Austin escorted her to the car that pulled in behind them and waited for her to get in. “I’ll be in touch,” he said as he closed the door. He handed one of the security guards her key and address, gave him instructions, and then walked to the limo.
Georgia watched him get in and kept watching to see if he would look back. He didn’t. Emotionally exhausted, she leaned her head against the back of the seat and rested.
*
As soon as he got home, Mathew opened the door to his bedroom and found the painting moved away from the safe. He turned the dial, yanked the handle down and opened it. His cash was gone, but he didn’t care about that. On top of the checkbook lay a photograph and a note. Slowly, he took them out.
The picture was of him standing over the dead body of a woman, with a bloody alabaster vase in his right hand. He tossed the photo back in the safe and then read the handwritten note.
If you don’t tell, I won’t tell.
Furious, he crumpled the note and threw it across the room. Mathew slammed the safe shut, opened the bedroom door, and walked down the hall. He went down the stairs, walked into the office and lifted the lid on the laptop. He logged into his bank account and checked the balance.
“Two thousand dollars?” he gasped.
He refreshed the page, but it was true, the maid had nearly wiped him out. Mathew covered his face with his hands for several long minutes before he got up and walked back to the living room. To his surprise, Laura and two police officers were waiting just inside the front door. “What do you want?” he asked the officers.
“Mrs. Connelly would like you to leave,” the first officer answered.
“She can’t do that, I live here.”
“Actually, the house is in my name only,” said Laura, “and so are all the cars. Go peacefully, Darling. It is all over now and you know you don’t really want to live here.”
“Have another drink, Laura. You like me better when you’re drunk.”
“Not this time, Darling.” She moved away from the officers and sat on the sofa. “Where shall I send your things? Oh dear, I doubt any of your mistresses will want you, now that you are broke. By Monday morning, the credit card will be cancelled too. I hope you have cab fare to…wherever.”
Mathew glared at her. “You’re throwing away twenty-five years of marriage just like that?”
Laura snapped her fingers. “Just like that. Shall I call you a cab?”
“Don’t bother.” As soon as the police officers moved aside, Mathew stormed out of the house.
Laura quickly got up and went to the window. She smiled as she watched him walk down the drive, go through the gate, and disappeared down the street. Then she turned to the officers. “Will you tell the security guards not to let him back in?”
“Yes, Ma’am, we’ll tell them.” Both officers nodded and closed the door behind them.
Laura had a smug look on her face when she locked the front door, climbed the stairs and put herself to bed.
*
By the time Georgia arrived, Jackie and her team had put all their research materials and equipment away, and straightened the place. Michael and Carl were off to bed, and only Jackie remained to greet her.
“I’ll be right outside the door,” the security guard said after Jackie invited Georgia in.
“Thank you,” said Georgia.
“You look exhausted,” said Jackie, closing the door.
She took a moment to look around. “I have walked past this hotel a hundred times, and I never once guessed what it looked like inside. It is very big and very beautiful. Is this how the other half lives?”
“This half anyway. Come sit down and take your shoes off. Austin called. Your clothes will be here shortly and if they need to be washed, the hotel will do it for you.”
Instead of sitting down, Georgia walked to the window and stared at the Gladstone Building across the plaza. “Maid service?” Georgia asked.
“Yes. I expect you’ll like getting used to that.”
“I will, I’ve been doing mine in the kitchen sink.”
Jackie smiled. “I remember doing that in college. We hear you are a very good artist.”
“Not very good, but it is something I love. You know a lot about me?” In the top floor of the building across the plaza, a light went on behind closed drapes.
“I will send you a report, if you like.” It wasn’t hard for Jackie to guess what she was looking at. She got up and went to stand beside her at the window. “Austin’s suite is on the top floor, but he works on the floor below that one.”
“I would like that.”
“What, dear?”
“I would like a copy of your report.”
“Then you shall have it as soon as it is written.”
“Will it contain everything you learned about me?”
Jackie wrinkled her brow. “Yes, I will leave nothing out.”
“Will you send a copy to Austin?”
“I have to, he hired us.”
Georgia finally turned away from the window. “Of course you must, but I would like to see it first.”
“Is there something you don’t want him to know?”
“I want him to know all of it someday, just not yet.”
“I see. Sit down and I’ll tell you everything we learned. If there is something you don’t want him to know, we can certainly talk it over.” Jackie started at the beginning. She even got the 8 x 10 photos out of her briefcase and showed them to her. They were only interrupted briefly when the guard brought Georgia’s things and put them in the second bedroom. When she was finished, Jackie said, “That’s all of it. Tell me, what would you like me to leave out?”
“Nothing. You may tell him all that you have learned.”
Jackie couldn’t help but feel there was a lot more to know, but their investigation was finished, and it was no longer her business. “I have a question.”
“What?”
“Did you break into your records at the school? Is that how you found out who you were?”
“Yes, Maggie…the real Maggie helped me do it.”
Jackie lowered her eyes. “I am afraid I have a little bad news. Maggie was killed in a car accident not long after you left school.”
