Martha's Second Chance

"You OK?" he asked.

"Yes I'm fine but we should go back now in case someone heard that and investigates."

"People are used to hearing cats at night."

"I was talking about your girly scream," she laughed.

"I did not scream," he protested.

"OK Tarzan, what ever you say."

They made it back to the house with no more excitement and he asked her, "Why didn't that cat frighten you? It scared the hell out of me."

"Because you were looking away when it jumped. I was looking that way and saw its eyes glowing just before it jumped."

"Well you win this encounter hands down. I need something to eat."

"I have some deli ham and cheese and some good bread if that's all right."

"That will be perfect, just like you," he said kissing her neck.

They both had a sandwich and said their good nights. He retired to his guest bed and slept like a log.

He was up early and had the coffee made when Martha came down.

"I was thinking everything omelets, sound good?" he asked.

"Sure, if you're cooking anything sounds good."

"Do you not like to cook or are you not good at it."

"Both," she laughed, "why do you think I get twelve meals a week delivered? I can make toast or an eggo for breakfast and on Sunday I eat a frozen dinner or a salad."

"You're pathetic," he said shaking his head.

They had their breakfast and then sat on the back porch reading. Martha a novel and Richard old comic books from her father's stash. About four he fired up the grill for the pork chops and corn on the cob. The early dinner was a success and they sat reading afterward.

Suddenly Martha jumped up and asked, "Do you like board games?"

"Yeah most of them Monopoly, Life, Yahtzee, domino's, Scrabble."

"How about Parcheesi? We used to play almost every Sunday night," she said hopping up and down waiting for his answer.

"Oh man we used to play that at my grandma's house when we visited, sure I'll play."

She clapped her hands and disappeared into the library. She came back in a few minutes with more than the game. She had an old Walkman cassette player and three tapes. She set everything on the table and looked at the tapes. She sat down and fingered the tapes looking sad.

"You all right?" he asked quietly.

"These are three mix tapes the family attorney gave me the day after my parents died. He's the one in charge of the trust fund. I listened to these endlessly for months. I'm going to look for the charger."

She soon returned with the charger and plugged it in. They set up the game and played for a while then Martha reached over and hit play. One Sweet Day by Mariah Carey started playing. They continued playing and listening to the songs. The more they played the more agitated Martha seemed to get. She jumped up from the table knocking the charger from the wall.

"You need to stop looking at me like that Ricky," she said angrily.

What the hell is going on here he wondered. "I'm sorry Martha, I didn't mean to upset you."

"Oh you are like all the rest. Talk nice to my face and then stab me in the back, laugh at me." She started looking into the corners of the room and panting. "You need to get out now. No I need to get out. I need to go to my room."

She was looking around wild eyed and suddenly collapsed to the floor. He knelt by her and checked her breathing and her pulse. The were both fast but not dangerously so. He wondered if he should move her. He decided against it and got a blanket and a pillow for her. He decided she wasn't in any danger and he would wait for half an hour before calling 911.

The Walkman had not been fully charged and was slowing down, the words barely discernible. Just as he reached to stop the tape he he heard a high pitched rapid voice, saying, 'people hate you, be afraid, they laugh at you' then nothing. He tried to reverse the tape to listen again but the battery died completely. He sat there stunned. What the hell had he just heard? He packed the player and the tapes and charger in a box.

She moaned and slowly sat up and looked around as if wondering how she got there. She looked at Richard and started crying. He knelt beside her and held her slowly rocking her. She eventually stopped crying and pushed herself away.

"I'm so sorry you had to see that, I am so embarrassed."

"Shush now, no reason for that. Let's get you to bed, it'll be fine in the morning. Come on let me help you."

He got her upstairs and took her clothes off. He got her tucked in turned off the lights. He sat in her rocking chair and pulled a blanket to his chin. She was still asleep when he woke at ten am. He quietly made his way downstairs and called Mike.

"Hey Mike do you have an old reel to reel or know someone that does?"

"Actually I have an old Akai pro model from my I wanna be a rock n roll star days. Let me drag it out before I go to work. See ya soon."

