“Sure, sure,” Slimy said.
I ended the call and turned to stare unseeingly out of the window. I didn’t trust that oily voice. “Sure, sure,” was always bad news. I already knew giving them a powerful vehicle to cheat the system would never be the end of it. It would just be the beginning. They would always want more and more until I got caught and sent back inside.
But even more than that I didn’t want to have another Ponzi system that ruined the lives of thousands of innocent people on my conscience. When I had created my first one I had been a naïve kid. I had actually believed Frank when he said it was simply a learning tool. A way for me to learn the ropes.
“Once you have created such a vehicle, you will understand exactly how the market works,” he said.
Well, he was right about that, it was indeed a great teacher, but the thing I’d created was so brilliant he sold it behind my back. The people he sold my monster to unleashed it on the public. Five years later, I read about my creation in the news. The thing had sucked millions into it, and it was called the worst scam in the history of the stock market.
That was the day I fell out with Frank.
No one knew I was the creator and no one pointed a finger at me, but the guilt of seeing the frightened, lost faces of those pensioners who had lost their life savings haunted me for years. Some chosen patsies went to jail and their fortunes were confiscated, but there was no way to claw back the bulk of the hundreds of millions that had simply disappeared. There was nothing anyone could do for those unfortunate people. I swore that day I would never again be so careless with my talent with numbers.
Never again would I put myself in that position.
I had bought myself a week to find a way to free myself and even though I felt angry and frustrated that I was again in a position where I was being asked to do something that would definitely land me back in prison, I was determined to find a way to beat them at their own game. I was a smart guy and one way or another I was going to find a way out for me and Willow. I had to.
I turned away from the window, I couldn’t lose the faith. I had Willow to think of. Who would take care of her if I was inside? I had programmed her number on speed dial and before I knew it my finger had already pressed her name.
“Are you alright?” I asked as soon as she picked up.
“Yeah,” she replied, slightly out of breath. “I’m sorry. I was outside.”
“Have you had lunch?”
“Not yet.”
“I’ll come over. Let’s eat together.”
“Really?” She was breathless once again.
A smile slipped onto my lips. It was the Willow effect. No matter how bad I felt she always made the sun shine again in my world. “What do you want?”
“A burrito bowl, from that village bistro opposite your office building. They have another branch at Berkeley and it’s the best burrito bowl I’ve ever tasted.”
I didn’t even know there was a bistro opposite my office building. “Alright. I’ll be there soon.”
I picked up the food and drove to her shop. The door tinkled when I pushed it open. Inside it was quiet so I went past the counter, and headed out back. The back door was open and it led out to a fenced, small concrete courtyard that she had turned into a garden.
It held an impressive array of flowerpots and hanging baskets. I found her on her knees, a big sunhat on her head, and her face turned in my direction. She had been planting seedlings into a wooden trough filled with soil.
“Hey,” I called softly.
I felt my heart slam against my chest. The past tumbled into my head. How many times had she looked at me like that, with that same expression. It saddened me that our wonderful past was lost to her, but I reminded myself that it was better this way. I watched her face light up with excitement.
“Hey,” she greeted shyly, jumping to her feet.
I went over to her, and without even hesitating pulled her into my arms. I captured her lips in mine and quickly lost myself in the kiss. This was what mattered. Only this. I could beat those men. I was smarter than them.
The trowel she had been holding fell from her hand, but neither of us paid attention to it. The kiss was intense. Her gloved arms wrapped around my neck, while I grabbed onto her leg and raised it up so she could feel my hardness against her sex.