bring him a little over a billion.

  When Granville feigned no interest in a billion-dollar idea from a proven success, they knew they had him.

  Doug rang off and smiled at the girls. “I think that went well.”

  “It did. Thank you. Will you be available should he call back?”

  “I have this number — it is a Florida area code. Things are so much easier now that we have cell phones and you can take the number with you. I had an associate work a little magic. This is the true number for Purnell. All calls coming in from this area are allowed to pass. All numbers coming from any other area are rerouted to Florida. It is a little bit hinky, but I think that we will only require this measure for a few days. My guess is that this will all be sorted by then.”

  Adeline stood. “Thank you, Doug. Please keep us advised.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  The girls were quiet as they watched Doug exit the library and close the door behind him.

  Adeline turned, a smile on her face. “What do you think?”

  Anna shook her head. “It was uncanny. He actually sounded like Purnell.”

  Carolyn started to get excited. “That’s good, right?”

  Anna nodded. “That’s real good. Now that we have that in place, what is next? I suggest that next we put a little pressure on, but only a little. If everything comes at them at once, they’re going to know that something is going on. They will sniff it out. They didn’t get this far by being stupid.”

  “That is the real shame of it. My children are not stupid. They are, in fact, quite brilliant. Had they chosen the right path, all that they have accomplished they could have achieved legitimately. I haven’t a clue as to why they chose this more problematic course to follow.”

  “Boredom?”

  “What, Carolyn?”

  “I found when teaching that the vast majority of the time when we had a problem with students, it was one of two things. They either didn’t understand the material, or they were so bright that they knew the classwork before arriving in class, and they were simply bored.”

  “I understand that, but they are well out of school.”

  Carolyn offered, “If you have children who are never challenged, who are able to buy or talk their way out of every problem, and are bright enough that school is not interesting, it seems to me that they would look for their excitement elsewhere. It seems to me that once you are involved in that world, you either can’t get out of it — as someone knows where the bodies are buried — or you are hooked on it. Why do people jump out of airplanes? They like the feeling they get. The excitement. Maybe for your children, it isn’t about the money. Maybe it is about the thrill of getting away with the transgression.”

  Anna agreed with Carolyn’s theory, and it got her to thinking in a whole new direction. She’d set that to simmer in the back of her brain. Instead of mentioning it, she voiced her agreement. “That might very well be the case.”

  Adeline seemed deflated. “That would mean that even if we are successful in eradicating this problem, they will simply go on to create a new one.”

  Anna took a deep breath. “We will deal with that when we must, but for the moment, let us focus on cleaning this mess up before anyone else gets hurt and, just as important for your kids, the cops get involved.”

  Adeline agreed. “The authorities must know that something is amiss; I have not a clue why they have not interceded.”

  Anna tried to explain. “I know that with my nephew, the cops knew for a long time that he was doing wrong, but they followed him along, thinking that they would be able to get more evidence on him and that he might lead them to a more powerful player.”

  Carolyn asked. “And did he?”

  “No, he was just a lost soul making bad decisions. He ended up pleading out and spent six months in jail. Straightened his ass right out. He has been nothing but a church boy ever since.”

  Carolyn smiled. “I’m glad to hear that.”

  Anna tried to get the girls back on track. “Back to the plan. I think the call was a success. We decided last night that we would decide after the call if we want to go with plan A or plan B. Which is it, girls?”

  Carolyn raised her hand. “I vote B.”

  Anna seemed not to agree. “And why is that?”

  “Well, plan A was to
push from here. I think that it was a logical option to come up with at the time, but now that we have had such a successful contact, with Doug playing the part of Purnell, that another push from this end would not only be redundant, but it would look forced, and they might catch on. If we go with B and push from Florida, it looks more realistic. Did anybody talk to Chris?”

  Adeline smiled. “I spoke with him late last night. He’d just gotten in from a date. Seems he is acclimating well to his surroundings.”

  Anna laughed. “I’d worry about a young man who locked himself inside. What did he think of the plan?”

  “I must confess, I was hesitant to give him all the details. At the beginning of our conversation there was still a tightness about him. I thought that perhaps he would turn around and inform his parents. A child should be more loyal to his parents than to his grandmother, especially when that grandmother has not been a major influence in his life.”

  Carolyn encouraged her friend. “That’s reasonable. What changed your mind?”

  “We spoke for almost two hours. By the end of that conversation I had a much better understanding of the boy. I believe him when he tells me that he simply wants to use his position in life in a positive way, although he is the first to admit he hasn’t quite figured out how to do that.”

  “So he is on board?”

  “He is.”

  “Do you want to call him, or shall I?”

  “I think it best if you did. He is expecting your call, Anna. He may have questions that you are most qualified to respond to.”

  “I’ll make the call right now. On speaker?”

  “That is not necessary. I’m going to go see to our lunch. We need to set the stage. If things work out according to our plan, my children will burst into the room. We need to look as if we are not expecting them. If they do not burst into the room, we will enjoy a lovely meal and think of how to proceed.”

  Anna seemed not to want to take on this task alone. “Carolyn, can you maybe listen in and take some notes, just in case?”

  With the nod of her head, Carolyn grabbed her trusty notebook, sat cross-legged on the floor, and motioned for Anna to make the call.