“I understand your concerns, Roland. I am always grateful for your input and your advocating for your position. However, I did not invite you to this meeting for your input but rather to notify you of the plan that we have already decided to implement.”
“I’m sorry, Adeline. I can’t go along with this. I won’t be a part of it.”
“That leaves you with two options, Roland. You can excuse yourself, and we will resume our professional relationship when I return to Florida, or you can terminate our professional relationship.”
“You aren’t serious.”
“I am very serious. I appreciate your concern. I understand your hesitance. I do not require your assistance or permission.”
“Alright. What do you want me to do?”
“Have you prepared the documents that Anna has requested?”
“They are in process. I expect them to be delivered within moments.”
“Thank you, Roland. Once we have reviewed those documents, I fully intend to invite both Talbot and Granville here. We will meet in the library. I do not wish to record the event. I do not wish to have it witnessed by anyone other than the girls. Is that understood?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“If you are feeling insecure about the safety of any of the three of us, I do not mind your being in the vicinity, but I would prefer that you not hear our conversation.”
Anna wanted to make Adeline’s feelings clear to Roland. “Plausible deniability?”
“Exactly.”
Roland let out a sigh. “Very well. But, Adeline, please allow me to explain the shortcomings of this plan. From my professional and personal point of view.”
“Roland, I appreciate your concern. I understand your position. It does not vary my choice. The outcome is yet unknown, but by the end of the evening I will have done what I feel is best for my children, with the support of my dearest friends. Whatever causatum, I am prepared to accept it.”
Roland knew Adeline was more nervous than she let on. She always used obscure words when she was stressed. She could have just said whatever the ramifications, or the effects; she didn’t have to use causatum.
Anna offered, “What we need is a safe word.”
“A safe word?”
“Didn’t you read those fifty shades books? Didn’t you have any kids at school?” Her attempt at humor fell flat. “A safe word is a word or phrase that we agree on that is an indicator of what we want to happen next. For example, if we choose the word benefactor, once you say that word, it cues us to do something specific. But choose a word that you aren’t going to use in regular conversation.”
Carolyn raised a finger. “I think Anna and I will be able to read the situation and Adeline’s body language well enough to know what to do while we are in the library. I suggest that if we need help, if we feel that it is starting to go pear-shaped, then we will simply call Elsa.”
Roland shook his head. “What will Elsa do?”
Adeline smiled. “I have given Elsa the evening off. It would seem appropriate to my children to call in the help. Reality is, we would be asking for your assistance, Roland.”
“That might work.”
“I’ll do you one better than that. Go run over to the closest home improvement store and get us a wireless doorbell. If we need you, we will ring you.”
Roland made a conscious effort not to roll his eyes. “There are no home improvement stores in this vicinity; the overhead would be outrageous. But your idea is valid. I can have my people provide you with a device. That would make me much more comfortable than trying to get to a phone to call Elsa.”
“Very well. That is what we will do. Please, Roland, let us know the moment those documents arrive.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Talbot and Granville rang the bell at exactly seven thirty.
Talbot was resplendent in a jewel-toned blue maxi dress and matching jewelry. Granville was much more casual in khaki pants and a button-down. His loafers gave away his penchant for having the best. Anna would bet her next two pension checks that the shoes were handmade. Some little cobbler sitting in a back room working for weeks to make sure Granville’s pinky toe didn’t get a blister.
“Mother?”
“Welcome. Please, have a seat.”
Granville had recovered his superior attitude. “No drink? Or am I forced to play bartender tonight?”
Adeline was firm. “I have asked the staff to vacate the house this evening. No drinks will be needed. We are here to discuss business, and I would prefer you have a clear head.”
Talbot rolled her eyes. “Not more of this reorganizing, Mother. To be quite frank, it is getting to be a bit of a bore.”
Adeline snapped. “Sit down.”
With wide eyes, they both sat.
“First, let us set some ground rules.”
Talbot argued. “Really, Mother.”
It didn’t slow Adeline a bit. “Let me be quite clear. This is not a series of negotiations. You will have decisions to make, and you will not have the luxury of delay. Action will be taken before you leave this room, and the ramifications will be life altering. At the end of the evening, your future will have been decided. I pray — literally — that you make the right choices, but those choices are yours to make, and I will not interfere in them from the close of our discussions on.”
Granville tried to take control. “Mother, you sound — ”
“I will ask that you listen without comment until our presentation has concluded.”
It was Granville’s turn to whine. “Really, Mother? You are going to conduct business with these two…”
“Friends. That is the term, Granville. I am comfortable with the fact that you are unfamiliar with the concept. These two women do not care what I possess. They are my friends first, last, and always. I’ll not defend them, my relationship with them, or explain for you their importance to me.”
