LOST - PART I
DEPARTURES
Chapter 19
For the next couple of weeks Thea spent every evening working with Abner, helping him prepare for the entrance exam to medical school. He would be leaving at the end of the month for London, carrying letters of introduction and recommendation from Thea to her contacts at the school.
Adam and Nate were seldom home, the two men were still working evenings at the club. But Thea was always still up when Adam got home in the small hours of the morning. She was usually in the sitting room at her desk, supposedly deeply involved with working on materials for Abner to study while making the crossing.
Every night Adam would come in quietly and stop in the sitting room doorway to say, "Good night," before going to his room. And every night he could hear her going up the stairs to her own room only a few minutes later so he was certain she stayed up just to be sure he made it home.
He could sense that things had changed somehow between them and he wasn't exactly sure what had made the difference, but she seemed to be more relaxed whenever they had the chance to spend any time together. Her suspicious attitude toward Olivia had disappeared and everyone was thankful she was less irritable too.
One Sunday afternoon Adam came back to the house from the smithy, carrying a new iron hinge for one of the doors on the sideboard in the sitting room. Thea was at her desk, bent over a ledger, with her chin propped up on one hand and tugging on a lock of hair with the other.
Adam knelt in front of the sideboard to put the hinge back in place and kept glancing at her, noting her pained expression. She didn't seem to be aware he was in the room at all. When he was finished, he stood and casually walked a circuit of the room until he was standing directly behind her.
He looked over her shoulder and almost laughed at the incredible mess he was seeing. Papers were spread all over the large desktop and the ledger was almost illegible with numbers crossed out and others squeezed into too small spaces. He leaned down to get a closer look saying, "Having a little trouble?"
Thea jerked upright, narrowly missing hitting him in the chin with the back of her head as he quickly pulled back. She gave him an annoyed look over her shoulder.
"You shouldn't sneak up on people like that!" she grumbled and he gave her a wide smile.
"I repeat, having a little trouble?"
She sighed with exasperation. "Yes! I can't get this damn thing to reconcile."
"Is the difference an odd or an even number?"
"Uh.an even number," she answered, surprised by his question.
"Then you've probably transposed two numbers somewhere."
"You know how to do this?" she asked and gave him a sharp look. Adam nodded.
"Obviously," he answered. "Would you like me to take a look at it for you?"
"Would you?" she asked hopefully and he laughed.
"Sure."
"Dear Lord, thank you!" she said gratefully and gladly got up to let him sit down at the desk. "I've never had the patience for this and I'm hopeless when it comes to working with numbers."
Adam laughed again and bent intently over the ledger. "I'll see what I can do."
She watched him for a few moments then said, "If you don't mind, I think I'll go to the kitchen and start dinner." He only nodded and murmured, "Fine," as she hurried from the room.
Three hours later she went quietly down the hallway and cautiously peeked into the sitting room to see him leaning back in her desk chair with his legs stretched out and his arms folded across his chest. She glanced at the desktop and her brows rose to see all the papers in neat stacks and the ledger book closed.
Adam's gaze rose to meet hers as she stepped into the doorway. He shook his head.
"Theadora," he said in an admonishing tone and she stiffened. "I just can not believe the ungodly mess your finances are in."
Clasping her hands behind her back, she slowly moved to stand in front of the desk with her head down. "I told you I'm completely hopeless with numbers."
"Hopeless doesn't even begin to describe this!" he rolled his eyes. "Good God woman, you're not even aware that you're being cheated!"
Thea's head snapped up and her face tightened. "Cheated? Who's cheating me?"
Adam sighed, "Only just about everybody." He shook his head again. "The bank has to be the worst offender, and who is this James Compton?"
"Oh, he's my trustee.you know, he administers the funds from my inheritance."
"Well, he's not going to anymore. Did you know that he's increased the fees for his services every month for the past year without fail?"
She blinked, surprised. "Um.no. I must not have noticed."
"You didn't notice," he stated while his eyes darkened with anger. "What did you do, just automatically sign anything he put in front of you?"
Nodding, she hung her head to stare at the floor again as Adam angrily pushed the chair back and stood. "I just can't believe that someone as intelligent as you would do something that foolish."
"I'm sorry," she mumbled, and then wondered why she was apologizing. After all, the money in question was hers.
"Don't apologize to me, and I'm not angry with you. I'm angry with the people who have been taking advantage of you like this."
She looked up to meet his dark gaze. "Oh," was all she could think of to say.
He came around the desk as she turned toward him. Putting his hands on her shoulders, he bent his head down to look her right in the eye.
