Laura's Big Win (18 page)

“You kids okay?”

“They are.” Ryan assured him; Laura
nodded her assent. “What’s the story on Sir Tom?”

“Paramedics said they thought he had a
small stroke, although I guess a stroke is never really small.
Anyway, they said his vitals are very good, he’s awake again for
the most part, and they think he’ll probably make a full recovery.
These kids getting the alarm in as quick as they did could have
made all the difference in the world for him. They were really
flying when I saw them coming. And I want you to know I really did
believe it was safe enough; I’m sorry if I caused any trouble here.
I sure didn’t mean to.”

“No, no trouble. I think Laura and I
are just grateful the kids are safe. How were you to know what was
going to happen. But, the kids say a woman steered the car into the
sand trap to avoid the water hazard. Did you see her, or anyone
around the car?”

“No, sir, I did not. But I can tell you
this: the car wasn’t going very fast or it would have gone a lot
farther into the sand trap; I just backed it out under its own
power. The thing is, the front wheel tracks curved pretty tight to
miss the hazard; on a car like this, that takes some arm power.
Nobody in the back seat is going to reach over and steer it,
especially not with Mr. Collins laying against the wheel. Anyway,
the car is fine, and it looks like the kids are too. Sorry I can’t
help ID this person; nobody there when I got there, and it didn’t
take more than a few seconds with the ATV.”

Ryan was not about to give up at this
point although it looked like the available information was scant
at best. “Kids, do you remember anything about the lady, maybe what
she looked like? Had to be someone local, although we didn’t have
any security alarms. There just isn’t anyone else here. Jack?
Amanda?”

Jack seemed somewhat puzzled for a
moment, but after a little thought volunteered a final comment: “I
was pretty scared, and I didn’t get a real good look at her, but I
remember she was pretty like mom, and not at all scary. That’s all
I remember.”

Amanda’s final comment was similar, and
Ryan could see he was at an end. “Guess we’ll just never know
unless someone comes forward. Anyway, I’m glad everyone is safe and
Mr. Collins will recover. You kids did a good job, running for
help. Burning up all that energy running, would ice cream bars help
you recover?”

“Yes, sir. We know where to get them.
Okay, mom?” the voices were in close enough harmony to be
rehearsed.

“Yes, if this gentleman says it’s okay,
it’s okay with me.” Laura wondered how Ryan knew that changing the
subject and diverting the kids attention would close the trauma for
them. It was almost as though he had prior experience with
children, yet she knew he did not, and was an only child in fact.
She had also learned from Alice and Marie, and other bits and
pieces of information, that his first wife had died before they
could have any children, and that while he functioned very well,
there was still a lingering sadness. Alice had told her that Ryan
and his wife frequently talked about a family, and were taking a
step toward that path when the illness occurred. Laura realized
that this man, powerful and self assured in business and with other
people, was still mourning the loss, at least to some degree. It
was one of those things that may heal over in time, but is never
forgotten. She often wondered if it felt something like being
abandoned with two small children, no resources, no roof over their
head. And in her musings, she also remembered the feeling of his
arms around her at the softball game, and his seeming reluctance to
let go. Neither of them had mentioned it since then, but she knew
it did happen, and she wondered what was next. This was a wonderful
man, and Laura had every intention of learning more about him,
especially now that she had seen how he related to her children.
Still, she realized that with a husband out there somewhere, she
was hardly in a position to develop a greater closeness to Ryan,
and she did feel she wanted to be much closer to him.

Events have a way of overtaking people,
and like ripples on a pond pass under lily pads and rock them
gently, sometimes events can affect things not at all directly
related to the occurrence. Fate could even intervene at a riverboat
casino, where a man who had abandoned his wife and children bet
everything on the sure thing turn of a card, and lost. Laura would
be the unknowing beneficiary of such an event in the coming months,
but would have to be patient and let things develop in due
course.

