She led the way along the path next to the side of the house to the beach. They came out at the terrace. Harvey leaned the surfboard against it in the shade and followed her up the terrace steps. He squinted at the water, then up at the sun. He began to strip off his shirt and turned to Lauren, smiling. “This must be the place for the good life. What I dreamed about as a boy. Nothin’ but surfin’ an’ smokin’.”
She laughed. “That hasn’t changed. It’s still here. The kids are still doing it.”
He looked over the terrace railing and saw Anitra playing in the sand. He held up his hand, waving. “Hey, Anitra!” he yelled.
The child never looked up, continuing to play with the puppies.
“Hey, Anitra!” he shouted again. “It’s Uncle Harvey.”
Nothing. The child gave no sign that she had heard him, still playing with the dogs.
He turned to Lauren, a hurt look on his face. “She’s ignoring me. She never even looked up.”
“She’s a woman,” Lauren smiled. “She’s playing hard to get. After all, you haven’t come to see her in a long time.”
“Oh,” Harvey said. Then he grinned. He opened his bag and took out a box. Holding the box in the air over his head, he called to the child again. “Hey, Anitra! It’s Uncle Harvey and look what I got you!”
The child looked up. A moment later she was running on her little brown legs across the sand to him.
Harvey turned to Lauren with a triumphant smile. “She’s a woman all right. A present will get them all the time.”
***
After dinner that night, they moved over to the living room and stretched out in front of the fire on the woven Mexican floor rug. The child was already asleep and Josefina was finishing off in the kitchen.
Harvey rolled over onto his stomach and looked out of the floor-length windows at the ocean. He could hear the pounding of the surf but he couldn’t see it. Fog had rolled in, up the beach almost to the windows. “Fog’s really comin’ in,” he said. “Spooky.”
“You get used to it,” she laughed, throwing a log on the fire. She watched it for a moment, then added another log as a shower of sparks went up the chimney. “It was hot today. But in November the nights can get real cold.”
“Yeah,” he said. He took a pouch from his pocket and began to roll a joint.
“Something new?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Nothing new anymore. Johnny’s so busy scoopin’ up the dirt, he don’t have time for planting no more. He’s got more’n twenty people working for him now an’ his mother won’t even let him grow lettuce. She says they’re doing so good they don’t want to do anything that will bring the law down on them. I feel lucky if he gets good grass from his neighbors for me.”
He finished rolling the joint, licked it, then smoothed it with his fingers and lit it. He took two deep tokes, then passed it to her. “This is good,” he said appreciatively. “Try it.”
She did the same thing, holding the smoke in for a long time before letting it out slowly. “It’s not bad,” she commented, returning it to him. “But it’s not a Harvey special.”
He grinned, dragging on the joint again. “Them days are gone forever.”
“Too bad,” she said. “They were fun.”
“Yeah.” He looked at her. “I guess we can forget about ever getting our investment back. We never made it to the grass we wanted.”
She laughed. “Do you think we can write it off our income tax?”
He laughed with her. “We can always try. But the IRS might have some other ideas.” He passed the cigarette back to her and grimaced as he sat up. “I think I got sunburned today.”
She stared at him. “You sure did. That’s terrible. How do you think it will look when the president of Sun Earth walks into the office Monday morning looking like a lobster? Nobody will believe that it really works.”
“You’re right,” he said. “But I was havin’ such a good time out there, I forgot.”
“Remember next time,” she said with mock sternness. “Rule number one. Physician, heal thyself.”
“I’ll put some on now,” he said. “It will take out the sting and by morning I’ll be okay.” He got to his feet and went to his room. A few minutes later he was back, his shirt off and the familiar Sun Earth jar in his hand. “You’ll have to do my back,” he said. “I got it pretty good there too.”
She took the jar from his hand and looked at it as he sat on the floor, his back to her. The blue earthenware ceramic jar in the shape of a mercator of the world was highlighted by the continents in green on its surface, and the gold-painted ceramic cork holder fitted to the top representing the sun told you exactly what it was even if you couldn’t read the clear black lettering on the gold. SUN EARTH. Pour le soleil de JANETTE. She began to spread it on his back. “Janette knew what she was doing,” she said. “She said the most important thing was the package.”
“Nobody’s arguing with her,” Harvey said. He glanced back over his shoulder at her. “By the way, do you know that Jacques is no longer with her?”
“No, I didn’t.” She was surprised. “I haven’t spoken to her in months. What happened?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “We got the news just last month when I called to make an appointment to go over and talk to her about our new cosmetic line. Jacques wasn’t there and I was pushed off to the new guy.”
“Who is he?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” he said. “But they tell me he’s a hotshot that used to work for Revlon in France. A real cold-ass too. He didn’t even wait for me to finish explaining to him that we got the three basic shades and colors all worked out the way Janette wanted so that they could be blended to achieve any makeup color wanted. He just cut me off and said that their market study had shown that it had too limited a market for them to achieve a worthwhile gross and that women wouldn’t go for the idea of having to blend their own shades of makeup. Besides they were already planning to introduce their own line of makeup next year.”
