* * *
The next few months passed as a blur. After I sold the Renoir, Rita had her surgery and started her radiation and chemotherapy treatments. Some days she felt pretty miserable, but on the whole, the treatment went well.
Mary chipped in by taking care of our kids whenever Rita wasn’t up to it. And I found out how resilient my kids were. We told them Mommy was sick, but the doctors were making her better. They seemed to accept our words and were actually on their best behavior during the whole process.
Shortly after Rita completed her treatments, the doctors ran some more tests. She was cancer-free! They’d have to monitor her closely for the next several years, but her prognosis was excellent.
A couple of days after we’d gotten the good news, I picked up the newspaper and saw an article that made the hair on my arms stand up. The Metropolitan Museum of Art was announcing an important acquisition. My parents were donating a portion of their art collection to the museum in exchange for a wing to be named in their honor. A list of the paintings included the Renoir we’d forged. The donation was going to be made in one month’s time with a black-tie gala kicking off the event.
That evening, when I gathered Rita, Andy and Mary and told them the news, they looked worried
“Are we going to get caught?” Rita asked. “It’s one thing to fool an amateur art enthusiast; it’s another to fool the museum’s experts.”
“I think we’ll be all right,” I said. “Even if the museum discovers the forgery, nothing will link us to the fake.”
“What about your parents?” Mary asked.
“They deserve whatever happens to them. At a minimum, they’ll be humiliated. Even if the museum tries to keep it quiet, these things always get out. Someone on the board will be happy to pass along some gossip about my family. The rich love to take each other down a few pegs.”
“Could there be any legal ramifications for them?” Rita asked.
I thought about it for a minute. “There could be. My parents would take a tax write-off for a donation like this. If it could be proven that they had knowledge of the forgery, they could be charged with fraud.”
“Oh, God,” Rita said. “Maybe we should tell your parents what we did. Then they wouldn’t have to donate the forgery.”
I looked around the table. “We can’t tell my parents anything. If we did, we could go to jail and I’m not going to let that happen. Besides I’m not worried about my parents. They have the best attorneys money can buy. Even if they were guilty, they’d probably get off. But we know they’re not guilty. There’s no way anyone could prove they had prior knowledge of the forgery. I assure you, my parents will not go to jail for this.”
I leaned back in my chair and smiled. “On the other hand, the bad publicity, the humiliation...well, it couldn’t happen to a nicer couple, could it?”
For a moment, I wasn’t sure if the others would go along with me. But then everyone laughed.
“What do they say?” Rita asked. “Revenge is a dish best served cold.”
# # #
www.LindaJohnson.us
Other works by Linda Johnson:
“A Tangled Web” - a novel
Divorce is unpleasant and messy. Murder is simple. Cathy Nelson is a young, successful career woman and mother. When her marriage sours, she turns to a time-honored solution: arsenic. Toni Ambrose is a young, but relentless detective, assigned to the murder case. Her instincts tell her that Cathy is guilty and she defies her superiors to doggedly build a case against this black widow disguised as a grieving wife.
“Trail of Destruction” - a novel
Brad Newcomb believes he is destined to be President of the United States. When he has an affair with a staff member and gets her pregnant, there is nothing he won’t do to fulfill his destiny – including murder. Brad’s brother, Ryan, is a journalist who uncovers the story and is faced with a monumental decision that could determine the fate of the entire country: bury the truth and see a murderer elected president or destroy his brother's life.
“Redemption” - a short story
Ben Hawkins blames his father for a psychologically abusive childhood and for triggering his mother’s suicide. The two men have been estranged for years. But when Ben is falsely accused of murder, he has no other option than to turn to his father, a retired homicide detective, for help. As Ben languishes in jail, the noose growing tighter, his father desperately searches for the real killer. The evidence continues to mount against Ben until the case takes an unexpected turn.
“Winner Takes All” - a short story
Robert Lewiston has fled the country. After executing the largest Ponzi scheme in history, he changed his name, had plastic surgery, and escaped to Rio de Janeiro, where he's living the high life on billions in stolen funds.
John Henderson is an ex-employee of Lewiston's who is helping the FBI track down his former boss. When John discovers information that could lead to Lewiston's whereabouts, he is faced with a crucial decision that could lead to dangerous and unexpected consequences.
“Breaking the Cycle” - a short story
Kate Bynum is a patrol cop working the graveyard shift. She has seen more than her share of domestic violence calls. More often than not, these besieged women are unable to find a way to stop the torment on their own.
When she meets a young woman who is trapped in an abusive marriage by her politically connected and powerful husband, Kate knows she must find a way to help the woman escape and break the vicious cycle of abuse.
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends