A Tale of Deception

  ANN WENT DIRECTLY to the morning room. It was empty. Peeking in the kitchen, she got a big hug from Faye who told her Mrs. Drummond was resting in her rooms, while Marty and Emma were probably in the family room.

  “Glad to have you home,” Faye said warmly, as Ann left to find her family.

  Opening the door of the family room, she looked in to see Marty running toward her, yelling “Mommy!” as she wrapped her arms around her mother’s waist, not letting go.

  “It’s all right, sweetheart. I’m home,” she said softly.

  “I was worried,” Marty said with big round eyes.

  “I just had a hard time getting home, but everything’s fine now,” she said as she looked up to see Emma smiling with relief on her face.

  “Why didn’t you call us on your phone?” asked Marty.

  “I just couldn’t love. The weather was so bad I couldn’t stop to call. I might have gotten stuck right there and then.”

  “We understand,” said Emma. “We’re just so glad you’re home safe. How did the meeting go with the lawyer?”

  “It went fine,” Ann said, trying to convey to her mother she didn’t want to talk about it just yet. “Marty, would you go tell Faye I’d like muffins with my coffee in the study?”

  “Sure,” her daughter said running out of the room and down the hall to the kitchen.

  “Mom, I’ve just inherited all of Sean’s estate from his parents. The house on the lake and a lot of money, but I don’t want too many people to know about it for now. Can we talk about it tonight in the little kitchen upstairs?”

  Emma gasped at the news. “Really? You’re kidding! That’s so wonderful! Why keep it a secret?” she probed.

  “I don’t know. I guess I don’t want things to change for now.”

  In reality, coming from a poor background, she had no idea how this legacy was going to affect her life and those she loved. She wanted time to determine what she was going to do with it, and the fewer people who knew about it, the easier it would be to decide what influence it would have on their lives.

  She wanted to wait and see what God had in mind, because she knew it was going to be very tempting to look to the money to solve her needs now and not God. Like the parable of the rich man, who Christ had asked to give up his wealth and couldn’t, to follow him, she wanted to be sure that she was capable and willing to do it, that she could give it all up, if He asked. She never wanted her relationship with her Lord to diminish. He meant too much to her.

  Then she paraphrased the verse she knew in Matthew 6:24. If you love money, you must hate God, because you can’t love both. You will be only able to serve one of them.

  Ann cringed at the thought.

  How could I ever hate God? I must vow this money will never take His place. It must never happen!

  “Please don’t tell anyone about it, okay?” Ann asked.

  “I’ll try. But it’s so exciting, how do you keep something like this quiet?”

  “Please Mom, help me in this,” Ann asked fervently.

  “Of course Ann, you can count on me,” Emma promised, when she realized how much this meant to her.

  Later, when she had a moment alone with Nessa, she explained the gift from the Hendersons to her, as well.

  Nessa also promised to keep Ann’s secret. But, she understood too well, from the other side of the world of riches, what it was like having strangers, family and organizations pleading for some of what you possessed.

  For now, Ann was content for things to stay just the way they were. She loved their rooms in the great house, and Mrs. Drummond needed her. The elderly woman was becoming a good friend and the mystery of her missing grandchild needed to be resolved before she could move on. Besides, she wasn’t done getting Mrs. Drummonds assets figured out yet.

  A few days later, all traces of the snow storm were gone. Fall days returned, cold, dreary, and gray. Rain fell, day after day, drenching the world outside, beating against the windows, sometimes in sheets, driven by the wind.

  Ann sat snug in the study, working on figures she questioned in the documents from Lawrence & Fenway Diversified, while the fireplace pleasantly crackled, consuming its firewood.

  Meanwhile, upstairs in Carla’s room… “Hello, darling,” Carla said passionately over the phone. “Can you talk?”

  “Just a second, I’ll be right with you,” Peter said into the phone. She heard him talking to someone, then a door closing reached her ears.

  “Alright, I’m alone. What’s going on?” he asked.

  “Does something have to be going on for me to talk with you?” Carla asked, stung by his coldness.

  “No, of course not sweetheart,” he said smoothly, oozing charm and affection.

  Carla responded to his silky voice and stated, “I overheard Ann talking to Mrs. Drummond a while ago. She’s questioning some figures from your reports. She’s going to find out, Peter!” she said worried, for she knew he was embezzling from her employer.

  She didn’t care. She agreed with him, Mrs. Drummond wouldn’t miss it, and they needed all the money he could get, so they could go away together - soon, she hoped.

  “What did you hear?” he asked, somewhat irritated with Ann.

  “Something about the figures from the American Investment Funds not matching the deposits in your reports,” she stated fearfully.

  “That little… what business is it of hers to dig so deeply!” he stated angrily.

  What’s she trying to do, ruin me?

  “Peter, do you want me to take some jewelry from Mrs. Drummond now and put it in her room, like we discussed?” Carla asked.

  “No. I don’t think that’s going to work anymore. I just received documents indicating Ann has received a large sum of money and assets from some estate or other. That throws her motive to steal, out the window.”

  “We’ll have to think of something, soon! If we don’t get rid of her, she’s going to ruin everything,” Carla moaned.

  “I know dear. I’ll think of something,” his voice soothed her, but he was angry with Ann.

  Fawning over her, he talked a while longer, and then hung up the phone.

  Things were starting to go bad for him. Sabine was losing interest in him. Even though he had tried to keep her entertained, he just wasn’t keeping up with her lust for danger and their relationship was growing cold. She complained about his spending habits and threatened to cut him off from her funds.

  Meredith, his first wife was in the process of suing him for the depletion and mishandling of her assets during their marriage. She wanted her money back.

  And, if Ann Henderson kept up with her investigation of his phony reports, she could cause a lot of trouble, an audit maybe, and possible jail time, which he couldn’t and wouldn’t allow.

  I know! I’ll make a corrected report on the American Investment Funds account, saying an internal audit found errors from a previous employee. I’ll send it to her before she can accuse me of anything. If pushed for a name, I’ll use Ben Franshoffer’s, who just quit and move back east, somewhere. It shouldn’t go any further than that, but what if an audit should occur? Where could I get the funds to cover it?

  Smiling maliciously, Peter Lawrence looked up Ann Henderson’s accounts on his computer.

  How ironic it would be to clean her out, after all she’s put me through.

  I think I will anyway. Time may be running out for me, and I might have to leave in a hurry, but where, the Caribbean? What a nice place to disappear to, he thought happily, dreaming of a good life there.

  I will have to change my name, get new papers and ID. It won’t hurt to be prepared. I think I’ll start putting what I can in an off-shore account. But, what name? Should I use my initials - like maybe Pierce Lawless? he laughed heartily at his pun.

  Amused, he set to work preparing for his escape, if the need ever came up.

 

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