The Daughter-in-Law (32 page)

Alexandra smiled as she examined the records. “Where did you get these? From Nicole’s apartment? Or from her gangster friend?”

“Actually, from his wireless company,” Lambert smiled, enjoying a moment of self-congratulation. “Their network guru needed five thousand dollars.”

“Nice going,” Alexandra said. She gathered up the papers. Now even Jack would have to admit that Jonathan’s wife had never severed her low-life connections.

She laid everything out for Jack and Pam later that evening. Jimmy Farr was the thug who had dominated Nicole’s past. And here they were still chummy before, during, and after Jonathan’s death. But Pam sprung instantly to Nicole’s defense. The phone calls proved only that they had talked. “Nicole might have been telling him to get lost.”

“They had several conversations,” Alexandra countered. “‘Get lost’ is only one short call.”

“Maybe he was blackmailing her. Threatening to expose all the dirt that you’ve enjoyed playing in,” Pam fired back. “And just who is this creep anyway? How do we know that he ever had his fangs into Nicole?”

Alexandra handed her the folder of Greg Lambert’s reports. “There’s a lot about your new big sister that you should learn.”

Jack didn’t want to hear any of the information. As soon as Alexandra mentioned new evidence, he went into a tirade about her using the security people to pursue her private vendetta. “Damn it,
our son is dead! Why are you still trying to smear the reputation of the woman he married?”

“Because I think she may be involved in his death. I think she was scheming for his money right from the beginning.”

He immediately sided with Pam. The telephone calls proved nothing. Alexandra was the one who had been scheming right from the beginning to break up the relationship. Jonathan had found a wonderful woman who would have made him happy. Just as important, she would have made him into a man. Hadn’t she given him the courage to defy his father, and start out on his own business venture? Nicole had understood the problem. She had warned him that Alexandra couldn’t bear the thought of Jonathan leaving home. She had been right on the mark when she said that Alexandra was blaming him for their son’s insecurity.

When Pam stormed off with the evidence clutched in her hand, Jack was able to calm himself. He apologized for the attack on his wife. Then he begged her, “Let it go, please. She’ll be gone in a few days. We’re that close to ending all her financial claims. Then we won’t ever have to think about her again.”

He knew that wasn’t true. Even as he said the words he knew that he would continue thinking about her. His fondest hope was that she would settle comfortably somewhere and then welcome his visits. His business took him all over the world. He could meet with her no matter where she went.

He was alone in his study when Ben Tobin called on the telephone. Jack mumbled a greeting and then asked how things had gone after he left the meeting. Ben answered frankly that they were at an impasse.

“I’ll talk to Victor,” Jack said. “Give me a chance to talk to him before you two get together again.”

Ben answered, “I think it will be better if you and I get together, Jack. I don’t think Victor has any idea of how much you want to do right by the woman. He’s treating her as an adversary. That’s not how you think of her, is it?”

“No . . . no. Of course not.”

“I’m sure that you and I can wrap everything up in an hour. Why don’t I stop by your office in the morning? We can agree on the broad picture and then Victor and I can fill in the details.”

“Sure,” Jack agreed. “In the morning ...” He hung up while he
was still talking, before they could even set a time. He stood and went to his bar, poured a Scotch over ice, and then wrapped his big hands around the glass. Adversary, he thought. How could he think of her as an adversary?

She was trouble, no doubt about it, and he would be much better off to be rid of her. What would Alexandra do if she found out? Drag him through a year of humiliation while she broke his empire into little pieces? Leave him as a public fool. Or even worse, go right on living with him so that he would shiver with guilt every time he felt her eyes on him. And Pam? What would she think when she found out that her father was screwing her brother’s wife? Who would she blame? The new sister who had brought independence and courage into Jonathan’s life? Or the dirty old man who had seduced and ravaged her?

As much as he hated the thought, Jack knew that he needed a clean break. He needed to agree on an annual stipend to be paid with the proviso that she never have any further contact with him or his family, and that she agree to live in another country, across the ocean, or anywhere where their paths would never cross. How much money? What did it matter? The biggest price was that he would be living the rest of his life without her. The rest was just pocket change.