Talbot shook her head and rolled her eyes.
Anna assumed that Granville was memorizing every word to use in a competence hearing that he would be planning for the next few minutes. When he saw the contents of the binders, he would change his course.
Adeline continued. “You have before you binders. In each binder is documentation for what I am about to say. You may, at any time, search for a document, but be aware that all of the documentation I have gathered in the black binders is publicly available, which means it is available to the authorities without a warrant. In the red binder is documentation that I contracted with others to obtain. That information would require a warrant, but is readily available to those who require it to create a rather stunning case against you both, your spouses, and one of your children.”
Talbot allowed herself to fall back into the sofa.
Granville started to speak but immediately thought better of it.
Anna and Carolyn sat silent while Adeline outlined all that they had been able to find. Most of it was thanks to Anna’s unusual ability to isolate small facts and follow them twisting and turning through time and space.
Adeline started with the pair at about junior high age when Talbot threatened a young man with rape charges when he was foolish enough to cross her. The young man swore that he had never even been alone with Talbot, but she had insisted that she could convince the head master of her claims. It was rumored that the reason Talbot could convince the head master of her claims was because she was in his office with some frequency, unaccompanied by any other adult, which was against all school rules and common sense. There was no documentation to prove what happened behind those closed doors, but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out.
Talbot said nothing. She did not try to defend herself. Actually, if anything, she looked rather smug.
Through a high school career that was lackluster in academics but dramatic in hijinks, Adeline outlined Talbot’s life and endeavors through her high school graduation.
Then it was Granville’s turn. He was a mean little shit.
Anna was amazed at the cruelty he showed toward fellow classmates, but just as impressive was his ability to walk away from those situations, unscathed and a bit admired. A number of incidents were reported, from hazing that had gone too far to a young woman that was rumored to have carried his child until a car accident where she was badly injured but had fully recovered. The more sinister of his classmates believed that the car accident could be traced to Granville. No serious investigation was done. It was unclear if that was the wish of Granville or, more likely, the parents of the girl involved.
Adeline was frank about what was rumor and what could be proven. As she pointed out to her children, all of the discretions were long past the point at which a prosecutor could wage war.
“Then tell me, Mother, what is this in aid of? May we stipulate that we were children who participated, as did our friends, in some activities that were less than stellar? There is no reason to review a litany of childish pranks all these years later.”
“Talbot, perhaps you should try to place yourself in the position of those who would hear this information. Perhaps those individuals would not see your actions as simple pranks, but as the beginning of a lifetime of behavior that is not only boorish but harmful to all those around you. We are laying a foundation, much as any person in authority would do. Showing a long-held pattern of behavior. Reminding you of your long past might bring some kind of understanding of how you got to where you are. And let us not forget, I would like you to understand just what you would be up against should you make the wrong choice this evening. My guess is that all of this information would be made public.”
Talbot raised her nose just a bit and sounded quite haughty. “Is that a threat, Mother?”
“Not at all, darling. I would not do such a thing. I am cautioning you that if your aged mother — the woman you see as completely incompetent, if your deposition is to be believed — can compile such a list of indiscretions, think of what a well-paid staff could amass.”
There was stunned silence from the two as they absorbed that their mother knew exactly what they had said in their depositions. She certainly knew of their arrangement with the doctor. That wasn’t in the distant, unprosecutable past.
Granville tried to come to his sister’s aid. More than likely he was trying to cut off any comment she might make that would be used against them later. “A few childish indiscretions do not obfuscate all the good that we have done, Mother.”
“While I wish that your good deeds far outweighed your indiscretions, I am unable to find any indication that is true. As you will see, even the most glowing accounts of your generosity often end with the reality that the only motivating factor was your ability to pad your own pockets.”
Talbot rolled her eyes. “Surely you are in need of help, Mother. With very few exceptions all charity is borne in selfishness. It is the positive public relations aspect that is desired, or perhaps a tax shelter. One might want the social recognition. That is hardly cause for — ”
“Yes, Talbot, but I would suggest to you that your decisions regarding your youth outreach program would bring you rather negative press. The list of bad management, at the least, is long. There are vast discrepancies in the financial documents. The percentage of donated income that actually reaches the youth is grossly below standard. Most alarming is the fact that a review of persons hired to oversee the charity brings forward that a board member is a convicted sex offender. A member of the staff has been arrested multiple times for abuse. Both on children and elders.”
Talbot hissed. “I do not bear responsibility for the transgressions of those in the employ of a charity I raise funds for.”
“Let us not get ahead of ourselves. I think you will find that there is more than enough blame to go around.”
