Chance Encounter (2 page)

“And you never heard from her again?”

“No. I called her mother in Wyoming. She didn’t have much family: just her mother and a cousin. The cousin came out and talked with the police. He insisted that I work with one of those sketch artists but by then it was hard to remember. The picture was in the paper but ...” I shrugged. “Now the trail is cold. I know that if she were alive I would have heard from her.”

I was surprised when Marilee put her arm around my shoulder. “I’m sorry.” She said.

“I’ve replayed that night so many times. If only I hadn’t left. Maybe there was something I could have done.”

“Rachel,” Marilee said slowly looking at her watch. “I met my date tonight online. And he said the same thing about the red dress and the white carnation. What do you think I should do?”

“Leave.” I said.

Just then, he walked into the restaurant. We both saw him at the same time. Tall, handsome, well-groomed – and in his hand, a white carnation.

“My God,” I said. “That’s him. I’d know him anywhere.”

“I’ve got to get out of here.” Marilee said, looking from side to side. “Is there another exit?”

“Don’t panic. He doesn’t know what you look like. Just because you’re wearing red doesn’t make you the girl. Still you should go while you can. There’s only the one exit. You’ll have to walk past him. He might stop you because of the dress. Just look confused and say that he’s mistaken and that you’re here with friends - point to that group of women over there. Then get your coat and get out of here. Go home and erase all mailboxes and e-mails and any other way he might track you down.”

“Are you coming with me?”

“No this time I’m getting proof.” I took out my cell phone and took a picture of him. “I’m going to call that detective. Hopefully, I can locate him. Go. It was nice meeting you.”

“I can’t tell you how good it was meeting you.” She said. “Thank you so much for being here.” She reached over and hugged me tight. Then, she made her way to the front door. She never made eye contact with the flower man and when she stepped around him he let her pass.

I said a few words into my phone and then slipped it back into my purse. Lifting the cup, I covered my mouth and watched him over the lip as he casually scanned the women in the room. He looked at his watch and stopped - without sitting - to talk with a fellow at one of the tables. So he had brought a wingman. Interesting. As he approached where I was sitting on his second round, I lower the cup. He saw me and gave a start.

“Rae,” he said “I thought you’d be at home by now.”

“I thought you’d be in LA. You said you wouldn’t be home till tomorrow night.”

“We finished early.” He said smoothly. “Tom and I,” he turned and waved to the fellow at the table to join us. “We had to drop something off at the office so we decided to grab something to eat before going home. Tom,” he said to the new arrival, “I don’t think you’ve met my wife. This is Rachel.”

Tom lifted his eyebrows just a bit and then smiled. “A pleasure,” he said extending his hand. “Neil talks about you all the time.”

“Does he? What does he say?” I said taking his hand lightly.

“Mostly, he says that you’re a whiz with computers. He says you can do anything that isn’t password protected.”

“Sometimes even when it is.” I said. Then pretending to see the flower for the first time, I added “Neil, you brought me a carnation; just like the night we met. You’re so romantic.”

He gallantly handed me the blossom and gave me a peck on the cheek. “I saw it at the airport and thought of you.” He said and looked around the room again. “Maybe we should just head on home. Are you ready to leave?” He was behind me, but I knew he was making faces at Tom to indicate he was stuck.

“Actually, I made a date for dinner with Hannah. You know, since I thought you wouldn’t be home tonight.” I looked at my watch. “In fact, I must go. Why don’t you just stay and eat with Tom? I’ll be late. I was going to crash at Hannah’s tonight. But of course, now I’ll come home.”

He was pleasantly surprised and couldn’t help himself from glancing around one more time. “I think I will. Maybe we’ll even go back to the office and punch up our presentation for tomorrow. You go ahead and stay with Hannah. I hate to think of you traveling late on a night like this.”

“Good.” I said. “Then we’re both set.” I kissed him on the lips and smiled. “I have to go. Have fun with Tom. Good-bye Neil.” I walked about twenty feet before returning.

“Just so you know, I checked the computers at home the other day and found a virus on yours. I was able to clean it up for you. I may have moved things but I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it. You go and have fun tonight.”

“I promise.” I answered and with a grin I made my way out and down the escalator to the street level.

“What happened then?” my friend Hannah asked.

I had just finished telling her the story of my earlier evening as we left the restaurant where we had dinner.

“I picked up my umbrella and my bag from the coatroom. Took the escalator down to the street level and you picked me up. Thanks for that, by the way.”