FIFTY-SIX

A
S SHE
turned the corner toward her doorway, Nicole saw Jimmy step out of the car. It was a big sedan, less conspicuous than a limousine, and he held the rear door open as if he were a chauffeur welcoming a rider. “Nicole, what a coincidence. You’re just the person I was looking for.” He took her arm in a vise grip, making it clear that he wanted her to get into the car. She went easily, pretending that she didn’t mind being plucked off the street.

There were two men in front of her, both making a point of staring straight ahead. Jimmy settled into the soft leather of the rear seat, and Nicole moved against the far door, keeping as much space between them as she could. The car pulled into traffic, made a westbound turn to Fifth Avenue, and then entered Central Park. Farr looked out the window as if Nicole wasn’t even there.

“Where are we going?” she asked when she couldn’t stand the silence.

“That’s what I’m wondering,” he said sparing her a glance. “Exactly where are we going? How close are we to being inside the Sound Holdings boardroom?”

“We’re a long way off. I’ve dropped a few hints, but the subject hasn’t even come up. Jack Donner doesn’t like women handling money matters.”

Jimmy smirked. “We both know what Jack Donner likes. The question is how is he going to pay for what he likes. Does he give you a position because you tell him you’re interested? Or does he take you on board because I tell him what will happen if he doesn’t?”

“Be careful, Jimmy. Jack has all kinds of connections. You won’t be able to frighten him with your muscles.”

“Who said anything about muscle? All I have to do is tell my friends in the tabloids who he’s sleeping with.” He had to laugh at
his own brilliance. “Bet he’d hate to have his wife see your pictures while she’s checking out at the supermarket.”

Nicole shook her head. “You haven’t changed a bit. Still the same rat!”

“I get what I want,” he answered.

She turned in her seat so that she was facing him. “Not if you try to blackmail Jack Donner. You might ruin him, but you’ll end up in Attica with your friend, Steve. Two past mayors, the police commissioner, and the federal prosecutor come to Jack’s parties. If they can’t find a crime to jail you for, they’ll make something up.”

He frowned. “Okay, then. What do you suggest?”

“Patience,” she answered instantly. “I can’t just walk into a board meeting. It’s going to take time to get invited.”

“How much time?”

“I don’t know. A few months. Maybe longer!”

“A few months?” He leaned forward and pulled a newspaper out of the seat-back pouch in front of him. The paper was folded to an article that had Sound Holdings in the headline. “Did you know about this?”

She glanced at the first few lines and shrugged. “He took a position in some bio outfit. So what?”

“Yesterday, Sound Holdings bought fifty thousand shares of Bio-Labs at thirty. This morning the stock opened at forty, and jumped to fifty-five. That’s a profit of three-quarters of a million on one stock in one day. Do you know what that can add up to in ‘a few months’? Do you have any idea how much we could be making if you were inside, telling me about the next BioLabs before Jack Donner puts up his money?”

“It will take time,” she answered.

“Nicole, I’m not going to sit quietly and miss out on opportunities for a few months. I want you inside in a few weeks.”

There was no point in arguing with him. All she really needed was a few days to move the money and then move herself. Jimmy wouldn’t know how to look for her in Europe. And once Alexandra figured out that she was gone forever, she wouldn’t even bother looking. “I can’t guarantee when it will happen, Jimmy. But I’m working on it, and I’ll push as hard as I can without turning Jack off.”

He reached out and pinched her cheek. “That’s the Nicole I used to know,” he said with smile. He touched the driver’s shoulder and the sedan pulled to the curb. He reached across and pushed open her door. “Remember, I’ll be looking in on you from time to time.”

She hailed a taxi and rode back to the East Side. As she got out in front of her building she glanced at the windows across the avenue. Then she walked to the side street and looked for the car that had followed her. Ridiculous, she told herself. Like all the city’s side streets, this one was a row of cars parked bumper to bumper. Jimmy could use a different car each day, so what was the point in looking? There were a hundred windows looking down on her from across the street. Prying eyes could be behind the curtains in any one of them. Hell, Jimmy had even let himself into her apartment. It would be just as easy for him to have someone watching her from one of the other apartments. She had to accept it as a fact that Farr had her under around-the-clock surveillance. Maybe he was even tapping her telephone. She decided to walk around the block so that she could use her cell phone to call Ben Tobin.

