I pulled Carter up by the arm and said, "Kiss me, you fool. I have an idea!"
He looked at me like I'd just grown a new head, but he did reach down and kiss me softly on the lips.
"Carter Jones, you are an amazing man and I love you."
I looked over at Carlo, who had stood up but was looking at me warily as though I was about to ask for a big smackeroo from him as well.
"Carlo, go get your boyfriend. You're coming home with us. We have some work to do, kid."
Carlo looked at Carter with a questioning face. Carter replied, in his even drawl, "When the richest man in San Francisco asks to you come over for a meetin', I would suggest you take him up on the invitation, son."
Carlo shrugged and went up the steps. I said, "Pick up your steps, kid. Today is the best day of your life and it ain't over yet!"
. . .
Carlo and Ben piled into the back seat with Mike. We drove back over to the house and it was all I could do not to push each one of these slow pokes up the stairs and in the door.
I said, "The bar is open. Help yourselves. There's beer and pop in the fridge. Take what you want. But don't drown your sorrows because the night ain't over."
They all looked at me and Carter said, "Uh, Nick? What the hell is all this about?"
"We're going to start our own Pinkerton's!"
Mike smiled and said, "You mean you want to hire us as private eyes?"
"No, doofus. I mean we're going into the security business."
Ben asked, "What's the difference?"
"The difference is in the licensing. The difference is in the services. The difference is that ever since the Secret Service started, no one has picked up where Pinkerton's left off."
"But, Nick..."
"No more buts. Everyone get your drinks and your eats and meet back here in ten. I have a phone call to make."
I practically skipped into the hallway, I was so fucking happy. I picked up the phone and listened for the whirr. I dialed Marnie's home number and waited for her to answer.
After about twelve rings, she did and she was sleepy and not happy. "What is it?"
"Marnie, dear. Marnie, sweetheart. Wake up!"
"Nick, what the hell?"
"Look sweetums, this is your lucky day. How fast can you get dressed and get over here?"
"Are you at home?" I heard her yawn.
"I sure am. How fast?"
"I dunno. Thirty minutes?"
"Make it twenty."
"Look, Nick. What is this about?"
"It's about a brand-new day. It's about you and me and four other poor old guys starting a whole new life and a new way of doing business. It's about the future and, from where I stand, doll, it's looking bright!"
There was a long pause. "Put Carter on the phone, Nick."
He was hobbling past so I handed him the instrument.
"Hi Marnie. Were you asleep?"
Medium pause.
"No, he's not drunk." He looked at my eyes. "And he's not stoned."
Medium pause.
"How the hell should I know? He's going on about Pinkerton's and the Secret Service and I don't know what the hell else."
Long pause. I pulled his arm. He yanked it back, a little irritated, and I couldn't blame him. He couldn't see what I could see.
"Bring her along. She can sleep in one of the guest bedrooms."
Short pause.
"No, I'm sure. I'll call a cab for you. No, Nick will. But we'll see you in a minute. Bye, Marnie."
He put the receiver down.
"I hope you know what you're doing. You're getting a 62-year-old woman out of her beauty sleep and she won't be happy."
I stood up on my toes and gave Carter a long, passionate kiss.
"Hey. What's that for?"
"For being you. And for the future."
. . .
We worked through dawn. Once Marnie arrived, and Carter had tucked her mother into bed, complete with a hot toddy, we all sat down and I explained my idea.
At first, there was a whole chorus of "what ifs," and "yeah, buts," and that was fine. I was willing to sit with these wonderful folks and talk about this idea until I ran out of words.
I knew that this was a great idea and that these were the perfect 5 business partners to get it off the ground.
Carlo and Ben, being the youngest members of our group, were the least adventurous, for some reason.
Finally Mike, who was now on board and seemed to get the idea even better than me, sat down in front of them both and said, bluntly, "The worst that can happen is you'll make a lot of money sitting on your ass. That's the worst, fellas. And, considering that you will never, ever be hired to work in this country again as either a cop or as a fireman, because you're both known to be practicing queers, this is the sweetest deal you've got."
