Harrison Towers, Memoirs of a Mogul (Glass Towers Trilogy) (10 page)

A few days later, Adelaide has new tires and is a nervous wreck. She is convinced that someone is following her. I tell her it’s just her nerves and nothing more than that. She did file a report with the local authority and that was about all that could be done. They told her that if she had any further incidents, she was to contact them immediately. I called later in the day after she initially filed to find out if any other
reports of vandalism had come. They said nothing with any resemblance to her case came in.

I am planning a trip up there in another week but in the mean time, I have to handle matters out at the winery. I am living in a rented condo in the city in a high rise that overlooks most of the Pearl District. It is impersonal and I hate living there but it was necessary after Marion began working as a liaison between Devereaux Distribution, our clients and Towers Enterprises. She handles the details of the foreign orders including customs, tariffs, governmental agencies and other crucial details necessary to the success of all the wineries.

Ever since I broke off the engagement eight years ago with Marion, she became fully immersed in her family business and therefore, in my family’s business too. That was where she struck up a relationship with my cousin Derek. But after only a little over two years of marriage, she called it quits with him claiming it was because he was pressuring her to start a family. She decided she liked her work and didn’t want kids after all. I suspect she left him because she didn’t need him anymore. She had staked her claim in the Towers camp and has now set her eyes back on me. Therefore, I can’t live in my house at the winery for the time being. It would be too easy for her to make use of that convenience as she lives in the guest house when she is there working.

It has gotten back to me from a very reliable inside source that the day she found out Adelaide and I had announced our engagement, she threw a tantrum in her office breaking several things including her glass desk. A Waterford Crystal clock thrown at the was also a casualty. Like me, Marion travels between Oregon and Montreal every couple of weeks. I make a concerted effort to be up there when she is here but crossing paths is always inevitable.

Adelaide is uncomfortable with our working arrangement but she is intelligent and realizes it cannot be avoided. It is a good thing that she is so self assured and trusts me. Otherwise, this marriage would be doomed. It is highly likely that I will always have to deal with Marion Devereaux. We, Adelaide and I, just need to figure out how to handle her and keep her out of our personal life. I have even gone as far as suggesting to Addy that we elope so we don’t have to include Marion on our wedding guest list.

When I go up to Montreal for business or pleasure, I always stay with Adelaide while my big mansion in Westmount sits empty. Addy has a small modest home that is so comfortable and inviting that I prefer it over my home. On my last visit, we got shocking news.

One morning as Adelaide was getting ready for work, she began to feel putrid like she was going to throw up. She rushed to the bathroom and did just that. The rest of the day, she ran a fever and continued to feel nauseous. She eventually went home early from work. We chalked it up as a bug or touch of food poisoning. This continued though the rest of the week while I felt fine. I went to work each day and had no symptoms. By the weekend, she was so fatigued and still had a fever, so she took to her bed both days.

By Monday though, she was feeling a little better. I suggested she go see a doctor none the less. The doctor ran some blood tests and came back with surprising results. It seems she had been poison, they found she has small traces of arsenic in her blood. As if that wasn’t shocking enough, the real clincher is that she is pregnant!

I don’t know which piece of news had me the most tongue tied. I look at her and see horror registering on her face. I think we are both having the same thought. If she has been poisoned what about the baby?

I am trying to remain calm and not show how fucking scared I am. “Doctor, how can we tell how far along she is and how long she has been poisoned? How would she have arsenic in her bloodstream anyway? How is that administered?”

Before the doctor answers, I look at Adelaide whose face is sheet white. I get up, stand by her as she sits on the exam table, and wrap my arms around her little shivering figure. I look into her eyes and see fear. Straight up fear. “It’s going to be okay.” I assure her as I stroke her soft apple fragranced hair.

She nods at me but I can see she is not convinced, as large tears have welled up in her eyes.

“I’m going to run more tests before I can answer your questions thoroughly. I will have you get dressed now and I will write up instructions for the lab. Tell me, what is the date of your last period? We can determine how far along you are based on that and then we will do an ultrasound as well. Once we get the labs back and we measure how much poison is in your system, we will be able to decipher the rest.”

