Fall from Grace

by Danielle Steel

  —

  She was working on some drawings when Steve called her three days before Christmas and chatted with her for a few minutes, while she wondered why he had called, and then he asked if he could come to see her.

  “Is anything wrong?” she asked nervously. He never came to see her alone, and her court case was closed, as long as she didn’t leave the apartment until the end of March, which was still three months away.

  “Not at all,” he answered her. “I just thought I’d drop by if you’re not too busy working. I have a Christmas present for you, and I wanted to bring it over myself.” She was confused by what he said.

  “Aren’t you spending Christmas Eve with us, Steve?”

  “Of course. But I thought this might be useful for you for the holidays.” She wondered if he was bringing her a Christmas tree. She had already ordered one that would be delivered the next day. She wasn’t much in the Christmas spirit yet. The sale of the Connecticut house was still weighing on her. “What’s a good time?” he asked, persistent about dropping off his mysterious gift.

  “Well, I won’t be out when you come,” she said and laughed.

  “I hope not. How’s four o’clock?” She would be working, but could take a break anytime. She couldn’t imagine what it was.

  He arrived promptly at the dot of four, and she stopped sketching and buzzed him in. She glanced in the mirror and saw that her hair was a mess and she had no makeup on, she hadn’t bothered with how she looked, she usually didn’t when she worked from home. He was wearing a business suit and a heavy coat and looked like he’d been to court that day, which was the case. He took off his coat and sat down on the couch with her.

  They chatted for a few minutes about nothing in particular, and she was more mystified than ever as to why he was there, and then finally he got to the point.

  “I wanted to bring you up to date on Paul Zeller, and I thought I’d do it in person.” She nodded, not sure why it mattered anymore. “He had a hearing this week, and they offered him a deal. Apparently, they’ve pulled a lot of information from his computers, and he’s been buying stolen goods for years. This wasn’t new. He’s always managed to do it under the radar, without pinning it on someone else. But you came along at the right time, pure as snow, and I guess he couldn’t resist using you and letting you take the fall if something went wrong. You were a great cover for him this time.”

  “And they’re letting him go free?” She anticipated what he was going to say, and Steve shook his head.

  “Hardly. He could get twenty or twenty-five years. They spelled it out to him. Money laundering, tax evasion, dealing in stolen goods. And it’s hard to trace, but there is some belief that money from counterfeit and stolen fashion items pays for terrorism in some parts of the world. The feds take this very seriously. They shut down his business after he sold it. The government is going to take what they consider their due, and I was told his ex-wife will get the rest. So he’s got nothing left. The U.S. attorney wanted him to get twenty years or more. But he’s got an outstanding lawyer who schmoozed the U.S. attorney, and everyone from here to the pearly gates, so they offered him a damn good deal. Ten years in prison, five on probation. And his lawyer somehow managed to get it down to seven and five. He’s damn lucky they offered him that deal, or he’d have been in prison for a hell of a long time. Zeller wanted to turn the deal down, but his lawyer wouldn’t let him. They would have crucified him at trial, particularly if they put you on the stand, to tell how you got prosecuted because of him. It would also make the U.S. attorney’s office look bad for being tough on you and making you an example. They tried to pressure you for information they now realize you never had. So Zeller took the deal, kicking and screaming all the way. He signed it yesterday, and they’re shipping him off to the federal penitentiary today or tomorrow. No bail in the meantime. He’s done.”

  She sat thinking about it for a few minutes, and then nodded and looked at Steve. She suddenly remembered that Paul had a son in St. Louis who was a pediatrician and she wondered how he had reacted to his father going to prison, and she felt bad for him. She thought of all the grief and trauma Paul Zeller had caused her, when she had been innocent all along, and they hadn’t believed her, because Paul had lied.

  “Thank you for telling me,” she said quietly. “Is that the Christmas present you meant?” She was curious, and needed time to absorb what he had told her about Paul Zeller. At least now it was over. And they weren’t after her anymore.

  “It’s part of it,” Steve said, referring to his gift, as he reached into his pocket, pulled out a small scissor and held it up.

  “What’s that for?” She looked puzzled.

  “Well, as your lawyer, I managed to keep you out of prison, but you got stuck in here for six months,” he said, glancing around at the now vastly cluttered apartment, crowded with computer equipment and her giant screen to meet with Ed and follow the business on a daily basis. “And if that sonofabitch can get seven years instead of twenty-five, I figured they owe you one. I met with the judge this morning. You’re done, Sydney. They reduced it to three months, with credit for time served, so it’s over. They deactivated your anklet at four P.M. today. And they’ve reduced probation to a year, with permission to travel because of your work. The judge said you can keep your passport—just send your probation officer an email when you leave and get back. And as long as you have no further problems or convictions, the judge said he’d talk to us in six months or a year about terminating probation and expunging your record.” She was staring at him in disbelief. “They were overzealous with you and they knew it. Now they’re trying to get out of it as gracefully as they can.”

  “You did all that today?”

