Godsend

"Allison Harmon here, Reverend. I have something important to tell you."

"I'm sure. What's on your mind?"

"No, I need to see you in person."

"With Mr. Pierce?"

"No, he's gone. I'm alone at the Holiday Inn on Emerald. Can I meet you at the Church?"

"As it turns out Carla and I are at the Starbucks right near you. Give me your room number. We'll be up in a few minutes."

Ten minutes later I ushered them in. They both had sour looks on their faces. After pointing them to a couple of chairs I got right to the point.

"Reverend, Mrs. White, I want to thank you for confronting me at the restaurant. As you probably surmised I came to town planning to have an affair with Scott Pierce. Your catching me was an absolute godsend, stopping me. I know you have an obligation to tell David the truth, especially after his big donation and I'm ready to take the consequences." I stood there, chewing on my lip, while the Reverend absorbed this information.

"Pierce made a crazy proposal. He wants me to abandon my children and husband, to run off to the Bahamas with him. He offered to make me new children."

"Run off to the Bahamas? He barely has a dollar to his name."

"I told him I needed a night alone to think about it, so I wouldn't have to go to his house as we had planned. He says he's got money stashed away."

"He doesn't have a house. He lives in a cheap apartment. Why didn't you simply refuse his offer on the spot? Are you seriously considering it?"

"No way in hell... um, sorry. No way. But once I've destroyed my marriage by coming here, I figured I might as well make something good come of it. Pierce isn't a complete idiot. I assume he must have something put away, hidden. He knows I'm not a complete idiot either. I told him I need assurance that he really has money if I'm to make a new life with him."

"Where is this leading, Mrs. Harmon?"

"To the First Bahamas Bank. I don't have an account number, or even what name he used. But that's where the employee pension fund is sitting now. Pierce considers it his personal pension fund."

Reverend White and his wife both stared at me. "Is this for real?"

"I don't know. It's what Pierce told me."

"You're not calling him 'Scott.'"

"I use first names with friends. 'Mister' is an honorific, a sign of respect. Scott Pierce is no longer a friend, lover, or someone I respect."

"You know that the information you just gave me could land him in jail."

I shrugged.

Reverend White pulled out his phone and made a call. "David, Mark White again..."

"Yes, yes. Listen, I owe you an apology..."

"I misled you when we last spoke, when I asked you to give my regards to Allison. Carla and I are actually in a hotel room with her now..."

"You know how I talked earlier about Darcy Pierce Industries. Part of our desperation was because all its resources, even the workers' pension fund seemed to disappear. The company went straight from Chapter Eleven, bankruptcy protection, to Chapter Seven, liquidation. Well, your talented wife was able to capitalize on her previous relation with Scott for us, and got him to reveal what happened to the pension fund..."

"No, I would never ask her to do anything inappropriate. The closest she was to being alone with him was a short drive downtown from the restaurant where she met him. We had our eyes on her or were quite close by the entire time. David, your wife is a godsend for the hundreds of workers who faced losing their future..."

" You can blame that on me. I didn't want her to tell you about our little plot..."

"Sure. Hold on." The Reverend passed me the phone.

"David, I'm sorry I tricked you."

"Me too. Why didn't you tell me?" I could feel the anger in his voice.

"I know it's bizarre. He wants me to run away with him to the Bahamas."

"What are your plans?"

"Never! David! I'm only playing along to get information."

"I meant what are your plans for returning home? The kids would miss you if you ran off with Pierce."

I didn't like how he phrased that. "I'm not running off with him. My ticket home is for the day after tomorrow, in the morning, like I said before I left. I'll change it for a flight back for tomorrow"

"Please don't. I may need you to check into stuff there."

"Um, okay, I won't change the ticket. What do you need me to look into?"

"The Reverend made a suggestion about Darcy Pierce. I'm taking it seriously. Now that you're playing Mata Hari—"

"No, no, I'm not Mata Hari. You're seriously thinking of buying the company?"

"Not the company, but the assets. I want to have a preliminary idea of what I'm talking about before I proceed, and you can help. Listen, I've got to go check on our children now. Bye, Allison."

