Thank God for Irish Women Ch. 12

Emily asked, "Is Brad okay?"

Agent Hennessey replied, "Emily, Brad was killed." She screamed, and tears flowed again. The nurse came running.

"Please don't upset her, gentlemen. She needs to rest."

I quietly asked, "Did he have a family?"

"I think he did, but I'm not sure. I was on a stakeout with him one time, and I think he mentioned his wife. He was a good man."

"I enjoyed talking to him, and I felt safe with him," Emily added through her tears.

Agent Hennessey said, "Let me leave you to Matt's good care and continue the investigation. We'll let you recover then open the bank box when you're ready."

Emily replied, "I may be here a few days. Could Matt take my place?"

"That'll be fine with us but the bank's going to be closed several days for the investigation and cleanup. It'll probably be next week before we can get to it. The sense of urgency seems to have disappeared." He wished her a quick recovery and walked out.

"Honey, let me make a few phone calls and let you rest. I'll be back shortly."

"Who are you calling?"

"Mom and Dad and my boss."

"Good. Can you also call Trish and let her know? She can tell my friends before they read about it."

I leaned over and kissed her cheek. She smiled and reached for my hand.

"Thank God for you tough Irish women," I whispered.

"I guess you're stuck with me," she replied.

Wednesday, June 9 to Monday, June 14, 2010

Mom flew to San Francisco early Wednesday morning and came prepared to spend at least a week. The reunion with Emily was very emotional. I could see the love between them.

My boss was great to give me time off, sometimes on a moment's notice. He and his lovely wife Jane came to visit Emily, as did Jeri, and her husband Tim. The most interesting visitor was Linda Sue Massey. True to my word, I didn't stay for that but it must have been cordial. Emily didn't tell me what they discussed, and I didn't want to know, at least not too much.

The news coverage was extensive. Three dead and three wounded in an "apparent robbery attempt gone bad" was the storyline. Nothing was reported about Agent Jackson being a mole for the IRA.

Mom, Trish, Debbie, and Lynn took turns staying with Emily. Mom developed a relationship with each and was very impressed by them. They were all calling her "mom" by the end of the week. I went to her room every evening after work.

Nancy was released into the custody of Federal authorities, and charges were filed on Friday. The FBI charged her with attempted bank robbery, attempted murder, two firearms felonies and conspiracy. Additional drug, manslaughter, and money laundering charges were filed later.

Agent Norris said they were investigating the links between Agent Jackson and Pat and Nancy. The gun found with Pat's body was used to shoot Darren; and the slug recovered from Emily was fired from the gun found with Nancy.

Dad and Cheryl, Mark's wife, called every day. The church's prayer chain was very busy.

Emily was walking the hallways two days after the shooting and was released on Saturday. I was amazed at how quickly she recovered. Her thigh had a nasty wound that would likely become a bad scar; but, she wasn't planning to enter beauty contests anyway.

Within a week, Emily was walking almost normally and the soreness eased. Her appetite returned, and she spent much of the time reading books on her iPad and talking with Mom and friends.

The bank reopened Monday morning.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Mom returned to Iowa. She and Emily must have hugged and kissed a half-dozen times before I drove her to the airport.

Emily called Bob who was still in Nashville, and postponed her visit. She chose not to tell him the real reason.

The safe deposit box was opened at 2:00 pm. Emily, her lawyer Jerry Nix, and I joined the FBI agents and the bank manager to remove and inventory the contents.

It was a large box, and it was full. There were many surprises. The big shock was how much currency and gold it contained. The currency was all in new $100 bills that totaled $480,000. There were 40 U.S. Treasury bonds, each with a $10,000 face value; 742 American Gold Eagles, each worth about $1300; and finally 70 Irish gold coins, each with a 100 euro face value and worth about $700 each.

The bank manager said, "Emily, these gold coins have doubled in value since your mother was last in the box. She made a huge profit for you." Emily was dumbfounded.

Also in the box were six beautiful gold bracelets in their original Tiffany & Co. and Jared boxes, three stunning necklaces (one with a diamond of at least two carats) and numerous sets of new earrings, many with diamonds. Keira's many amorous friends were very generous.