She quietly nods her head while a series of tears rolls down her cheek. I quickly swipe them away for her as I caress her head once more with my other hand. I kiss the top of her head. “Maybe I should leave you to finish up in here. I will wait for you in the lobby.”

She nods quickly and musters up a sweet smile that I know all too well she really didn’t feel like displaying. I shake hands with the doctor and proceed out to the waiting area. I say a quick prayer in my head asking for the safety of my unborn child and the health of my beloved Adelaide.

After we went to the lab we drove back to her house in silence. The shock we both are experiencing is palpable. I never dreamed that this was why she was sick. I thought she just had a flu. Finding out two things that are out of clear left field makes me feel out of control. Shit! A pregnancy is not what was planned at this point in our relationship. But the thought of having a child with this woman makes me feel something I have never felt in my life. Almost like the world is suddenly pared down to only Adelaide, me, and this new little person that we have created out of love for one another. I feel a lump forming in my throat. I look over at Adelaide who is still silently crying tears for the fear she holds for the baby inside her. The fear of the unknown has us both paralyzed and unable to express our thoughts and emotions to each other.

We pull up to her home and I turn the car off but I don’t make a move to get out. I sit there staring ahead at nothing. I can’t bring myself to say the words to her, nor can she express hers. We continue to sit in silence for quite some time before she finally speaks. “Harry, I want to go in now.”

Hurrying to get out of the car, come around to her side, and open the door for her. As I assist her out, she falls into my arms and begins to weep. She is inconsolable to the point where she collapses in my arms as I scoop my arm under her legs and carry her in through the front door. I don’t notice the note that had been slipped under the door in the tiny foyer.

I carry her directly into the bedroom and gently lay her on the bed. I remove her shoes and start to exit the room to give her some quiet time when she reaches out her arm and grabs me. “No.” She whispers, “Hold me.”

I slip out of my shoes, then climb onto the bed. I lay behind her spooning her with my hands resting on her tummy, where our child lies beneath.

Adelaide ends up taking an extended leave of absence from work while she recovers from the poisoning. The test results revealed that the poisoning is actually comprised of the same toxins found in rat poison. It can be administered easily in her morning coffee for instance. From testing her hair, they determined she couldn’t have been poisoned for more than two weeks. They can tell by the toxins collecting in the follicle and using growth averages to determine the amount of time possibly in her system.

The news about the baby is both good and bad. We now know that she is around eight weeks gestational. She had a small period a few weeks ago and just chalked up the brevity to nerves and stress. She did not have any other indication she is pregnant. It is far too early to tell if the baby has sustained any damage due to how early we are in the pregnancy. We have to wait another four weeks before we can get any baselines and even then; we won’t really know much until they can run further tests. It is almost more than I am prepared to handle right now. That, along with the harassment I am about to go out of my mind. I have to protect her and I have failed miserably. If I had been up here with her, she may never have been poisoned. We have no idea how it was administered or by whom.

The morning after we learned of the pregnancy and the poisoning, I went out to the living room to make a phone call when I noticed an envelope on the floor. I open it up to find another threatening and menacing note. I immediately call the police. They instructed me to save it and bring it in so they can enter it into evidence with the rest of the letters. She has now received eleven threats, typed, with no leads to whom is doing this. There are never any fingerprints and since the envelope has not been sealed, no saliva for DNA testing.

I have my own nagging suspicions… though I am having a hard time believing that someone we know could be behind this. All the notes have said the same thing,
Leave or you will regret it
. It’s too cryptic for the police to make any use of them. This last one though said, 'Since
you haven’t left, you will now regret it.'
I used to think it was from a student at her school or possibly a past student. However, I wonder…could Marion have slipped a brick and has now resorted to harassment or worse? I haven’t voiced that to Adelaide because it is probably more than her weakened senses can take. When I told the officer about the new note and the poisoning, he informed me that this was possibly an attempt at homicide. My blood goes cold. “Are you telling me that you think someone was trying to kill her, not just scare her?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I am saying. We are assigning this to detective Bolin. He will take good care of you. Now, what time did you say you were going to come by, I’d like to make sure he will be here to meet with you?”

