not going to get any easier anytime soon.”
She didn’t look sad, she even looked a little defiant. I was pleased. The last thing she needed was to feel any guilt about the way things had gone down. She was a survivor. I could tell and I was glad. I waved for Bill to continue.
“Like I said, he must have planned this well in advance. He had been liquidating his assets and taking loans out for almost a year.”
“So what?” I asked. “What’s mysterious about that?”
“It’s all gone,” Bill said with a grin. “He turned it into cash and now we can’t find it. It’s disappeared. We think that he must have sent it overseas as a hedge in case things went wrong. Then he would have a nest egg out of the country to fall back on. When you’re running from the law a few million bucks can come in handy. There are at least a half a dozen countries in the world where a wad like that can make you virtually immune to extradition.”
We chewed it over for some more, but every thing seemed to be tied up. After awhile Bill left for the office, more paperwork he said. He hates the details; he’s more of a big picture guy. Paula and I were alone and a silence enveloped the room. She broke the ice with a question that had been on my mind all day.
“Where does this leave us Frank?”
I hadn’t expected it quite so blunt; even so I was ready.
“All I know is that I want there to be an us, that’s as plain as I can make it,” I said. “I’ve been alone for alone for a long time Paula and I’m set in my ways, but I want to try and make something with you. I don’t want to walk that road alone anymore. I want you with me, that is if you’ll have me.”
I had laid it all out and I held my breath waiting on her. I didn’t have to wait long.
“Oh Frank,” she cried and kissed me gently. “I’ve been alone too. We’ve got a connection that’s been tested hard already. I know we can be happy. Just promise me that we’ll look forward and not back. I feel like my life has just started. Is that how you feel?”
It sounded corny, like something out of a B movie or an overwrought poem, but it was exactly how I felt. I was hers.
We sat together holding hands, touching each other’s cheeks, anything to stay in contact with each other for the rest of the day. She fed me lunch, she fed me dinner, and when I woke the next day she fed me breakfast. The food was awful, but I didn’t notice it, I had a woman who loved me.
Chapter 9
The Fox
W hen I left the hospital I wanted to take some time off, but Paula said that we were both working stiffs and getting back on the job would be the best therapy for both of us. I didn’t agree, but it was true that we needed some money coming in.
For her part she left the club for a better paying dispatchers job at a local trucking company. I couldn’t figure out how she had landed it until I realized that it was the same company that Bill had broken up a theft ring for on their loading docks a year or so ago. I remembered him telling me about it. He must have called in a favor and gotten her the position, although he wouldn’t admit to it. He had contacts like that all over town.
As for me the publicity, misinformed as it was as for as I was concerned, gave the business a big boost. Not a day went by without a fresh call for my services. I was actually in a position to pick and choose, instead of complaining about the rotten jobs that came my way, but still accepting virtually every one. For all my carping about domestic stuff I had taken plenty of photos of husbands, soon to be ex-husbands paying alimony, coming out of by-the-hour motels straightening their ties among other things. I had that kind of work down cold, but those days were over, at least while this ride lasted.
For a time everything was going according to plan, my plan anyhow. Paula and I saw each other almost every day and I had cut back on the booze. My head was as clear as it had been in years. There was one
She didn’t look sad, she even looked a little defiant. I was pleased. The last thing she needed was to feel any guilt about the way things had gone down. She was a survivor. I could tell and I was glad. I waved for Bill to continue.
“Like I said, he must have planned this well in advance. He had been liquidating his assets and taking loans out for almost a year.”
“So what?” I asked. “What’s mysterious about that?”
“It’s all gone,” Bill said with a grin. “He turned it into cash and now we can’t find it. It’s disappeared. We think that he must have sent it overseas as a hedge in case things went wrong. Then he would have a nest egg out of the country to fall back on. When you’re running from the law a few million bucks can come in handy. There are at least a half a dozen countries in the world where a wad like that can make you virtually immune to extradition.”
We chewed it over for some more, but every thing seemed to be tied up. After awhile Bill left for the office, more paperwork he said. He hates the details; he’s more of a big picture guy. Paula and I were alone and a silence enveloped the room. She broke the ice with a question that had been on my mind all day.
“Where does this leave us Frank?”
I hadn’t expected it quite so blunt; even so I was ready.
“All I know is that I want there to be an us, that’s as plain as I can make it,” I said. “I’ve been alone for alone for a long time Paula and I’m set in my ways, but I want to try and make something with you. I don’t want to walk that road alone anymore. I want you with me, that is if you’ll have me.”
I had laid it all out and I held my breath waiting on her. I didn’t have to wait long.
“Oh Frank,” she cried and kissed me gently. “I’ve been alone too. We’ve got a connection that’s been tested hard already. I know we can be happy. Just promise me that we’ll look forward and not back. I feel like my life has just started. Is that how you feel?”
It sounded corny, like something out of a B movie or an overwrought poem, but it was exactly how I felt. I was hers.
We sat together holding hands, touching each other’s cheeks, anything to stay in contact with each other for the rest of the day. She fed me lunch, she fed me dinner, and when I woke the next day she fed me breakfast. The food was awful, but I didn’t notice it, I had a woman who loved me.
Chapter 9
The Fox
W hen I left the hospital I wanted to take some time off, but Paula said that we were both working stiffs and getting back on the job would be the best therapy for both of us. I didn’t agree, but it was true that we needed some money coming in.
For her part she left the club for a better paying dispatchers job at a local trucking company. I couldn’t figure out how she had landed it until I realized that it was the same company that Bill had broken up a theft ring for on their loading docks a year or so ago. I remembered him telling me about it. He must have called in a favor and gotten her the position, although he wouldn’t admit to it. He had contacts like that all over town.
As for me the publicity, misinformed as it was as for as I was concerned, gave the business a big boost. Not a day went by without a fresh call for my services. I was actually in a position to pick and choose, instead of complaining about the rotten jobs that came my way, but still accepting virtually every one. For all my carping about domestic stuff I had taken plenty of photos of husbands, soon to be ex-husbands paying alimony, coming out of by-the-hour motels straightening their ties among other things. I had that kind of work down cold, but those days were over, at least while this ride lasted.
For a time everything was going according to plan, my plan anyhow. Paula and I saw each other almost every day and I had cut back on the booze. My head was as clear as it had been in years. There was one
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