“You never talked to Janette?” she asked.
“No. He said she was away on some promotion trip or something but that she would be in the States sometime in November and would probably see me to talk about a new distribution contract.”
“What’s the matter with the one you have?” she asked.
“Nothing,” he said. “But it was only for three years. That’s over next month at the end of December. He also said that they would probably require a doubling of their fees, that costs have gone up so much, their study reveals, that they’re losing money on every jar they sell.”
“What happens if you don’t agree to give them more?”
“He already as much as told me that they would come out with their own. I told you he was cold-assed.”
“Can they do that?” she asked.
“Sure they can,” he said. “All they have to do is monkey with the formula a little bit.”
“But the name?” she asked. “Are they entitled to that too? Janette was the one that thought it up.”
He faced her, smiling. “They’re fucked on that one. It’s a registered trademark of our company and they can’t touch it.”
“Good,” she said. “You don’t seem worried about it.”
“I’m not,” he said. “As a matter of fact I’m hoping they don’t renew our contract. As soon as I hung up on the Frenchman I called Squibb and made a deal for the cosmetics. And if I can move Sun Earth over to them, they’ll give me an even better deal.”
She closed the jar and put it down. “Roll another joint,” she said.
“Okay.”
She watched his hands expertly fashion the cigarette. He lit it and passed it to her. She took a deep drag. “I feel sad about Jacques,” she said. “It seems to me that he’s always been around. I remember him from when I was a kid. I wonder what happened?”
He took the joint from her. “You can ask her when you see her. If cold-ass is right, she’ll be here sometim
e this month and we’ll hear from her.” He took a drag on the joint. “What are you planning for Thanksgiving? It’s in two weeks, you know.”
“I promised the folks I would spend it with them,” she said. “They’re dying to get their hands on Anitra and spoil her. They feel terribly deprived that I don’t live right next door to them. What are you doing?”
“Nothing,” he said. “My folks are still on that world cruise my Dad promised to take when he retired. They won’t be back until the end of January.”
“That’s what Mother thought,” she said. “She told me to ask if you would join us.”
“Hey, that’s great. Does that mean she’s finally decided I was respectable?”
Lauren laughed. “If she has it’s only because she doesn’t know you as I do.”
***
They were on their dessert, pumpkin pie and coffee, when Johann looked across the table at Lauren. “I forgot to tell you. Janette’s in town at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Did you know?”
Lauren shook her head. “She never called me.”
“That’s funny,” Johann said. “She seemed to know that you were going to be here. I asked her to come for dinner but she said she had another engagement and that she would come for a drink about six o’clock. She wanted to talk to the two of us. I wonder how she knew you would be here.”
“I probably told her,” Harvey said. “I had a meeting at the hotel with her yesterday.”
“What happened?” Lauren asked him.
“Nothing much,” he said. “Beginning January first, Sun Earth will be distributed by Squibb.”
“Then you didn’t renew with her?”
“That’s right.” Harvey smiled. “She has a new system now. She doesn’t talk business, she leaves that all to her new managing director. After we said hello, we went down to his room. He told me what they wanted. I said I wouldn’t pay it. He said that in that case they had no choice but to place their own product on the market. I said it was okay with me. Then we went back to Janette’s suite and told her. I think she was surprised. She never expected me to turn them down flat like that. They must have thought they had me by the short hairs.”
Johann laughed. “I wouldn’t be surprised. I know her new managing director. He’s telling everybody how they’re going to take over the world.”
“Maybe the world,” Harvey grinned. “But not Sun Earth.”
“How did she look?” Lauren asked curiously. It had been several years since she last saw her.
“Fantastic,” Harvey said. “But you know Janette. Did she ever look any other way?”
“She doesn’t know how,” Lauren said. “Was she alone?”
“She had a girlfriend with her. A dark-haired French model type. I never saw her before and we weren’t introduced, so I don’t know her name. She wasn’t there when we first met but she was when I came back with the managing director.”
“I wonder why she wants to see both of us?” Lauren looked at Johann.
Johann shot a glance at Heidi, then turned back to Lauren. “I think I have an idea,” he said. “But let’s wait and see what she has to say.”
Promptly at six o’clock the doorbell rang. It was Janette. She was alone. It only took one look and Lauren knew that she was wired. Another glance at Harvey confirmed it. He saw it too, but Johann and Heidi would never notice.
They sat in the living room and made small talk. Janette couldn’t get over how Anitra had grown. Very tall for a five-year-old. Five and a half, Lauren pointed out. Besides, American kids were bigger than French. It had to do with diet or something. Janette agreed with her and reminded them that Patrick was also very tall.
Then Lauren remarked that she had heard Jacques was no longer with her and asked what had happened. Janette seemed a little embarrassed as she answered that Jacques had grown tired of business and wanted to go back to his first love, which was writing. She thought he was going to do a monthly article for French Vogue and a book on the history of French couture.