Ricky went back upstairs and gently woke Martha. She came awake smiling, seeming none the worse for wear. He kissed her and told her he would be there at two. He gave her Mike's cell number just in case she needed him.

When he parked in the alley Mike walked over and said, "I took the air compressor and blew a bunch of dust off that recorder. I plugged it in and it works, well the tape heads turn. I put it in your room with four blank tapes."

"Thanks man, that's great."

"Something else, you in any kind of trouble? Legal type trouble?" he asked.

"No, or not that I know of anyway. Why?"

"Some asshole in a suit, looked like a lawyer, was asking about you earlier. Actually asking more about how you knew Ms. Stratharn than about you."

"He leave a name or a card."

Mike reached into his shirt pocket and produced a business card. "This guy looks like bad news. Like he would sell his mother, watch out."

"Thanks, does he know about me staying at you place?"

Mike shook his head no. "The only think I told that leech was you worked here cause he could have found that out anywhere."

Richard went in the back door of Luigi's to wait on his first order. He looked at the card. Barry Goldfarb, attorney at law. He would bet a dollar to a donut that Martha knew him.

Two o'clock took forever to get there. He finally pulled into the alley, opened the garage door and parked. As he was shutting the door he glanced down the alley. There was an older guy with a dog standing at the far end of the alley. He was getting a little paranoid himself. Then he chuckled when he remembered something his grandpa used to say, 'just because you're paranoid doesn't mean little green men aren't stalking you'.

They had a quiet lunch relaxing and enjoying a second glass of iced tea when Ricky asked, "What's the name of the trust fund attorney?"

"You mean Barry? What do you want to know about him for?"

"I'm not sure yet, I have to check out some stuff. When I come here tonight I have some work I need to do in the garage. I'll eat with you first though."

He stopped at Mike's after work and picked up the tape deck and blank tapes. When he drove to Martha's he went past it and down to the next block and turned and came down the alley the long way. He didn't see anyone and got the truck into the garage. He went into the house and they ate their lasagna from Luigi's and laughed and joked around.

While she was cleaning up the dishes he went into the storage room and grabbed the box with the Walkman. He told Martha he would be late, don't wait up and went to the garage. He plugged the Walkman in and got the tape deck set up. The Walkman had an audio out jack. He found an old cord in the mess that was in a box on the floor of his truck. He plugged the two units together with the cord and started recording. He got all three 60 minute mix tapes on one of the 10 1/2" reels. He set up a new reel and started recording another copy.

The reel to reel blanks were in their original cardboard boxes. He put the first copy back in its box and wrapped it in an old pair of coveralls he found under the workbench. Without disturbing the dust on the boot lid of the Rolls Royce he opened the boot and put the tape in. It was nearly four am when he finished the second copy. He put the Walkman and the tapes back in the box and carried it and the second copy into the house. He put the Walkman box back in the store room and carried the reel to reel into the library. He pulled out a few volumes of the 1992 Encyclopedia Britannica and put the tape behind the rest of the volumes and replaced the ones he had taken out. On his way to bed he looked in on Martha and found her sleeping peacefully.

She greeted him the next morning in the kitchen with eggo's and coffee saying, "I'm sorry I gave up on you last night. When did you finally come in?"

"It was almost four I guess."

"Did you accomplish what you wanted to?"

"Not all of it, I'll have more to do tonight. What I'm doing is not a secret but I don't want to tell you anything right now, for your own safety. It has to do with your illness and your money I think."

"I don't understand but I do trust you Richard," she said giving him a hug and kiss, "now go to work, I will see you at two."

He was almost out the door when he had another thought and went to the storeroom and pocketed the three cassettes. He stopped at an old time electronics store and asked the guy if he could make copies of cassettes. He asked if there was such a thing as a certified copy, one that would stand up in court. The owner assured him he was a notary and could make said copies. Ricky had him make two copies of each cassette.

He picked up the copies at two o'clock and dropped one set off in his room at Mike's then went to Martha's. The same guy with his dog were in the alley again. Ricky got the truck in the garage and closed the big door. He went to the gate and unlocked it and started down the alley toward the man. As soon as he saw Ricky coming he turned around and almost ran out to the street and disappeared. Ricky went and retrieved the tapes and made sure everything was locked. He put the originals back in the box in the storeroom. He went up to his room and put the three copied cassettes between the mattresses of the bed.