“I will be there within the hour if that works for you.”

“Yes. I’ll let Bolin know.”

After I arrive back home, I find Adelaide sitting up in bed talking animatedly on the phone. She waves me in the room and I sit on the edge of the bed. As she hangs up she looks excited. “That was my sister, she is going to take some vacation days and come down to stay with me for a couple weeks while you go back to the States.”

I feel the tightness in my chest lighten a little. “Oh thank God, that is great. But you know my mother would love to have you stay with them. You would have round the clock care and pampering.” I take her foot in my hand and begin to rub lightly.

“I know. While I completely appreciate the offer, I would feel more comfortable in my own bed. I would prefer you here with me but since you must return to your work, I think my sister is the next best thing. I had to make her swear up and down that she wouldn’t tell anyone about the baby though. I want to get through the next few months and then make the announcement.”

I drop her foot and take her hand in mine. “About that.” She tilts her head with a question in her eye. “I think we should go ahead and elope.” She starts rapidly shaking her head. “Wait, hear me out. I want to make an honest woman of you before the baby comes. We can plan a reception for everyone to rejoice in our marriage and baby. I just want our vows to be between us.” I take her hand and kiss her finger where her engagement ring is usually perched.

“Wow. That is going to require me to give it some serious thought.”

“What’s to think about? Everyone already knows we are getting married. What difference does it make if everyone we know is there to witness our vows or not? Our marriage is not between us and everyone else. We have already started on the creation of our family, don’t you think it would be best to marry before you are showing?”

She crosses her arms over her chest and appears to be pondering my plea. “Let me think about it. Now, are you going to feed me or am I to starve to death instead?”

“I’m not sure what there is to think about but I’ll give you time. You can give me your decision once I return from hunting and gathering dinner. Got any cravings?”

Exactly one month later, we have our civil ceremony planned. I agreed to allow our parents and a few other close family members
along with long-time friends attend the ceremony. We are keeping the pregnancy a secret still. We want to wait until we have the ultrasound to make sure everything is okay with the baby before we get our loved ones excited about a new Towers. I have been spending more and more time in Montreal and less time in Oregon for the past four weeks. While I am away, her sister stays with her. Detective Bolin hasn’t any leads but has some theories that he has not been willing to share. There have not been anymore threats as of late, however, Adelaide still feels like she is being watched or followed. This morning she had another doctor appointment and there are no more signs of any of the poison remaining in her system. Since she is pregnant, she was not able to undergo normal treatments for poisoning so she has been seeing a naturopath to treat her. She got to hear the baby’s heart beat while there and so did her sister. She was elated. But that was short lived.

On the drive out to the winery I listen to some soft rock station, thinking about my phone conversation I just had with Adelaide before I left. It’s a Lionel Richie song about his ballerina girl. I am feeling like this sentimental fool right about now but I can’t help to feel the words resonate in my mind. My sweet Adelaide is so lovely, delicate and fragile yet she sometimes seems to be made of steel. She is the perfect complement to my sometimes overbearing personality. She just takes me with a grain of salt but never questions me and that I like. The main topic of our conversation overshadowed the happiness she felt from hearing the baby. When she left the doctor’s office, she got out to the car; she has yet another threatening note left on her car window.

“I can’t take much more of this… I need you up here protecting me. I feel unsafe and now I am being followed to my doctor appointments. It isn’t safe for me here. I think I should return home with Hannah to Ottawa I can stay there until you return.”

I sigh, “Yes, I agree. Go home with your sister and once I return, we can decide what to do. By the way, what did the note say?”

She sniffs and then I hear her sister’s voice, “She is really shaken. We are going to get her packed up and head up to Ottawa tonight. My husband is expecting us.”

“Can’t you leave in the morning? I would feel much more comfortable if you went during daylight.”

“While I respect where you are coming from, I have to think about her sanity. The note is bad. She read it to me but I have not seen it. She crumpled it up but I reminded her we need to hand it over to the police.”

“Yes you do need to give it to the police. I asked her what it said but she handed the phone to you. What did it say Hannah?”