The next two hours were filled with the details that Anna had been able to coax from the records she found on the Internet. One inconsistency had led to another which had gotten Anna’s interest up, and once that had happened, it was only a matter of Roland and company finding proof of what Anna knew to be true.
The coup de grace was a single sheet of paper that Adeline handed to Granville.
Talbot leaned in to follow along.
“It saddens me to bring it all down to such insignificant data. On that paper you will see an overview of your assets, your liabilities, and your holdings. In comparison, my summary is one hundred and eighteen pages long. I would ask what you have done with the assets awarded you, but I am familiar with the answer and do not wish to embarrass you.”
Talbot wasn’t the least bit shamed. She was sarcastic when she spoke. “Then you can understand our reticence when you cut us off, Mother.”
“While I have never known either of you to be reticent, I will say that I understand why you feel you require the income I have provided to you all these many years. To be quite frank, I do not understand how it is that you have gone from persons of influence and abundance to the state in which you now find yourselves.”
“The economy — ”
Adeline finally allowed her façade of serenity to drop. “Do not lie to me, Talbot. I am well aware that the economy has been devastating for many, but you should not be among them. That is why I have taken it upon myself to solve that riddle.”
Granville sat erect. “What?”
Adeline looked at her children knowingly. “I understand your concern, darling.”
Granville panicked. “Mother, I must insist that we have this conversation privately. There is no need…”
The look Adeline gave her son pushed him back in his seat. “You, son, are not in a position to make demands.”
“What is it that you want, Mother?” Talbot whined.
“What I require is for the two of you to rectify the wrongs you have created and furthermore that you move forward in your life without repeating your actions.”
Granville was stern. “You have no idea what you’re asking.”
Adeline smiled. “You underestimate me, son. Let me educate you. From what I have in the black binder, you are guilty of one hundred and sixteen felonies. Your sister is guilty of an almost equal number. What I have even more trouble justifying in my mind is that at your knee, your child has committed forty-three felonies.”
Granville tried to fight back. “Mother, I hardly think — ”
But Adeline cut him off. “It is obvious that you haven’t been thinking, Granville. I wish not to argue the facts, as they are irrefutable. Unfortunately. Please do not fool yourselves into thinking that you could use your money — of which there is little left — or your influence to negate the reality you have created for yourselves. Further, please do not forget that I have not yet opened the red binder, those crimes — and I use the word correctly — are much more serious, but as importantly, they are against people or persons who would give not a second thought to destroying you, your families, and anyone else who comes into their focus. You’ve both made grave mistakes. You have become so brazen after years of unaccountability that you misjudged. You thought you would never be caught.”
Granville was pale, but didn’t give up easily. “Mother, I think you are overestimating. Perhaps your judgment has been clouded by these women — ”
Adeline’s eyes flashed. “You tread further at your own peril.”
Granville slumped back into his seat. He seemed to age before their eyes.
After watching Adeline do the same thing earlier in the day, Anna enjoyed his distress.
Adeline was back in power and had never looked more lovely. Anna doubted that Granville would recover as quickly.
Talbot began to cry.
Adeline did not appear to be the least sympathetic toward either of them.
“Your first decision is the basis for all others. Do you wish to right these wrongs?”
Talbot looked to the heavens and motioned as if she were speaking to an entity none of the others saw. “Mother, what exactly do you want from us?”
“One step at a time, darli
ng. Do you wish to right these wrongs?”
“Well, of course we do.”
“It is not that simple, Talbot. Every one of your relationships — business, personal, social — is based on this house of cards that you and your brother have created. Your own spouses do not understand the depth of depravity you have partaken in.”
Talbot went white as a ghost.
Granville said nothing.
“You may decide, here and now, to turn your lives around and to become the people that you were born to be, or you can continue down the path that you have chosen.”
Talbot was quiet. “Please define what it is you see as the outcome for each path.”
“Very well. If you choose to right the wrongs, I will work with you and have those I trust work with you as well, and we will try to get everything in order to keep you out of harm’s way and out of prison. Your lives will look nothing like they do today. You will learn to live within your means on whatever funds are available once we have determined what we can salvage. While you will not be considered poor by the average American, you will certainly not live in the style to which you have always been accustomed.”
Talbot began to sob.
Granville said. “And if we choose not to live as paupers?”
“You are free to leave and live your lives any way you see fit. Know this. I will protect my grandchildren, and I will do nothing to assist you in any manner, including funding your defense.”
Granville seemed bolstered by the response. “That’s it? You aren’t going to call the authorities?”
“No, I see no reason to do so.”
“Then I think that is the choice I will make, Mother. To continue to live my life as I see fit. Without your interference and judgment.”
“You are free to do so, Granville. Be aware that there are ongoing investigations into your, shall we say, business affairs as we speak.”
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