Lilli's Lost & Found

PART 1:  LILLI AT 23

~ 1 ~ 

Lilli Braithwaite could have been anything she wanted. She was just barely twenty-three, quite beautiful in a very earthy way, statuesque and a ball of energy. She was raised on Long Island, New York, Her father was head of the substantially-sized Braithwaite Industries, which Lilli and her twin brother, Daniel would inherit one day. Braithwaite Industries was one of the country’s largest suppliers of automotive parts, which, of course, in America ensured that there was wealth aplenty.

Lilli breezed her way through two private schools and Vassar College in upstate New York, where she obtained a Master's degree in fine arts, with a major in American Lit. Her parents, Marcus and Fiona, had high hopes that Lilli would attend the Harvard School of Business and study Business Administration. But Lilli had no interest in the automotive business, even though she would inherit part of one of America’s larger automotive supply companies one day. She figured that she would sell her brother her half of the business when the time came for him to take it over.

After completing her degree at Vassar, Lilli decided to take a year off, to figure out what she wanted to do with her adult life, which had just begun, and moved into her family’s Manhattan apartment on Central Park West and 71st Street. From there she hiked and biked around the city, observing with her formidable brain and noting many in a journal she had started right after high school. 

Lilli had no idea what she wanted to do with her life at this point. The only thing she knew for sure was that she wanted to write.

 She quickly got the feel for the city’s pulse and saw the highs and the lows from the safe distance that only real wealth can provide. It was obvious to no one but Lilli that she was searching for something, but had no idea what that could actually be. 

While Lilli was what would easily be considered part of the fortunate few in America, with a $21 million trust fund which was hers to do with as she pleased, she had no intention of idling her life away in the Big Apple or anywhere else for that matter. She had watched her father build his business from an engineering practice to a large corporation so she knew first-hand the benefits of hard work. Lilli was a writer who loved words, so she was determined to make her mark in the world of words, by hook or by crook. 

One of the things that most writers have in common is a deep curiosity about people. Lilli was no different. She quickly found several good places to observe others in their natural habitats. One of her favourite places was the lounge of the Pierre Hotel on the other side of Central Park from her apartment. Lilli would camp out at the end of the bar and record her impressions of the people she saw there. 

It was a strange mix of business people and tourists from all over the world. She saw costumes and heard languages that she had never seen or heard before. She watched deals being made and hearts being broken. She saw high-class hookers and ultra-slick hustlers from her little perch at the end of the bar. She was hit on at least a dozen times and had learned to diplomatically fend off anyone who might want to buy her a drink. 

On most nights and because Lilli came to the bar early, the bartender, named Johnny Lee, would let her sit nursing a Long Island Iced Tea while making copious notes in her small book.

Lilli went to the Pierre once or twice a week as part of her rounds of the mid-town area where she lived. But today was a little different. Today, something happened. Today, Lilli met the man of her dreams. 

Ethan Thomas was about twenty-five, tallish and handsome, with long dark brown hair, and glasses with circular rims that made him look a lot hipper than he was. He had a slightly introverted nerd-like quality. His Ph.D. in computer science, completed at the age of twenty-one at NYIT, justified his nerdiness.

Ethan too, came to the Pierre to watch people and wind down from his job. But he had no lofty writing goals in mind. He just enjoyed all the various types of human interaction that a drink or two at the Pierre could offer. And for the past couple of weeks, he also enjoyed watching Lilli on her perch at the far end of the bar. There was something about her sitting alone, scribbling in her notebook and taking in the whole place that attracted him, brought him out of his shell, so to speak, and finally gave him the nerve to sit down beside her and offer to buy her a drink.

“I’ll have another Long Island Iced Tea.” said Lilli as if she was used to people walking offering to buy her a drink.

“That sounds good. I’ll have one too.” Ethan said.

Ethan summoned Johnny the bartender and ordered the drinks. 

“I’m Ethan, Ethan Thomas, by the way.” 

“Lilli. Lilli Braithwaite by the way.”

They shook hands in a rather businesslike manner.

“Do you live around here, Lilli Braithwaite by the way?”

“Across the park.” 

“It’s nice over there. Do you live near the Dakota?”

“Yes, at the San Remo, pretty much right next door. Is that where you live, Ethan, the Dakota?”

“Yes, I do. ” 

“You don’t look like a student, so I assume you work somewhere.” Lilli said.

“Yep. I work in my family’s business. Software and business systems. I’m a system designer. How about you?”

Lilly thought about that for a moment. “I have a degree in literature, so I’m trying to be a writer I guess.” 

“What kind of writer are you trying to be?”

“Oh, I don’t know yet. Right now, I’m just writing a journal and trying to figure my life out. I envy you, Ethan, knowing what you want to do and doing it.”

“Well, that’s not necessarily true,” Ethan said. “I do programming because I’m good at it. Good enough to have made the family business quite successful. But as far as that being what I want to do…the jury is still out.” Ethan took a long sip of his drink and Lilli got the distinct feeling he didn’t like talking about himself. 

“What is it you want to do, Lilli Braithwaite?” Ethan asked.

Lilli thought about it some more, not so much about what she wanted, but why she should be telling someone who was a stranger her deepest thoughts and desires. She looked at Ethan who was sipping his Long Island Iced Tea and right then she hypothesized that they could be kindred spirits. She finally said, “I honestly don’t have the slightest idea.” 

Ethan thought about that for a good moment. “You were writing in your notebook. So, from my perspective that makes you a writer already. Now it’s just a question of focus.”

Lilli laughed. “Well, I guess you’re right about that. Writing is one of the things I’ve been doing the most of, since like forever.”

“OK, so what would you like to write now that we’ve established that you are a writer?”

“Well, that’s the question, isn’t it?

“I assume you don’t need a job.”

“No, I don’t. And I’m not looking for one. More like…a calling… something I can be passionate about doing.”

“Well, there you go. If I were you, I would start thinking seriously about what kind of writing that would be. Writing is a great big world.”

Lilli laughed. “I know, and I think about that all the time, Ethan. All the time.”

Lilli and Ethan finished their drinks. Ethan volunteered to walk Lilli home so they headed across the street into Central Park. They walked for quite a while chatting incessantly to each other about nothing in particular. There was still a bit of sunlight streaming through the buildings on Central Park West and they yapped non-stop in the warm late afternoon summer air. After a while, they decided to have dinner and wandered up to the Shake Shack on Columbus Avenue. Then they walked some more. For the first time since coming to the city, Lilli felt like a real New Yorker. Ethan had a ton of stories from his NYIT days. He seemed to possess total recall, which was a quality that Lilli envied.

They stood in front of Lilli’s building for quite some time, still talking about anything and everything. Ethan, who was rather timid when he first sat down beside her in the bar seemed to not only have crawled out of his shell but happily left it behind. Lilli did notice that he never really talked about his work, which led her to believe that maybe he wasn’t all that happy doing it.

Finally, she thanked him for a great couple of hours of conversation and he thanked her for just being herself. Since it was a Friday, they agreed to meet the next day and figure out this writing thing once and for all. Lilli went to bed that night, happy and exhausted and maybe at the beginning of something wonderful.

A few hours later, Lilli was still awake, staring out the window at the stars, what few of them she could see in the middle of New York City. But she wasn’t paying attention. She was wrapped up in the cozy blanket of her thoughts. She thought about Ethan and how relaxed she felt just being with him. He was sweet and curious and interested and he had an actual job.

After she had noodled that nearly to death, she turned her thoughts to becoming a writer. She had been at it since about the age of fourteen and it had served her well. She loved writing essays and doing the research she had to do. She loved the physical act of stringing words together, how it could take you into whatever world you wanted to enter and let it show you all kinds of strange and wondrous things, all out of your head. She had reams of blank verse in her notebooks and in files on her laptop. She had story ideas for novels and movies. She even had a list of famous people for whom she would like to write a biography. But so far, none of those ideas ever materialized into something she felt she could act on. Lilli wasn’t being too hard on herself though. She’d only been at it for a few months and understood that life-changing decisions might just take a little longer than that. 

As she finally drifted off to sleep, those thoughts, those choices, those probables and possibles all floated around in her head creating strange dreams. Lilli was very good at remembering her dreams which is why she kept a small notepad and pen beside her bed. In the morning when she woke up, she would lie very still, conjure them up, then write down the main points as little memory triggers.

The next morning, Lilli only wrote down one thing…Lilli’s Lost & Found. She lay in bed for nearly an hour staring at the words on the pad thinking about all the possibilities.

 

~ 2 ~

“I thought about it all last night and even dreamed about it too.” Lilli said.

She was sitting on a bench with Ethan at Bethesda Fountain in Central Park. It was one of Lilli’s favourite outdoor places to watch people and think about things. 

“So, did you decide anything?” Ethan asked, taking a bite of one of the ice cream bars he bought for himself and Lilli.

“Well, sort of. I agree with you that I am, if nothing else, a writer.”

“That’s a start. How about the kind of writer you would want to be?”

“Well…I thought about that a lot too. But I did have a bit of trouble deciding.” With that, she reached into her bag and pulled out her small notebook. She opened it up to the page where she had written ‘Lilli’s Lost & Found’ and showed it to Ethan.

“Hmmm. That sounds kind of interesting. A kinda-sorta detective thing.”

“I’m not sure what it is just yet. But I wrote it down so it has to mean something. I studied enough lit to know that most of the really good writers out there have a lot of life experience. Mine so far has consisted of being a kid and going to school.”

Ethan thought about it for a while, staring up at the cloudy sky. 

“You know, people lose stuff all the time,” he mused. “And I’ll bet a lot of them could use some help with that. Like older people who can’t get around much. I bet they would have a lot of stories to tell you too. Maybe you could…” Ethan hesitated for a few seconds,  “Maybe you could trade. You help them and they give you a story in return. You don’t need the money so it wouldn’t be about that. And I’ll bet that a lot of older people have some pretty cool stories to tell.”

Lilli leaned over and kissed Ethan on the cheek. “Did anybody ever tell you that you’re a genius?”

“Only my teachers, professors, some of the guys I went to school with and of course, my parents. And now you.”

 They both had a good laugh over that.

They talked more about Ethan’s idea for Lilli’s Lost & Found. They dissected it. They cross-examined it. They went as deep into it as their limited life experience would allow and they came away believing it was something to consider. Lilli was very interested in the idea of taking someone’s actual life experience and turning it into a story, mainly because her own life experience up to now was so limited.

“Let’s go eat,” Lilli said. “All this theorizing has made me hungry.” 

Together they leapt up off the bench and headed to Épicerie Boulud down on Broadway just across from the Lincoln Center. They each had a spinach quiche and they shared a large mixed greens salad.

“Guess you’re not a real man.” Lilli said. 

“How so?” 

“I read somewhere that real men don’t eat quiche.”

“Yeah, but this is spinach quiche. Popeye would love it and he’s a tough guy.”

“Yeah, but Popeye was a cartoon.”

Ethan mused on that for a bit then said, “Aren’t we all cartoons of one kind or another?”

Lilli had no answer for that, but something inside her told her that it might just be true.

After their lunch, Lilli and Ethan walked and talked all through the day and at the end of it all, Lilli felt even better about both her relationship with Ethan and the whole idea of Lilli’s Lost & Found. That night she and Ethan picked up some Taiwanese takeout and they went to his apartment to eat and watch some movies. 

Lilli had no expectation of what Ethan’s apartment would be like, so she was pleasantly surprised when she found it to be as neat as the proverbial pin. The furniture was all very modern, but comfortable looking. Everything on the walls was framed, but the images were quite abstract, more like textures than actual pictures. The living room was large and dominated on one side by a massive TV screen and an L-shaped sofa. The other side was a large workstation with three monitors, a large format 3-D printer, a smaller printer, a scanner and a pair of beautiful leather gaming chairs. The floor on the far side of the work area contained two 

storage towers side by side filled with books and bits and pieces of the things that Ethan had grown up with and wanted to keep. Lilli looked around in amazement which Ethan picked up on.

“I’m a bit of a neat freak.” he said. “It comes with the programmer gene. You just can’t stand anything lying around out of place.”

Ethan spread out the food on the large coffee table, very neatly of course, and picked a movie from a file on his computer. Ethan’s dad was a complete movie buff and had a massive DVD library. Every few weeks his dad would bring him a pile of DVDs which he would upload into his system. His current batch included the collected works of Humphrey Bogart. Lilli hadn’t seen many movies made in the last century with the exceptions of The Wizard Of Oz and Miracle on 34th Street which she watched every year around Christmas.

They ate their dinner and watched Key Largo and To Have And Have Not.

As they were cleaning up Ethan said. “Humphrey Bogart was a man’s man. He could do just about anything and pull it off. There were a lot of guys like that back in the day. Movies weren’t all about special effects or aliens or mutants from other planets or superheroes like they are today. This was the real deal. I’ll bet the total budget of every movie Humphrey Bogart ever made would have been a fraction of what the average Marvel movie costs.”

“These movies are incredible," Lilli said. “They all tell a great story and the characters are way cool.”

“These guys were the superheroes of their time.” Ethan said. “And I honestly think it was a much better time in this country. Sure, we have a lot more toys, but these movies, they’re like seventy-five years old and they’re still great.”

“You really love them, don’t you?”

“Well, I come by it honestly. I’ll take you out to my parents’ house. My dad’s got the best home theatre you can imagine. Even has a movie popcorn maker.”

“I’d love to see that.” Lilli said.

Ethan and Lilli kissed for the first time that night. But it didn’t get all hot and heavy. It was just nice. It was just sweet. It was just gentle.

Ethan walked Lilli home and told her he had to go into the office for a couple of days and by a couple of days, he meant three or four days that stretched into nights, and that he would call her when he recuperated. Before he left her at her door, he handed her a small bag. In it were half a dozen other Bogey movies. They kissed again and Lilli felt, whatever she was feeling, grow a little bigger.

~ 3 ~

When Lilli woke the next morning and the fog in her head had cleared, she realized that she might not see Ethan for several days and she felt a bit sad. But at the same time, she was bound and determined to actualize the idea that they had worked out together for her business. So, Lilli got to work on Lilli’s Lost & Found. 

One of the things she had taught herself to do at school was to work with an Adobe desktop publishing program called Indesign. This program allowed her to format her essays into nicely designed pages and create cover art for them. Her instructors and professors often complimented her on her design skills. One even told her that if she ever wanted to get into advertising, those design skills would help her. Lilli didn’t know anything about the advertising business but everything she’d ever read or saw that had anything to do with it painted a picture of a business dominated by men. Lilli thought that it would be a lot of uphill work getting recognized. But none of that mattered because she didn’t want a job, she wanted a calling and somewhere in the back of her mind, she believed that Lilli’s Lost & Found, whatever that eventually turned out to be, could be the key to it.

Lilli spent the morning noodling around with ideas for a logo, a business card, a little brochure and a website that she would need to look professional. She was having so much fun that the entire day slipped away on her and she thought she had better go for a walk and maybe get something to eat. 

It was close to five in the afternoon when Lilli walked out the front door of her building and into full-tilt rush hour. She crossed Central Park West and entered the park, taking the path down to Lincoln Plaza and over to Broadway and the Épicerie Boulud where she picked up a salad, a sandwich and a dessert croissant. Looking at all that great food there made her even hungrier so she walked back home straight up Central Park West and put up with the traffic noise that the park paths seemed to mute considerably.

When she got home it was close to seven-thirty. Lilli opened up her computer and activated her TV network to watch Jeopardy while she ate her dinner. She had been watching the show since she was a young kid. It seemed like, when her dad was home at least, that’s what happened after dinner. Her dad told her that Jeopardy, Sesame Street, 60 Minutes and Wall Street Week were the only saving graces of network television and that all the rest of it was nothing but mindless drivel except for the odd series that happened once in a blue moon. For this reason, Lilli never developed the TV-watching habit. She much preferred to read and watch movies. Then she was off to college and didn’t have time for anything, except Jeopardy. 

Lilli was saddened when the host of Jeopardy, Alex Trebek, passed away. Now after a bit of a contest to find a new host, they eventually settled on a guy named Ken Jennings, who was the popular contestant Ken Jennings who was the all-time Jeopardy champ. Before they chose Ken Jennings it was down to two. The other finalist was an actress named  Mayim Bialik. Mayim got famous on a TV show called Blossom, and then later on for her role in The Big Bang Theory. 

Lilli had watched The Big Bang Theory a couple of times. It was basically about a bunch of very nerdy smart people who all, except one, worked at some polytechnic institute in California. She thought the show was funny but bordered on silly, so she never became a fan. The nerds on the show bore no resemblance to Ethan, who was a self-professed nerd but came across as a regular guy. It reminded Lilli, if nothing else, that TV, except for Jeopardy, of course, was not to be, in any way, confused with reality.

Lilli munched her salad and marvelled at the composure of the Jeopardy contestants. It was only at the break in the first round when the contestants were interviewed that you got to see how nerdy they were - still nowhere near Big Bang nerdy, but a lot nerdier than Ethan. Lilli wondered if the fact that she thought Ethan wasn’t all that nerdy could be because she was a bit nerdy herself. 

Just as Jeopardy was over, her phone rang. It was her mom, Fiona, who knew that if she called during Jeopardy. that Lilli would not answer.

“Hi, mom.” Lilli said

“Hi, honey. Just calling to see if everything is OK. Haven’t heard from you in a few days.” 

Lilli liked to check in so her mom wouldn’t worry about her, all alone in the big city. Lilli appreciated her concern but didn’t think it was all that necessary. 

“Oh yeah. Everything is fine. Better than fine. I have a new friend, a boy named Ethan Thomas.”

“Oh really. And where did you meet him?”

“He picked me up at the bar in the Pierre Hotel.”

“Oh my. What were you doing there?”

“Mother. I’m twenty-three. I went there for a drink.”

Fiona was quiet for the better part of ten seconds. “So, tell me about this guy.” 

“He’s twenty-six. He’s very nice. He lives in the Dakota and is a partner in his father’s computer software company. He’s quite brilliant and is the head programmer there. He loves old movies, especially ones with Humphrey Bogart. He gave me a bunch to watch and I think they’re marvellous.”

“Well, that’s very nice, darling. How’s everything else? Are you still writing?” Fiona was a bit of a writer herself and had written several children’s stories for Lilli when she was very young.

“Yes I am and I have come up with an idea for a business too. Ethan helped me figure it out.”

“Oh, and what is that?” 

“I don’t want to tell anyone until I have it all figured out.” 

“Okay, well we’ll be quite excited to hear about it.” 

“How’s daddy?”

“Oh, he’s fine. He’s been on the road a bit for the past couple of weeks, cleaning up messes. That COVID nonsense screwed up his supply chain. You know the manufacturing business. One little crisis after another.” 

“When are you coming to the city? I’d love for you to meet Ethan.”

“I’ll talk to your father as soon as he gets back. Or maybe you could come out here for a change? And bring your friend.”

“Okay. I’ll see when he’s available.”

“And you’re eating well, I assume.”

“Oh yeah. I have a salad and some quiche in front of me.” Lilli lied about the sandwich and didn’t mention the chocolate croissant, because that would be grounds for a lecture about the evils of carbs and sugar.

“Well, you sound happy.”

`“I am. Things are starting to come together nicely.”

Lilli disconnected and sighed deeply, then went back to work on her dinner. Then she had a shower and curled up with one of Ethan’s movies. This one was called The Big Sleep. Bogey basically played the same type of character with a different name. The actress Lauren Bacall was in it again. She looked up Humphrey Bogart on the Internet Movie Database and found out that he and Lauren Bacall were married and that he died of lung cancer - not surprising since he smoked a lot in all of his movies. 

After the movie was done, she opened her digital journal and stared at it for a good long time. Finally, she started to write. It’s been a few days since I was here. A lot has happened in that time. The last time I was writing I know I must have sounded kind of hopelessly lost, just another poor little rich girl in the big city. But that’s all changed now and I have to tell you, I couldn’t be happier about it…

Lilli rambled on putting down her thoughts and reflections on the past several days, trying to gain a little perspective and focus. She needed to do this because somewhere in the back of her mind there was a little squeaky voice telling her to make sure she was doing the right thing. 

Lilli had never really been impetuous. She felt she got that from her father, who was an engineer before he became the CEO of his own company. His approach to everything was quite methodical and so was Lilli’s. She was fanatical about having her ducks in a row all the time. If one was out of place, she felt uncomfortable and the tiny, squeaky voice in the back of her head would squawk at her until she finally got it together.

But this was a bit different. ‘Trial and error, her father would tell her. You never can know and you never will know if something works until you try it. A lot of stuff looks great on paper or when the notion hits you. But the only way to know for sure is to actualize it and see if it works. Then you’ll know. Then you can move forward.’ The same went for Ethan. Lilli thought she’d have to try him out too, whatever that meant.

Lilli sat back in her chair and looked out the window at the park below in the twilight. There were still a lot of people there wandering around or sitting on benches. She wondered about them. How many of them had a story to tell in exchange for help finding something they had lost or misplaced? Her mind danced around in a circle bouncing between the things she wanted to be and the things she wanted to have. She didn’t want for much materially. She had more than enough money, thanks to her grandparents who left her and her brother Danny,]  each $25 million. 80% of Lllli’s money was making even more money in an investment portfolio that had over the years, grown the original $20 million into close to $40 million. She also had a beautiful place to live, a great city to roam around in and now, she hopefully had someone to care about in addition to her parents and brother. And that’s when it hit her. All she needed was one thing. One simple thing to make her life complete. She needed a purpose. Something to do that would make it a joy to get up every morning. Something that would exhaust her so much that she would sleep like a baby every night. Something that would challenge her so she could grow as a person. Something that would occasionally frustrate her so she could learn to pick herself up and keep going. Lilli was on a mission to become a fulfilled human being. And in her mind, she had actually made a pretty good start.

The next morning bright and early, Lilli made herself a coffee and an energy shake and sat back down at her desk. Then she went to work. She designed her logo, her business card, her brochure and the home page of her website. She purchased the URL for LillisLostAndFound.com and drafted out the story she wanted to tell. 

When she was finished, she looked up and realized that the whole day was used up, it was dark outside and she was starting to feel hungry. So, she ordered an Uber and took it to the Shake Shack where she bought herself a total junk food dinner and then headed back home to watch another Bogey movie. 

This one was called The Maltese Falcon, but there was no Lauren Bacall in it. Instead, there was an actress named Mary Astor. She looked up the film and discovered that The Maltese Falcon was made in 1941 before Lauren Bacall was even an actress. Lilli found this era of movie-making fascinating. People would fill the theatres to watch movies where there was very little action and a lot of talking. 

She thought about how different things are today, where the biggest movies are just the opposite.

Later that night, around 10 PM, Ethan called. He sounded pretty exhausted. He told her he was planning a recuperation day tomorrow, then he wanted to take a look at where Lilli was in terms of developing her business. They chatted for a while and Lilli let him know how much she had missed him. He laughed. 

“Yeah, I can grow on people,” he said in a self-deprecating way that Lilli found charming. That night Lilli slept like a log and decided that she too would take a recuperation day.

~ 4 ~

As Lilli looked out the window the next morning, she saw the sky was a blanket of dark grey clouds rolling from the west to the east. She looked down at the street and the street glistened back at her, saturated by a gently falling rain. She put on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and padded to the kitchen, put on some coffee, opened the fridge and pulled out the chocolate croissant she was too full to eat the night before along with a Honey Crisp apple. She cut the apple up into small sections and sprinkled it with cinnamon while her coffee made itself. 

Lilli loved her coffee in the morning. It was one of the things that got her through college. This was another habit she picked up from her dad, who taught her how to buy coffee beans and grind them properly. He was also a big fan of drip brewing. Lilli despised the little single-serve K-cups, believing that they were one of the world’s worst sources of pollution. She usually had three cups of coffee in the morning. So she bought herself a very nice 6-cup Melitta cone brewing system and biodegradable filter cones. She was determined to do her bit for the environment, no matter how small that might be.

As the water in her kettle heated up on the stove, she put five scoops of her special Kona blend in the filter. As she waited for the water to boil, she brought her computer over from her desk and set it on the dining room table.

She sat munching on her apple, sipping coffee and scrolling down her Facebook page, just for something to do. Once the coffee kicked in and woke her up for real, she would quickly leave the social media pages. She fervently believed that social media was a surefire way to rot your brain unless you took it in small measured doses, and no one or no thing was going to do that to her brain. Her father had always told her that no matter what happens to you in this life, if you trust your brain, and if your brain isn’t crammed with useless junk, you will figure it out. This was especially important for a writer, Lilli thought, because what’s writing after all but just a series of things that need to be figured out?

Sometimes Lilli wished she were older and had enough life experience to have tons of really deep meaningful insights in her head that she could write about. But then again, that was only a fleeting thought and it didn’t happen very often. Lilli had to keep reminding herself that she shouldn’t be trying to rush things because if she did, she might just get the highlights and would have cheated herself out of all the beautiful details which were really the important things.

What Lilli didn’t realize right away was that she had opened her digital diary and was writing down all the things she was thinking. She looked at the page and it was full. But she was hard-pressed to remember doing that writing. She stared at the page for quite a while, sipped her coffee and chewed on her croissant, thinking, isn’t that strange?

After cleaning up her breakfast dishes, Lilli changed into her Speedo swimsuit. She put on a fluffy terrycloth robe and some flip-flops, grabbed her goggles, got a water water bottle and a towel and rode the elevator down to the pool on the lower level of her building. 

The pool was large, not quite Olympic size but close. She had fond memories of it from her much younger days, before they moved to Long Island, when her mother would take her to the pool almost every day after school. Her mother was a very good swimmer and taught Lilli all the basic strokes. She also told Lilli that swimming was one of the very best cardiovascular exercises and something you could do all your life. 

Lilli swam with her mother, although her mother was much faster. But the more they swam the more Lilli’s grace and speed increased. She still swam with her mother during school breaks and summers and even now on the odd weekend when her mom would come to the city to shop.  It was their thing, the body thing. Lilli and her dad shared the mind thing, and together both parents helped make Lilli a whole person. 

There was no one in the pool when Lilli got there except Mrs. Gottlieb, who was sitting on one of the lounge chairs reading the New York Times, occasionally taking a sip of mineral water from a crystal glass that sat beside her bottle of San Pellegrino. Mrs. Gottlieb looked like a lot of the women Lilli saw coming and going in the building. She was trim, and though she looked to be in her mid-sixties, she had strong facial features that made Lilli think she must have been quite a beauty when she was younger. 

“Hi, Mrs. Gottlieb.” Lilli said.

“Oh, hello Lilli. How are things with you?”

“Things are very good, thank you.”

“Come down for your torture test, have you?”

Lilli laughed and pointed at the paper in Mrs. Gottlieb’s hands “How are things out in the real world?” 

“Oh, I wouldn’t know, Lilli. I never read the Post.”

They laughed again. It was their running joke and somehow it never seemed to wear out. 

Lilli took off her robe and left it with her goggles, cap and towel on a lounge chair. She walked over to the sauna and went inside. The dry heat immediately assaulted her. She grabbed a towel from a small pile on the lower bench and climbed to the top bench. She sat down on the towel and began to do a series of stretching exercises, which she continued for about five minutes just enough time for her to start feeling the perspiration on her skin. Lilli then jumped down and left the sauna, took a quick cold shower in the stall next to it, put on her cap and goggles and lowered herself into the 84-degree pool.

“Do you want me to count your lengths, Lilli?” Mrs. Gottlieb asked. 

“That would be great,” said Lilli. “One less thing to think about.”

“Have a good swim, dear.”

“Thank you.”

Lilli decided on a medley today. Two lengths each of crawl, breast and backstroke. Lilli avoided the butterfly although she knew how to do it. She just found it too exhausting and she was more in it for the conditioning than the strength-building. As she started to swim, she almost immediately felt her mind begin to relax as muscle memory took over. She would spend the next hour in this state and would hopefully manage to do some very deep thinking, although at twenty-three, how deep could it be? She laughed to herself and inadvertently swallowed a little water, which left an acrid taste in her mouth from the bromine solution that kept the pool so clean. 

Lilli pushed through one hundred lengths of the pool with Mrs. Gottlieb calling them out ten at a time. Lilli had only been living in the apartment for a few months now, since graduation, and Mrs. Gottlieb and Clive, the super, were the only two people she knew. Well, sort of. She didn’t even know Mrs. Gottlieb’s first name or anything about her other than that she read the Times and drank a lot of mineral water. She wasn’t even wearing a swimsuit. After Lilli hit one hundred lengths, she got out of the pool, towelled off and slipped on her robe, taking a seat across the table from Mrs. Gottlieb.

“You looked pretty good in there, today, Lilli.” 

“Thank you for counting.”

“My pleasure.”

“You know it's strange. You only know my first name and I only know your last name.”

“Oh, I know your last name Lilli. I know both of your parents. I know practically everyone who has lived in this building for the past fifty years or so. This has been my home for almost all my adult life. Your folks moved to Long Island when you and your brother were about three or four. But they kept the apartment, just sublet it to the Abels for a few years. Then your dad used it as a Manhattan office to get his own business going. Then they sublet it until you were finished college.”

“That’s interesting. They never told me any of that…So you’re sixty something?”

“Seventy-four, actually”.

“Wow, I hope I look as beautiful as you do when I’m seventy-four.”

“Keep swimming like you did today and you will.”

“Were you a swimmer?” Lilli asked.

“No. I was allergic to the chlorine they put in the pools back then. Made me swell up and it also played havoc with my hair colour. I was a walker. Mostly walking to work, down in the theatre district and back. Still do a bit of it these days.”

“Were you a model when you were younger? I mean, you have that look, you know.”

“In fact, I was, among other things.” Mrs. Gottlieb said. 

All the time they were talking, Lilli was thinking that maybe her little idea was something that would work. Mrs. Gottlieb knew everyone in the building and she could be a valuable source for introductions. Lilli was starting to feel a lot more excited about what she wanted to do.

“But what about you, Lilli? What are you doing these days now that you’ve got your degree?” 

“How did you know that?” 

“Oh, I talk to your mother from time to time. We were good friends, despite our age difference. Shopping buddies mostly. She was also interested in the theatre and I introduced her to a few people, but nothing ever came of it. She was too busy helping your father get his engineering business off the ground. He holds several valuable patents, you know. He’s really, quite the mechanical genius. My husband, David was an aerospace engineer, so he and your dad had a lot in common. They would sit by the pool here and discuss all manner of mechanical stuff. Your mom and I would go downtown and wander around. Then we would all have dinner together, at least once a week.”

“I never knew that about my mom,” Lilli said. “She never struck me as an actress type. More like a professional mom to Danny and me.”

“You have to push hard in show business. Her interest was not deep and didn’t last very long. How is your brother Danny, by the way?”

“Danny is Danny. He’s still at MIT. He’ll be getting his master's in engineering this year. I haven’t heard from him since he went to the Middle East for a semester on oil production. He might still be over there. He’ll show up sooner or later.” 

Lilli didn’t think about her brother Danny very often these days. He was Lilli’s twin brother and was being groomed to take over the family business. Lilli’s dad wanted him to learn all he could about the entire automotive process, so, he sponsored Danny’s entire MIT class for a learning semester with one of the large oil producers in the country of Oman. Danny and Lilli loved each other like any brother and sister but they were never really close since they didn’t attend the same schools after high school. Lilli studied literature at Vassar and Danny went to MIT to study engineering. Danny had skipped a year in grade school so he was working on his Masters in Engineering.  

Danny and Lilli got along just fine. They just never really saw very much of each other, after they stopped living at home.

“And what about you? Any ideas about what you want to do now, or are you going to go back to school?” Mrs. Gottlieb asked.

Lilli sighed. “No, I think I’m done with higher education. I did have this idea though and it occurred to me that you might be a good person to bounce it off.”

“Bounce away.” Mrs. Gottlieb said. “And by the way, it’s Esther. My first name.”

“Esther is a beautiful name.” Lilli said. 

“Thank you. I like it. So tell me about your idea.” 

Lilli spent five minutes telling Esther the whole story. Esther sat back and closed her eyes as Lilli spoke. Toward the end, a teardrop welled up in her eye. She leaned forward and took Lilli’s hand.

“That is a beautiful idea, Lilli. It will be a true labour of love.”

“Thanks.” Lilli said.

“This building is filled with people who have lost something, starting with me. I lost my husband eight years ago now. He died of a heart attack. My only regret was that we were both working professionals and never managed to spend as much time together as we wanted, even when we could afford to do so. I’m afraid that’s something you can’t find for me.”

“You must have had a heck of a career.”

“We both did. We got a whole life in except for the time together. That was always a challenge for one reason or another.”

“Well…you know, I would love to hear the story.”  

“Wonderful. Let me think about it and we can talk about it in a couple of days if you like.”

“That would be great,” said Lilli and she got up to leave. “And thank you, Esther. You may not know it, but you gave me the last piece of the puzzle I’ve been struggling with for Lilli’s Lost & Found. I may have just pieced it together.”

“Life is a puzzle, dear. We spend the whole of it putting the pieces together hoping they all fit.” Esther said,

Lilli gathered up her gear and headed for the elevator. As she was riding up to her floor, she felt herself getting very excited. Because now she realized what Lilli’s Lost & Found really was. It wasn’t about lost things at all. It was about memories. It was about love lost and perhaps, if she could do it well enough, she could help people recapture some of it in stories. Lilli was so happy she was crying when she got off the elevator and walked right into Ethan’s arms.

~ 5 ~

Lilli and Ethan made love that afternoon. It was not the first time for either of them, but it was the best time for both of them. They were gentle with each other and time, for them, felt like it had slowed perceptibly. Afterward, they lay together on Lilli’s bed and listened to each other breathe.

“I spent a lot of time thinking about you today,” Ethan said. “A lot of time.” 

“That’s nice,” said Lilli. “I thought about you too. I was trying to decide something.” 

“What was that?” 

“I’m not sure I want to say it. It might sound kind of corny.”

“What is it that your dad told you…you’ll never know unless you try?”

Lilli stared up at the ceiling. She was working on her courage. Finally, she just turned to Ethan and said, “I was trying to decide whether you can fall in love as quickly as I seem to be falling in love with you.” 

“How unusual. I was thinking the same thing.”

“Really?”

“No. But now that you mention it…” 

Lilli brought her fist down on his shoulder. Ethan started laughing. “So, I guess the honeymoon is over.”

Lilli climbed back up onto Ethan. “No darling…that was just the first round.”

“Oh no.”

“Oh yeah…”

It went on like this for another half hour or so, until both of them were completely exhausted. Ethan got up and pulled on his jeans. He walked out into the living room. Lilli pulled on her terrycloth robe and followed him out.

“This is pretty nice,” Ethan said, looking around. “Big. Three bedrooms, two baths and a study. I like it.” 

“You sound like you’re appraising it. You want to make me an offer?”

“No, just remarking on it.” Ethan said as he walked over to the dining room table and sat down while Lilli made coffee for them. When it was ready Lilli poured it into a couple of porcelain mugs. Ethan came over and put one flat teaspoon of sugar into his and just a drop of cream. Lilli noted the precision with which Ethan prepped his coffee. She dumped some cream into hers, until it was the mocha colour she wanted, then they both went back to the table and sat down. Lilli opened her computer and started showing Ethan some of the ideas she had for her business cards, her flyer and her website. 

“This is pretty impressive. I didn’t know you could design as well as write.” he said.

“I’ve been playing around with it for years. Mostly just essay covers and memes for Facebook.”

“You’re on Facebook?” 

“Isn’t everybody?”

“Umm no, not me.” 

“You’re kidding? How does that happen in today’s world?”

“I don’t know. When you work on computers all day and often all night, you really just want to get away from them. I had a Facebook account when I was about eighteen. But it just got filled up with spam and junk and scams. So, I just kind of closed it up and never re-opened it.”

“You are the first person I have ever met who doesn’t have some sort of social media account.” 

“Oh, I’m on social media. Our company has a LinkedIn account that I curate.” 

“LinkedIn? That’s a business site, isn’t it?” 

“Yeah. We get a lot of our business leads from it. The sales guys use it religiously. I just post blogs and articles that are interesting to our followers.” 

“How many followers do you have?”

“Oh gosh, last time I looked it was about five hundred and thirty-seven thousand.”

“You’re kidding.” Lilli was shocked.

“Well, we do make the number one small business management software in the world. We have more than three hundred thousand subscribers.”

“Holy cow. That’s a lot of customers.”

“Yeah. It also means a lot of system upgrades and customization projects. I have six dweebs working full-time on customization and integration. I do all the original system design work myself, with the help of three assistants. That’s what I’ve been doing for the last three days. You have to stay on top of that stuff or people will just thumb their noses at you. And the business press is ruthless. One bad upgrade review can cost you a few thousand potential subscribers.”

“Sounds like a nasty business.” 

“Nah, it’s pretty typical actually. But it wears on you. But I have been working for the last year with a guy I used to go to school with who’s pretty sharp. He wants to take over for me and my dad’s OK with that. That’s going to happen very soon. Which means I’ll be able to work on some other ideas I’ve been thinking about, like Lilli’s Lost and Found.”

Lilli leaned over and kissed Ethan. “Okay, so you’ve seen everything I have so far…oh and by the way…I already have a customer. A lady in my building. And she gave me some insights that I have to incorporate into my messaging.”

They talked about Lilli’s ideas for a while. Lilli got the distinct feeling that something was bothering Ethan. But she decided not to push it. He’d let her know all in good time. 

Finally, they decided it was time for dinner. They considered getting something delivered, but Ethan looked out the window and noticed that the rain had stopped. So off they went in the early summer evening to the good old Épicerie Boulud. 

As they were eating their dinner, Ethan looked at Lilli and said, “I want you to tell me something and be very honest about it, OK?”

Lilli stared at Ethan and noted the serious expression on her face. “Umm okay, sure.”

“You have a website idea for this project as a repository for the stories you are going to write for the people you talk to.” 

“Umm, yes…that’s the plan.”

“Well, I’m just a little concerned that when you start publishing these stories and even if we optimize your site for just New York City, you are going to get inundated with requests.”

“But that’s a good thing, isn’t it?” 

“Well, yes and no. Yes, a lot of people will get to see your stories. But I think that a great many of them will be getting in touch with you to write their stories for them. Or the stories of their parents, or somebody they know. So no, I’m not sure how good a thing that would be. Because if your idea has the kind of appeal I think it might, you may be spending more time than you bargained for just dealing with the demand and will hardly ever get time to write anything.”

Lilli stared at Ethan who had a very sincere look on his face. Lilli took a deep breath. “I never thought about this being something that could spin out of control.”

“I know you didn’t. But I did. Because I feel that this idea of yours is a lot bigger than you think it is. And I get it. This is your first venture out into the real world. I just want to make sure that the weight of this thing doesn’t crush you.”

Lilli stared at her quiche for quite a while, digesting a lot more than just her dinner. “So how do we manage that?” she asked.

“Well, I think the best way to do that would be to have a few people in your network who could do this kind of writing too.”

“So you’re saying treat this like a business as opposed to just me writing stories.” 

“Yeah, sort of. I think that’s the only way you can keep it from spinning out of control.” Ethan took a deep breath. “It’s kind of like my dad’s business. He started out with an idea kind of like Quickbooks, which is basically accounting software for small business. But in his head, he was thinking, tax returns, word processing, mass marketing and custom emails and a whole bunch of other stuff that he would develop as the accounting business grew. 

Today, Falcon Wing, that’s the name of our company, has one of the largest shares of the small business market in the world. We have about fourteen different products and groupings of them depending on the market sector we’re targeting. I just do the programming, systems design, and publishing, but there is a whole team doing the marketing and selling, installation, education and service and five sets of developers doing foreign language programming and service. But it grew from just me and and my dad to an organization that employs a couple hundred people with sales guys all over the world. And all that in just four years. That’s how fast things happen in business today.”

“So, what you’re saying is that I have to be prepared to become the person who runs everything as opposed to just a girl who writes stories for people.” 

“You can do it any way you like. But the way I see it, you’re not just writing stories, Lilli, you’re chronicling the lives of people in this city. That has value beyond what you do for those people specifically. I wouldn’t be surprised if, once you get a few stories done, you could take them to the New York Historical Society and get a grant to expand the business, and if they liked it, you wouldn’t have to spend your own money to fund the growth. Then we could go to other cities and sell them the idea and that’s how these things bloom.”

“Whoa, whoa there, mister.” Lilli said.

Ethan reached over and took Lilli’s hand and kissed it. “Sorry. I have been thinking about this a lot and, as you can tell, I’m very excited about it for you. But more than that, it’s something that can help me walk further away from my dad’s business. I’d still be a partner, but I could try my hand at something else like helping a beautiful girl I think I’m in love with do something really good.”

Lilli teared up. Her life was coming together at a mile a minute. She was as happy about it as she was frightened. She grabbed a napkin and dabbed her eyes.

“This is a lot to take in, Ethan. A ton and then some.” Lilli said.

“I know, but we’re both young and strong and there’s nothing we can’t handle.” Ethan raised his iced tea glass, tilted his head and spoke the sacred words. “Here’s lookin’ at you, kid.” His Bogart was pathetic but Lilli got the message loud and clear.

They walked home through the park. They didn’t talk much because both of them were lost in their own thoughts. It was a beautiful night. The air felt fresh and clean which was saying something for New York, the park was filled with couples of all ages, young families, boarders, bladers, winos, cops and tourists, the whole nine yards. They wandered on up to Strawberry Fields and Ethan told Lilli about his teenage obsession with the Beatles. 

“They were the greatest band I’d ever heard, even though they had long since broken up by the time I was old enough to really glom onto their music. I took an elective course in Music History at NYIT. It was the only non-computer science-related course I took. The assignment was to write an essay about a band or artist that did the most to alter the course of modern music in the 20th century. I did a lot of research and it came down to Bob Dylan or The Beatles and the Beatles won but only by a whisker. But mostly because while I loved them both, Dylan, to me, was less musical than the Beatles and more about the ideas. I listened to as many of their albums as I could and I realized that their progression as a band was not just reflective of what was going on in the culture at the time, but they were actually creating a lot of it.”

“I would have never pegged you for a Beatles fan.” Lilli said as they sat down on a park bench. “I was thinking more techno. But it just goes to show that you can’t always know where people’s heads are at.”

“What about you? Who do you like?” Ethan asked.

“You know, I never really thought about it.” Lilli took out her phone and opened her iTunes app. “Well, let’s see. I’ve got some Steely Dan. Some Dylan. Some Robbie Robertson. Jakob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Michael Jackson, Tom Petty, Bob Seger.”

“Whoa. How old did you say you were?” 

“My dad played a lot of seventies and eighties music around the house. I grew to like what he liked. I tried listening to the radio for a while, but it just all seemed like junk to me compared to all the people I just named.” She looked down at her phone again. “The Eagles, Jackson Browne, The Traveling Wilburys, there’s your George Harrison. So, we have one Beatle in common.” 

“You have good taste in music, my dear. And so does your dad.” 

“Speaking of which. I’m going out to Long Island to see my parents. I’d love it if you would come.” Lilli said,

“Sure,” Ethan said a bit tentatively. “As long as you warn them that I’m an acquired taste.” 

Lilli slapped his arm. “Don’t be silly. They’ll love you.“Have you had a bad girlfriend’s parents experience?”

“No, no, nothing like that. It’s just, well, I don’t want to screw this up.”

“And how’s that going to happen? Just be yourself. They don’t, or at least they’ve already been instructed, not to bite.” 

“Oh really? You mean you’ve already set this up?”

“I hinted at it.”

“But nothing is definite?”

“Well yeah, you’re definitely going to meet them. I just don’t know exactly when.”

This seemed to be a relief to Ethan. He got to his feet. “Let’s go get a cookie or something. Have you ever been to the Levain Bakery on Amsterdam?” he asked grabbing Lilli’s hand.

“Umm, no, I don’t think so.”

“OK, then you’re in for a treat.”

They headed off down 72nd Street. It was late in the day and it was perfect for walking. “You never told me where your folks lived,” Lilli said as they walked along.

“They live up in New Rochelle right on a golf course that my dad plays all spring, summer and fall. When he comes to work, he comes in on the train. He likes trains. He loves golf. It’s perfect for him. You’ll meet them soon. We’ll go out there for the big Sunday dinner.” 

“When’s that?” 

“Pick a Sunday. They do it every week.”

~ 6 ~

That night Lilli woke up around four am in a cold sweat. She had been dreaming a lot lately, mostly about writing. In this latest dream, she found herself in a windowless, circular room. She was sitting inside a round desk station. Every couple of feet there was an old IMB typewriter, with paper in the roller. She pulled her chair up to one of the typewriters and began to type. Then suddenly her chair shifted to another typewriter. And then another. Soon Lilli felt like the little chrome ball in a pinball machine bouncing from side to side. Writing on ten typewriters almost simultaneously The clacking of the keys rang in her ears until finally she found herself awake and sitting bolt upright in her bed gasping for breath.

Lilli shifted herself over and sat at the side of the bed for a good ten minutes trying to calm down. When she finally felt her heartbeat come back to normal, she laid back down and stared at the ceiling for quite a while before nodding off again. 

When she woke it was close to noon. She got dressed and made coffee. As she sat down at her desk and opened her laptop, the phone rang. It was Ethan.

“Ethan. Hi.”

“Hi Lilli. How are you today?”

“I had a strange dream last night. I was just about to write it down.”

“OK, I just wanted to say hi and see if you want to have dinner tonight.”

“I’d love to.”

“Good, I’m making pasta. It’s my speciality”

“Okay.”

“You can tell me all about your dream.”

“Yes, I will because I think it was a bit of an omen.”

“An omen. Now that’s a word you don’t hear very often. I’ll see you around seven.”

“Seven it is.”

Lilli wrote down the dream, as best she could remember it, in her journal, and sipped her coffee thoughtfully. After she had read it over, she continued…

After my conversation with Ethan about LL&F, I started to think about this idea in a whole different way. And to be honest, it genuinely frightened me. But I don’t know if it was the potential that this idea could have or just plain everything, you know being on my own, meeting a wonderful guy, having this idea for a business or at least a calling for myself. A whole lot is going on within a very short period.

 Last night’s dream was about the heaviest I’ve ever had and I just wonder if it’s because all of this is moving so fast. But at the same time, it’s electric and exciting and I love it all. Just wondering if I’m ready for it, you know…I can’t believe how weird all this sounds, considering that I have done absolutely nothing at this point.

Lilli finished her coffee and changed for swimming. When she got to the pool, she fully expected to see Mrs. Gottlieb sitting on her usual lounge chair with her New York Times, but she wasn’t there. Lilli thought that was strange, but at the same time, it was technically none of her business if Mrs. Gottlieb had something else to do. Lilli sat in the sauna and warmed up, showered off and did her hundred lengths in a very methodical way.

 An hour and a half later she was back in her apartment staring at the screen of her laptop, completely lost. She didn’t wonder what was happening to her because she knew. She was frozen in the middle of her own hyperactivity. She closed the computer and shook her head then took a deep breath and shrugged. “There’s only one thing to do now, Lilli. It’s time for a bike ride.”

One of the first things Lilli did once she got settled in the San Remo was to ride her bike down to the river and check out the bike paths. New York streets are not the most bike-friendly, but the city compensates for that with an amazing number of bike routes. Lilli had done several of them already and she was going to try a new one today.

Lilli fetched her bike from the basement and her helmet from her car. She walked up the garage exit to 73rd Street and rode over to Riverside Drive where she took the Hudson River Greenway, although nobody ever called it that. It was just the River, at least according to the building super, Clive, who had given her directions. She got on the bike path that ran alongside the river and headed north. For quite a while after that, she got lost in her thoughts as the scenery slipped by. 

Lilli had been an avid bike rider all her life and had great stamina, as evidenced by the fact that when she snapped out of her reverie, she was already up at 135th Street. She stopped there for a while and downed nearly her whole bottle of water before heading back down the sixty-odd blocks she had come.

Lilli wasn’t thinking about anything in particular while she rode, which meant of course, that she was thinking about everything. But after a while, she started thinking pretty seriously about what Ethan had said the night before, about how this whole idea could turn into a monster. She didn’t have any doubts that it would be anything but an arduous process to build the monster and that’s what bothered her. She just wanted to write these stories. She wanted to be able to focus on each one as they came along and not have any distractions or insane deadlines or financial obligations, even though she could well afford them

“What’s the point of being wealthy if you can’t do things at the pace you set for yourself? There you go,” Lilli said to herself out loud because no one was around to hear, “So, Lilli…You’ve made your first business decision and that’s to not make it a business.”

Lilli took a deep breath, let go of the handlebars and rode along for a while with her arms outstretched like a young eagle gliding on some mountain air current. She rode like that for nearly a mile until she realized her arms were getting quite tired. The rest of the way home was just a delight. Another beautiful day in Manhattan and a nice evening to look forward to with her guy. Lilli wasn’t sure if it actually got better than this, but she guessed she would find out.

~ 7 ~

Lilli arrived at Ethan’s right on time. The place was in its usual pristine condition except, of course, for the kitchen which was uncharacteristically messy. Lilli figured it wouldn’t stay that way for long because it was probably really bothering him. She decided to tidy up what she could. 

Ethan started heating the water. Then he opened a nearby cupboard and there, stacked perfectly, of course, were several different containers of pasta. “We have fusilli, rigatoni, penne, spaghettini or angel hair. Your choice.”

