The next morning found me driving to Richardson, Texas to my legal eagle’s office to get an update on the status of the estate transfer. Guy had a busy day that included a meeting with two major clients, so he begged me to come early. The meeting needed to be in person, he insisted, even though he knew how much I hate morning meetings on general principles. I skipped exercise, grabbed a protein bar after a quick shower, and headed out. As I prepared to leave, Kaley asked to tag along.
True, we seemed to be like the proverbial two ships that passed in the night, as field service activities were more frantic than ever, with more sites and not enough tech reps. Virgil had taken charge of a full court press to hire a dozen new field techs by the end of the year, and we had three aboard. Teaching a tech about the care and feeding of Triple-S portals, however, topped the difficulty scale in terms of employee training, and even with our CEO ramrodding the effort, I didn’t see how we could possibly have a dozen field reps hired and in the field by year-end.
As it was, I approved of Kaley taking a mental health day. I knew on several overnight trips, she had assisted with IC problems on the out-worlds, working more than thirty hours straight twice. As she popped into my new SUV, she still showed faint signs of her recent schedule, visible crow’s feet around her eyes and pallor in her complexion, almost covered by makeup. Her bubble-do, a dark halo around her face, was sharp as ever, and her face seemed to me to be as gorgeous as usual, but let’s face it, I’m prejudiced.
Still, as we stood in the kitchen, I had to comment as I stuck a protein bar in my shirt pocket. “Really? You want to waste time in Guy’s office over the estate of the woman who nearly got you convicted of murder?”
“It wasn’t ‘nearly’. You and Guy saw to that. I told you, I’m taking today off. I wanted to see more of you today.”
“You saw an awful lot of me last night.”
As I backed out of her garage, she swatted my shoulder. “Ha, ha. Okay, seeing you like I did last night is always fun, except for last week, when I begged off due to total exhaustion, but I like to see you in daylight too, with clothes on. I mean, hell, even if it’s just doing a crossword puzzle or going to a movie. About the only time I’ve seen you the last two months, except for Christmas, has been in bed, and by then, I’m fogged.”
“It’s been tough,” I agreed. “Two different rounds with the Bugs over nearly a year has worn us both out.”
We reached IH 35E, I set auto drive, settled back, and noted the time as eight-thirty. It would be close, but unless there was a freeway problem, less likely now days with all new cars and commercial vehicles having fully automatic drive, we would be on time.
She reached over, pecked my cheek, and said, “Ever want to try to do something naughty in the car with robot-drive on?”
I patted her leg. “With you in the car, naughty activities are always on my mind. Since they’re illegal, I try to focus on the road, even when I’d like to do other things.”
“You are such a party pooper,” she said in mock-disgust.
“Anyway,” she continued after a moment, “Why drive all the way across town when we could do a remote with Guy and save the electricity?”
We’d gone over this before. As the queen of field service, Kaley appreciated the ability to skip an on-site if a telecon would work as well. I, on the other hand, hated a remote exchange if person-to-person could be arranged.
There was a semi-valid reason this time, however. “He insisted. We’re meeting with a couple of the detectives to review their findings, so he wanted me to sit in. That’s why we had to get up early, which I hate, to head over during rush hour.”
“I guess it makes sense.” She gave me the mischievous grin a second time. “Sure you don’t want to darken the windows and fool around a little?”
“Boy, you’re in a crazy mood. Better watch out when I take you home or you’ll get more than you’re asking for.”
“When we get home, eh? I dare you.”
Which made me wish we were home. “You just wait, missy.”
“Hah. Bring it on, big boy.”
What was that all about? Before I could ask, my personal chimed. I answered.
“Hays.” I glanced at the dashboard display, it was Bobby.
“I got the photo you forwarded,” he announced.
“Not a photo, a frame from a video stream.”
“Whatever. I’ll use our most advanced scanning algorithms, but I don’t have much hope. Being able to get a fix on the Bug’s home from that tiny slice of sky will be difficult. Make that nearly impossible. Anyway, I’ll let you know. Where are you?”
“Going to Guy’s to review info with respect to that estate transfer.” I’d told Bobby what all had transpired with Glenna.