The children were probably long been asleep by then. "Okay, I'll stay if you want me to. David, I'm so sorry for tricking you."

He ended the call. I handed Reverend White his phone and sighed.

"Mrs. Harmon, we both did something wrong today in deceiving your husband. What you've done is much better though than what you initially set out to do. You transformed a potential evil into a good... no, a great deed."

"I don't think my husband is happy with my deeds."

"I can't help you any further with that. I'll support you the best I can, but you came to town in order to have an illicit affair with your high-school boyfriend. That's the reality of it."

"I know."

"I didn't tell your husband the whole truth about your being in town. I didn't tell him about how you greeted Mr. Pierce in the restaurant."

I felt my face flush.

"But David Harmon is a smart man. He's going to figure out what questions to ask me. I'm not going to lie."

"Reverend, the moment I realized who was saying my name in the restaurant, I understood that my marriage was probably dead, killed by my own hand. I'm not usually so stupid."

"Don't be so pessi—"

My phone rang: Scott Pierce.

"Hi sweetie..." I held a finger over my lips and looked urgently at the Whites; they understood. "It's less than an hour since you left me at the hotel. I told you I need time alone to think"

"I'm in the lobby. I'm coming up and we'll talk."

I tried to fill my voice with venom. "No! Do not come up to the room. Why are you in the lobby? Are you stalking me? Is this what it's going to be like shacking up with you in the Bahamas?

"Don't be angry. I—"

"I am angry. Go away, Scott. Maybe we'll get together tomorrow night instead of in the morning if you can't control yourself."

"I miss you. I need to be naked with you. I know you want me too."

"I miss you too sweetie, but I'm still ticked off. Tell you what: instead of us spending the day in bed, take me on a tour of Darcy Pierce Industries. I want to know what you want me to live off of. But no touching; we're going to test our self-control."

"You're kidding."

I didn't respond.

"Okay, I'll set it up with the trustee. He'll probably insist on a chaperone as we tour my business."

"A chaperon from the trustee's office is even better. It will help us keep ourselves in check."

Pierce sighed. "Wouldn't you rather spend the night together? We can get an early start after I call the trustee."

"I'd like to spend the night with you, sweetie, but I won't. Stop pushing."

I looked at Reverend White, shaking my head. He scowled.

"Okay, I'll pick you up at eleven."

"Call first, in case I'm out walking somewhere." I walked over to the window. "Scott, honey, I'm looking out my window at your car. I want to see you get into it and drive away now..."

"I'll come up kiss you goodnight, then I'll go. I'll be gone in ten minutes, max."

"No, now. Not in ten minutes. No cheating if you want to get together tomorrow. Bye, gorgeous." I made kissing noises into the phone before disconnecting. I watched out the window as heavy raindrops began to fall. Pierce ran across the street and drove off. I turned to face the Whites.

"It seems David is seriously considering your suggestion to buy the assets of Darcy Pierce Industries. I'm going to play Mata Hari a bit in order to get a better look at what's left of the business. I'll pretend that I'm seriously considering Pierce's proposal to run off with him in order to get more information."

Reverend White crossed his legs and fidgeted with his hands for a moment. "It would be amazing if your husband could save Pierce Industries. You would both be heroes to our town. But Allison, don't get too far into the Mata Hari role. You're playing a dangerous game. Keep in mind that she was executed in the end. Good night dear, and good luck." They both rose from their seats. Carla White gave me a kiss on the cheek, followed by an embrace. The Reverend shook my hand, and then left. I hoped they were parked nearby. I didn't want them getting soaked.

The heavy rain splashing on the dark streets meant I wasn't going on any more strolls this evening. I had not planned to sleep alone on this trip so I didn't have any reading material with me. I went to the small gift shop in the hotel lobby. It had a limited selection of magazines. The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue got my attention and I leafed through it. It would be an easy read, so I picked it up along with National Geographic. Two magazines, both with good pictures.

I was soon bored enough to go to bed, expecting to have nightmares about the destruction of my family. Instead I had pleasant dreams of endless beaches, endless money, endless amazing sex with Scott. In our mansion, naked on a beach, with my children looking on and crying... That horror woke me with a start. Scott's proposal was the real nightmare. The vision of life on a sunny beach was probably as much of a fraud as the collapse of the workers' pension fund. My nerves were frayed.

