© Copyright 1999-2001 by silli_artie@hotmail.com
This work may not be reposted or redistributed without the prior
express written permission of the author.
A work of fiction, meant for adults. Read something else if you are
not an adult, or are offended by stories with sexual content. Then
again, if all you’re looking for is in-out, in-out, in-out, you
should probably read something else. I welcome constructive comments.
Enjoy.
We got in Nancy’s car and headed over the hill. We had an appointment with Jill for four, after my doctor visit. That gave us time for lunch, and time to collect things.
I was still deep in thought when I noticed we were on Rengstorff. I laughed and put a hand on her shoulder. "Is this what you want for lunch? Really?"
She laughed as well. "Yes, fast food is one of my vices. Do you remember when they opened the In-N-Out Burger in Milpitas?"
I rubbed her shoulder. "Yup, I was there the first week. Think I waited in line for almost an hour. It was worth it though."
We pulled into the In-N-Out Burger and only had to wait a few minutes. We even got a place to sit.
We got back into the car after lunch. As we buckled in, I said, "Know how to get to my place?"
She put a hand on my knee. "You don’t have to go in. I can go in and get what you need, or we can go buy you new clothes."
I put my hand on hers. "Thanks. Let’s get it over with. The first time will be the hardest."
She laughed a bit as we backed out. "The first time wasn’t hard at all."
I laughed with her as we got back on to the freeway.
"I gave my keys to Karen on Saturday!" I shouted out. How were we going to get in?
Nancy patted her purse. "And Karen gave them to me this morning."
We parked in front. I checked the mailbox: a few bills and the usual junk. I took Nancy’s arm and walked to the front door.
We went in. I was a little surprised; it was picked up from what I thought I’d left. We went upstairs and I changed into something other than sweats. Then I grabbed a suitcase out of the closet and started dumping in my clothes.
Nancy pulled me over to the bed, saying, "Stop."
We sat on the edge of the bed, looking at each other.
I felt as if I was blushing, turning red. "Nancy, I’m sorry. I assumed..."
She lifted my chin and said, "If it’s about being with me, you assumed right. You’re moving in with me, at least until things straighten out a bit. I help you, and you help me, right?"
I nodded.
"Now I’ll pack your clothes, neatly, as much as will fit in my car. You said you had the same computer setup? What about her calendar?"
I smiled. "Oho... Very good question. I’ll go dump the calendar. Save room for bathroom stuff."
We stood and kissed quickly. I went into our little office upstairs and turned on the computer. Yup, it was the same setup, and organized just the same. That’s why things seemed weird yet familiar to me. I did a search for calendar files, and Sherlock found three: two for Janet and one for me. I dumped Janet’s to the printer. She had a "business" one, and a "funny business" one buried down deep in some folders. The business calendar showed my surgery on the fateful Friday, and then "meetings" the rest of the day. Her other calendar showed "Tahoe", with an event at six P.M. labeled "Bill served." Seeing that, I didn’t feel sorry for either of them. That also confirmed what John had meant on his calendar with the note "Nancy served." Bastards!
I printed out what I wanted and shut things down. I walked back into the bedroom. Nancy had the two big bags filled. She smiled when I came in, and gave me a hug.
"What did you find?" she asked.
I showed her the calendar page, pointing to the "Bill served" event. She gave me a grim and firm look.
I nodded and said, "Kind of hard to feel sorry for them when you see shit like this, isn’t it?"
She nodded and said hoarsely, "Fucking shits. We both deserve better."
I dropped the paper on the bed and took both her hands in mine. "Maybe we’ve found better."
We hugged each other. We went into the bathroom and I tossed all my bathroom stuff into a pillowcase. We carried that and the suitcases downstairs. I stood at the bottom of the stairs for a moment, reflecting on our times here together, buying the place, moving in, making it our own. Then "Bill served" popped back into my head. I looked around. Nancy was standing down the hall a little, looking serious.