Around 5:30, they both came around and we were all in. And that felt good.
About 6:15, Marnie and I went into the kitchen to put on another pot of coffee. I looked in the icebox and realized we had no food to speak of.
I decided it was time for us to either shut it down and pick up on Monday or keep going, but out at an early-morning diner. But even my eyes were drooping. Marnie was yawning while filling the percolator.
I said, "Forget that. Why don't you stay here and get some sleep? I'll take Carlo and Ben home. Mike can bunk on the couch."
Marnie said, "Thanks Nick. I really don't want to wake up Mother again."
I nodded and then realized something very important. Something crucial. Something absolutely necessary.
I said, "You go in and tell the guys the plan. I have to go get something out of the basement."
She looked at me funny but then said, "Sure thing, Nick."
As soon as she was gone, I ran around to the basement door and down the stairs, taking them two steps at a time.
I had my own mountain. After living with so much cash and what-not hidden in the house when I was growing up, it only made sense to do the same here. Only Carter knew about the safe and how it worked. We'd fixed it so that different guys worked on different parts of putting it together. That way no one person, other than us two, knew that it was here or how to work it.
I walked around behind the washing machine that was mostly for show, since we always sent out our laundry, and pulled very gently on the little string that looked like it was stuck on the wall.
Doing this activated a mechanism that caused a piece of the concrete wall to the right to start moving. It was quiet as a whisper in church. You could barely tell it was opening just by looking at it.
Once the wall was open, this revealed a combination safe, which I opened in a jiff.
My mountain was nowhere near two million dollars like my old man's, but it was plenty. I took out a bank-wrapped bundle of hundreds from one stack of several and divvied it up into five equal parts. I rolled these smaller stacks of two grand each and wrapped them like the gangsters do. I thought that gave it all a nice touch.
I pushed the safe door closed and spun the dial for good measure. I gently pushed the outer mechanism closed until I heard a very faint click and then carried the dough upstairs. I grabbed a sack on my way up the stairs and stashed it all in there.
When I walked into the living room, I grinned. Ben was dozing on Carlo's shoulder. Mike was leaning up against the armchair looking up at the ceiling. I could almost see little cartoon drawings of action and adventure popping out of his head as he thought about what all of this meant.
Carter had his leg propped up on the table under a pillow. Marnie was looking out the window at the brightening sky.
"OK, team. One last thing." I held the sack out in front of me and said, "Come and get it. This is the final part, before we sign any papers on Monday, to finish up our first conference."
Carlo nudged Ben, who woke up and looked around and said, "What?"
Mike stood up and then pulled Carlo up off the sofa and Carlo then pulled Ben up. I liked the look of that. Carte
r grumbled under his breath about getting up but he did. Only Marnie stayed where she was.
"Marnie?"
"Be with you in a minute, Nick."
The other guys came over and stood in front of me. "Watcha got there, Nick, lollipops?" asked Mike with a wink.
"No, you big ape. Something better. Reach in and take one."
He put his paw in the bag and pulled out one of the rolls. He looked at me and then shook his head.
I said, "No refusals. Each one of you has to take one. Or else you're out."
Mike smiled and said, "Well, this is a nice howdy-doo."
I smiled back and said, "You deserve it. You all deserve it."
By this time Ben and Carlo had taken one each. Ben unbound his and said, "Gosh, Mr. Williams. I've never seen this much cash at one time before."
"The name's Nick, kid."
He looked at me and said, "Well then, Nick. My name's Ben."
I winked at him and nodded.
I pushed the bag towards Carter and said, "You're next, big boy."
He smiled lazily and put in his hand. "Seems like I already have plenty of this stuff, Nick."
I shrugged. "Share and share alike."
"Marnie?" I called out. She was still staring at the window.
She turned around and I saw that her face was wet.