Chapter 11 –
Extortion

What remained of the
summer, after the incident with Mr. Collins, had virtually flown
by. He had recovered quite well, and was off somewhere finding
another adventure. The kids frequently received souvenirs and
assorted trinkets from the Collin’s, and looked forward to their
return visit some day in the future. Jack was enrolled to start
first grade in September and Amanda would go half days to a
pre-school. The other half of Amanda’s time Laura would have to
make arrangements for, but even that seemed to be falling into
place. Windmere had a small room set aside for kids to stay in
while the parents did business, or partied late as was more often
the case. While Jack and Ernie were starting first grade, Maria
also needed a place for Vickie, and Cal’s wife was looking at
returning to the work force part time, so the need for a half-day
onboard service was becoming apparent. Alicia found a young teacher
who was starting her own family but wanted to work part time, and
the deal was made. When regular pre-school started, the half-day
school would also start, more as a play room but with some goals
for learning. The beauty of it all was that the half-day was at
Windmere, with its kids playground, wading pool, woods to walk in
and a myriad of other attractions. As summer ended, things quickly
fell into place for the remainder of the year, and life went along
rather smoothly, almost.

In mid-September with school in session
and life in general under control at Windmere, Laura had a chance
to think back over the past three months. It had truly been a
roller coaster ride, one with a lot of bumps, but things were
healing over. There was still the nagging problem of what to do
about Richard; after all, she was still married to the rat. He
hadn’t even so much as called Nancy to see if she knew where Laura
had disappeared to with the kids. Not that Laura wanted anything to
do with him, but she was becoming more interested by the day in
Ryan, and felt he shared her interest; she knew in her heart he
would never approach her so long as she was a married woman, in
spite of the horseplay at the ball game. On the other hand, she
felt the legal and moral obligation as much as did Ryan; while it
chaffed her greatly, there was no discernable way out, at least not
at this time. That was about to change, maybe for the better, maybe
for the worse, depending on where one stood.

Marcia was at her usual desk when the
intercom from the gate lit up. Checking the monitor quickly, she
saw a rather battered old sedan at the gate, and a man leaning out
the window toward the intercom box. It was not all that unusual to
get strangers at the gate, but there was something about this man
that she did not like, and she hadn’t even asked what he wanted.
Keying the intercom, she responded to the call: “May I help
you?”

“Yeah, I think so” the man’s voice
responded. “I’m Richard Nessing and my wife is in there. I need to
see her....now.”

“One moment, please” Marcia told him,
then fled to Laura’s office with the message.

“What should I tell him? He’s at the
front gate and he knows you’re here.”

“Ask him to come in, please, then show
him to the small conference room, and you might see if Dennis is
around somewhere close.”

“Done. I’ll bring him to you once he’s
in the door, and I will find Dennis.”

Returning to her desk Marcia keyed the
intercom and directed Richard to come up to the house. Watched on
the monitor, the big gate slid open, then quickly closed behind the
car. Richard Nessing came to the front door as instructed, leaving
the car in the drive. Entering the building, Marcia showed him the
way to the conference room where Laura waited. Entering the room,
Richard sat across from Laura; Marcia left the door open on
purpose, although Richard really didn’t care much who heard what he
had come to say.

Laura opened the conversation with one
word: “Why?”

Gone was the smooth façade of an uber
salesman she had so often seen, replaced by the ugly jagged edges
of a self-immolating egoist. “I had a few little debt problems to
handle and didn’t need the extra baggage at the time. Face it: you
and the kids were window dressing I needed to get ahead in my
business. But, all that is behind me for the moment. Right now I
need $10,000 from you, cash. My little debt problem has become
slightly larger; I still don’t know how I could have lost that card
turn but it doesn’t matter. I need to pare the debt down a bit
before the big boys start to play rough.”

“Where in the world do you think I
could get $10,000, and why would I give it to you anyway? You have
to be out of your mind coming in here asking for that after what
you did.”