Heidi politely asked if she had eaten. If not, she could have a plate prepared for Janette. There was plenty of turkey and the trimmings left over. No, Janette had eaten. Then she glanced at her watch. It was getting late and she had another appointment soon. She would like to discuss a very personal matter with them.
“Of course,” Johann said, getting to his feet. “We can do that in the library.” He looked at Harvey. “Would you excuse us?”
“Go ahead,” Harvey said. “I’ll catch up on what happened in today’s football games on TV.”
Johann sat down behind his desk. Heidi sat down at the side of the desk, Lauren and Janette in chairs in front opposite him. Johann nodded at Janette. “Please, begin.”
Janette opened her purse and took out a letter. “Some months ago I received this notice from the Swiss Credit Bank of Geneva.” She gave it to Johann. “I would like you to read it.”
Johann took out his glasses and put them on. He read it quickly, then gave it to Heidi. “When you’ve finished, give it to Lauren to read.”
They were silent until Lauren finished reading. Then Lauren looked up. “What does it mean?” she asked.
Janette looked at her. “Obviously Mother placed something very valuable in that bank and it’s been there all these years.”
“Do you know what it is?” Lauren asked.
“Not exactly,” she answered. “But I have a good idea.”
“Then why didn’t you go right up there and take it out?” Lauren asked.
“The only one that can do that is the person who has the key,” Janette said. “And I don’t have it.”
“Then who does?” Lauren asked.
Johann’s voice was unexpected. “I do.”
“But you never said anything,” Lauren said.
“I didn’t have to,” Johann said, “until I thought it was necessary.” He took a file folder from his desk drawer and opened it in front of him. From the folder he took a photocopy of the letter that Tanya had left in the vault for him. He handed the letter to Janette. “I think that will be self-explanatory.”
Janette read it quickly and passed it to Lauren, who read it and looked up. “But I still don’t know what it is.”
“Gold,” Janette said. “A fortune in gold coins.”
“How do you know that?” Lauren asked.
“Maurice told me,” Janette replied. “Half of them belonged to him but before the war was over General von Brenner had Mother smuggle them out of France and put the coins in a Swiss bank.”
Johann looked at Janette. “Since when do you believe what he tells you?”
“What reason would he have to lie?” she asked. “He told me the whole story. About how the general stole the companies from him and put everything in Mother’s name.”
Johann shook his head sadly. “It’s a lie. Nothing but a lie. Everything Maurice has today, even his title, was bought for him, either by the general or given to him by your mother.”
“Then why didn’t you tell us about this before?” Janette demanded.
“You read the letter,” Johann said. “I didn’t think it was necessary.”
“Were you ever going to think it was necessary?” Janette said coldly. “Or were you planning to keep it all for yourself?”
“You bitch!” Heidi’s voice was angry. “If it weren’t for Johann, you would have nothing, be nothing but a whore on the streets of Paris today. It was Johann who kept Maurice from stealing everything from your mother, it was Johann who protected you all the years you were growing up.”
Johann held up his hand. “Don’t get upset, dear,” he said soothingly. He turned to Janette. “And what would you like me to do now?”
“Give me the key,” she snapped.
“I can’t do that,” he said. “Half of it belongs to your sister.”
“Maurice was right,” she snapped. “There’s nothing left. You used it all for yourself.”
Johann looked at her. “I took nothing except what I was
entitled to.”
“That’s the money you used to buy the company from me!” she said.
“No,” Heidi said. She ignored Johann’s restraining gesture. “It’s time you learned some truths. The money was in the bank in your mother’s name but it wasn’t your mother’s money. It belonged to the general. And when the general’s widow and sons came to Paris intending to bring a suit against you and your mother’s estate to recover the property that the general had owned, which included the vineyards, the perfume factory and the mineral water company—all of which was now in your name and Lauren’s—Johann took that share of the money which belonged to him and paid them off.” She looked at Johann. “Show them the release you had the von Brenners sign.”
Johann took another paper from the file and gave it to Janette. Janette read it and looked up at him. “How do I know this is true?”
Lauren’s voice was shocked. “You can’t believe that Daddy would lie, could you?”
“Anyone could write a piece of paper,” Janette said contemptuously. “That doesn’t mean anything. Don’t be naive. We’re talking about millions of dollars.”
“I don’t care about the money,” Lauren said. “I can’t seem to make you understand I never did.”
“You can’t be like that anymore,” Janette snapped. “You have a child to protect.”
“I’ll protect my own child in my own way,” Lauren answered angrily. “I don’t like what you’re saying and I don’t like what you’re doing.”
“I need that money,” Janette said. “And I need it now. And I mean to have it if I have to go into the court and tell the whole world that Johann Schwebel was in the Nazi army of occupation in France and together with his superior officer looted the helpless French of their possessions.”
Lauren shook her head. “I don’t believe it. You’re really not saying those terrible things.” She looked at Janette. “You can’t be willing to ruin so many lives just because of money.”
Janette stared back at her silently.
Goodbye, Janette Page 35