Page 32 of A Mother’s Love

She was almost asleep half an hour later when it rang again. She almost didn’t answer, but with both her daughters far away, and she being the only person for them to call in an emergency, she always left her phone on at night and never turned it off. And she answered every call.

“Hello?” she answered, wondering if it would cut off again. But this time she was startled when a deep male voice answered her.

“?’Ello, were you sleeping?” he asked in a silky voice. He had an accent, but he spoke English and she couldn’t tell if the accent was French or Spanish or something else.

“No, who is this?”

“I know who you are, and I know where you are. You do not know me. And if I wanted to come to you now, I could, and you couldn’t stop me.

I have control of you now.” It was a frightening thing to say, and she was shaking as she sat up in bed.

She wanted to hang up, but she didn’t, waiting to see what else he would say.

“You do not have control of me. And I assume you have my bag. I’d like it back, and my papers, and my passport.” She was surprised herself by what she said, but she was suddenly furious that he was calling her and obviously trying to frighten her, and he had.

“You’re a very rich woman, maybe I will sell it back to you, but not yet.

We can discuss it when I call you again,” and then he hung up.

She sat in her bed, shaking. The call was creepy.

She checked all the doors and windows again on the ground floor and made sure they were locked, and they were.

She checked the alarm to be certain it was on.

He had the keys and she had no way of stopping him if he used them, which was a terrifying thought.

The locksmith was coming in the morning, as the locks hadn’t been changed yet, because of the holiday.

But the alarm would go off, and hopefully Henri the guardian would come and call the police if someone entered.

She tried to find something she could defend herself with, and found a set of golf clubs in a guest room closet.

She selected a sturdy-looking one, and stood it up, leaning against her night table.

It wouldn’t be much use if he had a gun, but maybe she could stave him off.

She locked the bedroom door then, and remained sitting upright in bed, so she wouldn’t fall into a deep sleep and would wake up if he got in.

She kept thinking about what he’d said, and remembered every word.

She never heard from the girls that night and wouldn’t have told them anyway.

They didn’t know the bag had been stolen and she didn’t intend to tell them until she got home, so as not to upset them.

But she was terrified as she sat in bed, with the lights on, and the golf club next to her. It was an awful night of terror.

She finally gave up on sleep, and showered and dressed at seven.

She put on jeans and a sweater and stayed in her locked bedroom.

But once it was daylight, she didn’t think he’d try to get in, and she went to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee.

She was still sitting at the kitchen table feeling dazed and exhausted, when the doorbell rang at nine.

She looked through the peephole, and saw Henri Laurent and another man, and she was still holding the golf club when she opened the door to them. Henri look incensed when he saw it.

“You cannot make sports in the house, you will break something, a lamp, or a painting. Américains sauvages, ” he muttered under his breath, calling her a savage, as he led the locksmith in, and rattled off a torrent of French, complaining about her, which was perfectly clear to Halley.

The locksmith kept glancing at her, and then responding to Henri.

He examined the locks at all the outer doors of the house, and then Henri explained the situation to her.

“It will take him all day. These are very expensive locks installed by the owner. He can replace them. It will be six thousand euros, and you will only get four keys. The owner normally has eight sets of keys. So you will pay extra for four additional keys, which will be another sixteen hundred euros, and since it is your fault, you must pay. Do you agree?” She didn’t have much choice, given the situation, and the threatening call the night before.

“I don’t agree in principle, and I’ll discuss it with the realtor for reimbursement. And I will pay him today, but all my credit cards were…” She was about to say “stolen,” and suddenly remembered the card Bart had given her. She could use that. “Never mind. I have a credit card.”

“Good. I will not use my employer’s money to pay for your stupid mistake.”

“I didn’t make a mistake,” she said, seething. “My bag was stolen, I didn’t lose it. Please supervise this man while he changes the locks today. I have work to do.”

“I do not need to supervise him, he is my friend. We went to school together.”

“That’s very nice. I am the tenant here, and I am asking you, telling you, that I want him supervised.

You may know him, but I don’t.” It was a reasonable request, and there was another torrent of French from Henri to the locksmith, who just nodded and said okay.

She was going to be paying the equivalent of nine thousand dollars to change the locks, which seemed insane to her, but she had no choice.

It had to be done as soon as possible, so the bag thief couldn’t get in.

She went back to the kitchen then, and called Major Leopold on her cell phone. He answered on the second ring, and she told him about the call the night before, verbatim. She had a good memory and the caller’s words had been unforgettable, and his tone.

“I don’t like this at all,” the major said, almost growling with displeasure.

“The profile of this kind of thief is usually to have no contact with their victim, and no interest in them. He wants no contact, no recognition. They are looking for merchandise to sell, and once they have it, they sell it, make their profit, and disappear. There is a new breed, mostly from the Eastern European countries, where they use the keys to get in, if they got any, and they rob the house. If they find someone in the house, like a maid, they tie them up and put them in a closet, then they take what they want and leave. Mostly small objects, as big ones are too inconvenient, and that group are very clever at breaking open safes, even the most secure, that are usually full of cash. But I don’t think I have ever had a case where the thief calls and bargains with the victim, or taunts her and threatens her.

Maybe he has been able to verify the value of the bag with someone more knowledgeable, and he may fear it will be hard to sell, or will lead to his being caught if it’s too distinctive, so he’d rather sell it back to you. But it’s most unusual.

“I don’t like how bold he was with you, or the things he said to you.

Unfortunately, you will hear from him again.

