Forget to Remember (16 page)

Ernie and Tina were impressed. It gave Carol
an idea. “Why don’t I work for you? I could do the calculations and
help you prepare proposals. Hopefully, it would save you some
time.”

Ernie was enthusiastic. “It would be a
godsend.”

Tina took care of the financial end of the
business. “We can’t pay you. You don’t have a Social Security
number.”

“You’ve already paid me.” Carol made a
sweeping gesture with her arm, indicating the surroundings. “You’ve
given me a place to stay. You’ve fed me. You’ve bought me clothes.
You’ve given me friendship. Without you, I would be naked,
starving, friendless, and on the streets. Please let me help
you.”

Ernie laughed. “Well, when you put it that
way. Would you like to come to work with us tomorrow? We’re putting
together a big proposal now. It’s worth a lot of money if we can
land the business.”

***

Carol was gushing to a sleepy Rigo who was
drinking coffee and eating breakfast while trying to wake up. “You
and I have a great opportunity to help your parents. I worked on a
proposal yesterday that involved a lot of calculations. I did them
by hand, but there’s a better way. You can write a program to do
the calculations. It would make good use of your computer skills,
and it would save them a tremendous amount of time. I can show you
exactly what the program has to do.”

She had labored all day and felt good about
the results. She knew she had done this sort of thing before. All
the time she was working, however, she had the feeling it could be
done easier, faster, more efficiently. When she thought about Rigo
and the classes on computer science and programming he’d taken at
the University of Southern California, she was sure it was a match
made in heaven. All she had to do now was convince him.

Carol had finished the calculations for the
big proposal. Ernie told her she had earned her keep. That’s when
she decided to stay home on Friday and try to motivate Rigo. Maybe
she should have waited until he had a couple of cups of coffee in
him. Her enthusiasm hadn’t allowed her to wait, however.

Rigo was either thinking or falling back to
sleep; she wasn’t sure which. Then his face grew more animated. “It
sounds like fun.”

“It’s right up your alley. I think you
should forget about jumping through all the hoops the state makes
you go through to be a counselor, or—heaven forbid—a therapist, and
concentrate on computers. You’re good with computers and you enjoy
working with them. Plus, you’ll get a much faster financial return
than you will by taking years to get some kind of certificate to
hang on your wall.”

Rigo was laughing by this time. “We need
someone with your enthusiasm to promote world peace. When do we
start?”

“As soon as you finish breakfast.”

CHAPTER 20

Rigo felt he’d earned the right to go to the
Friday afternoon football game at the high school. He and Carol had
worked for several hours on the computer program and had actually
been able to get a prototype running. It needed more work, of
course, but at least they knew it could be done.

His parents would be pleased with him—and
Carol. She’d convinced him this program would save them a lot of
time and money. If he joined the company as a computer expert
rather than some sort of flunky, it would be good for his ego,
and—the thought he usually suppressed occurred to him, unbidden—his
father would be proud of him.

He and Carol met Adam at the game. Adam
insisted on sitting beside Carol. Rigo insisted on sitting beside
Carol, too, which meant she had to sit in the middle. They were
crowded together, their legs touching. He hoped she didn’t feel
uncomfortable with this arrangement.

Adam was Rigo’s best friend. He was also a
married man with two children and another on the way. He wouldn’t
try anything with Carol. There
had
been that time in high
school when Adam had stolen a girl from him. At least that’s the
way Rigo remembered it. He wished Adam weren’t sitting quite so
close to Carol. Rigo strained to hear what Adam was saying to her
over the noise of the crowd.

“I walked here from the office.” Adam looked
at Carol, as if expecting her approval.

“That’s a start. Now maybe you’ll consider a
regular exercise program.”

Carol was keeping a psychological distance
from him. Good.

“I play tennis.”

“Once a week with Rigo. That’s not
enough.”

“Old Rigo doesn’t have a regular program.”
Adam winked at Rigo.

“He washes dishes six days a week. That
involves a lot of physical movement, including running around,
clearing tables. Restaurant workers get tons of exercise.” Carol
turned to Rigo. “If you go to work for your folks, you
will
have to do more to keep in shape.”

