Part 15 Aftermath II #2
‘It’s not that,’ I said. ‘I just like working for myself and I have enough savings to be happy. There was, however, something I wanted to ask you.’
‘Shoot.’
I glanced at Ms Kimura. ‘You may want her to leave the room.’
‘Mia knows all my secrets,’ King said. ‘There’s nothing you can say that she can’t hear.’
‘Okay, then,’ I said. ‘So, I imagine you and Yasmina are finished?’
‘Yasmina? Oh, yeah, right. I’m sorry how all this panned out for her—I mean, being set up and all—but as you can imagine, it’s all pretty irreconcilable with her now.’
‘I figured,’ I said. ‘The thing is, Yasmina needs to modify her pre-nup with you.’
That got his attention.
He looked up sharply, his expression darkening. ‘What?’
‘Her pre-nup,’ I said. ‘It’s way too one-sided. She’d like to modify it a little.’
‘Not gonna happen, son,’ Aristo King said with a smirk. ‘You do understand that pre-nuptial agreements are signed before a couple gets married. And I had a team of very good lawyers draft that one.’
I nodded again.
‘I think you’ll adjust it. Let’s say $500 million payout, plus the mansion on Meadow Lane.’
‘Are you insane?’ Aristo King gaped at me.
‘No, but I do have video evidence—from your own phone, secretly filmed in your own bedroom—of you having sex and doing coke with your underage gymnast goddaughter, Dede Derrickson.’
I heard Audrey almost choke beside me.
Mia Kimura gasped.
Aristo King stared at me in stunned silence.
I said, ‘So, we have a deal, then? Great. Nice doing business with you, sir.’
Meadow Lane, Southampton
2 January, 1200 hours
The next day, I met with Yasmina Ivanova at her gorgeous home on Meadow Lane in Southampton.
Meadow Lane is one of the most expensive streets in America. It is lined with gigantic mansions that all look out over the Atlantic Ocean.
Audrey and Heidi went with me.
When we arrived, we saw a shiny new red Audi electric sports car parked in the drive.
A maid led us inside the main house, where Yasmina Ivanova stood waiting.
She hugged me firmly and said, ‘Thank you, Dr Speedman! You are my hero! Thank you, thank you, thank you!’
I introduced Audrey and Heidi, and Yasmina hugged them, too.
‘Come, come, I have tea ready in guesthouse,’ she said, guiding us through the mansion.
We passed Georgy on the way.
He was in the kitchen, talking on the phone with someone, but he waved happily at me as we went by.
He covered the phone and said, ‘Hello, Dr Sam! I join you shortly.’
And so we had tea with Yasmina Ivanova in a guesthouse by the heated swimming pool and tennis court.
(This guesthouse was nicer and bigger than my whole house back in Houston. It had three TVs, a full kitchen, two bathrooms and a Jacuzzi.)
As we drank our tea, Yasmina’s two young children—Alexei and Katya—played with toys or watched their iPads like nothing out of the ordinary had occurred in the last two weeks. Kids.
Of course, Georgy had told Yasmina about most of what had happened: including Audrey getting shot; and his and Heidi’s participation in the high-speed ambulance chase when the Chinese had tried to snatch Audrey; Heidi’s investigations into the other ex-wives; and, of course, the untimely deaths of Yasmina’s old Russian tormentors, the Oberovs.
But Yasmina wanted to hear everything from me.
I was about to start telling it all when Georgy emerged from the main house.
‘Are you finished, cousin?’ Yasmina asked.
‘It’s all done,’ Georgy said. ‘Aristo’s attorneys were a little confused, but they have agreed to all the amendments to the pre-nup. $500 million and this house, and—I added this—all taxes covered.’
‘Good lawyering, Georgy,’ I said.
‘Thank you, Dr Sam. I am good lawyer. Oh! And did you see my new car out front?’
‘The Audi?’ I said.
‘Yes! Yasmina buy it for me. I like my little old Toyota, but it get damaged in car chase and this one, well, it is Audi, and is much nicer and more comfortable.’
‘You earned it, Georgy,’ I said, smiling.
Then Yasmina again insisted I tell her everything, down to the smallest detail, and I did.
When I was done, she said, ‘Goodness. All I can say is thank you. Thank you so much. In fact, that is partly the reason I wanted to invite you all here today. To express my gratitude.’
She nodded to the maid, who brought in three wrapped gifts.
Yasmina handed the first one to Heidi.
It was a small box, beautifully wrapped.
‘Heidi,’ she said. ‘You are young, like I once was. And so beautiful. I am informed that you enjoy the odd party.’
Heidi nodded. ‘Sure do.’
‘Please, open it.’