“Gotcha. I’m running out to Ganymede to check progress. We got a message from Martinez saying the first permanent portal-to-portal will be set up today. We can decommission the single-ended job and get started on the companion jumbo on E2. He says it won’t be long before permanent residents will be on their way to the isolation shack on E2.”
Things were moving fast. What he meant was, in addition to construction, the first detailed biological studies would be initiated almost immediately. We would soon know, I hoped, if a settlement on E2 was a reasonable prospect.
“See you in a couple hours,” I said, and disconnected.
We pulled into the parking garage in the building where Guy’s guys occupied the top two floors. We were a full three minutes early, so the receptionist brought us fresh coffee, which I craved, as I hadn’t had time for any so far. Kaley and I sat alone in a waiting room for what I hoped would be a few minutes.
I had a hard time believing Kaley was more than a decade my senior. She appeared younger than me, her skin so fresh and dewy, except for those slight, telltale crow’s feet..
“You are particularly beautiful this morning,” I told her as we sipped life-giving caffeine.
She blushed, an even deeper shade than I thought possible. “Thank you, sir. I’d thank you more appropriately if we were alone.”
Again, her reply baffled me. Kaley is no shrinking violet in the bedroom. She is fully and freely loving in private and will undertake an occasional experiment I suggest. But today, she seemed more than affectionate and loving, maybe even a bit needy. I gave up, attributing her attitude to the recent long hours and her far-from-routine full day off.
I was about to reply when Claire, Guy’s admin, entered the reception area and beckoned. We headed back down the long hall to Guy’s office, the last one.
His office is large and comfy, with great client chairs and a huge, somewhat scuffed desk, behind which his enormous reclining chair sits, and the decor leans more to shabby than chic. His partners have squandered tens of thousands on office decor, but Guy’s space is comfortably roomy. His digs remind me of the office Bobby and I share, large and open, but a bit ordinary, truth be told.
One of the chairs before his desk was occupied by a female operative of the detective agency. Madeleine Middleton, or Maddy as she liked to be called, was a tip-top operative, who had helped get Kaley cleared of murder charges after Glynnis died in my house. I got a friendly grin when I greeted her by her nickname.
Guy stood to accept the expected hug from Kaley. Sure all coffee cups were full, he reviewed legal items first.
“I have to say things are going along at inchworm speed on the legal front. The problem is the speed of the court system. I tried to set a date to review Glynnis’s will and our proposed update, but right now, due to the flu surge last winter and the number of postponements, the best I’ve been able to do is a date in late March, a good three months from now. Sorry for the problems, but the legal system is moving slowly.”
“Not surprising,” I said. “I’ve heard about delays for months. Not what Glenna wanted. Could you call her and explain?”
“Sure. It’s my obligation given I promised fast action and now things are bogged down.”
He eyed us, a thorough once-over. “Any other questions?”
I had none. Guy seemed satisfied, nodded to Maddy.
She took up the status review. “We’ve concentrated on Fort Meyers, the background of Ms. Patterson, her relatives, friends, associates, both business and otherwise, plus a general checkup to verify her bona fides, per Guy’s request.”
I didn’t know Guy had asked for that, but it made sense. He wanted to verify her background and identity, to be certain she was who she claimed to be.
Maddy went on. “We verified she is the daughter of Tessa Truscott, a native of Ocala, Florida, who had twins and gave them up for adoption as Ms. Patterson claimed. We validated with the adoption agency, still in business, that no family could be found to accept both sisters, so they were adopted individually.
“I assume you know about the background of your first wife’s family. Ms. Patterson’s mother and father were killed in an automobile accident ten years ago. As we reported, there were suspicious aspects to their deaths, but no charges were filed against the garage owner with whom the father had a dispute shortly before their accident.
“We were able to trace the birth mother to the Ocala area, where she lived some twenty years after the birth of her daughters. She lived in several locations in the metropolitan area, worked as a nightclub waitress and occasional dancer.”
I interrupted. “Ms. Patterson said she could never find a trace of her birth mother, even though she searched for her. You did find info.”
Maddy grinned. “She’s not a trained investigator. Our personnel know how to dig. Traces of her biological mother were not easy to find, but if you’re experienced in skip tracing or witness tracking, there are methods available to locate someone, even after decades.
“After her time in Miami, she moved back to Fort Meyers. There is evidence she had begun to search for her children. The adoption agency wouldn’t reveal information, but she had begun to search.”
