Honor Thy Mother & Thy Father Ch. 01a

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"How long have you... How do you...I know, you are a mathematician."

"I have many friends in high places. It did not take them very long to find out what your father was like."

"I love you, William. I love you more than I love my life."

"You are never to say that again. You have two lives to take care of: yours, and ours. Protect them both as I am protecting you now."

"I promise, even when you have to leave, I will take care of our child the best way I know how."

"I know you will. Now, let's go to bed, and continue your education."

"I just graduated college; all that is left is the ceremony."

"That is not the education I was talking about."

"Am I ever going to graduate from that college?"

"Not while I am still in this country."

"What happens when my belly gets in the way?"

"There are many ways to skin a cat. There are many ways to get around a bulging belly."

"Okay, let's go to bed; school is open, again."

While driving home one Sunday evening, on a dark, wet, unlit highway, Thomas and Anne Garrett died, when their automobile flipped over, crashed, and burned on the side of the road. Their car caught fire and both occupants were burned to death. It was not really an accident.

Laura did not find out about this, until late Tuesday afternoon, when the police knocked on the hotel room door. William was not with her at the time. She did not care about her father's death, but she became hysterical when they told her about her mother.

William walked in, while the police were still there, and asked what was going on. Laura ran to him and told him what had happened. His reaction was contained, but he told the police he wanted a complete report as soon as it was available.

He said to her, "I know this is going to be a terrible time for you. However, your father has over two hundred employees that depended on him for their paychecks every week. You cannot allow them to worry about where they are going to get their children's next meal. We have to go down to the plant, and assure them that everything will continue normally. Their paychecks will arrive on time. Their benefits will remain secure, and everything will continue as if your father was still there. I have many friends, and we will find someone to manage the plant and we will put it up for sale, if that is what you wish."

They did not arrive a moment too soon. The workers were just standing there, milling around, doing nothing. William shouted at them, "You are not going to be paid, if you are not going to work."

One of the men came forward and said, "We were not sure if we were going to be paid or not, because Mister Garrett is dead."

"I am Laura Garrett, and I guarantee you if you continue to do your work, in the fine manner you did, when my father was alive, your paychecks, and benefits will continue uninterrupted. This week's paychecks will come out of my own pocket, because everything that is in my father's name is under seal, because of his death. You and your families will be taken care of properly, I swear it."

There was a large round of applause from the men gathered on the factory floor. They dispersed, went to their work areas, and started producing the handmade furniture they were famous for.

William looked at Laura and asked, "Where are you getting the money to pay these men?"

"Do you remember the fifty thousand dollar check you were going to put the work for me? Do you think you could get it back, so I make this week's payroll?"

"I could do that, or I could lend it to you, and take it out in trade."

"William, I owe you too much already. I never want to have to ask you for money."

"The trade I had in mind; is worth more than all the tea in China."

Laura hit him hard, "You get that for free. Actually, I should be paying you. You are the teacher, and I am the student, at that school."

"If you insist; you can start paying me back tonight by doing the reverse cowgirl. I can play the bongos on your behind."

"If that is the best you can come up with, tonight's class will be an easy "A."

"That is exactly what I said, wasn't it; an easy piece of ASS."

"Keep it up, William, and you are going to be in more trouble than you can handle."

"Do I hear a little Irish temper flaring?"

"When the blond in my hair disappears, and only the red remains, you had better hope that you are in Italy, because no place in the U.S. will be safe for you."

"How did your father survive this long, with the arguments you must've had with him?"

"My mother always stood between him and me. It was not for my protection, it was for his. She wanted to keep me out of jail for killing him."

"Laura, from this point forward, in our relationship, I am going to start counting the silverware, when we leave the table; especially the knives."

"I could kill you just as easily, with a spoon."

"You have been watching too many Steven Segal movies."

"Who is he?"

"I have forgotten you have led a life so sheltered that you would not know who most actors are. I am just going to take you home and take advantage of your body, before you kill me."

"I will not kill you, until after your daughter is born."

"Daughter, when did you find out that we are going to have a girl?"

"I went for the sonogram this morning, don't you remember?"

"With everything else that has happened today, it totally skipped my mind."

"A fine father you are going to turn out to be."

"I am a very good father. I provide well for my family in Italy, and I am going to be providing very well for my family in the United States."

"Is there any word on when you may have to go back?"

"As far as I have been told, I am here for a lot longer. Every time I ask to go home, they increase my salary. It is a wonderful ploy."

"Do they know about me?"

"Yes, they do. It is safer for both of us that way. If they think I am keeping secrets from them, they become suspicious. If they become suspicious, and think I am hiding something from them, the first thing they think of is money. People get angry, very quickly, when it involves their money."

"You never did answer me about my fifty thousand dollars."

"Let's go up to your father's office, and look around to see what is available to us. One of his secretaries will be able to tell us about the payroll system; and how it is handled. If it is handled in-house, I could help, because I do know something about money."