From the sounds at the window the heavy rain was ongoing. What if I got caught in the rain tomorrow while visiting Pierce Industries? As I remembered, there were three or four separate buildings we'd have to walk between. If my clothes got wet Scott would have another excuse to get them off me. My mind wandered from one bad imaginary scenario to another. I drifted in and out of a troubled sleep.

My phone rang at eight-thirty. I'm not sure whether or not I was awake when it began to ring, but by the fourth dog growl of my ring tone I managed to pick it up and answer. It was John Davies, the trustee for Darcy Pierce Industries, explaining that he had refused Scott's request to take me on a tour, but if I could confirm that I was representing a potential buyer, he'd take me around himself. I gave him David's company name and phone number, got dressed and went for breakfast.

Despite the lack of sleep I was in a good mood. God must be looking out for me, to have sent the trustee to take me around rather than Pierce. When Scott called I pretended to have a bad connection and hung up. He immediately called again; I let it go to voicemail.

I realized he was bound to show up at the hotel soon so I checked Hotels.com for a place to move to. There was an expensive king suite at a nearby Evergreen Hotel. I booked it and walked the three blocks to my new abode. It was too early to give me the room, but the front desk put my carry-on in safekeeping. The trustee called again and confirmed my tour for eleven. He told me he was seeking a restraining order to keep Scott away from the premises; they suspected he had looted the company but had no proof. I didn't tell him that I knew where the evidence could probably be found.

I took an Uber to the plant, and the trustee met me at the main entrance. Three hours later I was in an Uber heading back to my hotel, my notepad full of notes, my phone filled with photos. I went to the restaurant next door for a late lunch and called David. We seemed to have a bad connection and got disconnected. I called again and it went straight to voicemail. Was David doing to me what I had done to Pierce?

The phone rang: Scott. I couldn't keep ducking him, and maybe I could get more information. I suggested we meet for supper. He asked about my decision. I ignored his question.

"This time take me somewhere nice."

He wanted to go back to the place where he insulted the food and the waitress. "No! Not the same place. Not after the scene you made there last night."

I didn't want him to know I had moved to a different hotel. "Okay, give me the restaurant address and I'll meet you there. I don't want to take a chance on anyone seeing us together in front of the Holiday Inn."

He pushed again on running off to the Bahamas with me. "I haven't decided yet. I don't know yet if I trust you. You were able to pull the wool over the eyes of so many people. How do I know you're not doing it to me? You're a clever guy."

He promised to lay his cards on the table. "Okay, Scott. See you at six."

I checked into the hotel, wrote up my notes and emailed them to my husband, along with the photos.

I got more evidence over dinner. It was American style Chinese food, and given the décor and cleanliness it might as well have been served in one of those cardboard takeout containers they have. The eggroll wrappers were probably made by frying one of those boxes. Pierce showed me a picture of the house he claimed to have bought on a semi-private island, named Dublin Estates by the first owner. He showed me a photo of the beaches, of the marina. It looked glorious, and if I believed a word he was saying I might have been tempted. If I wasn't happily married, I might have been tempted. I bit my lip, praying to myself that the latter condition would remain in effect.

I asked him if he was planning to earn more money while in the Bahamas, or if we would just deplete what he had accumulated, expressing doubt that he had enough to last us for the rest of our lives. His explanation shocked me. He may have been a lousy, unmotivated businessman, but he was a cunning thief. A cunning, besotted thief.

My phone burst into the song of David's ring tone during our meal. I pretended to think about answering, then told Pierce that David would have to wait, because I was busy with someone more important. Pierce's grin was actually wider than his face, if such a thing is possible. Two things were clear about Scott Pierce: first that he really was crazy about me. Second, he was loathsome.

I had all the useful information I was going to get from him. Sleeping with him for more was not an option. I carefully worded my next statement. "Scott, my darling Scott... I can't abandon my children. I can't give my husband the pain of caring for my children by himself. This all looks wonderful, but I can't..."