"Tomorrow morning WE are going to visit the bank and all the merchants who have been padding their bills. They will have to deal with me from now on, I'm taking over control of your finances," he stated in a no-nonsense tone. Then he quickly kissed her on the lips and turned to leave the room, still shaking his head.
Thea watched him go and realized she trusted him to have control of her money without any reservations. Tipping her head to the side, she thought about that for a little while, and then smiled. She was looking forward to seeing how Adam would deal with those people in the morning.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~
Adam chose to visit the bank first the next morning right after they opened at eight o'clock. The bank was housed in a huge, imposing marble building but Adam was too angry to be impressed. His expression was anything but friendly as he opened the front door and ushered Thea inside.
He glanced around the lobby as he took his hat off, taking in the expensive furnishings, and then looked down when Thea spoke.
"Compton's office is over there," she said quietly and indicated a railed off area to their right. Adam patted the gloved hand she had tucked in the crook of his elbow and led her over to the desk that was sitting in front of the man's office. A young, male clerk looked up from his account books when they approached.
"May I help you?" he asked in a pleasant voice and Adam gave Thea's hand a squeeze, silently telling her to let him do the talking.
"Tell Mr. Compton that Dr. Westwood is here to see him," Adam answered and his eyes narrowed when the young man swept his gaze over Thea's elegantly dressed figure.
"Is he expecting you?" the clerk reluctantly dragged his gaze away from Thea and his eyes widened when he met Adam's furious stare.
"No," Adam said and the young man quickly stood, hurried to the office door, knocked and went in, closing the door behind him. He was back in only a few seconds saying, "Please go in, Mr. Compton will see you now."
Adam swung open the gate in the railing and guided Thea through with a hand in the small of her back. He glanced at the clerk out of the corner of his eye and the young man took a step back as they passed.
A tall, painfully thin man with pale blue eyes and thinning brown hair stood and came around his desk as they entered.
"Theadora, this is a pleasant surprise!" he said in a smooth voice and took her hand to lead her to a chair in front of his desk. When she was seated, the man turned his attention to Adam who had moved forward to stand behind her chair.
"I don't believe we've met," the trustee said and held his right hand out.
"No we have not," Adam answered shortly and ignored the hand being held out to him.
Compton blinked a few times, his face paled, and his smile faded before he let his hand drop and turned away to move behind his desk. He kept his gaze fastened on Thea as he sat down, "And how may I help you today?"
"You may help Dr. Westwood by issuing a cashier's check for the entire amount in her accounts," Adam said tightly while Thea gave the man a hard stare as she nodded.
The trustee's eyes widened in shock. "I don't understand." he said and almost flinched when he raised his eyes to meet Adam's cold gaze.
"What don't you understand?" Adam continued. "Dr. Westwood is not happy with the service you have provided and would rather just withdraw her funds instead of filing charges against you for malfeasance."
"Charges?" Compton gasped and pulled back when Adam stepped forward to lean across the desk.
"Yes charges," he said in a softly ominous voice, "and you know exactly what I'm talking about, so don't try to deny it."
Staring in horror, the man actually nodded before he could stop himself and Adam straightened up without breaking eye contact.
"Now, are you going to cooperate, or will I be forced to speak to your superiors?"
Compton gasped again, truly terrified now and shook his head vigorously.
Adam smiled coldly. "Good choice," he said quietly as he pulled a folded sheet of paper from an inside suit pocket. "Here is the address of the bank and the name of the official you will have the check delivered to by the close of business today." He dropped the paper on the desktop and turned to hold his hand out to Thea who was desperately holding on to her grim expression. She stood and took his arm while biting the inside of her cheek to hold back her amusement as Compton scrambled to his feet.
"By the close of business today," Adam repeated, giving him one last hard stare before turning and escorting Thea through the office door.
They were in the buggy and had just turned onto a quiet side street when Thea finally lost control. She burst out laughing and Adam couldn't help but smile as she leaned weakly back in the seat.
"Oh God," she finally managed to gasp. "I think that man thought his life was about to be snuffed out."
"Would have served him right," Adam growled and his eyes flashed with fury again as she shifted closer to him on the seat.
"Thank you for understanding about not filing charges against him. After all, I DID sign the papers so it's as much my fault as it is his."
"No it's not!" Adam insisted and she laughed again as she shook her head.
"Yes it is," she said firmly and he made an exasperated sound in the back of his throat. "You yourself, said it was a foolish thing to do."
He gave her a dark, sideways look. "Theadora, doing something foolish is a mistake. What he did may not be illegal, but it certainly isn't ethical."
"I know," she said hastily, not wanting to argue the point anymore. Then she turned her head to look at him in surprise when he chuckled and grinned wickedly.