“I know, I read about it in the London papers and knew it had to be her. The authorities were looking for known relatives to notify. I should have said something, but it would have ruined everything. I feel bad about it now.”
“Carl notified Scotland Yard and they will tell her parents.”
“I am glad of that, at least.”
“How did you get identification without a birth certificate?”
“Oh, there was one. My mother’s name was blacked out and my father was unknown – according to the certificate. Mathew thought of almost everything.”
“Almost?”
“He didn’t know we could find out who he was through his email address.”
“We guessed that’s how you found out.” Jackie got up. “It’s late and I know you must be tired.” She walked to the second bedroom and opened the door. “Let me know if you need anything. There are snacks in the kitchen if you get hungry.”
“Thank you.” Georgia went in and closed the door. The bedroom was as big as her entire apartment, and the bed probably didn’t sag, but she didn’t care about that. She was more interested in going to the window to see if Austin had gone to bed yet. He hadn’t…at least the light was still on.
She closed her curtain, laid the cellphone he gave her on the nightstand, and dug her nightgown and purse out of the box of clothing. Before she hung her new dress in the closet, she took Maggie’s ID and the cash out of the hidden pocket and put them in her purse.
She picked up the cellphone and just as he said, he had programed it with his number. For a long moment, she considered calling him, but decided against it. She put the cellphone back on the nightstand, grabbed her laptop, sat on the bed and opened it. She checked her emails, but there was nothin
g from him. She logged into the chat room, but he wasn’t there either, so she logged back off.
One last time, she went to the window and looked across the plaza. His light was still on, but he was not standing in his window looking back. Tired and devastated by his hurtful words, she got under the covers, touched the diamond necklace he gave her, and finally let herself cry.
*
“How is she?” Austin asked when he called the next day. He hadn’t slept much and although he wasn’t much of a drinker, his disappointment the night before called for a few too many. Now he had a headache and was washing down his second set of aspirin with coffee.
“Quiet, but she’s fine.” Jackie answered. “Right now, she’s trying on clothes from a rack I had the boutique downstairs bring up.”
“Good, send me the bill.”
“I intend to. It’s Sunday and it took some convincing to have them send someone.”
“Did she sleep?”
“Not well. I heard her moan in the night and peeked in, but she settled back down.”
“Laura called. She got the police to take Mathew out of the house. I don’t like not knowing where he is, and I won’t know if he’s out of town until he uses the credit card.”
“Try not to worry, we’re keeping her safe. Austin, there is a lot you do not know about Georgia.”
“Then tell me, I really should be informed.”
“She got very angry when she turned sixteen, but then Maggie, the girl who died in the car wreck, hacked into the school’s records and found out who Georgia’s parents were.”
His was a statement rather than a question. “Georgia stole Maggie’s identity.”
“No, it was not like that. Maggie had an American passport and Georgia wanted to go to the US. Maggie wanted to go to the art school Georgia got a scholarship to, so they switched.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Did the security guard tell you how she’s been living?”
“No, how?”
“The guard was so appalled, he wanted to throw all her clothes away and I convinced her to let him. She’s been living in a converted motel room, with a 1950s refrigerator and stove that don’t work. All he could find in the cupboards was a box of crackers.”
“She told me she didn’t make much money, but I had no idea it was that bad. At least it’s all over now…or soon will be. Don’t let her talk herself out of claiming the inheritance.”
“I don’t think you need to worry about that. She’s getting a taste of what money can buy and she likes it.”
“I just hope she is strong enough to make the adjustment.”
“I think you might be surprised,” said Jackie.
“Tell her I sent Nick’s video to her email box.”
“I’ll tell her.”
Austin hung up and then ran his fingers through his hair. His heart was breaking for the way she had been living, but that didn’t excuse how she used him. He wanted to, but he just couldn’t forgive her. His laptop sat open on his desk and he was drawn to it, just as he had been for weeks. Out of anger, he deleted his link to the chat room, closed the lid and went to take a shower.
An hour later, he sat on the sofa holding his head in his hands. “Whatever else she is, she is Nick’s granddaughter,” he reminded himself. “And no one treats Nick’s granddaughter that way!”
He went to his computer, searched for the number and placed the call. “Is this the Jim McMorrow who works at GSTS?”
“Yes.”
“You still want a better job?”
“I do, what…who is this?”
“I’m Austin Steel, Maggie’s chat friend.”
“The axe-murderer?”
Austin couldn’t help but chuckle. “I’m a little too busy to kill anyone. Can you come talk to me?”
“Now?”
“Yes, now. I live on the top floor of the Gladstone Building. I’ll leave word for the doorman to let you in.”
“Give me half an hour. Is Maggie okay?”
“She’s fine. See you in half an hour.” Austin hung up and then called the doorman.
*
Jim hopped in his car, drove to the Gladstone Building and just as Austin promised, the doorman let him in. He rode the private elevator to the very top, got out and knocked on the only door.
