Crown's Law (39 page)

“Please call me Bo. Sam and Becky do. I’m so
honored to be a guest here again in your fabulous home! I have many
pleasant memories.”

John and Helena made Bo feel right at home.
She had been a little apprehensive at first, but they put her at
ease immediately. It might have been Becky’s influence, since she
was obviously ecstatic at Bo’s presence. Anything that pleased
Becky seemed to please them.

Becky took Bo upstairs and helped her unpack,
talking nonstop. She hugged Bo three or four times for no reason.
Bo slipped into her bikini, then put on a pair of jeans and a
long-sleeved sweat shirt. The air was a little cool, but she
intended to spend some time in the heated pool and the spa
later.

Downstairs, the five of them congregated on
the deck and Sam poured Bo a glass of Chardonnay and mixed himself
a Cutty and water. Helena and John were still working on their
after-dinner cognacs. John had his pipe going, and Bo lit her
foot-long cigarette. It was a comfortable gathering. Bo relaxed.
The conversation was light and easy.

They probably know I’m
sleeping their son, but they aren’t going there. Thank God! I don’t
know how I would handle that!
thought Bo.
I’ve never met the parents before!

Becky bugged Bo to commit to coming to her
Saturday event. Bo said she would unless she was ordered back to
D.C. Becky hugged her again with a squeal.

At 9 o’clock, the Crowns excused themselves
and went up to their room. Becky did the same ten minutes later,
leaving Bo and Sam alone.

“What a nice family! They sure made me feel
at ease. I was a bit apprehensive at first,” remarked Bo.

“You have the
Becky Seal of Approval
. That helps. Sorry about
the sleeping arrangements, but my mother would think I was
corrupting her granddaughter’s morals if you slept with me in my
room. She knows the facts of life, and knows that Becky knows them,
but she’s big on appearances,” laughed Sam.

“If you remember, so was I before you and
Becky wore me down,” chuckled Bo. She leaned over and kissed him.
“I hope I didn’t interrupt any of your plans this week. This
opportunity to fly out here was unexpected.”

“Your presence supercedes all else. I’m at
your service while you’re here. Double entendre intended,” he
laughed as he put his hand on her inner thigh and squeezed. “How
about I fix us a light supper. Omelet? Some melon?”

“That would be great! My last meal was on the
plane. I’ll come in and help you,” she replied. “How’s your drink?
I’m going to pour myself some more wine.”

“I think I’ll switch to wine to go with the
omelet. Thanks. You sound like you’ve been here before!”

In the spa later, Bo said, “I have no
specific tasks to perform until I hear from my boss, but I’m on
call 24/7. I may have to leave on a second’s notice.”

“No problem. I had a light schedule anyway
because of Becky’s upcoming stellar event. Pearl will handle
anything that comes up, so I’ll hang out with you, if that’s OK,”
leered Sam, massaging her breasts.

***

The next three days flew by. Bo’s boss told
her that the noose was tightening on the mole. He told Bo to stay
out of sight until she was needed. He didn’t want the presence of a
JTFE agent to tip off the mole. That suited Bo just fine. She went
to Santa Ana with Sam on Thursday when Pearl called him in to fix a
problem she couldn’t handle. They had beer, pizza, and a nooner in
Sam’s apartment. Life was good. So far.

Saturday, June 16, 2001

Irvine, CA

Finally, the long awaited day came: Saturday
the 16th. Becky’s day! The Crowns, Sam, and Bo were in the audience
at UCI by 9:30 A.M. The ceremony began at 10:00 A.M. As the
graduates began receiving their doctorates, one by one, Bo took
Sam’s hand and squeezed it.

“I’m so nervous!” she whispered.

“Me, too. Ah, she’s next!” he whispered
back.

Professor Danforth, her mentor, was handing
out the certificates. He picked up two of them when he saw Becky at
the head of the line. He made a short speech about how accomplished
the next doctoral candidate was, then beckoned Becky forward.

“I therefore bestow the degrees of Doctor of
Philosophy in mathematics and physics on Rebecca Crown!”