They had a pleasant lunch and Ricky was just getting up to return to work when the phone rang. They both jumped a little, it was the first time it had rang while he was there. Martha looked at the caller ID and said, "It's Barry Goldfarb, I wonder what he wants," as she reached to answer the call.

"Don't answer it," Ricky shouted putting his hand over hers, "just let it go. Don't ever answer any calls from him."

They both sat staring at the phone until it quit ringing. Martha looked at him as if waiting for an explanation.

Ricky decided telling her what he knew so far was the only way to make her understand how serious this was.

"When we were listening to that mix tape you had a panic attack, I was going to shut it off because the battery was nearly dead. When the tape slows down you can hear subliminal messages telling you things like: people hate you, they laugh at you, be afraid. I borrowed an old reel to reel tape deck and made legal copies of the mix tapes. I have hidden all the copies where I hope they will be safe. Tonight I am going to play the reel to reel tapes at a slow enough speed to hopefully be able to hear the messages."

"Barry, a man I trusted gave me those tapes. Wait a minute he gave me those just one day after my parents died. He would not have had time to make tapes like you describe. Unless-," she trailed off.

"Holy shit, unless he knew your parents would die. Unless he prearranged this and he had your parents killed."

"But why, why would he kill my parents? Stupid question, for the money of course. He made me think I was crazy so he could get me out of the picture and have control of the trust fund."

"If the money is invested well the income is probably fifteen million a year. What does it cost to keep you here in this house? Maybe a hundred thousand? Plenty of opportunity to pad those expenses to a couple of million or more."

"Wait here a moment," she said and getting up went to the library. She came back with four thick folders and plopped them on the table.

"These are the last four years financial statements," she announced.

"You're on your own with that, I know absolutely nothing about accounting," Ricky said holding his hands up, "besides I have to get back to work."

"Do me a favor please," she said handing him two of the folders, "stop at an office supply place and make copies of these. Do it yourself, don't let anyone see them."

"There is a shipping and printing place next to Burger Barn. I think they are open until ten."

He put the folders in an old gym bag and took them to work. He put them in the delivery box on his scooter thinking it was safer than leaving them in his old truck with no functioning locks. It was a slow night and he was able to copy both of the files by quitting time.

When he came in the back door of Martha's that night she had papers all over the table and in piles on the counter and even a few on the floor. Excitedly she got up and kissed and hugged him. She grabbed his hand and led him to the table.

"Barry has been stealing huge sums of money. First of all he had himself named CEO of Stratharn Group and pays himself three million a year plus stock options. The only time anyone sees him apparently is at the four quarterly board meetings. Everything is actually run by the division managers. On the trust fund side he pays himself a paltry 2% of the funds in his control. On a fund this large the average is less than 1%. It comes out to stealing five million a year. All he has to do to get that money is pay my expenses. Of which as you guessed, he is stealing just over two million a year. So he is taking about seven million a year," then she shouted,"and I am letting him get by with it!"

"So what are you going to do about it?" he asked.

"About the only thing to do is take him to court on criminal charges."

"That's going to take a high powered, high priced attorney. Can you find one that will take the case with no money down, what do they call it, without a retainer?"

She smiled and said, "I looked through 32 pages of assets of the estate. It lists everything down to the last dessert spoon. You care to guess what is not listed anywhere?"

He frowned for a minute then brightened, "The cars, none of the cars are listed right?"

"And on the first guess he wins the all expense paid trip to Pismo Beach," she said laughing.

"Also I'm trying to think, there was a young lawyer that fought and questioned everything that Goldfarb tried to do. He eventually got the man fired. I imagine if I can find him he might be willing to at least look into it."

"Well how are you going to find him after twenty five years," he asked.

"I'm not sure really," she said thinking, "yes I do, I know where his name will appear."

With that she disappeared into the library once more. She came back with a large photo album.

