Michael Ridpath - Final Venture

'Oh, and after that he'll make sure you never get backing from a venture capital firm again,' I added.

Craig sighed. 'OK, I get the message. I'm sorry.'

A thought struck me. 'When I left Net Cop the day before Frank was killed, you seemed awfully cheerful. That had nothing to do with his death, did it?'

'No, of course not,' said Craig.

I looked at him suspiciously, but his face was all injured innocence.

He stood up and moved over to a whiteboard in his office. There was a string of names, venture capitalists in one column, and industry players in the other. Many of the names were crossed out.

'We're gettin' no luck with the VCs,' Craig said, 'but some of the equipment suppliers are nibbling. Nortel has said "no", but Ericsson and Luxtel sound interested. I've fixed up a meeting with Luxtel in New Jersey tomorrow…'

Craig rattled on, optimism returned, once again totally absorbed with the success of his company.

Inspired by Craig's enthusiasm, I called Jeff Lieberman in New York. He was pleased to hear from me. He liked the Net Cop deal. Daniel had indeed put a good word in over the weekend. In fact, Jeff had talked to a couple of his colleagues, and they had agreed to put in a hundred and fifty thousand dollars between them for an appropriate share of the company yet to be haggled over. It was much more than I had expected. Craig was impressed. Net Cop would still need more funds to develop the prototype, but Jeff and his friends had bought us a couple more weeks to find them. Not much, but it was something.

I took the train from Wellesley back to South Station and put in a couple of hours' work. I left the office early. I was worried about Lisa.

I went straight home, walking rapidly across the Common. I usually found that was the time when the problems of the day came crowding back into my mind, begging to be solved.

Gil's conversation with me jostled its way to the front of my brain. Mahoney hadn't said I was a suspect, but it was clear I was heading that way. I might need Gil's lawyer friend.

I approached a bench just above the Frog Pond in the middle of the Common. It was a grey afternoon and a few spots of rain spattered my face. There weren't many people about. I stopped suddenly, sat down on the bench, and looked behind me, back towards the elegant Georgian spire of Park Street Church and the giant buildings of the Financial District towering above it. An old lady stumbled by, muttering to herself. Behind her was a young Hispanic man in jeans and a dark jacket. His eyes darted up at me as I sat down, and he seemed to hesitate for a moment, then he walked past me, eyes on the pathway beneath his feet.

I was being followed. He was a policeman, no doubt. I decided not to say anything as he passed, head down, but I kept my eyes on him, until he had left the Common and turned right up Beacon Street. Only then did I continue home.

Lisa looked pleased to see me. She was wearing an old blue oxford shirt of Frank's he had lent her when we were painting the apartment just after we moved in. I hugged her.

'Did your mother and Eddie leave all right?' I asked.

She nodded. 'The plane was right on time. Mom wouldn't go without making me promise we'd visit her for Thanksgiving.'

'That's OK. We were planning to do that anyway, weren't we?'

'I thought so.'

'That was a pretty unpleasant meeting this morning, wasn't it?'

'I can't believe Dad left Eddie out of his will. That was so stupid.'

'It was very generous of you to cut him back in.'

'I didn't want Dad's death to cause any more strain on our family. And after Dad left, Eddie did so much to look after Mom and me. It's only fair to let him have his share. Don't you think so?'

'I suppose so,' I said.

Lisa looked at me. 'Do you think I was wrong?'

'If it were me, I'd have kept the money. Your father knew what he was doing. And Eddie was always going to get the hundred thousand bucks from the life insurance policy.'

Lisa frowned. 'But it's not right.'

'Don't worry, Lisa. It was your decision. And what you did was very generous. Eddie is very lucky to be your brother.'

Lisa smiled. Then her face became serious. 'You don't like him, do you?'

'It's more a case of him not liking me. But after a while, I have to admit I begin to feel the same way about him.'

'He's a wonderful person, really. After the divorce, I was the one who cried. I couldn't bear the thought of not living with Dad any more, or the idea that Mom and Dad didn't love each other. Eddie seemed to take it all so well: he never cried, he comforted. Whenever I had a problem, he was there. I was always going through those crises of self-confidence teenage girls suffer from. And Eddie always told me I was good enough to do whatever I wanted to do. He encouraged me to study biochemistry, to go to Stanford, to become a research student. He made me believe in myself again. Thanks to him, I did a pretty good job of getting over the divorce. I guess he never did. That's why he's so touchy about Dad.'

'It must have been rough on him,' I said, to mollify Lisa. What I really thought was that Eddie was a spoiled brat, who had thrown a temper tantrum and been rewarded with a couple of million bucks or more. But it was Lisa's money, and I really did admire her determination to be generous to her family.

At least now we can help Helen out on her lawsuit,' Lisa said.

'If you're sure we can use that money?' I asked.

'Of course, Simon. I want her to win as much as you do.'

I smiled at her. With everything else that was going wrong, I was pleased that there might finally be some prospect of good news for my sister. She deserved it.

'You should call and tell her,' Lisa said. 'But remember, we'll have to wait till probate comes through.'

'I'll ring her tomorrow,' I said. 'She'll be very happy. Thank you.' I kissed her. 'How do you feel?'

'Lousy'

'You're coping well.'

'Thanks to you.' She held me again. 'I'm so glad I married you. I couldn't deal with this alone.'

'It's the best decision I ever made,' I said, kissing the top of her head.

We held each other in silence. I remembered when I had made that decision. We were spending a long weekend in the Berkshires, a beautiful range of hills in western Massachusetts. We were walking up a path that ran alongside a small stream. I was in front, Lisa behind. Suddenly, I don't know where from, I got this strong feeling that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with this woman. I knew it was right. I wanted to turn round and tell her straight away, but I thought I ought to think it over first. But with every step I took up that hill, the surer I became. A rush of exhilaration flowed through me, and I smiled broadly to myself.

The gradient levelled off, and we emerged from the trees, into a clearing by a small lake, much like a Cumbrian tarn. It shone blue in the sunshine. We made our way over to its banks and sat on a large stone.

There was almost total stillness, apart from the occasional breath of wind ruffling the grass and throwing ripples across the tarn.

'You're very quiet,' said Lisa.

I didn't answer her, but I couldn't prevent the grin I had been trying hard to control spreading across my face.

'What is it?' she asked.

I said nothing.

She hit me playfully on the shoulder. 'What?'

I turned to her. 'Will you marry me?'

Her face went almost into shock. She clearly hadn't anticipated the question. I thought I'd made a big mistake. She didn't answer me. She clammed up.

'Lisa?'

She still didn't answer. For a moment I thought I had blown it completely, gone too far, totally misjudged our relationship. I sat there, helpless, trying not to stare at Lisa's silence.

The sun edged across the sky. Clouds came and went. Neither of us moved. Finally, Lisa turned to me.