I walked over to her. She was looking at the answering machine. There were eight messages on it.
I sighed and opened the junk drawer beneath it, pulling out a note pad and a pen. I played the messages and wrote down what was needed. Most were from friends who had heard something. I erased them as I went.
After that, I stood there. Then I looked at Nancy and flipped the top of the answering machine open. I pushed the buttons to record a new message.
"This is Bill. Janet died on Sunday from injuries in an auto accident. Thanks to her generosity as an organ donor, even in death she has helped others to live better lives. In accordance with her wishes, there will be no memorial service. If you want to do something to remember her, make a donation to the Santa Clara University Women’s Scholarship Fund. I’m going to be away for a while and not checking this machine very much. Thanks for your concern and your prayers."
I hit stop and hugged Nancy. We both sobbed. I couldn’t believe I got through that without choking up. We picked up our stuff and left, locking up behind us.
At a stop light a few blocks away, Nancy put a hand on my knee and said, "I can’t believe that. You’re too good for her."
I looked at her. "And not good enough for you," I whispered. I don’t know if she heard me or not.
"Let’s swing by my office," I told her. She nodded and I gave her directions.
I signed Nancy in at the front desk, and we went looking for my boss, Dale. I nodded to some people I knew in other groups. Dale wasn’t in his office, but when Patricia, our group administrator saw me, she turned a little pale and said, "I’ll go find him."
Nancy and I went into my cubicle. I quickly took down the pictures of Janet and I and dumped them into the trash. I thought about checking email, but waved my hand in disgust at the computer just as Dale walked in.
He didn’t know quite what to do. Hell, neither did I. I shook his hand.
"Dale, this is my good friend Nancy. We’re helping each other through this."
"Pleased to meet you," he said, "Let’s go to the conference room. I called personnel, they’ll meet us."
We went to one of the small conference rooms and sat down. We were joined by someone from personnel I’d never met before. I decided to start things off.
"As you probably know, Janet died over the weekend. I’m taking this week off, there’s a lot of shit that has to be done, and a lot of things I need to figure out."
The gal from personnel said, "That’s fine, William. You’ve got the time. Is there anything we can do to help? Would you like to talk to a counselor? It won’t cost you anything."
I felt the bile rise. Anyone who knew me called me Bill. But what the hell, she was trying to help. I should cut her some slack. "Thanks. I don’t think so just yet. I’m working with some people already. It’s just going to take some time."
They mumbled things for a bit, and Nancy and I left. I told Dale I’d call later in the week.
We got back into Nancy’s car and it hit me. As she was starting the engine, I put my hand on hers and stopped her. I turned and faced her, pulling down my sunglasses. She turned to me, then did the same.
"Bill, what is it?"
"Nancy... You’re doing so much for me... What can I do for you? What do you need? Tell me, show me, please. I want to help you get through this."
I saw her mouth twitch and tremble, and we held each other close again.
"Oh Bill," she sobbed, "you’re doing it, you’re doing it. Just keep doing it, stay with me and keep doing it."
We were able to drive away a few minutes later.
We arrived early at the doctor’s office, so we waited longer. When we went into his office and sat down, he looked at both of us, then back at Nancy, and frowned a little.
"Janet?" he said. "You’re not Janet Wilson. Sorry, it’s been a long day."
"That’s okay," I said. "This is Nancy. Janet and her boyfriend, Nancy’s husband, were killed in a traffic accident on their way to Tahoe Friday morning."
He gave me a blank look. "What?"
It felt good to say it; I was getting poison out of my system. "After my wife took me home from here, she gave me two pain pills and ran off with Nancy’s husband for a bit of fun in Tahoe for the weekend. They didn’t make it. I busted some stitches heaving my guts out on the ride to Tahoe Friday night."
He turned his chair sideways and looked at the wall for a moment. I held Nancy’s hand. God damn, that felt better, even if I did dump a load on this guy.
