Даниэла Стил - Neighbors

“I’m sorry I was right, Meredith,” he said when he told her and handed her a list of suppliers who had paid them handsomely at her expense.

“So am I.” She smiled sadly at him. “But I’m glad you told me. They don’t belong here. I guess they never did.” It was a rude awakening for her of who they really were.

He took her in his arms again and held her. She didn’t cry. She never wanted to think about them again. She had no tears left for the bad people in her life.

In the end, after she thought about it, she knew what she wanted to do. Charles disagreed with her. She decided not to prosecute them. It would be too complicated to try to figure out everything they’d stolen, and the cash they’d taken. There was a statute of limitations of three years, the police told her, so they couldn’t even be prosecuted for twelve of the fifteen years, and the kickbacks had been paid in cash, which was impossible to prove. They’d gotten away with it and she didn’t want to spend years of pain and grief trying to get money back and put them in jail. It was enough that they were gone, and she’d been able to save a few items, and stop them, thanks to Charles. They weren’t worth the money or the time to pursue them for years for only a fraction of what they stole, and made from their kickbacks. There was no stopping people like them. They would probably find another victim somewhere. She felt sorry for the next person they fooled. Meredith and Charles were sure they would do it again. And Meredith would get little or nothing back. They had been so convincing, and seemed so kind, she had believed every word they said, and all it had ever been, she knew now, was a lie. Nothing about them had been true, and their so-called friendship had been a ploy to manipulate her. It broke her heart, and all she wanted now was to turn the page and move on. There was no way to stop them, or replay the past. She put it down to a terrible experience and a betrayal she would never forget. And it was clear now that the agency she’d hired them from hadn’t done a criminal check. People like Jack and Debbie knew how to work the system, and were adept at finding innocent victims, just as they had victimized her, and her circumstances had played right into their hands. It was a terrible blow to realize how gullible she had been, and just how bad they were.

Chapter 11

Charles waited a few days after Jack and Debbie left before talking to Meredith about it again. He was spending most of his nights with her now. He had dealt with similar problems professionally, for his clients, but never in his personal life. So in some ways, this was new to him too. It was an old story for Meredith, who over the years had been cheated on and lied to and stolen from by people she had trusted. She saw clearly now that Jack and Debbie had never been her friends. They were frauds and petty criminals to the end. She had no idea where they were now and didn’t care.

Charles and Meredith were alone in her study one night, after Tyla and her children had gone to bed. The house was quiet. She had interviewed a couple that afternoon, who had real references that she and Charles had both checked out. She had hired them, and they were going to start on the weekend. The wife was a warm woman from Guatemala, and her husband was Peruvian. They had worked in several fine homes, most recently in L.A. They were very polite, and looked immaculate. Their previous employers were moving to London, so they had let them go.

“I wanted to talk to you, Meredith, about some of your security systems,” Charles said quietly. “Everything you have in place is state-of-the-art, but technology changes every day. I’d like to update what you have a little for you, not at great expense, just to fine-tune it all a bit. But I’m worried about something else. Because of who you are, you’re a much bigger target than you realize for scams and dishonest people. You don’t need to be paranoid, but I want you to be really careful. I love you, and I don’t want you to get hurt.” He didn’t mention Jack and Debbie by name, but she understood.

“Thank you.” She smiled at him for the “I love you.” It was good news to her. She was in love with him too, and had said so to him when they were in bed. “I must look like a fool to you. Six months after Jack and Debbie got here, my whole life fell apart. I was out of my head for a couple of years. I couldn’t think. I didn’t care. I was an easy target. I’m not anymore. God knows how much money they stole from me, or cheated me out of. I’m awake now. They hit me at my lowest point. It was lucky for them.”

“I’ve seen heads of large corporations unwittingly become victims and prisoners of their employees. The right circumstances, a death in the family, the loss of a spouse, an illness, a change of fortune, a weak moment, a hard time, and suddenly the tables turn. I want you to know that I’m here for you. I won’t let that happen to you again as long as I’m around.”

“I know that about you now, and you were right about them,” she conceded. “I thought you were crazy. It turns out that I was.”

“No, they were just very evil people, and clever about how they did it. It’s usually a very simple system that works best. The rest of us just don’t think that way. It’s sad to have to be so careful, but in your position, you have no other choice.” She nodded agreement, and they went to bed shortly after that. She nestled into his arms. He was a tall, powerful man, and in every possible way, she knew she was safe with him. He wasn’t going to let anything bad happen to her. It was a wonderful feeling, and she was glad now that Jack and Debbie were gone, and pleased too that Tyla and her children were living with her for now.

Meredith dropped Will and Daphne off at school the next morning.

Two hours later, the school called Meredith to pick Will up. He had a stomachache again. Meredith was worried about him, and he went straight to his room when he got home. It was the first stomachache he’d had since the night his father had almost killed his mother. He asked her an odd question on the way home.

“Do you think Mom would ever go back to Dad? Or meet him somewhere?” he asked her.

“I hope not. At least until your father gets some very serious help. Meeting him now would be a very foolish thing to do.” He nodded, and when he got back to the house, he disappeared to his room. Meredith tried to be careful not to malign their father to them, for their sakes.

“I think I’ll sleep for a while,” he told her. And when she stopped in to see Tyla, she was in particularly good spirits, the best she’d been in a long time. Meredith told her about Will’s stomachache, and she looked surprised.

“Maybe this time it’s something he ate.”

“I didn’t think of that.” Meredith smiled, and then remembered. “Justin used to get stomachaches when he was upset too. He also wasn’t above faking it, to get out of school, like the day of a test.”

“Will has done that too,” Tyla admitted, “though he’s a pretty good student, except for math. Andrew is always hard on him about his grades. Maybe he was afraid of a bad grade today.”

“Maybe so,” Meredith said, and went back to her study. She had a mountain of papers on her desk. She liked taking Tyla’s children to school. It reminded her of happy times, and they were such sweet children. She hoped things would settle down for them soon.

—

Meredith was still at her desk when Tyla slipped out of the house. She was going for walks now, to get some air. She felt stronger, and her wounds were healing. She was still talking to Andrew on the phone more than Meredith thought she should. She didn’t think she should talk to him at all. He had told her about an anger management class he had signed up for, and told her he wanted to see her and the kids. He said he missed them terribly, and was so deeply sorry about what he’d done to her. He had begged her to take him back, or at least see him, and talk to him in person. Tyla said she felt sorry for him when they talked. He said he didn’t even have a picture of the kids with him, he was staying in a dismal furnished room at a hotel, and missed their home. He had been temporarily suspended by the medical board, pending resolution of the charges against him, and he was deeply depressed about it. Tyla and the children were still receiving support by court order and Andrew was terrified about what he would do if he could never practice medicine again. How would he support himself? And what if he went to prison?