"Gosh, Nick. My whole life is about to change, ain't it?"
I nodded and said, "It sure is, sweetheart. And here's the first installment." I offered her the bag and she took out the last roll.
"Gee Nick. I don't know what to say."
"Say goodnight, Gracie."
"Goodnight, Gracie."
We all laughed.
Chapter 17
137 Hartford Street
Saturday, May 16, 1953
Just past 10 in the morning
Around 10 that Saturday morning, I felt Carter poking me in the ribs.
"Get up, Nick. We have to be at Grace Cathedral at noon."
I said, "Right."
I had only had coffee the night before, so why did I feel hung over?
I put my feet on the floor and lazily walked to the bathroom. Not at all to my surprise, I found a giant standing where I needed to stand. So I turned on the shower to get the hot water heater going. I was going to need a good, hot shower.
I looked in the mirror and then turned away. I was too old to stay up until dawn and too young to be looking like I had stayed up until dawn.
Carter and I switched places. He said, "How are you feeling about your plan there, Nick?"
I said, "Good. A bit more realistic in the cold light of later in the morning but still good. They're the right guys, and gal, and the right idea."
"You know what I liked about it most?" God, I loved listening to this man talk. I would have sat enraptured while he read from Polk's. Seriously.
I moved into the shower and asked, "What?"
"That you really let Mike take the lead once he got the idea."
I nodded and said, "And, let me tell you, that's a relief. When he sat down in front of the Bobbsey Twins—"
"Nick!"
"Yeah, I know. But it's true, ain't it?"
"It is. It is, at that."
"Anyway, when he sat down in front of Ben and Carlo and spelled it out, I knew he was hooked. In the car, when the idea came to me, I told him he could take it and run with it. I'm glad he took me up on that. That was while you were applying whatever healing balms you were applying to Carlo on the steps—"
"I was just telling him to be patient and that everything was going to turn out fine."
Carter really could sell ice to an Eskimo. Personally, I like being sold to by him. Makes me feel all funny and warm inside, like he's my best friend, which he is.
"Was he buying it?"
"Maybe. Then you jumped in and what I'd said didn't matter."
At this point, Carter was behind me, lathering up and, from time to time, rubbing on my shoulders.
I turned around and said, "Carter Jones, you take that back. Take that back right this minute."
He lifted his soapy hands in protest. "What?"
"Everything that comes out of your mouth is pure gold."
He grinned his lazy Georgia grin at me and, once again, we drained the hot water heater. And with guests in the house, no less.
. . .
We both wore black suits. When I got downstairs, Marnie was making toast because toast was all there was to make. Oh, and coffee. Glorious coffee.
"What's this red jam, Nick?"
"That's Mrs. Jones' award-winning red plum jam. It's the only kind that Carter likes and I have to agree with him."
"His mother sends it to him?"
"No. It comes via his aunt, who is the one kind soul in Albany, Georgia, who will give either of us the time of day. I don't know how she does it, but she convinces Carter's mother to make up a huge batch each year for the Confederate Veterans or the local orphans and then she sends a goodly portion of it to us. She's smart that Aunt Velma. She sits on the board of the county hospital and, as if by magic, every year the Dougherty County Hospital Board gets a nice big check from the Williams Benevolent Foundation. I also send her a little something every spring so she can pay her sister-in-law for more Mason jars and to cover postage. I always tell her to insure the package for at least five hundred bucks. Because it's worth it, ain't it?"
She was looking at me sideways. "How much of that is true and how much of that is just good storytelling?"
I slathered some of the very same jam on a piece of toast. "It's all true, my dear. I would never lie about jam."
A little dollop fell on my black pants. Before I could do anything, Marnie had wet the end of a towel under the sink and handed it to me. "Seltzer, my dear. It's the only thing that works on wool." I went over to the bar and squeezed a bit out of the siphon and that did the trick.