Through the use of his computer expertise William had emptied all of Laura's fathers overseas accounts and brought the money back into accounts he had set up for Laura. These banks were owned by foreign corporations, and as soon as this money hit their system, friends; working at these banks, computerized it into billions of little ones and zeros, so they would not trigger the U.S. Treasury's watch list. Those friends forwarded it back into William's master account, where it became lost in the multi-billion-dollar portfolio he managed. The money was now clean, although all the money in Williams account was dirty. From Williams account, it flowed legally into Laura's account. He had dreamt up this system, created it, and now he managed it for all the families from Boston to Philadelphia. Laura's money was like a drop of water, in the Pacific Ocean.

With William's assistance, Laura hired a management company to run her father's firm, while it was put up for sale.

Laura had never seen William in action before. However, when he's sat on her side of the table, she felt sorry for the people who were trying to buy her company. She thought business executives were supposed to be civilized at meetings like this. She found out they were carnivores. The buyers were trying to eat the sellers from the top down: getting the lowest price, and getting the best deal. The sellers were doing their best to fend them off. They pointed out the strength of their balance sheets, their business trends, and forecasts. The buyers were good, William, was better.

William turned down by her after buyer, because he called their terms, and offers insulting. However, William knew these current bidders wanted Laura's business so bad they could taste it. They made an offer, and William turned it down out of hand. They made another one. A few days later and William asked them not to return, because they were wasting his client's time. They wanted one last shot at getting a lower price. They stood up and said, "It's been nice discussing this with you, but you are asking way too high a price. We are out of here."

William did not reply. He stood up, walked around the table, and calmly opened the door. The buyers bluff had been called. Now it was their turn: leave, or buy.

The paperwork was initialed that day, and contracts signed three weeks later. The money went into the bank, after the government took their piece of the action. Twenty-eight million dollars and change made its way into Laura's pocket, and that was not all. Her father had a five million dollar insurance policy for himself and a one million dollars insurance policy on her mother. The sale of the family home brought in another two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Last Christmas, she did not have two nickels she could rub together and call her own. In May, she had thirty-five million dollars in the bank that she knew of, and an additional eighteen million she would find out about, at a later time. Now she wanted to get even.

She took William out to dinner at the little restaurant, where they met. She kicked the staff out of the kitchen area, and made some linguine. She made William a very special dish and served it with "a little oregano, butter, oil, and garlic." She brought it out and placed it in front of him, with a big smile on her face.

William looked at his dinner and recognized some of the ingredients. He licked it, sniffed it, and said, "Tangy, and a little salty. I know who came up this recipe."

"You are correct, William, and she came a lot for this recipe; Bon appetite."

"Where is your dinner, Laura?"

"You have to go into the kitchen and make it for me. Don't you remember? You tasted me, now I have to taste you."

"You are absolutely correct, my dear. I will be right back. Do you want linguine or Angel hair?

"Angel hair will be fine."

While William was otherwise engaged, Laura called Michael, the owner of the business, over to her. She said, "Michael, you were so good to me all those years I was in college. You kept me on, even though you were not busy enough to warrant it. I cannot thank you enough for treating me that way. I want to give you this present. It is for you and your family, for being kind to a person you did not know, but treated as part of that family." She handed him a check for five hundred thousand dollars.

Michael looked at the check and said, "Laura, I cannot take this money. You are like a daughter to us. Family does not take money from family."

"Michael put this money to good use. Fix-up the restaurant, if you want to, or put it away for college for your children. Whatever you do with it, it will remind you of how happy you made me over these last four years. It will remind me of how you made my education possible."

William came out of the back, carrying a plate of steaming Angel hair pasta. He asked Michael, "Did she or didn't she?"

"She did, William. I could not talk her out of it, regardless of what I did."

"I told you she was good Michael. I rarely win an argument with her, either."

"You two bet on what I was going to do here tonight?"

William replied, "It wasn't really a bet, because no money will change hands. However, I warned him that you were going to give him money tonight, for being the bighearted bum he is. His dad is the same way. He picked me up off the streets, and look what happened to me."

"Is that how you two know each other," she said, kissing her former boss.

"William is that my dinner in your hand getting cold? If it is throw it out and do it again."

William smirked at her, and said, "You would have to wait a long time for your next plate of pasta. The chef has been drained completely."

"Then put it down so I can eat it, while it is still warm, please."

William asked, "A nice Chianti, if you please, Michael."

"Yes sir, right away."

He looked at Laura and said, "We should dine here more often; especially meals like this."

Laura picked a piece of hair out of her pasta and said, "I am going to have to give you a trim, Mister Zabo. Although this meal is very good, I can live without the hair."

2. And Then There Were Three

William and Laura were having dinner in their suite, when she went into labor. Laura panicked, however, William, was extremely calm. He had been through this many times, in Italy, and knew that there was no rush to get to the hospital. He called the front desk, and had them order a limousine to be in front of the hotel, because his wife was in labor. He took Laura by her arm, picked up the bag that was at the front door and walked her slowly to the elevator. As they reached the lobby, the manager was there to assist them to the waiting vehicle, and wish them well.

The hospital staff waited for them to arrive. As soon as they saw the limousine come to a stop, they helped Laura out, put her into a wheelchair, and brought her to her private suite in the maternity ward. William signed the appropriate paperwork, gave the admissions clerk a check, well in excess of the amount necessary, and told her what to do with any excess amount of money. Then he went to join Laura. Her doctor was already there.