Lilli was stunned by all of this. “How about…the penne?”  

Ethan slid out the penne container and put it on the counter next to the stove. “Good choice. The veal will be ready in about twenty minutes. Let’s have a sip of wine, shall we?”

They both sat down at the dining room table and Ethan poured the wine and gave Lilli a glass. He raised his and they toasted to nothing in particular. Then Lilli said. “Do you always cook like this?”

“I have to level with you. The pasta, sauce, the veal, the bread and the cheese all come from an Italian grocery near my parents’ house. This lavish meal is the sum total of my culinary skill. Other than that, I am the take-away king of Manhattan.”

Lilli breathed a huge sigh of relief, as Ethan got up and started to drop the pasta into the boiling pot. “And I thought I was the only one.”

“Maybe we could take some cooking classes.” Ethan said.

“I’m finished with classes for a while, Ethan. Ask me next year.”

Lilly got up and wandered over to the stove and watched the pasta boil while she sipped her wine. “I went for a ride today all the way up to one hundred and thirty-fifth street along the river.” Lilli said.

“That’s a hell of a ride,” Ethan said as he adjusted the heat under the penne. He then opened the fridge and got out some Caesar dressing for the salad that sat in the bowl on the opposite granite counter.

“I did some thinking about everything we talked about the other night.”  Lilli said.

“And?” Ethan probed.

“Well, it all sounds quite grand. Almost too grand.” Lilli took another sip of her wine. “Anyway, I, uh, thought we could just play it by ear for a little while. Let me get one or two of these stories written and see just how much I can take on. I hope you don’t mind.”

Ethan stirred the pasta then turned to Lilli and touched her face gently. “This is your thing, Lilli. You do it your way. I’ll help you in any way I can. Everything we talked about will always be there. You have to be happy doing what you’re doing that’s the main thing. Actually, that’s the only thing.”

Lilli breathed a sigh of relief and then kissed Ethan and he kissed her back and the pasta boiled and dinner was eaten and the dishes were cleaned up and the Bogey movie was watched and the love was made and the evening flew by in a blaze of laughter and joy and passion. Lilli didn’t dream that night, or if she did, she didn’t remember it.

Lilli and Ethan both slept in the next day. When Lilli was fully awake and caffeinated, she kissed Ethan goodbye and left. She walked out of the Dakota to another beautiful day. Instead of going to her apartment, she went directly to the pool hoping to catch Mrs. Gottlieb. But for the second day in a row, she wasn’t there. So Lilli went upstairs to the concierge desk and knocked on Clive’s office door. He shouted her in. He was sitting in front of a bank of monitors sipping coffee and eating a bagel.

“Hey there Lilli B. How’s every little thing?” he said turning to look at her. Clive was the guy who did everything in the building and knew everything that was going on. He wasn’t a concierge in the traditional sense. He was just, well, Clive. He talked with an accent that Lilli thought might have made him a Texan. He wore cowboy boots and jeans, and had an assortment of University sweatshirts. Today it was UCLA.

“Pretty good Clive, how about you?”

“Can’t complain. What can I do you for?”

“I was wondering about Mrs. Gottlieb. I was supposed to have a chat with her today but I haven’t seen her down by the pool.”

Clive took a deep breath. “Ahh Lilli, Mrs. Gottlieb, she went to the hospital yesterday. But she’s home now.”

“Oh my. What happened?” 

“She had a small stroke. Nothing too serious. She’s in 805. You should go by and say hi. I bet she’d like that.”

“Thanks Clive.” Lilli said and headed for the elevator.

A few minutes later, Lilli knocked on the door of Apartment 805, and after a few seconds, a woman answered. Lilli was a bit taken aback because the woman looked almost exactly like Mrs. Gottlieb, only about forty years younger.

“Yes?” The woman said.

“Oh hi. I’m Lilli. Lilli Braithwaite. I live upstairs. I was…I am a friend of Mrs. Gottlieb.”

“Oh yes, mother mentioned you. Please come in.”

Lilli entered the apartment. It was kind of like entering a time capsule from another era and another place. The furniture was beautiful but very big and ornate. The pictures on the wall were all lovely pastoral oil paintings. The drapes were heavy and half closed.

“I’m Farrah” 

“Pleased to meet you,” Lilli said. “I heard she had a stroke. Is she all right?”

“Oh yes, she’s fine. She’s just resting now. It was very minor. She’s had a couple before and she’s come through them with flying colours. I understand you were going to interview her for something you’re writing.” 

“Yes. We talked about it down at the pool. She reads the Times down there when I swim. I want to write stories about some of the people in the building. I’m not sure what I want to do with them just yet. I’m pretty new at this.”

“Well, I think you should wait a few more days, and give her a chance to rest up. She sounds very excited by the idea. You don’t know who she is, do you?”

“Umm. No, all I know is that she was married, she did all kinds of things in the theatre and was a model. And now I know she has a daughter.”

Farrah smiled. “Well then, I’ll let her tell you the story, and I will certainly…”

Just then Esther shouted from the bedroom. “Farrah, is that young Lilli? 

Farrah walked to the door of the bedroom. “Yes mother. She came to see how you were doing.”

“Well, bring her in.”

Farrah turned and gestured to Lilli who entered the bedroom. It was as ornate as the rest of the apartment, with oversized furniture, pastoral paintings and heavy curtains. Esther was sitting up in the bed, with the New York Times on her lap.

“Hello dear.” Esther said. 

“Hi, Esther. How are you doing?” Lilli said, walking over to the bed and clutching Ester’s hand.

“Oh, I’m just fine. You get old. Stuff happens. You’ll see. Nothing you can do about it except power through. I’m going to need to rest for a couple of days and then I’ll be happy to sit down with you. I’m also making a list of some of the other people I know in the building who you could talk to. Once I’m up and about I will text it to you. Give me your phone.”

Lilli handed her phone to Esther. She typed in her phone number and a cell phone on the bedside table rang. “There,” Esther said. “We’re hooked up.” 

Lilli was staring at Esther. It was very hard to tell that she had had a stroke, She looked as alert as ever. But Lilli didn’t know much about older people and how they dealt with things. Farrah stood in the doorway smiling.

“I will text you once I have had some rest.” Esther said.

“No rush. I’m just glad you’re all right.”  

“Oh, I’m fine. This is my fourth little stroke and they haven’t got me yet.”

Lilli smiled. “You take care now. I really want this interview and I need you at your best young lady.” she said with mock sternness.

Lilli left the bedroom with Farrah close behind. At the door, Lilli turned to Farrah. “It was so nice to meet you. Is she really going to be, OK?”

“We’re all hoping for the best. But I think that doing this interview with you will be good for her, to get her thinking and using her brain. It’s very important to do that after a stroke.” 

“Anything I can do, please let me know.” 

“Give her a couple of days. She’s a tough old gal.” Farrah said.

“If you don’t mind me asking, are you her only child?” Lilli asked.

“Oh no. There are three of us. Two boys and me. But I’m the only one in New York.”

Lilli smiled. She kind of felt she was getting a bit forward. “Well, I should go now. I’ll wait for Esther to text me.”

“Thank you for coming by, Lilli. It was very nice to meet you.”

“Same here.” Lilli said as she stepped out into the hall and the door closed behind her.

Lilli took the elevator up to her apartment, changed and went down to the pool for her swim. She thought a lot about what it must be like to be old and have your body fail you for various reasons. Here she was twenty-three and healthy as a horse. She wondered how long it would be before that started to change and the downward side of the hill got steeper. But that thought drifted away as the lengths added up. Pretty soon she was just thinking about everything and anything all at the same time again.

After Lilli got back to her apartment, and showered, she decided that all she should do for now regarding her business was print some business cards and work with Ethan to design a website that would be a repository for her stories. After she had figured out the info she wanted on the card, she created a simple design that she liked, then searched the web for a printer close by. 

She rode her bike downtown to AGB, a print shop on West 37th Street. She dropped off the artwork for her card, picked out a nice creamy linen stock and ordered 500, which she would be able to pick up the next day.

After that, Lilli took a roundabout way home, seeing what was what in the area between 37th Street and the Park. She spent the better part of an hour riding up and down the streets that intersected with Broadway. When she got to the park, she picked up a giant pretzel and a bottle of water from a vendor at the entrance on 59th street and then rode into the park where she found an empty bench to sit and eat her pretzel and do some people watching.  But over the next ten minutes or so, the air grew humid and the sky overhead started to darken, so Lilli finished off her pretzel and rode home as fast as she could, just narrowly beating the rain.

When she got off the elevator on her floor, she saw something that she hadn’t expected to see. It was her brother, Danny, sitting on the floor beside the door to her apartment with a book on his lap. His face sported a scruffy brown beard. His hair was long and tied back in a ponytail. Beside him was a huge shapeless nylon bag. He got to his feet and smiled at her. “Hi Lil.”

Lilli instinctually reached out to hug her brother, which was returned with gusto. “Good to see you,” he said.

“Wow. This is a surprise. I thought you were somewhere in the Middle East studying oil production.”

“I was, but we got back today. I didn’t feel like trekking all the way out to Long Island. I thought I could stay here for a while if you don’t mind.”

Lilli opened the door. “No, of course, I don’t.” Danny grabbed his bag and entered the apartment. He looked around and shook his head. “You know I was wondering if I would remember this place,” he said. “Turns out I really don’t.”

“Well, we were very young when we moved out to Long Island, maybe three or four.” Lilli said. “Would you like some coffee? I don’t have a ton of food here. Never learned to cook.”

“Coffee would be great. But first I would love a shower.” 

Lilli showed him to the bedroom with the attached bath. He tossed his bag on the bed and looked around. “Thanks, Lilli. This is great”

“This is your place as much as it is mine, Danny. Stay as long as you like. I’ll make some coffee.”

Lilli walked back to the kitchen and got busy making the coffee. After about twenty minutes, Danny came out of the shower freshly shaved and in clean but slightly wrinkled clothes. Lilli poured some coffee and sat down in front of her computer at the dining room table.

“I just have to write my Masters thesis and then I’m done.” Danny said. “I already wrote most of it over in Oman. Not much to do at night there. If you’re an American, you just stay in the hotel,” Danny sipped the coffee and scowled a bit. “The coffee they serve you over there is unbelievably strong. This tastes great, but it has nowhere near the jolt.”

Lilli didn’t know how to respond to that since she had never had coffee in the Middle East. “I thought you were going to work for dad.”

“Oh, I am, but not just yet. I have to take a couple of business courses at Columbia, so I thought I would find a place here. Just for a year or so, while I get my thesis and  those courses done.”

“Do you want to stay here? I mean there’s lots of room.”

“That’s nice of you to offer, but I’d really like to have a place of my own and maybe closer to the Columbia campus.”

“Well, you’re welcome to stay here ‘til you find one.” 

Danny had always been much more independent and outgoing than Lilli. He signed up for every summer camp and trip that was available, while Lilli was happy to spend her summers at home, swimming in the bay and riding around on Long Island, reading, watching Jeopardy with her dad when he was home and writing in her journal at night.

“Just a few days.” Danny said. “I want to get registered at Columbia and look around for a place.”

The evening wore on and they talked quite a bit. Danny told her all about how different everything in the Middle East was and she told him all about her plans and her new boyfriend, Ethan. In the middle of it, they ordered Chinese food and ate and drank red wine. They even watched one of the Bogart movies that Ethan had lent her. Before they turned in, Lilli gave Danny a key to the apartment and the keys to her car, in case he needed it. 

The next morning, Danny was gone by nine. Lilli didn’t get up until well after ten. Her brother had sucked the energy right out of her. She wondered if that happened with all twins. She looked outside and saw that the rain had moved on. After a couple of cups of coffee and a toasted bagel, she went down and retrieved her bike. Her car was gone, but she noticed her helmet was sitting on the bike seat. She smiled to herself and headed out to pick up her business cards.

~ 8 ~

Two days later, Lilli’s phone beeped. It was Esther. They made a date to meet up the next day down at the pool. Lilli started to become very excited. She roamed around the apartment cleaning up. She filled up a couple of pages in her journal. She swam her lengths down in the pool and finally, she met up with Ethan for dinner at a place called Ruby’s Cafe on Mulberry Street close to Ethan’s office. 

Ethan was on the second, of a three-day blitz and he looked pretty done in. Lilli had never really seen him in the middle of work. She always had the refreshed and de-stressed Ethan. This guy was different. He was wired and tense. He looked around the restaurant a lot, like people were gunning for him. Lilli wasn’t quite sure how to handle this Ethan, so she just stayed quiet. After a fair bit of blathering, Ethan took a deep breath and looked at Lilli. “I’m sorry. We’re having some problems at work and I’m finding it all a bit frustrating at the moment,” Ethan said in as apologetic a tone as he could muster.

“I think we’re both a little hyper right now,” Lilli said. “But we’re going to have these ups and downs from time to time. I can deal with it. It’s not a problem.”

Ethan smiled. “You’re right. Life in the fast lane and all that. I think I’m just extra-hyper because my head is in it, but my heart, not so much. I think it’s because I can see a time where I won’t have to deal with it, and…” Ethan was struggling for the words. “And really, all I want is to be here. With you. On my own. Away from this grinding machine I helped to build.”

Lilli laughed. “And yet, here you are laying out plans for me to build the same sort of machine. I believe that would be classed as a paradox.”

“Yeah. Big fat ugly paradox.” Ethan sat back and took another deep breath. “Anyway,” he said, extending his arms in front of him in some kind of weird gesture that Lilli thought of as a wish to change the subject. “Great, you have your first interview.” Ethan said. “Have you written out your questions?”

Lilli chuckled. “Umm, no. I was thinking I would play it by ear with this one. I mean I’ve never done this before, so I have zero frame of reference. Besides, I thought it might be better if I just let her talk and record what she says.”

“That’s a good idea. Saves you from taking notes and it keeps the flow going. I recorded all my lectures at NYIT. A lot of us did. Then you go back to the quiet of your room and listen to it all on headphones a couple of times, and make notes as you go. Hell, you could even dump it onto your computer and have it transcribed so you could edit it easily.”

Lilli hadn’t thought about that. In fact, the more Ethan talked about it, the more she realized that she hadn’t really thought much at all about the process. She was so busy trying to figure out the idea that the actualization aspect had just never occurred to her.

“You’re a pretty smart fellow, aren’t you?” she said jokingly. 

“I have my moments.” Ethan replied. “I just thought that maybe in your excitement you might have skipped over a few procedural details.”

“I did. And thank you very much for the helpful reminder.”

“You’re most welcome.” Ethan said. Then he looked at his watch and became the hyper guy once again. “I’ve got to go. Good luck with your interview. I’ll call you in a couple of days.” He gave her a peck on the cheek and he was off. He stopped at the cashier’s station and paid for everything and waved goodbye to Lilli who was still sitting there with a half-finished glass of Merlot.

It was still quite light when Lilli got on her bike, so she took her time and explored some of the streets in Greenwich Village. When she got home, she noticed her car was still missing. When she reached her apartment a little worried, she decided to call Danny. He answered right away.

“Hi Lil…” then “It’s my sister Lilli,” he said, obviously talking away from the phone. Then he came back. “Hi. Sorry. I guess you’re wondering about your car. It’s perfectly safe. I’ll be home later tonight and I’ll tell you all about it in the morning.”

“Okay. But I was wondering about you. Are you alright?”

“Couldn’t be better. See you soon.” With that, Danny disconnected. 

Lilli shrugged and set the phone down on the table. She took a shower and settled in, to watch the last two Bogart movies that Ethan had lent her. Tonight’s selection was: The African Queen and Casablanca. 

As a writer, which Lilli was just  starting to consider herself to be, she marvelled at the ease and skill with which these stories were told. She thought about that while she watched them. There were no weak links in these movies. She could feel how lovingly crafted they were. Not that she hadn’t seen her share of good modern-day movies. But there was something about these Bogart films. She couldn’t put her finger on it. Perhaps when she had seen more, she would figure out exactly what it was, but for now, it was just a good feeling that she could connect with something Ethan loved.

Lilli went to bed feeling quite pumped. She was excited about the possibilities that lay in front of her. But she was also nervous about how she would handle this kind of writing. It had to be true both to her and to Esther. She hoped there would be enough common ground between them to be able to fashion a story that both of them would be proud of. After all, Lilli thought, this wasn’t just a story, it was someone else’s life. She had to be respectful of that if she wanted to make it work. 

She managed to calm down once she finally told herself that, as usual, she was making a much bigger deal out of this than it really was. She was going to learn how to do this by doing it. All the thinking about it ahead of time only made it feel scarier than it probably would be.

As she was nodding off, she heard the door open and close and knew that Danny was home.

The next morning Lilli was up bright and early. She dripped some coffee, put some new batteries in the small
digital recorder she had purchased, did a little audio check and, satisfied that everything was in working order, sat back and did some deep breathing. Then she opened her computer and created a Pages file titled Esther.

I first met Esther at the pool in my building where I go to swim almost every day. Whenever she was there, she’d be sitting in a lounge chair with a bottle of mineral water and a New York Times, which I assume she read cover to cover.

Esther was seventy-four and looked at least ten years younger. She had lived in the San Remo for most of her adult life and was friends with my parents when they lived here. Esther told me that she had done a lot of work in the theatre and also some modelling when she was younger. And I could see that. She had the pronounced cheekbones that any high fashion model would kill for and she was still slender, mostly from all the walking she loved to do when she was younger. She was a widow and I imagine that her story will involve her husband, David who was an engineer like my dad…

As Lilli was typing, Danny walked into the kitchen and poured himself a coffee. He sat down at the table and smiled at her.

“Where have you been, young man?” Lilli asked, trying to sound stern and motherly.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you, but I’ll tell you anyway. I went up to Columbia to register for my business courses. After I did that, I was standing in front of the big bulletin board in the registration office thinking I might find a place to rent there. While I was standing there, this girl walks up and stands beside me. We start chatting. You know, the usual BS. Turns out she’s looking for a place to live too. And we both glom onto this one ad for a place on 110th Street, just south of the campus. It was a two-bedroom townhouse and it was only available for a year, which was fine with me. But it was also fine with her because she is doing her masters in political science. I called and got us an appointment to see it. We went for coffee while we waited, and pretty soon we’re thinking, yeah this could be OK.”

Danny stopped and took a sip of his coffee. “We went to see it and jumped on it because the place was perfect and the owner really seemed to like us. But mostly he liked that we didn’t have any problem with the rent, which was forty-five hundred a month plus utilities. Abby, the girl, is short for Abigail and is gonna be my roommate. And her dad, John Anderson, believe it or not, is one of our dad’s suppliers. Small world, huh? Anyway, she’s really sweet. I didn’t hit on her or anything if that’s what you’re thinking. But you never know. We move in on Tuesday, so I’ll only be here for three more days.” 

“Wow, you don’t waste any time, do you?” Lilli asked.

“Life is short, Lil. And we’re trust fund babies, thanks to Grandpa. Grab what you can while you can. I’m just going to go home tomorrow or Sunday and get the rest of my stuff. You want to come and see the folks? I’d appreciate a lift.”

Lilli thought about it for a few seconds. “Let’s do Sunday. We can bring Ethan along and get that over with too.” 

Danny finished his coffee and went off for a shower. Lilli tried to continue writing but found herself a bit distracted. But when she read back what she had already written, she thought it was not too bad. She also thought it would be good to have an intro like that for every story. And after Ethan had suggested recording and transcribing the stories, she thought that was a pretty good idea too and she could interject at different places to provide whatever continuity was needed.

Lilli cleaned up her coffee cup and Danny’s, grabbed her recorder, a notebook and a pen and headed down to the pool to meet Story #1, Mrs. Esther Gottlieb.

~ 9 ~

Esther was already in her usual chair when Lilli arrived. She futzed around with her recorder for a moment, then took a look at Esther. She looked well-rested and very calm and they talked a bit about how she was feeling. Esther told her that her energy was a little lower than usual but she felt just fine.

“Okay, well, I thought we should start at wherever you think is the beginning of your story.” Lilli said. “I’m not going to ask you any questions. I just want to hear it in your own words.”

“Alright. That’s a nice way to put it.” Esther said and took a quick sip of her mineral water. She then took a deep breath. “I spent almost all of my time in bed thinking about this so I have it all pretty well organized in my head.” Esther said. “Hopefully it will all come out that way.”

“My husband David and I were childhood sweethearts. We were both born in East Germany a few years after the Second World War. Our parents were refugees from Russia who emigrated to East Germany right after the war. 

“It was very difficult for them to have survived the war hiding in Russia and there was a lot of anti-Jewish sentiment in East Germany as well. Although there was probably just as much Jewish guilt. 

“ David’s father and my father were both professors of engineering in Russia. But in East Germany, we were all just part of the mass of displaced souls in the ghetto. They did their best to keep their families together, working at whatever jobs would hire Jews. We shared an apartment there, so David and I grew up together. Things gradually got a little better, but East Germany wasn’t really all that different from Russia. Our fathers were quite brilliant and eventually convinced the East German government to hire them to help with the rebuilding. We weren’t rich but we weren’t starving either. I don’t remember much of our early lives. I just have visions of bombed-out buildings and that hideous wall. When we were teenagers, our parents all agreed that this would be no place for us to live.

“It took a few months of planning but eventually they found a freighter captain who was willing to take us to Copenhagen. We were smuggled on board his ship just minutes before it left port. We were carrying small sacks of clothing and a special leather pouch which we kept well-hidden and guarded with our lives. Because the pouch contained a small fortune in the form of four Faberge eggs our parents had smuggled out of Russia during the war. The eggs had been in their families for generations. This would have been around 1964, a good twenty-five years before the fall of the Berlin Wall. 

“We were also given the name of a collector, a Russian Jew who had also sought refuge in Copenhagen long before the war started because he saw what was coming. His name was Anton Volkov and he owned a large engineering firm there. Mr. Volkov purchased one of our Faberge eggs for the equivalent of about $250,000 in today’s currency. This allowed us to rent an apartment and have a little financial security. We had both finished secondary school by then and David used some of the money to enrol in engineering courses at the university. Mr. Volkov was very good to David, offering him an assistant engineering position while he worked on his degree. David told me that Mr. Volkov was the best instructor he had.

“Once we were settled, I set out to become a model and found work with some of the catalogue studios in Copenhagen and in Stockholm, which was just a ferry boat ride away. It paid surprisingly well and we were able to support ourselves without dipping into our nest eggs, pardon the pun.”

Esther paused and took a long sip of her mineral water. 

“David received his degree three years later, and the next thing we did was build new identities for ourselves. Mr. Volkov arranged for us to meet a forger who created all the documentation we would need, including Danish passports. This is when we became the Gottliebs.

“A few months later, David, with his engineering degree and a wonderful letter of reference from Mr. Volkov, applied for visas for us to travel to the United States. Evidently, Mr. Volkov’s letter went a long way to making our emigration rather straightforward. Upon our arrival, we spent a week in a hotel downtown and then finally settled into the apartment that would become our home here at the San Remo. Mr. Volkov had sent letters of reference to three large engineering firms here in New York. All three wanted David. He finally chose the Farnham group, a large national firm that specialized in the aerospace industry.

“David’s work took him to Florida and Texas quite frequently, so I raised the children pretty much on my own. We had a nanny for the first ten years, but once the three kids were all in school, she was no longer needed, and that’s when I started looking around for things to do. We had a driver to take the children to school and pick them up. You can get anything in New York if you have a good doorman, which we had at the time. Now of course we only have Clive, but even though he’s just the super, he’s very well-connected.

“We were lucky to have met the people we did, and have had the parents we had. Our only sadness was that we could not contact our parents for fear of our real identities being discovered and deportation back to East Germany, which at that time would have meant certain death or at the very least life imprisonment, and who knew what could have happened to our parents?” 

Lilli sat there, completely enraptured by Esther’s story, and that was only the beginning. “Wow,” Lilli said. “This is incredible, Esther, you’re making my job here very easy. But there’s one thing I’m curious about. You told me that you came to this country with counterfeit passports and documentation. Are you sure you want me to include any mention of that?”

“No, it’s fine. After we got settled, we found a very good immigration lawyer who argued our case with the United States Customs and Immigration Department. We were reclassified as refugee immigrants and legally registered under our Gottlieb names. It cost a lot of money, but our lawyer was very good. So, everything is fine.” Esther chuckled. “We were quite worried about it at the time, but as it turned out, the US government, back then at least, was very understanding. They seem to be much less so today, even with the Democrats in power.”

Esther took another long sip of her mineral water. “Do you keep a journal, Lilli?”

“Yes, I do, I write in it almost every day.”

“Well, I keep one too.” Esther said. “I started it right after we moved into this building. And I have kept it ever since. It’s been invaluable to me because it helped fill the evening hours when David was away, which was frequently.”

Lilli smiled, thinking about how much she would like to get a look at that journal, but at the same time, knowing it would be quite impolite to even ask. After she finished making a couple of notes, she looked up at Esther and could see the fatigue in her eyes.

“I think we have done enough for today, Esther. You look a little tired.” Lilli said.

“Yes, the doctor told me to ease back into things. And I think you’re right…although it has been quite exhilarating. Why don’t we continue, perhaps Sunday morning? Same time, same place?” 

“Oh gee, on Sunday I’m going to visit my parents. I’m driving my brother out there to pick up his stuff. He’s moving to the city for a year to take a couple of courses at Columbia.”

“And how is Danny?” Esther asked “The last time I saw him he was sucking on his fingers and only about two feet long.” 

“He’s a bit taller than that now. He’s been in Oman learning about oil refining. He plans to take over the business for my dad, once dad thinks he’s ready.” 

“I take it you never had any interest in the family business?”

Lilli chuckled a bit. “No, I’m afraid not. I went the whole other way. In fact, I’m a little concerned about the ongoing viability of anything to do with fossil fuels.”  

“Well, you seem to have stumbled on a nice idea for yourself. I don’t know how worthy my story will be in the greater scheme of things. But I am enjoying the telling of it to you and you are a very good audience.”

“Your story is pretty amazing. I’m looking forward to the rest. Can we get together on Monday, same time, same place?”

“Certainly, Lilli.” 

With that, Lilli got up and Esther went back to her newspaper. Lilli literally floated back to her apartment on a magic carpet of pure delight. This was turning out to be so much better than she imagined. Danny was nowhere to be seen when she got back to the apartment. Lilli made herself coffee, sat down and hooked her recorder up to her Mac and copied off the audio file which she had named ‘Esther 1.’ With her Express Scribe program, she converted the audio to a text file which she then copied into a Pages file.

As she started to read through it, she began to feel hungry and it occurred to her that maybe she should go out and buy some groceries. She used Google Maps to locate the closest supermarket to her, Westside Market up at 95th and Broadway. She looked them up online and discovered they also offered delivery. She closed down her computer, changed into some riding clothes and headed out on her bike.

It was a little muggier than it had been for the past week or so. Maybe that’s why the ride up to 95th felt a bit longer. A few hours later, however, she was back in the apartment sorting through all the stuff she bought which had been very quickly delivered. Once everything was put away, she made herself a ham and cheese sandwich and sat back down at the computer to sift through the wonderful narrative that Esther had given her. 

When she had all the corrections from the audio translator done, she read the whole piece out loud, which is something she always did with her own writing. As she did this, it occurred to her that this was either going to be the norm or an aberration - she didn’t feel the need to alter very much at all. She would have to play it for Ethan and see what he thought. But when it came to matters of writing, she had a lot of faith in her own opinion. 

When Lilli had gone downstairs to get her bike, she noticed that her car was there and so she called Danny. He answered almost instantly. 

“Lilli. How’d your interview go?” 

“It was great. Much better than I expected. Where are you?” 

“Exploring my new neighbourhood. Got to know where the good eateries and grocery stores are, among other things.” 

“Just wanted to make sure you’re OK.” 

“I’m good. Let’s do dinner somewhere. You pick. By the way, when am I going to meet this boyfriend of yours?”

“Probably not until Sunday. Maybe sooner. Depends on how long it takes him to recuperate from his work.”

“Recuperate? What kind of crappy job does he have?”

“I’ll let him fill you in on it.”

“OK, text me the address of the restaurant and the time. I’ll meet you there.” 

“Will do.”

Lilli disconnected and went on about her day starting with a swim. When she got down to the pool, she noticed that Esther had left.

 While she was swimming, she thought a lot about what Ethan had said about expanding her idea into a bigger enterprise. She decided that she still felt uncomfortable with it mainly because she didn’t have enough experience to have any real perspective. So, she just filed it away and got on with her laps. 

Afterward, she lay on her bed and even though she wasn’t aware of how tired she felt, she slept for two full hours. When she opened her eyes and got her bearings again, she realized she hadn’t sent Danny the location of the Shake Shack where they were going to have dinner. She grabbed her phone, texted him the address and time, got dressed and headed out to 42nd Street.

~ 10 ~

Ethan called the next day around noon. He sounded pretty chipper to Lilli. He told her about a long talk he’d had with his father, who agreed that he could scale back his activities with the company and give the bulk of his programming work over to his apprentice. Lilli was pleased, mainly because he sounded like a guy who had just been let out of prison. 

“That’s wonderful, Ethan. I didn’t realize you were that close to making the change, but I’m glad for you.”

“So what’s happening in Lilliland?”

“Well, I did my interview with Esther. She just told me the first part of her story and it was pretty amazing. I’ll definitely have to do one or maybe even two more sessions with her. But this is going to be great. And…my brother Danny came home from the Middle East and he’s going to finish his MIT dissertation here in New York and also take some business admin courses at Columbia. He’s staying with me at the moment, but he’s already found a townhouse to live in and a roommate. Which brings me to one more thing. On Sunday, I promised to drive Danny home to get his stuff and his car and I was thinking it would be a good time to stick you in front of my parents. What do you think about that?”

Ethan was silent for a good five seconds. Then he started to laugh. “Yeah, sure thing. Let’s get that out of the way.” 

“It’ll be fun. My parents are really nice.” 

“Have you ever brought a boyfriend home to meet them?”

“Well…no, but…”

“Then you have no idea how they’ll react.”

“I don’t. Because they will see that you, mister, make their daughter happy and that’s all they’ll care about.” 

“OK…irrefutable logic. I’m in.”

“We’ll leave in the morning and have lunch there. We can leave anytime you like after that.” 

“Sounds like a plan. And here’s one for the tit-for-tat department. I’m going out to see my parents and my brothers this afternoon. I’d like you to come with me.”

Lilli hadn’t expected that, but quickly realized she had to agree. But unlike Ethan, she saw it as a real opportunity. “I thought you only went there on Sundays,” she said.

“Everything got moved up a day because my dad officially declared it’s barbecue season.” 

“Does everybody else in the world know that?”

“Everybody in New Rochelle does. You’ll see. There’ll be more smoke rising there than you can imagine.”

“Do you want me to drive?” 

“No, my dad drove my car down yesterday.” 

“I never knew you had a car.”

“I do. I keep it up there because I don’t really need it in the city. I just use it when I’m in New Rochelle ‘cause the public transport up there is the pits.”

“I just keep learning things about you.”

“That’s what keeps the candle burning Lilli. I’ll pick you up at around three.”

Right on time, on Saturday, Ethan picked Lilli up in a sleek black BMW coupe. Easily a hundred thousand dollars worth of German design and engineering. Lilli got in and looked over at Ethan, who leaned forward for a kiss. “You don’t look like a guy who would own a car like this, my dear.”

Ethan laughed. “And you, my dear have no idea how profitable the business systems industry can be. But…you will find out today.”

Lilli looked at Ethan for a few seconds. “Well, I’m ready. How about you?”

“Let’s do it.” And with that, they were off. Lilli had no idea how they were getting where they were going but it seemed to her that Ethan knew these urban highways like the back of his hand. 

“There’s no way to go straight to anywhere around this city,” He told her. “But the good thing is that you always have a lot of options. My record for getting to my folks from mid-town is forty-two minutes, but that was in the morning when traffic was all going the other way. This should take us about an hour.”

“Oh good.” Lilli said pulling a CD out of her bag. “I wanted to play my interview with Esther for you, so this is the perfect time.” Lilli slid the disk into the player and together they listened to the first part of Esther’s story. By the time it was done and replayed on Ethan’s request, they were just clearing the Bronx on the Bronx River Parkway approaching New Rochelle. Lilli ejected the disk and put it back in its sleeve.

“Well, what do you think?”

Ethan looked her straight in the eye, and said, “I think you’re really onto something here Lilli. I think you’re going to be famous.”

Lilli sat back in her seat. She reached out and took Ethan’s hand, thinking about how important his approval was to her. But, more importantly, his opinion validated her own belief

“You know I think we are. Onto something. I don’t know about the getting famous part.” Lilli said.

Ethan just smiled. “We shall see, Lilli Braithwaite. We shall see.”

As they drove onto what Ethan informed Lilli was the main drag of the suburban town, Lilli insisted on stopping and buying flowers for Ethan’s mom. She explained that she was always told to bring something to show her appreciation as a guest. Ethan just chuckled, “As if the twelve bottles of Michelob chilling in the cooler on the back seat were just chopped liver.” Ethan pulled up in front of a flower shop and Lilli jumped out. In a few minutes, she came back with a small bouquet of roses.

The main drag, New Rochelle Avenue, looked to Lilli like any other 6-lane road in suburban America with wall-to-wall retail stores, ugly apartment towers, little strip malls and big supermarkets. Then Ethan turned off on a street called Christie Plaza and quite literally, in less than 30 seconds, the landscape shifted a hundred and eighty degrees. The houses on either side of the street could barely be seen with their long driveways and the lush gardens, shrubbery and treescapes. It was quite a bit different from the Long Island neighbourhood where Lilli grew up and  big beach houses, sand and the sea dominated the landscape. 

Finally, they turned onto Post Road, drove up a long tree-lined driveway and stopped in front of a massive colonial-style house with three other very expensive-looking BMWs parked in the driveway. Lilli got out of the car and just stared at the house for a whole thirty seconds, while Ethan got the cooler out of the back seat.

Ethan led Lilli around the side of the house to the backyard, which was even more spectacular than the front. There was a large pool with a retractable awning over it, and a massive wooden deck with a round black metal table set for six people. The table was shaded by a pair of triangular umbrellas. Beyond the deck along the side of the pool, chaise lounges and small tables alternated for pretty much its whole length. Off to the side and under the shelter of the extended roof of the house was a large barbecue sitting between a pair of five-foot counters. It looked like half a kitchen out on the deck. To Lilli, it was obvious that there was a lot of outdoor living done here.

Ethan’s two brothers, Nathan and Jessie, were sitting on the far side of the large table drinking beer and chatting with each other. Ethan’s mother, Louisa, walked out the back door with a tray of snacks. She was a very lovely-looking middle-aged woman. Everything about her said wealth and breeding. Louisa was dressed in a beautiful, green-patterned silk kaftan. Her hair was very short and the cut accented her high cheekbones. Ethan set the cooler down and he and Lilli walked over to her. Ethan gave her an affectionate hug. 

“Mom, this is Lilli.”

“So pleased to meet you, Lilli. What a lovely name.”  She extended her hand and Lilli shook it softly.

“Thank you, Mrs. Thomas. Pleased to meet you as well.” 

“Just call me Lou. Short for Louisa. Everybody else does”. 

The two brothers heard her and started whooping, “Lou, Lou. Lou.” Louisa just smiled and then shook her head. Lilli handed her the flowers she was holding. “Oh my,” Louisa said. “These are lovely, thank you. I will get them into a vase right away.” With that, she turned and scooted back into the house. 

Ethan led Lilli over to the table where his two brothers were sitting. They both got up. “Guys this is Lilli. Lilli, these are my older brothers, Nathan and Jessie.” 

They exchanged greetings, invited Lilli to sit down as Ethan went to get beers for everyone. 

“Lilli…I hear you live in San Remo and your dad owns Braithwaite Engineering. But we don’t know anything else about you. Ethan’s been a little skimpy on the details.” Jessie said.

“I don’t know anything at all about you guys, so you go first.” Lilli said.

“Okay,” Nathan said. “We all work for the family. I run our business forms company, TBF, which is short for Thomas Business Forms, duh. Our head office is in White Plains. We also have sales offices in St Louis and San Francisco and we’re working on a deal with the Canadians to open a Toronto branch. I live in White Plains and am still single.” 

Lilli looked to Jessie and he said, “I run the BMW dealership in White Plains. Another family business, because as dad says, there will always be rich people who need snazzy wheels in America. Still single and live just down the street from Nate in White Plains. And now you also know why the driveway is jammed with Beamers. Your turn now.”

Ethan sat down and stuck a beer in front of everyone. He took a glass from the side of the table and set it in front of Lilli. 

“Well, I just graduated from Vassar with a Master's degree in literature. I was born in the city, but grew up in Hampton Bays Long Island. I have a twin brother named Danny. And I’m basically just working on becoming a writer. Ethan and I have just started a project that could be very interesting. I’m interviewing some of the older people in my building and I want to write their stories. Once I have a few done I will look for a publisher or just publish them myself on a website.”

“Lilli is being humble, guys.” Ethan said. “This is a much bigger idea than that. She played me the first interview she did with a Jewish woman she knows and it was an incredible story.” 

“Wow. And how old did you say you were?” Jessie said. 

“I didn’t, but I’ll twenty-four on my next birthday.”

“You better hold onto this one, Ethan, she’s a keeper.” Nathan said. “Lilli, that sounds amazing. You could probably spend the rest of your life listening to stories like that in the city.”

“I think you might be right.” Lilli replied. “Ethan had this notion that maybe we should take the idea to the historical society and apply for a grant to fund it. But that kind of made me nervous. I mean, that would turn it into a business.”

“But isn’t that what it’s all about?” Jessie asked. “I mean this country is full of idea people who get stuck on first base.”

“I say go for it, Lilli. What’s the worst that can happen?” Nathan asked.

Lilli turned to Ethan. “Is everybody in your family this driven?” 

“Pretty much.” Ethan said. “And you haven’t met dad yet.” He looked to Jessie. “Is he still on the course?” 

Jessie nodded. “He’ll be here soon. Why just play eighteen when you can play twenty-seven holes and still get home to cook the steaks?”

Almost as if on cue, Andrew Thomas came walking around the corner of the house. All three brothers immediately shouted. “Pop”.

“My boys,” Andrew said as he walked up to the table. “And this must be the lovely Lilli. The girl who’s stealing my youngest son away from me.”

Lilli got up to greet Andrew and he immediately swept her up in a hug. He was a large man and he almost totally engulfed Lilli when he wrapped his arms around her. He let her go and stood back to look at her. 

“Well, you’re everything that Ethan told us and then some.” He then wagged his finger at Nathan and Jessie. “You two need to get off the bimbo circuit and find yourselves a classy, beautiful girl like Lilli here.” Then in the next breath he spouted. “I have to go change and find my apron. Hope you like steaks Lilli.”

“I’m not a vegetarian sir.”

“Well, that’s good. I’ll be back in a jiff.” 

On his way into the house, he gave Louisa the same bear hug and said something that made her laugh out loud. Or maybe it was a squeal. 

“Your dad really is larger than life,” Lilli said to the table.

“Yeah, he’s a lot of bark but very little bite,” Jessie said. “He never lost the old-school sales guy persona that he had when he first started out. He believes that’s the secret to his success. And it’s really kind of hard to argue with that.”

Lilli sat back down and leaned against Ethan. “This is one hell of a family you’ve got here, my dear.” And everybody had a good laugh about that because they all knew it was true.

Dinner was a feast of massive rib-eye steaks, Caesar salad and baked potatoes, more beer and a beautiful lime cheesecake for dessert. Lilli mostly watched and marvelled at how close-knit this family was. They were living the American dream and enjoying the hell out of it. 

They peppered Lilli with questions designed to bring her out of herself and it worked. Before long Lilli was telling Vassar stories and everybody laughed and drank and chatted the night away. The only soft spot that Lilli could see in the whole family dynamic was one that plagued most families in America these days. Politics. Lilli noticed that whenever the subject was broached Andrew would masterfully steer it in another direction like the great salesman that Lilli was convinced he had to be, in order to build the kind of family empire they enjoyed.

Later that night, driving back to the city, Lilli brought up the subject. 

“Yeah, we don’t talk about politics.” Ethan said. “Dad’s a hard-core Republican. Big donor, but like a lot of old-school Republicans, he’s completely bewildered by what’s going on with the party right now. Everybody else in this family is a Democrat, so we keep the peace by avoiding any political chatter when we are all together.”

“I was just finishing high school when Trump got elected.” Lilli said. “I really wasn’t paying much attention. I knew my dad was pretty much apolitical, but Trump kind of forced everybody to take sides. I remember watching him speak on TV and wondering how someone like that could have gotten elected to run a country like this one. He was crass and vulgar. He thought he was being funny but he was really only being cruel. But then again, I guess I’m pretty far removed from the people that he was trying to reach.”

“Yeah, I sort of feel the same way. The tech world is definitely not the real world. That’s why I’m so pumped about your idea. I think people need to hear stories from older Americans, especially immigrants. Give them back their sense of history and maybe a little bit of good old-fashioned pride. Right now, it all seems to be about conflict and differences. But I believe the things we have in common far outweigh the things that separate us from each other.”

Lilli looked over at Ethan, who was staring at the road ahead and marvelled at how she loved him just a little bit more every day.

Sunday morning, not too early, Lilli rode out to the bakery and bought bagels for herself, Danny and Ethan, which they enjoyed over coffee at Lilli’s apartment. 

Ethan and Danny got along like famously and Lilli sat quite bemused, listening to them yak endlessly about computers, the Yankees, old movies and the general state of the world. 

The yakking continued pretty much non-stop on the drive out to Long Island which Ethan insisted on doing.  As they drove through Brooklyn, they picked up Highway 27, and headed straight out onto Long Island to Hampton Bays, where they turned off. They continued in the same direction on the Montauk Highway, north through the town and east all the way to Shinnecock Bay, then onto a circle called Cormorant Drive, really a non-gated community called Cormorant Point. Finally, they turned into a driveway at the northernmost point of the circle.

“We’re here!” Lilli announced. They all got out of the car and entered the massive house by the front door. Ethan was impressed with the oceanside classical design of the house, although it had very little homeyness about it. But as they walked through the formal front section of the house, it suddenly seemed to change character. There was a large kitchen with a huge island in the center and a counter that overlooked a big family room three steps below. It opened onto a deck that overlooked a small pool and the bay. It all had that neat-but-not-too-neat look of a real family home.

Lilli’s mother, Fiona, came up the short stairway to greet her kids fondly.

Danny and Lilli both gave her mom a big hug.

“Mom,” Lilli said. “This is my friend Ethan Thomas. Ethan, this is my mom, Fiona.” 

Ethan extended his hand to Fiona and she shook it gingerly. 

“Lovely to meet you, Ethan. Lilli tells me you’re helping her with her project, which I am dying to hear about.” Fiona said.

“It’s still early days, but I’m sure Lilli will tell you all about it.” Ethan said.

“Where’s dad?’ Lilli asked.

“Your father is just having a little Zoom meeting in his office. He won’t be long.” Fiona said.

Fiona led them out to the deck where there was a large bowl of chips and some asiago cheese dip on a large white metal table. 

“In honour of the kids coming home, we’re having pizza for dinner. I hope that you’re a pizza lover, Ethan, because we all are.” 

“Yeah, mom never really mastered the art of cooking. We always had nannies who could cook too,” Danny said as he set some beers down on the table. “It also helps that we have the best pizzeria in Long Island right here in Hampton Bays.”

“I used to cook,” Fiona said. “But my career kind of got in the way.”

“Lilli never mentioned that you worked. What do you do?” Ethan asked.

“Mom’s a party planner, Ethan.” Lilli said.

“People out here are very social and we get invited to a lot of parties.” Fiona said, pouring herself a glass of red wine. “But I noticed that there was very little planning that went into these affairs. So, I created a little company and advertised it locally and before long, I was the go-to party planner in the Hamptons.”

“That sounds like it would be a lot of fun. Is it profitable?” Ethan asked. 

“Oh,” Fiona said. “I don’t charge for the service. I’m just doing it because it really needs to be done. But I have a wonderful network of suppliers who love that someone is finally getting this all organized. In return, I get certain perks. Like tonight’s pizzas, from Centro Trattoria.”

Ethan laughed. “That’s pretty incredible. I can see where Lilli gets her entrepreneurial drive.”

Fiona just smiled. “Well, that’s nice of you to say, Ethan.” She took another sip of her wine, then she got to her feet. “I’ll go get your father off the damn computer.”

“So that’s my mom. She’s a handful. You should see her work with these rich people. It’s really something. And they just love her to death.”

“I’m going to go and figure out what I want to take with me and throw some laundry in.’ Danny said.  “I’m staying over till Tuesday. I can’t move in till then. See you in a bit.”

Ethan and Lilli got up and walked over to the pool. It was crystal clear and perfectly still. “My folks both swim. That’s where I got the bug.” Lilli said.

“Nice pool. Kind of small though, isn’t it? Ethan said. 

The pool itself was only about thirty feet long and maybe fifteen feet wide. There was no diving board or ladder. Just a small set of steps and a handrail in the corner.

Lilli got up and walked to the wall of the house. She popped open a hinged wooden box screwed into the brickwork and took out a remote control device. Suddenly, the pool started churning and bubbling.

“It’s a swimmer’s pool.’ Lilli said. You can adjust the current in it up to fifteen knots and you swim against it. It’s crazy good for building stamina and gives you four times the workout in half the time.” 

Ethan stared at the water for several seconds, then turned to Lilli. “That’s incredible”. Lilli pressed another button and a canopy opened up from the wall above the pool and covered the pool with a strange tent. 

“It has a canopy, a heater, it even has a whirlpool function. My dad loves gizmos. When he saw this in the Sharper Image catalogue, he just had to have one. He actually tweaked the standard motor to get an extra five knots out of the water flow. We can have a swim later if you like. I’ll teach you how to do it.”

“Yeah, OK. Sounds like fun.” Ethan said.

Just then Fiona and Lilli’s father, Marcus, came out onto the deck. Marcus was a little over six feet had a thin but muscular body. Lilli rushed to give her dad a big hug,

“This is my friend Ethan Thomas. Ethan, this is my dad, Marcus.”

“Good to meet you sir.” Ethan said and the two men shook hands. Marcus went to the table and poured himself a glass of wine.

“Lilli tells me you’re a computer genius, Ethan.” 

Ethan laughed. “Well, Lilli’s a bit biased. I design business software systems.” 

“I know. Falcon Wing. Very good business software. Several of my suppliers use it and swear by it. I understand you’re a partner in the business.”

“I own 30% of it. My dad owns the rest. But I’m in the process of disengaging from the company for a while. I’ve finally found a programmer I can trust who could take my place. I’ll move into an advisory role for the next while. And it will free up a lot more of my time.”

“And what will you do with this extra time you have given yourself?” 

“Well, I’m going to help Lilli get her project up and running online, and umm, I have a couple of other ideas I would like to develop.”

“Well, that sounds exciting. And I, for one, am very pumped to hear about Lilli’s idea.”

Just then the doorbell rang. Danny shouted from somewhere in the house. “I’ll get it.” About thirty seconds later he came up to the deck carrying three large pizza boxes, which he unceremoniously dropped on the table. He walked over, hugged Marcus and announced, “Dinner is delivered.” And they all sat down to eat.

The dinner conversation was mostly the kids updating the parents on everything that was going on. They were delighted to hear about Lilli’s idea. They both remembered Esther and David Gottlieb with genuine fondness. Ethan felt like a bit of an outsider because this family was obviously very tight-knit. He imagined that Lilli probably felt the same way when she was at his house. But he was content to watch and learn as much as he could about the family that he hoped would be a part of his life for the foreseeable future.

The pizza was everything it was advertised to be. The sauce was spicier than any Ethan had experienced before. But he found it quite to his liking. After about twenty minutes of getting caught up, Marcus looked at Ethan, “What do you think about Lilli’s idea, Ethan?”

“I think it’s the kind of thing that could turn into something much bigger than Lilli would want it to be. But there’s a lot of ground to cover before she actually has to worry about that. Right now, I think she’s excited and that’s a good thing. I told her I would help her as much as she wanted me to, but she has to be the shot caller here, not me.”

Marcus leaned back in his chair and stared at Ethan for quite a while. “That was a very considered answer.”

“Well, my only interest in all of this is Lilli’s happiness. And she’ll only be happy if she’s following her own path. I know this because she told me as much when I brought up the whole idea of where it could go. Maybe that will happen. Maybe it won’t. It’s all up to her.”

“I think Lilli is very lucky to have found you, son.”

“You do know that I picked her up in a bar, don’t you?”

Marcus started to laugh, because he got the satire right away. Soon after everybody else was laughing too.

“But it was a classy bar, was it not?” Marcus asked.

“Yeah, it was in the Pierre Hotel. Fairly classy.”

And so, the evening went on. Everybody got to find out a little more about each other and everyone realized how good it felt to know they all kind of fit together. Later that evening, Lilli and Marcus were walking along the beach. The moon was full and bright. The house was lit up and they could hear the chatter from the back deck as they walked.

“He’s a good lad, your Ethan Thomas.” Marcus said.

“I know. And I’m going to do my best to hold onto him.”

They walked on for a while enjoying a companionable silence.

Then Marcus said, “I know you don’t have any material needs. Your grandfather took care of that rather nicely. But I just want you to know that we’re always going to be here for you. All we have to give you now is advice. So please don’t hesitate or worry about how busy I am. You’re my little girl and I will always have time for you.”