Becky was beaming! She had already picked her
group out in the crowd, so she gave them a little wave and a big
smile. Sam was watching his parents. His mother’s mouth fell open
when she heard “Crown.” Sam slipped the paper that made Becky a
legal Crown from his suit pocket and handed it to his mother.

“She wanted to start paying you back. She
knew you would never take money. She asked my permission and I gave
it. She wants you to know that she’s truly your granddaughter and
that she loves you. Her accomplishments now bear the Crown name.
She dedicated them to us,” explained Sam.

His mother was crying. Bo was crying. Sam and
his father wiped moisture from the corners of their eyes.

“What a blessed child!” whispered Helena.
“Thank God you brought her home to us, Samuel.”

A woman in front of Helena turned around and
said, “Do you know that exceptional girl?”

Helena straightened, smiled, and replied, “Of
course! She’s my granddaughter!”

***

Back at the beach house, there was a catered
lunch waiting, plus several of Helena’s close friends. It was to
have been a small celebration of Becky’s unusual accomplishments,
but now Helena had an even larger bit of news to share with her
guests: Becky was now legally and officially a Crown!

About 2 o’clock, Bo slipped upstairs and put
on a bikini and coverup. Sam changed into swim trunks and Aloha
shirt and they wandered down to the sand and started walking south
toward the San Clemente Pier. When they were out of sight of the
house, Bo took his hand.

“That was a magnificent gift that you and
Becky gave your parents. They were overwhelmed!” said Bo.

“It was Becky’s idea. She had to let me in on
it for legal reasons. She had a hard time keeping it secret till
today.”

“She didn’t even tell me. We email each other
nearly every day.”

Sam looked at her as they strolled and said,
“Oh? She never told me that. That’s good. I told her to keep in
touch.”

“Shouldn’t we turn back? You should be part
of the celebration.”

“I want this to be for Becky and my
parents—at least for a little longer. I don’t want to be a
distraction. We’re nearly to the pier. Let’s go to
The Fisherman’s
oyster bar and get a
drink. I have a couple of twenties in my shirt pocket. Of course,
they may card you,” he laughed.

“Not likely! Whatever you want is fine with
me. As long as I’m with you, I’m happy,” she smiled, squeezing his
hand.

They found a secluded table and ordered tall
vodka and tonics with a basket of fried clams to share.

Bo said, “Sam, I want to run something by
you—get your feedback.”

“Sure. Shoot,” he said as he munched a crisp
clam.

Since she had last been in California, she
had digested the detailed background report on Sam and knew a lot
more about him—at least his work history. Some of it disturbed her,
much of it pleased her.

“I’m not supposed to do this, but I’m going
to tell you why I’m here,” she said with a frown.

“Don’t get yourself in trouble,” he smiled,
knowing why she was here.

She explained the package addressed to her
containing three video tapes, without revealing the content of the
tapes.

“So, the profile of the person who recorded
these tapes is a professional at surveillance and knew I was an FBI
agent. This person sent it to the Santa Ana office, not my office
in Washington. Maybe this person thought I might personally come
out here to open the package,” she opined.

“Awfully convoluted, but go on,” said Sam,
sensing she suspected he had sent the tapes and was playing with
him.

“The thing that bothers me most is that the
capturing of the event on those tapes wasn’t an accidental
thing—like, say, a tourist with a camcorder accidentally capturing
some cops beating someone on tape. The person had to know that the
event was going to take place before professionally arranging three
cameras on the actual spot where the event took place. This person
was privy to some very sensitive information. I just wish this
person, if he or she had more info, would see that I got it. I
would take it very seriously.”

Sam smiled. “Who knows, maybe that person
will, if he or she had any more info worth giving you. Or there may
be good reasons the person can’t share any more info.”

Bo sipped her drink, looked Sam in the eye.
“Dammit, Sam! Let’s stop beating around the bush! I may be naive
sexually, but not as an investigator! I’d never even been in the
Santa Ana FBI office until two weeks ago! I don’t need to be
Sherlock Holmes to know you sent me those tapes!”

“To use your favorite line, ‘No comment.’ I
assume you’ve read the background report you had prepared on me,”
replied Sam, still smiling at her, changing the subject.

God, she’s beautiful when
she’s upset!
he mused.

