Page 72 of The Summer Request
Val called her and they spoke for nearly two hours. Chloe was a smart cookie. She knew who to trust, and she knew who to tiptoe around.
One of the accountants who volunteered her time for Emerald – because Lou didn’t pay anyone he didn’t have to – had noticed some suspicious activity, but she didn’t know whom to tell. She was relieved when Chloe came asking questions and provided some documents to her.
“She’s scared of Lou, though. They all are,” Chloe said. “Except me. He’s got nothing on me.”
Chloe pieced together that Lou had been funneling money from donations and sessions into fake expenses. He’d even created phony companies to pay for various services – consulting, advertising, security. None of them were real. Lou owned all of the companies, and he barely made an effort to hide the fact. All of the money was going to him.
“I think he’s flat broke. He spends every penny he gets, on new cars, or trips, or mansions. He was nagging everyone about not recruiting enough, not volunteering enough hours and not having enough conferences and retreats. Meanwhile, he’s draining the Emerald community for all they have.”
This was music to Val’s ears. “You have to tell them.”
It was there that Chloe’s courage faltered. “I know, but people will think I’m just a bitter ex-girlfriend. I don’t know what I want to happen. A lot of my friends are still faithful Emeralds. I think we could rebuild a great organization if we could only get rid of Lou. I just don’t know how yet.”
“Well, you think about it, and I’ll think about a way to bring him down.”
Chloe laughed. “Deal.”
Val was so excited that she nearly called Michelle and Lisa to tell them the good news, but then she remembered she’d ruined their friendship.
They wouldn’t want to hear it. They wouldn’t want to get dragged into another scheme, even if they still wanted to be her friend. Michelle’s email had been polite but reserved.
Val couldn’t respond in kind. She was going to let it all out. After a week, she finally found a way to answer.
Dear Michelle and Lisa,
I’m sorry for everything I said. There’s no excuse, but I take it back. Remember that? When we used to take things back? I know it doesn’t work for things like this, but I wish it did.
I would like to come for Justine’s final goodbye, but to tell you the truth, I’m broke.
There you have it. You were right. I am a mess. I don’t know why I tried to lie to you, or to myself, but…yeah.
It’s not much, but I’m hoping I can make it up to both of you when I get back at Lou. Even if he didn’t kill Justine, he deserves to pay.
Yours always,
Val
After she hit send, she realized it was probably a bad idea to put threats into writing like that.
Oh well!
It was too late, and she wasn’tactuallygoing to kill him. That wasn’t her style.
She was a mess, that was true, but at least she had a purpose again.
Twenty-nine
It was another beautiful day in Friday Harbor. They had a high temperature of seventy-four degrees, white puffy clouds in the sky, and crisp, clean air.
Michelle stood on the sidewalk across from the ferry landing, leaning against the wall and basking in the morning sun. She hoped it would be a good day.
The green and white ferry had made its appearance in the distance a few minutes ago and was now moving almost imperceptibly slowly toward her.
Michelle smiled. She was grateful she wasn’t the one traveling today. The fun was coming to her.
The excitement around her rose once the ferry docked. She wasn’t the only one waiting for passengers, and a nearby five-year-old repeated, “Daddy’s coming home today! Daddy’s coming home today!” in a sing-song voice.
People began streaming off the ferry, bags in tow and smiles on their faces. They jumped into waiting cars, onto mopeds and trolleys, and into the arms of the people waiting nearby.