She smiled. “Sometimes even the best investigative methods fail. Something like eight years ago, after she had been in Fort Meyers for several years, she disappeared. Completely and totally.
“There was no indication of her death, no obituary, nothing. Her last place of residence had no forwarding address for her. She vanished without a trace. It isn’t clear if she died or relocated after being unable to locate her daughters, because even though she lived in Fort Meyers for a couple of years, there’s no indication she discovered Glenna. We contacted Ms. Patterson, and she frankly stated she would have been pleased to meet her birth mother, but never did. She didn’t start her own search until years later.”
Maddy regarded me. “We’re still attempting to interview employees of the advertising agency of your former wife. So far, they’ve resisted our attempts, refused permission for us to enter their premises, and refused our request for a list of her closest associates, who might have known of her contact with her sister. You might want to call any of the partners you know and explain our intent in terms of talking to their personnel.”
“You didn’t explain?”
“Of course not, at least to the extent of our real purpose. All work performed for the partnership is considered confidential.”
“I’ll visit them,” I assured her. “They are a pretty private bunch. When all the info came out about Glynnis and her behavior before her death, they never granted a single interview or allowed any employees to make a public comment.” I couldn’t blame them, given the extent of my ex’s felonious activities.
“Thank you. From what you told us, it doesn’t appear your former wife would have mentioned something as private as a sister, but she may in fact have had one or two confidants to whom she might have mentioned something.”
“She had an affair with one of the male partners,” I said. “If she mentioned anything to anybody, he might have been the one. I don’t think she had female friends.”
Maddy nodded. “Noted. Not clear he’d want to discuss that, especially if he were married.”
“He was.”
“Just so. If I go myself, I might be able to get him into a discussion.”
I figured Ms. Middleton might be able to extract data from Glynnis’s lover at work. She was canny and had a nice, low key style. “You calling on them makes more sense that if I do it,” I told her, “I can give you his name, if you need it.”
“I already have it. If I need your help, I’ll let you know.” She faced Guy. “That’s all I have.”
He semi-shrugged. “Me, too.” He shifted to me. “Any comments, requests, complaints?”
With Maddy and Guy doing their best, I had nothing to complain about. “None. I do have couple of requests. First, keep poking around and add operatives if necessary. I assume Glenna didn’t object to your questions.”
“Absolutely not. I talked to her, explained we were doing all the investigation required to make certain she got her inheritance, as Guy instructed me. He wanted to make sure she knew we were trying to validate her sister’s intent.”
“Good. Guy.” I shifted to him, “it becomes clear this effort is taking far longer than I anticipated and eons longer than Glenna hoped. I want you to set up a trust account for her, basically a pot of money she’ll have full and complete access to. Put a million in it, no, make that two million. I don’t know the details about creating such an account, but set it up so she can get the largest possible amount out per year, consistent with appropriate laws, tax and otherwise. Tell her this is temporary, until the court case.”
He gave me a jaundiced eye. “Two million?”
“Yes. More if you think necessary.”
“I think two million is sufficient. You’re serious about treating Ms. Patterson as well as she could expect.”
“I am. Other than that, look for the birth mother and any other details that will help our case. Try to snag a cancelled trial slot or some such to get us to court earlier.”
I stood. As the key supervisor of the E2 project, I needed to make an appearance on Ganymede sooner rather than later. “Keep spending my money,” I told Maddy. “I’m doing my best to make you and Abernathy wealthy.”
“Doing all I can to help your case,” Maddy said. “How about telling my boss I need a raise?”
I gave her a thumb’s up. “Guy, you heard her. She needs more money.”
He grinned at Maddy and me both. “I’ll tell Abernathy.”
She stood as well. Taller than Kaley, slender and with an angular face that exuded a no-nonsense attitude, she had an aura of confidence and professional expertise. I figured if anybody could get the info we needed, it was her.
“Sounds good to me,” she said with a grin.
“I’m surprised you need my help,” I told her with a grin. “I assumed if you needed a raise, you’d just get something on the boss.”
That got a hearty laugh, and Kaley and I headed out.
When I brought Kaley home, she made certain to hold me to my promise. I enjoyed it thoroughly, but at the back of my mind, a niggling worry remained. Her behavior was completely uncharacteristic. What was going on with my wife?