Lilli grabbed her father’s arm and hugged it. “I know. And don’t worry. You won’t lose me to the big bad city.”

“Good. That’s good. All we ever wanted was for you to have a good life. Do what you want to do, really want to do. If this isn’t the thing, then admit it to yourself sooner rather than later. Because that boy sitting back there with your mom and brother, he will make sure that whatever you want, you will get, so it behooves you to always know what that is. And that’s the end of the sermon. Things are coming together for you as a grown-up lady. I can tell how happy you are. And how happy he appears to make you. That’s a beautiful thing, sweetie.”

“I am happy, daddy. And I’m going to keep on being happy forever.”

“That’s the spirit.”

They slowly walked back to the house - everybody was a little bit drunk and a little bit high on each other. Lilli and Ethan slept like logs in Lilli’s king-size bed. Ethan wondered why such a little girl would have such a huge bed. But he was too pooped to think about it for long. 

The next morning, they had coffee and bagels from the local deli. Lilli showed Ethan how the pool worked and he fell in love with it. He was determined to have one of his own at some point. They waited until noon before heading back into the city. Ethan dropped Lilli off at her apartment, dropped his gear at his own place and then drove downtown to drop the car off in a parking lot close to his office. He stopped in at the office to talk to his newly minted clone, Carlo, but everything was cool. He then summoned an Uber and headed uptown to his apartment. But about halfway up Broadway, he asked the Uber driver to stop and he got out. It was a beautiful day and he didn’t really have anything to rush home to. And it was only twenty blocks or so. So off he went. Just another New Yorker hoofing his way uptown. 

Ethan had been raised in the city and knew his way around. But he found that since he finished school four years earlier, he mostly rode around in taxis and Ubers, on subways and buses or in his own car. It wasn’t until the day he met Lilli at the Pierre that he started to appreciate the idea of walking here and there. He often thought about how lucky he was to have gone to the Pierre that first time and how damn lucky he was to have gone back a couple of more times and seen her there. 

Ethan’s brain was too analytical to think of his meeting Lilli as anything spiritual or predestined or otherwise romantic. He was a numbers guy. Third time was the charm. Maybe he even calculated that the odds of him seeing her again right there, at around that same time, were pretty good. He was definitely too shy about coming up to her right from the get-go. It was almost like, after having observed her from a distance, he felt that he knew her, at least a little bit. He knew she liked to sip a long tall amber drink. He also suspected that she might be some sort of writer or artist because she was always scribbling or doodling in a small notebook.

 One thing he thought of as unusual was that Lilli never interacted with her phone. This was almost unheard of for anyone under the age of forty in New York. 

He mused about all that while he was walking along and barely realized that he was already at the park. He felt a little hungry so he walked across 59th Street to Park Avenue and went into Nathan’s Famous Deli, grabbed himself a Chili Cheese Dog, fries and a can of coke and headed into the park to have a late lunch. He made a mental note to take Lilli there for dinner one night. He found a bench by the pond and sat down to eat. All the while he thought about how his life had changed over the past few weeks. And he smiled.

~ 11 ~

Lilli was surprised to see Esther looking like a picture of health again. “I’m a quick recuperator,” she said as Lilli sat down and fiddled with her recorder then set it down in between them on the table beside the pool.

“You certainly are, Esther. You look great.” 

“Thank you dear. How was your weekend? Did you give my regards to your parents?”

“I certainly did and they send their best wishes.”

“And they’re doing fine? Is your dad still going like an Energizer bunny?”

“Yeah. But he loves it, and my mom has gotten into party planning of all things.”

“Well, I can see that,” Esther said with a bit of a laugh. 

“We had a good time. They met my new boyfriend Ethan and he received the seal of approval. I met his parents too. It was quite the weekend. But here we are and I am so excited to hear the rest of your story.”

“Okay, well…” Esther poured some mineral water into her glass. “Let’s see. While the kids were finishing grade school, I went to work in one of the theatres on Broadway. I was very good with a sewing machine so my job was repairing and resizing costumes. Over those few years, I got to know a lot of the actors. They were all quite charming, not at all like you see theatrical actors portrayed in the movies as temperamental prima donnas. These people, to the person, were all just happy to be working in a profession they loved. 

“Some very good actors passed through the theatre, mainly because we produced a lot of Shakespeare. Several of them were really quite famous. James Whitmore, Christopher Plummer, he’s Canadian you know, Deborah Kerr, Anne Baxter and Paul Scofield. Those names probably mean very little to you, but back then, they were quite famous. Oh, there were so many, all the most delightful people you could imagine. 

“The producer I worked for was a man named Aaron Gold. He loved Shakespeare. And I think he was a bit sweet on me too. Toward the end of the day sometimes, he would bring down some canapés and some martinis to the room where I was working and we would talk about all kinds of things. After about a year of these little chats, he started to see that I had larger ambitions than being a seamstress. So he took me under his wing, so to speak, and promoted me to assistant producer. 

“He then undertook to teach me about the business of the theatre. And it was a million-dollar education. I followed him around all day, taking notes for him. He called it shadowing. I learned about financing, courting actors and their agents, dealing with trade unions, raising money, optioning properties, production design, set building, costuming, and working with advertising agencies. I was astonished at just how much work went into the theatre business. Aaron told me, this was nothing compared to the movies. Bigger egos, bigger budgets and bigger assholes…I mean…well you can find a better word.”

“Assholes is fine, Esther, if that’s what he meant.” Lilli said.

“Oh, he definitely did. Now I was working for Aaron for about six hours a day because the rest of the time I devoted to my children. Aaron knew this and tried to pack as much knowledge into my brain as he could. I wasn’t exactly sure why he was so driven to do this until one day about, two years later, he sat me down, poured me a martini and announced that I was ready. 

“I was quite taken aback. Ready for what? I asked him. And he said, ready to run your own show, of course. He had, evidently, purchased a small off-Broadway theatre building and wanted it to feature what he called offbeat and avant-garde productions. He would use his clout to finance them and he wanted me to find the first property to introduce the new theatre to the public.

“I have to tell you, I had never been more frightened in my life and I escaped from East Germany! But the children were all in high school now and Aaron knew that too, but he also knew something that I didn’t. He knew that I could do this. No matter how terrified I was at the very idea of it.

“Aaron had told me all this on a Friday. I went home and thought about nothing else the whole weekend. I was completely distracted. But on Saturday night, after the kids had gone to bed, David sat me down and asked me three questions. 

“The first question was ‘Do you want this?’ And I said yes. 

The second question was ‘Do you deserve this opportunity?’ And I thought about that for quite a while, then finally took a deep breath and told him ‘Yes…I do deserve it

“The third question was ‘Can you do this?’ And it was at that precise moment that my life changed again. Because I realized that I could do this. The fear and doubt that were weighing me down lifted from me like a veil. I hugged David, who simply said. ‘Then do this, darling. Do this thing because you want to and because you can’. 

“And that was it. The very next morning I woke up with the germ of an idea. I didn’t tell anyone, because Aaron had always told me that vocalizing an idea before it is a complete notion was not how ideas happen. Ideas need to be thought through. Ideas need to roll around in your head and gestate until they are fully formed. 

“I walked around for three whole days with this idea just floating in my head. I didn’t say a word to anyone, not even David, about it. Then at the end of the day, on the Wednesday, I sat down with Aaron and told him what I had been thinking.”

Esther took a long sip of her sparkling water and then refilled her glass. Then she continued. Lilli watched her closely for any signs of fatigue, but saw nothing.

“Back in Shakespeare’s time, women were not allowed to become actors, and so all the female parts in his plays were played by men made up and costumed to look like women. Well, suppose we were to flip that right around and create a series of Shakespearean plays in which women played all the roles. I hadn’t quite decided on which play to do first but I was thinking about Hamlet, a personal favourite of mine.

“I wrote out my idea in a little treatment document and presented it to Aaron. He sat back in his chair with his cigar burning in the ashtray in front of him. His head was tilted at an odd angle. Finally, he took a deep breath and straightened up. ‘Esther,’ he said. ‘I’ve always prided myself on being a very good judge of talent. And, you know, I still have it. What a marvellous idea. It works on so many levels and it will cause just enough of a furor to make it a great success. Esther, you have done it.’ He raised his martini glass and said, ‘I salute you, my dear. Now go and make it happen.’

Lilli was flabbergasted. The ‘Lady Shakespeare’ plays were legendary. They were being shown in literature study classes at universities all over the country. “I saw Lady Hamlet at Vassar.” Lilli said. “The PBS production. I was totally blown away…”

Esther smiled. “You and a lot of other people. I was astonished at how well received they were. We produced four plays over the course of the first two years. Then another six after that. Right after the first play, Lady Hamlet, premiered off-Broadway, the press on it was incredibly positive. Aaron knew we were onto something, so it only ran for two weeks in the off-Broadway venue, which was sold out every night, then he was able to move it to the big theatre. 

“I had hired two female writers to adapt the original plays and I have to say they did a marvellous job. I worked with a director named Pamela Martin. She was already quite experienced having done several plays for Aaron. Almost every role on the production side was handled by a woman as well. It truly became its own industry and we could afford some very talented actresses since we already had all the sets and most of the costumes. Several of the bigger name stars were willing to work for scale just to be part of the process. It was a whirlwind. I gave it fourteen years of my life, and when we had finished our tenth play, I sat down with Aaron and told him how grateful I was and tendered my resignation.”

Esther took another sip of her water. Lilli sat there stunned at Ester’s story, an incredible achievement by this beautiful older woman.

“But Aaron did not accept my resignation. Instead, he offered me a different position. He had evidently been getting many queries from schools wondering if they were available on film to be shown as part of  their Shakespearean study classes. The job he offered was as executive producer for the project. 

“Well, I was much more experienced in these matters by then, so I jumped at the chance, provided I could work from home as much as possible and spend more time with David, who as senior VP of his company largely worked from his home office. The kids were all off on their own by now. And David was in a position where he could retire whenever he wanted.

“So off I went into the TV business.” Esther took another sip of her water.  Lilli could see that she was starting to fade a bit. She shut off the recorder and sat back. 

“Let’s stop for today,” she said. “I’m sure you have more to tell me. But I can see this was a lot for you.”

“Yes, it was. But it was wonderful taking you through it. I have so many fond memories of those days. It was like I was living in a miracle.”

“I’d have to say you were. But it was a miracle that you created and you should be very proud of it.”

“Oh, I am dear.” With that Esther got to her feet, folded her newspaper and put her empty glass and water bottle into a Bergdorf-Goodman bag. They rode up the elevator together, agreeing to meet for one final time in another couple of days.

Lilli was starving when she got back to her apartment. She texted Ethan and suggested that they go back to the Épicerie Boulud for dinner. He responded almost instantly, agreeing to meet in front of the Dakota in an hour, which gave Lilli time enough to shower and review Esther’s latest material. The more she re-read the more excited she became. What an incredible story. Lilli found herself almost feeling jealous, which was a strange emotion for a girl who had almost always been the object of other girls’ jealousy. But the thought left her head almost as suddenly as it had arrived. She looked at her watch and scooted out the door. 

Lilli was buzzed as she walked along through the park with Ethan. She felt like a real motormouth and told him as much. He just laughed and hugged her as they walked along. After a few minutes, Lilli realized that they weren’t heading south anymore but going right across the park

“Where are you taking me?” she asked.

“You’ll see. I’m sure you’ll love it.” Ethan said. 

After another five minutes, they left the park, walked past the Sherman Monument and crossed 5th Avenue. As they got close to the door, a Nathan’s order taker handed them a menu. “We’ll get some takeout and eat in the park.” he said. Everything here is the best in New York.”

Fifteen minutes later, they were sitting on a bench at the pond, eating dinner. Ethan had a fat Hero Sandwich; Lilli had the chicken tenders and they shared an order of onion rings. It was a feast and a half. After they were finished Ethan suggested that they walk to the top of the park and back down again, just to burn some calories, so that’s just what they did. 

“I have to tell you that when I was talking to Esther today and she was telling me about all the amazing things she had done, I felt a little bit jealous.”

“Well, it was quite the achievement. I watched a couple of those plays on PBS and they were really interesting. I liked the way the writers managed to simplify the language without modernizing it. You ever think that you could do something like that?”

“Write a screenplay?”

“Yeah.”

“No. But, ask me in five years.”

“I’ll make a note to do that.”

“But what it did get me thinking about was your idea. About making it bigger. Having a network of writers doing interviews and writing stories. Maybe even talking to a documentary filmmaker about illustrating them for TV or educational purposes.”

Ethan just smiled and hugged her with his right arm as they walked along. “That’s my girl,” he said. And on they walked. They talked and talked and by the time they got back to 72nd Street, they were both beat. So, they went up to Ethan’s apartment, made some popcorn and watched Casablanca again, because that was Lilli’s favourite.

That night as they lay in bed together, Lilli said. “You know we never really talked about what you’re going to do now that you’re no longer working for the man, I mean your dad.”

“Well, for the moment, nothing. I have never done nothing, so I’m going to take a couple days and try it out. Who knows I might even like it.”

“Slacker,” Lilli said. But he knew she was only joking.

“I think a lot of what I do will depend on what you do. Because you‘re going to need some help and a lot of the stuff that would have to be done is kind of interesting for me, mainly because it doesn’t involve writing code.”

“You’re offering to be my Man Friday?”

“Sure, and every other day of the week too.”

Lilli snuggled up beside Ethan and drifted off to sleep. She didn’t dream anything that was worth writing down. It was mostly just pleasant, easy to look at colours and a long winding path that she was riding her bike on.

~ 12 ~

Three days later Lilli and Esther met for the third time down at the pool. Esther was looking very well-rested and pretty much like her old self. As she sat down, as usual, she pulled out her New York Times, a bottle of San Pellegrino and her beautiful crystal glass. Lilli adjusted her recorder, but she also took out her phone and played around with it for a few seconds.

“Esther. I was thinking that I might like to get a picture of us together. It would be a neat thing for me to have as a memento.”

“Alright, dear. I wish I would have known, I’d have dressed up a little more formally.”

“No. This is just a snapshot for me. And you look great by the way.”

“Well, thank you.” 

Lilli moved her chair around to position it beside Esther. She held the phone at arm’s length and snapped a couple of shots of the two of them together. She then showed the images to Esther, who approved. 

“I can see you have done this before. The focus is quite sharp,” Esther said.

“Yeah, I did a lot at school, mostly for my Facebook and Instagram pages.”

“Oh yes, social media. You know I never really got the bug. It just struck me as a diversion from other more meaningful things.”

“You’re probably right. I don’t do much social media these days. Mostly, I just write down my thoughts and any dreams I can remember. I enjoy that much more.” 

“I hope you read as well. If you want to be a writer, you have to be a reader too.”

Lilli smiled and was glad she was recording this. “That’s a great line. Is that yours?”

“You know, I don’t really know. At my age, it’s hard to tell original thoughts from variations and interpretations of things you’ve read or heard.” 

“That’s a good point.”

Lilli got back into her chair and turned on her recorder.

Esther smiled. “So,” she said. “I believe I had just tried to quit my job at the theatre and was offered another one.”

“Yes, that’s where we left off.” Lilli said.

Esther collected her thoughts for a few seconds and then said, “Yes. I got into the TV business. Now the first thing we had to do was to find someone to film and direct the plays. I talked to my stage director, Pamela Martin, about doing it. 

“She was happy to participate but insisted that we hire an actual film or television director. The actresses were a great help with this and gave me lots of suggestions. I was told that I should find a director first and that he or she would be in charge of putting together the crew that would get it all filmed and edited.

The director would also work with me to determine a budget. So that began the better part of a month of looking at showreels from various film directors and TV production companies. Believe it or not, I had a very specific idea of how I wanted these plays to look on television, so I shortlisted three companies and brought them in one at a time. The idea was not to be too specific, but more to let them tell me what their vision was and once I found someone whose vision was close enough to what I was thinking, we could move on to the next stage.”

“Sounds like you knew exactly what you wanted,” Lilli said.

“Yes and no. I was very new at this part of it. So, I was looking for a director who would give me the truest adaptation to video that I could get. Remember this was in the earlier days of video cameras. But all I knew for sure was that it would need to be on video as opposed to film, because that would get me closer to this idea I had in my head.

“The three companies grew into eight or nine and I finally struck gold with a lady named Virginia Fields. She was the great-granddaughter of the famous comedic actor WC Fields, so show business was in her blood. It was a very interesting interview because she turned almost every question I asked, back on me and got me talking more and more about my own vision. Toward the end of our conversation, she smiled at me and said, ‘I know this interview has been a lot of work for you. But I have seen all these plays and I respect the hell out of what you have done with them. The very least I can do is help you put your vision out there. And now that I know what that is, I’d be honoured to work with you and we can realize it together’.

“This girl wasn’t a lot older than you, Lilli, but she was the first one of all the people I talked to, who really tried to get at what I wanted. All the others kept telling me what they wanted and for some reason that I will probably never really understand, I kept saying to myself, keep looking, Esther. The answer is out there somewhere. 

“So, Virginia and I began our collaboration. And it was glorious. She had a cameraperson who did exactly what she wanted her to. She had a crew of mostly women that she ruled with kindness and patience. And she had me to talk with all the way through the process. It was the most incredible learning experience of my life. Over the next three years, we recreated all ten plays. Once we done the first three, I hired a small marketing and public relations firm to start putting the word out. I also hired a sales manager who would talk to the clients directly and keep distribution organized.

The universities and high school boards right across the country became our most consistent revenue stream. For the schools that could not afford them, we gave them out free of charge. After the word got out, the PBS people asked me to come in and have a chat. And that was the big break we were looking for. On top of that, I got a call from TV Ontario, up in Toronto. They were also very interested and had a solid distribution network, just like PBS. They also referred me to the Ministry of Education in Ottawa and suddenly we were dealing with a North American-wide business. 

Esther chuckled. “You know this all happened so fast I barely had time to catch my breath. It was at that point that we had to get into the video distribution business. Because in addition to all the TV opportunities and the educational market, I started getting calls from people like Blockbuster. This was when there were at least two Blockbuster video stores and a whole raft of independent shops in every city and town in North America. We even got a call from Rogers Communications in Canada whose video chain in that country was even larger than Blockbuster there. It was amazing. I have no idea how we muddled through it. By this time I had a distribution team of four hard working women.

“And even though the video stores are now all gone, the entire series is still being carried by PBS and TVO online and now it’s even on Netflix.” 

Lilli laughed and shook her head. “You were a real entertainment tycoon, Esther.”

Esther laughed. “Yes, and that’s not the end of it either. Because after all that was in the works, I got a call from the BBC, the British Broadcasting Corporation and they wanted to option the scripts and shoot the plays on location, like movies. David, who had just retired, and I both spent a year in England, doing all the business that needed to be done while travelling around Great Britain, watching the BBC people at work.

“When we got back to the States, I ran that business for another three years before saying goodbye. David and I finally had time to do something that we talked about all our lives, but never had time to do before, to take the proverbial trip around the world.”

Esther’s mood was changing as she continued to talk. “But sadly, that was the last trip for David. Most of his life, his heart had never been up to snuff and finally it just gave up the ghost. He had a massive heart attack one night and died in his sleep. That was nearly ten years ago now and it still feels like it was just yesterday. But we soldier on. I have a very substantial income from my ownership share in the Lady Shakespeare plays and I get to spend my days just doing whatever I want to do. The Faberge eggs that we brought to America were given to each of my children on their 21st birthdays. They are each worth several million, so they will never have to worry about money. And I got them to promise me not to develop a sentimental attachment to them. ”

Lilli was enraptured. “I can’t tell you how incredible this story is, Esther.”

“Well thank you, dear. I just hope you can do something good with it.”

“I will. In fact, I’m sure it will kick start a whole career for me. I just hope you like the story when I’m done.”

“I’m sure I will, Lilli. And I look forward to reading it.” 

“Oh,” Esther said as she reached into her Bergdorf bag and pulled out a sheet of paper. “Here are the names of some of the other tenants in the building you should talk to. I know a lot about these people and their stories will amaze you. I was going to text it to you, but it was much easier to just print it out. I’m a very low tech person.”

Lilli got to her feet and gave Esther a huge hug. “You know, I was kind of using this interview with you as a test, to see if this was something that I really wanted to do. You have convinced me that it definitely is. I owe you a lot for that.”

“Oh, you don’t owe me anything, Lilli. You just put a good story together and keep on doing the things that bring you joy.” 

Lilli left Esther cracking open her newspaper while she headed back upstairs. 

For the rest of the day, Lilli played around with the story Esther Gottlieb had told her. She was careful not to change much of what Esther had said, only adding an intro and extro and setups for each day’s session. As she was doing this, she kept on thinking to herself that it can’t be this easy. Surely, she was missing something important here. But the story felt complete and try as she might, she just couldn’t bring herself to mess with it all that much. 

As Lilli leaned back and looked at her watch, she realized that it was about six o'clock and she hadn’t eaten all day. A few seconds later, her intercom buzzed. She walked over and answered it. “It’s me, and I have food,” said Ethan’s voice. 

“Well, if you have food, by all means, enter.” And she buzzed him in. 

Lilli brought in plates and silverware from the kitchen, then went back for beers, while Ethan unpacked the bag, he was carrying from Uno Chicago Grill at 81st and Columbus. “We’ve got the best deep-dish pizza you will have ever tasted. With their famous Caesar Salad and for dessert, some Italian gelato. Tonight, we are Italiano, Signorina Lilli.” 

“Here is your beer, Signor Ethan.” And they dug in.

“Well, you know what I did all day,” Lilli said. “How about you? Good day?”

“Sort of, I guess. I felt kind of weird trying not to worry about things at the shop. So, I went uptown and bought a bike.” 

“That’s great. We can go riding together.” 

“Yes, we can. I also needed it for exercise because now that I’m no longer burning the candle at both ends, I’m a little concerned about weight gain.”

Lilli thought about that and then out of the clear blue the thought hit her. “Do you love me, Ethan?”

“Well, yeah, of course, I do. You’re my girl.”

“Okay, and I love you too. I was thinking, why don't we just, you know, live together.”

“Where?” Ethan asked.

“Here. It’s big. It’s got a pool that nobody seems to use but me and it’s got me,” Lilli said with a smile. As she stared at him, she could tell he was thinking about it. He munched on his pizza and salad. 

“How much do you think I could sublet my apartment for?” he asked.

“You’re asking the wrong person.”

“Well, how much is this apartment worth?” 

“When my dad gave it to me, I think he said it was worth about three million. How much is your apartment worth?”

“I really have no idea. The company bought it many years ago. My dad gave it to me when I finished college.”

“So, I take it you’re thinking about these things because….?”

“Oh.” Ethan smiled. “Moving in? Yeah. It’s a fabulous idea.” Lilli leaned over and kissed him hard. 

They spent some time after dinner looking around the apartment and figuring out where to put the stuff that Ethan wanted to bring with him and they were surprised at how easy it was. One bedroom would be Lilli’s office. One would be Ethan’s and the master bedroom was for both of them.  Ethan’s big giant TV could go into either the master or the living room. And he would leave all the furniture in his place except for his desk and his chairs and a couple of desk lamps that he liked. Later that night after Ethan had fallen asleep, Lilli lay beside him and stared up at the ceiling. She kept asking herself how she got so lucky or was this the kind of thing that happened to a lot of people? She supposed with the high divorce rate in the country, that a lot of people actually meant, at best, half of them.

Over the next few days, Ethan moved most of his stuff into Lilli’s apartment. He hired a couple of guys to move the big TV, the stereo, his desk and chairs. He talked to the landlord at the Dakota who was happy to sublet the apartment for Ethan for a mere 10% of the rental fee. Ethan was fine with that as it was just one less thing to deal with. He signed a deal with the building that would be renewable once a year. He could opt to sell to the building management or privately on any given anniversary date, which would be the date new tenants took possession. 

By the weekend of that same week, Ethan was all moved in and had all his gear operational. Lilli watched him work, putting his computers together and was fascinated at what he knew and the power of the machinery he owned. On the weekend they bought a bike rack for Lilli’s car and drove out to Lilli’s parents’ house on Long Island. They biked around all the little villages in the vicinity. Lilli’s dad was at a conference in Detroit, so her mom was happy for the company. 

At dinner that night, Lilli read her mom and Ethan the story of Esther Gottlieb. Fiona just sat there as tears started to form and run down her cheek. Ethan noticed this and got up to grab a tissue for her. 

When Lilli finished reading, she looked up at her mother, who just smiled, The happiness on her face said it all. Then she said. “You know, we worried a bit about you when you decided to major in Lit because we weren’t sure that you would figure out a good way to put that education to use, you know, to have a fulfilling life. But hearing this story that Esther has given you and that you were quiet enough to let her tell it in her own words, my God, it was beautiful. I think you may be onto something here.”

Lilli looked over at Ethan, who was just sitting there spellbound. “Yeah. Everything your mom said and a bag of chips, Lil. It’s a beautiful story. It’s the kind of piece you might read in the Telescope. It really is that good.”

Lilli was beaming. “Well, I hope Esther likes it because I’m going to see her on Monday and show it to her.”

“Oh, she’ll be very pleased, Lilli,” Fiona said. “How could she not be?” 

The rest of the evening was spent talking and drinking wine. Later on, Lilli and Ethan walked down to the bay and sat on the sand.

“I didn’t know you read the Telescope.” Lilli said.

“You will find that there are a lot of things you don’t know about me, my dear. I am a man of the world.” 

He got a hard nudge from Lilli that almost knocked him over. 

“I meant what I said about the Telescope. I think we should submit it and see what happens. I mean, what have you got to lose?”

Lilli thought about that, but not for too long. Ethan, as usual, was right. She had nothing to lose, Then she started thinking about other places she could submit. Then she started thinking about the next story she would do, whatever that would be. She kind of got the willies and it made her shiver. But then she said. “You’re right. I haven’t got anything to lose and two of the smartest people I know think it’s great, so why not?”

Ethan hugged her “That’s the spirit.” They just sat there watching the waves break on the beach, each lost in their own thoughts about the future and what they should do with all the opportunity they had been given. 

“Lilli?” Ethan said.

“Yeah?”

“I just want you to know that if you’re thinking that this is beginner’s luck or something, you need to get that right out of your head. There are twenty-four-year-olds, with real talent and I happen to think that you’re one of them.”

Lilli said nothing for a while. Then she said. “I do think I am one of them. It just takes a while for these things to sink in.”

“Yeah, I know.”

That night they didn’t make love. They just lay in bed holding onto each other, wondering what was going to happen tomorrow, but not worried about it because they had each other and for now that was more than enough.

~ 13 ~

Lilli’s story about Esther Gottlieb was loved to death by Esther, gobbled up by The Telescope was very well received by the entire city. Lilli then interviewed a man named Cyrus Till in her building. He was an inventor of some repute and Lilli hit the jackpot a second time. 

Lilli appeared on local talk shows arranged through The Telescope. As her reputation and her website grew, so did the number of people who got in touch with her, with older relatives whose stories needed to be told. The workload was staggering even for a twenty-four-year-old who had all the energy of youth. 

At Ethan’s urging, Lilli finally relented and took on three writers. Contrary to Ethan’s original idea, the New York Historical Society actually approached her for permission to add her stories to their archive and to secure her cooperation to give at least two talks a year on her work. 

But it was Lilli’s third interview with an older gentleman named Howard Firestone that had a major impact on her life. 

Mr. Firestone was an environmental analyst whose company, Firestone Eco, was one of the first to do intensive research into climate change. Mr. Firestone’s story was unusual in that he had achieved great notoriety conducting ecological testing for a number of different countries, but had never seen the governments of those countries act on his findings. Overall, he considered his life a disappointment because not a single government that he had worked with was ever willing to do the right thing and start shifting the energy business away from fossil fuels to renewable sources. His work had proven to them, time and again, this shift could be successful by creating greater employment than would be displaced by the dismantling of the highly toxic fossil fuel industries. Mr. Firestone’s story stayed with Lilli and over time she made up her mind to try and do something about it.

This led, over the years, to her becoming a fairly high-profile advocate for alternative energy. She utilized all the media connections she had made through Lilli’s Lost & Found to start talking about the environment.

After Lilli had compiled a couple dozen interview articles, Ethan took over and built a membership-based website for Lilli’s Lost & Found. The fee for membership was two dollars a month. Within a year, and thanks in great part to the SEO program Ethan used to boost Lilli’s site, and stories that were added two or three times a week, subscriptions in the New York City area grew to more than 300,000. The money covered salaries, for the now six writers, online costs and personnel benefits. What was left was then used to buy equipment that was needed in various retirement homes throughout the five boroughs. 

Ethan also built a separate regional model for Lilli’s Lost & Found and became the webmaster for the sites. Through various municipal and not-for-profit organizations, they were eventually able to disseminate Lilli’s Lost & Found to more than twenty-five American cities and a few in Canada as well. Lilli took no share of the profits from any of the Lilli’s Lost & Found sites. She was just happy to give the idea away. The only thing she insisted on was that they did not change the name. 

After the second year, Lilli was appearing on at least two TV and radio talk shows a week, all over the state. She now had eight writers compiling stories in the greater New York City area with the total number of writers working in the US alone surpassing 120. 

Lilli and Ethan never married. They really didn’t see the point of it. They knew what they had together could never be duplicated with anyone else. By the time Lilli was thirty, Lilli’s Lost & Found was a national institution. Lilli had moved away from writing profiles and concentrated mainly on keeping all the balls in the air. She had had a PBS documentary made about her and her efforts. She was a welcome guest lecturer at her own school and several others in the New York area. And as the number of stories grew and the SEO continued to churn the memberships grew. 

At the beginning of the eighth year, Lilli promoted one of her writers, a lady named Theresa Talbot, to temporarily manage the entire enterprise so she and Ethan could take a break. They flew to Jamaica and stayed at a beautiful resort called Grand Lido for a whole month: decompressing, swimming, eating, drinking, meeting new friends from all over the globe and making love. 

Nine months later Lilli gave birth to twins. A boy and a girl. They named the children after their parents: Fiona Louisa and Marcus Andrew.

Ethan continued to help his father part-time, growing and expanding the family business and along the way, he discovered he had a real knack for inventing apps. One of the new divisions of Falcon Wing was for the new app industry. It was called Sailor for no particular reason other than that the name was available. For about a year, Ethan spent most of his two days a week creating apps that they would add to their inventory.

When the kids were about two years old, Lilli hired a nanny, an Irish girl named Giselle O’Leary, so she could spend a bit more time on Lilli’s Lost & Found. But she didn’t need to - she found out very quickly it was running like a Swiss watch. So, she spent most of her afternoons down at the pool writing articles about the environment for The Telescope and several other national publications while she and Giselle taught the twins to swim.

A few months later, Lilli’s folks came to the city and over dinner at Épicerie Boulud announced that they had decided to move back into Manhattan and were actively looking for a place in the neighbourhood.

Lilli asked what they were planning to do with the house on Long Island. They said they would probably rent it. Lilli then proposed a brilliant solution – they could swap houses. Marcus and Fiona would live in Lilli’s apartment and she, Ethan, the kids and Giselle could move out to Long Island. Ethan was all smiles and that convinced everybody. 

A few weeks later they were off to Long Island. Ethan inherited the pool of his dreams and the twins would grow up with miles of beach and an ocean bay warm enough to swim in the summer.

Lilli and Ethen both advised their respected financial people to move their investment dollars into ethical businesses and over the course of the next decade of her life, Lilli became a powerful climate change figure. 

The small fortune that Ethan’s apps produced gave them additional capital that they would need to keep their environmental activities as high profile as possible. Since Lilli was now a bit of a household name, her environmental articles got published pretty much anywhere she wanted them to. Both Lilli and Ethan were happy that they were managing to do something meaningful with their lives.

Lilli and Ethan were driven by the impetuousness of youth and then the responsibility of a family and used the power they had and Lilli’s reputation to do as much good in the world as they could. 

PART 2: LILLI AT 37    

~ 14 ~

Lilli woke to a quiet house. She rolled over onto her back and for a moment she imagined the kids running in to jump on the bed to wake her up like they had so many mornings before. But then she remembered it was September and they were off to school. Anyway, they hadn’t run into the bedroom and jumped on her for a few years now. Lilli didn’t chastise herself for not remembering. She was always a bit of a basket case until the start of her second cup of coffee in the morning. Slowly it dawned on her that Giselle had taken the kids to school. Giselle, who was no longer the nanny, and hadn’t been for a couple of years, was now the full-time housekeeper, cook and confidant to both Lilli and Ethan.  

Lilli dragged herself out of bed and into her running gear. Then she went downstairs, poured a coffee and flopped down in her office to check her email. There wasn’t a lot today. A couple from Roy Collins, the editor she worked with at The Telescope, with comments on her latest article. 

There were a couple more from the girls, meaning the ladies who were doing the interviews for the Lilli’s Lost & Found site. Over the past 13 years, the site had grown into a monster, it contained more than 500 stories from New York alone. Ethan managed the national operation by combining all of the individual sites in one system so it kind of ran itself. But New York was Lilli’s baby and she managed that personally. The subscription base for the site was up to about 630,000, generating a monthly income of almost 1.3 million dollars. There were now ten New York writers working full-time on the site. Turnover was very low because Lilli was a great boss and a generous employer. Each writer was paid one hundred and twenty thousand a year plus full benefits and expenses, which Lilli’s financial management company took care of. All Lilli had to do was write her articles for The Telescope, and be the media spokesperson for Lilli’s Lost & Found. 

Having downed her two cups of coffee, Lilli headed out to the beach and ran about five miles around the point and along Bennett Cove. Then she turned around and ran back. After her shower, she settled in behind her desk with her third coffee and a toasted bagel with cream cheese. She called Ethan who had just arrived at his Manhattan office for a board meeting. He was mostly working from home but over the past decade had overseen several key acquisitions for his and his dad’s company. There was now a small board of directors and he was obliged to show up at the office every so often for these meetings. Ethan would complain that he wasn’t crazy about going into the city for anything, but Lilli suspected that wasn’t entirely true. Life on Long Island was dead slow compared to the adrenalin rush of Manhattan. 

Lilli opened the suggestions from Roy Collins. Over the past few years, she had been transitioning into writing pretty much full time about the environment. As a parent of children who had to make it through the next seventy or even eighty years, Lilli believed that the environment was the most important issue facing the entire planet. Lilli also felt that the world had dropped the ball. Or maybe the ball had been stolen from them by the vested interests in the fossil fuel sector. Development capital for new ‘green’ businesses was getting progressively harder to come by. She felt that the right-wing influence in her own country and several of the advanced democracies around the world was holding progress back.

 The science was there, but carbon levels in the atmosphere were rising slowly but steadily, natural disasters around the world were increasing in number and the amount of damage they wrought was greater and greater. Heatwaves were increasing in intensity and duration. Droughts were more common occurrences, and hurricanes were more devastating. Winters were harsher. To Lilli, it felt like Mother Nature had just thrown up her arms in disgust screaming ‘I’ve had enough!’ 

Lilli wasn’t exactly sure what it was that woke her up. Perhaps it was that little Greta girl from over in Scandinavia. She had gained the attention of the world. She had certainly captured Lilli’s attention and with the solid relationships she had developed with The Telescope, with a subscriber base on par with The New Yorker and Time, and several high profile environmental publications and websites, she was slowly but surely making herself a real voice in the area of environmental activism. 

Just like Lilli’s Lost & Found had proven that Lilli was accomplished at putting together great historical stories, it turned out that she was also pretty good at investigative journalism. Based on a spec article she created on the environmental movement, Lilli had convinced The Telescope editors to give her a shot at a column. That was when they gave her over to Roy Collins, who was not just a great editor but a kindred spirit in the environmental movement. Lilli’s past history with the magazine also gave her some room for negotiation and allowed her to have each of her Telescope articles republished and made available to the entire environmental world a week later. 

Lilli had started her environmental posts by profiling the green companies her financial people selected for investing her money. There were three or four that stood out. Over the last few years, she had decided the kids no longer needed as much attention, so she had travelled to where these businesses were located all over the US. She interviewed the founders, took her own pictures and then travelled further afield, if necessary, to interview some of their suppliers. 

The result was a series of well-crafted profile pieces on companies to watch in the New Green Economy. Of course, being partners with a genius-level web and software developer, Lilli and Ethan soon had a site, Lilli’s Green World, up and running. It acted as a repository for her published articles and also as an open invitation for anyone to submit articles or opinion pieces from anywhere in the world.

Lilli also wrote articles and did online interviews with prominent investors in the green economy as well as environmental activists. She stopped short of having her own podcast, but Ethan set up a recording function on her computer that allowed her to do interviews from home. Ethan goosed the hell out of the SEO on the site and within six months Lilli’s Green World had become one of the most visited pro-environmental sites on the Internet. It was attracting more than 200,000 visitors a day. Article submissions from high-end academic pieces to well-reasoned opinion pieces from concerned citizens were posted.  Lilli then applied for a grant from the World Economic Forum which allowed her to hire a curator for the site. His name was Phillip Cromwell and he was located in London, England. Lilli talked to Phillip at least once a week to hear the highlights. 

On her business trips, Lilli filled her time in airport waiting rooms and on planes by reading everything she could from the site. This, in turn, gave her ideas for new articles for The Telescope and round and round it went. With Ethan’s help and ingenuity, they had built two formidable online empires, one partially funding the other. Late at night, when the kids had gone to bed, they would sit out on the deck with a glass of wine and talk. A lot of the conversations had to do, not so much with the success they had achieved, but with the harsh reality that all they were doing was colouring in the bleak environmental picture. They were not as yet the real global agents of change they wanted to be.

The next day, Ethan came home and went for a swim in the small pool. He swam against the current for about 30 minutes and got out completely exhausted. He joined Lilli in her office, while the twins were in their rooms doing homework and Giselle was making dinner.

“How was your day?” Ethan asked.

“Rich and full. How about you?”

“Dad wants to buy another company.”

“What is it this time?” Lilli said, looking up from the computer screen.

Lilli took a deep breath. Ethan’s dad had not shifted off the Republican dime one little bit. “It’s a printing company. They do mostly political banners and signage.”

“Aww, man. The biggest waste of pulp and paper resources in the country.”

“That’s what I told him. But he firmly believes that you have totally corrupted me and now I’m just a commie pinko.” Ethan laughed. “And you know what? I am. Because you have corrupted me with all your radical leftist articles that make perfect sense and your big-time advocacy of all things green, which also makes perfect sense.” He kissed Lilli and she returned it. They were still very much in love, even though Lilli’s developing passion for the environment was pulling the gap between Ethan and his father that much further apart.

“You know I feel terrible about this,” she said.

“Me too. But there’s nothing we can do about it now. We’ll just carry on faking it when we go over there. He does have a certain fondness for you, mainly because he knows how happy you make me and then there are the kids.”

Ethan headed upstairs for a shower. He gave Giselle, who had become like a younger sister to them both, a peck on the cheek and looked into the large pot cooking away on the stove. Lilli watched him trudge away. It was obvious that the situation with his dad was getting worse and that the old man was being spiteful. She thought that maybe she should suggest that Ethan sell his shares in the business to his dad and cut ties altogether. But then she dismissed the thought as quickly as it had arrived. That was Ethan’s decision, not hers to make. 

~ 15 ~

Living on Long Island with the sand and the sea right out the back door was one of the best life decisions they could have made. Not just for their mental health, but for that of their children as well. The more Lilli waded into the information pool regarding the environment, the more she started to think of it as a ticking clock winding down to a point where the damage to the earth and the atmosphere would be almost impossible to reverse. But instead of making her melancholy and depressed, it strengthened her resolve to keep on fighting. Lilli always believed she could be doing more. Some days, she didn’t know where the energy to do it all came from, but it was there.

The simple facts were irrefutable. The number of carbon particles per million in the atmosphere was steadily growing. And while there were dozens of carbon capture technologies in various stages of development all around the world, the political will of governments to create the legislation that would pave the way for these ideas to develop and gain widespread acceptance was virtually non-existent. The main reason for this was that the fossil fuel industry had done, and continued to do, a pretty thorough job of convincing the public that environmental concerns were just a lot of hokum. At the same time, the industry exerted pressure on several key political decision-makers reinforcing that their financial contributions were tied to the preservation of the status quo.

It made Lilli angry to think about a world where influence peddling with absolutely no conscience was the way of things. She wanted so badly to be an agent of change but no matter how much passion she put into her articles, how many students she lectured to or podcasts and local TV shows she appeared on, she knew that she, and most of the people 

who shared her ideology, were still only voices in the wilderness. 

Later that evening when the kids and Giselle were watching a movie, Lilli and Ethan went for a walk on the beach. The night air was crisp, autumn was on the way, but for now, the cool air was a welcome change from the blistering summer they had experienced. Lilli looked a bit lost in thought and Ethan, who had learned how to read her moods, waited for the heavy sigh that signalled she was through thinking about whatever it was she was so wrapped up with.

“You want to tell me about it?”

“About what?” Lilli asked

“About whatever it was that took you way out there and brought you back.”

Lilli took a deep breath and sighed it out. “You really have my number don’t you, mister?”

“I like to think so. What is it?”

“I don’t know, Ethan. I feel like…umm…I feel like I could be doing, or should be doing more to wake people up.”

Ethan looked up at the sky for a brief moment. “You know, you’re pretty much a legend in your own time. Maybe you should dial it up a bit. Get an agent or a PR company, put what you have now to better use, go for a bigger audience.”

“You know I thought about that. But then if I did that, I’m afraid I’d also be making myself a bigger target. I’m getting enough hate emails already.”

“Yeah, but if you don’t do something to up your profile, you’ll stay right where you are now. Oh sure, you could write a book, make a documentary but you know the only people who would pay attention to it are the ones who already agree with you. You need to get at the ones who don’t. Because they’re the ones who need to wake up.”

Lilli thought about that as they approached the large dock which was their turnaround point. After a moment, she said. “You remember when you told me what you thought I should do with Lilli’s Lost & Found?”

“Sure. And I also remember you wanting to put the brakes on it.”

“All right, so you tell me, what you think I should do now.”

“Hmmm.” Ethan said. Then his phone chimed. He pulled it out and looked at the text message that was displayed. He closed the phone and put it back in his pocket. “I was saving this until it was confirmed. I met a very interesting guy today named Delbert Fry. And in the work world I live in, he is a legend. He runs a cyber security firm out of Houston. Big time guy. A few years ago, he hacked into the CIA server and threatened to release all the names of every covert CIA operative in the world. They eventually tracked him down and it turned out he was working for Homeland Security and was using the CIA hack as a kind of security test. Later on, he set up the entire apparatus that the US uses to counter all Russian and Chinese disruptors.”

“Wow, he sounds like a pretty dangerous guy. How did you end up meeting him?” 

Ethan just chuckled. “Well, I actually met him last month when he came in to pitch us on buying a large share of his cyber-security company. It’s called Sweetwater. Dad jumped on it and Del came in to sign the deal today, which is the other reason I was in the city. Evidently, Del wants to step back to use his time for something else.”

“I’m sure you’re about to tell me what else that is.”

“I am. He wants to do the same thing as you do, Lil. He wants to wake up the damn world and get people thinking much more deeply about the environment.”

Lilli was stunned. Her mind immediately started racing. She turned and looked at Ethan. “Wow, can you get me an interview with him? I’d love to hear about his plans.”

“Funny you should ask, because tomorrow he’ll be coming over for lunch. And he’s quite excited to meet you. He’s read everything you have ever written and assures me he has some very nifty notions about how to shake things up.” 

Lilli didn’t exactly know what to do so she hugged Ethan tightly. “You always have the best ideas, don’t you?”

“I suppose I have a few,” Ethan said. 

Later that night, after the kids had gone to bed and Ethan was watching an old movie with Giselle, Lilli opened up her journal. 

“I can’t help but wonder if I am slowly becoming radicalized. The excitement I felt when Ethan told me about Delbert Fry kind of disturbed me a bit. I could be wading into deeper waters than I can swim in. But at the same time, I see the world, our world, the world the twins will inherit, as something we have let slip through our hands. 

We are so close to the point of no return that it frightens me down to my bones. Yes, we can afford to do whatever we need to stay alive. But what about the billions of people who can’t? And what about the whole idea that I am now talking to myself about the survival of the human race and the animal world? The survival of all living things. 

I know that sounds alarmist, especially coming from me. But I’m, quite simply, terrified about the future for all of us.”

Lilli swiped at a tear that was rolling down her cheek. She closed the journal file and got up from the desk. She walked through the family room and out to the back deck and sat down on the steps. She could see the stars through the wispy clouds. Lilli stared at the stars a lot these days as if she stared at them for long enough, they would give her the answers she was looking for. But the stars just twinkled, and the half-moon rose slowly and the clouds thickened a bit and soon the stars and the moon were gone. 

Lilli felt like there had to be an answer out there. Something that would change everything. Something that would take away the uneasiness she felt constantly, slowly, building inside her.

~ 16 ~

Del Fry was a cowboy. He wore beautiful hand-tooled boots, jeans faded from wear, a white cotton shirt with embroidery tastefully stitched up each side of the front, a string tie with a gold clasp that housed a beautiful piece of turquoise and a simple blue linen jacket that hung a bit loosely on his lanky frame. In his left hand, he held a beautiful white Stetson hat. His hair was long, wavy and almost blonde. He reminded Lilli of the actor Matthew McConaughey. He extended his right hand to shake hands with Lilli.

“Del Fry, this is Lilli,” Ethan said. “Lilli this is Del.”

Lilli extended her hand. 

“So very pleased to meet you, ma’am.” 

“The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Fry,” Lilli said. 

“Oh please, just call me Del. Everybody else does.” His voice had a pronounced drawl to it that Lilli found both charming and disarming. Giselle had taken the kids into town for lunch and a movie but had set out a spread for them on the deck, so the house was quiet as they walked through.

As they came out the back door, Del took a deep breath as he looked out over the bay “My lord, this is a paradise you have here.”

They all sat down at the table and Ethan poured each of them a glass of wine. They toasted their meeting. 

“You know, now that I’m part of the Falcon Wing Group, Ethan and I are technically partners in crime.”

“Actually, it’s you and my dad,” Ethan said.

“Yeah, but he’s a hard-core Republican. Hard to have any sort of relationship with them folks these days.”

They all laughed. “Tell me about it,” Ethan said.

“So, Del…” Lilli said. “Ethan has told me nothing about you. All I really know is what I have read online.”

Del laughed. “Yeah, well I can see the reason for your question. The thing I have learned about America is that you never make the whole truth about yourself public. A really good example is that Elon Musk fella. Really rich, real smart, real well-intentioned in his own weird way, least as far as I can see. But because he’s got so many opinions that he shares so freely, I believe he’s opening himself up for a huge character assassination. America loves a winner right up until he starts acting like one, then they turn on him like a pack of hungry coyotes.”

“They haven’t turned on him yet.” Lilli said.

“Early days, Lilli. Give it some time. But the point is that the less they know about you personally, the harder it is to attack you publicly. I created a whole persona for myself, mostly fed into government networks because they are the most vulnerable targets. They’ve also been the bread and butter of my company.”

Del looked over at Ethan. “Our company. But, here’s the long and short of it, you have to learn how to attack before you can defend. I spent my first ten years in this business, scrapin’ by with private network security projects until I had mastered the art of attacking governments. Then I approached them and made them an offer they couldn’t refuse. It wasn’t a threat so much as it was a description of the situation. In the case of the good old US of A it was easy. All I had to do was tell them, hey, if you don’t buy this from me, I’ll just have to fly to Moscow or Beijing and see if they’re interested. Turns out that tactic was highly persuasive and it built my company into a major player in cybersecurity right quickly. And that led to a lot of private sector work, from companies looking to beef up their own security.  Since my first government jobs, it’s basically been like shootin’ fish in a barrel.”

Del took a sip of his wine. Lilli and Ethan just sat there mesmerized by Del’s Texan drawl which was very soothing and yet powerful at the same time. 

“After a while,” Del continued, “You start lookin’ around and all you see are the takers. And you start thinkin’, these people all they’re doin’ is making money for their shareholders and themselves. They don’t have anything like a social conscience. Especially the fossil fuel companies. They’re just takin’ and leavin’ an environmental mess for somebody else to clean up. Yet, here I was working to help them do a better job of makin’ a mess of the whole fuckin’ world.”

Del stopped. He smiled and looked down at his hands on the table. “You know I just got married a couple of years ago. We’re expecting our first child in about seven months’ time. That’s been weighin’ heavy on my mind lately. So, over the past year or so, I have been shifting my business over to the green side. 

He looked at Ethan. “That’s part of the reason I did the deal with your company. I know your old man’s a hardcore Republican, but he’s also a realist. He’ll take good care of the business that’s there and that will free me up to do a couple of things I want to do, one of which is to try and affect some kind of change. I have the ability to attack a lot of these bad actors, and let the world know that there is a real resistance movement out there.”

Lilli looked over at Ethan, who just raised his eyebrows. 

“Okay, so you have the tech to damage a lot of companies. What is it you need Lilli for?” Ethan asked.

“Well, a couple of things. One is that she should be able to get into the executive suites of these companies based on her Telescope credentials, and they’re gonna want to have articles written about them after I’m done. So that’s the gift to you. But more importantly, I need someone to craft the messages we send to these people and to the media. I can do a lot of things, but writing, you know, is something I’ve never really been all that good at.