“Jim?” Austin asked as he opened it.
“That would be me, and you are Austin Steel?”
“I am. Come in and have a seat. I have a story to tell you, that you are going to find very hard to believe.”
Jim listened intently, accepted the soda Austin offered him, and didn’t interrupt.
“So, do you want the job?” Austin asked.
“I will be working for Maggie…uh, Georgia?”
“Yes. Does that bother you?”
“Not at all. She is one of the best friends I’ve ever had, and she’s smart too.” Jim paused to think it over. “So she had a secret she didn’t tell even me? I knew there was something going on with her.”
“How?”
“She wasn’t willing to look for a new job, even though we both knew she would get fired.”
“Well, when you’re using someone else’s identity, you worry about getting caught and thrown out of the country.”
“I suppose so. What do you want me to do?”
Austin smiled and began to lay out his plan. “First, I want you to…”
*
It was Sunday afternoon before Georgia sat on her bed, lifted the lid on her laptop, and looked for Austin in the chat room. He wasn’t there. She opened the email he sent and saw the attachment, but he didn’t include a message.
She clicked on the video link and then folded her arms to watch.
“If you are seeing this, it means I did not live long enough to meet you in person. I’m sure Austin has told you everything by now. He is a good man and you can put your trust in him.
If only I had known about you…” Nick took a deep breath. “I would have fought to take you away from your father by any means possible. I feel so cheated; as I am certain you do as well. In my library, you will find everything I kept about your mother’s side of the family, all the history and the pictures. It is little compensation, but it is all I have to give. You will at least know who you are and that you come from good people.
How I long to wrap my arms around you, but I cannot. I can, however, give you a few words of wisdom. They are the words I have strived to live by.
Try to find the beauty in all things, even in ugliness there is some beauty. Choose only a man who truly loves you for you, and then let his love give you strength and courage. Turn away from bitterness, be generous to the less fortunate, and remember that true peace comes from forgiveness.
Most of all, know that I loved you with all my heart.
Your grandfather, Nick
One more thing, if your father manages to get my estate, I put a little something aside for you. Austin knows where it is.”
Tears once more streamed down Georgia’s cheeks. She closed the video and hung her head. There it was, finally, the love she so desperately needed all those years.
*
Teresa half-expected Mathew to beat her to the airport. If he did, either he arrived too late, or the change of clothes and the blonde wig worked. As it was, she almost missed her flight. Once she was on the plane to New York, she ditched the wig and ordered a drink to calm her nerves. Rest would not truly come until she was safely out of the country.
On the flight from Denver, she wrote a letter to Laura and as soon as she landed, she mailed it in New York City. It read:
Lovely Laura,
I shall always consider us friends and I wish I could have stayed with you. I pray you have found your daughter by now and shall be forever happy.
Love always, Teresa
P.S. if you ever need me, run an ad for a gray, short-haired, shaggy dog in the London Times. I threw your clothes in a Denver trashcan. Sorry.
Even in LaGuardia Airport�
�s waiting room, she kept an eye out for Mathew. At last, it was time to board her international flight. As soon as her plane was off the ground, she accepted a drink from the stewardess and raised it in salute. “Here’s to you, Mummy, may you rest in peace – finally.” She took a big swallow, felt it warm her stomach, set it on the tray, and promptly fell asleep.
*
In Denver the next morning, Jim went to his job at GSTS just as he did every other workday. Only this time, he had a much better reason to be there. He did his job as usual and waited until precisely 10:00 – the time he and Austin agreed upon. It was also the time Nicole always went outside for a smoke break and when she passed his cubicle, he followed her out the door.
He wandered around aimlessly for a couple of minutes as though he had something weighing heavily on his mind, and then approached her. “Nicole, I shouldn’t tell you this, but I think you should know. Maggie hired a high-priced, very distinguished lawyer.”
“What?” Nicole asked. “What lawyer?”
“Austin Steel.”
“Austin Steel? I have seen him, he is yummy.”
Jim ignored her stupid remark and continued, “Seems Maggie has some dirt on the company, and she’s willing to share it with the authorities.”
“What dirt?”
“Something about some spreadsheets and a cash shortage?”
Nicole’s eyes grew large. “She has copies of the spreadsheets?”
“That’s what she says. Of course, we cut off her phone service and I couldn’t call her back for more details. She called me from a pay phone.”
“Where does she live? Never mind, I know how to find out.”
“She’s not there, she left town for a while.” Jim watched the worried look on his boss’s face. Nicole tossed her half-smoked cigarette into the street, and abruptly hurried back inside the building. With a wide grin on his face, Jim walked around to the picnic table, took a cellphone out of his pocket and called Austin.
“She fell for it?” Austin asked.
“Hook, line, and sinker. Is Maggie…Georgia okay? I may never get used to that.”
“I checked on her this morning, she’s fine. Are we still on for later?”
“You bet, I can’t wait. I’ll call as soon as Mr. Gallaher goes home for lunch.”
The Billionaire's Will Page 19