  “I did. You’re a free woman, Sydney. Now give me your leg, and let’s get that goddamn thing off and I’ll return it to the DA’s office.” He held out his hand as she looked at him in amazement, lifted her ankle, and he cut the plastic band that held it in place till it fell away, and he smiled at her. “Merry Christmas, Sydney,” he said, as tears poured down her face and she hugged him and gazed around the room as though seeing it for the first time.

  “Oh my God…I’m free…I’m free! Can I go out?” Like an animal that had been chained up for three months, it was as though she had forgotten what to do when someone took off the chain.

  “You can do anything you want. You’re free,” he repeated. “It’s over.”

  “Oh my God…oh my God!” she said, chortling with delight and clapping her hands. Ed called her just then, and she didn’t pick up, which he knew meant she was either in the bathroom, the tub, or asleep. But she wasn’t ready to talk to anyone. She just wanted to savor the moment with Steve. “Do the girls know?”

  He shook his head. “I thought you should hear it first.”

  “You’re a miracle worker, thank you!” she said, and hugged him again, and he got up to leave.

  “Wait, I’ll go out with you,” she said excitedly. “I’ll get my coat.” She reached into the closet and haphazardly grabbed an old fur and put it on. She felt a little crazy, with messy hair, a pair of ballerina flats, and an old mink coat.

  “It’s freezing out there,” he warned her, but she was smiling and giddy and almost looked drunk she was so excited.

  “I don’t care if I freeze to death. I haven’t had fresh air in three months,” literally to the day. “I’ll call the girls when I get back,” she said, sounding distracted.

  “Don’t forget your keys,” he reminded her. She grabbed them off a table near the door, where Bob had left them the last time he was there. She put them in her pocket and shut the door behind them, and a minute later they were on the street. She glanced around her at the traffic and the people, the tall buildings, the dogs being walked, and people carrying Christmas trees home, and listened to the horns blaring. She looked as though she had landed in heaven and couldn’t believe her good luck. She hugged him again and he grinned at her. In Steve’s opinion, she de
served every break she could get from now on. “Be careful crossing the street!” he shouted after her as she walked away, looking dazed, and she turned and waved with a big grin on her face.

  “I love you! Merry Christmas!” she called out to him, and then she just kept walking with a huge smile. She walked twenty blocks heading toward downtown, and then she strolled back, smiling at people, relishing every smell and color and face and sound and light. She loved the noise, and seeing everyone in a rush to go somewhere. She was going to tell her children, but she had decided not to tell Bob. She was going to surprise him when he came for New Year’s Eve. She was a free woman again! And just glad she was alive.

  Chapter 18

  When Sydney got home from her walk, she called both of her daughters and told them what had happened, and gave Steve all the credit for it. She thought he was a magician to have gotten her released three months early. The prospect of getting her record expunged, even of a misdemeanor, was good news too. The girls were ecstatic for her. She told them she wanted to change the venue for Christmas Eve. She wanted to take everyone to the Plaza for dinner. It would be wonderful to get out, and treat them all to a nice dinner in a restaurant for a change. Even ordinary activities were a gift now.

  She called Bob then, because she could see that he had called her three times while she was out, and he was worried when she answered.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m so sorry. I was sleeping.” She didn’t want to tell him. She wanted to surprise him when he arrived. It was only five days away, if she could hold out, but it was hard not to say anything to him.

  She got up early the next morning and dressed for work. She hadn’t told Ed either, and she walked into his office casually, wearing gray wool slacks and a gray sweater and spoke to him as though she’d never left. He stared at her as though he’d seen a ghost.

  “Sydney? What are you doing here?” He was afraid she had broken the rules and just left her apartment and gone out. He was relieved when she told him what Steve had accomplished.

  “Oh my God!” he said and ran around his desk to hug her, and he kept hugging her, he was so excited. Everyone in the office was thrilled.

  He took her out to lunch and she told him about Christmas dinner at the Plaza. Every day was a celebration now. It felt like a miracle to her that she was free.

  He startled her with a question over lunch. “My mother throws a charity event in Hong Kong every year, to benefit breast cancer research. It’s a big deal to her. Her mother and sister died of it. Two thousand people attend, and they raise a lot of money. They always have some special event or happening to make it more exciting.” He looked slightly embarrassed to be asking her. “She wants to know if we’d send the collection over after Fashion Week. They’d pay for transportation and insurance, and they’ll pay to hire the models. I didn’t know how you’d feel about it. To be honest, it’s a pain in the ass and a lot of work. I thought you wouldn’t be out of your apartment by then, and I didn’t want to do it alone. But now that you’re free, what do you think? It’s good publicity, and for a good cause, but we don’t have to if you don’t want to. I can tell her no. I already told her I didn’t think we could, if you weren’t there too.” Sydney didn’t hesitate for a second after she’d listened.

  “It’s a very good cause, and good publicity for us, even if it’s in Hong Kong. And she’s your mother. If it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t have a business,” she reminded him.

  “True,” he said, thinking about it, and his mother had been gracious enough not to point that out. “They’re talking about March first. The timing could work. We’ll have the collection here for two weeks after the show to take orders, or ten days at least, and then we’ll ship it to Hong Kong. I can take Kevin to help, and we can hire people there, and use local models.” He had already thought about the logistics, but hadn’t wanted to do it without Sydney. “So what do you think?”