Lilli was a bit shocked at Del’s forthrightness. He sounded like a hard-core eco-terrorist. She worked hard to stay cool. 

“Sounds like you have had this in the works for quite a while,” Lilli said.

“The better part of the last year. The idea is solid. And you are absolutely the right person to help me pull it off.”

“What you’re saying is that you are going to attack these companies?” Lilli asked incredulously.

“Yep. Take their businesses right offline for a spell. Send them a stern warning along with some suggestions about what they could be doing moving forward, and leave them with the definite impression that I can do this to them at any time in the future. This is the Achille’s Heel of the entire fossil fuel industry. The vast majority of their systems are automated. If they’re automated, they’re hackable.”

“You’re talking about domestic terrorism?” Lilli asked.

“Yeah, I suppose that’s how it could be seen. I prefer the term ‘wake up call’ myself.”

Lilli thought about it for a second. She was astonished at how she was embracing the idea and how it dovetailed into what she herself had been thinking about for quite some time. Then she found herself saying, “Another idea would be after you launch your attack, you reach out to each company’s major customers and suppliers and see if you can’t create some animosity or external threat there as well.”

“You know, Lilli, that was exactly the next thing I was gonna say.”

“That’s pretty devious, Lil,” Ethan said. “I’m proud of you.”

Lilli just smiled. “In for a penny, in for a pound.” And then she poured herself a refill. “I assume you already have a list of the companies you plan to target.”

“I do.” Del said. “But before anything happens, you need to know that what we’ll be doing here is well, quite illegal.”

“That may be, but it’s also quite defensible,” Lilli said, although she didn’t really know that for sure. “And at some point, you have to put your beliefs into action. I really do believe that this is a right thing to do, especially at this time. We’re just around the corner from oblivion. I honestly believe that. All the science I have looked at for my research is screaming it. I can’t ignore it.”

“I’m glad you feel that way. because that’s why I’m sittin’ here now.” Del said.

“From the little that Ethan’s told me about you and what you’ve just told us now, I have a feeling you’re a hell of a lot smarter than anyone they could send after you.” Lilli said

“Well, that’s nice of you to say. But there’s an element of risk in everything.” Del said.

Lilli just shook her head. “Is it riskier than doing nothing when you know you could do something? We can all afford the best legal help in the world. Or we can buy our way out if need be. The downside risk does not trouble me one tiny bit, Del.”

Right then and there Del, Lilli and Ethan formed an unholy alliance to try and change the world. They were all old enough to know they could make it work and young enough to put a ton of energy into the task. They had no doubt they would succeed. Or, at the very least, make their failure burn bright enough for the whole world to see.

Lilli, Del and Ethan drank some more wine and ate sandwiches and potato salad while exchanging background stories. 

Del’s was one similar to theirs. He was born into a well-off ranching family and was fully expected to take over the reins, so to speak, when his father, Waylon, decided to pack it in. But Del was a propellerhead. Got obsessed with computers very early on and had no interest in staying in Texas punching cattle and breaking horses. His dad finally relented and allowed Del to move to Houston after high school, where he hustled his way into a fledgling cybersecurity company. 

In many ways, the industry was still in its infancy. But Del’s talent and his employer’s presence of mind to recognize it, made them both rich within three years. Del was rewarded for his contribution with a 50% share of the company, which never actually went public, despite its astounding local success. Unfortunately, Del’s partner, a fifth-generation Texan named Jim Clay, died in the seventh year of their partnership. Jim Clay had never married and wanted nothing to do with the rest of his family, so he left everything he owned to Del, including a beautiful house on Galveston Bay and the other half of the company. In short, Del at the age of 25 and almost entirely self-taught after high school, became the sole owner of one of the country’s hottest cybersecurity firms. 

He mulled it over and decided to liquidate the real estate and use the money to hire a team of sales and management people and other systems people like himself, whom he trained. Over the next ten years, and through his incredible persuasiveness, he built the company into a regional behemoth and everybody profited from it. And everybody was incentivized to keep it growing because Del, like Lilli, was a generous boss. 

Then one day he got a call from Washington’s Department of Homeland Security. They wanted to test the vulnerability of every intelligence service from the CIA on down. This job alone tripled the size of his company and gave Del the opportunity to really spread his wings. He applied everything he had taught himself and created some proprietary security system programs that would ultimately end up giving him a current net worth of about half a billion dollars.

Lilli was fascinated with Del’s story. But the one thing that was bothering her had to do with his core motivation. 

“You’ve given me chapter and verse about what you want to do, Del, and I appreciate that.” Lilli said. “But you haven’t really told me why you want to do all of this. I’d really be interested to know what’s driving you.”

Del thought about it for a while and then said, “The time I have spent in the cybersecurity business got me thinking that I became rich based on a country’s paranoia about being attacked by another country, not with conventional weapons, but with keystrokes by guys like me.  And as much as I was able to profit from this paranoia, it got me thinking about how we have to stop hoarding our knowledge. About how we are facing challenges that no one country can solve on its own, or that even a passel of countries, like the G-7 or the G-20, can solve as a group. Hell, they can’t even agree on what the problem is. So maybe if you, Ethan and myself can bring a few private companies to their knees, maybe other hackers out there will get the same idea. I’ll sure as hell be letting the dark web know what we’re up to, anonymously of course, and make my tools available for them as well. Maybe we can start a movement that extorts cooperation from these companies. Because it ain’t happening without some sort of boot to the backside. That’s the philosophical reason. 

“My real personal reason? Well, it’s love. As I said, I got married two years ago and my wife, Shawna, is two months pregnant now. I want the same thing as you guys do, Lilli. A better goddamn world for our kids to live in. And that’s the long and short of it.”

Lilli raised her glass. “Here’s to a better goddamn world for our kids to live in.” 

Before Del left later that afternoon, he went to his car and got out a black bag about eighteen inches by twelve inches and brought it back in the house. He sat back down at the dining room table and opened the flap on the bag, taking out a small bronze-coloured MacBook and a charger. He opened up the computer and showed Lilli the email link. There was only one address in it and it was Del’s. 

“This is a link to my email on  my computer in Florida,” Del said. “Anything you want to send me, send it through that link then delete the message. You can upload the files I send you onto a memory key, so you never have to put any actual files into this computer. Once you have sent whatever you’re sending, just trash the message and empty the trash. I’ve tweaked the trash program so that the trash has no deep memory. The Apple people wouldn’t be thrilled to know that, but…what the hell. When you’re not using it or charging it, keep the computer in the Faraday pouch. That will prevent anyone from hacking in or even knowing there’s a computer in there. And that’s all there is to it. Keep on writing your articles and interviewing people. I will send you specific target profiles as soon as I get home. Just offload it to your memory key and do the trash thing. It’s very important that there’s nothing on this computer.”

Lilli nodded, “Gotcha.”

“Other than face-to-face, this should be the only way we communicate. File it all under better safe than sorry. But I want to ask you one more time…are you sure you want to play? If you ever get to the point where you’re doubting this is a good way to go, I want you to tell me.”

With no hesitation Lilli replied, “OK, I will and right now, yes, I want to play. We both do. We all do. It’s not like we really have a choice.  But if I end up doubting this, you’ll be the first to know. My dad always told me the only way you can tell if something works is by trying it. So, let’s give it a try.”

“Okay,” Del said.  He gave Lilli and Ethan both a big hug before he left.

Lilli tucked the computer into the bag and took it into her office. She slipped it into a filing cabinet in the closet. Ethan had followed her into the room and perched on the arm of the small sofa, mainly because the cushions were covered with paper. 

“OK, so now we’re doing something.” He said. “Not sure how much I will be able to contribute. But I’ll definitely be there in the moral support role.”

“I’m sure you will. But you’ll also be holding down the fort here. The kids need at least one parent around, if I end up in the hoosegow.”

Ethan got up, walked over and kissed Lilli on the cheek. “I don’t think there’s much of a chance of that.”

Lilli opened her journal. She stared at the page for quite a while before realizing that she couldn’t really write anything about what had just happened and probably never could. She closed the journal up and moved on to Ron’s comments on her latest Telescope article.

Two days later, Ethan received a business email from Del Fry, and let Lilli know that Del had sent her something. At that point, Ethan realized that he did indeed have a role to play in this business. He was the pivot person. Del could, without raising any digital eyebrows, communicate with Lilli through him.

~ 17 ~ 

The first profile Lilli received was for a company called Dorsett Emory. They were a small, but highly profitable investment firm, which specialized mainly in heavy smokestack industries including coal and iron mining, textile mills, concrete product manufacturing and a wide range of other highly polluting entities. It was located in Greensboro, North Carolina and employed about 100 people to service and administrate financing for more than 75 different industrial companies from Virginia, Georgia,Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. Their processes ran from a single massive server in the building next to their business offices in Greensboro. It was manned and kept running smoothly by a couple of young local computer whiz kids named Tommy Greer and Tyrone Dupree, who were community college-educated techs. 

In short, freezing the Dorsett Emory server, for a guy like Del Fry, was tantamount to shooting fish in a barrel. He waited until Monday morning and then, from his protected laptop, took complete control of their system. Lilli had written and sent a short letter that she had composed and emailed to Del’s laptop, after researching the company and reading through Del’s suggestions. The letter popped up on the phone of Franklin Dorsett, one of the two owners of the firm.

It read: 

Dear Mr. Dorsett,

You are probably aware that your server has been frozen and that it will take you quite some time to unfreeze it if indeed you have the resources to do this at your disposal. The reason we have commandeered your server is a simple one. We need you to put all of your clients on notice that all financing, interim or otherwise will cease until they publicly demonstrate their willingness to substantially reduce carbon emissions in their operations. We also encourage you to shift financing into emerging ‘green’ businesses.

We have sent this notification to all the newspapers, radio and TV stations within your entire market area. You will undoubtedly be inundated with phone calls and requests for interviews. We strongly suggest that you cooperate and give as many interviews as you can, letting the world know you will be complying with these demands. If you wish to avoid the complete destruction of your company’s business systems, you will comply with this request.

The time has come for businesses like yours to step up and take environmental responsibility for the financing you provide to industries that are contributing to the destruction of our atmosphere. Your server will remain frozen until such time as we perceive that positive changes are forthcoming.

Sincerely, 

Carbonari International

Carbonari International was Lilli’s creative suggestion. The Carbonari was an informal network of secret revolutionary societies active in Italy in the early 1800s. But Lilli liked it because she saw it as a play on the word carbon. When Del received her shakedown email, he immediately responded and told her how much he liked the name. 

Lilli was surprised at how easy it was to write in a menacing fashion, which was something she had never really even thought about doing before. She was, in fact, learning all kinds of things about herself. But mostly the work she was doing now was gratifying on a whole other level, and she loved it. The only thing that bothered her was that she knew she would never be able to record her thoughts on any of this for fear of a lot of trouble coming down on her head. 

Lilli then created the text for the letter that would be sent to the media in the Dorsett Emory market area and sent it off to Del. The day had literally flown by and the kids were just coming in the door when she stepped out of her office. They all sat in the kitchen and Lilli listened to the kids recount their day at school, while Giselle moved around methodically getting dinner ready.

That night they all sat down in the family room and watched Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them for the umpteenth time. Lilli often wondered what it would take to write something on the level of JK Rowling and decided that maybe one day she would give it a shot. But right now, there was a planet to save and no time to lose.

~ 18 ~

The disruption in the flow of business at Dorsett Emory was nothing compared to the furor it caused in the press. Every account executive in the company was besieged with phone calls for interviews. Finally, after three days of madness and stalling, the company’s senior executives got together in a meeting room at the Day’s Inn in Greensboro and plotted their strategy. 

First and foremost, they needed to find a computer expert who could break this hack and get them back on track. Secondly, they needed to fashion a press release that would satisfy everybody. Thirdly, they needed to inform all their clients that this was just some lefty prank and that it was being effectively dealt with. Because it was becoming national news, they needed to designate a spokesperson for the company. The job fell to a guy named Jackson Myles, their top salesperson, whom the group reckoned had the best TVQ and was the most capable of containing his anger. At no time was any serious thought given to the demands of the hackers who had taken control of their computers and locked them out. To a man, they all believed that giving in to these ridiculous demands was no different than giving in to terrorists. 

Finally, they talked about one final issue that related to the company’s future. They debated long and hard about whether or not this would be the ideal time to reveal it. 

Meanwhile, Lilli and Ethan sat watching from Long Island. Del was doing the same from his boat, now anchored in a marina at Cedar Island, in Florida. Lilli had totally underestimated the furor this event would create and she sat there watching CNN’s reporting in dazed wonder. It was just amazing how a threat to the status quo in her country could cause such a powerful reaction. 

After a while, the news started repeating itself so Lilli tuned out and spent some time finishing the edit of her latest Telescope article. When she had finished and sent it off to Roy, she went into the kitchen and talked to Giselle for a while as she munched on some carrot sticks. Giselle was a smart cookie and had figured out exactly what was going on, although she didn’t know all the details. But Lilli trusted her implicitly and answered all of Giselle’s questions as honestly as she could within reason. At the end of their conversation, Lilli implored Giselle not to mention any of what she had just been told to the kids. Giselle just smiled and said, “This is my family too, mum. And I am every bit as keen to protect them as you and Ethan.” That was all Lilli needed to hear.

Early the next morning, her phone buzzed. It was Roy Collins. “Pack a bag Lilli, you’re going to North Carolina. There’s a story there that’s right up your alley.” They talked for a few more minutes, then disconnected. An hour later she and Ethan were in the car heading south. Normally Lilli would have flown and taken taxis or Ubers to get around, but she thought that Ethan was feeling extra restless these days. He jumped at the opportunity. They put on some Bob Seger and just rolled on, pulling into Greensboro at close to 10 PM. 

The magazine had reserved a room for them at the Day’s Inn on the west side of the city just south of the Airport. They were both beat by the time they arrived so they simply picked up some fast food and ate in bed while they were watching the local news, then crashed out until the middle of the following morning. They coffeed up at a nearby McDonald’s and headed downtown for the press conference on the steps of the Greensboro Police Department.

The press conference was short and sweet. The Greensboro Police Chief made a few comments and then introduced Special Agent Myra Tyree, of the FBI Cyber Crimes unit, who answered a lot of questions with non-answers. Primarily, Tyree was appealing for help to generate leads. It was obvious to Lilli, especially from the vague answers to the questions being shouted at her, that the FBI was spinning its wheels. Lilli bumped Ethan who kept staring straight ahead. “I know. This is so weird,” he said. After Agent Tyree left the podium a handsome man in a very expensive-looking suit got up behind the microphone. 

“My name is Jackson Myles. I’m a senior Vice President at Dorsett Emory, the firm that has been victimized by this heinous attack on our system. These hackers who call themselves Carbonari International, have brought our business to a standstill. But I am here to assure all of you and, more importantly, the Dorsett Emory clients who depend on us to keep their businesses going and our area thriving, that we don’t take kindly to threats like this and we are doing everything in our power to put an end to it and bring these criminals to justice. We are cooperating fully with the FBI, as well as local law enforcement and we trust we will be out of the woods very soon.  Any questions?”

With that, he pointed to a reporter in the front row. “Mr. Myles. The press has received a list of the Carbonari’s demands. You have not mentioned what. if anything, you are doing to comply with them. Could you shed some light for us?”

“Like all radicals, this group has not thought things through at all. If they had, they would realize that these demands are not just ridiculous but extremely difficult to achieve in the current financial climate in this country. They are, like most radicals, driven by passion and not reason.”

He pointed to another reporter who said. “Seems to me sir, that you are treating these Carbonari International people like rank amateurs. Yet they were able to get complete control of your company’s operating system and lock you out of it. With all due respect, they sound rather well-organized and professional to me. Any comment?”

Myles stared at the reporter for several seconds and then said. “It’s our company’s policy, just like it is the US government’s policy, to never negotiate with terrorists. This is, in our opinion, a terrorist attack and we will not embolden them by negotiating. I’m sure I speak for the vast majority of our clients in this regard. Thank you.” And in a barrage of shouted questions, he left the podium.

On her way out, Lilli left her business card with one of the company reps and indicated that she would really like to have an interview for a Telescope article she was writing on the situation. The rep took her card but did not look at it. “Are you a Democrat or a Republican?” To which Lilli responded, “I’m a journalist. Whom I voted for in the last election has nothing to do with anything. If you want your company honestly represented in this matter, in a major publication, I can help you there.”

The woman looked down at Lilli’s Telescope card and then up at her. “Oh my God. You’re Lilli Braithwaite…Lilli’s Lost & Found Lilli.” 

Lilli just smiled. She didn’t really know what else to do. “Guilty,” she said.

“I read all of your articles in The Telescope and the stories you have on your website, the New York stories, they’re fabulous.”

“Well, thank you.”

“I’ll talk to Mr. Myles. I’m sure the company would make time for you.”

“Thank you so much.” Lilli looked at the badge the rep was wearing pinned to her blouse. “Juliana.” 

Lilli and Ethan turned to walk away. In the lobby, there was a fairly substantial crowd of people hanging around and talking with each other. as they continued on through the crowd and out the front door. 

They drove back to their hotel and decided to have a swim in the oversized pool. They were the only ones there. The air was hot and humid and the sun beating down was relentless. They took refuge at a table under an umbrella, but it did little to cool them off. They decided to pack it in and went back to their room. 

They fooled around for a while like a couple of teenagers in an empty house, then they both nodded off until Lilli’s phone started to chime. She answered it right away. It was Juliana from the offices of Dorsett Emory. She had arranged for Lilli to meet with Mr. Dorsett and Mr. Myles at ten am the following morning. Lilli thanked Juliana and disconnected.

Ethan was awake when Lilli flopped down beside him. “Into the lion’s den goes little Lilli. Your friend from Texas would be so proud.”

“We’ll see about that, my dear.” And she snuggled into his arms while they talked about what to do about dinner, deciding that it would definitely not be any place outside in the soup that passed for weather in North Carolina.

~ 19 ~

At exactly 9:58 the next morning, Ethan dropped Lilli off at the Dorsett Emory offices. It occupied all three stories of its own building in the heart of downtown on a street called North Greene. Juliana was waiting in the reception area for her. She led Lilli to the elevator and they headed up to the third floor. The elevator opened on a large work area, which was empty except for one person off in the corner on the phone. Along the back wall of the space was a row of offices and a conference room, which is where Juliana led Lilli. 

The two men seated at the end of the large board table, Jackson Myles and Franklin Dorsett, who looked to be a little older, and definitely more high strung than Myles, rose to greet Lilli. 

Juliana made the introductions and everybody took a seat. Juliana said. “There’s coffee on the side table.” Lilli thanked her. Then Juliana quickly turned and left the room. 

Lilli dug her recorder out of her bag and set it down in front of the two men. They both looked at it, with a certain amount of disdain. Lilli said. “A very smart man I know told me that if I wanted to get the story right, I should record everything. God is in the details or so they say.”

Then Jackson Myles spoke. “We accepted this request for a meeting, despite the fact that we know you are a well-known environmentalist, and that our business mostly has to do with everything you are opposed to.”

“Fair enough.” Lilli said. “But I received the letter from this Carbonari International group, and for some reason, the first thought that ran through my head was that there are obviously two sides to this story. I want to hear your side. After that, I will decide how to write the article. Believe me, the first place it goes is to The Telescope, so you can be assured they will fact-check the hell out of it like they always do. Nobody wants to deal with defamation or slander here. I wouldn’t last five minutes in my business if I wrote anything that wasn’t the objective truth.”

This seemed to disarm both Myles and Dorsett. Lilli noticed that they had definitely relaxed their postures. Myles got to his feet and offered to make Lilli a coffee which she accepted. After her first sip and some small talk about how beautiful a city Greensboro was, Lilli got right into it.

“So, you have had your system hacked by a relatively unknown group of eco-terrorists. They sent you a letter with a short list of demands. My first question is “Why not just make the effort this group is demanding, and get your system back online?”

Dorsett leaned forward. He took a deep breath. “Miz Braithwaite…”. He said with a distinct drawl that convinced Lilli he must have come from somewhere deeper in the south than North Carolina. “I have, we have, Jackson and I, batted that idea around ever since this whole mess started. The problem is that if we were to do that, we would almost immediately go bankrupt, and put more than one hundred good people out of work.” His sincerity was something Lilli had not counted on. “The company would fragment into small pieces. All our investment people would fight like dogs to hold onto their clients and do it independently. And our investors might support them. But the banks, not so much. Eventually, someone, another company like ours, would pick up the slack and maybe a few of our best people and nothin’ would really change outside of the complete implosion of Dorsett Emory.”

Jackson Myles got up again. He walked over to the side table and opened the sliding door. He took out a Cirlux-bound document and came back to the table. He laid the document on the table. Lilli looked at the cover which read.  “TO 2030 & BEYOND, The New Going Forward Model For Dorsett Emory.”

Myles then said. “Part of the reason we agreed to see you is to explain that we are not the bad guys here. Yes, we do a lot of work for the fossil fuel industry, but the plan you’re looking at is the result of a rather substantial investment on our part to bring Dorsett Emory into the renewable future.”

Lilli leafed through the document which was about thirty pages in all. 

“This is our new bible. Miz Braithwaite.” Dorset said. “This is where we’re going and it’s one of the best-kept secrets we have. 

“We know what’s coming. Hell, a lot of it’s already here. But this transition is just that, a transition. It’s going to take some time before we even get to the midpoint and can start advising our investors to put their money into these new technologies. Our investors are mostly pension funds. They are extremely conservative, and green tech, to them, is radical and unproven. But we are, quietly makin’ moves and hopefully, when we get to that midpoint, we will be in a solid position to start really pushing the fossil fuel industries we work with to start diversifying. It’s just a very hard row to hoe in this economy and at this time in the world. These people, our clients, are tough as nails and have invested heavily in conservative politicians. And you know as well as I do that until the laws are changed, the game stays the same. 

“I personally spend a good deal of time with the heads of the companies we invest in, and they are all aware that their clock is winding down. But there’s a lot of pride and ego tied up in all of this. It’s real uphill work gettin’ them to even listen.”

Lilli was fighting hard to deal with the anger that was welling up inside her for Delbert Fry. He assured her that he had done his homework and that these people were the scum of the earth. But in his hacking, he evidently overlooked this very key point.

“You know I came in here a bit loaded for bear.” She said, and both men smiled. “I sincerely wanted you to be the bad guys in all of this. Because this Carbonari movement fit right in with everything I believed about the world. But you have given me a whole other perspective. The question here is, will you let me tell my readers about this?” As she held up the document Jackson Myles had given her.

“That’s an interesting question,” Dorsett said. “The bigger question is now that we have let the cat out of the bag, and we have not insisted that this conversation be off the record, do we really have any choice?”

The three of them sat there for quite a while without saying anything. Then Lilli said. “OK, I will call it as I see it. I also think you will be surprised at the number of businesses there are out there that can make up for any losses you may suffer going forward. I assume you are going to open this as a separate venture, with an eye to inching away from the old economy.”

“Well, that’s the plan.” Jackson Myles said. “And you really should not underestimate the power you have in that business sector. The more people like yourself talk about this to larger audiences, like the people who read The Telescope, the more the resistance to change erodes. It’s highly doubtful that within the next decade, many of the businesses we deal with now will even exist. So, yes. It is definitely in our best interest to be seen as the good guys.”

Lilli had dealt with enough corporate types to know when they were bullshitting. These guys felt quite sincere. And maybe they were. They were certainly willing to put their asses out there on the chopping block. But then again, maybe there was some devious method to this madness. They had certainly got her pissed off with Delbert Fry, and she really needed to sit down with him and work this out. 

Lilli asked them a bunch of questions about the kinds of industries they thought would be good candidates and they very much appeared to have done their homework on this. The conversation, all on the record, lasted another hour, and Lilli felt that her recorder was packed with real dynamite.

As she packed up her stuff and said goodbye to Myles and Dorsett, both men agreed to a follow-up interview once Lilli had got her ducks in a row. 

She snapped a few pictures of them holding their “Going Forward” document. They seemed sincere and cooperative, way more cooperative than she had anticipated. But then again this was America in the early 21st century, and nothing could be counted on to be real.

On her way out Lilli thanked Juliana and wrote down her name. She promised to take her off the customer list for Lilli’s Lost & Found and made her a permanent free member. It wasn’t much but it was genuinely appreciated by Juliana.  

Lilli told her that she should keep an eye on things and that if anything weird started to happen, Juliana should contact her, because the more she knew about the company, the more she could help. Juliana nodded and said she would be happy to do that.

When Lilli got to the reception area, she noticed that the FBI agent, Myra Tyree was sitting there. Sitting with her was her partner Elmore Edison, a black man with a striking resemblance to a young Denzel Washington. Myra was a tallish brunette, with long hair pulled back into a ponytail. “Agent Tyree, isn’t it? Hi. Lilli Braithwaite.”

“The Telescope, right? Nice gig.” Myra said. “This is my partner, Agent Edison.” 

Lilli shook hands with Elmore. “So, I wish you the best of luck with your investigation.” she said.

“Thank you. We’re working as hard as we can.” Myra said. 

“Don’t suppose you have anything that would add to my story.”

“No. Only that we will find this group. We usually always do.”

“OK. Well nice to meet you both.”

When Lilli left, Myra turned to Edison, and said, “How does a hard-core environmentalist writer from New York City get an interview with these guys?”

“Pretty smart if you ask me. Control the narrative. Bet they promised her the moon if she would be kind to them.” Edison said,

Just then Juliana popped her head out the office door. “They’re ready for you.” And in they went.

Ethan was waiting in front of the building. When Lilli got into the car he asked “So…how’d it go?”

“Let’s go home, sweetie. I’ll tell you all about it. But we need to talk to Del Fry, as soon as we get there.”

Lilli was not an angry person. She had no reason to be. She was born into wealth and she created more as she grew. Her life was good. She loved her family. Loved her partner. Loved her work. People loved her. And then, all of a sudden she found herself feeling angry. Not the kind of angry you get when you can’t find your keys or your phone but really and truly pissed off. At first, she thought she was pissed off with Del Fry. The long, tall Texan who wanted to change the world and really show those big bad polluters what it was like to be on the losing end. She felt used and abused and throughout the entire ride back up to Long Island she unloaded on Ethan. But the more she talked, the more she realized she wasn’t angry with Del Fry either. She was angry with herself. Because it was Lilli who was the starry-eyed idealist and much better at painting beautiful pictures with her words than she was at brandishing a baseball bat and clubbing businesses over the head with it. 

Eventually, Lilli calmed down and when they stopped for dinner at a Taco Bell just over the New Jersey state line, Lilli found herself both ravenous and talked out. Ethan told her that he was sorry he’d ever brought Del into her life. Lilli just held his hand and told him it wasn’t the end of the world. In fact, the trip had given her a whole new perspective on the way things were in America, which was something she had, up till this point in her life, been able to blissfully ignore. She would have to deal with it the only way she knew how. With her words.

~ 20 ~

They arrived home at about 10:30 that night. The kids were in their rooms reading. Giselle was watching a Bogart movie. Ethan headed up to bed because he was beat and Lilli went into her office. She pulled the MacBook out of the Faraday pouch and opened up the email program.

I went down to NC and as good fortune would have it, ended up meeting with the company in question. From what I was able to gather from the principals of the company, they are already actively working on doing everything they can to move along the lines you outlined. My suggestion is that you release them immediately. They have given me documented proof of their commitment to moving forward in a positive 

way. The explanation will be in my next published piece. 

Sincerely

Lilli went into the kitchen and filled her water bottle. She then sat down with Giselle and watched the end of To Have And Have Not. Half an hour later she went back to her office and got out the MacBook.  There was one email. it simply read ‘Done.’ Lilli felt the weight of the day lift off her shoulders. She hoped that she was right about this, and was pleased that Del had enough respect for her to actually listen and act on her advice.

She went up to bed and lay down beside Ethan, who was almost asleep. She just stared up at the fan twirling overhead and casting a long shadow on the ceiling. She eventually dropped off to sleep herself. Long day. 

Later the next day,  Jackson Myles was in front of a group of reporters and news network cameras, announcing the re-tooling of the company and the push that was already underway to find new green companies to finance.  

He was careful to point out that planning for this             re-tooling had been in the works for several months and that the cyber attack had really provided the impetus for them to turn their plans into action. The announcement was done with such slickness and confidence that, as Lilli watched it, for a brief second, she found herself asking if they had actually duped her. She didn’t want to believe that, but, on the other hand, she was happy since it gave her a positive ending to her story, which would be out there for anyone who wanted to read it. 

Early the next day, the news channels were abuzz with the news that the Dorset Emory server had been mysteriously restored.

After dinner, when everyone had disbursed and Lilli and Ethan were sitting on the back deck with a glass of wine. Giselle came out and gave Lilli a FedEx package that had just been delivered. In it was a cell phone with a single number programmed into the directory. Lilli didn’t wonder who had sent her the phone. She knew. 

“Just be nice, Lil.” Ethan said. “Remember that more flies with honey than vinegar thing.”

Lilli punched in the number, and Del answered after one ring. “Hello darlin’. How’s every little thing up your way?”

“Everything is fine.” Lilli said, working hard to keep it light and breezy. “Looks like you won this round without shedding too much blood.” 

“Hmmm,” Del said. “You know I’m not all that big a believer in coincidence.” 

“Well, they do happen every so often.” 

“I guess time will tell. We both need to keep an eye on them. Call me terminally cynical, but I just don’t trust anyone in that world. But the bigger question has to do with you. Is this a game you can play, or is it not? There’s no harm admitting that it’s not, you know.”

“I can play the game, providing we’re playing against the real enemy.”

“OK, that works for me. I can’t apologize for somethin’ I had no prior knowledge of. But if this really is what it is, I have to assume that it’s the exception and not the rule. I have had too much experience with these people. They are all being backed into a corner and they all know how to fight dirty.”

“OK, well let’s chalk this up to a learning experience.” 

“Will do…but I’ll tell you right now, if I smell a rat, I will go right back after these people with a vengeance.”

“And I’ll be right there with you. Maybe that would be a good letter to send them, you know.”

“Okey dokey. Hold onto this phone. Keep it in the pouch with the computer. We’ll talk soon, and make me that letter. Say hey to your partner I’m sure he’s sittin’ right there with you.”

“He is. Good night.”

“Good night.”

Lilli disconnected and looked over at Ethan. “You dun good, sweetie.” he said.

“Del says hey.”

Ethan chuckled, as they sat and watched the moon rise, holding hands and thinking maybe they actually could change the world.

Later that night, Lilli wrote a short, sweet letter that would be delivered to the offices of Dorsett Emory from an email address that did not exist from the moment the letter was sent.

We have given you back your business, based on what you have told the world you are going to do. We will be watching. And we will take it away again if we see that you have attempted to deceive us. You have chosen to do the right thing. Now, please for the sake of our future, do it.

Lilli emailed the letter to Del Fry. Almost immediately she received a thumbs up from Del, with another file attached to it. 

She downloaded the file to a memory key, deleted the email and closed the computer down. She opened her own computer and read through the file, which was merely called 002, a PDF, which was a complete profile of a Kentucky company called Grey Diamond Minerals. This was the largest coal mining concern in the state, operating four deep-shaft mines, doing a good deal of fracking to unearth new deposits. Now this, Lilli thought, was what she was waiting for. 

These guys were genuine bad actors, the company’s ownership stretched all the way to Washington, and the office of a prominent senator name Dwight Freeland. The odd thing was that he wasn’t a Republican, but a Democrat. When Lilli looked him up she was not at all surprised that he consistently sided with the Republican party on any issue having to do with the environment, mining, and other types of heavy manufacturing.

Lilli sat back in her chair and thought about that for quite some time. This was as big a fish as they were ever going to find in one of the most toxic areas of the fossil fuel world. It gave her a little shiver as she thought about it more deeply. The light that will be shining on her and Del’s little enterprise would be a whole lot brighter now. But she had faith in Del’s ability, mostly because Ethan had faith too.

Lilli went upstairs and found Ethan sitting up in bed doing something on his laptop “Well, we have hit the jackpot sweetie.” Lilli said, as she peeled out of her clothes, pulled on an old T-shirt and flopped down on the bed, beside him

“Oh yeah. What is it this time?”

“Coal. I hate coal. This one’s called Grey Diamond, in Kentucky, and one of the equity partners is that slimy senator from Tennessee.”

“You mean the Democrat who acts like a Republican?”

“Yeah, that creep.”

“Whoa. You’re gonna draw some heat on that one.”

“Yeah, but for some strange reason, I just, you know, it doesn’t matter. We did it once, sort of, and we’ll try it again. I have a lot of faith in Del’s ability.” 

“That’s a good thing because it’s that ability that will keep us out of the hoosegow.” 

Lilli rubbed Ethan’s chest. “I love it when you talk cowboy. What are you working on?”

“I was just reading an email from dad. Guess who contacted him and wants a meeting with Del to beef up their cyber security? Dorsett Emory.”

“Get out of here!`”

“Nope, they told dad they want the best guy in the business to take their system apart and fortify the shit out of it. Their exact words.”

Lilli laugh… “Awww man. What a world, eh?”

“What a world indeed. If they only could appreciate the monumental irony. Del will build them a fortress, complete with a little trap door for him to come and go as he pleases. He’ll know exactly what they’re up to for like ever. He’ll be able to hack into their systems, their inter-office messaging, their emails, the extracurriculars, the whole shootin’ match. And they won’t know a damn thing.” 

“You think he targeted them on purpose, just to get their business?” Lilli asked.

‘No. Guys like him, it’s not about the money. He’s already rich. If it was about the money, he wouldn’t have given us a sweetheart deal for his company. It’s all about control. But there’s a downside risk. Get too passionate about what you’re doing and stuff invariably slips through the cracks.”

Lilli thought about that for a moment. Over the years she had made it a point to listen carefully to Ethan. “So I guess it’s also my job to make sure that nothing like that happens,” Lilli said.

“Yep. It is. And you know what? It syncs up with my impression of Del. He is smarter than the average bear, Lilli. He’s certainly smarter than anyone they could ever send after him. But he also struck me as a bit of a control freak. The fact that he knew he could talk you into this, and had the hardware you needed with him, all set up and ready to go, that denotes a high level of confidence in his persuasiveness.

“You think he was trying to control me?”

“I sure as hell think he’s trying. He’s just being really nice about it.” 

Lilli flopped back down on the pillow and stared up at the ceiling. The thought had never really occurred to her.

“But don’t worry’” Ethan said, “If nothing else, you are terminally uncontrollable.”

~ 21 ~

Lilli spent the next day just doing ordinary things. She swam. She reviewed a couple of new interviews for Lilli’s Lost & Found. In the early afternoon, she talked via Zoom to Phillip Cromwell in London. He told her that he had run into an old friend from Eton College who was now an editor for a large publisher called MacMillan’s that specialized in the area of education. When Phillip told him what he was up to, they ended up having a pretty substantial discussion about how Lilli’s Lost & Found could work in England. The long and short of it was that his friend, Nicholas Tweed, took it back to his people and they would really love to meet and see what could happen. 

After the call, Lilli went for a long walk to think through the logistics of going international. For some reason, she didn’t consider Canada to be a foreign country, although a lot of Americans didn’t really know much about it. But England was a whole ocean away and a country with a very rich history. When she got back home, she emailed Phillip and told him to set it up. She gave him some dates and disconnected.

Ethan was spending his obligatory day in the city. He got home about 4:00 in the afternoon, just after the kids had arrived from school. Lilli was in her office cleaning up some loose ends. Ethan wandered in and gave her a kiss on the neck. “So? Good day?”

“Oh yeah. How would you feel about a week in England? We could bring the kids. Be tourists. It will be fun.” And then she explained her conversation with Phillip.

“I’m in. When does this happen?” he said.

Everybody had passports from the trip the family made to Toronto to promote Lilli’s Lost & Found in Canada. As Ethan announced the trip to the kids, Lilli could hear them jumping up and down and wasn’t sure if it was about having some time off school or because of the trip itself. But everybody was beyond happy, including Giselle who would now have a week off. Lilli invited her, of course, but a week in this house with no responsibilities was, as she put it, a gift from God. Lilli wasn’t sure about the whole god thing, so she just smiled and wrote it off to the fact that Giselle was raised Irish Catholic.

The next morning Lilli heard her burner phone beeping in the Faraday pouch. She got it out. It was a text from Del… “Keep your distance from this one. John Law will be all over it. Just watch. Don’t play. XO.”

Lilli deleted the message, turned off the phone and put it back in the pouch. She started her computer and began jumping around the news channels. All hell had indeed broken loose this time. The hacking of the Grey Diamond system was dominating the major news channels. This time, the spokesperson for the company wasn’t some high corporate minion but the Senator from Tennessee himself. Lilli could see that there was genuine anger in his voice. This was personal too and he wasn’t so much commenting as he was threatening the people who had done this with annihilation. It made Lilli feel quite happy to see this hypocrite so angry.

She opened up her Grey Diamond file and re-read it, then she fashioned a letter for Del to send them. 

Your operation has not just been responsible for obscene levels of carbon poison filling the skies, your business has worked good people into early graves, ruined some of the most beautiful countryside in America, displaced whole communities and destroyed the ecosystems in the areas where you operate. 

We demand that you cease mining operations immediately, and use the vast wealth you have created for yourselves to start developing businesses in the green sector. We will only return your systems once you have publicly announced that you will comply with these demands, and that, over the next three months, you demonstrate that you are, in fact, winding down your operations. Failure to do so will result in the complete destruction of your business systems and any new system you try to put in place. You have made an enemy and only you can change that.

Carbonari International

She read it over a couple of times to make sure there was the right balance of confidence and menace, then sent it off to Del, who in turn would send it to the executives of the mining operation and the Senator from Tennessee, as well as all the usual suspects in the press.

Lilli thought it would be interesting to see just how much stronger the reaction to all of this would be, with an actual US Senator foaming at the mouth. 

A few hours later, she received an email on her computer with the announcement she had just written. She smiled when she thought about the firestorm that had been ignited. Maybe she was becoming radicalized after all.

~ 22 ~

Agent Myra Tyree sat in her office with Elmore Edison or Double E, as Myra called him, staring at the TV screen on the wall as the story of the Grey Diamond hack was unfolding. Double E was, although he never let on, in complete awe of the hacker they were trying to nail. A bit of an amateur hacker in his teenage years, he then grew out of it and went in an opposite direction, with a four-year stint in the Marines. Through some of the connections he made there, was able to work his way into the FBI in Washington by way of the Secret Service. FBI cybercrimes was a good fit for him because he found the idea of having to protect slimy politicians completely distasteful. 

He and Myra were also a good fit. Myra, the southern white woman with all the racist baggage that came with that and Double E, a northern black man who had been having racist baggage unloaded on him for most of his life. The thing they had in common was that they both loved America and all it stood for. They also both had excellent instincts and relished the tough puzzles that every day in law enforcement brought to them. Together they had become the A-Team in the Washington Bureau. And these hacks in North Carolina and Kentucky were their new babies. The fact that they were currently lead-challenged in the extreme didn’t really bother them. They would figure it out just like they had been doing for the past four years working together.

When the newscast went to commercial, Myra looked over at Double E. “Guess we should be going to Kentucky.”

Double E shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah, eventually. But I think we should probably do the politically correct thing and talk to the Senator first. A hack is a hack. None of those bumpkins will have a clue what happened. What I want to know is if this is political or not. And so we need to talk to the good old boy who owns a chunk of those mines.”

Myra got on the phone to Senator Freeland’s office and got a meeting for later that afternoon.

Freeland chose to meet at the National Democratic Club, where he could get himself a beer. Two hours later, Myra and Double E were seated in wing chairs by an unlit fireplace, with glasses of water on the table in front of them. Across from them in a third chair, sat Senator Dwight Freeland. He was well into his sixties, with a crop of semi-unruly white hair, a beer belly from too much time spent right in the very room he was sitting in, making deals with all kinds of people. Behind him, two secret service agents stood silently by scanning the room slowly. Freeland was southern and spoke with a hybrid drawl that made him sound kind of pompous, like some Tennessee Williams character. To Myra, he was everything she despised about the south. 

“This is the second attack of its kind in so many weeks. I would very much appreciate knowing just what the fuck you people are doin’ about this.” Freeland said, almost spitting the words out.

Myra looked at Freeland and saw that this anger was deep and personal. “Well, sir, for the record we are following all the leads that are forthcoming.”

“Come on, Agent Tyree, you can certainly do better than that. You’re the fuckin’ FBI. You’re supposed to have a handle on all of this.”

“Well, sir, with all due respect, we get a handle on things by asking questions and if you would just calm your ass down for a minute we’d like to ask you a few.”

“I’m all yours, agent. Ask away.” There was no humility anywhere in this man’s makeup, Myra thought. Double E, just sat back and wondered how many slaves this guy would own if slavery was made legal again.

Myra looked over at Double E, who said. “I’m curious as to why this terrorist would choose the company you are a shareholder in when he could have easily chosen from a couple dozen others. It leads me to believe that this might be something to do with you, sir.”

“Well, that is a good question, son. Fact is, I have been pretty vocal in my opposition to the so-called green movement. I’m all for change, but you can’t just plop down a whole new way of doing things on top of the old one. That just doesn’t make any damn sense.”

“It does if the industry you’re replacing is responsible for a massive amount of carbon pollution.” Double E said. “But you still haven’t answered my question, sir. Why Grey Diamond?” 

“I should think that would be obvious, son. Publicity, and a lot of it. Grey Diamond isn’t just the largest coal operation in the whole of the USA, it’s also the only one that’s part-owned by a Democratic senator. Is there a tastier eco-terrorist target out there? I don’t think so.”

“So if that’s true, then, we’re gonna need to be able to look at any of the hate mail you have been receiving lately.” Myra said.

“One step ahead of you, Miz Tyree.” He reached into the pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out a small flash drive. “Every email and scan of every letter right up until this morning. There’s a hell of a lot there. But I honestly don’t think it’s gonna lead you anywhere.” 

“Oh and why is that, sir?” Double E asked.

“Because hackin’ into a system as well protected as Grey Diamond’s, well shit, there ain’t but a dozen or so people walkin’ the earth who could have pulled that off. I’ve got enemies galore. Comes with the territory, you know. But this wasn’t aimed at me personally. This was aimed at making big time news. And I’ll tell you, whoever’s doin’ this. they ain’t done, not by a long shot. You have your work cut out for you. But I’d strongly suggest you start at the top and work your way down instead of tryin’ to put a case together on the ground. Whoever this is doesn’t give a rat’s ass about you or me or anybody else. What they want is fuckin’ movement. And movements cost money. Big bucks. Big brains. And big passion.”

The senator got to his feet and nodded. “Glad we had this talk. I’ve told you all I know which is exactly nothing. And I’ve given you a hypothesis which is probably correct. You can thank me when you crack this pecan. Good to meet you. Happy hunting.”

And with that, he moved across the room with the two secret service agents close behind. 

Myra took a deep breath. “What the fuck just happened?”

“We just got an ass-whuppin’, and maybe some good advice.” Double E got to his feet along with Myra, “Start at the top and work our way down. We can do that.”

“Yes, we can.” Myra said as they turned to leave the austere room. “Is it just me or is this room full of really old white guys?” she said, but not too loudly. 

~ 23 ~

Del’s hack of the Grey Diamond computer system did not disrupt the extraction and fracking activities immediately. But that was only a matter of time. The computer system at Grey Diamond was the glue that held the entire operation together. The company was painfully aware of the vulnerability that being in the fossil fuel industry carried with it, so it had invested heavily in sophisticated cybersecurity. But that didn’t seem to matter to the hacker who took control of their system and took the company totally offline, right down to the inter-office email system. It would take a couple of weeks to work around all this, if that was even possible. But the chaos would start long before that. The downline distributors would start calling because their end users were calling them. In a matter of days, their supply chain would implode under the weight of not having control of its system. In the meantime, the end users would suffer, and the bad press, and maybe even some breach of contract suits would start flying.

Titus Grey sat in his office with his partner, Ellis Diamond. Both men were as hard as the coal they ripped from the earth. Both were descendants the original Grey and Diamond, their respective fathers, and they knew exactly how things would roll out from here. They thought that bringing in the senator from Kentucky as an equity partner was a shrewd move at the time. Both men were multi-millionaires, but they were getting on and looking forward to well-earned retirements. But this hack was throwing a huge monkey wrench into their gears. And what was worse, they hadn’t heard a goddamn thing from their partner in DC.

Titus was sitting behind his desk with his feet up on a pulled-out drawer. On the desk in front of him was the letter that Lilli had put together for Del, printed out on a plain white piece of paper. 

“You know, Ellis, we been doing this a long time. And I always believed there would come a day like this. And I know you do too. And we have both busted our asses to make sure we were unassailable. And then just like that…” He produced a loud snap with his fingers. “Just like that, it all went to hell. The guys in the computer room have no fucking clue how this could have happened. No fucking clue. And we pay these jokers a ton of money.”

Ellis leaned forward and took the letter off the desk. He read it again. Then he scratched his cheek. “Well, maybe this guy, this group whatever, maybe they’re right. You know damn well that when the environmental laws start comin’ into effect, our industry, the whole fuckin’ thing, Titus, will slowly but surely vanish’ And then where will we be? Up shit’s creek. Maybe this…” Ellis said as he held up the paper, Maybe this is a wake-up call. Maybe this will get that Freeland off his arse and helping us to re-tool. Hell, we own the land. We’ve got all kinds of buildings and all kinds of hard-working people. Maybe this is a sign, Titus. A memo from the Lord, telling us to do the right thing.”

Titus chuckled. “You always have been full of shit, my friend. Ever since I’ve known you. Which has literally been a lifetime.” 

“That may be true enough, Titus,” Ellis said. “But look what we’re up against. We have no business at the moment. And it’s just a matter of time before we start gettin’ sued by our customers. We need to declare bankruptcy and we need to do it before the lawyers start gettin’ ideas. We’re too old to start over. Hell, just last week we were talking about buying something in Barbados where we could just sit and look at the ocean. I say we fold this up. Give everybody three-month severance, sell or lease to a couple of smaller operations making fuckin’ windmill blades or solar panels or whatever, retrain everybody and then market the hell out of it for a year, Then we split.”

“What about Freeland?” 

“He’s a big boy. He’ll see the writing on the wall. But if we declare bankruptcy, what’s he gonna do? We gifted him the partnership for his help. And frankly, he has done fuck all for us, when you think about it.”

Titus rubbed his face and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You’re the corporate affairs guy. I’m operations. We have always trusted each other’s judgement. So if you think that’s what we have to do, then that’s good enough for me.” 

“Well, it will get this hacker off our back and if he sees were doing what he’s demanded.” Ellis said and then he got to his feet. “Leave it with me, Titus, we’ll come out of this smelling like a rose.” With that, he left the room and so began the end of The Grey Diamond Mineral Company.

Two days later, Lilli got a call from Ron in the city, clamouring for her to do the Grey Diamond story. She told him that the family was getting ready for a trip to England in a few days and she didn’t think she would have time to do it before she left.

“Too bad,” Ron said. ‘Cause it’s blown up into a monster. I’m gonna give it to Charles Porter.”

“That’s a great idea. Charles is perfect.” Lilli knew all about the Grey Diamond situation. The announcement they were declaring bankruptcy and closing down. She also watched, with great interest, the CNN interview with Senator Freeland, where he expressed regret that a domestic terrorist should hold that much sway over a major mining company, and expressed real doubt that this person would ever be brought to justice. Lilli smiled while she was watching this because she knew just how enraged he must have been and thought about how many blood vessels he must have been popping to keep it all inside.

She also let Del know that she would be heading to London for a family vacation combined with a little business. He sent her back a thumbs up and five words. ‘Stash your gear somewhere deep.’

Later the next day, just before sunset, Lilli inserted the Faraday pouch into a double trash bag and taped the bag shut as tightly as she could. She then carried the bag out to the pool shed and grabbed a small spade. Behind the shed, she counted out ten paces and dug a hole in the dry sand. She put the bag into the hole, then covered it up and smoothed it over until it looked like it had not been disturbed at all. 

The next day, they left for London, and the opening of a new chapter of Lilli’s Lost & Found.

~ 24 ~

It was late in the afternoon. Myra and Double E parked in front of a three-storey townhouse in Alexandria, Virginia. They rang the doorbell and after about fifteen seconds a man wearing a well-worn Pink Floyd t-shirt and cammo shorts answered. 

“Sweet Myra Tyree, my favourite southern belle. Come on in.” They entered the house. And Myra said, “Jamie Taggart, this is my partner Agent Elmore Edison, aka Double E.” Elmore and Jamie shook hands. Then Jamie ushered them into the living room, which was really a strange-looking communications complex with several large flat-screen monitors at different levels on a ten-foot-long work table. “Hell, man,” Double E said. “You could launch a rocket from here.” 

“I’ve never tried that. But you might be right.” Jamie said.

Jamie was a good looking guy in his mid-thirties. He had long brown hair tied back in a ponytail and the kind of wiry body that long-distance runners had. In his left ear he had a small gold earring in the shape of a lightning bolt. On his left ring finger, he had some sort of school ring. Double E asked him about it, and Jamie told him Cal Tech.

They all sat down at a beautiful round oak table. There was a pitcher of ice water and some glasses in the middle  “I know you guys never drink on the job, so this is pure spring water from Maine.” Jamie said. 