“What happened?” she asked when he came on the line.

“Nothing. Jack Donner never showed at his office. I spent over an hour cooling my heels in his waiting room.”

“What does that mean? That he’s done talking with us?” She was frightened at the thought that her deal might be falling through.

“I don’t know what it means,” Ben admitted. “But it isn’t just me he’s ducking. The people in his office don’t know where he is and they’re plainly worried. Victor Crane hasn’t heard from him. Nobody has.”

Jack was waiting in Nicole’s apartment. He had spent the previous evening weighing his choices against his responsibilities, and had reaffirmed his decision to send his son’s wife into exile. On his ride into Manhattan he had decided that he and Nicole didn’t need to be talking through lawyers. They could settle things themselves. He would admit how dearly he loved her, but would simply present the evidence that proved he could never have her. Too many others, people he truly loved, would be hurt.

Then, he would tell her what he wanted. She could go anywhere she wanted and live in whatever style suited her. All he needed was her agreement that it would be best if she never came near him or his family. That he would find unbearable.

He had left his driver at the door to his office building, walked through the lobby and hailed a taxi. Then he had gone to Jonathan’s apartment expecting to find her there. He let himself in when she didn’t answer his ring, and sat in silence waiting for her return. He hoped she hadn’t gone to see her lawyer. He didn’t want any more legal entanglements.

When the phone rang he knew he shouldn’t answer it. There was no reason for him to be in Nicole’s apartment. He let her machine record the message. When he recognized Pam’s voice he sighed in relief. Thank God she hadn’t discovered that he was with his daughter-in-law.

Pam didn’t speak at her usual breathless pace, with words tumbling in half finished sentences. This time she sounded all business. “Nicole, we need to talk. William Kimes and I have our studio. It’s an ideal space in a great location and I can’t wait to show it to you. We want you in with us as a partner. Also, there’s something I have to show you. It’s information about you that my mother’s snoops have dug up. It’s stuff that could cause you problems. Call me back. We really need to get together soon!”

Jack was left staring at the machine when his daughter’s voice clicked off. What studio was she talking about? And who the hell was William Kimes?

FIFTY-SEVEN

W
ILLIAM
K
IMES
had been slow to realize what a wonderful thing was happening to him. The blond art groupie that wanted to open a gallery had turned out to be one of the richest women on earth. And she was coming on to him as if he were a rock star instead of an art dealer.

He had agreed to meet her friend who supposedly was the investor. The friend hadn’t been all that interested, and Kimes thought that the lure of an investor was just a line to get a date. Clever girl, he had thought. It was a better approach than asking his astrological sign, or wondering if he would take a look at her stereo system.

“Love to talk more about your project,” he had said when he packed her into a taxi. “I’m in town quite a bit. I’ll call you.” It was a routine promise, but one that he thought he might keep. After all, she was certainly attractive and pleasant company even if her enthusiasm could become tiresome. What was her name again? Dasher? Dander? He found the card she had given him when he was undressing back at his hotel. Pamela Donner. Donner, that was it. He slipped the card into his wallet. Maybe he’d call her to set up a date when he was returning to New York.

He had been taking his morning shower when he remembered where he had heard the name. Donner was the lady who was on the board of one of the museums. The money was her husband’s, some tycoon from Wall Street. Who in hell was he? Kimes dropped the soap when he remembered. Jack Donner from Sound Holdings! Could she be? He shook his head. No, it couldn’t be. He laughed at himself for even considering such a ridiculous idea.

But when his phone rang it was Pam. She was bubbling with excitement and anxious to get started. “Maybe you could do some scouting. You have a much better idea of what we’ll need and where we ought to be. I’m sure whatever you pick will be perfect.”

“What am I scouting for?” he asked, his confusion obvious.