"Holy shit," he said to the wall, then turned back to us. "Mister Wilson, Nancy, I don’t know what to say."
I looked at him. "Holy shit sums it up as well as anything else," I told him.
He looked at Nancy, shaking his head a little. "I spoke with you this morning?"
She smiled. "Yes. I trimmed the suture ends down as you suggested."
He gave his head a brief shake as if to reorient, then stood up. "Right. Let’s go have a look then."
We went into the exam room. I slipped off my shoes, then pants and underwear as I got up on the table. The doctor gave Nancy a glance. She looked at him and said, "I’m a physical therapist. And I did give you a report this morning, and did the trimming."
My head was back on the table, so I couldn’t see what was going on. I heard him putting on gloves. Then he lifted my feet up into stirrups. I felt gentle prodding as he described things to Nancy. He liked the repair work, and the trimming she’d done. I was still a bit swollen. After a bit he said, "Any questions?"
Nancy asked, "How long does he have to take it easy?"
The doctor said, "Well, no serious lifting or straining for a week or so."
Nancy broke in with, "Let me be a little more to the point. How long until he’s ready for some passionate hot bunny love?"
The doctor chuckled a little at that. "Well, I could step out of the room for a while if you’d like."
We laughed at that. Laughing didn’t hurt as much.
"Seriously, keep it gentle for a few days. I’ll want to check him next week, but he’ll know when he’s ready. Oh, and you know he won’t be shooting blanks for a while yet. You should bring in a sample next week. I believe you already have an appointment?"
I looked over at Nancy. She was smiling. "Yes we do, doctor. And I understand. We’ll work the remainder through his system."
They helped me sit up. He was still shaking his head a bit. As I was putting my pants on, Nancy said, "Doctor, what we told you about our ex-spouses was quite true and quite confidential. We and the companies we work for do not need the publicity."
"I understand completely," he said, stripping off his gloves. We said our good byes and left.
In the car, Nancy was shaking her head. I put a hand on her shoulder and asked, "What’s wrong?"
She frowned a little more. "I don’t understand. Why go to the trouble of getting you fixed if she was going to divorce you?"
I shook my head. "I don’t know either. I thought she loved me. I guess I was wrong."
Nancy patted me on the leg. "Unfortunately so. Still, it’s such a nasty thing to do. I’m surprised, shocked I guess."
"Me too... I’m surprised as well, I thought we could talk through problems."
Nancy got a hard look on her face. "This really feels like something John would do, and be proud of. I’ve seen that side of him, when he was so pleased with himself at not only getting something he wanted, but also screwing someone in the process. And he’s been so careful lately about being sure I take my pill in the morning. The bastard."
"The dead bastard," I said, patting her on the shoulder. "She had changed the last few months. She was a lot more competitive, demanding, even short with me. I chalked it up to pressures at work and tried to be more accommodating, more supportive."
Nancy sighed. "So did I."
We got to Jill’s office about on time. Her secretary showed us to a small conference room. Karen was there, as was another young woman. All of them were grinning from ear to ear.
"Bill, Nancy, this is Mindy, one of my hot shot associates. Sit down, this is going to be a wild ride. Like anything to drink first?"
I looked around at folks, passing over the folder with Janet’s calendar printouts in it. "I could use a 7-Up if you have one."
"Me too," said Nancy.
"Sure you don’t want a shot of Scotch or Tequila with that?" asked Jill.
I raised my eyebrows. Karen took off out the door.
We talked a little about Janet’s calendar pages. Karen returned with our drinks. We talked about the other stops we’d made. Nancy told them what I’d told the doctor, and told them in a clear, strong voice.
I squeezed her hand. "It feels good to say it, doesn’t it?" I asked her.
She smiled and nodded. "Yes it does. The bastards."
Karen, Jill, and Mindy laughed.