“Thanks, Jamie. Always the perfect host.” Myra said.

“We do aim to please here.” 

“So as you know,” Myra continued, “We have drawn the Grey Diamond and Dorsett Emory cases. So I just wanted to pick your brain a bit and see if maybe you had some suggestions for us going forward.”

“Well, my first suggestion is that you crack this case quickly or old Senator Fucknut Freeland will have your asses in a sling.” Jamie said.

“Yeah, we kinda got that impression when we met with him, But he did give us a tip and that was to start at the top down and Joel Meyerson says you’re way up there.” Double E said. Meyerson was Jamie’s FBI handler.

Jamie Taggart was a convicted felon who managed to turn his hacking career into a lucrative side gig for his already successful programming business. He got busted several years earlier for wire fraud and made a deal with the FBI to be a lookout for them. He knew the community and all the major players because they were all more or less a fraternity. Every hacker had his own approach so most times they didn’t conflict, which is why they didn’t put contracts out on each other and, more importantly, why they shared insights.

“Well,” Jamie said. “After you called I took a good look at both companies. Their systems were rock solid. Quite impressive, in fact. So that leads you into three areas. One: the guy is an off-the-charts genius. And because of the notes he leaves, he’s probably American. But I wouldn’t rule out possibility number two, which is that he’s a Russian disruptor. None of us really know all that much about the Russians. They keep more or less to themselves. But they are wicked good. Probably because they don’t want to get on Putin’s bad side. The third possibility is the most interesting and plausible. And that’s that it’s an inside job. The guy who built the system programmed in a trap door that he could get into the system with and basically do as much damage as he wanted.”

“Any other possibilities?” Myra asked.

“Maybe the Chinese, but it's not really their style. They’re just waiting for this country to implode under the weight of its own bullshit and then take it over. They don’t need to do this. The North Koreans are another possibility, but they would much rather just attack, destroy and get out of Dodge. Also, don’t forget there’s a bit of a crusade going on here, and right now it’s working. Two fairly large players in the fossil fuel world suddenly have been shaken up big time and one of them has even announced compliance. Man, that’s epic.”

“OK,” Double E said. “I like what you said about the inside job. Were you able to figure out who the site developers were? Because we asked both victim organizations and they gave us two different names, which we have checked out and eliminated.”

“Well, that makes sense. In my opinion, this has been in the works for a while now. I can do a deep dive, but you’ll have to clear it with Meyerson. I ain’t cheap. But I am a bit available over the next week or so.”

“So what’s your best guess, Jamie?” Myra asked.

“I’d put my money on the domestic horse. Trouble with that is, like I said, real smart, real savvy and a true criminal mind. If you do get lucky and bust his ass, he’s gonna have the public on his side and I’ll tell you, with the environment becoming a big hot potato, the government won’t want to be seen throwing the book at someone like this. Bad juju in the extreme. But…” And with that, he slid a sheet of white paper across the table. “Here’s a list of all the players I could think of. One of them, Delbert Fry, just sold a controlling interest in his company to another outfit called Falcon Wing, they do mainly business software but have been growing like a weed lately. Good stock choice if they ever go public. I met Del at a Cyber Security symposium a few years back.  Struck me as pretty hard-core right wing, not the kind of beast that would be interested in namby-pamby shit like the future of the planet. There’s about a dozen others on there who are card-carrying lefties.”

“Sounds like you know this Delbert Fry.” Myra said.

“I know all these guys, but yeah we had a few beers and mostly talked about boats. He lives on a boat. A big one down in Florida. Lots of money in the cyber security business. You might want to talk to Andrew Thomas at Falcon Wing, or his son Ethan. He’s the head programmer there. They’ll know more about Del. But for my money, he’s a little too right-wing for this kind of game. But he’s on the list ‘cause you asked for a list.” 

They shot the shit for a little while longer and then Myra and Double E headed back to the office to start checking out the names on the list Jamie had given them.

When they were about halfway back to the office, Double E said. “Did you get the feeling that Jamie’s going on about this Delbert Fry guy was a little odd?”

“Propellerheads are strange folk. But yeah, come to think of it.” Myra said.

Back at Jamie Taggart’s house, Jamie was on the phone. “Del you old sod. What have you done now?” 

Del was sitting on the deck of his boat Looking out at the Atlantic Ocean. “What have I done? Well, I recently sold a big chunk of my company so that I could pursue the lifelong dream of doing exactly what I’m doing right now, which is sitting on the deck of my boat and waiting for the sunset so I can ooo and ahhh at it.”

“Well, you should know that the Feebies just paid me a little visit and asked me to make up a list of the usual suspects in the case of the big-time hacks.”

“Sorry. There are big-time hacks? I’ve been out in the Caribbean for a couple of weeks now and really haven’t been paying much attention. What’s the buzz, James?”

“The buzz is that you might be hearing from them soon. Forewarned is forearmed and all that.”

“Thanks for the heads up. Maybe they’ll fill me in on who exactly got hacked, etc. So how are things with you?”

“You know. FBI. No shortage of bad guys to locate.”

“We all do what we’re good at, James. Good to know you have found your calling.” 

“The agent’s name is Myra Tyree. She’s a sharpie, and so is her partner. Keep your shields up, my friend.”

“Take care, James.” Del disconnected. 

His wife Shawna was sitting in the chair next to him. “Who was that?” 

“Just an old friend.” Del poured himself another shot of tequila and threw it back. “He’s an interesting guy. Works for the FBI tracking down bad guys on the Internet. He used to work with me when I was doing a lot of stuff for Homeland. Likes to stay in touch.” Del hated lying to Shawna but it was for her own good.

“Is this about your hacks on those companies in North Carolina and Kentucky?”

“How do you know about those?”

“Facebook. CNN. CNBC. FOXNews. Take your pick. I know you haven’t been talking to me about them, but it’s obvious that it was you.” 

“Okay, you got me. But I was only keeping this stuff from you for your safety.”

“And you’re a sweetie for doing that.” Shawna said. “But, I’m not your personal assistant anymore. I’m in this up to my neck regardless. And honestly, I think it’s about time that somebody tried to do something about all these companies in the fossil fuel business. They own the government. Hell, a Democrat senator is a part owner of one of those damn coal companies in Kentucky. That’s nuts.”

“Yes, it is. It’s all nuts, darlin’. But the idea is that maybe it’ll do some good.”

“I hope so, if for nothing else but the sake of our family.”

Del poured himself another shot of tequila, threw it back then sucked on a lime. Together they watched the sun go down over Florida. 

~ 25 ~

Lilli’s trip to England was a whirlwind, While Ethan took the kids to see all the sights around London. Lilli met with the publishers at MacMillan. She had prepared an outline of how things would work. They spent several hours comparing the model they were proposing with hers, and without too much difficulty found common ground and hammered out a deal that gave MacMillan control of Europe, Scandinavia, Australia and the British Isles. Lilli would control North, Central and South America.

For the first time since she started Lilli’s Lost & Found, Lilli felt the real heft of her idea. It was truly becoming international. The MacMillan people would be happy to use Phillip Cromwell as their principal editor and would assign Nicholas Tweed, Phillip’s friend, to work with him. They also had a discussion about books, which was something Lilli had never really thought about, and they worked out a deal where Lilli would be a 20% profit partner for any book sales. 

Lilli thought this was very generous so she offered them the print rights to her entire catalogue of stories for the markets they had agreed on for the same 20%. At this point, Lilli was happy she had made sure to hold onto the rights to all the stories including the ones that got published in The Telescope.

After a long, exhausting day, with much accomplished, she returned to the hotel and let Ethan know what had transpired. She also told him that he needed to meet with Phillip and Nicholas before they left the country to work out any website issues. So the next day it was Ethan’s turn to go to meetings, so Lilli took the kids out and showed them more of London. 

On the third day with everything ironed out and organized. They all jumped into a rented BMW hybrid and headed out of London to look at the rest of England. They toured around the west country, then headed north to Liverpool and Manchester, up through Leeds and into Scotland. Lilli read to them while they drove from a book on Great Britain and its history. Lilli was surprised and delighted to see that the kids both were enthralled by the history of the land they were driving through. 

Four days later they dropped off their rental car in Glasgow and flew home. 

Del pulled the boat into his slip in Fort Lauderdale. He walked down the pier to a restaurant called Smokies and went inside. The bartender, a guy named Kip, drew him a draft beer, which he took and walked out to the terrace where Myra and Double E were waiting. It was mid-afternoon so they were the only people on the back deck. After introductions, they all sat down. It was a beautiful, warm day and both agents had their jackets off. Del was wearing a Bob Dylan T-shirt, his well-worn jeans and his deck shoes.

“So I imagine you’re here about these high-profile hacks I’ve been hearing about, is that right?” Del asked. 

“Yes sir.” Myra said staring at Del and trying to size him up. She was having a little trouble with that because the guy looked totally relaxed. “We’re talking to anyone, and frankly it’s not a terribly long list, who would be able to pull this off.”

“Well, you’ve come to the right person,” Del said. “I could turn these guys inside out in a matter of minutes if I were so inclined. But if I were you, I would re-think that list of yours because even if it’s a dozen, it’s a short one. The number of people in this country alone who would be capable of doing something like this grows larger every day. Hell, my company has at least half a dozen kids who could do this in their sleep. Not that they would want to, that I know of. But still. I assume you got this list from Jamie Taggart.”

“Did he contact you?” 

“Yeah, we talk quite often. But he’s the also only guy I know you folks would have easy access to.”

“And what did he tell you?” 

“Not much. Only that I’m on your list. And here you are.”

“So how do we strike you off our list, Mr. Fry?” 

“Hmmm. Well, for one thing, I just recently sold off control of my company so I could try something new, which is fatherhood. I made my money, and I’ll still be making more, just not working as hard for it.  Second thing is my track record. I have no black marks against me when it comes to any sort of hacking or related activity. In fact, I made most of my money from your government. So it would really feel like biting the hand that feeds you. And finally, I’m a realist. The smokestack industries are all dying anyway. Much better to let them die of natural causes than trying to murder them. You may not know this, but the first company that was hacked has gotten hold of my partner, Andrew Thomas and has asked me to build their new system for them as they move into the green market. So I will get a good look at the mechanics of that market and it will guide my investments going forward. This is how smart Americans treat the market. They look for trends. Right now smokestack industries are trending down, green ones up. Gotta fish where the fish are, you know.”

Myra scratched her head. “That’s quite an assessment. But see, to an FBI person, this sounds like a situation you could have easily engineered.”

“Wow,” Del said. “You guys must really be desperate. Getting a lot of pressure from the politicos, right?” Del took a sip of his beer. “You get a warrant, and I will let you turn my life inside out. But for a warrant, you need probable cause and I have just given you three very good reasons why I’m not interested in this sort of tactic, even though I could easily pull it off. Every other name on your list and probably a couple hundred more, in this country alone, could pull that off. Hell, if I was sittin’ in Moscow or Saudi Arabia right now. I’d be creaming my jeans over this. Money well spent to fuck up the Great Satan. See what I mean? More suspects.”

Both Myra and Double E were taken completely aback by what Del had just told them, although they didn’t let on. Mostly because it slammed home the enormity of the actual suspect pool, and that maybe the top of the hacker food chain was a lot bigger than they had anticipated. 

“OK,” Myra said, as they got to their feet. “I’m pretty certain that turning your life inside out would net us nothing outside of a harassment suit. But I’ll keep it in mind.”

Everybody got up and then Del sat back down. He pulled a small laptop from his bag and opened it up. He flipped around the news sites for a while as he finished his beer. 

In the car on the way back to the field office, Myra said. “Pretty slick dude.”

“You don’t get that rich by being a yokel.” Double E replied.

“You think we should put a tail on him?” Myra asked.

“I suppose. I’m sure he wouldn’t be doing this hacking from his boat.  Too easy to search. He’d probably have an office or studio apartment somewhere. If we could get him to lead us there, then we might have probable cause, and a warrant could be had. But if he doesn’t have that kind of hidey-hole, he’s just another person of interest and we need to move through that list.”

On their way back to the plane they stopped off at the Fort Lauderdale field office and arranged for surveillance on Delbert Fry. They gave him the name of his boat and the slip it was anchored in. A young agent named Felix Montoya was assigned. They briefed him quickly and then headed off to the airport. 

Felix checked out a new souped-up Honda Civic from the impound lot, headed home to change into something less cop-like and then drove down to the marina. Felix blended right in with the water people and was careful not to sit anywhere too long. He had a shoulder bag with an Ipad, a paperback mystery and his phone in it. At each new location, he varied his activity so as not to draw the attention of anyone who might report him. 

Del spent the rest of the afternoon with Shawna on the boat. They walked down the pier to Smokies and had some dinner. Then Del walked Shawna back to the boat and headed off in the opposite direction. Felix followed him as surreptitiously as he could. But about a quarter mile down the waterfront, Del stopped, unlocked a mountain bike and jumped on it. Felix just watched as Del headed down Seabreeze Boulevard to East 17th Street. From there he could have gone anywhere. Felix sat down on the nearest bench and cursed his luck. Then he made the wise decision not to report anything and assume that his subject had just gone for a ride somewhere. Two hours later, however, he began to doubt that was the case. 

Del Fry was indeed smarter than the average bear, and he was also much more skilled than he let on. In his shoulder bag, Del carried a 13” MacBook pro, with maxed out ram capability, the same as the computer he had given to Lilli. He bought them at two separate Apple stores. One in south Miami. The was in Manhattan when he was there doing the business deal with Andrew Thomas. He paid cash for that one. He programmed them both machines hotel suite at the Ritz Carlton. He bought the burners for cash at a bodega on 44th Street. The assumption the Feds had made was that there was a whole lot of gizmo-based magic involved with hacking when really all it took was having the right software in your computer, a fake Gmail account or three and some burner phones.

So when Del inadvertently gave young Felix Montoya the slip, he wasn’t going to a hidey hole with an elaborate setup. He was just going to Starbucks. The signal there was strong and the number of people using it at any given time was substantial. Del called it Practical Magic. Another set of skills he learned while getting paid to reverse engineer evil things for Homeland Security. 

The only thing Del did this time was email Lilli to tell her about her visit from the Feds and if they were interested enough, they would probably want to talk to Ethan. He also told her they were working off a long list of people and he pretty much believed he had convinced them he wasn’t the hacker they were looking for. Del had every confidence that Ethan would do an outstanding job of playing dumb. He was after all smart enough to rope a beautiful lady like Lilli. Dealing with the FBI should be a walk in the park.

Del spent a few hours watching the news on various sites. Both the Grey Diamond and Dorsett Emory stories had slipped right out of the headlines, which Del considered to be good news. A few hours later, he was riding along the roadway to his boat, when he spotted a guy sitting on one of the benches. He had noticed the guy a couple of times that day and then again as he was leaving the boat. He made him for an FBI guy because he fully expected that the Tyree lady and her pal would have had someone watching him. He pulled up to the bench where Felix Montoya was sitting. Montoya looked up at him.

“Sorry I didn’t tell you earlier that I had a bike,” Del said. “Guess that musta fucked you right up.”

“Sorry, do I know you?” Felix asked, trying to sound genuinely clueless. 

“My wife, she likes to go to bed early. Me, I’m a night owl. Have been ever since I can remember. Now I know that agent Tyree and her buddy Elmore there, got you assigned to this detail. I just don’t want you to feel bad for gettin’ made like this. I like your technique, different toys, books, that sort of stuff. Not bad at all.”

Felix said nothing. But he was starting to feel like a sack of shit. 

“If it’s any consolation, I just went and had coffee with one of my friends. You know, totally non-criminal activity. Anyway. I’m gonna catch a late ball game, Dodgers and Angels of Anaheim, a good inter-league matchup. I’ll be gettin’ up at around eleven tomorrow and then we’ll be heading out to Bimini for the day. So, sadly, there will be nothing for you to watch, unless you want to make sure nobody parks in my slip.” He then nodded at Felix and rode off. 

The sack of shit feeling finally overtook poor young Felix. He called into the office. “I've been made.” he said, as he got to his feet and walked away.

~ 26 ~

When Lilli told Ethan about the email from Del Fry, he didn’t say much for about a while. 

“Well,” he finally said, “He’s certainly got to be one of the usual suspects, although I have to admit I didn’t think they would have glommed onto him so quickly.”

“I didn't either,” Lilli said,

 “Maybe it had something to do with the sale, suspicious timing and all that.” Ethan said. “Bottom line, though, is that if they can’t trace the origin of the hack, they have no one to detain. So it all comes down again to our faith in Del’s ability. Mine is still pretty high. Before we sat down to make the deal at Falcon Wing, I checked out his references. They all swear he’s a certifiable genius. At the same time, you know, we can assume that the FBI is under a ton of pressure, on account of that Senator, who is probably gonna lose a huge revenue stream because of Grey Diamond’s change of plans. I don’t imagine their new plans would include him.”

Lilli sat on the back deck with Ethan, taking it all in. For some reason, she wasn’t all that concerned. She was a very logical person and it just came down to a question of evidence. She knew that Del had taken every precaution. And that his tech was way ahead of the curve. 

“The other thing to consider is that these businesses might not want to press charges. Especially if they do well in the green marketplace.” Lilli said but it sounded more like a question to Ethan.

“Yeah, that’s a bit of a wild card. There’s a lot of ego and testosterone in that mix. They might just want to take it all the way out of spite. The best thing you can do is start writing about these companies and help them get where they’re going. That might work in your favour if push ever comes to shove.”

“I’ll talk to Ron tomorrow.” Lilli said, “And see where the story stands.”

“Good. And don’t worry about this. It’s gonna take a long time to play out.”

Later that night, Lilli lay in bed and stared up at the ceiling fan. She was mystified about why she was not frightened about all of this. Maybe it was because the cause was just. Maybe it was because she had, for a long time, hoped and prayed the world would wake up, and now she was part of the wake-up squad. The worst that could happen was they could simply leave the country if things got crazy. Go live in France or Switzerland and keep on writing. She could write a book about this whole experience. But the more Lilli thought about it, her faith in Del’s ability notwithstanding, the more she believed that she should start planning for the worst. Her instincts told her the first step in this process was to talk to a lawyer.

For his part, Del had decided to stay quiet for the next couple of weeks and see how things played out. And that was fine with him. He’d done pretty much what he had set out to do as phase one of his plan. He wasn’t too worried about the FBI, although he did respect their tenacity. But he knew that, short of sending somebody to keep an eye on him, they had nothing in the way of probable cause that would earn them a search warrant, and even if they did, they would never be able to crack the cloud code that protected his program. 

In the development of any attack, the periods in between the actual events were every bit as important as the actions themselves. In this case, it gave the country time to calm down and think about what was happening, It gave the editorialists and left-wing political pundits time to come up with interesting angles of attack on the fossil fuel industry and the businesses they served. And it gave Lilli and the others who write about the Green Revolution, time to pump up the attacked companies for doing the right thing by society, which as far as Del was concerned was nothing less than a pair of incredible strokes of luck. 

The other reason was that his next target would be at least as substantial as Grey Diamond and he wanted it to make an even bigger splash. Much better to have a clean stage and maybe a bit of public support. So Del, musing on the deck of his boat, turned to his lovely pregnant wife and said. “Let’s go to New York City. There are some people I want to talk to there and you could use some maternity duds.” 

Shawna smiled. “One thing you will never hear is me turning down a trip to New York.’’ 

The next morning, an Uber picked them up. The driver loaded a single suitcase into the back of his Rav4 and Del waved goodbye to the new agent watcher, another young one named Frederick Crouse, who just shook his head and walked up the road to his car.

~ 27 ~

The meeting with Myra Tyree and Double E was scheduled for 2:00. Ethan drove into the city and had lunch with his dad and explained to him that this was just what the Feds go through; that Del was one of the top-ranked cyber security experts in the country, if not the world, and they were just doing their job. Andrew, reluctantly, agreed to let Ethan do all the talking unless he was asked a direct question. 

Myra and Double E arrived at exactly 2:00 and were shown into the boardroom where introductions were made and drinks were offered and politely declined. When they were all seated, Myra said. “As you know we're investigating the cyber attacks in North Carolina and Kentucky, and one of the names on our list of persons of interest is Delbert Fry. I understand that Falcon Wing has just acquired a controlling interest in Mr. Fry’s company.”

“Yes, that’s correct.” said Ethan.

“So how well do you know, Mr. Fry?”

“Quite well by reputation. Not so well personally. But I do know, from our meetings, that he wanted to sell off control of the company to cut way back on his workload. In essence, become semi-retired. He and his wife have their first child on the way and he indicated to me that he really did not want to be an absentee father. I was able to be at home a lot while my kids were growing up and I knew where he was coming from.”

“Did he ever express to you any animosity toward businesses in the fossil fuel sector?”

“Actually we did talk about it. He has been making a conscious effort to avoid taking on clients in those areas.”

“Oh, and why is that?”

“Well…the way he put it to me was that he didn’t really believe that the fossil fuel industry was a good investment. I mean, we all have to factor viability into our decisions. And in his opinion, they were among the lowest on the viability scale. And the research we have done subsequently has confirmed that. Big oil, big gas, big coal. None of these are true blue chip investments anymore. It’s a quiet revolution but, there are a lot of solar, wind and geothermal companies out there that are slowly and surely gaining market share in the energy sector. It’s a numbers game, Ms Tyree. And the numbers in the fossil fuel area are shrinking. Even the Saudis get that and have started several diversification programs.”

“So his advice was to avoid them?” 

“His advice, and our decision, after some due diligence.” 

“So there’s nothing politically motivated about this decision?” 

“My dad is an old-school Republican from way back. But he’s also a successful businessman. This company, and the businesses it contains, are successful because our decisions are based on logic, intuition and market trends. You have to know how screwed-up politics in this country is, Ms Tyree. The minute you start playing the game that way, you might as well just cash in your chips and go home. Just ask the My Pillow guy about that.”

Elmore flipped through his notes and said, “I understand your wife, Lilli Braithwaite is a high-profile environmentalist. Does that have any bearing on Mr. Fry’s decision to sell to you?”

“First of all, we aren’t married. And secondly, I really don’t understand your question. Lilli’s concern for the environment has nothing to do with my business here. I mean why would it?”

“I just found it a little odd that she was the only interview that the Dorsett Emory people gave. In fact, we met her down there in North Carolina.”

“Well, I don’t know what to tell you. She writes about the environment for The Telescope. This was the biggest story going so she went down to try and get an interview and she got it. She does have a certain amount of clout these days.”

“We’re in the business of connecting the dots,” Myra said. “That line connects your wife to Dorsett Emory. Another line connects you to her. And another line connects you to Mr. Fry.”

Ethan laughed a small laugh. “I sure as hell can’t argue with connect the dots. Except for the simple fact that all Lilli knows about Delbert Fry is whatever I told her. So I would say that if you’re really playing connect the dots to win, it certainly wouldn’t be with that configuration.”

“OK. What else do you know about Delbert Fry?” Myra asked.

“Hmmm. He’s from Texas. Got into cybersecurity right out of high school. Became a partner and then full owner of a small firm in Houston and built it up from there. He created a management system that allowed him to run it from anywhere. So then he bought a boat that he lives on down in Florida, Fort Lauderdale I believe. He’s also looking for a house down south somewhere. Got married two years ago and is semi-retired and a 30% stakeholder in his company which is now a division of Falcon Wing. My deep dive into his background showed nothing but hard work. Most of it was for Uncle Sam, and then, as it grew, his company took on more and more private sector clients. No real resentment toward the fossil fuel industry, just very little interest in having them as clients. And that’s it. He brought us a profitable company. Wanted it managed well going forward. And we jumped on it, because we’re not stupid. Politics never entered into it.”

Myra turned to Andrew “Do you agree with that assessment, Mr Thomas?”

“ Of course.” Andrew said. “I have no idea what Mr Fry’s political leaning is, and I don’t really give a damn. He brought us a good business and entree in a sector we’ve been thinking about getting into for quite some time. That’s the long and short of it.”

“But how did he know to contact you?” Myra asked.

Ethan looked at her and shook his head. He was starting to get a little perturbed with these desperados. “You interviewed Mr. Fry, did you not? Why the hell didn’t you ask him? Because I never did. Maybe he just did some research and we popped up. Maybe he drew our name out of a hat. It could have been any of a hundred different ways, Ms. Tyree. With all due respect, I believe you are trying to draw conclusions where there are none to be drawn.”

“Well that’s our job, Mr. Thomas.”  Myra said, feeling the temperature in the room start to rise. “I think we’re done here.” 

Everybody got up on their feet and said goodbye. “Sorry we couldn’t be more help Ms. Tyree.” Ethan said. “But we can only tell you what we know.”

“And I’m sure you have. Thank you for your time.”

Riding down in the elevator, Double E said. “OK, I honestly believe we have beat this particular horse into the ground.”

“Maybe.” Myra said. But she couldn’t and wouldn’t forget about it.

~ 28 ~

Lilli walked into the offices of Mitchell & Mitchell on 30th Avenue. She had come into town with Ethan. He let her off on Broadway and she walked the rest of the way down to 30th, while he went to his meeting with the FBI agents. 

Mitchell and Mitchell had come recommended to her by Roy Collins at The Telescope when she first started writing for them just in case someone ever got a notion to sue her for any reason. The lawyer she talked to originally was a lady named Sophia Fine. They had known each other for about three years now and had become coffee friends. Sophia was a huge fan of Lilli’s work. She also represented a number of writers, producers and directors in the TV and film business. In fact, she even recommended that Lilli get one of her writers to interview an uncle of hers who had lived for quite a few years in Russia as a double agent for the CIA.

Sophia got up from her desk and gave Lilli a hug. She was a small shapely lady with naturally dark brown hair and a very smooth complexion. She reminded Lilli of the kind of woman that Renaissance artists would have painted and fallen in love with. She poured some coffee from a carafe on her credenza and they chatted about the kids and life on Long Island for a few minutes.

“You made an appointment to see me, so it’s your dime, my dear.”

Lilli took a sip of her coffee. “I don’t know if you’ve heard about the high-profile system hacks that happened over the past couple of weeks.”

“Oh yeah, I’ve been reading as much as I can about it. This is genius stuff, flipping those companies out of the dark side.” Sophia was a huge environmentalist and had, pro bono, represented Greenpeace in their struggle to end the seal hunt in the north.

“Well, one of the people the FBI is looking very closely at is a guy named Delbert Fry. He’s a big-time cyber security guy and he has just recently made a deal with Ethen and his dad to sell the controlling interest in his company to them. Right now, Ethan is talking to the FBI about this and he’s pretty sure they’re going to bring up my connection to these cases.” 

“And what’s the connection they’re trying to make?”

“Ethan and I went down to North Carolina for the Franklin Dorsett press conference, and I managed to get a meeting with the company. When I was leaving I met the FBI agents in charge of the case.”

“So they’re trying to connect you with this Delbert Fry based on you actually being good at your job.” Sophia laughed a bit.

“Yeah, I think they might be. So what I’m wondering is, am I gonna need you to keep my bottom out of the ringer?”

“Do you know Delbert Fry?”

“No” Lilli lied. “I know who he is, of course. But so far, he’s only met with Ethan and his dad to do the deal and some business.”

“So there is no connection between you?”

“Well, there’s Ethan.” 

“But there’s no connection directly between you and this Delbert fellow.”

“No.” Lilli lied, and convincingly so, because Sophia didn’t raise an eyebrow.

Sophia leaned back in her chair and took a deep breath. “This Delbert guy, is he capable of doing something like this?”

“I assume he is if the FBI is talking to him.”

“Okay, so he’s what’s known at this point in time, as a person of interest. But even if he did do this hacking, they still have to prove it and I really doubt they would be able to do that. I’ve defended a few high-end hackers on copyright infringement cases, and one thing they all have in common is the firm belief that god is in the details. So…I would say we should keep an eye on the situation, see where it leads and how that ends up affecting both you and Ethan. Right now, they’re fishing. They probably have a short list that will grow exponentially as they talk to more people. The hacker universe is not small and contained like it used to be. Solving this could take months, even years. The other thing to consider is that the companies who were hacked have, at least as far as I can tell, decided to move into the green sector. So the FBI will not just need proof of the hacker’s guilt, they will also need these companies to press charges since both companies are privately owned. Bottom line right now is that they have a long way to go, unless this hacker does something monumentally stupid, and believe me, that’s not likely. Plus from the financial standpoint, both of these companies would likely not want to get involved in the huge time and money suck it would be to deal with suing whoever is doing this.”

“So you think we’re not in any danger?”

“In my considered legal opinion based on everything you have told me, that’s a big no.”

Lilli breathed a sigh of relief. They spent the rest of the hour shooting the breeze, and Lilli left with a great weight lifted off her shoulders. The shit could still hit the fan, but knowing that it could take a long time gave her some space to keep thinking things through. She certainly had no intention of going to prison for doing the right thing. The whole idea that she could be charged with any sort of crime really pissed her off.

That evening, Ethan and Lilli had dinner with Lilli’s parents and Danny at their San Remo apartment. Her parents used to occasion to announce to everyone that Danny, who was effectively running the company and had been for the past few years, was now officially being promoted to CEO and that Marcus would be stepping down to enjoy retirement. To that end, they had just completed the purchase of a beautiful estate in Westhampton. Danny, who was still single, would move into the apartment. Both Marcus and Fiona had developed a real bond with their grandchildren and being just a few miles up the coast would be a great opportunity for them to spend more time being the cool grandparents.

That night they drank a lot of wine and talked about a lot of things including Ethan’s connection to one of the suspects in the Great Green Hacks, as the media were now calling them. Ethan assured them that even if it was Delbert Fry who did the deeds, there was no direct connection to his and his father’s business and all that dastardly hacking stuff. 

They didn’t talk about it for very long, because there was way more to their collective lives than some strange goings on in the fossil fuel industry. But Danny did announce a couple of things. One that he had finally found a woman he’d like to settle down with and that she would be moving into the apartment with him. And secondly, he announced that after a year of trying, he had finally gotten a meeting with the great Elon Musk to talk about several of the electronic systems that were needed to make a Tesla. And that this would be a big step toward moving the company into the alternative energy-powered vehicle sector. So they all drank to that as well. 

Ethan was careful to just have one glass of wine. He had grown into a Long Island creature and being in the city for too long made him feel uneasy. And he wanted to make sure they both got home in one piece.

That night driving home, Lilli told Ethan all about her meeting with Sophie the lawyer. And Ethan told Lilli all about his meeting with the FBI. By the time they got home, they were all talked out from discussing the wouldas and couldas and shouldas and just flopped into bed and slept for twelve hours straight.

~ 29 ~

The next day was a Saturday. At breakfast, which was really brunch, they told the kids all about Grandpa and Grammy moving back to Long Island. And they were pretty pumped. They were both terribly fond of their grandparents, mainly because they were wonderful people and very energetic. And as the kids quickly noted, it really was just a few miles away and they could actually ride over there on their bikes. 

Just as they were finishing up, Ethan got a call. It was Del Fry. He and his wife were in the city and wanted to get together. Ethan thought about it for a few seconds and suggested that they meet at a restaurant called Viva La Vida, on the Montauk Highway in Oakvale, for dinner. Del quickly agreed. Ethen told him he would make a reservation, and text him back a time.

As he disconnected, he looked over at Lilli who was finishing her coffee. The kids had gone for a walk and Giselle was cleaning up the dishes. 

“That was Del. He’s in town and wants to get together. I making dinner reservations at Viva La Vida.” 

“We’ve never been there, have we?” Lilli asked.

“No but I have driven by it and the name stuck in my head. And never having been there is just the point. Nobody will know us from a hole in the wall. Just playin’ it safe.”

“Is this what our lives are gonna be like from now on…playin’ it safe?”

“Not forever.” 

“I mean he is your business partner.”

“Yeah, but he’s yours too and that’s something we don’t want anyone to find out about.”

Lilli leaned over and kissed him. “You’re so smart. How’d you end up with a dopey girl like me?”

“I ended up with you because I am smart.”

Giselle just chuckled as she loaded the dishwasher. She was thinking about the book she would write one of these days.

Ethan went out to the pool after brunch. Lilli wandered into her office, checked the Faraday pouch for emails, texts and phone messages and found none. She then sat down at her computer and opened it up. It was the weekend and there was nothing pressing to do. On Monday she and Ethan would drive down to Kentucky where she would interview the Grey Diamond people. Evidently, Charles Porter was not able to get an interview because the Grey Diamond people asked specifically for Lilli. Lilli was both flattered and curious about this. Charles would still write the bulk of the article and share a byline with Lilli.

They could have flown and rented a car, but honestly they both still really enjoyed each other’s company and long drives like this were a lot of fun. They got to eat junk food and see bits and pieces of their country they never could otherwise. After she had hung up with Ron, Lilli opened her journal and realized that it had been quite some time since she had written anything in it. A little bit of sadness swept over her. But she had been thinking that maybe she would try writing a some poetry, since she couldn’t really write down much of what she was actually up to these days.

She mused for a moment or two and then she wrote down the words: Try A Little Love Instead. She stared at the words for quite some time and then finally started to write. She wrote several stanzas, and then went back and started messing around with them until she figured out a rhyme scheme, an hour later she had finished a poem. She didn’t know if it was good or not. She had read and re-read and futzed around with it so much that she was hardly objective, But there it was:

TRY A LITTLE LOVE INSTEAD

When the endless parade of violence

Starts to eat away at your soul

When all the bad news makes you feel 

Like you’re staring down a deep dark hole

When the atmosphere is crowded 

With the screaming spirits of the dead

Then maybe you will find it’s time

To try a little love instead

When your brain is tired of thinking

And your soul feels very small

When the world that you are living in

Doesn’t feel like any world at all

When you’re too close to believing 

All the dark thoughts in your head

Then maybe you will find it’s time

To try a little love instead

Because no darkness lasts forever

No night more than twelve hours long

And the fever that’s consuming you

Will only make you strong

And you know that life is worth living

And you’re better than all you dread

If only you will find the time 

To try a little love instead

Lilli stared at the little poem for quite a while, lost in some weird sort of reverie until she felt Ethan’s warm hand on her shoulder. “Are you OK?” he asked. Lilli just smiled and put her hand on his. “Yeah…I’m fine.”

“I wrote a poem. It’s called ‘Try A Little Love Instead’. I don’t know exactly why I wrote it. Maybe because I can’t really write anything personal about our lives for fear that it could be used against us someday.” 

Ethan read the poem out loud but softly because his face was very close to Lilli’s ear. “It’s beautiful. You should write some more. You are sort of famous, you know. Maybe you could get a publisher interested in your poetry. Or even better publish it yourself, design a nice little PDF and make it a download on the Lilli’s Lost & Found site.”

“And there you go with the big ideas. It’s just a little poem.”

“No, my dear, it’s the first poem of your first book of poetry. I say write some more. It probably made you feel really good writing it. To me, this one nicely summed up what you wish for the world.”

Lilli sat there with Ethen’s arms around her and thought about how strong she felt when he was holding her. And about how lost she might be if anything ever happened to take him away from her.

“Well, I certainly don’t want to disappoint my Svengali, now do I?”

“We gotta go soon, the only reservation I could get was for six thirty.”

Lilli looked at her computer clock. It read 5:53. She had been sitting there for the better part of the afternoon. She rushed upstairs and got changed, kissed the kids goodbye and ran out to the car.

~ 30 ~

Viva La Vida was a kitschy-looking Spanish restaurant. They waited in the lobby while their table was getting set. Lilli struck up a casual conversation with another woman she thought she recognized. The lady looked like one of her mom’s friends. Lilli asked about the restaurant, and the lady lavished some pretty amazing praise on it. Then a moment later Del and his wife entered and joined them in the line. 

Del introduced Shawna to them and they chatted about this and that until their table was ready. They got a table out on the patio, which was actually much nicer than the inside. There were trellises of beautiful flowers everywhere and the Mexican music from a trio in the corner of the restaurant was just loud enough for pleasant ambience. They ordered some drinks and some mineral water for Shawna who was in her second trimester and was advised to stop drinking alcohol. A beautiful Hispanic-looking waitress took their order, which Del took control of since he was intimately familiar with Mexican and Spanish dishes. All he asked was ‘spicy or not so spicy.’

They drank a toast to their success and then Del said. “I know you are both concerned about the Feds crawling all over these…incidents. But we are golden and that is not an overpromise just to make y’all feel better. I anticipated this and made sure that there was nothing that they could ever find that would link us to anything other than my arrangement with Falcon Wing. The agents you talked to are experienced enough to know that the only way they are going to crack this is if someone makes a mistake. And that’s just not gonna happen. I planned this for a good solid year. I know the ins and outs of what I am doing better than anyone on their payroll, even Jamie Taggart who is the hacker they used to build their suspect list. So the plan is to let it sit, and let the editorialists take over for a while and in a couple of weeks we let’em know we’re still around.”

Lilli didn’t know if it was Del’s natural charm and cowboy twang, but she felt quite a bit more relieved hearing it come from him in person. 

“I found the whole thing very interesting.” Ethan said. “These people, these feds, their whole approach is to treat you like you’re guilty as sin and they know it.”

“Well, just remember, most criminals are not that bright or intuitive. They get nervous and have a bunch of tells that give them away. But we’re not criminals, and that’s what they don’t get. We are crusaders and as such we have a decided advantage over them. The other thing is that the usual suspects list they have to deal with is probably a mile long by now. I’m sure everyone they interviewed has told them there were dozens of others they should be talking to. The hacker world has an economy the size of a small European country. If we don’t do anything dumb, which is not our style at all, these cases will simply die of old age. Because even the Feds have their budget limitations.”

After that, the conversation turned to Ethan and Lilli getting to know Shawna. Del just sat back and watched the conversation for the most part, knowing that over time, Lilli and Ethan would become good friends. And for a guy like Del, real friendships had been few and far between.

As they were eating, Ethan brought up Lilli’s poetry. “At the ripe old age of thirty-seven, Lilli has started writing poetry again.”

Lilli slapped Ethan’s arm. “Come on. It was just one poem. But I quite enjoyed it.”

Then Del said. “Good for you Lilli. You know we only go around the one time that we know of. So why not spend that time doing what you’re passionate about. Although I think you probably have been doing that for quite a while.”

“Yeah. I have. And I’m gonna keep on doing it too, dammit. I am.” They drank a toast to Lilli’s poetry career and then the food came. There was a ton of it and it all looked incredible. Shawna took one look at it and said. “I do believe my baby will be experiencing its first case of heartburn.” And they all dug in and talked about all kinds of things and laughed at each other’s jokes and spent the next three hours of their lives just having fun.

After dinner, Shawna flaked out in the front seat of Del’s rented Mercedes. He hugged Ethan and then Lilli, and he said. “We’re gonna change the fuckin’ world darlin’ and nobody’s gonna stop us. Nobody.”

Lilli and Ethan drove home in the dark. They didn’t talk much. But they held hands all the way home and listened to some Dylan. And Lilli thought, man, if I could only write some poetry like that.

~ 31 ~

They split the trip to Lexington, Kentucky into two days, driving mostly backroads and stopping overnight in a small city called Morgantown, West Virginia. They stayed at a Holiday Inn, because it had a nice pool and after dinner at the local Outback Steak House, they swam for an hour and then fooled around a bit. The next morning they took their time getting out of bed and then had a light breakfast in the hotel dining area. 

 As they drove through the town to get back onto Highway 79 which would take them to Highway 64 and into Lexington, they started to realize that they were in a different part of the world. They were surrounded by forest and farmland. The crops had all been taken off and many of the fields were light brown. Every so often they would see smoke billowing from stacks that just barely made it above the trees. The state governments kept the Interstate routes as far from the mining operations as they could, which Lilli reasoned, was good public relations.

The Grey Diamond people had arranged to have their meeting with Lilli in their Lexington business office, which was on the second floor of a three-story complex on a street called West Vine.  As they drove through the downtown area of the city they realized that Lexington was very much a university town with lots of casual dining establishments. There were also two large hotels in the downtown core. So they checked into the Marriott, which was just a short walk from the Gray Diamond offices.

Lilli’s meeting was at 4 pm, so with a couple of hours to spare they opted for a late lunch at one of the downtown bistros, which were pretty much packed with and run by University of Kentucky students. They got a table out on the back patio and had delicious roast beef sandwiches and home fries. Ethan wanted to come to this meeting because he was quite interested in meeting these people whom Del had so skillfully manipulated into making what was obviously a sea change from where they were. He was curious about what their real motivation was.

Two hours later they were shown into a large boardroom where Titus Grey and Ellis Diamond were sitting. Lilli introduced Ethan as her husband, which she always did because it was easier to explain than that they had been living together unmarried for close to twenty years. 

The corkboard along one side of the boardroom was decorated with a series of architectural sketches, of the new manufacturing facilities that Grey Diamond was creating as part of its transformation. Ellis took Lilli and Ethan through the plans in some detail. It was obvious to Lilli that they were well on their way. Quite a feat for a couple of men who were obviously both in their mid-sixties, and who wore the strain of their years like a couple of old leather coats. 

After the presentation which Lilli was allowed to photograph with the two partners standing in front of it, they got down to a half-hour question and answer period. 

Lilli’s main question was a simple one. “You gentlemen have obviously been in the coal mining business all your adult lives. Besides the unfortunate hack to your systems, what exactly is it that motivated you to make this rather dramatic change?”

“That’s a good question, and one we’ll probably be asked a lot as time goes by.” Titus Grey said. “So I guess I’d better give you an honest answer. We know and have known for a few years now, that since the climate issue got to the front of the line in the public eye, our days were numbered. 

“We may be coal miners by trade, but we are also Americans and really do want the best for our country. So the answer to your question is actually a simple one. We’re doing this because it’s time and because we can afford to do it, with a little help from the government. But more importantly, we’re doin’ it because we can make sure our people, those who want it, of course, can be retrained and we can minimize the impact of this changeover.”

Lilli was smiling, because that was, to her, an impressive answer. “Do you think that other companies in your industry will follow suit?” 

This time it was Ellis Diamond who answered. 

“Well, let’s just say this issue has come up and been debated over the last couple of association meetings. I can’t say for sure, but I’d say that quite a few of the people in our industry are watching us closely to see how we do. And we’re happy to share our results with them. The bottom line, Ms. Braithwaite, is that this change is inevitable. You’re gonna have the folks who embrace it and those who resist it. To our way of thinking, the contrarians will just be the latecomers and that won’t be good for them going forward. We’re on the leading edge of this change, so the odds are that we’ll do OK by our people. This country and this industry has made us very wealthy, and it’s funny, but the older you get the more you start to realize that giving back is more important than taking from. So we are putting a good deal of our own money into this venture. And sure, we’re hoping that others in our industry see that there are viable alternatives to pulling coal out of the ground. But mostly we’re just thinking about our own people and our country.”

Lilli started to feel like this was very much like the interviews she did in the early days of Lilli’s Lost and Found. She found herself asking these two men about their backgrounds and how they came to be in the coal business. Their stories were incredible. Their fathers insisted that they work their way from the bottom up, from the mineshaft and every level in between, so they would always have an appreciation for the people who worked for them. 

At six o'clock pretty much on the dot, Lilli and Ethan thanked Ellis and Titus, and left the two men smiling, assured that Lilli would do everything in her power to help them make their venture a screaming success. Ellis Diamond took Lilli’s card and promised to keep her up to speed on the negotiations they will shortly be entering into with various renewable companies. She also asked them if they would like to be interviewed for a profile piece on Lilli’s Lost and Found, which they both found quite interesting.

On the way home the next day they took a trip out to the Grey Diamond mine. They were shown in through the gate with a pass that Ellis Diamond had given them. The renovations were already underway, with the miners working on it. Lilli took some more pictures of the expanse of black earth and the slag heaps. There were two surveyors mapping out where to put up the larger buildings. There were stakes driven into the ground and thin lengths of cord attached to them. They talked to one of the foremen who used to be a shift boss in the #2 mine. He told them that everybody was excited about the prospects of working above ground. A few of the old timers had packed it in. But most of the younger workers were still on salary and were assembled into work crews pitching in to disassemble the machinery and get the pieces loaded onto trucks that would take them off to smelters to be melted down. Others were operating backhoes to level out the land surrounding the original offices. 

The operation looked pretty massive, but the supervisor told them that they wouldn’t be building until they knew the space and shipping requirements of the companies who would come on board. But that was just a matter of weeks away, according to what Mr. Diamond had told him. Lilli and Ethan thanked the man, whose name was Dexter Mason, and got back in the car to head home.

Lilli was literally floating on a cloud when she realized the enormity of the thing that she was involved in. But mostly she envisioned the powerful article she would write about Grey Diamond and their plans for the future. 

When Lilli and Ethan arrived home late the next afternoon, they all had dinner together and told the kids all about the trip to Kentucky. 

After dinner Lilli was sitting out on the deck, the air was starting to become cooler at night as September moved along. She couldn’t help but think about her good fortune in meeting Del Fry and getting involved with what was turning out to be a successful venture. After a few minutes young Fiona, who insisted on being called just Fi. came out and joined her. She had just turned fourteen and like her brother, Marcus, was as smart as a whip. 

“When you were talking to us about your trip to Kentucky, you seemed very happy about things. A lot happier than usual.” Fi said.

“Well, I am very happy. These people we went to see are doing the right thing for the world now, and hopefully, it will convince other companies to do the same. So yeah, I’m pretty happy about that, because I get to help them a bit with the article we’re going to write”

“You know, I’ve started writing myself. In my diary.”

“You have. Well, that’s wonderful.” I had a diary when I was your age. I told it all my secrets. Not that I had all that many.”

“We all have a few secrets, mom.”

Lilli hugged Fi. “Yeah, ain’t it the truth.”

They watched the sky turn from orange to dark blue as the sun set over the bay. 

“If you ever want me to read some of your writing, I’ll be happy to, Fi.”

“I’m not quite ready for that yet. I’m still figuring out what to write about.”

“Write about the things you love.”

“That’s good advice.”

“Well, I am a writer after all.” And Lilli thought, yeah, I really am. 

Later that night after everyone had gone to bed, Lilli sat down and wrote another poem. She played with it till she was too tired to concentrate. And then went up and snuggled with Ethan for a while before nodding off.

THE NATURE OF THE BEAST

Some days life feels like a famine

Some days it feels like a feast

Still other days it’s a little of both

It’s the nature of the beast

Some days, bad luck sneaks up on you

But only when you expect it least

Other days it’s a whole different game

It’s the nature of the beast

Too many Jasons waste their lives

Chasing after some golden fleece

Only to find they have run out of time

But it’s the nature of the beast

Because time catches up with everyone

From the lawyer to the priest

There is no time for regrets or fears

It’s the nature of the beast

We all have our beasts inside us

And we like to let them out to play

To carry us through the hardships

That life may send our way

Sometimes it’s a snarling watchdog

Sometimes it’s a heavenly host

Their job is keeping life’s insanity

From ever getting too close

Sometimes the beast is a hammer

Smashing down the wall of lies

Revealing the truth behind all the hate

Stripping haters of their flimsy disguise

But still some days life feels like a famine

Some days it feels like a feast

Still other days it’s a little of both

It’s the nature of the beast

Lilli read it over a couple of times and decided it was not too bad. Maybe tomorrow she would ask Ethan to build her a website to house them all. How pretentious, she thought. I only have a couple. But somewhere deep inside, Lilli knew that there was more to come. But first things first she thought. Let’s get this article done and then work on the poetry whenever we get in the mood. 

~ 32 ~

Roy Collins loved the interview piece and the pictures Lilli sent along. He was going to propose it as a joint feature in an upcoming issue and if it was agreed to, then she would have to expand it by about half. That was OK with Lilli, she had lots of background, and in the column piece she sent to Roy, she had not even mentioned going to the build site.

 Lilli also told Roy she was starting to write some poetry. Roy just laughed and said. “Well, you are a writer, Lilli. Keep it up and send me some of your stuff. I’ll pass it along to Phillipa Slater, the poetry editor.”

“Well, I really don’t think it’s at Telescope level. Maybe someday.”

“Your call Lilli. I’ll let you know about the Grey Diamond piece before the end of business.”

What Lilli didn’t mention to Roy was that she had written a version of the article that was almost twice as long as what she had submitted. She needed to do that for her site and for several of the environmental publications she contributed to. So that was one less thing to think about.

Lilli went into the kitchen and made herself a sandwich, filled her water bottle and headed out to the deck. It was a warm, sunny day. Ethan was sitting there doing something on his computer. Lilli gave him a kiss then went to sit on the steps. Giselle had the day off and the kids were in school. It kind felt like the old days after they had first moved into the house. Ethan was a little busier now, but he was learning a lot of stuff through his business communication with Del. He was reluctant to go into the office, but every so often he just felt the need to be surrounded by big buildings, which was something that never happened to Lilli. She was home.

Things were moving along more or less according to plan. She chuckled to herself that this would be the perfect time for something to start going wrong. She closed her eyes and imagined what that could be.

As she was daydreaming she suddenly felt Ethan’s presence behind her.

“You have a hidey hole for the hardware Del gave you?”

“Yeah, I buried it all in the sand out back of the pool shed.”

Good. I just got a call from dad. The Feds are on the way here. They want to talk to you. Go bundle it all up and bury it again.”

Lilli jumped up and went to her office. She pulled out the Faraday pouch and wrapped it up in the plastic bags. Then headed out to the pool shed and got the little spade and buried the pouch. She put the spade away then sat back down on the steps and finished her sandwich. About forty minutes later, Lilli heard the doorbell chime.

