Chapter 21
When Bev reached her car, she was surprised to find Emily waiting with Hank, Betty, Grace and Jerry Deller. She had not seen them in the crowd, and was glad she didn't know they were there. Emily and Grace were both crying. Emily put her arms around her mother and said, “You were amazing, Mom!”
Bev blinked madly and quipped, “How many times does the mother of a teenager hear that?”
Emily kissed her on the cheek, and said, “Don't get used to it.”
Bev shook hands with the men and hugged the women, thanking them for taking care of Emily. She added, “I rather wish you hadn't brought her here, but I guess it turned out okay.”
Hank asked, “How did you know the crowd would do that?”
Bev smiled. “I grew up in this town. I've lived here since my divorce. With all the traveling I do, I'm not personally acquainted with a lot of the individual townspeople, but I know the kind of people who live here. They are what makes Stanforth a good place to raise kids. I didn't know for sure , but I had the feeling that the people of Stanforth would do the right thing.”
She put her arm around Emily and kissed the top of her head. “Come on, Kiddo. Let's go home. I'm exhausted. We're both taking the day off tomorrow.”
As soon as she got in the car she said, “Oh, one thing I gotta do.” She dialed a number and said simply, “Deals done. $3,000,000 even. Yep. You heard right. A whole bunch of good old Buckeyes figured that since the Mazzolis did nothing wrong they should get to keep at least some of their insurance money. Yes, ma'am. I am going home to bed. Tomorrow, other than delivering paperwork to Paul via email, I am taking the day off and I'm calling my daughter out of school. I plan to lay around in my jammies all day and eat junk food.”
She hung up and squeezed Emily's hand. “On the one hand I wish you had not been there, but on the other hand, I'm glad you got to see it. It was truly a thing of beauty.”
“You want to know the best part?”
“What?”
“Watching the way people looked at you. Especially the Dellers. You were kind of always the odd person out in this town. I don't know if you held yourself apart because you felt they had treated you badly or they held you at arms length because your dad and you were the shunned kin of a prominent farm family. I think people will look at you differently now. And, I thought you were magnificent. You and Mr. Morehouse.”
Bev smiled.
Emily asked, “Do you have to do that often?”
“I've had to address throngs of claimants on more than one occasion. Most of the time my insured is a large corporation, so usually there isn't that much emotion except when there are coverage problems. I have to confess that is the first time I ever played chicken like that. I would never dare to do it in an environment I didn't know as well as this one. My heart told me the Mazzoli's friends and neighbors would do the right thing. And they did. All of them.”
“Were the Mazzolis as innocent as you said?”
“Technically, yes. They never failed a fire inspection and the carrier never insisted they sprinkler the building because the fire department didn't fail the inspection. Frankly, the fact that the fire department passed that restaurant borders on criminal negligence. But, that's not my problem. I think it was appropriate that the Mazzolis paid something. If the restaurant had been sprinklered and if the wood had been treated with fire retardant coating, a lot more people would have gotten out. Maybe the fire would not have spread beyond the location where it started. I think there was plenty of negligence on their part.
“Therefore, we agreed to compromise. It was fair settlement on our part. It won't begin to compensate the victims for their damages. Although as someone pointed out, the employees are covered under workers' compensation and evidently all of the people in the hospital have medical insurance.
“It was fair. That's all I can say.”
“You did good, Mom.”
“Thanks. I'll tell you one thing. I'm not handling any more claims locally again. It was too emotionally loaded for me.”
The next day, they slept late, and then lounged around the house watching DVD chick flicks . They ordered Chinese delivery for lunch because neither one of them was willing to either get dressed and go out to buy food or to cook. At some point in the afternoon, Bev checked her email to make sure the Mazzolis had signed the release and authorization. She confirmed that Paul had sent it directly to the company. Then she whistled. “Woo-Hoo! I'm going to get a bonus for that settlement! The company thinks I saved it millions in legal fees, which I did.”
“How much of a bonus?”
“$5000.”
“Why don't we spend it on a vacation?”
“That's a great idea. Where and when do you want to go? You said something about the Delta Queen.”
“Unfortunately, I found out that the Delta Queen has been decommissioned for safety reasons, but let's go on a Caribbean cruise at Christmas. I'm off school. That's usually a slow time for you. It'll be fun.”
“Sounds great. You plan it. See if you can get one for about $3000, that will leave us lots of spending money to use in the spa and on shore excursions. Pick one that goes to St. Thomas. I need a new computer and that's supposed to be a great place to buy cheap electronics.”
They spent the rest of the afternoon studying cruise line websites and picking itineraries they liked and dates that would coincide with Emily's school break. They ordered pizza for dinner, and laughed about how lazy they were becoming. Before it arrived, Bev's phone rang. She didn't look at the number, assuming that it was the pizza place calling to verify the order (a necessary thing in a college town where pranks involving ordering pizza for unsuspecting people are a daily events).
