“No? Well, good evening, then.”
They watched helplessly as he walked out the door.
Lieutenant Kennedy was the first one to find his voice. “My God!” he said. “Do you believe that?”
“He’s bluffing,” Steve said slowly. “But we can’t prove it. He’s right. We need proof. I thought he would crack, but I underestimated him.”
Simon Fitzgerald spoke. “It looks like our little plan backfired. Without Dmitri Kaminsky or the testimony of the Posner woman, we have nothing but suspicions.”
“What about the threat on my life?” Julia protested.
Steve said, “You heard what he said. He was just trying to scare you because he thought you were an impostor.”
“He wasn’t just trying to scare me,” Julia said. “He intended to kill me.”
“I know. But there isn’t a thing we can do. Dickens had it right: ‘The law is a ass…’ We’re right back where we started.”
Fitzgerald frowned. “It’s worse than that, Steve. Tyler meant what he said about suing us. Unless we can prove our charges, we’re in trouble.”
When the others had left, Julia said to Steve, “I’m so sorry about all this. I feel responsible in a way. If I hadn’t come…”
“Don’t be silly,” Steve said.
“But he said he’s going to ruin you. Can he do that?”
Steve shrugged. “We’ll have to see.”
Julia hesitated. “Steve, I’d like to help you.”
He looked at her, puzzled. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I’m going to have a lot of money. I’d like to give you enough so you can—”
He put his hands on her shoulders. “Thank you, Julia. I can’t take your money. I’ll be fine.”
“But…”
“Don’t worry about it.”
She shuddered. “He’s an evil man.”
“It was very brave of you to do what you did.”
“You said there was no way to get him, so I thought if you sent him here, that could be the way to trap him.”
“It looks as though we’re the ones who fell into the trap, doesn’t it?”
That night, Julia lay in her bed, thinking about Steve and wondering how she could protect him. I shouldn’t have come, she thought, but if I hadn’t come, I wouldn’t have met him.
In the next room, Steve lay in bed, thinking about Julia. It was frustrating to think that she was lying in her bed with only a thin wall between them. What am I talking about? That wall is a billion dollars thick.
Tyler was in an exuberant mood. On the way home, he thought about what had just taken place, and how he had outwitted them. They’re pygmies trying to fell a giant, he thought. And he had no idea that that was once his father’s thought.
When Tyler reached Rose Hill, Clark greeted him. “Good evening, Judge Tyler. I hope you’re well this evening.”
“Never better, Clark. Never better.”
“Can I get you anything?”
“Yes. I think I’d like a glass of champagne.”
“Of course, sir.”
It was a celebration, the celebration of his victory. Tomorrow I’ll be worth over two billion dollars. He said the phrase lovingly over and over. “Two billion dollars…two billion dollars…”He decided to call Lee.
This time Lee recognized his voice immediately.
“Tyler! How are you?” His voice was warm.
“Fine, Lee.”
“I’ve been waiting to hear from you.”
Tyler felt a little thrill. “Have you? How would you like to come to Boston tomorrow?”
“Sure…but what for?”
“For the reading of the will. I’m going to inherit over two billion dollars.”
“Two…that’s fantastic!”
“I want you here at my side. We’re going to pick out that yacht together.”
“Oh, Tyler! That sounds wonderful!”
“Then you’ll come?”
“Of course, I will.”
When Lee replaced the receiver, he sat there saying lovingly over and over, “Two billion dollars…two billion dollars…”
Chapter Thirty-four
The day before the reading of the will, Kendall and Woody were seated in Steve’s office.
“I don’t understand why we’re here,” Woody said. “The reading is supposed to be tomorrow.”
“There’s someone I want you to meet,” Steve told them.
“Who?”
“Your sister.”
They were both staring at him. “We’ve already met her,” Kendall said.
Steve pressed a button on the intercom. “Would you ask her to come in, please?”