"Filing charges against him is a moot point anyway. Mr. Compton will soon find himself the target of a bank audit."
Her eyes narrowed. "What did you do?"
He shrugged. "Nothing much, just talked to someone I knew would be very interested in this information."
She tugged on his arm. "Who?"
"Pat."
Her brows rose. "Pat Herrity?" she asked and he nodded. "How could Pat bring about a bank audit?"
Adam shook his head. "Theadora, you just don't understand. Pat happens to be one of the richest men in New York."
"He is?" she asked. "That nice old man you work for?"
"Good Lord yes." Adam laughed at her astonished expression. "Pat also happens to be on the board of directors of the bank your money is being transferred to." He shook his head again. "Thea, the man owns property and has partnerships all over this city. He just prefers to keep that from being public knowledge."
"Oh," she said quietly, still finding it hard to believe.
"Don't worry about it, and for God's sake don't treat Pat any differently now. Just be glad that Mr. Compton will be getting what he deserves for betraying your trust."
Thea fell silent then and he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, unable to read her expression. She didn't speak again until they pulled up across the street from the first store on his list of merchants who had been padding their bills.
When he came around to help her down she looked up at him solemnly. "What's wrong?" he asked as they stood there with his hands around her waist and her hands on his shoulders.
"I haven't thanked you for doing this for me, have I?" she asked and his brows rose in surprise at her question.
"No, but it's not necessary," he said and chuckled. "Besides, I enjoyed scaring the hell out of that thief."
"I know," she said softly. "But thank you anyway."
"You're welcome," he responded and his expression became serious too.
"Just remember this Thea. I have made up my mind that from this point on I will never forget and never forgive. If anyone does anything to me or mine I will not give up until they pay, even if it takes years to get them. And I will never be at anyone's mercy again."
She stared intently into his dark eyes and saw how firm this conviction of his was and she understood the painful reasons for it. Her heart ached for the pain he had endured and the pain she knew he still felt, having had his identity in effect beaten out of him.
He didn't move as she slowly rose up on her toes to press her lips gently to his, and he wrapped her in his arms for a few seconds to kiss her back. Then he backed up and offered her his arm with a wicked smile, anticipating terrorizing their next quarry. Taking his arm, Thea couldn't help but laugh, and the two briskly crossed the street and entered the store.
DEPARTURES
Chapter 19
For the next couple of weeks Thea spent every evening working with Abner, helping him prepare for the entrance exam to medical school. He would be leaving at the end of the month for London, carrying letters of introduction and recommendation from Thea to her contacts at the school.
Adam and Nate were seldom home, the two men were still working evenings at the club. But Thea was always still up when Adam got home in the small hours of the morning. She was usually in the sitting room at her desk, supposedly deeply involved with working on materials for Abner to study while making the crossing.
Every night Adam would come in quietly and stop in the sitting room doorway to say, "Good night," before going to his room. And every night he could hear her going up the stairs to her own room only a few minutes later so he was certain she stayed up just to be sure he made it home.
He could sense that things had changed somehow between them and he wasn't exactly sure what had made the difference, but she seemed to be more relaxed whenever they had the chance to spend any time together. Her suspicious attitude toward Olivia had disappeared and everyone was thankful she was less irritable too.
One Sunday afternoon Adam came back to the house from the smithy, carrying a new iron hinge for one of the doors on the sideboard in the sitting room. Thea was at her desk, bent over a ledger, with her chin propped up on one hand and tugging on a lock of hair with the other.
Adam knelt in front of the sideboard to put the hinge back in place and kept glancing at her, noting her pained expression. She didn't seem to be aware he was in the room at all. When he was finished, he stood and casually walked a circuit of the room until he was standing directly behind her.
He looked over her shoulder and almost laughed at the incredible mess he was seeing. Papers were spread all over the large desktop and the ledger was almost illegible with numbers crossed out and others squeezed into too small spaces. He leaned down to get a closer look saying, "Having a little trouble?"
Thea jerked upright, narrowly missing hitting him in the chin with the back of her head as he quickly pulled back. She gave him an annoyed look over her shoulder.
"You shouldn't sneak up on people like that!" she grumbled and he gave her a wide smile.
"I repeat, having a little trouble?"
She sighed with exasperation. "Yes! I can't get this damn thing to reconcile."
"Is the difference an odd or an even number?"
"Uh.an even number," she answered, surprised by his question.
"Then you've probably transposed two numbers somewhere."
"You know how to do this?" she asked and gave him a sharp look. Adam nodded.
"Obviously," he answered. "Would you like me to take a look at it for you?"