"This hideous thing is filled with pictures of my parents funeral service and burial. It is the custom in this area to hire a profession photographer to capture the gory details of getting the dearly deceased into the ground."

She shuddered and opened the book. She quickly flipped through the pages until she reached one that showed mourners around two caskets. She pulled the photo from the four holders in the corners and turned it over. In a very neat hand were the names of all the mourners.

She picked up a notebook and wrote the name Jeffrey Chambers.

Ricky got up and retrieved her laptop. He quickly found the guy on a social media site that gave his firm name and phone number. After more searching around he finally found a cell number not listed on the firm's website. He wrote all the info and numbers on the notebook page and handed it to her.

"I know it's late but I have a feeling you should call, at least leave a message."

She nodded and dialed putting it on speaker.

"This is Jeffrey Chambers," a pleasant sounding voice answered.

"Mr. Chambers my name is Martha Stratharn, I don't know if you rememb-"

"Of course I remember," he interrupted, "how are you? How can I help?"

Martha started to tell her story and after one minute he stopped her.

"I am now going to turn a tape recorder on. I ask your permission to do so. Do you agree?"

"Yes of course."

"I am recording this conversation with the knowledge and consent of all parties. I need the full name and address of all parties in this conversation and the date and time."

After he got all this information he asked, "Martha Stratharn and Richard Koss do you at this time wish to retain the firm of Jeffrey Chambers and Associates LLC and Mr. Jeffrey Chambers as your Attorney's of record?"

After saying they did they began relating their story. Twenty minutes later they finished and after adding the date and time once more the attorney shut off the recorder.

He cleared his throat and said, "Now that the recorder is off I am going to say I never trusted that slippery bastard from the day I joined that firm. That he would murder and destroy another person's life does not surprise me in the least. He fought hard to get your parents to put everything into a trust then worked even harder to be named administrator. Your parents were apparently murdered only three months after he took everything over."

"So what do we do now Mr. Chambers," Ricky asked.

"You will need to turn over the originals and one copy of everything you have. I will also need copies of the financial papers to see if they correspond to the documents that were filed with the IRS and Stratharn Group. He couldn't have done this himself. At the least he had to have someone sabotage your parents car. I always thought it was suspicious that the brakes would fail on a nearly new Lexus. The car was inspected after the accident, do you remember by who Martha?"

"I don't remember, I can't seem to be able to find any reports on the accident. Wouldn't the Sheriff's Department have a copy?"

"Yes but let's not alert anyone to the fact we're looking into this."

"I think I have a way around that," Ricky explained about Mike's deputy friend.

"It's certainly worth a try if you trust him," said Mr. Chambers.

"Just one more thing Mr. Chambers, I don't have the ready cash to give you a retainer at present but I do have title to some very expensive automobiles."

"Martha you don't worry about a thing. I was just going to offer you money in case Goldfarb ties up all your accounts in court."

They said their good nights and hung up. Ricky called Mike and asked about his deputy friend. Mike said his name is Ed Wilson and he thought he was working tonight and gave Ricky his cell number. Ricky called and asked if he could do him a huge favor. Ricky explained what he wanted.

"This have something to do with that sleazy lawyer asking questions?"

"Yeah I think it does why?"

"He wanted to look at the same records. Sheriff didn't like his attitude and told him to get a warrant. He'll probably be back in the morning. Where can I meet you?"

"Hang on a sec," he told him, "Martha is it all right if Deputy Wilson comes here?"

Without hesitation she nodded.

"It's 201 Maple, pull into the alley, I'll come get you," he said and hung up.

"If you start to get anxious when he gets here let me know," he said squeezing her hand.

"I'm not nervous, what I am is angry. All these years," she said shaking her head.

He went to the garage and retrieved the reel to reel then dug out the tape behind the encyclopedia's. He put the reel on and set the play speed on ELP. It was hard to tell what song was even playing but about ten seconds in they heard a voice rapidly saying: you are worthless, be afraid, they laugh at you. That was all that was on the first song. Ten seconds into the next song they heard: no escape for you, they hate you, give up. And so it went song after song. Martha had been writing all the phrases down. It seemed that every six songs they repeated themselves.