The documents were a mixed bag. Those intended for the FBI were in a large yellow envelope and appeared to be Keira's documentation of money transfers from and to numerous accounts and her analysis of each. There were many handwritten notes, but I couldn't read them from where I sat. Agent Norris uttered, "Well I'll be damned" as he read through her notes.

The documents intended for Emily included several letters from her mom and three unopened ones from her granddad. They were all addressed to Emily.

There was a life insurance policy naming Emily as the beneficiary for $1,000,000 and Keira's will. Mr. Nix quickly reviewed it and said that all of her possessions were left to Emily. We later learned that the house was still officially owned by Keira's estate so Emily inherited it. Darren had lied to her about the ownership. It was later sold for a net gain of $515,000.

Emily first read through the letters from her mom and then from her granddad. It took maybe 20 minutes. She wept often as she read them and glanced at me and Agent Hennessey several times. The room was very quiet; I could tell that everyone was emotionally connected to her as she silently read.

When she laid the last one down, Agent Hennessey asked whether he could review the letters for any information concerning his investigation. Emily was reluctant. They stepped outside the vault to discuss it. Returning, Emily agreed that only he could see her mom's letters but not her granddad's.

He quickly read, stopping twice to control his emotions. His eyes locked onto Emily's for a brief moment. Again, the room was deathly quiet as he read.

After 45 minutes of examining the contents, Emily and the agents agreed that all documents and property were properly distributed and the agents left to continue their investigation. She hugged both before they departed. Emily hugged her lawyer and the bank manager and thanked them. Both seemed relieved that nothing was contested.

Emily and I replaced her monetary contents, including jewelry, and locked the box. She took the letters, will, and insurance policy home. The bank manager transferred the box rental record to Emily's name, and I was given access authority and a second key.

We returned to the hotel, and Emily was very quiet and introspective the rest of the day. She read the letters again and again, each time with tears in her eyes. She didn't offer to let me read them and I didn't ask. It was clear that these were very personal messages.

That evening we had a very quiet meal at a nearby restaurant. Emily asked about my work, and I gave her the unclassified update. The day's events had stunned her. Fortunately, the more she talked, the more I realized she had some relief that it was now behind her.

Wednesday, June 16 to Monday, June 21, 2010

Emily's emotional and physical recovery continued, and she frequently talked to her friends and my mom. On Thursday evening, she said she had visited Brad's wife, Sue. Agent Hennessey had arranged the visit.

She learned that Sue was three months pregnant with their first child and was very worried about her future. Money was tight for them anyway, but Brad's death left them in desperate shape. She told Emily that family and friends of theirs had set up a memorial fund for people to donate what they could, and money was starting to come in to help her. Emily burst into tears when she told me that Sue was considering giving up the baby for adoption in order to give it a better life.

"Brad saved my life, Matt. I want to help Sue get her life back in order if such a thing is even possible. Can we donate to the fund?"

"How much do you want to give?"

"I'd like to give her some of the cash Mom left me. I was thinking $150,000. That should allow her some breathing room and help her realize she doesn't need to give up the child. They also have a small house and I'd like to pay off her mortgage if that's okay with you."

"I'm sure she'll appreciate that, sweetheart."

"Thanks Matt. I'll have the bank transfer that money into her fund. I'm sure the bank manager will also help me find where her mortgage is placed. I don't want her to know the money came from me, and he will help. I also want to keep in touch with her so I know her needs as they come up. If she doesn't remarry, Sue will need financial help for the baby as it grows."

"That child could be your first project."

She smiled. "I can't think of a better place to begin."

"Neither can I."

Emily began a diary to keep track of Sue and her other projects. I'll tell you later about others she did. Within two years, there were dozens.

The rest of the week continued to show evidence of Emily's recovery. We even had sex Friday night, but I could tell Emily was doing it for me, and her heart was just not in it like normal. The last couple of weeks had drained her emotionally, and it would take a while to recover.