"What are you saying? Allison, you don't mean it. You'll be happy with me. I told you back then not to marry Harmon." Pierce looked like a lost puppy. He really had expected me to agree. A dark cloud passed over his face. "You bitch. You set me up! I'm going to kill you."

It was my turn to look like a lost puppy, as much as I could fake it. "Scott, oh Scott. We could have been happy together. Why did you trash our future together?"

"Me?"

"Yes, you." I tried to sound mournful. "You were supposed to say I should bring my children." I prayed to myself that I knew Pierce well enough.

"Well... sorry... maybe when they're a little older... you know... um... like high school, when they can be left on their own."

I was right. "Scott Pierce, how can you say that!" I practically shouted. "All you know is manufacturing and money. Have you no consideration for a mother's love? You've broken my heart!" Other diners were starting to discretely look at us.

"You're a mother, Allison. I know you love me. That's a mother's love."

I stood up quickly. "You know nothing, Scott Pierce," I shouted. I ran out of the restaurant and fled. I flagged down a taxi, and had it take me back to my hotel. I hoped other people in the restaurant would delay Scott, wanting to talk to him about his destruction of the town's economy. He was infamous by name, and now I had identified his face.

I called David as soon as I got back to my hotel room.

"David, I couldn't answer when you called. I was having supper with Pierce." I paced back and forth across the large room as we spoke.

"Now he's wining and dining you?"

"He was wining and dining. I was mining."

"Mining?"

"Digging for information. I pretended that I was considering his proposal to run away to the Bahamas with him. I told him I needed to know more before deciding. He gave it to me."

"Information like what?"

"He didn't tell me everything, but I have the basic mechanisms of how he scammed and destroyed his own business. David, it wasn't just incompetence. It was greed driven by laziness. He didn't want to work running the company, and he assumed all his executive staff were as dishonest as him. He didn't trust them. He wanted to wind things up?"

"Why didn't he just sell the business?"

"He didn't want to pay any tax. There would have been massive capital gains. The family's owned the business for generations."

"He was willing to commit fraud, put hundreds of people out of work, destroy the town's economy in order to save on capital gains? Come on. You expect me to believe that?"

"When I told him I wasn't going to run away with him he accused me of setting him up and that he's going to kill me."

"Now I know you're making it up."

"David," I shouted. "It's all true."

"Yes, like your trip to Los Angeles."

"That wasn't true but you know why I'm still here. You told me to stay."

"I know what Reverend White told me today. He explained what you were doing when he first discovered you in the restaurant, Mata Hari. Was that also part of your plot to mine for information?"

My breathing seized up. I couldn't speak. After a few seconds David hung up. I went to the mini bar, opened a little bottle of bourbon and gulped it down. I sat down at the desk and called again, praying David would answer. I didn't give him a change to get past "what do you want?"

"David, I did something terrible. I planned to do something worse. I'm not covering it up, I'm not denying it. I want to do whatever it takes to make it up to you."

There was a tense silence on the line, at least on my end of it. My stomach was twisted in a knot, tightening painfully until he spoke.

"Send me the information you dug up today. I need you to stay at least another week. I have to move quickly on Pierce. You'll be my eyes and ears."

"At least a week? I can't leave you and the kids for so long."

"Allison, we have a nanny. We have your parents, who love to take care of the children. You know, I mentioned to the trustee that I was trying to get someone over there to work the file for us. He said they could stay at Pierce's house; you know the place, I'm sure. It's owned by the company now. Call him tomorrow and he'll set you up."

"What about my other projects?"

"You have your laptop."

"I'll be lonely."

"I heard that you have a close friend there. Spend some time with him if you want."

That was a slap. "I'm not staying more than a week."

"If the deal falls apart quickly you can come back sooner. If you can't commit to staying though, I'll tell the trustee we're not interested."

The bastard was putting the economic future of hundreds of people on my shoulders.

"From what I've heard so far, playing Mata Hari is your natural role."

Now he was being deliberately cruel. What was he telling me? Whatever it was, I didn't like the sound of it. I didn't like what it implied for our future together.

"Okay David, I'll commit, to the extent it doesn't interfere with my other obligations."