Doctor Belavoir told William that Laura was in the very early stages of labor, and it would be many hours before the baby would be born.

William took the doctor aside, and said, "Doctor, I do not want her to labor for hours. I do not want her to suffer. Do what you have to do, and deliver the baby as soon as possible. If it is a matter of money, do not worry about it. Do not endanger the mother or the baby, just get it done and done quickly. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Mister Zabo, I understand you completely."

Doctor Belavoir had the nurses set up a saline IV drip, while he retrieved the medications himself, from the medication cart. The nurses wondered what he was doing, but did not want to run afoul of this highly respected physician.

He injected the labor-inducing drug into the saline solution, and waited for it to take effect. He turned Laura on her side and gave her a powerful anesthetic to relieve much of the pain of giving birth.

The nurses looked at each other, because this was entirely opposite normal procedure. The doctor looked at them, and shook his head. At that point, the nurse's knew the doctor was under pressure to do something he did not want to do.

A little more than two hours later, William and Laura's baby girl was born. She was a healthy 6 lbs. 2 oz. screamer, who apparently objected to being out of her mother's womb, and in the cold, cruel world. The initial tests pronounced the her healthy, and she was given to her mother, for a midnight snack.

Laura asked William if he would like to name her.

He said, "No, you do it. One day I am going to have to leave you both. I would rather you name her, after someone you love."

"I am going to name her after my maternal grandmother, Patricia. She was always kind to me, even when my parents were not."

William said, "On the birth certificate, her name will read: Patricia Laura Garrett. Two women I will love forever. My name will be listed as the father of this gorgeous child. Look how fair she is. She is going to have my hair and skin coloring. She has your face and eyes. She is going to break so many hearts, and leave them by the wayside. I only wish I would be here to watch it happen."

"You could always come to visit anytime you want."

"Yes, I know, however, my business does not always allow me to travel as I please. Like now, I have been away from Italy for nearly 2 years. I have not been allowed to leave, even for a visit with my family. It is that type of job. They tell me where I have to be, they pay me a princely amount of money, but I have no say where I can go or what I can do. I have no say in the matter."

"Can't you just quit William?"

"Yes, I could, but the consequences would be catastrophic. My reputation would be ruined, and everyone I love would disappear."

Laura wondered if she had heard him correctly, but decided to leave it alone, until they were back at the apartment. Had he said 'everyone' or 'everything' he loved would disappear? She now wondered whom he really worked for.

When they left the hospital, with the baby, Laura knew they were not going in the right direction. The hotel was the other way. She said, "William the driver is going in the wrong direction."

He smiled at her and said, "No, he is going in the right direction."

"Are we going to the pediatrician's office?"

"No, we are not going to the doctor's office."

"Are you going to tell me where we are going?"

"You will find out when we get there."

Limousine pulled up in front of a beautiful brownstone building in the heart of Manhattan. Laura's eyes opened wide and asked, "William, what did you do?"

"You cannot raise a baby in a hotel room. It is just not done. A baby needs a home, and so does her mother."

Laura nearly crushed him, when she threw herself across the seat and kissed him. She asked him, "How much did this cost you?"

As they stood in front of the building, William said, "Actually, your father bought this for you. I was able to retrieve the money, from his offshore accounts. I transferred it here, without the government noticing. I made this purchase from the account containing the money from the sale of his business, to make it look like a legitimate purchase. I replaced that money, with your father's and it is now in a safe in a bank in Vermont. It is in the form of Bearer Bonds. I added a bit to it, to make sure you would be safe and secure for life. I have both keys, and I am making special jewelry for both Patricia and you to have. You must wear yours at all times. Never take it off. When Patricia comes of age, give her the same instructions. The password to get into the vault is the name of my favorite movie: Swordfish. It is a John Travolta movie where a man uses computers to move money around the world. It is exactly what I do. Remember that name, and have Patricia watch the movie, and memorize that name: Swordfish."

When Laura walked inside, she found the home was fully furnished. Well, almost fully furnished. One room was empty. It had white walls, bare wooden floors, no drapes, or blinds on the windows, no plates on the wall sockets or the light switches. The room was barren.

Laura turned to William and asked, "What happened to this room?"

William was holding Patricia in his arms and looked at her mother, with a grin on his face.

The light bulb went on in Laura's head, and she said, "Oh, it is the nursery, and you left it for me to do. Thank you William, thank you so much."

Laura became very busy at home, between Patricia and decorating her room.

William became very busy at work, leaving early in the morning, and sometimes not getting home, until seven or eight at night.

Several months past like this, and Williams face became lined with worry and tiredness. He was so tired at times he could not touch Laura. She however could touch him, and tried to sooth his worries away by massaging his back and neck. He appreciated her kindness and patience.

One evening William came home with panic in his eyes, and Laura finally had the courage to ask him who he really worked for.

He responded, "Laura, I love you with all my heart, but you have already guessed who I work for. I want you to pack up what you need for yourself and the baby to leave here at a moments' notice. If I call you and ask, 'Did you buy apples today,' this is what I want you to do.

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