My engineering project was hot, and I spent most of the time in the lab refining the design and testing alternatives. Emily was alone at the hotel while I worked, but did some visiting with friends and shopping for furniture. Thoughts of moving into our own place seemed to help. She asked one night if she could find an interior decorator to help with the house. I instantly agreed. That seemed to be a good way to restore some of her enthusiasm.

On Sunday, we attended a local church and met other couples our age. The entire church seemed welcoming, and the sermon spoke to us. That afternoon, we spent more than an hour in bed sharing very passionate and tender love. Emily was coming back and beginning to enjoy life again.

On Monday, she called Bob and made plans to fly to Nashville on Thursday the 24th. He gave her the hotel information where they were staying. We both thought that a couple of weeks with Bob and Judy would be just the thing she needed.

Tuesday, June 22 to Saturday, July 17, 2010

Much happened during this time period. My drone project advanced rapidly, and we had a prototype flying and making photos of our community. It didn't have enough power storage capacity to last the fully specified time at night so we continued to tweak the design and test new ideas. Linda Sue was very helpful, and we spent days together.

One afternoon, we were in my office and Linda Sue asked, "How's Emily recovering?"

"I think pretty well. She's in Nashville with friends, and they're focusing attention on humanitarian needs following all the flooding they had in early May."

"I was very impressed when we visited at the hospital. Emily is not only beautiful, she's sharp, and obviously loves you more than anything. She asked me about our fling in Atlanta, and we talked about it. I explained that you and I enjoyed each others' bodies, but there was never any love between us. We did it for fun, that's all. I think that relieved her to some degree."

"Thanks for telling her that."

"She said you told her I was the best ever at oral, and she's struggled with it. I offered to help, but she said you were against it."

"Linda Sue, Emily wants to be the best at everything and somehow she thinks that will cause me to love her even more. I keep telling her that's not right."

"I understand, Matt. She's fully committed to you, but she's concerned you're like other guys who are not into commitment. She's afraid she'll lose you."

That shocked me and my brain raced to absorb that thought.

"I once worried about her leaving me at the first opportunity. I was afraid to get close to her because I knew how hurt I'd be when it happened. You're saying the problem is actually the other way. She's scared that I'll leave her, and she's doing all she can do to keep me interested."

"I think that's right, Matt. There's something going on in her mind that must be rooted in her experience. Somewhere along the line, Emily has seen that happen to a friend."

"It might go back to what she saw with her mother. She described her mom as sexually liberated and often brought guys home. But, she also saw how her mom went many years without a lasting relationship. Maybe she's afraid I'll leave her like other guys left her mom and she's scared. What can I do?"

"This is a tough one Matt. To help overcome her insecurity, all you can do is to keep reinforcing your love for her. Maybe you can do that with small gifts, flowers, weekends away, doing things she likes to do. Take care to show an interest in her. Women pick up on that. You can tell us how much you love us and that's fine, but we need to be shown.

"Just sitting and talking about life and something interesting to her without it ending with sex means you love us and respect us. We women like sex but we don't like to be used. We want to be equals with you guys. Sometimes, we think the only reason a man treats us nicely is that he wants what's between our legs. Maybe her mom's experience reinforced that view."

"You're probably right Linda Sue. You've opened my eyes. I need to put some thought into this."

That conversation showed me that I didn't know as much about women as I thought I did. I needed to work harder to show Emily my love.

That night I sent flowers to her Nashville hotel room with a note saying how proud I was of her work. She called me after she received them and was the bubbly cheerleader once again. We talked for two hours about the people and situations she was finding. Bob and Judy were doing a wonderful job finding the people who needed the help and, best of all, they were teaching Emily how to do it. Emily was thrilled with the mentoring they gave her. That call began a practice of us talking every night, sometimes until midnight, while she was there.

Emily returned from Nashville on Sunday, July 4th, and we celebrated. I picked her up at the airport that morning and we had lunch before going to the Giants game. We went to Chinatown for dinner then to the waterfront for a massive fireworks show. We were exhausted when we returned to the hotel.