"Good. Well, we’ve all had interesting days. We’re no closer to finding who or where the other two women are, but we share your conviction they’re out there. I worked with Karen on that, and talked to John’s attorneys. Mindy spent the morning at Janet’s office. Mindy, why don’t you lead off?"
Mindy was young, with short dark hair. She had an intense gaze through brown eyes.
"Well, one interesting thing is they actually were going to a business meeting in Tahoe. She was on a management committee with John, who was on their board of directors. They were going to meet some financial people, who were pissed when they didn’t show up. That means her company insurance kicks in, which covers all the medical care, and pays you an even million dollars."
I rolled my eyes. "So I can take a long vacation."
She smiled.
"Bill, what do you know about your wife’s stock options?"
I thought for a moment. "Well, I know they were worth a lot of money, and she’d be able to sell soon. It was something to do with founder’s stock. We were thinking of a bigger house, or so I thought."
She nodded. "Any idea of how much, what the value was? Oh, and thanks for the copy of her will. We confirmed with her attorneys that she had not completed a new one, which is really good news for you."
I raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"
Mindy told me, "We talked to Denise. Janet was in the process of preparing a new will, but they hadn’t gotten very far. That left her old will in full force."
She smiled again. "Let’s cut to the good part. With Janet’s death, under the provisions of her stock plan and of her will, you have sixty days to exercise her options. If you were to exercise and dump, which is to say exercise and immediately sell on the open market, those option shares today, we estimate you would realize in the neighborhood of thirty nine million dollars."
I sucked air. "As the good doctor said, holy shit." I squeezed Nancy’s hand.
"Oh," Mindy continued. "That’s after maximum state and federal taxes. A careful program may be able to do better. But that’s just the beginning." She looked over to Jill.
Jill gave us a big smile. "Nancy, have you told Bill about your prenup?"
Nancy shook her head. Jill filled me in. Nancy had signed an agreement before getting married, which limited what she’d be able to collect from John in case of a divorce, his death, pretty much anything. She knew she got the beach house, medical care, and a generous amount of money each month for the rest of her life.
"Bill, do you know how much dear John had, and how he kept it?"
I shook my head. "No clue."
She rifled through some papers. "Well, I’ve had some interesting phone calls today. Dear John had most of his wealth tied up in a trust, which is very good for tax and probate purposes. Nancy, I think you knew that."
Nancy nodded and Jill continued.
"The week before his death, John changed the trust and his will. In the event of his death, everything went to one Janet Elaine Wilson, or her heirs."
Wheels whirred in my head. I squeezed Nancy’s hand again. "Holy shit!" I whispered.
Jill nodded her head. "You can say that again. And there’s no argument about it, it’s a done deal. John died first, passing everything to Janet. When Janet died, the language of the trust conveyed everything to her beneficiary, which is you, Bill. There’s an important distinction here with the trust, which avoids probate entirely. I’ve set up an appointment for tomorrow morning for you to sign the papers, but everyone agrees. What John had, you’ve got."
I looked at Nancy and gave her a big hug. We started laughing, or maybe crying, or maybe both.
When we settled down I looked back at Jill. "So what does this mean, in round numbers?"
Jill frowned. "It’s a little hard to pinpoint. That’s one of the things we need to discuss. But, it’s in the neighborhood of three hundred million."
The next thing I knew I was on the floor, still feeling dizzy. Nancy was looking at me, smiling with tears in her eyes.
I reached up and touched her cheek. She pulled me up and we hugged and kissed.
Everyone wanted to know if I was okay now. When Jill looked at me and asked, I replied, "Hell no!" That got some laughter.
I sat back in the chair, looking out the window. What a trip -- how much the world had changed in a few days. Or had it? The world was the same; I had changed.
"So tell me," I asked nobody in particular, "can the trust do something with Janet’s stock options to minimize the tax hit?"
Mindy said, "Ha!" and held out her hand in front of Jill.