I walked back into the kitchen and looked at Marnie. "So, sweetheart, how're you feeling about becoming the Board Secretary of the Whatzit Investigations Amalgamated, Inc.?"
She looked at me dead on and said, "I hope you were serious about all that last night because I haven't told you one important thing 'cause of all the goings and comings and what-not."
"What's that?"
"Mother and me are being evicted."
"What? But I thought you were fine for money."
"Oh, it ain't the money. It's the freeway. The state is taking the building. We just rent, you know. The landlord already got paid. We have 15 days to vacate."
I nodded and asked, "Do you like being by the ocean?"
Marnie looked at me sideways again.
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, I happen to know of a charming spot on Pacific that might need a tenant."
Marnie's eyes widened. "Nick! That's your sister's house!"
"My sister is no longer available to live there, being otherwise occupied."
"What will Mother say?"
"It's way out there, Marnie. There's no streetcar anywhere near to be found."
Marnie nodded and then looked at me. "I was actually thinking of buying a car with the dough you gave me this morning."
"Perfect! It's settled then."
Marnie came over and gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Don't kiss me yet, doll. I don't know that the house is mine. Oh shit! Wait right here. Be right back."
I ran up the stairs, into the bedroom, and bumped right into Carter.
"What's the hurry, son?"
"The papers."
"What papers?" He was standing in between me and the bedroom and I got the sense he was enjoying keeping me in my place.
"The ones I found at Janet's house yesterday. I never looked at them."
He moved to the side and let me through. I rifled through yesterday's coat and found them. There were the two letters and the two official documents.
I said to Carter, "Come on. There's toast and coffee downstairs. We need to look at these before I see my father today."
<
br /> I bounded down the stairs. I then realized Mike was nowhere to be seen. I walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table.
Carter came in behind me and poured himself a cup of coffee. Marnie said, "Good morning, Carter."
He smiled and said, "Good morning, Marnie. Are you invited to this shindig today?"
I looked up and shook my head. "I don't want her to get hurt. It's not going to be pretty. My father is going to be at his absolute worst today. I'm sure he's mortified that he cried in front of me."
Marnie said, "I couldn't go if I wanted. Mother isn't awake yet."
Carter handed Marnie a twenty and said, "For a cab. You stay as long as you want." He handed her another twenty. "And that's for groceries, unless your mother is dieting."
Marnie giggled. I watched her blithely slip the two bills in her purse. I really loved that she was so good at receiving money from people. It was a quality I never had to develop because I had an allowance, which was like swallowing glass and quite painful to receive and I had a hard time spending it, until Uncle Sam became my employer that is. And then, all of sudden, at 21, I was suddenly very rich. Even now, the truth was I'd rather live in Eureka Valley than up on Nob Hill, and most of it had to do with not wanting to spend the ill-gotten gains of rakish Uncle Paul.
I turned my attention back to the letters. They were from Uncle Paul, of course. The gist of the first letter was mainly that my father was a dick, although Uncle Paul was much more eloquent than that. It had been sent to Janet for her 21st birthday by Uncle Paul's estate lawyer in Boston. It said that there was a little something enclosed to celebrate an important milestone in a young woman's life. It also suggested not marrying too early. And there were other bits of solid, good advice designed to enlighten and liberate rather than calling for adherence to cultural norms. Good ole Uncle Paul.
The second letter was mailed from Boston as well and the postmark was dated late March of '52. It was longer and it explained that Janet was the beneficiary of a trust similar to mine. For some reason, not explained, she came into the trust at age 25. He may have been a sinner of the Sodom variety, but apparently Uncle Paul still held some old-fashioned ideas about women and property.
The letter went on to suggest very strongly that Janet draw up a will that excluded everyone but me. Uncle Paul was very specific about this. I'd received similar advice and Jeffery had worked on my will for almost six months to make sure that no Williams, including my own father, would try to kill me so they could inherit.
The Unexpected Heiress (A Nick Williams Mystery Book 1) Page 9