Despite being tired, sex was perfect that night. After almost two weeks, she wanted it as much as I did. She was demanding, and I tried my best to perform up to her expectations. We started in missionary and finished in doggy with me pounding her hard. I'm sure our neighbors heard, but we didn't care. It was wild, and she said she was very sore the next day. The shower lasted 30 minutes; we couldn't keep our hands to ourselves.

During our cuddling that night, we talked about her Nashville experiences and her admiration of Judy and Bob. She revered the people in the Nashville area and their commitment to self recovery without massive Federal help. Judy introduced her to other country music stars who were personally involved with victims.

On July 11th, the life insurance benefit was paid to Emily. At that point, she had almost $2,600,000 in cash, gold, and bonds and that was enough to begin a foundation. This was the first time in her life she had serious money of her own. And she couldn't wait to give it away.

Emily hired a CPA and an attorney to prepare and file all the Cathleen Foundation's documents with the appropriate authorities to avoid any tax or regulatory issues. That's right, she named it to honor her mother.

On July 12th, she called her grandparents while I was at work. They were delighted to talk with her and to hear about some of the things she had been doing. She didn't tell them she had been shot. There'd be time for that later if the need arose, and she didn't want to worry them. She asked if we could visit the week of Thanksgiving, and they were thrilled we were coming.

Emily told them about me and how great I was and where I was from and about my parents. She said they asked good and thorough questions about me, and she knew all the answers. She also told them that Darren had been murdered during a robbery. They were shocked and gave her their condolences and promised any help she needed.

I later learned that Granddad checked me out as if I were the subject of a top-secret security clearance investigation.

The builder informed us that our house would be finished on July 15th and we could plan to move in anytime after that. He wanted to close on that day, which was fine with us. I had hired an independent home inspector to check the house, and he did that on July 14th.

On July 16th, Emily was accepted for re-admission to Stanford's Computer Science program. She was very happy but lamented how busy her schedule would be. She wanted to do everything but didn't have enough hours in the day.

We had a good report from the home inspector who found only ten minor problems and two major ones that had to be corrected. Both would require several days of effort; so our attorney and the builder agreed to a withholding of $20,000 at settlement to cover the expected $10,000 of corrections.

On Friday, the 16th, the furniture from my apartment and some from Emily's was delivered and we moved into our new house. These were very busy times for Emily, but her energy kept up with the demands for it. She was very happy, especially when all the new furniture and furnishings began to arrive.

Sunday, July 18 and Monday, July 19, 2010

We celebrated our birthdays, 25 for me and 20 for her. We went to church and relaxed in our new home afterwards. That afternoon, we decided to team up and make a small cake for ourselves... chocolate, of course. I grilled steaks for dinner. Mom and Dad called to wish us happy birthdays and so did Mark and Cheryl. At least six or seven of Emily's friends also called.

Two major events occurred on July 19th. My team successfully demonstrated a drone prototype that met all the specifications and slightly exceeded them. We built three identical prototypes in case of a failure during testing. All worked perfectly. The senior management came to observe the final test flights and seemed delighted. They informed the CIA contract manager that we were ready to demonstrate and it was scheduled for July 27-29.

The second major event was a visit by Agent David Hennessey after dinner that evening. I didn't know he was in town.

Initially, it appeared to be a visit to check on Emily and see our new place. He agreed to have a beer. When I asked how the investigation was going, he told us more than I expected.

"Pat was one of the drug lords who had successfully avoided detection. He and his network had been financing and distributing drugs like cocaine and marijuana for years. He was using his specialized knowledge of banking procedures to facilitate moving the money.

"Darren worked for Pat and was the one actually hacking into banking files and moving the funds as directed by Pat. Darren, as Emily knows, was a second generation Irish-American and very loyal to the IRA. These funds eventually ended up with the IRA and their political groups after passing through several offshore accounts that were set up by one of Pat's men."

"Agent Jackson had been a mole in the FBI working for the IRA for more than nine years. By all appearances, she was an excellent agent and her performance ratings put her into key cases. She was initially in the Chicago office when she sold her services to the IRA. Pat needed her help in 2002. She requested and was granted a transfer to San Francisco that fall.