Jill raised an eyebrow and said, "I’ll pay you later." Then she turned to me and said, "We’re not sure. Bill, this is big league finance and taxes. I’m getting into deep water here. You need a specialist."
I nodded. "So, who do you recommend? I think I’d like to use someone separate from John’s folks, and probably have another set of eyes go over what they’ve done. Somehow I don’t feel totally comfortable about them."
Jill nodded and smiled. "I agree. I made some calls earlier in the day. I have one person in particular who would be very good at this."
"Great. Please set it up." I looked at a thick document on her desk. "Is that what I’m going to go over tomorrow?"
Jill said, "Yes, why?"
"I’d like to take a look at it."
Jill shrugged her shoulders and pushed a copy over the table to me. "Sure, but I think sleeping pills work better. This stuff is boring, even for attorneys."
I laughed a bit. "I’m curious, that’s all."
I picked up the document. It was titled "The John L Trust." I started flipping through it.
As I did, I had another thought. "What about his office? Doesn’t he have an office in Sunnyvale somewhere?"
Jill and Karen both gave me feral grins.
"I’m glad you’re on my side. I think," I told them.
Karen laughed. Jill spoke up. "We know where it is, and we have the key. After you sign the paperwork tomorrow, it belongs to you. If you’d like to drop by later on, and maybe invite us in, we’d be happy to accompany you."
I laughed out loud. "Just like the Wizard of Oz -- what was the line? These things have to be done delicately, so as not to damage the spell."
Jill nodded. She had a tight smile, but a smile none the less. "You got it."
A weird thought crossed my mind as I flipped through the pile of legalese. "Can I make changes in this?"
Jill shrugged again. "You can make suggestions, and we can tell you if it can be done, and what the consequences are."
I picked up a piece of paper from the table and wrote on it, then folded it in half and handed it to Jill.
"I’d like the name of the trust changed. Don’t show it to anyone yet, I want it to be a surprise."
Jill said, "May I look?"
I nodded. "Sure."
She opened the paper and looked. She folded it up and started laughing. After a bit she was leaning on the table, laughing so hard she was crying. It took her a while to recover.
Finally she sat up again and wiped her face. "Bill, I’m going to enjoy working with you very much. I think this is superb. I’ll make sure it’s done by tomorrow morning."
Seeing the glances of the others in the room, she folded the page again and stuffed it inside her blouse.
Karen said, "This has got to be good."
Nancy leaned over and ran fingernails on my thigh. "I know how to make you talk."
That brought low laughter from all around.
"I know you can, but I think you’ll like the surprise."
Then another thought crossed my mind. "Hey, I’d bet he’s got the same setup in the Sunnyvale office, right? Same computer, same desk..."
Nancy said, "Last time I was there, it sure looked the same."
"Same computer, same desk, same futon, same fax machine..." I suggested.
Karen popped in with "The fax machine -- he’s probably got it programmed for his other hideouts. We can run the phone numbers."
I smiled and nodded. "My thoughts exactly. It’s a lead. And we can work on the mattress delivery folks Thursday as well. From his calendar, they’re supposed to do his local hideaway Thursday afternoon."
We talked a bit about schedules for tomorrow. We’d meet at Jill’s office at nine, then go over in one car to the other attorney’s office in Palo Alto. After signing the paperwork, we’d go to my new office and take it apart.
I looked at Nancy. She looked frazzled. I know I felt the same. I squeezed her hand, then lifted it and kissed it. "Let’s go to the big house; it’s ours now. Dinner there or should we eat out?"
She sighed and smiled. "I’d love to cook something for you. Is that okay?"
I laughed softly and kissed her hand again. "Of course it is."
Karen cleared her throat. "Mind if I tag along? I’d like to check out the fax machine. I promise I’ll be quick."
Nancy and I both laughed. "Sure."
I looked at Jill again. "How about a celebration dinner tomorrow night? Cafe Fino? On me?"