“How could I resist. Your message said you were leaving Neil. It’s about time. What was the straw that made you finally decide?”

“Neil has been in L.A. this week. A few days ago, I decided to run some routine checks on our computers at home and I found that my husband had several files he thought I couldn’t find.”

“He knows what a computer genius you are. I never understood how you convinced him that you couldn’t break into his password protected files.”

“He just doesn’t get anything mechanical. It’s worked to my advantage more than once. Do you want to know what I found?”

“Tell me.”

“He has been meeting women online again – after he promised the last time. Tonight, he had a date. I had to adjust the time a little, of course. Same place he met me though… same sappy flower… nice woman as it turned out. In different circumstances, we could be friends. She deserves better than Neil. Anyway, I think I effectively put the kibosh on that romance. ”

“Why didn’t you just tell her that you were his wife?”

“I intended to – really, I did.”

“You really have to stop telling those whoppers, Rae. I know how much you like to make up stories and it is amazing that you can make people believe the wildest things. But it could be dangerous if anyone every caught on. You promised to stop.”

“And Neil promised to stop picking up women. I know you worry, but I’m good at making up stories. It was a lot of fun.”

“You implied that Neil was a killer.”

“I implied that he killed you. You’re here – living proof that he did’t.”

Hannah laughed in spite of herself. “Glad I could play my part, and, kibosh is right. He’ll never see her again. But I still don’t get why you’re leaving town. Neil has never been violent. He wouldn’t hurt you.”

“I know he wouldn’t - although he may be tempted to in the next couple of days. There was another thing I found on his computer.”

“What?”

“An offshore account in the Caymans. He may not be mechanical and he’s certainly a lousy husband but he is good at his job. He’s a phenomenal stock picker. He’s made a small fortune. It’s tucked away in a secret off-shore account that’s in just his name - except that’s not true anymore. It took a little while, but I moved it to another bank as a joint account and then I moved it to another in just my name. It was an interesting exercise. I’ll be picking it up in a couple of days. I think I’ll scatter it in banks all over the Caribbean. Neil will be thinking about finding Marilee and won’t realize I have his money until it’s too late.”

“He’ll notice that you’ve left him.” She said with emphasis. “He’ll be upset about that. What am I supposed to tell him?”

“Oh, I left a note. It’s a little cryptic. I didn’t confess to anything. I just said I had decided to leave him and I was taking my half of our joint savings. Our joint account is nothing like his private one, but he made a nice profit for us. I’m actually using my half to pay my expenses till I pick up the big money. And if I were you, I would just be surprised when he calls. I lied about so many things, why not about dinner with you tonight?”

Hannah nodded her understanding. “How much money are you talking?”

“Sixteen million, give or take.”

The car was pulling up to the departure ramp.

“Domestic or International?” Hannah asked.

“Domestic. I’m going to Atlanta and then Miami to St. Bart’s, where I’ll pick up my new boat. I’m going to call it the Rae – N – Carnation. Perfect isn’t it? It comes with a crew so I’ll be sailing to the Caymans. It’ll take a few days. I’d appreciate it if you would run interference for me with Neil.”

She pulled the car over and got out of the car to give me a hug.

“Will you keep in touch? Will I ever see you again?”

“Of course. When the coast is clear, come down and visit me. I’m going to run charters, but I’ll be stationed out of St. Bart’s. Just ask for the boat by name. Will you remember it?”

“How could I forget Rae – N – Carnation? Don’t worry, I’ll see you soon. Even sooner than you think.”

“Good-bye, Hannah.” I said and walked into the terminal.

I’ve come to the realization that the secret of telling whoppers successfully, is to make each person believe that they, and perhaps they alone, are hearing the truth.

There was one other thing on Neil’s computer. It was another series of Neil’s messages. In every e-mail, Hannah reminded him to delete the message, which he did -but not well enough that I couldn’t trace it. It was apparent they were lovers.

Would Hannah forgive him for Marilee? I don’t know. Would Neil argue that Marilee never existed and was just part of my big lie? Probably.

In the end though, I know that Neil will convince Hannah to tell him where I can be found. But, the two of them will be exploring the marinas of the Caribbean in vain.

When Hannah pulled away, I left the domestic airport and took a cab to international. I’m on my way to London and then to the Channel Islands to visit my money where it really is I’ll set up some safeguards. Then… Monaco I think, at least for a while. I have no regrets, except for one. I can never have a boat called the Rae – N – Carnation. I really like that name.