Lilli walked to the door. “Hello.” 

Myra showed her badge to Lilli. “Ms Braithwaite. I’m agent Tyree this is agent Edison. We’d like to ask you a few questions, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure,” Lilli said in her most chipper voice. “Come on in. We can sit out the back, Would you like a drink, some iced tea or water?

“No thanks.” Myra said. 

Lilli led them through the house to the back deck where Ethan was sitting. “Ahh my favourite Federales,” he said. “Please have a seat.”

“OK, we won’t take much of your time. Just want to clear up a few things.” Myra said.

“By all means.” Lilli said. 

Myra looked around. “This is a very beautiful place you have here.”

“Thank you. This is actually my family home. We used to live in the city and so we swapped places with my parents. 

Hmmm. “said Myra. “Well, we’re just trying to confirm some of the things your husband told us, when we met last week.”

Lilli said nothing, neither did Ethan.

“Your husband told us that you had never met Delbert Fry, but that you only knew about him through what he had told you.”

“Yeah. At the time that was correct. Since then I have met Mr Fry. He came up to New York with his wife Shawna, and we all had dinner, a few days ago in fact. They’re a lovely couple. I think we could get to be good friends.”

“And this was the first time you had ever met him?” 

“As far as I know.” 

“OK, well we have been plowing through a rather long list of persons of interest in our cases and we are still trying to connect the dots. Another dot is that you and your husband were spotted a few days ago entering the downtown Lexington Kentucky offices of Grey Diamond.”

“Yes. That’s right.” 

“Would you mind telling us what you were doing there?”

“Not at all. Another Telescope writer was assigned to the story, but Mr Grey and Mr Diamond declined to meet with him, and insisted that I do the interview. You can check with my editor, Roy Collins, at the Telescope. He made the appointment for me.”

“OK we will.”

“This is an important environmental story, Agent Tyree.” Lilli said. “And I have to tell you the plans that Mr Grey and Mr Diamond showed us were wonderful.”

Lilli noticed that Agent Edison was making copious notes. Then Myra turned to Ethan. “And what was the purpose of you being there, Mr Thomas?

“The purpose was that we like going on road trips. I like to drive. Lilli doesn’t, so we go together.” Ethan said.

“Do you always travel with your wife?”

“Not always, but I’m only working one or maybe two days a week now, so I have the time, and, guess what, after all these years together we still like being with each other.”

Lilli and Ethan could see the frustration on the faces of both of these agents, who were not quite willing to admit that they were clutching at straws.

“Ms Braithwaite, you are a well-known proponent of the green movement in this country. And you now have a direct connection to one of our suspects. So you can understand we really want to get at the nature of your relationship.” 

“Oh I understand perfectly Agent Tyree,” Lilli said. “But you should also know that I have done a lot of research into cybercrimes and one of the things that came across to me is just how hard it is to track these people down. The percentages of solved cyber crimes in this country are very, very low. They are ghosts in the ether, Agent Tyree. I do not envy your situation, chasing these ghosts. At the moment, my relationship with Mr Fry is merely a social one. As far as I can tell you are still allowed to have friends in this country. ” Lilli’s indignation showed, just a little.

Myra got to her feet slightly ahead of Double E. “Thank you for your time, both of you.” 

“You’re welcome.” Lilli said. She walked them to the door.  

“Tell me something,” Myra asked. “Does it get lonely out here?”

“No. We have our family, our work, and a nice place to live in. There’s nothing lonely about it. In fact, we both love how far removed from the chaos of the world we are. Remember I was raised in this house. It’s the only home I’ve known for most of my life.”

Lilli let them out and waved goodbye as they pulled out of the driveway.

In the car, Double E stuck his notebook in his suit jacket pocket. “Myra, I’m only gonna say this once. Can we please get the fuck off this Delbert Fry obsession. It’s becoming really tedious.”

 Myra looked over at Double E but said nothing.

~ 33 ~

The editorial decision to play the Grey Diamond story up big was made. Lilli got top billing on the article and deservedly so. It hit the stands and the mailboxes of the subscribers one week later. And it caused quite a stir. 

The first thing that happened was that Lilli received a gigantic bouquet of white lilies from Mssrs Grey and Diamond with a card expressing their heartfelt thanks. 

The second thing that happened was that Lilli got a call from the Today Show, and was invited to appear and be interviewed for the Friday telecast. 

The third thing that happened, was that the national evening news carried a story about Grey Diamond which created a huge stir in the green community, as it was reported that Grey Diamond had been in talks with a major European solar manufacturer who was looking for a base of operations for North America. 

Also that same night she got a message from Del in which he announced that on the recommendation of Jackson Myles at Dorsett Emory, he was going to be sitting down with Ellis Diamond to discuss cyber security for their new company, which they have renamed Grey Diamond Renewables, and that he would be coming up to New York to plan the program with Falcon Wing. This time he will be bringing his boat and because Shawna was worried about flying and would love to have her and Ethan over for an evening. Lilli replied with a thumbs up, then deleted the message.

That evening the family, along with Giselle, went back to the great Mexican place for dinner and a celebration. 

Later that night, Lilli sat out on the back deck with Ethan. The nights had become noticeably cooler over the past week, so they were both wearing an extra top layer. Lilli liked the autumn season that was quickly approaching. She liked to feel the wind in her face and the little shiver that came with it. The next day, she was flying back to England to do some television interviews for Lilli’s Lost & Found. Ethan was passing on it as he wanted to be around when Del and his dad met to discuss the Grey Diamond project. This would be Ethan’s first start from scratch with Del’s software and he saw it as a good opportunity for learning. Lilli was going to be on a very tight schedule anyway, and she could get a lot done in a couple days and still be back to spend an evening with Del and Shawna.

All in all, she was quite simply amazed at how all these pieces came together. But there was always the little bird on her other shoulder telling her to keep her guard up.

Every night, before going up to bed. Lilli took a stab at a new poem. She found herself digging deep, and really starting to confront her demons. It seemed like only yesterday that she and Ethan were sitting in Central Park and pigging out on Nathan’s Famous. Lilli didn’t feel nostalgic for that time in her life, but she did feel a touch of melancholy for just how fast the time had gone by and that there really didn’t seem to be any way to slow it down.

And then, for no apparent reason, she wrote a new poem.

BY HOOK OR BY CROOK

The days tumble by

The nights roll along

We tell a few lies

We sing a few songs

We have some regrets

But nothing that odd

We live in our memories 

And onward we plod

We’re all feeling younger

As we’re all growing old

But the wisdom we carry

Is more precious than gold

We know about fear 

And we know about joy

We rejoice in the small things

Like good girls and boys

We know about life now

And we know about pain

We’ve all learned the hard way

To keep it restrained

And  at the end of it all

At the end of the book

We’ll have made a whole lifetime

By hook or by crook

She read it over once and decided she was kinda sorta getting that hang of this poetry thing. She printed it out and took it upstairs to read it for Ethan.

 ~ 34 ~

The meeting with Senator Freeland took place on National Mall. But this time only Myra attended, Double E told her that he would not be responsible for what could happen if he had to look into Freeland’s smarmy gob one more time. Myra understood. She felt the same way. But as the more senior member of the team she was stuck with dealing with him.

Freeland was sitting on a bench with his two not-so-secret service guys just out of earshot. Myra plopped down on the bench before Freeland had a chance to get up. 

“So…” he said. “How goes the hunt for the our hacker?”

“Not well, sir. We have interviewed fourteen people we were referred to by a reformed hacker, Jamie Taggart. They are all either apathetic about the environment or pissed about even just sitting down with us. They all knew their rights under the constitution, that we needed probable cause in order to really investigate them, and at this point in time, we don’t have that. However, the one thing that all of our persons of interest had in common was that they were each able to give us a list of others, most likely their competitors, who would easily be capable of doing this. So far we have more than one hundred and sixty new names. 

“In all deference, your ‘start at the top’ theory was only able to produce more persons of interest. And that’s just in this country alone. We have another list of about thirty players from other countries. All hard-core environmentalists. This has become an exercise in near futility, sir. Since this attack could have originated from just about anywhere, and it was done, we assume, by someone who knew exactly how hard it would be to trace back.”

“Oh come on, agent. You’re supposed to be able to apply a little intuition to this task. Your defeatist attitude is quite unbecoming. Certainly your gut is telling you something.” 

“Well, there is one thing. But we have more or less done all we are allowed to do. It’s a cyber security expert named Delbert Fry. Originally from Texas, now lives on a boat in central Florida. He has recently sold the majority share of his business to a software company in New York called Falcon Wing. It’s a private father/son operation, and the son is married or at least living with a lady, a writer named Lilli Braithwaite.”

“Wait. ‘Lilli’s Lost & Found’ Lilli? I love those stories.”

“Yes sir. She also writes an environmental column and has recently had a feature article, on Grey Diamond, published in The Telescope.” 

“So you’ve got a connection there to this Delbert fella?”

“Delbert Fry. Well, we do and we don’t. We interviewed Ms Braithwaite as well as her husband Ethan and his father Andrew Thomas, and evidently, she had never met nor been in contact with Mr Fry, at the time of the hacks. However, she was in North Carolina for the Dorsett Emory press conference, and she was also assigned to write a piece on Grey Diamond and their plans to move forward in the alternative energy sector.”

“So if I’m hearing you right, you have nothing but shit on toast.” 

“I wouldn’t put it quite like that, sir. But yeah. It’s the best we have and sadly it’s too weak for a warrant.” 

“Well goddamn. I really can’t do much for you in that regard. I’ve already got a bright light shinin’ on me for my part ownership in Grey Diamond. Any strings I can pull have been effectively cut by that sad fact. I would say, keep diggin’ though. Bad things always come in threes, and so far we’ve only seen two.”

With that he got up and walked away, leaving Myra sitting on the bench wondering what the hell to do next.

~ 35 ~

The next cyber attack came exactly three days after Lilli returned from her trip to England. There was a file in her secret computer which she transferred to a memory key then and then trashed.

 When she opened the file she was a bit taken aback to see that the new target was a company called Biscayne Oil & Gas. Biscayne was the seventh largest domestic oil producer in the country, with wells primarily in Texas and Oklahoma, and a recent acquisition of a cluster of shallow water rigs ten miles out in Galveston Bay.

Lilli’s first thought was that Biscayne was simply too big to damage. But her second thought was that she was convinced that Del knew what he was doing. So she wrote the letter that would go to the CEO of and sole owner of Biscayne, a Texan named Hollis Brownridge.

Lilli sent off the letter to Del, then got rid of everything. Ethan was in the city and so Lilli and Giselle went for a long walk on the beach. The two ladies had been together for thirteen years now and loved each other like sisters. 

“You know, as much as I value you and love you, sweetie. I’m a little concerned that you really don’t have a much of a life outside of the family.” Lilli said.

“I can see how you would be concerned, mum. But honestly…” Giselle hesitated searching for the right words. “I’ve met some lads, in the city and in town here on shopping trips, even went out with a few. But most of them were arseholes who just wanted to get into my knickers.”

Lilli laughed. “That pretty much describes all men.”

“Well, you got a good one for sure.” 

“I did, and I thank my lucky stars for that every day.”

“You know, before I came over here from Ireland, I seriously considered takin’ the vows and becomin’ a nun. I’d even gone to a couple of meetings at the nunnery attached to my local church. I felt, you know, like I had received the calling to serve Christ. It was a powerful feeling. But then one day, I woke up and it was gone. Just left me with not so much as a by your leave. And I thought, well what am I gonna do now? And so I sat down with my mum and dad and told them I was leaving. I got a passport, then went down to Liverpool and got a job on a cruise ship and worked my way to New York. I’d only been here about two weeks when the nanny service I had registered with gave me your name. In a way, I thought it was fate, all of it. And after you explained to me what you were doing with the Lilli’s Lost & Found, and I saw you were bulging out like there was a whole litter in there, and I thought, this lady needs my help.”

“Well, this lady did need your help.” Lilli said. But this lady also wants to make sure that you have a life outside of the four of us.” 

“Oh I will, mum. Pretty soon the kids will be drivin’ their own selves to school, and then off to university and whatnot. I’ll have plenty of time for my own life then. Your family is my family life, mum. I am a helper by nature, and you are the folks I help. It doesn’t get any more fulfilling than that. Not in this life anyway.”

Lilli hugged her and they both cried a little as they walked on. 

“Tell me something.” Lilli asked. “This thing I’m involved in with Del Fry. What do you think of it?”

“Well, so far so good. But I believe that sooner or later you’re gonna run into someone who’s not already thinking about the environment. Someone who won’t give a tinker’s damn about it. That’s gonna be the test. How you retaliate when someone decides to fight back instead of rollin’ over for you. But overall, I believe the only reason you’re doing this is so them kids, and everybody else’s kids too, will have a cleaner planet to live on. The only way that’s gonna come about is if good people start taking these robber barons to task. You’re doing the Lord’s work even if you’re not a believer.”

They walked along some more. “You know, you’re a pretty smart gal.” 

“Well, there’s a lot of good books to read around here.” 

“Yes there are. You can thank my dad for that.”

They turned around and headed back. It was late September and there was a definite coolness that blew in off the bay. The clouds were darkening as they got to the house. Lilli sat down at her desk and opened the cable TV app on her computer. She flipped around to all the news channels and it was wall-to-wall. The Great Green Hacker had struck again.

She stopped at CNN, where one of the reporters had shown up after the Breaking News Graphic had passed.  

It appears that the Great Green Hacker has struck again. This time his target was a good-sized Texas company, Biscayne Oil and Gas. The attack took all of their systems offline, including the company web site and a good deal of the company’s intranet. 

Biscayne operates wells in North Texas and Oklahoma and a dozen wells in the Gulf south of Galveston Bay, and communications with those rigs have been severely damaged. 

This is the third such attack in the last month and despite constant calls to the FBI, we have been unable to obtain any information on progress in these cases. Biscayne employs close to 1500 people, approximately 200 of whom are working on the oil rigs. 

For the time being, Biscayne has shut down all offshore drilling and evacuated their drilling platforms. It has also suspended all land-based drilling as a precaution against physical attacks. 

This news came in a short release issued by the company a few hours ago. Biscayne will hold a press conference at 2 PM tomorrow, which we will be covering live. We’ll have more on this and the other two recent high-profile hacker attacks at the top of the hour. 

Lilli closed the CNN feed and leaned back in her chair, then turned to see Giselle standing in the doorway of her office. Giselle looked at her for a moment. Then she said. “I’ll be goin’ to get the kids, mum. Can I pick you up anything while I’m in town?”

“Umm, no, no that’s OK.” Lilli said. 

“You’re playin’ with the big boys now, mum. Good on you.” And with that she turned and disappeared, leaving Lilli with her thoughts. 

~ 36 ~

Del Fry didn’t think that this particular hack would do anything to get the oil companies to change their tune. After all, there wasn’t much that could be really be done and he figured the first two hacks were just kind of dumb luck that he happened to pick two companies who were, for different reasons, amenable to change. 

But what this current hack really did was prove two things to Del. First was that even a large multifaceted company like Biscayne could be successfully taken offline, and second, that it was ample testimony to the power of his software design. 

At this point, he was ready to move on to the next phase of his plan, which was to offer his software as open source for anyone who wanted to use it to attack the fossil fuel or any other polluting industry. The only part of the development process he had outsourced was the database component. Under a carefully crafted alias, of a hacker named Boris Ivanovich, he hired a young guy from Cal tech to research and compile a list of all the major fossil fuel-based energy companies in the world. He paid for the young man’s services, which took the better part of a month, in bitcoin, from an anonymous account he created and seeded in a Virgin Islands bank. Once he had the list of close to 12,500 companies of varying sizes and configurations, he databased the list on a separate high capacity memory key. Then he posted an ad that Lilli had penned for him, on the dark web that simply read:

ATTENTION HACKERS

If you are environmentally conscious and wish to make a real statement in your area, I am offering an open source code that will allow you to hack into any system server in any company you target and disable that company’s systems, which in turn will allow you to present demands to that company. 

This is a tested and proven application. It is also untraceable back to you or anyone. If you are interested contact me at savetheworld@gmail.com, telling me the names of the company or companies you will target. Once I have verified that your targets are real, I will release the code to you. Good luck and happy hunting.        

Carbonari International

 Within an hour, Del had received more than 20 requests, complete with short lists of companies. Within two hours he had received more than 100 requests. He spent the whole day and long into the night cross-referencing and sending access passwords for his code program. He disregarded any requests made in the US because he knew full well from his experience with Homeland and the FBI that their agents regularly troll the dark web looking for anarchists and terrorist threats. Besides which, the US was his turf and he wanted it all for himself.

At about 2:30 he climbed into bed and snuggled with Shawna. He put his hand on her belly and felt the baby kicking, or at least he thought he did. 

The next morning at breakfast he and Shawna had a serious discussion about where they might want to live because their boat time was coming to an end. Florida was out of the question. Too many crazies. They made a plan to take the boat up the coast and check out a few towns It was time to put down roots, preferably somewhere along the coast, just so long as there wasn’t any real winter to deal with, which made the list rather short.

After breakfast, while Shawna was sipping her tea and watching the world go by Del checked his email and saw one from Jamie Taggart. It was short and sweet. “We need to talk, bro.” Del knew exactly what this meant and he was fully prepared for it.

Later that morning, Del rode his bike to a parking garage in downtown Fort Lauderdale. He rode up to the third level and opened a Toyota Sienna van. He stashed his bike in the back, tossed his backpack on the passenger seat and headed out. 

By ten PM he had made it to North Carolina, Outside of Fayetteville he found a side road and drove down to the Cape Fear River. He ate a sandwich he had bought along the way, then took a leak and settled into the driver’s seat to get a few hours sleep. In the shoulder bag that was open, the butt of an unregistered H&K 9 mm pistol was within each reach or concealment depending on the situation. The night passed quietly and Del woke at the crack of dawn feeling uncommonly refreshed. 

He headed north again. Around two in the afternoon, he pulled into Fredricksburg and picked up a few things to eat at one of the local markets there. He spent a little time on the shores of the Potomac, and early in the evening drove into Alexandria. He found a large mall with a 24-hour Walmart and a theatre complex. He parked the van in the lot on the theatre side, got out his bike and rode into Alexandria. He had been to Jamie’s house a couple of times when Jamie was working for him on the Homeland project. He knew Jamie lived alone and hardly ever went out. Such was the life of the high-end geek.

He pulled into the alley behind Jamie’s house, and stashed his bike out of sight. He then walked around to the front and rang the doorbell. He was buzzed in almost immediately.

Jamie was sitting at his worktable where  the monitors were all lit. It looked like he was in the middle of something. 

“Hope I’m not disturbing you.” Del said.

“No. Not at all.” Jamie said, just a tiny bit freaked out. Del sat down at the table behind Jamie and set his bag down on the floor beside him.

“Shut everything down Jamie, and delete all the house surveillance footage for the last half hour.”

“Come on Del.”

Del pulled the gun out of the back pack and laid it on the table he was sitting at.

“OK.” And Jamie went to work deleting the security cam footage and shutting down all his hardware.

“How’d you get here? Did you cover your tracks like a good hunter?” Jamie asked.

“Of course I did.” Del took a deep breath and set the gun down on the table. “So I’m here. What can I do for you?”

“I saw your ad.”

“I figured you would.” 

“The Feds were up my ass. If I didn’t give them somebody substantial. They could have made it, you know, difficult for me.”

“I get that Jamie. But you still haven’t told me what you want.”

“Well, how about a couple million for my silence.”

“And what would you have to say, exactly, that wasn’t silence?”

“Well, I know it was you who placed this ad. And got a hundred plus responses from just about everywhere on God’s green earth. I know the head Fed working on this case and she’s real interested in you already. Anything I have just said could be grounds for a warrant.”

“Well, I’m just curious as to how you were so sure it was me. Did any of it trace back to me?”

“Not exactly, but with the pressure they’re under, I wouldn’t be surprised if a few rules would get broken.”

“So basically what you’re saying is that you don’t really have any evidence, but you will somehow manage to persuade the Feds that it was me. Is that about the size of it?”

“Yeah, that’s right. And I’m pretty sure I can do it.” Jamie knew he was clutching at straws here. But he also didn’t want to end up dead.

“You have forgotten so much that I taught you it’s pathetic. I knew your brain would end up getting fried when they legalized weed. You’re probably smokin’ what four or five joints a day? You’re living in a fantasy world, Jamie, if you think that even with a warrant….well, you know the rest.

Del grabbed the pistol, and returned it to his backpack. “I’ll make you a deal, Jamie. You forget all about taking this cock and bull story to the Feds and I will not do two things. First thing. I will not come back here and empty my pistol into your godforsaken carcass. And second thing, I will not hack into your server and plant a bunch of real evidence that you are in fact this Carbonari International. That’s the best deal you’re gonna get here. No two million, just your life, not in prison.”

Jamie said nothing, he was too busy contemplating his own death by unnatural causes.

“Do we have a deal, Jamie?” Del said again only with enough emphasis to snap Jamie out of his paralyzed state. 

“Yeah. Yes. It’s a deal, Del.”

“So if I hear from the Feds, I will definitely know it was because of you, and the two things I promised not to do, they will happen and you will be gone. Just one more hacker who crossed one line too many.”

Del turned and left the house checking the street carefully before walking around back and hopping on his bike.

~ 37 ~

The Biscayne Oil & Gas press conference was televised on just about every network in the United States. It took place on the steps of the Biscayne Building in downtown Houston. The only people on the dais were the Biscayne CEO, Hollis Brownridge, and his executive assistant, an attractive auburn-haired woman named Tina Farrell.

After getting the crowd’s attention, Mr. Brownridge began to speak.

“My name is Hollis Brownridge and I am the CEO of Biscayne Oil and Gas. As you all know by now, we have been the victim of a vicious hack on our system. Our business has been brought to a total standstill. We have had to evacuate all our workers from our Gulf rigs for fear of a physical attack. We have tripled up security at our drill sites in north Texas and Oklahoma, and in our offices here. We have had to send pretty much everybody home for the time being. We have also hired a very good web security company to dig into our system and see if they can’t undo some of the damage that has been done.

“I understand that this hacker or group, whatever the case may be, is targeting companies in all sectors of the fossil fuel industry. And to tell you the God’s honest truth, I get what they are on about. But this tactic of targeting companies with an aim to putting them out of business, that’s just plain sadistic. There are a lot of people depending on this company to put food on the table and pay mortgages, and frankly, I think that what these people are doing is downright inhuman.

“But this is the situation we’re in, and this is the business we’re in. I don’t really care at the moment how much it costs in terms of additional staff, but we are going to put our people back to work, even if we have to run our business off line. I’m sure you have a few questions.”

“You haven’t said anything about the hackers’ demand that you start investing more heavily in alternative energy sources for your processing plant, and building charging stations at all Biscayne gas stations.” said a reporter from CNN.

“We’re looking into all that,” Brownridge said. “But right now our top priority is getting our system back up and running.”

Another reporter asked. “What’s to keep you from getting hacked again, sir? I believe this hacker has you between a rock and a hard place.”

“Maybe right now. But we’ve got some pretty savvy people looking into this, with the aim of bringing these bastards, pardon my French, to justice.”

Del flipped the TV off and just chuckled. Shawna said, “He called you a bastard, Del. Nobody’s called you that before.” 

“They’ll be calling me a lot worse before we’re done, darlin’.” Del said.

Del’s boat was sitting in a slip at the Beach Club at Charleston Harbour in South Carolina. Charleston was the town that Del’s research showed had the most potential. Good weather all year round, a place to keep his boat, and a lot of beautiful old colonial houses, which he had always admired. They registered at the Beach Club, got a gorgeous suite overlooking the harbour and out to the ocean. The concierge arranged a car rental for Del and Shawna and for the next three days, they explored the city.

On Long Island, Lilli was glued to the press conference, and marvelled at how the Biscayne Oil CEO’s head didn’t blow off his shoulders. The guy was carrying, and containing, a ton or rage. If he ever found out that Del was the guy he was looking for, there was no doubt in Lilli’s mind that he would have had him drawn and quartered. 

At the end of the news conference, Lilli’s cell chimed. It was Roy Collins, wondering if Lilli wanted the Biscayne Oil story. He would try and set up and interview with Hollis Brownridge. Lilli and Roy talked for quite a while about the kind of story she would tell, and Lilli made it quite clear that she didn’t believe that this Hollis Brownridge fellow was going to cave or go green, so it might be a good article to get more aggressive with. He was just spoilin’ for a fight. Roy told her that he expected Lilli to be honest but fair. Lilli reluctantly agreed to give it a shot.

At dinner, Lilli broke the news to everyone that she was heading down to Houston to cover the Biscayne oil hack and hopefully interview the CEO there. Ethan told her that in no uncertain terms was she doing this alone. They agreed it was a little too far to drive, so two days later with the interview all set up, Lilli and Ethan drove down to JFK and they headed for Houston.

Myra Tyree and Double E sat in the office they shared in the Federal Building. They were tossing a tennis ball back and forth to each other.

Myra said. “What the hell did he expect from a good sized oil company like Biscayne? They would just all of a sudden stop drilling ‘cause they’d seen the goddamn light?”

“You have to admit, whoever is doing this they are pushing a lot of buttons all over the place. “ Double E said, “And here we are, tossin’ a fucking a tennis ball back and forth which is the just slightly more athletic version of twiddling our thumbs. We’re the FBI for Chrissake, How is it we’re not out solving this? How is it we do not have a single freakin’ clue or worthwhile lead?” Double E lamented.

“I know I’m gonna sound like a broken record, but that Delbert fella down in Florida, I can’t get him out of my head.”

“Probable cause. All we have is a couple of coincidences, and a hacker who waxed a little too poetic about him. Just ain’t enough.”

Myra took a deep breath and placed the tennis ball gently on her desk. “Let’s go out to Alexandria and see our little hacker friend again.”

Just then, another agent knocked and said. “Turn on CNN, right now.”

Myra grabbed the remote and fiddled with it. One of the female newscasters was sitting in front of a map of Europe and Asia. …

 “To date, we have reports on more than a dozen hacks to the systems of various fossil fuel-based businesses, throughout the British Isles, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and as far south as Australia. According to our source, the American Great Green Hacker offered his source code on the dark web to anyone who wanted to use it. Evidently there were a lot of people who did. The hacker posted a g-mail address for one hour and then took it down leaving no trace, which has been pretty much the story since this series of events started in the United States more than a month ago. This is quickly developing into one of the year’s, if not the decade’s, biggest stories. Stay tuned to CNN for more information as it becomes available.

An hour later, Jamie showed Myra and Double E into the house and they all sat at his large round table. Myra said. “So, have you thought any more about this?”

“Yeah, as a matter of fact I have. And you’re not gonna like what I concluded.” He turned and opened the large screen above the smaller screens in his array. Quickly the screen filled up with code. “This is the code that the hacker was giving away. Don’t ask how I got it. It’s massive and it’s genius. It’s called open source, which is like saying it’s public domain. I stared at this code for about three hours, looking for a signature and I finally found one.” 

He enlarged a section of the code and with his stylus circled a single symbol that looked like the capital letter ‘I’ but with an offset circle in the bottom half. 

“Boris Ivanovich.” Jaimie said Very famous Russian hacker. Never been seen, obviously never been caught, mainly because he’s protected by Putin. Kind of a national treasure over there in Russia.”

“So, this guy, is he in Russia?” Asked Double E.

“Your guess is as good as mine.” Jamie said. “He could be anywhere. These fuckers are wizards. They go where they want. They do what they please.”

“Kind of all makes sense now.” Myra said.

“Yeah, it does.” Jamie said, “But just remember, this is only my educated guess. If you want to try and find out if it’s really Boris, just announce it in the media. If it’s not him, he could freak out. He might even call you. And who knows, maybe you’ll start a feud between whoever it is and Boris. It’s a long shot but I’m pretty sure it’s Boris.”

Myra and Double E got up. “Well thank you, Jamie. This has been very helpful.”

“If nothing else it will be enough to get Senator Asshat off your back for a while.”

Myra and Double E walked up the street to their car. 

“The fucking Russians.” Double E said.

“You know Putin was a spook for the KGB before he got into politics.” Myra said.

“That makes sense.”

Myra nodded, but for some reason she couldn’t stop thinking about Delbert Fry. But now he was in line behind this Boris Ivanovich.

~ 38 ~ 

Lilli’s trip to Houston was only eventful for the amount of rage she had to endure during her interview with Hollis Brownridge. Ethan decided to sit outside the meeting room, and let Lilli do her thing. It started out calmly enough when she got him talking about the history of his company and he got to ego trip his way through his glorious early years. But the closer he got to the present, the more his anger started to build. Lilli couldn’t really blame him. From all that he had told her this was a true labour of love. But it was when Lilli started pressing him for the kind of details that would strengthen her story, the real right-wing beast came out. 

None of it was directed at her personally, but he was no big fan of any part of the environmental movement and argued that the people pushing that ‘crap’ really should take a course in how this country actually works. 

From there he launched into a diatribe that became very political very fast. It was obvious that he was a hard core conservative and probably a card carrying Republican, like a lot of Texans were. To him, it was patently obvious that the goddamn liberals were out to ruin everything that was great about the country. Lilli mostly just sat back and took it all in. All the venom, all the bile, all the prejudice, all the rage. She wasn’t going to argue with a man like this one. All the while, she was wondering exactly how could she make everything she was recording palatable to The Telescope audience.

After Hollis Brownridge calmed down a bit and apologized for all the colourful language, he explained that he was under a lot of pressure to get this thing resolved, and to be honest, he didn’t really know how. And very much like the two coal miners she talked to a couple of weeks before, she listened to him talking, and quite honestly she thought, about the people in his company and the hardship this was inflicting on them.

One of the questions that Lilli asked, when she got to actually ask a question, had to do with what was holding him back from making the suggested changes and at least be able to create some sort of offset, no matter how small, and that maybe other oil and gas companies would follow suit.

This question appealed to Brownridge’s self-image as an innovator or influencer or whatever defect of the ego people like him possessed.

“Do you really think that other companies would see this as a model they could emulate?” Brownridge asked.

“Nobody can say for sure. But if it gets the hacker to unlock your system, you really do need to weigh the cost of making those changes against the horrendous amount of fallout that’s coming your way if you don’t get your business back on line. In both the interviews I did with the other companies who have been victimized by this hacker, that was the key question they had to answer.”

Brownridge sat there thinking about it. Then he looked at Lilli. “I can see why The Telescope sent you down here.”

Lilli just smiled. “I will tell your story honestly Mr. Brownridge. I have no axe to grind here. I just want to tell the story.”

And with that the interview was over. Lilli asked for and was granted permission to take a few pictures of Brownridge. Then Lilli and Brownridge shook hands and exchanged business cards. Three hours later Lilli and Ethan were on a plane headed back home. How Brownridge would move forward was not certain. But at the same time, Lilli was getting the hang of this and saw it as another feature article for The Telescope. She was also wondering about how much of this activity was necessary to actually affect real change. She thought about that a lot on her way back to New York, and she talked a lot about it to Ethan on the plane and the drive up from Kennedy, and when she got home that night she laid in bed and thought about it some more. 

~ 39 ~

It was hard for Lilli, who had always been an open and honest person, to carry secrets around. But something about the Brownridge interview got the thought going in her head, regardless of the industry he was in, and despite all his anger and his heavy right-wing bent, he showed a genuine concern for his people and their well-being. 

The next day, she drove down to the city to have lunch with her brother Danny, who had now been the head of Braithwaite Industries for a few months. When she walked into his office he was on the phone thanking someone for something. He got up and gave Lilli a huge hug.

“You look busy,” she said. “Have I come at a bad time?”

“No, not at all. He grabbed his jacket and they headed down to a deli on 33rd Street, where they got a couple of corned beef sandwiches and bottles of water. They sat at a table in the far corner. Lilli sat facing away from the other diners. It was a little before noon, so the place hadn’t picked up a full head of steam just yet. Lilli and Danny exchanged strokes of information and when that was done, Danny asked. “So what’s on your mind Lil?”

“Okay, besides Ethan, you’re probably the only person in the world I can talk to about this.”

“Well that’s intriguing.”

“You know the big time cyber attacks that have been going on over the past while.”

“You bet your ass I do.” Danny said. 

“Well…I have something to do with them.”

Danny sat there stunned for a moment then said. “Okay, but you‘re no hacker.”

“No, but I’m working with the guy who is doing the hacking.”

Danny was no slouch in the brains department. “It’s that guy from Texas who sold his business to Falcon Wing, isn’t it?”

Lilli just nodded. “His name is Delbert Fry.”

“Fuck a duck.” Danny said. “And just how exactly are you involved?”

“I wrote the letters that were sent to the companies that got attacked and to the media as well.”

Danny took a slug of his water. “And why are you telling me this?”

“Because you and Ethan are the people I trust the most, and I have gotten to the point where I just can’t live with all the secrecy. I mean, I’m all for the cause. I’m just not sure anymore that this is the right way to go about making changes in the world.”

Danny leaned back in his chair. He slowly laid his hands flat on the table. “You do know that all of this is incredibly illegal, right?” 

“I do,” said Lilli. “But I really wanted to do something more than just writing about the environment even with the large audience I have with The Telescope and all the other publications I write for. It seems, you know, so passive.”

“So how many people know about this? Besides this Delbert Fry guy?”

“Ethan, Giselle and now you.”

“I don’t want to give you chapter and verse about why this is a totally dangerous thing to do. Because I know you and I’m sure you’re coming from a good place. But Lilli, this shit never ends well for the good guys. How did this change of heart come about?”

“I had already kind of half made up my mind to quit. But I think it was the trip down to Texas. For some reason the helplessness the owner of that oil company felt not being able to take care of his people…I guess I was able to relate to that, now that I have people to take care of, you know, besides family.”

“Well that’s as good a reason as any. Is there anything that ties you to this Delbert guy and could be used against you?”

“He gave me a computer and a phone to communicate with him. But everything gets wiped right after I send it or talk to him. He is a major league hacker, after all.”

“And where are the computer and phone?”

“They’re in a Faraday pouch in my office closet. Whenever we’re not home for any length of time, I bury them out in the dunes.”

“So technically, if push came to shove it would be your word against his?”

“Yeah, I suppose so.”

“Then my advice to you is short and sweet. Quit. Right now. Wipe the equipment down thoroughly with a hot towel then bury it all until you can give it back to him. If he doesn’t want it, destroy it. Take it apart and smash it to bits.”

Lilli trusted her brother and knew he only had her best interest at heart. Gradually over the rest of the lunch Lilli felt like a great weight was lifting off her shoulders even though she knew it would be a difficult thing to confront Del Fry. But she was determined to do it.

Lilli drove home with the early afternoon rush. But somehow the stop and go traffic through Brooklyn didn’t bother her. When she got home, she found Ethan sitting in the family room with Giselle. They were watching CNN, where the talking head was sitting in front of a large map of Europe and Asia, with all the hacking hot spots illuminated. Lilli sat down on the coffee table as Ethan turned the TV off. 

“I just had lunch with Danny in Manhattan. I told him about what’s been going on and that I have decided that I have had enough. This thing has turned into a monster and it’s not going to end well. Right now we don’t have any real fingerprints on this, so I’m going to tell Del I’m out.”

Ethan thought about it briefly. “I guess we’ll see what he’s really made of when you do that.” he said. 

“I’m hoping he’ll understand.”

“Me too,” said Ethan. “I’ll find out where he is and see if I can’t get him up to the city.” He got up and took Lilli’s hand. She rose and they embraced. Giselle got to her feet as well and touched Lilli on the shoulder.

 “You’re doing the right thing, mum.”  she said.

Later that evening Lilli wiped everything down with a hot towel, wearing rubber gloves. She then slipped everything into a fresh plastic garbage bag and stuck it back in the cupboard.

~ 40 ~ 

Myra and Double E spent the next few days on the phone gathering data about the companies that were hacked in Europe and Asia. Not that it did them any good. People with the hacking code that the original hacker had given them were every bit as invisible as he was. And their jobs right now were a gold-plated example of wheel spinning. They were chasing a ghost and they both knew it. But they were employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and their job was to investigate, even when there was nothing there to actually find.

At about three in the afternoon, they had both had enough of the bullshit that trying to do their job had become, and decided to go for a drink. They walked down to the Tavern On Reade. The place was in the mid afternoon lull and they had it pretty much to themselves. 

Myra took a long sip of her martini, “Boris Fucking Ivanovich. Who the hell is he?” 

“So many of these guys use fake names, I’ll wager even Jamie Taggart’s real name is something else.”

“I have to tell you,” Myra said, “As much as you will think me deranged, I still cannot get that Delbert Fry out of my head. He was just too…I don’t know, reasonable. Kind of like he expected us to show up at some point and had all his answers on a goddamn crib sheet.”

“You think he could be Boris what’s his name?”

“I think anything’s possible. But of all the super freaks we talked to, he just seemed to be one who had his shit most together.” Myra said, and she sipped her martini. “And when we had that Felix kid on him, he reported that Fry took off on a bike and was gone for two hours. Then the very next day, we find out about the Grey Diamond hack. In any normal world that would be more than enough for a warrant.”

Double E sat staring at his beer for a good thirty seconds, then he said. “So, you’re the boss. What do you want to do?”

“I think we need to go back to Florida, my friend. Maybe we’ll find out that Boris and Delbert Fry are actually one in the same.”

They ordered another drink while Myra contacted the Fort Lauderdale field office, where she was told that Delbert Fry and his boat were both MIA and had been for the past week. 

The boat, of course, was currently docked in Charleston South Carolina, where Del and Shawna were in the process of falling in love with the place.

“Guess we’ll have to put that on hold ’til he gets back home.” Myra said.

“Or we could call Ethan Thomas. Maybe he’ll know where he is.”

“Worth a shot.” Myra fished Ethan’s card out of her day timer and called him. 

The next morning Ethan got hold of Del Fry, who was in Charleston. He asked him if he would have some time to come up to the office, just to get a few things organized. Del said sure, and that he could fly up later that day. Shawna decided not to accompany him. She wanted to spend some more time looking at houses for sale in Charleston. So Del got on the phone and found a flight leaving early in the afternoon and getting into New York at about 3:30. He called Ethan back and let him know. Ethan and Lilli drove to the city, had a late lunch and then waited for Del to show up at the office. Ethan's dad was in Washington on business, so he wouldn’t really know anything about this.

Del arrived at around 4:15 and was surprised to see Lilli sitting with Ethan in the board room. He was also surprised to see the Faraday pouch sitting on the conference table. Del walked over and poured himself a coffee, then sat down, across from Lilli and Ethan. 

“Let me guess. You’re out?”

“I am.” said Lilli. “I’m afraid I am a hopeless romantic and when you showed up with this huge idea, I got sucked up into it, probably the way you hoped I would. But, ummm, the more I saw the chaos that’s been created, the more frightening it became. I believe you are doing a right thing. But I’m not willing to risk my freedom. And I know you’ll probably never get found out, but some of us are built that way and some of us aren’t. I really want you to succeed and change the world. I just don’t think I can deal with being part of this any longer. It rubs up against my nature and creates a lot of internal friction and worry for me.” 

Del stared at Lilli across the table. Finally he said. “Okay. I get it and I sincerely appreciate all you have done so far. The last thing I want to do is talk you into hangin’ in there. I won’t do that. Because I know exactly where you are coming from. And I promise that if anything goes sideways, which, let’s face it, can happen, your names will never come up.” Del took a sip of his coffee. “I knew this would be a tough row to hoe for anyone. But, I’ll tell you, it has worked out way better than I ever dreamed it would. So I’m gonna keep on playin’ till the last dog dies. I like you, Lilli, you’re scrappy and you’re married to a genius. Hell, you may even be one yourself. I get it. So let’s stay friends, because I don’t have all that many, and I really value the few I do have.”

“I’m glad you feel that way,” Lilli said. “We really like you and Shawna too.”

“We’re in Charleston South Carolina, looking at houses right now. I am actually backing off for a while. I released the Biscayne site this morning. It seems I can do much more damage offering other hackers the program code than I can do on my own. So, in a way, your timing is good. You have done a lot you should be proud of, both of you. But I’ll tell you, this ain’t over. It can’t be. There needs to be disruption. And there will need to be a lot more before things really start to change.”

Del got up and so did Lilli and Ethan. Del gave her a big hug. He tucked the Faraday pouch into his bag, slapped Ethan on the shoulder then turned to Lilli and said, “Keep writing about it Lilli. You’re damn good at it. I can feel your passion.” 

After Del left, Lilli collapsed into a chair, and started to cry. Ethan sat down beside her and held her until she felt better. 

“I honestly didn’t know what to expect from him.” Lilli said. “I was so afraid he was gonna freak out on us. But he didn’t.” Lilli took a deep breath and got to her feet. “Let’s go home, hun. I got a story to write.”

~ 41 ~

The air was getting cooler as October approached. Lilli finished her story on Biscayne Oil and Gas and then told Ron she needed to take some time off. Just a couple of weeks. Ethan did the same and they spent their time walking along the waterfront, discovering different places for lunch, fooling around and swimming. Lilli also promoted Giselle to be her personal assistant and hired a housekeeping service to come in once a week and Lilli and Giselle prepared all the dinners together. It was nice. It was quiet. But all the while Lilli was thinking. She had this notion in her head that was probably the result of all the research she was doing on the ‘green’ industries.

“You know…” Lilli said to Ethan as they were sitting on the back steps. “I think the biggest problem with the green industry is that it’s all so disparate. There are thousands of things going on everywhere, and they get little bits and pieces of promotion, like from the writing the environmental writers do, but…”

“I think I know where you’re going with this.” Ethan said. 

“Good, because I’m not quite sure.”

“If you want to unify it all, put it all under one roof, then maybe we could start a kind of, I don’t know, call it a Wikipedia for renewables. It would be an information site where companies could build and update their own profiles. You just set the parameters. You could be the spokesperson for it. Get a PR firm to book you some TV appearances, let everybody know what it is. Hire a small team to administer and edit it. Hell, what’s the point of having money if you can’t spend your money on stuff you believe in?”

Ethan was right, and Lilli knew that her inheritance money which, outside of a relatively modest allowance and the property taxes they paid on the house, she really hadn’t touched, had grown by almost twenty million over the past decade.

Lilli just looked at Ethan. “Just how is it you seem to be able to pull the crazy thoughts right out of my head and give them back to me in such logical way? How do you do that?”

Ethan chuckled. “Guess you’re a little more transparent than you think you are. The way I see it is that it’s just another version of Lilli’s Lost & Found.”

Over the next couple of days, Lilli let the idea sink in and blossom in her head. Every night she would make notes in her journal, which she now felt free to write in again. Every day she watched the news to see if any progress was being made as a result of Del’s efforts. All through Europe, the Middle East and Asia the hack attacks continued unabated. If nothing else, the world was learning that there was a true community of environmental activists with hacking skills on the planet. All they needed was the spark, and Del’s untraceable code gave them that spark. 

For his part, Del had one more database to exploit. South & Central America. But for reasons only known to him, he held off. Maybe it was something that Lilli said. Maybe it was the old ‘catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar’ adage. He wasn’t quite sure. And for the time being he didn’t really care. Maybe it really was time to get settled on dry land again, find a house, be a dad, do some work for his company. And keep his eye on Lilli’s progress plowing her own field.

They found a beautiful, house on the on Middle Street, just down the way from Fort Sumter. He could dock his boat in the backyard in the warm season, which was pretty much nine to ten months of the year, and then at a marina on the Ashley River across the bay. They looked at a lot of the older colonial houses in town, but opted for being on the water instead. Del paid the two point two million purchase price in cash. They were able to take possession right away because the house had been empty for a few months. They hired a cleaning service to scrub every inch of it, and a company to paint it via Shawna’s instructions, as they sat on the boat and played with the floor plans to decide on furniture. 

All of this was quite alien to Del who, for one reason or another in his life, had never set foot inside a furniture store. The only furniture he ever dealt with was an office desk and chair and he got that at Staples.

Del and Shawna spent the better part of a week travelling around to different furniture and department stores to buy bedding, blankets and small carpets and kitchen hardware. 

Over the next couple of weeks, they took delivery of all the stuff they bought, and Shawna art-directed everything into place. For his part, Del cruised around and brought a gas barbecue and all the outdoor furniture they would need, plus a good set of tools. 

One day, about a week into the process. Del heard the doorbell ring. 

Standing on the front porch were FBI agents Tyree and Edison. 

You’re a hard man to find, Mr. Fry.” Myra said. 

“I didn’t know I was worth finding, Agent Tyree, isn’t it?”

“May we come in? We have a few questions.” 

“Sure.” And Del opened the door to usher them in.

“Sorry things are a bit messy. We’re just in the process of furnishing the place. Why don’t we go out the back.” 

They walked through the house and got situated at a table overlooking the river.

“I’d offer you a drink, but all we have is water at the moment.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Myra said. “This won’t take long.”

“Fire away.”

“First of all I’m curious about the timing of the cyber attacks. They seem to have started right after you made your deal with Falcon Wing.”

“At the risk of sounding facile here, haven’t we been over this? I didn’t know then and I don’t know now what one thing has to do with the other.”

“No, I suppose you don’t. As you know if you watch the news at all, we have basically run into a brick wall. There have been a few arrests in Europe and one in South Korea, but other than that…”

“I can understand your frustration, agent. But again, what does this have to do with me?”

“We were just wondering if the name Boris Ivanovich means anything to you.”

“Well of course. He’s one of the most famous hackers in history. Rumour has it that Putin keeps him very well hidden though. You know, national treasure and all.”

“Would this Ivanovich be able to pull off a series of hacks like this?” 

“You’d have to ask him. My assumption is that he could do it in his sleep. But I don’t know the man or even know if he’s real or an avatar for a whole hacker group in the Kremlin.”

“And this code that he would write to execute these hacks, would it be the same sort of code that you use, in your business, you know, to failsafe company systems?”

“I’d have to look at it the code to say for sure. But the kind of code I create for my clients is very user specific. I did see a news story where they were talking about the fact that the actual code was open-source. The stuff I do would never have any utility as open source. In fact, I don’t really even know how to write that sort of code. Probably wouldn’t take me long to figure it out, but there’s never really been a need. Coding takes a lot of time and requires a certain sets of specific skills. My job is to build a system and a firewall that would prevent the Boris Ivanoviches of the world from hacking into them. Totally different playing field.”

Myra stared at Del while he was talking looking for a tell of some sort, anything to indicate that he was bullshitting them. But there was nothing. She was starting to feel like ten pounds of shit in a five-pound bag.

“I have to tell you, Mr. Fry, but since the first time we talked, I have had this strange tingling in the back of my head. You ever get that? It’s just a feeling, you know, and it’s hard to shake.”

“Oh sure, I get them all the time. But when I do, I usually dig in and try and get to the bottom of what that feeling’s about. And here you are trying to get to the bottom of yours. I don’t blame you. On the surface, I look like a good possibility. But the simple fact is that as much as I would like to be able to change the world, I don’t believe that a tactic like this would be the right way to do it. You make more enemies than friends along the way. If you’re gonna make changes, you need to have everybody, especially the law, on your side.” 

“Well, you make a pretty good case for your innocence, Mr. Fry.” Double E said, looking up from his notepad.

“That may have a lot to do with the fact that I am not one of the droids you’re looking for. Pardon the cheesy Star Wars reference.”

“I believe Obi-wan Kenobi said the same thing to some stormtroopers, knowing full well that he had the power to convince them.” Double E replied.

“I like Star Wars too. But despite your eloquence, you’re still up there on my suspect list.” Myra said.

“You can’t win’em all, Agent Tyree. I do wish you luck. Because if it is Boris, I honestly don’t believe you will ever find him.”

With that, Myra and Double E got to their feet. “You can go up the side if you like.” Del said. And as they walked away he wondered if he would ever get that fucking woman off his case.

After they got in the car, Double E said. “I am not going to say anything about this total exercise in futility.”

“Good.” Myra said.  

~ 42 ~

Lilli started her quest on a business site called LinkedIn. She had been a member for several years, and it was one of the places, besides Facebook, where Lilli’s Lost & Found got a good many of its readers. Lilli also promoted her articles on both LinkedIn and Facebook. But she was looking for some professional PR people and she figured LinkedIn was a good place to start. So she did a small post with a picture that Giselle took of her and wrote a small piece to go with it.

Hi Everybody.

If you’re reading this you probably know me as the lady who founded Lilli’s Lost & Found in New York. Or you may have read some of the articles I have written for The Telescope and other publications on the environment. 

I am starting a new project, which I hope will be at least as much of a success as Lilli’s Lost & Found. All I can tell you at this time is that it has to do with the environment and our future here on this planet—two things that are very important to all of us. Right now what I am looking for is a public relations professional who can help me get this project started. If you are one of those people then please email me an intro and a link to your profile. Thanks and have a wonderful day. 

Lilli posted her email address at the bottom and sent the message off into the ether. She would repost it a couple more times just to make sure that it reached everybody she was connected to on LinkedIn, which thanks to Lilli’s Lost & Found was way up there in the low hundreds of thousands. Lilli herself did very little on social media. She thought Facebook was a mess and LinkedIn was basically where recruiters trolled for job candidates. But she also thought there might be a few PR companies out there too.