"Would you?" she asked hopefully and he laughed.
"Sure."
"Dear Lord, thank you!" she said gratefully and gladly got up to let him sit down at the desk. "I've never had the patience for this and I'm hopeless when it comes to working with numbers."
Adam laughed again and bent intently over the ledger. "I'll see what I can do."
She watched him for a few moments then said, "If you don't mind, I think I'll go to the kitchen and start dinner." He only nodded and murmured, "Fine," as she hurried from the room.
Three hours later she went quietly down the hallway and cautiously peeked into the sitting room to see him leaning back in her desk chair with his legs stretched out and his arms folded across his chest. She glanced at the desktop and her brows rose to see all the papers in neat stacks and the ledger book closed.
Adam's gaze rose to meet hers as she stepped into the doorway. He shook his head.
"Theadora," he said in an admonishing tone and she stiffened. "I just can not believe the ungodly mess your finances are in."
Clasping her hands behind her back, she slowly moved to stand in front of the desk with her head down. "I told you I'm completely hopeless with numbers."
"Hopeless doesn't even begin to describe this!" he rolled his eyes. "Good God woman, you're not even aware that you're being cheated!"
Thea's head snapped up and her face tightened. "Cheated? Who's cheating me?"
Adam sighed, "Only just about everybody." He shook his head again. "The bank has to be the worst offender, and who is this James Compton?"
"Oh, he's my trustee.you know, he administers the funds from my inheritance."
"Well, he's not going to anymore. Did you know that he's increased the fees for his services every month for the past year without fail?"
She blinked, surprised. "Um.no. I must not have noticed."
"You didn't notice," he stated while his eyes darkened with anger. "What did you do, just automatically sign anything he put in front of you?"
Nodding, she hung her head to stare at the floor again as Adam angrily pushed the chair back and stood. "I just can't believe that someone as intelligent as you would do something that foolish."
"I'm sorry," she mumbled, and then wondered why she was apologizing. After all, the money in question was hers.
"Don't apologize to me, and I'm not angry with you. I'm angry with the people who have been taking advantage of you like this."
She looked up to meet his dark gaze. "Oh," was all she could think of to say.
He came around the desk as she turned toward him. Putting his hands on her shoulders, he bent his head down to look her right in the eye.
"Tomorrow morning WE are going to visit the bank and all the merchants who have been padding their bills. They will have to deal with me from now on, I'm taking over control of your finances," he stated in a no-nonsense tone. Then he quickly kissed her on the lips and turned to leave the room, still shaking his head.
Thea watched him go and realized she trusted him to have control of her money without any reservations. Tipping her head to the side, she thought about that for a little while, and then smiled. She was looking forward to seeing how Adam would deal with those people in the morning.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~
Adam chose to visit the bank first the next morning right after they opened at eight o'clock. The bank was housed in a huge, imposing marble building but Adam was too angry to be impressed. His expression was anything but friendly as he opened the front door and ushered Thea inside.
He glanced around the lobby as he took his hat off, taking in the expensive furnishings, and then looked down when Thea spoke.
"Compton's office is over there," she said quietly and indicated a railed off area to their right. Adam patted the gloved hand she had tucked in the crook of his elbow and led her over to the desk that was sitting in front of the man's office. A young, male clerk looked up from his account books when they approached.
"May I help you?" he asked in a pleasant voice and Adam gave Thea's hand a squeeze, silently telling her to let him do the talking.
"Tell Mr. Compton that Dr. Westwood is here to see him," Adam answered and his eyes narrowed when the young man swept his gaze over Thea's elegantly dressed figure.
"Is he expecting you?" the clerk reluctantly dragged his gaze away from Thea and his eyes widened when he met Adam's furious stare.
"No," Adam said and the young man quickly stood, hurried to the office door, knocked and went in, closing the door behind him. He was back in only a few seconds saying, "Please go in, Mr. Compton will see you now."
Adam swung open the gate in the railing and guided Thea through with a hand in the small of her back. He glanced at the clerk out of the corner of his eye and the young man took a step back as they passed.
A tall, painfully thin man with pale blue eyes and thinning brown hair stood and came around his desk as they entered.
"Theadora, this is a pleasant surprise!" he said in a smooth voice and took her hand to lead her to a chair in front of his desk. When she was seated, the man turned his attention to Adam who had moved forward to stand behind her chair.
"I don't believe we've met," the trustee said and held his right hand out.
"No we have not," Adam answered shortly and ignored the hand being held out to him.
Compton blinked a few times, his face paled, and his smile faded before he let his hand drop and turned away to move behind his desk. He kept his gaze fastened on Thea as he sat down, "And how may I help you today?"
