Final Venture

I approached a bench just above the Frog Pond in the middle of the Common. It was a grey afternoon and a few spots of rain spattered my face. There weren't many people about. I stopped suddenly, sat down on the bench, and looked behind me, back towards the elegant Georgian spire of Park Street Church and the giant buildings of the Financial District towering above it. An old lady stumbled by, muttering to herself. Behind her was a young Hispanic man in jeans and a dark jacket. His eyes darted up at me as I sat down, and he seemed to hesitate for a moment, then he walked past me, eyes on the pathway beneath his feet.

I was being followed. He was a policeman, no doubt. I decided not to say anything as he passed, head down, but I kept my eyes on him, until he had left the Common and turned right up Beacon Street. Only then did I continue home.

Lisa looked pleased to see me. She was wearing an old blue oxford shirt of Frank's he had lent her when we were painting the apartment just after we moved in. I hugged her.

'Did your mother and Eddie leave all right?' I asked.

She nodded. 'The plane was right on time. Mom wouldn't go without making me promise we'd visit her for Thanksgiving.'

'That's OK. We were planning to do that anyway, weren't we?'

'I thought so.'

'That was a pretty unpleasant meeting this morning, wasn't it?'

'I can't believe Dad left Eddie out of his will. That was so stupid.'

'It was very generous of you to cut him back in.'

'I didn't want Dad's death to cause any more strain on our family. And after Dad left, Eddie did so much to look after Mom and me. It's only fair to let him have his share. Don't you think so?'

'I suppose so,' I said.

Lisa looked at me. 'Do you think I was wrong?'

'If it were me, I'd have kept the money. Your father knew what he was doing. And Eddie was always going to get the hundred thousand bucks from the life insurance policy.'

Lisa frowned. 'But it's not right.'

'Don't worry, Lisa. It was your decision. And what you did was very generous. Eddie is very lucky to be your brother.'

Lisa smiled. Then her face became serious. 'You don't like him, do you?'

'It's more a case of him not liking me. But after a while, I have to admit I begin to feel the same way about him.'

'He's a wonderful person, really. After the divorce, I was the one who cried. I couldn't bear the thought of not living with Dad any more, or the idea that Mom and Dad didn't love each other. Eddie seemed to take it all so welclass="underline" he never cried, he comforted. Whenever I had a problem, he was there. I was always going through those crises of self-confidence teenage girls suffer from. And Eddie always told me I was good enough to do whatever I wanted to do. He encouraged me to study biochemistry, to go to Stanford, to become a research student. He made me believe in myself again. Thanks to him, I did a pretty good job of getting over the divorce. I guess he never did. That's why he's so touchy about Dad.'

'It must have been rough on him,' I said, to mollify Lisa. What I really thought was that Eddie was a spoiled brat, who had thrown a temper tantrum and been rewarded with a couple of million bucks or more. But it was Lisa's money, and I really did admire her determination to be generous to her family.

At least now we can help Helen out on her lawsuit,' Lisa said.

'If you're sure we can use that money?' I asked.

'Of course, Simon. I want her to win as much as you do.'

I smiled at her. With everything else that was going wrong, I was pleased that there might finally be some prospect of good news for my sister. She deserved it.

'You should call and tell her,' Lisa said. 'But remember, we'll have to wait till probate comes through.'

'I'll ring her tomorrow,' I said. 'She'll be very happy. Thank you.' I kissed her. 'How do you feel?'

'Lousy'

'You're coping well.'

'Thanks to you.' She held me again. 'I'm so glad I married you. I couldn't deal with this alone.'

'It's the best decision I ever made,' I said, kissing the top of her head.

We held each other in silence. I remembered when I had made that decision. We were spending a long weekend in the Berkshires, a beautiful range of hills in western Massachusetts. We were walking up a path that ran alongside a small stream. I was in front, Lisa behind. Suddenly, I don't know where from, I got this strong feeling that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with this woman. I knew it was right. I wanted to turn round and tell her straight away, but I thought I ought to think it over first. But with every step I took up that hill, the surer I became. A rush of exhilaration flowed through me, and I smiled broadly to myself.

The gradient levelled off, and we emerged from the trees, into a clearing by a small lake, much like a Cumbrian tarn. It shone blue in the sunshine. We made our way over to its banks and sat on a large stone.

There was almost total stillness, apart from the occasional breath of wind ruffling the grass and throwing ripples across the tarn.

'You're very quiet,' said Lisa.

I didn't answer her, but I couldn't prevent the grin I had been trying hard to control spreading across my face.

'What is it?' she asked.

I said nothing.

She hit me playfully on the shoulder. 'What?'

I turned to her. 'Will you marry me?'

Her face went almost into shock. She clearly hadn't anticipated the question. I thought I'd made a big mistake. She didn't answer me. She clammed up.

'Lisa?'

She still didn't answer. For a moment I thought I had blown it completely, gone too far, totally misjudged our relationship. I sat there, helpless, trying not to stare at Lisa's silence.

The sun edged across the sky. Clouds came and went. Neither of us moved. Finally, Lisa turned to me.

'All right,' she said, smiling. 'I'll marry you.'

I let out a whoop, and threw my arms around her. We held each other tight, laughing, too excited to say anything coherent.

Now, a year later, she stirred in my arms.

'I think I'll go to work tomorrow,' she said. 'I can't stand hanging around here any more. And they need me there.' She broke away. 'Oh, I got a couple of visitors today'

'Oh, yes?'

'Yeah. John Chalfont came round. He was very sweet. He didn't say much. Just that he was sorry about Dad.'

'Did he look ill?'

'Sick, you mean? No. He looked pretty sad, though.'

'He took the day off sick today. He and your father worked together a lot. I think he feels pretty bad.'

'He's a nice guy.'

'He is. Who else came?'

'Oh, the police.'

'Again?'

'They searched the place.' I glanced round the living room. It looked just as it had this morning when I had left. 'Don't worry, I put everything back.'

'Did they have a warrant?'

'They certainly did.'

'What were they looking for?'

'I don't know. They seemed awfully interested in some of your clothes. They had tweezers and little plastic bags.'

'Did they find anything?'

'I don't think so. Why, should they have found anything?'

'I don't know.'

'You look worried.'

'I am. I feel like I'm being surrounded. Like they're blocking all the exit routes before they attack.'

'They can't do anything to you. You're innocent.'

I looked down at Lisa's trusting face. She trusted me and she trusted the US justice system.

'Gil gave me the name of a good lawyer. If this gets any heavier, I'll give him a call.'

'It'll be OK, Simon. They'll find the real killer.'

'I hope so.'

'And when they do,' she said, anger flaring in her voice,'I hope they kill the bastard just like he killed Dad.'

9

I met Craig at the airport the next morning, very early, and we made our way by aeroplane and rental car to a high-tech business park amidst the woods and highways of suburban New Jersey. We were making a presentation to Luxtel, a massive telecommunications equipment company that was a possible reseller of Net Cop's switches, and therefore, in theory at least, a possible provider of finance. I was there to field the difficult questions about why Revere had pulled out.