She showed Giselle the post and asked her to repost it a couple of times over the next week, monitor the responses and flag anything that looked promising. Giselle knew Lilli as well as anyone, so she thought that this would be a good project for her to get started with. Up to now, all she had been doing is double-checking posts from the story writers in New York and from Phillip Cromwell over in England. 

Lilli was coming to the end of her two weeks off. She wondered about how Del was doing down in Charleston. So she gave him a call.

“Hey, Lilli. How’re things up your way?” Del said. It sounded like he was outside.

“Things are moving right along Del. How about you? All set up?”

“We’re gettin’ there. It’s insane the amount of furniture you need in your house. Life on the boat was a hell of a lot simpler.” Del said.

“How’s Shawna?”

“Gettin’ bigger by the day. By the way, I found a pool company to build me one of those little pools like you guys have. I hate joggin’ so now I can do that instead.”

Lilli laughed. “Are you working at all?”

“I’m thinkin about it. I talk to Ethan a couple times a week. He’s gotten to know my programmers and he likes them all. So that’s good.” 

“How are you finding Charleston?”

“The food here is just southern enough for us. Lot of great old homes here too. The countryside is just beautiful. And the people aren’t anywhere close to redneck.” 

Lilli laughed again. “So are you sayin’ you’re the only redneck in the vicinity?”

“Oh, I’m sure there’s a couple more. I’ve yet to explore the seedy part of the city. How about you? Everything on track?” 

“Oh yeah. I put out some feelers today for a PR person who can get me some promotion for the new green directory site.”

“Got a name yet?” 

“Not yet. But Ethan will be hounding me for it soon enough.”

“Just remember, there’s a whole passel of equity in your name from Lilli’s Lost & Found.”

“What exactly is a passel anyway?”

“It’s just some word I grew up with. It means a lot. You let me know when you’re ready to launch your site. I’ll build you some protection for it.”

“Will do. And thanks.”

“Might even charge you a little for it too. After all, I got me a family to feed now”  

“Just don’t be gougin’ me like you do with the government.”

“There’s no money like government money, Lilli. And by the way, we’d love to have you and Ethan down as soon as we’re squared away. 

“We’d love to see you guys. Let us know when you’re settled.” 

“Will do, Lilli. Good to hear from you and I’m glad everything’s OK.”

“Never better, Del”.

Lilli disconnected. She stared out at the bay and the gunmetal clouds rolling up from the south that dulled the blue water into just another mass of grey.

~ 43 ~

Since their last encounter, Del had spent a bit of time thinking about Myra Tyree. Not so much her partner though, because he got the impression that agent Edison was already convinced they were barking up the wrong tree. But Myra was like a dog with a bone. She wasn’t gonna give up until she had gnawed every last scrap of meat off that thing. So she needed to be taken out of the picture. He was pretty sure that if he did that, the tiny little light that she was shining on him would be extinguished, and he could operate with that much more confidence and freedom.

Del was not a killer. He had the killer instinct, but he simply did not have the requisite amount of madness in his head. So when he needed to deal with any sort of pain in the ass that came along, he gravitated to the only kinds of solutions he understood and could easily implement and one hundred percent of the time they involved good old Yankee dollars. 

Bank of America was his favourite bank. Not just because they were pretty much everywhere, but because, for him at least, it was easily hackable. He had learned all about hacking B of A servers as part of a vulnerability analysis he did for them just three years earlier. He had found all the chinks in their armour, and built them a formidable fortress that would stop even hackers as good as he was. But, and this was the big but that was common to nearly everything Del did, he had left a little trap door buried in the mountain of code. This would have been virtually impossible for the bank’s propellerheads to detect, simply because they would not be looking for it. After all, they had hired the best in the business to upgrade their security, and he had pretty much signed his life away with indemnity and non-disclosure agreements.

Those things didn’t trouble Del in the least. He knew his Bank of America trap door would come in handy one day and, lo and behold, the day had arrived.

So late on a Saturday night, after Shawna was dead to the world, Del hacked into the Bank of America and began to transfer money from the numbered Cayman Islands account, which he had kept as a slush fund for the past several years, into the account of one Myra Tyree. On a previous visit to B of A, three days earlier, he had filled in her information, including a scan of her signature from a hack he did at Homeland where all law enforcement people are databased. Another useful trap door. Once the account was open, he deposited one hundred thousand American dollars into it and back-dated the information to make it look like two deposits of fifty thousand, over a two-week period. 

Having done all that, he slipped back out of the account and closed up the little trap door. 

In a few days, he would send a tip from an unnamed Bank of America email address to Myra’s station chief. The email contained a link to the account he had opened in Myra’s name. The station chief would initiate an investigation quietly, verifying the authenticity of the account, and then have Myra removed from active duty for the time being. She would be questioned and deny knowing anything about it. But she would remain suspended while it was decided what to do about her. 

After about a month of waiting to see what her fate would be, she would receive a text message from an untraceable number. The message would say:

You are now experiencing a small dose of the hazards you will encounter if you continue to attempt to find me…Boris 

Myra would then take the text message to her station chief, and some more investigating would be done. A few weeks later, Myra would be reinstated and allowed to resume her work. Only this time Delbert Fry would, theoretically, be the last thing on her mind. She would be after Boris Ivanovich, who was basically a fictional character that Del created several years earlier to keep people off his scent. A few minutes after he closed down his computer, he crawled into bed with Shawna and fell asleep without any problem at all. It was a good day’s work in the hacker business.

~ 43 ~

Lilli signed a new contract with The Telescope, committing to 4 editorials and a minimum of 12 new profile pieces over the next year. She then spent a couple of weeks writing ahead and got her usual three-piece buffer in place. At this point, her schedule was under control and she could devote some time to the new Green site. She played around with a couple of different names and then Finally settled Lilli’s Renewable World. She chose the word, ‘renewable’, because it covered the widest range of activities in the ‘Three R’ formula that represented Reduce • Reuse • Recycle. 

She then wrote a home page for her site that invited anyone whose business fell into the renewables category to post a profile of their company. She sent the name and home page content to a web designer she had met one day at her local Starbucks on Montauk Highway. Her name was Heather Conrad and she also lived in Hampton Bays. Heather sent her back an acknowledgement and said she would have some stuff to show Lilli in a couple of days. She had decided to work with Heather on the new site, because Ethan was doing more work these days for the office and she didn’t want him to be stretched too thin. Once he saw Heather’s work, he was all for it, joking that Lilli was building a bit of a sisterhood around her.

Having done that, Lilli went for a swim and when she got back to her office, Giselle announced that she had found a PR company she thought would be right for the project. She texted Lilli the name and website and wouldn’t you know it, another woman.

The company was called LSA, or Lynne Stevens and Associates. Lilli gave her a call and had an interesting conversation. Lynne Stevens was a former Democratic lobbyist in Washington. After Trump was elected, she wanted nothing to do with the political system because she knew it would become total chaos. She had fallen into the PR business through her husband who was the CEO of a large bio-fuel consortium. She was already a big fan of Lilli’s writing in The Telescope and a member of Lilli’s Lost & Found as well. She had set up her PR company about five years earlier specifically to help companies in the renewables sector, and so far it was unique in that regard. Lilli was thrilled to know that there were other people out there with the same world view. 

Lilli and Lynne talked for about half an hour and agreed to get together early the following week so that Lilli could see Lynn’s operation. LSA was run out of a townhouse on East 73rd Street. So Lilli figured she could have dinner with Danny and his new girlfriend after her meeting.

Lilli disconnected from her call with Lynne Stevens, got up and walked over to Giselle, who was busy reading an article. She hugged Giselle and kissed her on the cheek. “Just want you to know,” Lilli said. “That Lynne Stevens is just perfect for us.”

“I’m so glad, mum.”

“You should be. Your instincts are very good.” With that, Lilli headed out to pick up the kids from school, a job that she split with Giselle whenever she was at home.

On the way into town, Lilli called Ethan, who was spending a bit more time down in the city recently, as the company was still absorbing and getting a handle on Del Fry’s business. There were new computers to buy and program and a couple of new people to hire and indoctrinate. Ethan thought things would be back to normal in a few more weeks but wasn’t making any promises. 

After she finished talking to Ethan, Lilli started to wonder about what normal actually was. Here she was close to twenty years into adulthood, and she had not really done a single, rich girl thing. She had always felt like money wasn’t something you just spent to please yourself or satisfy your ego, but more that it was a tool you used to make things happen. In that sense, she was the polar opposite of the ‘spoiled little rich girl’ that was the running cliche about people in her financial situation. She had lived her adult life, so far, as a hard-working writer, which is what she had always wanted to be, and except for a slight detour into the fringes of eco-terrorism, she was quite proud of the fact that nobody could ever hang that ‘spoiled little rich girl’ albatross around her neck. 

~ 44 ~

While Lilli was driving through Long Island, Myra Tyree was sitting in front of her Station Chief, Elliot Neumann, who had Myra’s file in front of him. He was tall and thin with slightly greying hair, and a beak-like nose which supported wireless glasses. He was always in a grey suit. Myra believed he didn’t have any other colour in his wardrobe.

“I’ll tell you flat out, Agent Tyree. this does not look good. We received a tip with a link to a Bank of America account in your name. In the account was one hundred thousand US dollars that had, according to the account’s log, been deposited in two weekly payments of fifty thousand. The bank authenticated the account. It’s yours.”

Myra was shocked to the marrow but knew that getting enraged by this allegation wasn’t going to do any good. So she just sat there stoically staring at her boss. “I know better than to ask who this credible source might be.” She said. “My only response to this information is that this is the first I am hearing about it.”

“Be that as it may, it has subsequently been confirmed by our own people as well as from the bank’s digital management team. That money is yours, whether you knew about it or not. The paperwork to open the account is all in order, including your signature, which we have matched and triple-checked for authenticity.”

Myra knew exactly what was going on, but she could not prove anything just yet, and likely would never be able to. She was up against a powerful foe. And now he was out to fuck her life up big time.

“Sadly,” Neumann said, “We really have no choice but to suspend you from active duty pending a formal hearing on this matter.”

“I understand. It’s what I would do in your position, sir. But the one redeeming thing in this whole mess is that whoever we are chasing has now become uncomfortable. Which means we actually are getting close.”

“I’ll take that under advisement.” Neumann rubbed his face and took a deep breath. “I do this very reluctantly, Myra, because I believe this is some sort of setup. But, at this juncture, we can’t ignore the evidence. All we can do is hopefully get to the bottom of all this and get you back to work.”

“I appreciate that, sir.” Myra got up and surrendered her badge and gun to Neumann Then she turned and left his office. She walked down the hall to her office where Double E was pacing around. 

“Are you sidelined?”

“Oh yeah. Whoever wanted me off this case did a pretty good job of setting me up as a crooked cop.”

Myra packed her things into a box. She turned and stared back at Double E. “You stay on that fucking Delbert Fry. That man will make you famous.”

“Will do.” 

“I’ll call you from time to time for an update.”

“Please do.”

Myra turned and left. Double E sat down at his desk and stared out the window. He shook his head and took a deep breath. “Delbert Fry, who are you?” he said to himself.

~ 45 ~

Ethan got home late that night, had a bit of dinner and then told Lilli he was beat and went up to fall asleep watching re-runs of The Blacklist, which, besides Spooks, was the only actual TV series he believed was worth watching. Lilli thought this was odd since all the Blacklist ever did for him was put him to sleep.

While the days were still fairly mild, the night air was chilly. So after a few minutes on the back deck with a glass of wine for warmth, Lilli went back into her office. She opened her journal and stared at a blank page for quite a while. Then she started to write.

I SEE GHOSTS

I see ghosts 

Everywhere I turn

I see troubled souls

And hear them yearn

Make up your mind

Is it heaven or hell

This in between 

Is no place to dwell

I see ghosts

Some fly and some crawl

Some scream

Some say nothing at all

But in their eyes 

I see the story of the world

Drifting in the midnight sky

Slack sails all unfurled

I see ghosts 

When I close my eyes

Spirits trying 

But unable to rise

They call out to me

In their sadness and woe

I see ghosts

Everywhere I go

Lilli had no idea where these poems were coming from. Perhaps she was channelling the spirit of some long-dead amateur poet. She never really thought much about ghosts. She was too practical for that. Anything that smacked of spiritualism and religion held little interest for her. It wasn’t that she was opposed to those ideas. They just weren’t for her. As a result, she never gave them a second thought. But there it was. A poem about ghosts. She read it over a couple of times and tweaked a few words here and there and deemed it done.

She wandered up to the bedroom. She gently lifted the laptop from Ethan’s chest, shut it down and turned off the lamp beside the bed. Then she walked over to the large rear window, and sat down on one of the two tub chairs there, putting her feet up on the window seat. There was a half-moon rising over the bay. Lilli stared out at it and the sparkling ribbon it painted over the restless Atlantic water. She took a few deep breaths and tried to empty her mind. She was sleeping a little less than usual these days. There was a restlessness inside her that she had a hard time ignoring. She kept telling herself she was doing her level best, but the restlessness was always with her. The feeling that it was all slipping away. It was strongest at night when she was out of gas. It wasn’t hopelessness. It was something else. She only knew that if she thought about it too much it would make her cry. So she thought about the moon and the wispy clouds gauzing over it and the endless ocean that was never still. Maybe it was restless too.

Lilli took off all her clothes and got into bed with Ethan. She had always slept naked. She scooched over till she could feel Ethan’s body next to hers and it made her feel…secure.

~ 46 ~

Myra Tyree was driving south. She was headed to Charleston,  South Carolina, with no badge, no gun and no real authority. She knew the agency would have moved on and started looking for the elusive Boris Ivanovich, the scourge of law enforcement around the globe, and about whom little was actually known. But Myra knew. She had always had this gene that allowed her to see through even the slickest of fabrications. It helped immensely in witness interrogations. It helped her get at the truth, which was really all she ever wanted. 

Myra lived alone in a small condo in DC that she bought with the proceeds from her parents’ farm after they had both died, literally within a month of each other. She had virtually no life outside her job and no interest in one, so she had amassed a substantial stash. She was on paid leave so she didn’t really have to worry about how long this would take.

A lot of the European and Asian hacking activity had died down. A few arrests by Interpol would do that. And she knew just enough about the hacker community to realize that the Boris Ivanoviches, if indeed he existed, and the Delbert Frys of this world were few and far between. There had been no further American hacks after the Biscayne Oil system was mysteriously restored. But Myra reckoned it was just a matter of time before they started up again. She knew she was playing a wild ass hunch here but she needed to confirm if this Delbert Fry really was the droid she was looking for. 

In anticipation of a situation that might force her to fight for her career, she had, about two years earlier, made a deal with Jamie Taggart. Taggart was the prime suspect in a hacking case she and Double E had. One evening she showed up at Jamie’s place and made him an offer. She would take the heat off him in exchange for a favour. She had studied Jamie’s record and knew he dabbled in identity theft, and she knew he probably had a studio in his basement or in some other hidey-hole. She didn’t have to turn the screws very tightly for him to take her up on her offer. He created a picture-perfect FBI ID card and used his 3-D printer to create a very authentic looking clay replica of her badge. They shook hands on the deal and Myra did her part. As it turned out, the real hacker wasn’t Jamie at all. But Jamie was up to enough illegal shit that putting the fear of God into him wasn’t all that monumental a task.

She arrived in Charleston after about ten hours on the road, had a late dinner at a Stuckey’s and then crashed out at a Motel 6. 

The next day she cruised Del’s neighbourhood and saw two cars in his driveway. One was a late-model Toyota van, the other was a new black Mercedes SUV.

She cruised around some more until she found the nearest Starbucks. Part of the pattern she had put together was that Del would not transmit anything from his house, but use a public WIFI signal. She recalled that he had mentioned Starbucks to agent Montoya in Florida. She found one just six blocks from Del’s house. Then she went back to her motel and caught up on her sleep. That evening she picked up a sandwich from Subway and staked out the Starbucks. She did this for three days, and then she got lucky. Del rode up just after dark. He went inside, then came out with a large cup of something, sat down at an empty table and pulled a bronze-coloured MacBook from his shoulder bag. He sat there hard at work for about 20 minutes, then finished his drink, closed the MacBook and jumped on his bike again. 

She followed him to his house. She saw a light go on in one of the front windows. The light stayed on for about ten minutes then the house went dark. She waited for an hour and seeing no activity, she got out of her car. She quietly walked to the back of the house, and saw the boat moored to a large dock at the end of the yard. She checked the doors of the house and noticed that there was nothing to indicate the presence of a security system. She then walked down to the boat and climbed aboard. She searched it from top to bottom. One of the things she did find on it was two-foot high wall safe under one of the galley’s counters. She wondered what kind of goodies would be in that. Otherwise, the boat was clean.

Searching the house would require both Del and his wife to be out of the house at the same time. Figuring that his wife was about six months pregnant, that was going to be a real roll of the dice.

The next day, very early, she drove across the bay to a place called White Point Garden. She spent the morning there with some coffee in a thermos and a couple of bagels. She did that for three mornings running, watching Dels’s house. On the fourth morning, Shawna and Del went came out to the boat and headed down the Ashley River, through the South Channel and theoretically out into the open waters of the Atlantic.

She jumped in her car and drove to Del’s house. She backed into Del’s driveway because parking on a well-heeled street like this one in the daytime, her car would have been noticed right away. She walked quickly to the back door of the house and picked the lock on the rear door. She walked through the main floor. The house looked like a high-end furniture showroom. Del’s wife obviously had expensive tastes, She put on some thin rubber gloves and entered the room she figured was Del’s office. Sure enough, there was an elaborate computer system, a couple of large towers and several monitors built into a very impressive array. She didn’t bother trying to activate that system because she was looking for a laptop. She methodically searched the room, and at the bottom of a filing cabinet in the closet, she found a Faraday pouch. She took it out and opened it. In it was a computer similar to the one Del had used at Starbucks, and a cell phone. She opened the laptop and activated it. She was surprised to see that it opened without a password.

She opened the hard drive and saw that except for the usual Mac applications the computer was totally empty. She shut it down and picked up the smartphone. Like the computer, it simply displayed all the usual smartphone icons. She opened the phonebook and saw that it too was empty, except for one name, Del. She concluded that this was some kind of backup computer. But the Faraday pouch made her suspicious that this could have been used by someone other than Del, or it had been prepared for someone else to use. Either way, she had no authority to get a warrant so she could have the computer forensically examined. But it did add another item to the list of reasons she thought Del was, indeed, the damn droid she was looking for. 

She carefully returned the computer and phone to the Faraday pouch and put it all back exactly where she found it. She then left the house by the door she entered through, all the while unaware that Del’s extremely unobtrusive security system, had photographed her every move.

Del and Shawna returned in the evening. Del went out for some Chinese food. After they finished eating Shawna went up to bed and Del cleaned up. Twenty minutes later he walked into his office and cranked up his big computer. Once it was open he saw a little red light blinking in his menu bar. He immediately opened the vidcam security program he had installed with tiny Bluetooth cameras stuck unobtrusively to every wall in the house. 

When he saw that it was good old agent Tyree, he leaned back and chuckled to himself. “There is no quit in that dog, Del.” He said to himself. He then checked his email and finally went up to bed, knowing full well that if agent Tyree had not been suspended she would never in a million years have broken into his house. It’s always nice, he thought, when a plan comes together.

The next day, in the middle of the afternoon, Del jumped on his bike and headed to Starbucks to do a little surfing and a little reading, but mostly to keep an eye peeled for agent Tyree. He didn’t have to wait too long before she was sitting down in front of him.

“I do declare, it’s my favourite Fed. How are you, Agent Tyree? Come to bark up my tree again?”

“I never bought your good old boy shit, Mr. Fry.”

“No, I suppose you didn’t.”

“It was a very clever move, that hundred grand.”

“Hundred grand? I’m sorry, you have me at a loss.”

“You are the reason I have been suspended.”

“ Suspended? Well, I’m afraid you’ll have to explain how that works. I’d be curious to know.” Del said, careful not to sound too smug.

“Guys like you honestly believe they are masters of the universe. Always just an inch or two beyond suspicion. But eventually, everybody slips up.”

“Well, I can’t disagree with you there, Agent Tyree. I guess that even applies to law enforcement, wouldn’t you say?”

“I suppose.”

“To that point, I’d like to show you something.” Del made a few hand movements and then turned the laptop screen so it was facing Myra. She stared at a series of shots of her moving through Del’s house. After about fifteen seconds of that torture, she had seen enough and turned the computer back around. Del then picked up his phone and shot three pictures of her.

“Now I don’t know what to do about this, Agent Tyree. But it certainly looks like a get-out-of-jail-free card to me. Or maybe it’s an Agent Tyree goes to jail card. Not really sure.”

Myra said nothing in her defence. She knew she was dealing with a very smart man. 

“The strange part of all this is that I get it.” Del said. “You have convinced yourself that I am exactly the guy you’re looking for, and all you have to do is be able to prove it somehow. But I will tell you, there are only two answers to that. One is that I am the guy, and I am just smarter than you. And the other is that you have become obsessed with a wrong hunch. I would strongly advise you that the second answer is more in line with reality. But still, here I am with some pretty concrete evidence of you takin’ the law into your own hands, and well, we’re gonna have to come to some sort of agreement that ends up with you forgetting that you ever knew me.”

Myra was smart enough to know when she was painted into a corner. She opened he arms, palms up. “And if I do forget I ever knew you?”

“Then this damn career-ending, jail time spending footage will never see the light of day. But, and there’s always a but, if I should find out through the grapevine, that you are still stuck on this obsession, then I will rain fire down on you and bring your career and a passel of your freedom to an end. You do not want to be a cop in a prison. Not with all the very angry people in there.”

For the first time in her life, Myra was genuinely afraid. The fear made her feel nauseous and frustrated. “You’re a very clever man, Mr. Fry.”

“I’m in a business that demands it, Agent Tyree. But I will be brutally honest with you. If I had actually done these hacks and I knew the Feds were after me, I would have gotten out of the country right quick. Because I have respect for the FBI and all the other alphabet agencies that keep our country strong and free.”

“Unless you were arrogant enough to believe you would never get caught.” Myra said.

“Sadly the point is both moot and hypothetical.” Del replied as he slowly slid his laptop into his bag, and got up. “Nice to see you again, agent.”

Myra got to her feet as well. “Just one last question. Boris Ivanovich? Is he a real human being or just someone you made up?”

Del looked at her curiously. “Boris Ivanovich. Well, that’s your sixty-four thousand dollar question, now isn’t it?”

Del walked over to his bike and unlocked it. “After we last talked, I did recall meeting Boris, about six years ago, at a security conference in Leningrad. Little guy. Looks a bit like Putin. Now he’s a master of the universe. Go figure. Never struck me as anything special. But it just goes to show you how wrong you can be sometimes.” Del then jumped on his bike and waved to Myra as he rode away.

~ 47 ~

Lilli showed up at the offices of Lynne Stevens & Associates at 11:00 on Monday morning. Lynne Stevens, was tall and blonde and movie star beautiful. She was dressed in a gorgeous business suit that fit her to perfection. Lilli suddenly felt terribly under-dressed but she quickly got over that feeling as they sat down and started to talk. Lynne Stevens wasn’t interested in Lilli’s black jeans and denim shirt, which she had taken to wearing just about everywhere.

Lynne showed her up to the second floor of the three-story building. The rear half had been converted into a large boardroom/studio. There were several women sitting at the board table as they entered the room. Everybody got up and introduced themselves. The women were all bright sounding and beautiful, and at least a dozen years younger than both Lilli and Lynne Stevens. “This is your team. They will dress you and style you and prep you for the guest appearances we will book for you.” Lynne said.

“Is your company all women?” Lilli asked.

“Yes, indeed. I learned way up at the top of the food chain that if you want to get something done right, you get a woman to do it. We have nothing against men, in fact, most of us are married to them and they are powerful people in their own right. But we are specialized here in developing female entrepreneurs and C-levellers in the Renewables industry. A man anywhere in the mix would just slow us down.” 

Lilli laughed out loud. “That’s incredible. I guess I must have led a pretty sheltered life out there on Long Island. This is just fabulous. I really look forward to working with you all.”

Lilli and Lynne adjourned to her office on the first floor. They talked for a couple of hours that just flew by and when Lilli left, she had signed an agreement to pay LSA thirty-thousand a month for the first three months and ten thousand a month, all plus expenses, for the rest of a calendar year, when they would do a review. 

The reason it was stepped down in that way, Lynne explained, was that the first three months were the learning curve, where they would teach Lilli how to really perform on camera, and experiment with looks, including hair, makeup & wardrobe, so that she always had optimal TVQ. The rest of the year would be spent prepping her for her specific appearances. 

If all went well, by the end of the year Lilli would have achieved the next level of celebrity status and influence. After that, Lynne would simply assign a booking agent to her, to set up ongoing appearances and keep her look stylish.  Lilli made it abundantly clear to Lynne that she was not looking to do this full-time. She could only afford to spend no more than two days a week on this, due to her Telescope and other commitments.

That night, Lilli and Ethan had dinner at the family apartment, which was currently Danny’s, and met his fiancé, whose name was Juliette Oliver, but everybody called her Jules. Jules was a business-to-business copywriter and blogger who freelanced for the marketing company that had Braithwaite Industries as a client. Jules was one of those women for whom short dark hair was a perfect look. She was small but extremely vivacious and definitely as in love with Danny as he was with her. She was, much to Lilli’s delight, a big fan of Lilli’s Lost & Found. As the night progressed Lilli began to think that this girl, well on her way to becoming a sister-in-law, could also be quite helpful when it came to writing and editing company profiles for the new site. Lilli studied her body language when she started talking about Lilli’s Renewable World and she could tell that Jules was definitely interested. They had a great dinner together, and all got along famously. As Lilli and Ethan left, Lilli took Jules aside and told her that the next time she was in the city, she would like to talk about hiring her to work on her new website, mostly editing profiles but also creating blog content. Jules lit up and said she would be honoured. 

Lilli and Ethan drove home separately but talked to each other on their phones while they drove. They arrived home just in time to say goodnight to the kids. Lilli told them all about her day then she and Ethan dragged themselves upstairs and flopped down on the bed. They were too tired to fool around. So Lilli went over to the window with her laptop and checked her emails while Ethan was busy taking his Blacklist sleeping pill.

PART 3:

~ 48 ~

Lilli proved to be a quick study and so impressed Lynne Stephens that Lynne’s people were booking Lilli for local and then network talk shows within about six weeks. 

Lilli bought a new wardrobe had her hair cut short which made her look much younger, and within a year had become a true eco-celebrity. This, of course, took a bit more of her time, but the other thing that Lilli found out about herself was that she was good at delegating. She had the two-car garage in the Long Island house converted into a workspace for Giselle and Heather Conlin and for two days of the week, Danny’s fiancé, Jules, would come out, and edit the ever-growing list of profiles, and create short blog posts which Giselle would re-post everywhere and anywhere. Heather Conlin took over all the design chores for the site, as well as for Lilli’s Lost and Found. These women found that working together was one of the best experiences they had ever had. 

The twins finished high school three years later and Fiona was accepted at Vassar and Marcus at Columbia. He bunked in with his uncle Danny for the first school year and then got shared an apartment close to the campus for the rest of his time. Fiona studied Literature, with the aim of becoming a writer like her mom. Marcus majored in environmental studies, with a minor in business administration.

Ethan and Delbert Fry got Falcon Wing established as a northern player in the ever-burgeoning cybersecurity market. Through Del’s influence, Ethan managed to lure Jamie Taggart, who was sick of Washington bullshit, to New York to run the cyber security division. Jamie had more than paid his debt to society in DC. Del backed off almost completely but retained a 15% stake and a consulting commitment. In other words, he would be the magnet that would attract the business, then Jamie and his team would be the worker bees who would get things done.

Del and Shawna had a baby girl whom they named Lilli-Anna. They stayed in Charleston for quite some time. Del continued to launch undetectable cyber attacks, but, as time went by, he started to realize that they didn’t really change much, just caused a lot of pain for working people. So he gave it up and started thinking about what he could do to make the world a better place that didn’t involve criminal activity. 

About two months after she had broken into Del’s house, Myra Tyree received a call from Ellis Neumann. She went to the office and met with him. As she walked in she noticed that her badge and gun were sitting on his desk. Neumann informed her that they had received a message from Boris Ivanovich, which stated that he had indeed opened the account at Bank of America, and deposited two separate payments of fifty thousand American dollars, which cleared Myra of any wrongdoing. Myra thanked Neumann for informing her, but told him that she had no interest in coming back to the FBI. She was, in fact, moving to New York where a friend had offered her a great cybersecurity consulting opportunity. 

One week later, Myra arrived at the Manhattan offices of Falcon Wing and was shown to Jamie Taggart’s office. He greeted her warmly and introduced her to his bosses, Ethan and Andrew Thomas. Jamie had convinced the Thomases that he needed a savvy executive assistant to work with him troubleshooting cybersystems development. The job paid more than twice as much as she could ever make in the FBI. And the fact that she was kind of disillusioned with the whole idea of law enforcement was also a big deciding factor. She was also secretly hoping to develop a closer personal relationship with Jamie. So all that made the decision a total slam dunk.

Both Marcus and Fiona finished college and immediately went into the family businesses. Marcus and his uncle Danny spearheaded the transformation of Braithwaite Industries into the e-vehicle and alternative energy market, and Fiona picked up right where Lilli had left off, writing blogs, interviewing older people for Lilli’s Lost & Found and learning how to write longer articles like her mom had done for so many years with The Telescope.

Lilli’s Renewable World grew like a weed. Within a month of her announcement, she had received more than 1200 requests for inclusion on the site. After six months there were well over 6000 requests worldwide. The ladies, Giselle, Jules and Heather did a fabulous job of indexing. And were soon doing it full-time. Jules loved the work so much she dropped all her other clients except Danny, to focus on it, and worked the other three or four days of the week from home. A grant from the federal Department of the Commerce helped cover salaries and operating expenses.

Lilli became very adept at writing articles while she was travelling. In fact, she started to understand the lure of the road that had kept bands like the Rolling Stones and people like Bob Dylan there for the better part of their lives. Once everything was set up in the Falcon Wing cybersecurity division, Ethan was able to travel with Lilli and developed an interest in photography that was very helpful for Lilli’s articles.

On one of Del’s trips up to New York, he and Myra had lunch together and found that under these totally changed circumstances, they actually liked each other. Myra told Del flat out that she knew in her heart that he was the infamous Boris Ivanovich, but that none of that mattered anymore. She was very happy where she was in her life now, putting all that great FBI training to use in activities that didn’t involve banging her head against the wall. As a gesture of good faith, Del destroyed the video of Myra searching his house.

As Myra’s job evolved with Falcon Wing, one of her duties, the best part, in fact, was helping out on Lilli’s Renewable World site. Lilli had come up with the idea of having a rotating group of companies that she would strongly promote through some of the appearances she did with various investment groups. Myra put her interrogation skills to work as a one-lady advance team checking out the companies who were interested in having Lilli speak to them. This involved a fair bit of travelling and meeting up with some very interesting people, who, for the most part, were really intent on changing the world for the better.

As the years went by and Lilli’s celebrity grew. She found she had very little time for her journal. She was writing so much other stuff that at the end of the day she was too exhausted. Her journal, in fact, had become her life and vice versa. 

Giselle and Heather Conlin fell in love and Giselle moved into Heather’s house but continued to manage Lilli’s various businesses. They eventually adopted a ten-year girl named Tammy, who showed a good deal of promise as an artist. In the summers she came to work at Lilli’s house where one of her moms taught her how to use the computer to create art, and the other mom steered her toward some of the classic books she had read over the years.

Every so often, Lilli would sit up in the bedroom while Ethan put himself to sleep with a dose of the Blacklist, and the muse would visit and give her a poem.

I WRITE

I write to let the demons deep inside me out to play

I write just like the dog who demands to have his day

I write until I feel my aging wounds begin to heal

I write until my hands become unstuck 

from the driving wheel        

I write when the sun goes down 

and all the world has gone to bed

I write to clarify the crazy notions in my head

I write to make myself feel something, anything at all

I write to answer all the ghosts that nightly come to call

I write to build my words into a house of brick and stone

I write to keep myself from feeling lost and all alone

I write because I always have and likely always will

I write because I have no choice…it is my only skill

In her life, Lilli was given a couple of gifts. She was given the gift of words on a page. And she was given the gift of time to make those words mean something. Lilli was driven by her sense of gratitude and an obligation to help make the world a better place. And this is exactly what she told the US Congress when America finally started to realize that the Age of Fossil Fuels was passing. 

Over the next decade, Lilli became extremely well known in America, not as an environmental activist, but as a powerful environmental influencer. She had become adept at making great contacts through everything she had learned over the last twenty-odd years. Her love for her country and the planet was deep and profound and her ability to communicate that love was contagious. 

Lilli had spent a good deal of her public time travelling the country and speaking to university and college students. The Lilli’s Renewable World site had spun off a recruitment site which became the most widely used in the world because Lilli charged no fees or commissions for ad placement on the site. 

After her Telescope contract expired Lilli and Ethan both decided to take a break. At the ages of 54 & 57, respectively, they flew to London where they rented a hybrid BMW and started travelling to see the British Isles and Europe, while everything they had built, together and separately, ran on autopilot. 

Two months later, while they were travelling through Italy, Lilli received an email from a senior Senator, Jake Davis, who was spearheading, through the Department of the Interior, a big idea. He had convinced Congress to create a Renewable Energy Initiative and would be delighted if Lilli would consider becoming its director. She would have a proposed budget of one and a half billion dollars to use to seed and help develop renewable businesses in America. 

There was no need to talk about it and Ethan knew it. Lilli emailed the Senator back that she would be honoured.

Ethan just smiled and shook his head and thought…here we go again. 

PART 5

~ 49 ~

Two weeks later, Lilli and Ethan had finished their holiday, dropped their rental car off in Rome and flew home. They spent a week getting everything in order in Long Island and the city, and then got in the car and drove to Washington DC. 

They checked into the Watergate Hotel which had the undying reputation of being the staging area for the Republican “Dirty Tricks” group that worked for the Nixon government back in the 1970s.

They wandered around downtown Washington for a couple of days, fully aware that this could be their last anonymous time in public. After Lilli was installed, she would become a high profile public figure, and with that went any anonymity she may have had. The whole country would know who she was. And half of them would not be too thrilled about it because the country was so very divided along political lines and even though Lilli never swore allegiance to one party or another, she would be branded a Democrat, and therefore the enemy of the Republican party.

Lilli’s immediate boss would be a man named William Andrews. Lilli would work with him and the committee he established to manage the Renewable Energy Initiative. 

Not knowing much about the inner workings of Washington, Lilli assumed that her first team meeting would be populated by a room full of bureaucrats, people whom she would have to take a month to get to know before she could start to do anything with her budget. So on the morning of the meeting, she was both surprised and delighted to see only five people, including Director Andrews.

Once they were all seated with coffees in front of them Director Andrews started the meeting. 

“Ms Braithwaite, first of all, let me tell you how happy we are that you have accepted the post of Director for the Renewable Energy Initiative. My name is William Andrews and I am the Assistant Director of the Department of Commerce under which this project’s funding technically falls. I am where the buck starts and stops. You, Ms Braithwaite, are the Director of the REI. Your senior staff is quite small at the moment. So I will let these four people introduce themselves. He looked over at an attractive middle-aged woman to his left.

“Hello Ms Braithwaite, my name is Janna Gatwick I will be your personal assistant and gatekeeper. My job, in a nutshell, will be to keep you well informed, on schedule and the political dogs at bay.

“Nice to meet you, Janna, and please, all of you, just call me Lilli.”

Janna looked to her left, at the young man with round glasses and a professorial look. 

“Pleased to meet you Lilli. My name is Harlan Royce. I will be your main advisor and assistant. I have a PhD in environmental studies from Rutgers University and have been working to help put this project together for the past year and a half. We are thrilled to have landed someone of your stature in the environmental world to head things up. My job will be to help you assess where the money goes and how much should go there.”

The next person to speak was another woman. She looked to be about thirty five and very businesslike. “Hello Lilli. my name is Nancy Altman, and I am your financial administrator. In short I am the bookkeeper for the project. I will be in charge of all financial matters, including salaries, disbursements and follow-up funding requests.”

The last person to speak was a rather burly looking man who looked to be in his forties. “Hello Lilli. My name is Joe Peterson, and I am your Director of Security. I have been transferred here from the Department of Homeland Security. I am a retired Special Forces Captain. I’ll be your driver and make sure that you are safe wherever we go.”

“So that’s your core staff, Lilli.” Andrews said. So welcome to Washington. He rose from his chair, as did everyone else. “We’ll have weekly meetings, either virtual or in person, so I can report your progress to Senator Davis and his committee.” And with that he left the room. 

The group got settled again. 

“Well.” Lilli said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you all. I’m very excited about the possibilities that lie ahead of us. During the course of the last few years, writing for The Telescope, I got the opportunity to meet a number of very interesting people. One of the things I took away from these meetings was that this country was ready for change. I believe the majority of Americans understand that and are more than willing to support it in any way they can. 

“I don’t yet have an overall strategy here, because like any major change that has ever happened in this country, I believe it will happen at its own speed. And we will do the same here. Measure twice and cut once, as the saying goes. I will not allow this group to become enslaved by any political or media agendas. From your stated credentials you all know what you’re doing and you know I would not be sitting here if I didn’t either. 

“This is our project to manage and collective our management style will dictate each and every move we make. I want this to be a success, but more importantly I want this to be of real benefit to the American people. I did not take this job because I needed it. If you have read my bio you know I am independently wealthy. I’m here because this is an amazing opportunity. But I want to do it right, as I hope you all do as well.”

Lilli sat down. “Now let’s talk about organization.”

The next few hours were spent in a strategic discussion. Defining the playing field and creating broad parameters for selection. Lilli was delighted at the innate intelligence of everyone in the group, and their willingness to be as honest as they could with her. 

They talked about staffing and Lilli made it clear that she believed that less is more and that any additions to the staff would be dictated by the volume of work that was required as the initiative grew. 

They talked about influence and the pressure that they would undoubtedly receive from politicians on just about every level. Lilli’s key word for that was simply ‘Resist.’ She didn’t understand politics but she understood business and in America there wasn’t much difference between the two. It was critical that all their decisions regarding funding either for startups or assistance for established businesses would be made strictly on the basis of productivity, which is a measurable vector and the contribution each business could make to the new ‘post fossil fuel’ world that was on its way This way no one in the core group should ever be accused of playing favourites.

They talked about research. And this was, surprisingly to Lilli, where Joe Peterson stepped up and offered his strategic military experience, which was closely akin to strategic business experience. Lilli had never really thought about it in that way, but Joe made a pretty solid argument for it.

Three hours later, Lilli was shown around the office that occupied the better part of a floor in one of the buildings just a four blocks east of the White House.

Janna and Nancy Altman had come in a few weeks before and had all the office furniture and computers set up and programmed. They had ordered all the stationery and supplies, right down to the coffee machine in the break room. There was room in the office for at least twenty people. 

Lilli was blown away. She thought she would be walking into an empty space, but everything was in place, looked good and, according to Janna, functioned perfectly. 

Lilli walked to her office with Harlan. She sat at her desk and Harlan with an Ipad in his hand sat across from her.

“So Harlan. I suppose you have done a lot thinking on this.”

“Only for the last couple of years,” Harlan replied. ‘One of the things director Andrews told me was that the playing field should always be as level as we can make it. This is a great initiative, Lilli, but like anythng in D.C., it’s also a political football.”

“I get that, So we use the media to announce the initiative and draw people to a web site where they can download grant application forms.”

“Yeah, that’s the fairest way to do that. That means that qualifications will be determined based on the criteria we set.”

“That makes sense to me, Harlan.” Lilli said as she pulled out her laptop.

“Ummm, OK, one thing.” Harlan said. “It would be best if you transferred anything relevant on your laptop to your desktop. National security and all.” Harlan said.

Lilli smiled. “Right. Sorry, I forgot I’m no longer in the private sector.”

“It’s OK. It will take some time. I know it did for me when I first got here.”

Lilli spent the next hour looking through and transferring her files to her government-issued computer. Then she called Harlan back in and together they began to work on a grant application form. 

Once they had done this Harlan went back to his office to write out a memo that would be sent to Director Andrews outlining the online application form.

A few minutes later, Janna poked her head into Lilli’s office. “Press conference to introduce you, at 10:30 AM tomorrow. That way we hit all the various news cycles. I will start fielding requests for interviews, right after that. Is there anyone you really don’t want to talk to?”

Lilli thought about that for a moment. “I understand that Fox News is the administration’s number one enemy.”

“That’s exactly why you should talk to them. You’ll have a lot of fun with them because they won’t be trying to flatter you or toe any party line.”

Lilli just shrugged. She was well versed in handling the media and from what she had seen of Fox News they were not exactly heavyweights in the business. More like shit disturbers or grade two classroom bullies. “I’ll talk to Fox. Maybe they’ll actually learn something.”

“Good girl.” Janna said. And then disappeared.

Lilli sat back in her chair gazed out the window. Just then her cell phone rang. It was Ethan. 

“So, how’d it go?” he asked.

“Nobody’s taken a shot at me. My staff is uber competent. It will take a bit of time but I think this is gonna be just fine.”

“Good.”

“Hows the house hunting going?”

“Better than expected. I found a nice townhouse on Avenue E.”

“When can we go see it?”

“Whenever you’re ready.”

“OK. I’ll figure out when I can get out of here and we’ll go have a look.”

“Call me and I’ll set it up and pick you up.”

“Roger that.”

“No regrets?” Ethan asked.

“Not so far.”

Lilli disconnected. She got up and walked to the coffee area and got herself a fresh cup. She had never worked in an office before, so it all felt a little strange. After a sip of the office coffee she made her first executive decision, and that was to have some decent coffee. She walked to Janna’s office. Janna was doing something on her computer. After a few seconds she looked up at Lilli.

“Janna, it’s about the coffee. I will email you the name of the blend I want to have here. I’d like you to go out to a good coffee shop and open an account which I will pay for, and bring us back maybe five pounds. So see me on your way out and I will give you my credit card. Life is way too short to be without good coffee.”

“Yeah, ma’am I’ll pick it up on the way in tomorrow. I know just the place.”

“Thank you.”

When Lilli got back to her office she sent a text to Janna. And took another sip of the disgusting institutional brew.

Just then her cell phone rant. It was Delbert Fry.

“Hey Del.” Lilli said.

“Hey Lilli. How’s the bureaucratic life treating you?”

“It’s early days. But so far so good. How are your ladies?” By that she meant his wife, Shawna, and their daughter eight year old Lilli-Anna. They were still living living in Charleston, Virginia.

“Couldn’t be better. Little Lilli is a ball of energy. Just goin’ into grade four.”

“Still riling up our nasty friends?”

“Not so much these days. I have a feeling that whole sector’s imploding on its own, especially with you in charge of the alternative energy seed money.”

“I’ll count that as my first victory.”

Del laughed. “And how’s the old man? I haven’t been up to the city in a while. Last time I was there, you guys were in Europe.”

“He seems fine. He can plug into his work whenever. It’s a nice train ride up to New York. We decided to keep the house on Long Island. I’m gonna try and figure out some way to work from home, part time at least. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t cut out for office life.”

“Well, if nothing else, it’ll keep the fuckin’ vipers out of your hair.”

“There’s always that.”

“If I were you, I’d start making it clear that you want to be on site with anyone you’re going to be giving out money to. That will keep you out of the office for a good deal of time.”

“You’re reading my mind Del. But I have a feeling that idea won’t fly here. Could result in too much bad press.”

“Now that you mention it, I can see that.” 

“We’re running a tight ship. Hell, I’m even buying my own coffee.”

Del just laughed. “Well, you need any help along the way, I’m here for you darlin’. Say hey to Ethan. Oh yeah, not sure till we go see the doc, but I think there’s another kid on the way.”

“That’s just great Del. Give my best to the Shawna and Lilli-Anna.”

“Will do. Talk soon.”

Lilli hung up the phone and looked at her watch. It was 4:10 and she declared the work day done. She called Ethan and he told her he would pick her up in twenty minutes.

~ 50 ~

Lilli then walked around the office to see how everybody was settling in. Fifteen minutes later she was standing in front of her building on 2nd Street SW.

Ethan pulled up and she got in. She kissed him and flopped back into her seat.

“Tough day at the office.”

“It’s the polar opposite of working at home.”

“Well, you are a big time bureaucrat now.”

“Yeah, I guess I am. I talked to Del today. He said hey and he asked me how you were doing with all of this. So I’m askin’ you.”

Ethan didn’t say anything right away. “You know me. I’m just happy to be wherever you are. Once we find a place and I can get my machinery set up, I’ll be fine. How’s Del makin’ out?”

“Young Lilli is doing just fine…already going into the fourth grade and they may have another one on the way” 

“No kidding.”

“Yeah, he’s become a real family man.”

“He still makin’ life miserable for the big, bad fossil fuelers?”

“Not so much I think. He’s finally realized that they’re slowly shrinking all on their own.”

After a few minutes, they arrived at a two-story row house on D Street.

“It’s a pretty good hike from the office.”

“That’s OK. I have a security guy who’s gonna drive me everywhere.”

“You’re kidding. Who knew the environment was such a high risk area?”

“I think everything in this city is high risk, hun.”

They found a place to park just down the street a bit. As they approached the house, a leasing agent named Wanda Gilmore got up from where she was sitting on the steps and greeted them. 

“The house belongs to an Air Force Lieutenant Colonel who was recently reposted to Germany for two years. So it’s fully furnished and has excellent WIFI and reliable utilities.”

“How much?” Ethan asked. 

“$3600 a month all in.” Wanda replied. My company takes care of all the utilities.”

They walked through the house which was quite nicely furnished and neat as a pin.

“So it’s available for two years?”

“Yes.” Wanda said.

“That should be enough time.” Lilli said.

“What about parking?” Ethan asked.

“Well, it’s pretty good on this street, You’ll need a permit of course. With that Wanda reached into her bag and pulled out a card with a Parking Authority web address and handed it to Ethan. 

“You can do everything on line. Once you register they will mail you a permit sticker. But once you do register you can’t be ticketed.”

They walked though the house one more time.

They tried out the king sized bed in the master bedroom and determined it would be OK. So they went back downstairs and signed the lease. Ethan wrote a cheque for the first year and handed it to Wanda, who, in turn, handed him back the keys.

“We’d like first right of refusal on the second year.” Ethan said.

“Not a problem,” Wanda replied. “I’ll bring the agreement by in a few days. There’s a list on the kitchen counter, cable company, utilities, that sort of thing. Just call them and they’ll get you hooked up. There’s a good supermarket and pharmacy right up on the corner and good restaurants all over the neighbourhood.”

Wanda then shook hands with them both. Then she handed Lilli her card. “Any questions , please feel free to call me.”

And with that she was gone, leaving Lilli and Ethan standing in a pretty decent house that would be all theirs for two years if necessary, or for as long as Lilli could deal with Washington, whichever came first.

They drove to the hotel, gathered up all their things and, within two hours, were all unpacked and quite hungry. So they drove around and finally found a nice French restaurant called Le Pain Quotidian on Pennsylvania Avenue. It kind of reminded them of the Épicerie Boulud in New York where they went on one of their first dates and many times after that.

While they were eating, Lilli got a call on her cell phone from Joe Peterson. Lilli gave him their new address and indicated she would like to be picked up at about nine in the morning. Joe reminded her that she had a press conference booked for ten thirty. Lilli was fine with that. 

After she hung up, she said, “My driver. His name is Joe, ex-marine and I think he could kill somebody in about thirty different ways.”

“Nice to know you’re protected.” Ethan said. “So listen, I’m going to drive up to Long Island tomorrow and pick up the rest of my computer gear and some more clothes and see how everybody’s doing. I’ll be back by late in the week.”

Lilli’s and Ethan’s daughter, Fiona was living in the long Island house and had taken full control of both of Lilli’s businesses. The Lilli’s Lost and Found archive was steadily growing and now had close to a million subscribers. Lilli’s Renewable World was also humming along nicely. It was a not-for-profit venture that now showcased more than 8000 ‘green’ businesses around the world. Fiona lived in the Long Island house with her partner, a fellow name Tim Fielding who was a business manager by trade and managed the entire LilliCorp business. 

Tim was from Long Island and all his business was out there. Fiona had heard about him from Giselle who was the U.S. Editor in Chief for Lilli’s Lost & Found and Lilli’s Renewable World.

Tim showed up a couple of days later with all the credentials that Fiona was looking for, so he was hired on the spot as financial manager for both enterprises.

The next day, he called and asked Fiona to have dinner with him. They had been inseparable ever since. Tim moved in two weeks later, after Fiona had heard that her folks were moving to Washington. He ran his entire business from a hefty laptop and spent his days on the back deck or the family room of the Long Island house, mostly on the phone. Fiona taught him how to swim in the current pool and he religiously did half an hour a day.

~ 51 ~

The next morning Joe pulled up in front of their new house right on time. Lilli kissed Ethan goodbye and told him to give her love to everybody up in New York. 

Lilli insisted in riding in the front seat, which Joe found suitably amusing. On the way, Lilli asked Joe about his military background.  