She looked down a beat, then faced him
again.

He went on, “Don’t feel bad about it, Bo.” He
covered her hand with his. “I’d have done the same thing in your
place.”

“Did you do one on me?” she asked, a hint of
a smile forming in the corners of her mouth.

“No. It would have been a waste of time. I
know all I need to know about you from just being with you. If you
read my dossier carefully, you’ll know that when I was a cop, I had
the largest cadre of snitches in the county. I don’t have as many
now, but still more than any active cop. I get info from many
places, and I protect my sources. Otherwise, they’d all dry
up.”

“But Sam! Those tapes had information . .
.”

“. . . that helped your investigation,” he
finished.

“Immensely.”

“Then use that info and leave me out of
it.”

“You’re good, Sam! The FBI never got a hint
of the . . . event on those tapes, but somehow you knew,” she said,
taking his hand in hers. “What else do you know?”

“All I’ll say for now, Bo, is that all
roads lead to
Dynology
. I
assume you already know that. Did Becky’s stuff get you the court
order you needed?” he replied.

Bo was silent for a couple of beats, smiled,
then said, “No comment.”

“Good. I thought it would. Let’s change the
subject for now. I have an overpowering urge to kiss your scar.
What are we going to do about that?”

“Now, that is a poser,” she giggled.
“Definitely not here! Let me think on it.”

***

By the time they got back to the beach house
it was after 4 o’clock. Helena’s guests had departed and the
caterers were cleaning up. Sam found a pitcher of lemonade on the
wet bar and poured two glasses full. He joined Bo at an umbrella
table. Becky wandered up, poured herself a glass, and joined
them.

“Where’d you two disappear to?” asked
Becky.

“We walked down to the pier. I didn’t want to
be a distraction on your day with your grandparents. They’re really
proud of you, Beck, and overwhelmed. You gave them the greatest
gift you could have,” replied Sam.

“You’re never a distraction, Sam! Thank you
again for supporting me in this—helping me do it. I’m really your
daughter now, aren’t I?” said Becky.

“Yes, I guess you are. Come here and
give me a hug,
Doctor
Crown
!”

Becky got up and sat on his lap, hugging him
tightly. Tears formed in Bo’s eyes as she watched them. John and
Helena came out on the deck and pulled up chairs to join them.

Helena said, “This has been quite a day,
hasn’t it?”

Bo said, “Yes, it has. Thank you for letting
me be a part of your family milestone.”

“Thank you for being here, dear. It meant
quite a lot to Rebecca. I think we all owe Samuel a debt of
gratitude, too, for arranging things so that Rebecca could become
an official part of the family. Not that she wasn’t, it’s just . .
.”

Becky interrupted, “I know, Nana. Nothing has
changed except my last name. I’ve always loved you the same!”

She got up from Sam’s lap and hugged her
grandmother, then her grandfather.

Bo got up and went to the bar and got a
handful of tissues. She handed some to Helena, then used the rest
herself. John puffed on his pipe and watched his granddaughter, his
eyes smiling.

***

When John and Helena left to take an
afternoon nap, Becky said, “I’m going down to Billy’s to play video
games for awhile, Sam. OK?”

“Sure. Keep the door open and your foot on
the floor,” laughed Sam.

“Sam!” exclaimed Bo and Becky in unison.

When Becky was gone, Bo remarked, “I’m having
a very hard time grasping this situation, Sam. Becky just received
two doctoral degrees this morning, and now she’s off to play video
games!”

“A healthy sign, I’d say. She still has some
child in her,” smiled Sam.

“You know that scar you wanted to kiss?” said
Bo, changing the subject. “Not far from that scar is an area that
needs a lot of attention right away! Or am I being too aggressive?
I know some men don’t like that.”

“Lesson Number Six. Don’t apologize for
letting your needs be known. I like a woman who can discuss her
sexual needs openly. That way, there’s less guessing. Let’s head
down to the boat for awhile. I’d like to check that area out for
you,” laughed Sam.

“Let me throw some clothes on over this
bathing suit and grab my purse. I don’t want to be far from my
badge and gun. I’ll be down in a sec!”