I think he may be afraid to get caught if he puts your bag on the internet, or on the market, selling it to a store.

It’s a very distinctive bag, and it was a special order.

Hermès has an archive of it, with photographs, which is useful for us.

They only made one of your bag. So it’s even more valuable than you thought.

They think it could sell for as much as two hundred thousand dollars at auction.

But the thief won’t have access to those resources, without the bill of sale.

He’s smart. His best bet may be to sell it back to you.

You want it more than anyone else, but I don’t know how much you’re willing to pay for it, and he probably wants to know that.

And it would be very dangerous for you to meet him, even with our protection.

He will definitely contact you again, I’m sorry to say.

I regret that you have to go through this.

Call me when you hear from him again. I’m sure you will.

I think he is calling to taunt you, to make you willing to buy your bag back.

I don’t think he’ll actually show up. He’s just scaring you. ”

The call wasn’t reassuring, and she wasn’t looking forward to hearing from the thief again. She didn’t want to meet him, although she wanted her bag back. But not at just any price.

She worked on her manuscript all day, while the locksmith went from door to door, making a mess everywhere he went, and leaving black fingerprints on all the doors. Halley couldn’t get much done. She was too unnerved by the call the night before, and too distracted after talking to Major Leopold.

The locksmith finished the job at five o’clock, and Henri was standing next to him when he handed the four sets of keys to him.

Henri gave one set to Halley, and said he’d give a set to the housekeeper, and kept two sets for himself and the owners.

The locksmith told him that the other four sets of keys for the owner would be ready in three to four weeks. They were slow and expensive.

Henri was muttering under his breath about having wasted an entire day when they left together, and Halley sat down on a couch in the library. She hadn’t gotten anything done all day, and felt exhausted.

Bart called her half an hour later.

“How was your day?” he asked cheerfully.

“Not a lot of fun,” she admitted. “I spent it with the locksmith, with the guardian glaring at me. At least the thief can’t just walk in now.”

“Hopefully, he won’t try.”

Halley hesitated, and decided to tell him. “I heard from him last night,” she said, and Bart wasn’t pleased to hear it.

“He called you?”

“Around midnight, he hung up twice, and spoke to me the third time.”

“What did he want?”

“He talked about how rich I am, said he now controls me, which gave me chills, and hinted about selling me back the bag. It was all scary and weird. I called the major and he said it was very unusual, and this kind of thief normally wants no contact with their victims. The caller was frightening. He had a sinister voice.”

“Why didn’t you call me?” Bart sounded as upset as she was.

“It was too late, I didn’t want to bother you at midnight.

And I’m so sorry. I used your credit card by the way.

I had to pay for the locks. Seven thousand six hundred euros.

It’s extortionate. I’ll write you a check when I have them, and I’m sorry I had to use the card.

I’m grateful that I had it, thanks to you. ”

“I thought you might need it. Don’t worry about it. You should keep it till you get your own new credit cards. You can write me a check then. You might need it again. And I think it’s so disturbing that the thief called you. It sounds like he wants to show off.”

“And scare me. He said he can get into my house whenever he wants. But he doesn’t know about the alarm and the new locks.”

“You should be safe now, Halley,” he said gently. “I’m having dinner with the kids. Do you want me to come over after that?” He didn’t like her being alone, with the thief possibly watching her or the house.

“I don’t want to bother you with my problems.”

“You’re not bothering me. Why don’t I just drop by after dinner? I won’t stay long, but if he is watching you, it might be good for him to see some activity coming and going. Why don’t I call you when we finish dinner and see if you want me to come by?”

“I’d love to see you,” she said in a tired voice. Her stolen bag and the bag thief and the aftermath were wearing her out. “I’ll be here, I’ll be editing a book,” she said.

“Try not to worry too much. The locks are changed, and you have an alarm. You’re safe. And the police seem to be on top of it. Let’s have dinner one night this week. You need a change of scenery.”

“I think I do. I might even let you use your credit card,” she said, and he laughed.

“See you later.” He was excited at the prospect of seeing her, and she was still smiling after the call. And he was right, the thief couldn’t hurt her. But she was tempted to buy back her bag, at a reasonable price, not a hundred thousand dollars.

She decided to take a bath and change for when Bart would come by. It was something to look forward to.

—

All the guests were leaving the boat by noon the next day.

Seth, Valerie, Peter, and Olivia were all on the same flight to L.A.

Seth and Peter’s mother and her husband were on a different airline, connecting to a flight to Palm Springs.

And the two couples who had been with them on the boat were flying to Orange County.

They had been a totally compatible group, and had gotten along for the entire time.

They had a drink at the Hotel du Cap that night and came back to the boat for an early dinner.

They had all loved the boat and the crew, and were sorry to leave.

“Did I miss something on the trip?” Seth said to Valerie when she was packing that night. “I mean about your sister and my brother.” He had noticed them holding hands at dinner.

“I think so,” Valerie said mysteriously. “I’m not sure what’s going to happen when they get back to L.A., but I think they’re off to a good start.” After trying to get them interested in each other for three years, it had finally happened.

“She’d be perfect for him, instead of all the bimbos and crazies he goes out with that he meets online. I hope he’s ready for a good one.” Valerie nodded agreement, and leaned over and kissed him. “Good work,” he complimented her.

“Thank you for the best trip of my life,” she said.

“This is only the beginning,” he said, and smiled as he put an arm around her. They’d had a great time, but he was happy to be going home, and more in love with Valerie than ever. He hoped his brother would be as smart and as lucky as he had been.