***

At halftime the band came out on the field
and played fight songs. Two majorettes in fancy costumes twirled
their batons. They threw them high in the air and caught them. Rigo
noticed Carol was watching them intently. He had an idea. “Would
you like to meet the coach for the majorettes? She was in high
school when we were.”

They made their way down to the field while
Adam went off to buy a hotdog. Rigo had had a crush on Jennifer in
high school and still saw her once in a while. She was married to
an aerospace engineer. It wouldn’t hurt for her to see him with
another beautiful woman. He went up to her and gave her a hug.

“Rigo. So good to see you. How are you?” She
gave him her patented smile that had dazzled him as a teenager.

“Great. I’d like you to meet Carol Golden.
Carol is staying with my parents for a while. Carol, this is
Jennifer Smith.”

They shook hands and said hello. Jennifer’s
long blond hair and light complexion contrasted with Carol’s short
dark hair and darker complexion.

“Where are you from, Carol?”

Rigo saw Carol didn’t know how to answer
that question. He jumped in before the situation became awkward.
“She’s from the East Coast. She’s out here to decide whether she
wants to live in California, or whether she’d rather live where
there’s no danger of falling into the ocean.”

Carol had recovered. “Your girls are really
good. You’ve trained them well.”

“Were you a majorette?”

Carol hesitated and then smiled. She picked
up a baton lying at Jennifer’s feet. She did a few exploratory
twirls in slow motion and then went through a short routine,
including passing the baton behind her back. She stopped and
balanced it on one finger. “It’s been a long time.”

Rigo was impressed. He suspected Carol was
as good as Jennifer, if not better. They chatted for a few minutes.
Carol asked Jennifer if they twirled blindfolded or with fire
batons. Jennifer admitted they didn’t and invited Carol to come to
one of their practice sessions. They agreed they would try to meet
sometime soon .

***

Carol sensed Rigo didn’t want her walking to
Adam’s office with him, but she did it anyway. She had declined
Rigo’s invitation to drive her home after the game. He had gone to
the restaurant. She had to get out of the box in which fate had
placed her. The more contacts she had, the more people she knew,
the more likely she would discover her former life.

It was a short walk to Adam’s office. Adam
wasn’t straining himself by doing it. He had made more out of it
than it deserved. She felt like telling him how she’d walked home
from Manhattan Beach in the wee hours of the morning, but she
refrained. Adam didn’t know she’d gone out with Jake Beard. It was
none of his business.

While they were walking, Adam regaled her
with tales of his financial successes and his growing client base.
She suspected anything Adam said should be taken with a generous
allowance for overstatement. Not that he wasn’t good at what he
did. Tina and Ernie had an account with him, and they were no
slouches at matters financial.

Adam’s building was close to the library,
which she was already familiar with, having used it to look up
information related to her identity not readily available on the
Internet. They took the elevator up to the fourth floor. This was
the only four-story building in sight.

The whole fourth floor was deserted.
Financial dealings on the West Coast started around 6:30 in the
morning when the stock market opened. That was 9:30 in New York.
The financial advisors tended to leave correspondingly early, by
mid-afternoon. Adam explained these things and showed her into his
office.

“I’m the youngest financial advisor to have
a window office.”

He was clearly proud of that fact. Carol
should compliment him. “You must be doing very well.”

He motioned her to take a seat. He sat down
in his own chair behind the desk.

“I am. I’d love to open an account for
you.”

“As you know, I’m penniless.” Carol
pretended to pull out the insides of the pockets of her jeans.
Officially, that was the truth.

“Maybe not for long. I have a proposition
for you.”

Carol wasn’t sure she wanted to hear what
was coming next.

“As you know, I’m married. My wife is
pregnant with our third child. She’s having a problem pregnancy. To
put it bluntly, we can’t have sex. I’m very attracted to you. You
need a way of earning money. We can help each other out.”