  “I say yes,” Sydney said firmly, smiling at him. She was in love with the world now that she was out of her apartment.

  “She’s going to love you forever.” He was smiling at her. It was great to see her back at work, even though they had covered the three months remarkably well. Better than they’d hoped. “I’ll send her an email. She’ll be thrilled. And it’ll be fun to be in Hong Kong with you again,” he said, and then he laughed. “And you can meet Bob’s kids while you’re there.”

  She looked horrified at the prospect. “Forget it. Cancel the event,” she teased him.

  “You’ll like them, I promise.”

  “That’s not the issue. They’ll probably hate me.”

  “Why should they? They’re all adults.”

  “That doesn’t always make a difference.”

  “He must be ecstatic that you’re a free woman now.”

  “He doesn’t know,” she said conspiratorially. “I want to surprise him when he comes next week.”

  Ed smiled at the idea. “He’s going to be one very happy guy,” he said, and she grinned broadly.

  “I hope so.” She was a happy woman too.

  —

  The six of them had dinner at the Plaza at her invitation on Christmas Eve. Ed and Kevin, Steve and Sabrina, Sophie and Sydney. It was a beautiful meal and a festive evening. They toasted Sydney’s freedom with champagne, and admired the engagement ring Steve had given Sabrina earlier that day. It sparkled on her finger. Sydney went to midnight mass at Saint Ignatius on Park Avenue on her own after the meal. It was a beautiful service. She went to see the tree at Rockefeller Center afterward, and stood looking at it with awe, and then she walked all the way home. She walked everywhere now. It felt so incredibly good to be back in the world. She took nothing for granted and enjoyed it all.

  She had lit a candle for Andrew at church, thinking about their life together and how much everything had changed. It was almost as though she’d been a different person then, one she had been just for him, and he had taken that person with him, or she had died with him. Now she was designing again, working, and part owner in a business, thanks to Ed. She had survived losing their home, being dead broke, giving up the apartment she loved in Paris, being arrested, and going to jail, however briefly. She had been stripped of everything she had based her identity on, and discovered that she was still a whole person, that she still believed in the same things and had the same values. The things that had meant so much to her when they were married meant less to her now. And having lost them, she had found herself, and was stronger than she’d ever been before. She had always thought it would kill her to lose Andrew, but it hadn’t. She was sad about him, and she still missed him at times, but he had died and she had survived. And what was left of her, what she had become after all the losses, belonged to her and to Bob now. She had discovered herself after Andrew died. She had become a butterfly with strong wings, and Andrew was the cocoon she had shed in order to fly.

  —

  Bob’s secretary had sent Sydney his itinerary by email, as she always did, so she would know his flight number if he was delayed. Sydney had spoken to her on the phone a few times, and she seemed like a nice woman. Sydney made note of his flight number and arrival time, and hired a town car to take her to the airport. She could afford a few more luxuries now with her salary and the money that would come from the Paris apartment sale in January. Her finances were no longer as terrifyingly tight as they had been at first, after Andrew died.

  There was no traffic on the way to the airport. It was three days after Christmas and a lot of people weren’t working. There was no snow on the ground, and she arrived at the airport half an hour early, and wandered around waiting for him. He had no idea she’d be there. She had managed to keep the secret, although it had been agonizing to do so, but she loved the idea of surprising him, with good news for a change.

  She saw from the big board listing arrivals that his plane was on the ground, on its way to the gate. And then it said that the passengers were in customs. She stood just
to the side of the doors he would come through, so she would see him before he saw her.

  He was one of the first passengers out, since he always traveled first class, and he moved quickly toward the terminal exit, pulling his bag on wheels. He was expecting a car and driver to meet him, which she had canceled, since she had hired one herself.

  She followed him for a few feet, and then walked right up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to see who it was, and stopped in his tracks without saying a word. Like Ed, for an instant he was afraid she had escaped from the apartment, but she put her arms around him and kissed him, as he held her in his arms.

  “It’s okay,” she said softly. “I’m free…they let me go.” She had seen the worry in his eyes. He kissed her again then, and they stood for a long time in the airport with people walking around them and smiling, and then he looked at her intently.

  “What happened?…Why didn’t you tell me…when?”

  They started walking toward the exit and she told him the whole story, about Zeller pleading guilty, and Steve talking to the U.S. attorney and the judge.

  “And they’ll expunge my record in six months or a year, if I don’t get arrested again,” she said as though it was a normal occurrence, and he laughed.

  “I think you can manage that, don’t you?” She nodded, and they settled into the back of the car and rode into the city. But he had an idea as soon as he walked into the apartment and looked at Sydney. The place looked a shambles now. All the computer equipment and screens were in the way. The coffee machine wasn’t working, and they were coming to get the big screen and office equipment the day after New Year’s. It made them both feel claustrophobic now being there. She wanted a new apartment, but hadn’t had time yet to do anything about it in the short time she’d been free.