“They’re doing what you employ them to do.”
“That’s an interesting point,” I said. “It was Melvin who employed those gentlemen.”
“Of course.”
“But I’m going to have to claim them as my own, sometime.”
“Yes. In what context do you mean that?”
“I can’t play ignorant forever.”
“No. Are you worried that these people might betray you? Or that they might need encouragement that you continue to approve of their activities? That might be useful, but it should be done very carefully. With this type of person, a financial bonus would be the best way to enhance their cooperation.”
Yes, this was certainly an alternative viewpoint on life.
“That had crossed my mind,” I admitted. “But that’s not what I mean. My threat against Governor Bright is to expose the whole bid-rigging arrangement. It’s only a threat while I’m still supposedly innocent. But the threat fades the longer I don’t use it.”
“I know.” He’d been through all those angles. “Which you should have considered earlier.”
“What if I still mean to carry through?”
“Then go ahead and do it, and get it over with.” Apparently Fred was one person who no longer believed I would. What did that say for Bright or Grainger? “But Governor Bright will quickly decide you’re not serious, if he hasn’t already. If he ever thought you were. So I suggest you start working on your next step.”
“I will think about it,” I said. “Would you have any thoughts?”
“I wouldn’t.”
“Perhaps a financial bonus would enhance your cooperation?”
He scowled, but he did appreciate the humor. “Just remember, you are now the man in the locked room with the gun, and the governor is the desperate one, trying to disarm you. That may be just as dangerous a place to be in.”
First opinion, second opinion-I wanted a third opinion. I got back into the elevator and pushed the up button.
There were signs of Pamela, but no Pamela. After the morning of facing other people in their offices, I settled into my own.
What is my opinion?
What am I doing here?
Pamela’s gray head popped through the open door. “Jason? There you are!” She blinked suddenly and dabbed at her eyes. “It’s like your father sitting there.”
That’s what I’m doing here: being Melvin. Except I didn’t hold her observation against her the way I did against Fred.
Instead, I jumped up and smiled and gave her a hug. Then I sat her down at her desk and I pulled up a chair and we talked for an hour. It was partly business, and a lot about old times.
It was a strange feeling, remembering my youth with someone who’d watched me go through it, and enjoying the conversation.
But then she had papers I’d asked for from George Elias and my corporate accountants, which easily filled my remaining afternoon hours. I was trying to get some handle on what would happen without Melvin’s framework.
I called home at four, and Rosita told me Katie was out at the new house.
I surprised her there. The place was being transformed. Furniture was arriving, the grounds were trimmed-it was all feeling snug and homey and palatial.
Katie was in jeans and a sweatshirt and I was still in my suit.
“Do I have any other clothes here?” I asked.
“No. Everything’s still at the old house.”
“Are there any stores around here?”
I thought my wife might swoon. I called Rosita and told her to put dinner in the freezer, and Katie and I went shopping. Dressing Eric might have been fun, but he was no substitute for her own husband. The first place we found was a farm supply store, and I soon had a new identity in good, honest work clothes. My pants even had an actual hammer loop.
Autumn was running rampant through the trees. We took a slow back road and explored our new district. There were still farms and open spaces and countryside.
“I hope it stays this way,” Katie said.
“I’ll just buy it all. Then we can keep it the way we want.”
The roads were lined with stone fences and paved with yellow leaves, and stands sold apple cider and Indian corn and fall flowers. Everything was gold except the sky, and Katie had her head on my shoulder.
We got back to the house and I ordered pizza, just plain peasant food, and when it came thirty minutes later, I tipped the kid a hundred dollars. Katie was giggling like a high-school girl at the fun and adventure of it. We ate our first meal there sitting on the flagstones in the dining room, imagining our lives in that new place, the rulers of the world. That was my third opinion.
I went back out Wednesday to see the progress again. She was spending a huge amount, but no one could do it with better style.
On Thursday I was talking to some division president or other on the phone when Pamela tapped on my door.
“Mrs. Boyer’s on the other line.”
That was not what she called Katie, so it took me a second to realize who she meant. I threw the man overboard and switched lines.
“Hello? Angela?”
“Jason?”
“Yes, I’m here.”
“Jason,” the forlorn voice whimpered. “I won’t be on that board.”
“The foundation? Oh, Angela. Are you sure?”
“I won’t.”
“All right, Angela. Is something wrong?”
Something was wrong. Even Angela was not this erratic.
“I just won’t.”
“That’s fine. Has something happened?”
“Good-bye, Jason.”
It was fine. Completely fine. I slammed the phone down, but only after she’d already hung up. It would spare Nathan a lot of headaches to not have this person to deal with. I called him.
“Yes, Jason? This is Nathan Kern.”
“Nathan, have you talked with Angela?”
“Well… yes… just last night. Did she call you?”
“This moment. She said she would not be on the board.”
Long pause. “What else did she say?”
“That was all.”
Long pause again. “She didn’t say why?”
“No. Did she tell you last night?”
“Well, I talked with her quite a while about the foundation. But she actually seemed quite excited about it. She was very interested.”
“In being on the board?”
“Yes. Absolutely.”
“That’s what she said?”
There was a long pause. “She still hadn’t committed, but after the conversation I was certain she would.”
“So she changed her mind,” I said.
“She gave no reason at all?”