"You may help Dr. Westwood by issuing a cashier's check for the entire amount in her accounts," Adam said tightly while Thea gave the man a hard stare as she nodded.
The trustee's eyes widened in shock. "I don't understand." he said and almost flinched when he raised his eyes to meet Adam's cold gaze.
"What don't you understand?" Adam continued. "Dr. Westwood is not happy with the service you have provided and would rather just withdraw her funds instead of filing charges against you for malfeasance."
"Charges?" Compton gasped and pulled back when Adam stepped forward to lean across the desk.
"Yes charges," he said in a softly ominous voice, "and you know exactly what I'm talking about, so don't try to deny it."
Staring in horror, the man actually nodded before he could stop himself and Adam straightened up without breaking eye contact.
"Now, are you going to cooperate, or will I be forced to speak to your superiors?"
Compton gasped again, truly terrified now and shook his head vigorously.
Adam smiled coldly. "Good choice," he said quietly as he pulled a folded sheet of paper from an inside suit pocket. "Here is the address of the bank and the name of the official you will have the check delivered to by the close of business today." He dropped the paper on the desktop and turned to hold his hand out to Thea who was desperately holding on to her grim expression. She stood and took his arm while biting the inside of her cheek to hold back her amusement as Compton scrambled to his feet.
"By the close of business today," Adam repeated, giving him one last hard stare before turning and escorting Thea through the office door.
They were in the buggy and had just turned onto a quiet side street when Thea finally lost control. She burst out laughing and Adam couldn't help but smile as she leaned weakly back in the seat.
"Oh God," she finally managed to gasp. "I think that man thought his life was about to be snuffed out."
"Would have served him right," Adam growled and his eyes flashed with fury again as she shifted closer to him on the seat.
"Thank you for understanding about not filing charges against him. After all, I DID sign the papers so it's as much my fault as it is his."
"No it's not!" Adam insisted and she laughed again as she shook her head.
"Yes it is," she said firmly and he made an exasperated sound in the back of his throat. "You yourself, said it was a foolish thing to do."
He gave her a dark, sideways look. "Theadora, doing something foolish is a mistake. What he did may not be illegal, but it certainly isn't ethical."
"I know," she said hastily, not wanting to argue the point anymore. Then she turned her head to look at him in surprise when he chuckled and grinned wickedly.
"Filing charges against him is a moot point anyway. Mr. Compton will soon find himself the target of a bank audit."
Her eyes narrowed. "What did you do?"
He shrugged. "Nothing much, just talked to someone I knew would be very interested in this information."
She tugged on his arm. "Who?"
"Pat."
Her brows rose. "Pat Herrity?" she asked and he nodded. "How could Pat bring about a bank audit?"
Adam shook his head. "Theadora, you just don't understand. Pat happens to be one of the richest men in New York."
"He is?" she asked. "That nice old man you work for?"
"Good Lord yes." Adam laughed at her astonished expression. "Pat also happens to be on the board of directors of the bank your money is being transferred to." He shook his head again. "Thea, the man owns property and has partnerships all over this city. He just prefers to keep that from being public knowledge."
"Oh," she said quietly, still finding it hard to believe.
"Don't worry about it, and for God's sake don't treat Pat any differently now. Just be glad that Mr. Compton will be getting what he deserves for betraying your trust."
Thea fell silent then and he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, unable to read her expression. She didn't speak again until they pulled up across the street from the first store on his list of merchants who had been padding their bills.
When he came around to help her down she looked up at him solemnly. "What's wrong?" he asked as they stood there with his hands around her waist and her hands on his shoulders.
"I haven't thanked you for doing this for me, have I?" she asked and his brows rose in surprise at her question.
"No, but it's not necessary," he said and chuckled. "Besides, I enjoyed scaring the hell out of that thief."
"I know," she said softly. "But thank you anyway."
"You're welcome," he responded and his expression became serious too.
"Just remember this Thea. I have made up my mind that from this point on I will never forget and never forgive. If anyone does anything to me or mine I will not give up until they pay, even if it takes years to get them. And I will never be at anyone's mercy again."
She stared intently into his dark eyes and saw how firm this conviction of his was and she understood the painful reasons for it. Her heart ached for the pain he had endured and the pain she knew he still felt, having had his identity in effect beaten out of him.
He didn't move as she slowly rose up on her toes to press her lips gently to his, and he wrapped her in his arms for a few seconds to kiss her back. Then he backed up and offered her his arm with a wicked smile, anticipating terrorizing their next quarry. Taking his arm, Thea couldn't help but laugh, and the two briskly crossed the street and entered the store.