She probably should have stopped him right
there, but she was curious to find out what he had in mind
concerning the financial side of the deal. He explained he was
running a mutual fund for some of his clients. He could set up an
account in his name and Social Security number that would actually
be for her. It would receive a pro rata share of his mutual fund
purchases.

She didn’t tell him she already had a Social
Security number that had been used to open a bank account for her.
Of course, it wouldn’t stand up to scrutiny by the IRS.

At the risk of leading him on, Carol asked a
question. “Since the account is in your name, how do I know I can
get the money?”

“All you have to do is ask me. If I don’t
come through, you can threaten to tell my wife. We can meet in the
afternoon. You like to walk. You’ll go out for a walk. I’ll pick
you up and take you to a hotel that’s just ten minutes from here by
car. I’m free tomorrow at three. How does that sound?”

He had all the answers. He was glib—too
glib. Paul had been married, also, but that was an entirely
different situation. Carol felt disgust for Adam. She looked him in
the eye.

“Sorry, Adam, but it’s not going to happen.
I don’t know your wife, but I’m sure if I did I’d like her. You
forgot one other thing. I couldn’t live in the same house as Rigo
if I were fucking you.” She used the word deliberately, to put the
harshest possible light on what they would be doing.

Adam ignored her objections. He didn’t give
up. He kept on talking. She had to give him an “A” for persistence.
Was this how he got clients? She stood and walked out the door of
his office. Adam came after her.

“Think it over. I’ll drive you home.”

She didn’t want to be bombarded anymore. She
kept on walking to the elevator and pushed the button. “No thanks.
I’ll walk. I like to walk, remember?”

CHAPTER 21

In spite of the cracks she’d made about
using a GPS, Carol found it was helpful to her. She hadn’t followed
its advice exactly while driving north through the Los Angeles
basin. It wanted her to take the 405 freeway all the way to Sunset,
but she opted for La Cienega Boulevard, starting just north of LAX,
remembering Beard had followed this route. Traffic was considerably
lighter on a Saturday afternoon than it had been during the weekday
rush hour, and she made good time.

Where the GPS really helped was navigating
the narrow and winding streets going up into the hills above
Sunset. She couldn’t possibly reverse her escape route from Ault’s
house without help, even in daylight, especially since she was
going uphill instead of downhill, but the insistent voice of the
GPS told her about every turn.

Tina had let Carol drive her car, which was
equipped with GPS, rationalizing that Carol had a driver’s license,
however fraudulent. Carol had driven in North Carolina without
mishap. Ernie’s advice was to tell the police—if she were
stopped—she was just visiting California. Permanent residents had
to acquire a California driver’s license.

Kyle had called Tina at the office Friday
afternoon and told her Mr. Ault would like Carol to come for dinner
on Saturday—alone, meaning not with Jake Beard. No chance of that.
When Carol had called him back, she asked Kyle why Mr. Ault wanted
her to come. Wasn’t he mad at her?

“He likes your company and your spunk. He
understands what happened. Beard is a slime bag. I’ve been telling
him that for years.”

Rigo didn’t want her to go alone; he said it
was risky. But he was working. If she just accepted invitations
that were completely without risk, she wouldn’t go anywhere. The
riskiest aspect of her situation was her lack of identity, not
having dinner with a billionaire.

Besides, Mr. Ault might be the sugar daddy
she needed. As opposed to a relationship with Adam, a liaison with
Ault probably wouldn’t require actual sex. Some diddling and
groping, perhaps, but she could live with that. Nobody would get
hurt.

She pulled up to the gate she had recently
climbed over, impressed with her feat. It looked taller than she
remembered. This time she talked to Kyle through the intercom and
he opened the gate for her. This was a lot more civilized. He also
met her at the front door. She said hello to him and offered him
her purse to check.

“That won’t be necessary. You can have a
cell phone as long as it’s turned off. I didn’t know you before. I
check men like Beard, mostly to make sure they’re not carrying a
gun. I even pat them down. Beard’s pants were so tight I knew he
wasn’t packing. I think he likes to be patted down.” Kyle smiled a
knowing smile.