Fern Michaels - Tuesday’s Child

What would they think when the news came out about her release and that she was out of prison? They would have no way to find her. If she wanted to reconnect with her old friends, it would be up to her to initiate contact. Did she have the guts to do that? At the moment, she just didn’t know.

There had never been the slightest doubt in her mind that Nick would be successful. And she had been right. The number two golfer in the country. She hadn’t been at all surprised to hear that. Patty, too. Jon, now that was a different story. Jon was the weak one of the four, the gentlest, the kindest, and not the least bit motivated. Jon was frail, too, something about his immune system. She hoped he was all right.

Sophie wondered where her things were. No one had said, and she hadn’t asked once she was convicted. Who packed up the little efficiency apartment she had shared with Patty? Did they toss her belongings, or did they store them? She wondered if Linda knew. There wasn’t anything she really cared about except her books, her address book, and some costume jewelry she’d saved up to buy. A strand of pretty pearls and a gold bracelet. A gold chain with a locket that Nick had given her the first year they were all out on their own. Surely whoever packed up her things wouldn’t have thrown those away. When it came right down to it, she didn’t care about the forty-dollar string of pearls or the sixty-dollar bracelet, but she did care about the locket Nick had given her. She cared about it because of the minuscule picture of the four of them that Sister Helen had taken for just that purpose.

Sophie almost laughed out loud when she noticed Linda wiggling her fingers in her direction. Obviously, the kitchey koo part of the conversation was over, and they were finally down to business. She shook her head that she understood and leaned forward to hear better. Jay was talking.

“I really have no news other than that Kala called for a status report. She said they were on their way to see Big Ben. One of the investigators called in and said that at six-oh-five last night, Adam Star, as we knew him, had been cremated and his ashes were placed in a burnished bronze urn. The nameplate on the urn reads ADAM WILLIAM CLEMENTS. Not Star. And the director of the crematorium told the investigator that Adam’s wife’s nameplate had been changed a month ago. Her urn now reads AUDREY STAR CLEMENTS. Both urns are in a crypt of sorts since there was no one to claim them. Bought and paid for by Adam.

“I filed the suit Kala drew up against the state of Georgia before five o’clock yesterday. Today, there were four calls I didn’t take from the state’s attorneys. Guess they want to try for some kind of settlement for Sophie’s wrongful imprisonment. I’m going to let them sweat so the media can have their field day. I can tell you what their offer will be first crack out of the barrel-ten years salary and a little extra thrown in for taking ten years of her life. Kala said to start at two point five million a year and come down to only two million for every year of prison. She said twenty million dollars was fair.”

Sophie fell back against the cushions on the glider. Twenty million dollars! That had to be just about all the money in the world. “Is it tax free?” she managed to squeak.

Linda started to laugh and couldn’t stop. She had no idea if the settlement was tax free or not. She asked Jay.

“Yep!”

Sophie grew so light-headed she had to drop her head between her knees. She made a mental note to add to her to-do list: how to spend $20 million. How many pieces of paper would she need for that ?

Sophie didn’t realize Linda had ended the call until she sat down next to her on the glider. She hugged Sophie so tight she grunted.

“Is that possible? That they would pay me that much money?”

“Kala seems to think so. She convinced Jay, and he just convinced me. The firm will take a third of that. You do realize that, right, Sophie?”

“Of course. Is that enough?”

“It’s enough, trust me. Do you want to make a little bet here as to how soon you get the money?”

“Don’t these things take years ?”

“Not when you have someone like Jay being a PITA. I’d say three weeks, tops.”

Sophie frowned. “What’s a PITA?”

Linda laughed. “A pain in the ass.”

“Oh. Then I guess that’s a KISS.”

“Yeah, keep it simple, stupid. Now you’re getting it. Okay, listen. I need you to sign this bank card. I’m going to town. Kiki is picking me up. I’m going to get the lay of the land of this town and open your account at the Hawaiian Bank branch where one of Kala’s cousins works. She did it all-I just have to show up. This way when you need money, you can hit an ATM or go through the drive-through. Kala really means it when she says you need to keep a low profile and not be out and about for a while. Spenser and his camp are going to try to locate you. We do not want that. You okay with all of this? It pretty much means you are confined to this house, the beach, and surroundings.”

“I’m fine with it, Linda. I have no desire to go anywhere right now. I’ll follow all instructions to the letter. I don’t want you to worry about me.”

“Then I won’t worry, but Jay will. We have Plan B in effect, and what that is this. If one of the cousins comes for you and tells you it’s time to relocate, you go. That means Spenser or someone in his camp or maybe the tabloids has put two and two together and figured out Kala sent you here, then went off somewhere so they couldn’t bug her. I’m no seer, but I think you’re only good here for about a week once the news gets out. Spenser is looking at his career going up in smoke, so he’s going to leave no stone unturned. You okay with that, too?”

“I am. I’m going to take a walk on the beach and get some sun and maybe take a swim.”

“Before you go, Sophie, you asked about something earlier that leads me to believe that you were so excited when Kala and Jay explained everything to you that you did not take in something very important.”

“What did I ask about, Linda? Did I do something wrong?”

“No, honey, nothing is wrong. What you asked about was whether the twenty million was tax free. Which told me that since you saw that question as significant, you did not understand just how wealthy you are. Or will be once Adam Star’s estate is settled.”

“Linda, I remember their telling me that I had inherited some money from Mr. Star. But-”

“Sophie, you did not just inherit ‘some money.’ You inherited an estate worth hundreds of millions of dollars. When that estate is settled, you will be one of the richest women in America. And the difference between a tax-free twenty million and a taxable twenty million is, in your circumstances, almost negligible. Chump change.”

Sophie sat there, stunned. Seemingly incapable of speech, she got up and started into the house, shaking her head as if to clear it of cobwebs.

“Use sunblock, this sun is wicked,” Linda called after her.

“Yes, Mother.” Recovering from her daze, Sophie laughed as she headed into the house to change into a bathing suit. “See you when I see you,” she called airily.

Friday’s weather was a repeat of Wednesday’s and Thursday’s. In other words a perfect day, in Sophie’s opinion.

It was the end of the workday in Georgia and lunchtime for Sophie and Linda. And when lunch was over, Linda would head to the airport for the long flight back to Georgia and her husband.

Both women had just been served what looked like a wonderful shrimp scampi and a mango-pineapple-banana salad when Linda’s cell rang. Both their eyes popped wide, knowing it had to be Jay on the other end of the line. In other words, news . The succulent-looking lunch was forgotten.