“Hello.”
“Bev, it's David Jamison. How are you doing?”
She was immediately on her guard. When David Jamison called her in the evening, it was never a good thing. “I was fine until I picked up the phone. What's up?”
“Well, Russ says you belong to me again. He thinks you're magnificent and wants me to invent a new title for you so I can give you a promotion and a big raise at your next review. I'm working on that. Anyway, he has released you back to regular duty now that the Stanforth fire is settled. I'm calling to ask if you plan to take some time off or if you're ready for a new claim.”
“I'm taking a vacation at Christmas. I guess that means I could take something in the meantime. What about all my pending stuff. Don't I need to get back to working my other files in progress?”
“Actually, Cassandra has done a fabulous job with your files. We're going to promote her to an examiner position. I think the two of you should sit down to discuss how you can work together at a higher level. She has been handling your pending claims without a hitch. She closed out six of the older ones and has all the others on track. I think she has learned so much from you that going forward you can get things started and, once the investigation is finished, Cassie can finish them off. Or at least those where the finishing part involves calculations of payments and documentation of first party losses, as opposed to high-flying drama in front of mobs. Lord, Bev, you must have nerves of steel!”
She laughed, “David, you are babbling. I was nervous a minute ago. Now, I'm truly scared, why are you calling?”
“Well, we've got a claim that Pete Dietz needs help with. His big gun in the fraud unit is on a leave because his wife just had a baby and there are serious complications. We can't call him in.
“Naturally, we have a fire with suspicious origin. It's a hotel in the Keys. The owner's in serious financial trouble. There are all kinds of other indications this may truly be fraud. Absent the best person in the fraud unit, Pete asked to borrow you.”
“I'm flattered. How many dead and injured people”
“Actually, there's one person with a little smoke inhalation. No other injuries and no fatalities.”
“So what's the problem? We call Ben T
ucker. He works with the cops. Why can't someone else in the fraud unit handle it.”
“Well, this is Florida. There are politics involved.”
“Oh, God! I'd rather have two dozen bodies than have to deal with politics – in Florida of all places!”
“Sorry. It's what I've got. Can you go?”
“When do you want me to leave?”
“As soon as you can. The fire was this morning. It's out. The Crime Lab is collecting evidence now.”
“Okay, will you do me a favor and call Ben Tucker for me. Have him touch base with the local cops and get on the next flight to Florida. I'm just about to eat dinner. Then I'll make my plane reservations and pack.”
She could see Emily looking at her with a strange expression that she couldn't quite read. She hung up the phone and made a sheepish face, “I'm sorry. I've got to go out on a new case.”
“Where in Florida?”
“Marathon.”
“Where's that?”
“In the Keys.”
“Can I go with you?”
“Not for the first part, but when I start wrapping things up, it would be fun to have you come down for a few days. Actually, given the timing, let's plan on Thanksgiving in the Keys. Will you call Mrs. Carter and let her know I'll be gone for at least a couple of weeks before I'll be able to come back home for a few days. Then you can come me with me when you get off for Thanksgiving.”
“Sure. Actually, do you think I should stay with Aunt Betty and the family?”
“Not unless you want to. They live in the country. You go to school in town and with your cheer-leading and other school involvement, it would be a pain for them to haul you around. We have the arrangement with Mrs. Carter. I think we should continue with that. You can visit Aunt Betty's family on the weekends, and you know they're available if you need them.”
“Yeah, you're right. Besides, I'm not so sure Aunt Betty's family is ready for large doses of me.”
Bev moved over on the couch and put her arms around her daughter. “You okay with this?”
“It's your job, Mom. I'm used to it. I'm glad I got to see you in action, but I'm also glad that this one is far away. I've had enough excitement in the past few weeks. I'm ready to relax and get back to normal. Around here, normal is you being far away telling me stories on the phone about all the craziness in your job. I have a better idea of what that is really like now. I'm kinda glad it takes place far away. Go. It'll be fun to have Thanksgiving in Florida. Can we still go on the cruise at Christmas?”
“Yep.”
“Cool. Go make your plane reservations and pack. I'll call you when the pizza's here.”
Bev's phone rang again. She picked it up and started firing off a list of instructions to Ben Tucker while walking into the bedroom to get her suitcase.
The End
Meredith Morgan is a pseudonym for an author who grew up in the Midwest and now lives in Florida.
Born at the apex of the Baby Boom wave in the mid 1950's, every time she thinks of some great new, original idea or plan, she knows that next week it will show up on the cover of "Time" Magazine as the "Next Big Thing." She exhibits all the narcissistic Boomer neuroses, plus a few extra just to make things interesting, all of which she pours into her writing.
She enjoys walking the beaches, cooking (in theory if not in actual practice), and collecting odd, unusual and utterly useless bits of knowledge.
Visit her blog at: https://meredith-morgan.blogspot.com/
After the Fire Page 21