“It said, “
There are more ways of killing a cat than choking it with cream
.” She whispers into the phone.

I feel bile collecting at the back of my throat. “My God, someone is threatening to kill her…and I think they know about the baby. I change my mind, go ahead and leave tonight. It’s only a little over two and half-hours away from there. Can you leave soon?”

“Yes, she is in packing right now. We will have to wait to turn the letter over to the police though. We want to get on the road soon and I don’t think that stopping by the police department is going to work out for timing.”

I wish I owned a plane right about now. I have always found it easier and cheaper to buy out the entire first class section of a plane than to own. Right now, I kick myself for my frugality. Maybe I can still make it better.

“What if I send you a car service so you don’t have to drive? Would that ease the tension?”

“No, I think we just want to get out of here. She feels like she is being watched. As long as we are in the car heading to my house, she will feel safer. I am going to drive her car since I took the train down.”

“As long as you are sure. I guess it’s the best that we can do for now. I will feel better about her being safe in your home away from hers. Though you will be a few hours away, we can’t be sure this is one of her students so you still need to be cautious. Can you put her back on the phone now?”

“Let me find her.”

A moment later, I hear muffled voices, “Harry. I miss you so much. I need you here; can you cut your trip short?”

“That is exactly what I plan to do my love. Besides, we are to be wed next week and I don’t want anything to interfere with that... I need you and my baby safe. I want you to call the minute you get to your sister’s and do not stop for anything.”

“Yes my love except I am bound to need restroom breaks.”

“If you need to stop I want you to go somewhere heavily populated like a bustling restaurant. No rest stops, understand?”

“Yes. Now let me go so I can finish packing and get on the road before it gets too late.”

“Fine. However, know this; I will never let you go. Now message me if you need to stop so I know where you are at all times. I am heading to Hood River right now to wrap up my work and I hope to leave here by the day after tomorrow.”

She sighs, “Oh that’s a big relief. I can’t wait. I love you and I will call you later. Safe travels my love.”

“Same to you
mi amore
.”

I think about the conversation I had with the detective after I hung up with Addy. I told him of the letter and her leaving town to her sisters. Overall, it has been over five months of harassing messages, tires slashed and the feeling of her being watched. Never in my life have I been so worried and helpless. I would normally have let Marion handle the situation out at the winery but it seems the problems far exceed even her so I must tend to it. Upon my arrival, my estate manager greets me at my car.

“Stuart, what has you so worked up?”

“I’m not a hundred percent sure but I think someone has intentionally sabotaged the crop. There are signs of fencing damage that looks more human than animal. The deer got in and decimated the plants.”

“What? Deer don’t usually eat the grapes.”

“No! The grapes weren’t eaten they were trampled. You can see hooves but no shoe prints. It wasn’t a human who trampled the plants. Come, let me show you.”

He hops into his Gator and I follow him and hop in the passenger seat. He points to the fallen fencing along the long rows upon rows. We stop at the furthermost rows and get out. Once again, I follow Stuart over to the damaged rows. There are at least three dozen rows that have been destroyed. It’s not good, but it’s not the catastrophe Marion made it out to be. I turn to Stu, “Can’t you just repair the fencing and put up the shotgun sirens like we discussed weeks ago? Matter of fact, why wasn’t that done by now? I gave the approval for that so I assumed you would have had that installed and where the hell is Marion?”

He clears his throat. “I don’t know where she is. I talked to her this morning and she told me that I needed to handle the damage and that she was not approving the sirens because you said no. Now I am really confused.”

“Yeah and I am angry…those plants cost me money and if those sirens had been in place, whether it be human or animal, they would have alerted staff or scared off the predator. Either way, it sounds like it’s not your fault. Let’s just get this fixed before any more damage occurs. I will handle Marion. You have my verbal consent to get the equipment ordered.”

He gives me a toothy grin, ‘Thanks boss. That will make my life a little easier. However, have you ever been woken in the middle of the night by one of those sirens? It actually sounds like a cannon going off! Jars a man clear to the bone I’ll say that.”

“No I haven’t ever heard one in the dead of night. Let’s hope we won’t have to.”