Karen and Mindy perked up. Jill nodded and looked to Mindy. "Will you make the reservations? I’m going to need you with me pretty much all day tomorrow as well."
Mindy smiled and nodded. "Not a problem."
I started to stand; Nancy helped me. "Okay gang, we meet again tomorrow at nine. Should I wear a tie for this thing tomorrow?" I asked.
Jill smiled. "Only if you want. You’re the client; you don’t have to if you don’t want to. You can wear a T-shirt and Bermuda shorts if you want."
I chuckled. "Well, I don’t think I’d go that far."
With another hug Nancy and I headed out of the office. We shared a kiss before getting into her car. Nancy drove us to the house in the hills. She sighed as she pulled into the garage.
I put a hand on her thigh. "This is our house, for as long as you want to stay in it."
Nancy turned to me, tears in her eyes. "Thank you Bill, thank you so much."
We hugged again and got out.
When we got to the door I said, "Sorry I can’t carry you across the threshold."
Nancy turned and gave me an incredulous look. She laughed a little, then dropped her bag and opened the door. She quickly put one arm under my shoulders, and sweeping the other under my knees, picked me up, carried me into the house, and quickly put me down again. We hugged each other and laughed.
We were still laughing when Karen drove up and walked into the garage.
"Never mind, I don’t want to know," she said as she walked up.
Nancy gave me a kiss on the nose. "I’ll start dinner."
Karen followed me to the office. I fished in the drawer and found the manual for the fax machine. A few non-obvious button pushes later it dumped its preprogrammed numbers onto a printed page. Karen looked it over.
"Yup, this one is Tahoe all right. And these two are the Sunnyvale area. One is his office, I think."
I had a thought. "Let me check something else. He’s got fax software on the computer -- he might have things set up there as well."
Indeed he did, and they were labeled better, so we could tell which numbers were semi-legitimate business stuff.
Karen took that printed page and said, "This should be easy!" She smiled and said, "See you in the morning."
As she started to walk out I said, "Karen?"
She stopped and turned. I was sitting down in the chair. She came over and said softly "What is it, Bill?"
"I need your help."
She nodded. "Okay, with what?"
I sighed. It was hard to say. "Can you help with my wife’s clothes and things at the townhouse?"
"Of course, Bill."
I stood up. We hugged, and then she left.
I walked to the kitchen. "I love garlic!" I said from a ways away.
"Good!" came the response. I walked into the kitchen and spun Nancy around, hugging and kissing her. I ran my hands over her and kissed her neck. She laughed a free and easy laugh, a happy laugh.
"That’s a wonderful sound," I growled into her ear.
She gave me a hug and a squeeze. "Oh Bill... Any luck with the fax machine?"
I let her go for the moment. There was a glass of wine poured for me. I picked it up. It tasted better than what I usually had. "Yup, both the fax machine and the fax software on the confuser. Karen left with more puzzle pieces."
We had a simple dinner at the table in the kitchen. The formal dining room seemed too big for us just then. I helped her clean up afterwards. That left us standing in the kitchen holding each other again.
"You look beat," she told me.
I sighed. "So do you."
She smiled. "How about a massage and then bed?"
I chuckled. "I don’t know how to massage you, and you’re too tired to massage me. How about rocking me to sleep in your arms?"
She gave me a soft hug. "You’ve got it."
We got the clothes from her car and took them upstairs. We cleaned up in the bathroom and got into bed. I had on a T-shirt and underwear still to protect my fruit. I was surprised when she got in bed nude.
"I’ll put on something later if I get cold," she said.
"I’ll keep you warm," I told her, snuggling up.
She eased a breast into my mouth and held me to her. I moaned.
"I’m counting on it," she whispered, and started rocking me gently.
Tales of the Golden Mule
Tales of the Golden Mule
by silli_artie@hotmail.com
http://www.asstr-mirror.org/files/Authors/artie/www
© Copyright 1999 by silli_artie@hotmail.com