Heidi did so.
In the small box was a key.
‘That is key to this guesthouse,’ Yasmina said.
‘It is yours to use whenever you desire, in summer or winter or at any other time. It will not be occupied by anyone but you. The Hamptons can be very popular in the summertime, and you should have nice place to stay and party with your friends whenever you want.’
Heidi was gobsmacked.
You couldn’t have given her a better gift.
Yasmina handed the next wrapped object to Audrey: another small box.
‘As for Agent Audrey,’ she said. ‘You are a very lucky woman, because you have the heart of the brave Dr Speedman. I do not know if I can give you anything better than that. I am also told by Georgy that it is tricky for FBI agents to accept gifts. But if a gift is deemed to be “of sentimental value”, it is apparently okay. Please, open it.’
Audrey unfolded the wrapping paper.
To reveal a massive diamond ring sitting in a box.
Audrey inhaled sharply at the sight of it.
‘It is my old engagement ring,’ Yasmina said.
‘From Aristo. It is very valuable in dollars, but it means nothing to my heart anymore. Yet, still, it is a symbol of love. Maybe when Dr Sam makes honest woman out of you, you can wear it till he buys you another one. Then sell it and buy a house with the money.’
Audrey was momentarily speechless.
‘Um, I mean, gosh, thanks.’
Then Yasmina turned to me.
‘You,’ she said.
(I recalled when she’d first said that to me on December 21st, after I’d jumped across the elevator shaft to save her falling son.)
She handed me the last gift.
It was thin, like an envelope, but wrapped.
‘This is for you.’
I peeled off the gift wrapping to reveal that it was indeed an envelope.
Yasmina said, ‘You took my case for no payment. Why?’
‘Because I believed you,’ I said. ‘Because it seemed like the right thing to do.’
As I spoke, I opened the envelope.
A single slip of paper was inside it.
A cheque.
I read the amount . . . and blinked.
‘Well, I am paying you now,’ Yasmina said. ‘Even if my payment is coming a little late.’
The cheque was for $50 million.
Hooters
Kirby Drive, Houston
7 February, 1230 hours
A month later, Audrey and I were back in Houston, having lunch together at my usual spot, at my usual time, at the Hooters off Kirby Drive, being served by my usual waitress, Millie-Mae.
All the waitresses at Hooters had seen the news coverage of my exploits in New York.
They’d even put up a framed copy of the Post’s front page featuring my photo and the headline: THE ACTUAL WORLD’S GREATEST DETECTIVE! with a handwritten addition:
HE EATS HERE!
They also knew that I’d used part of my bonus from Yasmina—about $4 million of it—to buy the franchise rights to their restaurant from the Hooters corporation and thus keep it open. While Millie-Mae still called me handsome, all the other waitresses now called me Boss.
(I also bought the Hooters on the Gulf Freeway in Webster, about 25 miles south of Houston, since it was facing imminent closure as well and Darla pulled extra shifts there and I like Darla even though she says I have no fashion sense.
Oh, and I kept another $5 million in case the restaurants needed repairs or if other unexpected stuff came up. You never know. It’s my first time owning restaurants.
I donated the remaining $37 million or so of Yasmina’s bonus to Heidi’s charity, SafeNewHomeUSA, the one that provided money and housing for women who fled their abusive husbands. I figured I had enough money and it was a good cause.
When I told Audrey I did this, she cried. At first, I thought I’d made some kind of terrible mistake, but then she kissed me harder than she’d ever done before. She said it was a great decision and that she was proud to be my girlfriend.
When I told Heidi, she kissed me, too, and hugged me so hard she almost broke my back.)
Anyway, back to lunch at my Hooters.
Millie-Mae had just taken away our empty plates and Audrey had gone to the ladies’ room when an email appeared in my phone’s inbox.
I sat upright when I saw the sender’s name.
Unperson1984@
Unperson.
And the novel 1984.
There was no subject line.
I hesitated for a moment. I’ll even admit I quickly glanced around the restaurant to see if anyone was watching me, but no-one was.
I opened the email.
It read:
Samuel,
Isn’t it nice they let you send emails from prison now?
Just so you know, I have been in prisons before.
I have also, shall we say, ‘left them early’, too. It just takes time and, like you, I am patient.
You know, the more I’ve thought about it, the more I enjoyed meeting you: someone so much like myself, a rare mind that operates on my level.
You bested me on this occasion and I congratulate you for that. Next time, it will be different. I mean, I still have a couple of pending jobs to perform for other clients.
We both know you should have killed me when you had the chance.
U
I stared at the email for a full thirty seconds.
Then I hit ‘Reply’ and wrote:
See you next time.
THE END