“Take me back to the house and you can get your guys down here to fix the fencing. I need to locate our errant Miss Devereaux.”

He laughs and then fires up the Gator. He drops me off at my car and I retrieve my attaché case from the passenger seat and head into the house. I am greeted by my house manager, Bessie. She used to be retired but her husband drives her up a wall all day so she took on running my house a few hours a week, to escape her own.

“Ah Bessie, what are you cooking? It smells wonderful!”

“Mr. Harry, so good to see you. When I heard you would be staying out here, I decided to whip you up some dinner. The hubby won’t let me cook anything exotic so I hope you don’t mind if you are my guinea pig.”

‘That all depends on what you are cooking.” I laugh.

She proudly sticks her chest out like a puffer fish with an immense amount of pride, “I am trying my hand at curry, so I am making you a little Thai dish called Coconut Curried Shrimp. I am serving it over a bed of Jasmine rice.” She crinkles her nose, “I hope that sounds good to you.”

“My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Have you by any chance seen Miss Devereaux around?”

She begins to shake her head when I hear a voice behind me, “Looking for me?”

I whirl around and see Marion standing in the arched doorway of the kitchen. “Why yes, I was looking for you. We have some business to discuss...now!”

She saunters toward me with an exaggerated sway of her hips. “We do, do we. Well, let’s go to my office and we can discuss business Harry.”

“It’s Harrison and we will discuss this here.”

She looks past me to Bessie and then back at me. “Well, if you insist discussing business in front of the help, then by all means, let’s do it here.”

Something about the way she said that makes me believe she has some hidden meaning behind her word choice. I shake my head and proceed to put my attaché case on the counter by where I am standing. I pull out a note pad. “Now, care to tell me why you would tell Stuart that I did not approve the crop alarms? Have you seen the damage that not having the system has caused? It is going to cost me a great deal of money to replace those plants. Not to mention that it may be too late to replace them this season anyway.” I look at her and she is smiling at me with a vacant look in her eyes. “What do you have to say about this? Don’t just stand there looking at me with that dumb look on your face.”

She walks past me and pulls a bottle of wine out of the wine cooler. I watch her with fascination as she pulls out the cork and pours herself and then me a glass of Towers Vineyard Chardonnay. I start to reject her offering but then decide some wine might calm me down. I take a sip and then wait for her to speak. When she finally does, I want to yell at the top of my lungs. “YOU’RE FIRED!” But I can’t because ultimately, she is a contractor for all of the companies concerned, and we all need her much to my chagrin.

“Harry, oh yes, Harrison. The crops and equipment are not my concern. I am hired to make sure the orders are facilitated properly. This menial work,” She looks at Bessie then back at me, “Is below me. I am offended that you treat me like nothing more than your secretary. Now, what is that delicious smell Bessie, I am simply famished!”

Bessie is now staring at Marion as she wanders over to the stove to peer into the large copper pot. Her eyes dart to me and she raises her brows. I shrug while shaking my head. If she were a man, I would want to clock him. But alas, she is a woman and as such, I am best to attack her with my words. So with that, I unleash.

“You must know that I would fire you if you weren’t so crucial to the success of the Devereauxs and Towers wine exportation. Why you father ever saw fit to allow you such a big responsibility is way beyond my comprehension. However, since we do have to work together and play nice, I expect you to conduct yourself with professionalism and integrity. The former I know you struggle with on a daily basis. But let me tell you, while you are on my land, working on my behalf, you will extend respect to those who also work here in my employ. Should I ever hear that you have undermined me again, make no mistake, I will find another specialist to replace you even if I have to recruit from the nether regions of the world. You will not make a mockery of my company or me.  Have I made myself clear?”

She wiggles her hips, “Oh yes, loud and clear master, anything else master?” She purrs. Then she does the unexpected. She clanks her glass down on the granite counter, grabs my face with her hands, and plants her full red lips on mine. She darts her tongue in my mouth as I fight to get away. Her grip on my head tightens as I push her away with more force she falls against the island and she lets out a shriek. “You barbarian! How dare you assault me?”