“Not a problem for me; big problem for
you. Either I get the cash, and right now, or I file for custody
and drag you through every court in the land. Shouldn’t be a
problem finding you an unfit mother; after all, even if you aren’t
much in bed, everything I see says you’re putting out for the boys
here, or you wouldn’t be where you are. It may or may not be true,
but juries are fickle bodies. So, make your choice and take your
chances, but remember, there’s a chance I might win. Really, I
don’t want the two brats, but if that’s what it takes, that’s what
it takes. And your answer is.....?”

Laura was nearly unnerved
by this demand, and the really nasty accusation he had delivered,
but the ordeal this man had put her through had given her a
strength belied by her soft voice. “Wait here. I’ll be back in a
few minutes. I would suggest you stay in this room and don’t wander
around; it’s for your own safety.” Her bravado lasted until she was
well clear of the door, but by the time she got to Rogers office
the tears had started. “Roger…. Please….. can I see you for a
minute?” The words were halting and broken by gasps. Roger quickly
ushered her in and closed the door.

“Laura; what’s wrong; what
the hell’s going on?”

“It’s my husband; he…came
here to get money….and…..he says he’s going to tell people I’m
promiscuous.....and an unfit mother.....and he’ll take the kids and
I just can’t let that happen but I don’t know what to
do.”

“You did the right thing
coming to me; I think we can help. Now, sit, take a breath, let it
out slowly, that’s it. We have a few minutes to sort things out. I
need to tell you, we have been asking around about Mr. Nessing for
some time now. It’s not exactly a secret that we like to protect
our interests, and like it or not, you’re part of our interests
now. After hearing what he did to you and the kids, I put out a
couple of feelers through an investigator we use now and then, just
so we could maybe stay ahead of him; you know he has a serious
gambling problem, and he’s in really deep to some very bad guys
just now. How much does he want? I’m assuming that’s why he’s doing
the extortion gambit. Hang on a sec,” and keying the intercom said
“Marcia, would you have Dennis accompany Mr. Nessing so he doesn’t
get lonesome?”

“Yes sir. I called him
like Laura said. Dennis is here and Mr. Nessing is going nowhere,
at least not in one piece.”

“Thanks Marcia; good work.
Now, Laura, back to the numbers. How much?”

“Ten thousand. I don’t
even have any savings, at least not much; where am I going to get
that kind of money? Anyway, I have a bad feeling that’s only the
beginning if I give in, but I don’t want the kids dragged through
court. What should I do?”

“Okay, here’s the deal.
Ten thousand isn’t all that much; it won’t even pay off what he
already owes, and I don’t see an end to that problem, not at this
point. I want you to go back in there and tell him to be here at 3
PM tomorrow and you’ll do the deal. Please do not talk about
anything else, only the money Then ask Dennis to ‘help’ Mr. Nessing
out of the building while you come back in here. Can you do that?
Tears gone now? Okay; good girl. We can get you through this, but I
need to know where you would like to end up. So do your part and
come back. I just hope to hell Dennis doesn’t get wind of this guy
threatening Mandy; could be the last thing he does in one piece.
Okay?”

Laura smiled at the reference to
Dennis. “I seem to be thanking you a lot of the time for a lot of
things. Guess I’m pretty needy.”

“No, not at all; you just
need a little help with a bully now and then, just like the rest of
us. Now, into the breech with you girl.”

Laura heard Roger intercom
Marcia to call a Harry Comstock as the door closed. She wondered
who that might be, but the more immediate problem was handling
Richard. She looked up at Dennis lounging against the wall in the
corridor, and the look she saw on his face reminded her he had
professionally made a living at one time inflicting pain on other
human beings; it was not pretty, but it was reassuring that help
was near at the slightest hint of any danger to her person.
Entering the room, she addressed Richard in a clear, unwavering
voice, from a woman who was back in control of herself, and the
situation, at least for the moment: “Okay, this is the plan. Be
back here tomorrow afternoon at 3 PM. I believe funds will be made
available to you then. Any questions?”