“I’ll cook up some hors d’oeuvres to go with it. See you later.”
Marcia heard a “call waiting” click on the line while speaking to Kane. She ignored it, Maybe if the caller thinks I’m reporting the calls, he’ll stop. She started the pre-heat on the oven and removed a box of hors d’oeuvres from the freezer.
The screen showed “Unknown Caller”. Marcia grabbed the phone and pressed the “TALK” button. She screamed into the phone, “Listen, you sick son of a bitch, I’m calling the police, you’d better stop calling here.”
There was no response. She pressed “END” and let the handset slip back into its cradle. She sat quietly for a few minutes, regaining her composure. She took a deep breath, picked up the phone and dialed 9-1-1.
Kane arrived at the gate exactly thirty minutes after their phone conversation.
“You’re amazing, Kane Masterson. A person could set their clocks by you,” she said as she buzzed him in. She met him at the door, took two bottles of wine from him, placed them on a table by the door and returned to give him a hug. The embrace was long and needful. When they separated, tears were streaming down her face. Kane cupped her face in his hands and wiped away her tears with his thumbs. Then he drew her face close to his and kissed her gently on the lips as he kicked the door closed.
Marcia suddenly remembered that she was warming up the oven.
“Hold that thought,” she said as she broke away and headed for the kitchen. “I’ll go shut the oven off.”
“That would probably be a good idea.”
Half an hour later they returned to the kitchen. Her kitchen had a cozy nook with a small table and two chairs. Marcia set up the glasses while Kane returned to his car to fetch his three suitcases. He returned to open the bottle of Riesling.
With all their needs sated, they moved to her living room to review where things stood. Marcia began, “I didn’t think it would be this hard. People resign from companies every day. I’m sure that they don’t go through this much shit. I don’t know whether to be afraid or angry.”
“Probably a bit of both is in order. That’s why I’m here. Did Adam give you any warning that he was going to behave like this?”
“Not directly, but when I called accounting today to tell them where to send my last paycheck and the proceeds from my pension and stock accounts, the manager told me that all my funds are frozen pending review of my employment contract.”
“Can he do that?”
“I’m afraid he can. They can hold payments back for up to two weeks. If Adam tries to make it longer, I may have to take legal action. It’s obvious that he’s going to make it as hard as he can for me, even if firing me was his idea.”
“I’m glad I got my release in writing. It’s bad enough that one of us has to go through this. How did you make out with 9-1-1?”
“That turned out to be another hassle. They hooked me up with the Police Department. I explained in detail about the calls. They told me that it followed the pattern of juvenile prank. They said they get dozens of reports like mine every month. They can’t do anything to investigate the calls unless the caller makes a direct threat against a person or property. In other words, they don’t intend to do anything.”
“Gee, it’s comforting to know that Old Bookings’ finest are out there protecting their citizens. That’s an interesting policy towards crime prevention.”
“The good part, if you can call it that, is that the calls have stopped. The phone rang right before I called 9-1-1 and when I answered it I told them that they had better stop because I was calling 9-1-1. There was no reply, but since then the phone hasn’t rung.”
“I guess we should take that as a good sign. Just to be safe, though, why don’t you disconnect your land phone and we’ll only use our private cell phones. I wonder what that bastard is going to do next to harass you? I can’t believe that he has the time to spend on this when his whole world collapsing around him.”
“I can’t imagine anything else he can do to me.”
“You know, we don’t have any reason to hang around this town. There is no need for us to be sitting ducks for that sicko. Anything we need to do, we can do from anywhere. Why don’t we go to my place in Wooster Square?”
Marcia thought about his offer. She knew that they would run off somewhere, eventually. Why not now?
“You’re right. I could be ready by noon tomorrow.”
I haven’t seen any strange cars around, so we should be able to make a clean getaway.”
“You make it sounds like we’re desperados taking it on the lam.”
“Well I did promise you a life full of adventures. Let’s make this our first one.”
Kane poured the last of the second bottle of wine and asked, “How did things get so out of whack?”
“I’ll tell you how. It’s because we’re involved with Adam Hampton.”
Marcia sat back with the last glass of wine. As she did, trepidation swept into her brain and guided her thoughts, .Adam Hampton is bringing out the worst in me. I’ve got feelings rolling around inside of my head that I never thought I could entertain. That man should have backed off when he had the chance. Now he’s going to see a side of Marcia Bloom that he’ll wish he hadn’t awakened. Nothing is going to stand in the way of my happiness with Kane.
Chapter 27
“Mister Masterson, this is Tom Bertilomi at Messenger, Carson & Wilson. I’m afraid have some bad news for you.”
Messenger, Carson & Wilson is a New Haven law firm that Kane retained for his personal legal matters for over the past four years.
“Who did you say you were?”
“Tom Bertilomi at your attorney’s office.”
“What happened to Bert Wilson, he usually handles my legal matters?”
“That’s true, sir, but Bert is in the hospital with an emergency appendectomy. He expects to be away from the office for the balance of the week. He asked me to call.”
“Look, Tom, I was just getting ready to drive back to my home in Wooster Square. Can whatever it is wait until later this afternoon?”
“Well, sir, I’ll let you decide. It’s about a pending Securities and Exchange Commission investigation of fraudulent transactions connected with your stock dealings at Preston Industries.”
“What are you talking about. I haven’t heard anything from the SEC? How would you guys hear about it?”
“An attorney at Hampton Industries owed Bert a favor and gave him the heads up. Bert tried to reach you at your hotel early last evening and they told him that you had checked out. That was right before his appendicitis attack.”
“This is ridiculous. It sounds like something Adam Hampton would conjure up in that sick mind of his. It’s a witch-hunt. Have you done anything to trace the rumor?”
“Well, Mister Masterson, we believe that it’s more than just a rumor. We made a preliminary pass at the SEC. They are definitely working on something, but they won’t comment on it until they begin an official investigation. Public Relations at Hampton refuses to comment, as well.”
“Now there’s a surprise. Look, Tom, this is a lot of bullshit. What am I supposed to do, sit around and wait until they finish checking these false allegations?”
“I’m afraid that that’s the way it works, sir. If they’ve already started an inquiry at Hampton/Preston then they should be close to making it official. I know that you haven’t asked for my advice, but it would probably be better if you didn’t leave town at this time. The investigation will be conducted out of the SEC’s Regional office in Boston. Since all the vital securities records for Preston are now housed in Old Brooking, they will no doubt conduct their hearings there. It would help expedite matters if you were available for questions within minutes rather than hours.”