“There’s not a lot I’m able to talk about, since most of our missions were covert, meaning, maybe they would have pissed of some very important people. But I will tell you this, our military, top to bottom, is the best on the planet, and it was a genuine honour to have served. I’m afraid you’ll find this city is chock full of people who can’t really talk about what they did in the armed forces.”

“I have to tell you, Joe, ” Lilli said, “That my experience with politics is virtually non-existent. I’m a little concerned about that.”

“I think, especially after what you told us yesterday, that politics won’t have a hell of a lot to do with our mission here.”

“Let’s hope so, Joe.”

“Oh, I think you will very easily be able to keep the politicians on their side of the fence. You strike me as someone with a very low tolerance for bullshit.”

“Well thank you Joe.”

“You’re welcome, ma’am.”

They rode upstairs and Lilli dropped off her things and sat down in her office. A few minutes later Janna appeared and placed a sheet of paper on her desk. 

“These are the likely questions you will be asked.” Janna said. “If nothing else the press corps is completely predictable.”

Lilli just smiled and picked up the sheet, as Janna left her office. The questions were pretty straightforward, and as Lilli read through them the answers materialized almost instantly. 

Of course, some of the questioning would around the subject of AI, which Lilli had been thinking about quite a bit. She had also been doing a lot of reading on the subject and came to hold the opinion that it was nothing more than a crapshoot at this point in time, and, considering the vast amount of energy that industry consumed, it was hardly worth looking at, except perhaps to criticize. She knew that sounded cynical but the truth often did.

An hour later Lilli and Director Andrews were sitting in a press room in a building next door to Lilli’s. There were more than two dozen reporters and a dozen camera people. Fortunately for Lilli, she had invested a good deal of time and money in media training and so keeping her composure in this environment would not be an issue.

When everyone had quieted down, Director Andrews started to speak. 

“My name is William Andrews and I am Assistant Director of the Department of Commerce and I’m here today to introduce you to Ms Lilli Braithwaite who is the Director of the newly formed REI, the Renewable Energy Initiative. This is a program that’s designed to provide funding to businesses in the renewables sector in order to help them establish themselves and grow within the US economy.

“Ms Braithwaite is one of the country’s foremost experts on renewable energy, which she had been actively supporting through her businesses and her writing for nearly twenty years. We’re looking forward to an extremely productive future in the renewables sector, and we believe that Ms. Braithwaite’s experience and insight will help us move this project forward in a very positive way.

“So if you have any questions, Ms Braithwaite will be happy to answer them for you.”

“Hello.” Lilli said. “I can see by the number of people in this room that there is a good deal of interest in this initiative. At the moment, I can tell you that we are officially just two days old and have a whopping big staff of five, including myself. We are currently in the process of creating criteria for the businesses that we will choose to fund. We, meaning myself and my assistant, Harlan Royce, will be talking face-to-face via Zoom, with every approved applicant. 

“We will make our determinations based on what we see, meaning how well organized, knowledgeable and committed these businesses are. I will also say, we have no pre-conceived notions or favourites. Each applicant will be judged strictly on their potential to contribute positively to the renewable economy. So if you have any questions, please feel free to ask them. I will do my best to answer them. And don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t really want to know who you represent. Just the questions.”

Lilli pointed to a woman in the front row. “How long will it be before you begin making selections?”

“That’s hard to say. As I mentioned we are only two days into this. Once we have our application form finalized, approved by Mr Andrews and his committee and posted on our website, we will start acting on responses as soon as possible.”

Lilli pointed to a man at the end of the row. “Has there been any political pressure put on you to direct your attention to a specific state or area?”

“No. But I assume there will be once you folks write your stories.”

Lilli pointed to a man in the third row.

“How are you finding life in Washington? I understand your home is in northern Long Island.”

“Life here is hectic. There’s a lot going on. And I’m pleased to report that we have found a nice house and good restaurant. The rest will come in due course”

Lilli pointed to a woman on the other side of the crowd. 

“How is your husband finding all this?”

“Well first of all he is not my husband. He is my partner. And he’s finding it all quite fascinating. He has lots of interests including, a share of his family business to keep him occupied while I am slaving away at my new job.”

The same woman followed up. “Will he be influential in your decision making?”

“He is a very common sense person and he knows me better than anyone. I won’t say he will be influencing me, but he will certainly be keeping me from doing anything stupid, I hope.”

The next question came from a man in the front row. 

“Ms Braithwaite how do you square your family’s history of being a major player in the automotive parts business with your current role as, well the chief green energy advocate in the country?”

“Okay, well first of all, that business which, was created by my parents, who are both retired now, started many years before the environment was even an issue. Secondly, my brother Marcus has been running that business for several years now and has, from day one, made it his priority to seek out suppliers in the alternative transportation sector. The last time we spoke, he was just reaching 50% of his goal. As far as squaring anything about my current position, all I will say is that I have nothing to do with my brother’s business and never have. We certainly keep in touch and I’m quite proud of the energy he has put into making his transition work.”

The questions continued for another twenty minutes or so. Then Andrews call a halt to it all and he and Lilli and Joe left the room. Oddly enough there was no mention at all about AI.

“You handled yourself quite admirably, Lilli.” Andrews said. “I think we’re off to a good start as far as public relations go.”

“Let’s hope so. This is a very good project. It will create a lot of employment and hopefully move this country into a leadership role in the new green economy.”

Andrews shook Lilli’s hand and he headed out the door. Lilli stood there for a moment with Joe, just unwinding. 

“What do you think Joe? How’d we do?”

“We did fine, ma’am. But at the end of the day, they’re gonna write whatever they feel like writing. Just keep your head down and barrellin’ forward.”

Lilli laughed and she did she felt the tension melt away. “Let’s go to work Joe. We’ve got money to invest.”

“Yes ma’am. We sure as hell do.”

They left the building and walked next door.

 

Ethan spent three days in New York, stopped in and said hi to the folks at the Falcon Wing office in Manhattan, dropped into Danny’s office to see Danny and Marcus, then headed to New Rochelle to have dinner with his mom and dad and his brothers, both of whom were still single. The next day, he drove out to Long Island and had lunch with Fiona and her boyfriend Tim, and checked on things with Giselle and Heather. He spent the evening sitting out back and looking at the ocean, slept in the guest room and the next morning which was a Thursday, he started loading up the car with his computer equipment and clothing, mostly from a list Lilli had given him. 

He arrived back in Washington late that night. He and Lilli unpacked the car, left everything in a pile in the living room and headed off to bed.

On Friday, he spent most of the day organizing his office while Lilli worked downtown. On Saturday, they spent a few hours driving around the neighbourhood to see what was where. They picked up takeout menus from half a dozen different restaurants, checked out the local supermarket, bought a barbecue for the back deck and found some good steaks to christen it with.

Late Sunday night Lilli sat down with her laptop, while Ethan watched some TV on his computer. After he had discovered Spooks and watched all ten seasons, he started looking around for other British political and spy series to watch and came up with a couple of winners. There was a single season series called The Bodyguard about a British solider who was assigned to guard a prominent female politician and a series called Slow Horses which was all about an M-I five group comprised of agents who had screwed up in one way or another and were made part of this group as punishment. It starred the famous British actor, Gary Oldman and was produced a guy named Graham Yost, who Ethan recalled as having been the writer and producer of a great American series called Justified, about a US Marshall who gets sent home to somewhere in Kentucky where he was raised and had to deal with all the criminals there. 

While Ethan was doing that, Lilli opened her laptop and found her journal file. As she looked through and noticed the gaps, from the time when she was working with Del Fry, she realized that she was now free to start it again. She also realized that this could also be the beginning of her first book, because now she was free to speak her mind. And that certainly became a real possibility. She also scanned some of the poetry she had written over the years and thought it would be nice to do some more. 

As she thought about all the possibilities and probabilities her new position offered her, she felt her spirit begin to rise. She had been give the opportunity to do something she always wanted to do. She was determined to make it work. But she was also equally determined to walk away from it if it turned into the kind of non-stop bullshit that Washington was famous for.

She mused a bit as she stared out the window at the street below. Cars were parked, or more aptly put, wedged into parking places all up and down the street. There was no ocean to look at, only the lights of the capital which shone above the houses across the street. As her thoughts meandered, she started to wonder if she was really cut out for this thing she had committed to. Deep in her heart she missed the sand and the ocean and the constant breeze that blew over Long Island. A few minutes later she snapped out of it. Lilli was stronger than that and determined to make the best of this opportunity, period.

A few minutes later she came to realize that her life had been nothing more than a journey. Every so often she would come to a crossroads and it was totally up to her whether to keep on the path or turn off. So far, she had a few of both and as it turned out, they were all, at least in her mind, the right decisions. Now she was at another crossroads, a little older. and a whole lot wiser and more confident. She thought back to the advice her dad had given to her a long time ago. He had told her that the only way she would know for sure if she had made any right decision was to try it. To give it all she had with her whole heart and soul. If it was right, she would succeed. If it was wrong, she would not so much fail, but convince herself to walk away and find something else. Then, for the first time in a couple of years, she started to write, free of fear.

CROSSROADS

The choices we make

Are the chances we take

The chances we take

Spell the fortunes we make

You can sit at a crossroads

For what seems like years

You can gaze at your navel

And be bound by your fears

Or you can just simply

Put your head down and go

You can go with your gut

Or you can go with the flow

But whatever you choose

And however you go

There is always one truth

You will certainly know

That whatever your choice

Whatever comes to pass

At least you just didn’t

Sit on your ass

You made a decision

And that’s more than most do

For you’ll never be an ass-sitting loser

Not you.

Lilli read the poem over a few times and nudged a couple of lines into the right meter. She then closed up her laptop and climbed into bed with Ethan, who, of course, had fallen asleep. She took his laptop, closed it up and put in on the bedside table. She then wiggled out of her pyjamas and snuggled up close to him. He reached out and wrapped his arm around her.

“It’s gonna be alright Lil.” he said in a sleepy voice. “We’re gonna be fine.”

“I know, baby.” Lilli said and closed her eyes.

~ 52 ~

The next week was probably the busiest of Lilli’s life. 

She worked with her team to put together a questionnaire/application form for the businesses who would be applying for grant money. Joe drove her all over town to do interviews with all the major networks, even the much despised Fox News. Lilli handled herself with her usual confidence, mainly because she was a lot smarter and better informed than pretty much anyone who was interviewing her. Joe kept a close eye on her. He was amazingly observant and was able to give her the kind of advice that only helped her become more disciplined in her responses.

 She and Harlan met with the leaders of both major political parties and made it absolutely clear that politics had no place in the process she was managing and that she would not accept invitations for meetings with any individual congressmen, lobbyists or senators period. 

Lilli knew that there was a huge microscope on her and the only thing that could wreck the entire project was if she was seen to show anything remotely resembling favouritism to one party or another. So it was best to steer clear of all the politicians outside of the Congressional committee that she would have to report. And even then she made it clear to Director Andrews that he would accompany her to each of these meetings and do the lion’s share of the speaking.

By the end of the week, they had managed to get Andrews’ approval on an application form. When she talked to Andrews about travelling to meet some of the larger chosen businesses in person, he strongly advised against it, as she thought he would, insisting that travelling around the country burning government paid for jet fuel would hurt her cause. 

Harlan then posted a downloadable application form on the Department’s website. He suggested that they call it Operation Green Light. He had come up with it before Lilli had arrived and worked with one of the designers in the graphics department to create a beautiful logo for it. Lilli was really impressed, not only with the name and the design but with the initiative that Harlan was shown since day one.

Because Lilli and Harlan would do all the interviewing of promising applicants via video conference, this would make the process much less time consuming, and would force the applicants to really have their ducks in a row since they would each be given no more than a single hour to make their case.

The application form Harlan and Lilli created was designed to extract all the key information they would need to make a decision as to whether they would be allowed to present their case via video conference. 

Lilli observed Harlan very closely during this process and determined that even though he was twenty years younger than her, he was exceptionally bright and intuitive, and would very quickly become capable or running the entire operation. She and Harlan formed a solid bureaucratic partnership. This worked well because, unlike most young people, Harlan understood that he could learn a great deal from Lilli, who had, as he put it, ‘been to the mountain’ several times.

The basic information form that Lilli and Harlan created was very simple. It consisted of 11 sections” 

Business Name:

Contact Information:

Business Type & Structure:

Founder and Founder’s Work History:

Age Of Business:

Current Number of Employees:

Business Description (100 words or less)

Customer Base:

Current Revenues:

Marketing Plan: (Include with the response document:)

Required Funding & Purposes:

Revenue and Staffing Projections (12 months)

Lilli’s only frame of reference for this process was her own common sense. The application was a simple form that could be downloaded as a Microsoft Word File. The only rule for acceptance for evaluation was that the form was to be filled out completely. 

Within a few days of posting the application form online, the responses started coming in. It was then up to Janna and Nancy to read through them and make sure they were filled in completely before passing them along to Lilli and Harlan for evaluation.

It was at that point that Lilli decided to start grooming him to become a clone of herself. Harlan was more than happy to hear that and promised Lilli that he would work his ass off to make this one of Washington’s bigger successes. 

The first thing she did was tell Harlan to hire an assistant to handle a lot of the grunt work involved , so that he would have more time to work with her evaluating and determining which candidates were the most worthy. Lilli figured after the first dozen or so candidates were selected, the process, for her at least, could go on automatic pilot, meaning that Harlan could do the work and make his recommendations to her.  This meant that Lilli could spend more time fending off politicians and doing a lot of the hard core PR work that needed to be done to keep the project sailing along.

When she told all that to Ethan he just kind of shrugged and said “Well, that’s kinda the way you have been doing things all your life. You’re a good manager and an even better boss.”

Lilli thought about that for a while. “You know, I think you’re right.” 

The more Lilli thought about it, the more easily she found herself fitting into her directer’s role. She had a lot of time to think about how things were running, who needed help and who didn’t, and just how big this thing needed to be in order to attract the recipients who could make the most difference. 

She was also surprised that William Andrews had little or nothing to offer Lilli in the weekly meetings with him. She had, she assumed, simply turned into one less thing for him to worry about, and his happiness with that came across.

~ 53 ~

About a week after the word got out and the completed questionnaires started arriving Janna and Nancy quickly became completely swamped. So Lilli advised her to hire two temps, give them a little basic training and instruct them to eliminate the applications that were not completely filled out and inform the applicants that they needed to re-apply The applications that felt like nonsense, desperation or some sort of snow job were simply tossed.

Janna thanked Lilli profusely and said she knew just the ladies to bring in. They were extremely well-educated floaters, who did very well for themselves because they could easily adapt to any set of parameters that were put in front of them. Their names were Louise and Fern. They were both in their thirties and both married to other bureaucrats. 

Lilli chatted with them briefly, and within two minutes of hearing their background stories, hired them on the spot, much to Janna’s relief.

About four weeks into the program Lilli and Harlan made their selections, had them approved by William Andrews and began their interviews. Lilli insisted on having Joe sit in with them on the process to make notes on the people who were being interviewed.

 This was great for Lilli and Harlan, because they were really interested in the nuts and bolts and the going forward plans that these people had. Joe, on the other hand, was evaluating the people they talked to based on their character and how honest he felt they were being. Joe was one of the believers in the eighty-twenty rule, which meant that a certain percentage of everyone who made it to the face-to-face interview stage were only in it to feed at the government trough. Joe had a real knack for spotting people who were anything less than completely sincere. This talent for analysis, as it turned out, was highly effective and made Lilli’s and Harlan’s job that much easier. 

One of the things that Lilli insisted upon was that all activity would be contained within a nine to five work day. It wasn’t so much about paying overtime as it was about letting her people have a life.

This had the net effect of having everyone under her command love her to pieces, which Lilli considered a real advantage. But it was also part of a strategy she had developed to keep her own sanity. She had been paying attention to people all her life and found that most work-related stress came as a result of overwork. She made up her mind when she first started to expand Lilli’s Lost and Found that she would never be that kind of boss. She instinctually believed that productivity was inversely proportional to the number of hours in the workday, which meant the longer you worked, the less productive you became.

Not many companies in America shared that belief, or if they did they did not put it into practice. Which explained why worker turnover was so high across the country. America was a work-till-you-drop country, always dangling the lure of the American dream. In this way, Lilli was fortunate in that she had never really been a worker in a system. She had started her own businesses, created her own schedule and kept her sanity as a result. She was not about to drop the ball now, just because she was working for the government.

~ 54 ~

As the first few weeks passed, Lilli became painfully aware of how much she missed working at home. But a commitment was a commitment. 

She talked it over with Ethan and he agreed. She would work hard at helping Harlan develop his managerial skills, find himself a good assistant that they could both develop then, after a year, Lilli could just work out an arrangement where she would be the figurehead, but that Harlan and William Andrews would be calling the shots. This meant that she and Ethan could move back to Long Island and onto whatever was next and Lilli could go back to the work style that made her the most happy. 

When she had first met with William Andrews and he outlined what the job would entail,  Lilli made it clear this would not be a ‘forever’ thing for her. It wasn’t a big deal at the time, but it gave her an opening if she ultimately decided that life in a bureaucracy, even one mainly of her own design, was too confining. The decision to bring Lilli on board in the first place was primarily driven by the government’s need to have this initiative not look like just another pork barrel project. So if Lilli and her team could turn it into a highly productive and successful venture, there would come a time when she could, like she had with both her other businesses, put it on autopilot and head home, and not feel that she was abandoning any sort of sinking ship. 

And, of course, after she physically departed she could still contribute by writing articles and profiling the success stories that the department created. Lilli felt that was her true long suit and she would be happy to do that simply as a labour of love.

So that night, when Lilli laid her head on the pillow beside Ethan, her countdown officially began. By the end of their lease period, she would be able to move back home and sit on her back porch with the sand and sea and the sky. And she and Ethan could just grow old together doing whatever they chose to do. But, in the meantime there was a lot of work to do and, paradoxically,  the whole idea of a time limit served to energize Lilli.

The next day she took Harlan out to lunch and explained what she had decided. After they had their lunch in front of them, Lilli said. “Harlan. I’m gonna tell you something and I want you to promise me that you will keep it very much to yourself.”

“Okay.” Harlan said. “You’re not sick or anything are you?”

Lilli chuckled. “No, I’m just fine. Listen, we have been at this together for about two months now, and I want to tell you how impressed I am with both your thinking and your work ethic.”

“Well thanks Lilli. You’re no slouch yourself.”

“Thanks. It’s a blessing and a curse, believe me. But the reason I am telling you this is because by around this time next year, I am going to back off and simply help out with the PR. I will write or supervise the writing of the business profiles we need for the site and do any interviews that need doing for a while. Then you will take over the entire operation. I will be available for any advice you need.”

“You know, Mr Andrews and I had lunch last week.” Harlan said.  “I think he was kind of looking for my perspective on things. Then he told me that you might only be in this for a year. So what you’re telling me doesn’t come as any surprise.”

Lilli smiled. “You know, I have lived almost all of my life beside the ocean, and though I never thought I would, I really miss it.”

“I’ve heard it has a real effect on people.”

“It does. So what’s gonna happen is that you and I, with everybody’s help, are going to build this into something really good. Something the country can be proud of. And then, when my year is up, you are going to take my place, and I am going to work from home.”

“Do you really think I can do that? I mean run the whole show?”

“I’m pretty sure you can, and as we move along I will give you progressively more responsibility so that when it comes time for me to split, you’ll already be in the driver’s seat.”

“Wow.”

“That’s the plan,” Lilli said. “So your job one right now is to find someone who can be your right-hand person. So that when the time comes for you to take over, you’ll have a partner, just like I have you. You’ll also, hopefully, still have Joe, who is an amazing judge of character. So what do you think?”

Harlan took a deep breath. “Well you’re offering me my dream job on a silver platter. I’m blown away that you have that much faith in me.”

“It’s easy to have faith in people with real talent Harlan. The people I have worked with over the years have all been extremely talented. So I’m pretty good at spotting it when I see it. I know you’re only what, twenty-six. But you remind me so much of the way I was at your age it’s unreal. 

“Listen, we are ready to come out of the gate with a bang and 50% of that is you. I know that and so does Mr Andrews because that’s what I tell him every week.”

Harlan smiled. “You know, you’re a pretty amazing person. You get all this stuff done without pissing off a single soul. That’s so rare these days.”

The rest of the lunch, and the afternoon that followed, was spent talking about scheduling, contacting acceptable candidates and outlining what would be expected. Harlan had already organized the video conference room and every presentation would be recorded, mostly to make sure that grant recipients followed through on any promises they made in the presentation. Lilli and Harlan also agreed that they would do no more than three interviews a day, which would give them ample time to evaluate each prospect. Lilli had no doubt the list would be considerable, so they could set their standards fairly high. They weren’t giving away money, they were making business agreements.

By the end of that week, a number of milestones had been achieved. 

The first forty businesses to be interviewed were decided on. They were presented to William Andrews who gave them a green light. Memos had been sent to those companies and a link to an online timetable where they could enter their company name and number. It was all done on a first-come first-served basis. The two ladies and Janna had fully developed their evaluation skills  and were able to process dozens of applicants every day.

At the beginning of the following week, Lilli, Harlan and Joe were ready to start their meetings. The schedule was completely filled for three full weeks. At the end of each presentation, each company was informed that if they were selected, they would be obliged to report by email once a month. Criteria for the information they needed to report would be sent along to each company. 

This was where Nancy Altman came into the process of forwarding digital money orders, and fielding monthly reports. If anything was amiss, Nancy would report it to Lilli and Harlan and they would deal with it by phone. 

At the end of the week, Joe dropped Lilli off and she dragged herself through the front door. She has sold through six of the fifteen companies they had interviewed. And spent more than 9 million of her 1.4 billion.

These companies included; a high-efficiency solar panel company, a botanist who had detailed several successful experiments to speed up the growth process in birch, oak and maple trees, a small independent oil company that was working to create a motor oil that would degrade 50% slower in internal combustion engines, a furnace filter company that was working to improve the carbon capture from natural gas furnaces. An awning company that was designing large-scale awnings to channel the heat from the sun to small generators, an LED lightning company that was developing high-efficiency lighting for offices and homes, a marine recycling company that was working on a trash-burning home generator and the carbon capture technology to go with it.

Over dinner Lilli explained it all to Ethan who just smiled. He could see that once she got past the tedium of mapping out the entire program, she was a whole new girl. Or in Ethan’s case, the Lilli he had known all along. She was excited and motivated, and bound and determined to make this a big year.

Over the weekend Lilli thought things through and realized that she was probably not going to be able to do the kind of PR work she wanted to do until she was back home on Long Island. On Sunday morning Lilli called Giselle O’Leary who along with her partner Heather, Danny’s girlfriend, Jules and Lilli’s her daughter, Fi, were managing the entire Lilli’s Lost & Found mini empire. 

“Giselle, how are you?” Lilli asked.

“Just fine mum, how about you? Takin’ Washington by storm, I hear.”

Lilli laughed. “Some might argue that it’s the other way round.”

Lilli then went on to explain the situation and the timing to Giselle. 

“So I was just wondering if you had a profile writer who is looking for some extra work.”

“Hmmm.” Giselle said. “One of my writers, Tracy Walker. She’s about three months pregnant, but there’s something odd goin’ on. Her doctor advised her to stay home and take it easy till the baby comes or she could risk a miscarriage or worse. So she’s basically just killin time. And she’s a damn fine writer. She comes from PR land so she’ll catch one right quick.”

“Okay,” Lilli said. text me her info and I will give her a call. And how’s everything else?”

“We’re runnin’ a dozen writers and moving up to 1000 profiles by year’s end I reckon.” 

“Good, Good. and how are things with you and Heather?”

“Tammy’s growin’ like a weed. She’s got some artistic skills so we’re gonna try and find her a good art college when the time comes. Other than that it’s business as usual. Ethan sounded happy when we saw him a couple weeks back. But, we’re all lookin’ forward to havin’ you back by the ocean, mum.”

“It’ll be less than a year. But I have this thing to do here and so far it’s been going very well.”

“Okay, mum, I’ll send you Tracy’s details.”

“Thanks Giselle. Talk soon.”

“You betcha.”

A few minutes later Tracy Walker’s details hit Lilli’s phone. She called and recruited her. They decided on a fee and Lilli told her she would call her ahead of each project. 

Since all the interviews were being housed on a private web site Lilli told Tracy that she would just have to sign a confidentiality agreement and then they could get started. She already had seven profiles that needed writing. Lilli said she would email all the info to Tracy first thing Monday morning.

After dinner, Ethan went up to his office and came back down with a small box. He put it down on the table in front of Lilli she opened it up and there were at least two dozen movies from the late thirties and forties.

Lilli teared up a bit and smiled at Ethan. “You really know how to cheer a girl up, mister.”

“True enough. Not every girl, but you for sure.”

~ 55 ~

The next week was the first week that Lili and Harlan really started to feel in total synch with both the project and each other. They rolled through the process and as the weeks turned into months the work became almost effortless. The companies in the green sector that they encountered were well managed by people who cared about their business, their role in the US economy and the future of life on the planet, so the online interviews were uniformly pleasant, respectful and informative. The process that Lilli and Harlan had put together was making their lives much easier than was initially anticipated.

Around the three month point Harlan had hired a woman named Natalie Pierce whom he had gone to college with. She was currently working in the Department of the Environment and was extremely bright, vivacious, good-looking looking and ambitious. After only a few weeks, Lilly was able to step back a bit and observe how she and Harlan worked together. She asked Joe to keep an eye on them for a week and give her a report.

A week later, at lunch, Joe said. “I’m pleased to tell you, Lilli, that I have nothing to report. These kids complement each other perfectly. I’m not sure young Harlan could have picked a better partner.”

“Well that’s good to hear, because, as you know I’m planning to move back to Long Island in about seven months from now. I just want to be sure, I’m leaving the project in good hands.”

“That Harlan, ma’am, he’s a sponge. He’s soaked up everything you’ve told him and then some. And Natalie, well she’s cut from the same cloth.”

“That’s good to know.”

“Everything is gonna be just fine, ma’am. I’ll hang in myself, because I didn’t think I would, but I’m finding this whole process fascinating.”

“Well, your insights into the character of these people have been invaluable. You just make sure that if you leave, you find someone with the same skill sets.”

“Will do.”

The next six months just breezed by. Lilli, Harlan and Natalie managed to award nearly $700 million in grants to various businesses. And their growth was definitely noticed by the investment community. The ‘green’ movement in the United States was no longer on the fringe, but quickly moving into the mainstream. And the societal advantages that this movement brought with it were significant.

One day, after about nine months of activity, Lilli and William Andrews had lunch together. Lilli was planning to use the lunch to announce that she was pulling back, that her successors were fully trained and doing the lion’s share of the work all on their own, while Lilli was both supervising and writing profiles to keep the website traffic humming and doing interviews to keep the PR machine fat and happy.

Andrews was not surprised by Lilli’s announcement and he told her that he would be more than happy for the Initiative to carry on with Harlan and Natalie at the helm. 

“Something’s come up that I think would be perfect for you to help us with.” Andrews said.

“Oh, and what’s that?”

“Well, thanks mostly to the great PR you’ve been orchestrating, this initiative is attracting a lot of interest from some of our allies.”

“Specifically?” Lilli asked.

“Specifically, at the moment, Canada, Great Britain and Mexico?”

“So what would you need from me?”

Andrews hesitated for a second trying to get his thoughts organized. “I’d like you to consider, taking trips to these countries, and show their environmental people the nuts and bolts of setting this up.”

Now it was Lilli’s turn to say nothing as the thought rolled around in her head. Finally she said. “My year here is up in about two months. If you think I can pull that off within that time frame, then fine.”

“I looked back at the minutes of the meetings we had early on and it seems like it only took a couple of weeks for you and Harlan to set this up from scratch. We have no problem with sharing your methodology with any of these governments. So I would estimate you could easily do the whole thing within the two months you have left. 

“This would be one of the more substantial international public relations initiatives the US has undertaken.  And it will really help cement our position as environmental leaders. I know that sounds political, but, let’s face it, we’re the government and almost everything we do has a political component.”

Lilli didn’t want to admit it, but the whole idea excited her. But more than that, it demonstrated that her management style and good intentions were genuinely appreciated. 

“I’d like to talk it over with Ethan.”

“No problem, I’m sure he’d want to go with you.”

“Okay. I’ll talk to him tonight and let you know first thing in the morning. But right now, it sounds like the kind of opportunity I would be crazy to turn down.”

“I thought you would see it that way, Lilli.”

Ea rly the following week Lilli and Ethen packed their bags and headed south to Mexico City. Two and a half weeks after that they headed north to Ottawa and two weeks after that, they flew to London. They spent three weeks in London and were also able to meet up with the people at Macmillan's to get an update on how Lilli’s Lost & Found was doing on the other side of the Atlantic. Evidently it was growing like a weed. It was especially popular in the European communities, with plenty of WWII, stories that had been passed down.

They returned with one week left on their lease. Lilli spent a day in a debrief with William Andrews, and another day day giving some final bits of advice to Harlan and Natalie and saying goodbye to everyone. 

One the third day, William Andrews picked her up at her house and they drove to the White House where Lilli and Andrews sat down with the President for about ten minutes. The President thanked Lilli for all her work and the example her businesses had set in the country. He also asked he if she would be willing to help out with any other countries that would like to get their environmental house in order. Lilli simply smiled and said, “Of course.”

~ 56 ~

Ethan had rented a van to lug home all their stuff. He and Lilli drove back home more or less together. Fiona and Tim had leased a smaller house about two blocks from the big house, but Fiona was there every day working with Giselle, Heather and Jules, who was still coming out a couple of days a week.

Two days later they declared themselves officially moved in and decided to throw a party for everyone in their lives. It was quite the affair, skillfully catered by Lilli’s mom. Lilli was amazed at just how many people had entered and become part of her life. And she was just over fifty.

The next day, the girls had cleaned up all the party mess. Lilli had slept in and at about eleven, wandered down to the kitchen and poured made herself a cup of coffee. Ethan was busy setting up his office. The girls were busy in the garage, keeping Lilli’s businesses were humming. Lilli just walked out to the back deck and sat down. It was late June and the air was warm and salty. She had missed this simple thing, just sitting on the steps and looking at the ocean, so much that it made her cry as she sat there with her coffee and did absolutely nothing for the first time in as long as she could remember.

She didn’t think about the past or the future. She was just stuck right in the moment, frozen in time, thinking about nothing but feeling the sun on her face, smelling the ocean and staring out at the clouds that seemed to go on forever.

She knew that this wouldn’t last because she was not built to sit and do nothing for any length of time. But right now, she was content to sit and sip her coffee and just be. She had lived the better part of her 53 years here. She had wanted for nothing materially. But there was a longing deep inside her, a longing to do something meaningful. To make the most of the life she was given. She supposed that she had done that. On balance, she had probably done a hell of a more than most people and she was pleased that it was all stuff she could be proud of. She was well known now, but without the encumbrance of fame to drag her down. She was well respected and loved by a lot of people. And she was as happy as a human being could be about it all.

But in this moment, this moment of stillness, feeling at one with the land and the sea and the sky she wondered if there was still more to come and what shape it would take. 

Almost as quickly had the stillness had taken her, it vanished, and she came back to her restless, ambitious, hard driving self and she started to think what was next.

Because she had a few skills. she had a few options, one of the potential next things was writing a book. A biography. Or would it be a novel? Or maybe a book on business management?  Another thing was travelling with Ethan. Go to places she had never been. Meet new people. Discover new things. 

So many choices. They overwhelmed her a bit. How does one go from thinking about absolutely nothing to thinking about absolutely everything all at once? she thought. 

Lilli noticed that her coffee cup was empty, so she headed back to the kitchen and poured another. She kissed Ethan who was standing at the refrigerator and looking hopelessly into it. There was leftover almost everything in there and it wasn’t a question what what he wanted so much as it was how to decide.

He decided on a couple pieces of pizza and stuck them in the microwave to warm up.

“So.” Ethan said. “Here we are.”

“Yeah. Here we are.”

“I wonder what’s next.” 

“Me too.”

“Any ideas?”

“Nope. You?”

“Nope. I don’t want to go anywhere or do anything for at least as long as it takes me to eat these pizza slices.”

“I’m gonna have another coffee.” And she poured it. And they stood in the kitchen looking at each other and then they finally started to laugh.”

“This is weird.” Ethan said.

“Yeah.”

“It’s like I want to do something,” Ethan said. “But my brain won’t tell me what that is. I rushed through setting up my computers then sat down at them and didn’t even bother to turn them on.”

“I know. I came down, got a coffee and then went out and looked at the ocean. I couldn’t think of anything else I wanted to do until I finished my coffee and then I wanted another coffee so I did that. And now I’m stuck. I can’t just drink coffee all day.”

“Do you want to go somewhere? Maybe go visit Del and Shawna? See the new baby.”

“No. I don’t want to go anywhere and I don’t want to do anything. And I don’t know why.”

“Hmmm” Ethan said. “Is this the end? Are we retired?”

Lilli took a sip of her coffee. “I don’t know. I’ve never been retired. I have no frame of reference for it.”

“Me neither.” Ethan said. “Do you want to be retired?”

“I ummm, I honestly don’t know what I want.” Lilli said.

“Maybe we should go for a walk and try and figure it out.”

That’s a good idea. So they went upstairs and got dressed and headed down to the shore. Ethan brought his pizza, because he was hungry and Lilli brought her coffee, because she loved her coffee, and they started walking toward the pier.

“You know how you always ask me what I think you should do and I tell you and you’re so grateful?” Ethan said after they had gone about a hundred yards or so.

“Yeah. And I am grateful.”

“Well, I’ll let you in on a little secret.”

“What’s that?”

“I really don’t tell you what to do.”

“You don’t?”

“Nope. All I do is agree with you when you decide what you want to do.”

‘You do?”

“Uh huh.”

“Really?”

Yep, really. So if you want me to tell you what to do, you have to tell me first and I’ll agree with you.”

“That’s pretty sneaky.”

“Not at all. You just have to listen to yourself a little more.”

“And if I do that, then I’ll figure it out myself?”

“Yeah, that’s about right.”

“So…what do I need you for?”

“I don’t know. Driving. Sex. Pasta dinners. Kids, Companionship…the list goes on. But what you don’t really need me for is deciding what you want to do.”

“But what if it’s something stupid? You know, that I decide to do?”

“Lilli, we’ve been together for more thirty years and you haven’t done one single stupid thing that I have noticed.”

“What about hooking up with Delbert Fry?”

“That wasn’t stupid. That was just not for you. But while you were doing it you did it really well.”

“Hmmm.”

After that, Lilli and Ethan got all the way to the pier without saying anything. Lilli finished her coffee and Ethan his pizza.

Lilli wrapped her arms around him neck and kissed him. “Mmmm, you taste Italian.”

“Well, that makes sense.” Ethan said.

They started walking back toward the house. 

“You know what I think?”

“Not right this minute, no.”

“I think I have been pretty good at starting things.”

“You have.”

“So maybe I should start something else.”

“Like what?”

“You know that’s a good question. I was thinking I might try my hand at writing a novel?”

“What kind of novel?” Ethan asked.

“I’d like to write a little novel that was like a Humphrey Bogart movie. With a hard boiled detective like Bogey, a mysterious babe like Lauren Bacall and a couple of bad guys with foreign accents like Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre. I think that would be a lot of fun to try. Maybe I could get a literary agent to help me get it published and we could go on a book tour.”

Ethan just laughed, mostly because he was amazed.

“Okay.” He said. “You can certainly write. You’ve proven that in spades.”

“But do you think, I could write something like that?”

“I don’t know and neither do you, “Ethan said, “And you won’t know until you sit down and figure out how to do it and then try. You can probably find a lot of stories by guys like James M Cain and Dashiell Hammett on line. You should probably get biographies of them as well so you can figure out how they think.”

‘Yeah, I could do that for sure.”

They walked along some more. Then Lilli said. “So this was my idea?”

“Yep. 100%.”

“And you’re just helping me figure out how to actually do it.”

“Yep. That’s right.”

“But you’re helping me because you think I could actually do this.”

“Lilli, I think you can do anything you set your mind to. You’ve proven that over and over again. But you‘re the one who has to do the work and convince yourself that you can do it.”

They walked back slowly in the warm late June sunshine. Lilli thought a lot about the challenge she had given herself and was really pumped about it. It was a complete sea change from the last year that she had spent in, of all places, a government bureaucracy. If nothing else, her life had taken her to a lot of interesting places and she had made a lot of good friendships along the way. 

Later that day, Lilli got hold of Tracy Walker who was now the mother of a three month old boy named Alexander. She asked Tracy if she felt she could continue writing profile pieces for the the Renewable Energy Initiative. Tracy jumped at the chance to be able to keep working from home, because she realized just how much work having a kid actually was. 

So Lilli emailed Harlan and told him that she was getting involved with another project but that she could have Tracy. Harlan responded the he was really pleased with her work to date and that she would love to keep her on. 

Harlan asked her what her new project was and Lilli felt that she could keep it to herself. Harlan understood and then he told her that things were going very smoothly with himself and Natalie, and that Bill Andrews was doing a hell of a job at keeping the politicians at bay. They were on the verge of giving out another twelve million.

Lilli wished them all the best of luck going forward. And as soon as she got off that call she found a site called Good Reads and ordered a book called Crime Novels which contained books by a number of authors who worked in the 30s and 40s including James M Cain. She bought a couple of books by Dashiell Hammett including The Maltese Falcon, The Thin Man and the Glass key. She found Wikipedia biographies several of the writers she was looking for including Hammett, Cain and Kenneth Fearing among others. She also saw that there were a lot of British crime/mystery writers but thought it would be better to stay with the Americas for now. If she actually got any good at this, she could research some British authors. But the older Lilli grew the more she realized that there were just so many hours in the day and it would be best to stay focused.

She uploaded everything to her Ipad, then made herself some coffee and spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on the deck reading.

Lilli read until she got hungry and then decided that she and Ethan should take Fi and Tim out to dinner at the Mexican place they liked called Viva La Vida. She called Fi and told her she would pick them up in an hour She called and made a reservation. Then she went upstairs and got dressed and dragged Ethan out of his computer room, which wasn’t a chore, since he wasn’t actually doing very much.

 About an hour later they were standing in a rather short line waiting for their table to be cleared and set. 

Lilli and Ethan had had a couple of meetings with Tim to discuss the state of their investments and the financial health of the businesses. He struck them as quite astute and savvy for someone so young. But Lilli was slowing discovering that regardless of the great unwashed in America, there were still a good number of young people who definitely had their acts together. She counted her own kids and their mates among them as well as the two kids who had taken over her job in Washington, And the ladies who kept her businesses going in America.

Tim was quite comfortable being part of this family. His own parents had divorced when he was about fourteen and he chose to live with his mother because his father owned a rather large shipping company and was hardly ever home. But because he was rich, Tim and his mother were extremely well provided for. Tim’s mother had been an accountant before she married his father and she taught Tim a great deal of the basics of accounting and went back to it after the divorce, more to keep busy than anything. Tim then got a financial management degree the Wharton School of Business in Philadelphia on a full scholarship. 

When he returned, his mother introduced him to everyone in the area that she was doing accounting for and his business grew from there. One of the people he encountered was Giselle O’Leary who was doing the financial management for Lilli’s Lost & Found and didn’t enjoy it. When Tim came to see Giselle and Fiona, the attraction between him and Fiona was almost instant.

At Viva La Vida, they had a great dinner of spicy food and Sangria, of which Ethan only had two glasses as he was the designated driver and not much of a drinker anyway.

“So,” Ethan said, “Your mom has decided to write a novel.”

The kids just looked at Lilli and we’re quite sure what to say.

“It’s honestly something I’ve been thinking about for a while now. And wouldn’t you know it, I finally have time to do it. No profiles to write for the government. No articles to write for The Telescope. No businesses to run, thanks to you guys. And I get to do it all from home and at my own pace.”

“Well, mom,” Fiona said, “If there’s anybody who could turn that into a success, it’s you. Have you decided what kind of novel it will be?”

“Sort of. I’ve always been a big fan or thirties and early forties movies so I’ve started studying the guys who wrote the books that they were based on. If I could write another Maltese Falcon or Casablanca, that would be my aim.”

“You know,’ Tim said. I downloaded a lot of those movies and we have been watching them regularly for the last year or so. I can see why you would gravitate towards that. There’s a kind of purity to that period. It wasn’t that long after the silent movie era was over. There was a real simplicity to everything that happened in those movies.” Tim said.

”Well the books aren’t much more complex than the movies at least from what I’ve read so far.” Lilli said.

“I know,” said Fiona. “I read a lot of those books when I was in school. It’s like they were written to be made into movies. It wasn’t literature in the classic sense. It was kind of like working-class literature.” 

Lilli smiled because she could see so much of her younger self in Fiona.

“Well, I’m gonna take my time and see if I can get it right. So at the moment, I’m just in the research phase.” 

They ate and talked and drank a little more wine and then drove home in the darkness of northern Long Island, feeling very much like a family. It had been a while for Lilli and Ethan since they had felt that way. And it was good.

~ 57 ~

All through the last year in Washington, Ethan had kept abreast of all the stuff that was going on in his company. One of the side effects of the hack attacks that Del had launched was a real uptick in the amount of cyber security business that was flowing through Falcon Wing. Del had been to New York several times to help Jamie Taggart select and train new recruits. With Jamie no longer an extortion threat and because of Del’s firm belief that everybody is allowed at least one Class A fuckup, they had a great working relationship. To both men, it felt kinda like the old days when they were hacking government sites to test vulnerabilities. 

But Del only stayed as long as he had to, because, much to his delight he just loved being a dad. 

Del was making close to three million a year from his stake in Falcon Wing, and he was happy to devote the equivalent of a month out of the year to it, mostly at home and on his own schedule.

One day, when Del was just packing up to head home, he noticed that Ethan was in his office. The two men hadn’t need each other in a while. And since he had a couple hours to spare before his flight, he and Ethan walked down to the nearest Starbucks and caught up.

“So I hear you guys were only good for about a year in DC.” Del said.

“Yeah. You know Lilli.’ Ethan said. “ All she needed was a year to get that shit up and hoppin’. But it’s good to be back here. Washington is interesting but there’s no Ocean anywhere close.”

“And how’s she doin’?” 

Ethan chuckled. “She’s slavin away at teaching herself to write some kind of, you know, hard-boiled detective novel. She loves all this noir films from the late thirties and early forties. Bogey and Bacall and all that.”

“No shit. Where’s that comin’ from?”

“Ethan threw up his hands and shrugged. “I never ask anymore. She just gets these ideas and away she goes.”

“Well a novel is a whole new thing for her.”

“Yeah, but it’ll probably be great.”

They talked for about an hour and then Del had to grab a cab and get to Laguardia. He made Ethan promise to drag Lilli down to Charleston for a few days. He agreed to do that. He sat back down to finish his coffee and stared out the window at the busy city passing by at a mile a minute. Then he just shook his head and started back to the office to get his bag and head home before the hard core part of the rush hour started.

Lilli spent the next ten days or so reading, and surfing and trying her best to put herself into the headspace as any of the high end writers from that era. 

The trouble, as she saw it, was that it really was another time in America. The division between the two main political parties was nowhere near as pronounced as it was today. There was a much greater spirit of patriotism in the country. The middle class was huge. Millionaires and billionaires weren’t hated as they were today. The media did not have the influence that it currently had over people. And the bad guys seemed to to live in their own little world, whereas now they appeared to be just about everywhere. 

The more Lilli read and absorbed about that time in the country, the more it left her stumped. She was having a lot of trouble figuring out how to orchestrate a story like that in today’s world. Sure she could emulate the syntax of it. Make it punchy and highly metaphoric. Those were basic writing skills. What she couldn’t do was really capture the ‘feeling’ of the time in any relevant context. 

The times, weren’t just a changin’ as Bob Dylan so wisely pointed out half a century ago. They had changed., and if she was going to do anything that would hopefully reach a lot of people these days, it would have to be within that notion. As soon as she got there in her mind, she realized that the path she was carving out for herself was a long and winding one, and for it to be relevant, it had to go forward, not the other direction. People had very little interest in nostalgia from the middle of the last century.

Maybe she was dreaming when she came up with the idea of doing something retro. Maybe it didn’t have a place in today’s world and all it would be was, at best, nothing more than an intellectual exercise.

But Lilli didn’t chastise herself in any way, because she knew that this was what it was and that it was one thing to have a dream and quite another to lay that dream up against reality and deal with the fact that maybe it was not relevant.

As usual, Lilli and Ethan went for another long walk a few days later and Lilli explained her intellectual dilemma to Ethan, who responded quite simply.

“Well, then, Lil, I guess you’ll just have to write something else.”

Lilli just laughed. “Yeah, I suppose I will.” 

~ 58 ~

A week later, they had the car all packed and were heading south to visit Del and Shawna and their kids down in Charleston. Once they were through New Jersey and coming into Wilmington, they decided not to put themselves through the hell of Baltimore and Washington, but instead drove straight down through the farmland of Delaware, across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel. The stayed overnight in Virginia Beach kept heading south sticking as close to the coast as they could. They stopped in Myrtle Beach and for dinner and a walk along the beach before turning in. 

The next morning, which was a Saturday, they arrived in Charleston. Del came around from the back of the house to greet them. They got their bags all stowed and then came downstairs and out onto the deck where Shawna and the kids were hanging out. Lilli-Anna who was the spitting image of her mom was sitting at the table with an iPad doing something that kids do, and the new baby, a boy named Dylan, was sitting in a high chair eating piece of watermelon off his tray. He had dark hair and a cherubic face and smiled and cooed most of the time.

Shawna had made sandwiches for everyone and had uncorked a bottle of Sangria.

Everybody got seated and Del introduced Lilli-Anna to Lilli and Ethan. 

“My dad says I’m named after you.” Lilli-Anna said.

“Yeah I guess you are.” Lilli replied. “I like the Anna part too.”

“That’s not named after anyone.” Lilli-Anna said, and then went back to whatever she was doing.

“I’m so glad you guys could find the time to come and visit. It’s been a spell since we were all together.” Del said.

“Yeah.” Ethan replied. “We seem to be blissfully unemployed these days.”

“Well that won’t last long.” Del said. “Think of it as a well deserved vacation. I’ll take you out on the boat later and show you the area. It’s really quite nice around here” He pointed over his shoulder. “Fort Sumter.” he said. ‘They fire off a cannon every now and then. Makes a hell of a noise.”

“So you guys look happy and healthy.” Lilli said. “That’s good to see.”

“We’re finished in the kid department.” Shawna said. “I’m gonna exercise my way back into my old wardrobe and stay there.”

They all laughed about that, because they knew Shawna would do it.

Del told them a lot about the Charleston area, and how they managed to find a decent school for Lilli-Anna. He liked Charleston because it was big enough to be seen as a city but small enough to feel comfortable in. “I came from Houston and once I got clear of that, I said no more big cities for me. Maybe we went a little extreme livin’ on the boat, but there was just the two of us at the time. Now we just cruise around a bit on the weekends.”

The spent the next couple of hours chatting about anything and everything, and then Dylan started to get tired so Shawna excused herself and headed upstairs to lay down for a bit while the baby slept. Lilli-Anna politely said goodbye and went into the house.

“She’s into tennis.” Del said. “Watches it every weekend. Next year, we’ll be getting her some lessons.”

They cleaned up the dishes and jumped into Del’s car and he drove them over to the marina. Del’s wasn’t the biggest boat in the place but it was by no means the smallest. They got on board and he started the engines and they took it out down the Ashley River and up the other side to the smaller Copper River. 

They cruised around for an hour or so and then headed back to the house, by way of a bit of a tour of the downtown area. Lilli and Ethan were both impressed at just how beautiful a city it was, and how a lot of its history as a key site in the 1812 war had been preserved.

When they arrived home, it was about 4 PM and Lilli and Ethan were kind of beat. Del said he was going to pick up some ribs and salads for dinner and told them to just take it easy until then. He also was driving Lilli-Anna over to a friend’s house for a sleepover and young Dylan was in bed by seven and slept like a log so they would have the whole evening to enjoy. 

Lilli and Ethan were both pretty tired from the long trek down and just laid down on the bed and conked out for a couple of hours . They woke up at about 6:30 and headed downstairs where Shawna was feeding young Dylan in the kitchen. 

“Del was so happy that you decided to come down. He loves doing the dad thing but I guess we both kinda miss grown-ups.”

“I take it you haven’t made many friends here.”

“Not really, Just the parents of a couple of Lilli-Anna’s friends. Everybody in this neighbourhood is rich and a lot older than us, so no real neighbour friends. We’re not unhappy or anything. It’s just nice to see people who aren’t kids.”

“Well,” Ethan said. “We would have made down it sooner, but it always seemed like there was something to do. Now we have a little more time so we’ll make it down more often, It’s a nice drive if you come through Delaware and stick as close to the coast as you can.”

 Shawna cleaned up the smiling Dylan and burped him just as Del came in the back door with a large bag of dinner.

Everybody pitched in and got the table set out of the deck, which was where they did most of their eating and spent most of their time.” 

Shawna put Dylan down in a playpen full of toys and he kept himself busy all through dinner.

As they were eating, Del looked over at Lilli. “Ethan tells me you’re think’ about a novel of some sort.”

“Of some sort is the operative phrase, Del.” Lilli replied. “I started off thinking I might do something small and hardboiled like those old detective movies from the forties.”

“Sounds like you didn’t get very far with that.”

“Well I did insofar as I decided that it just didn’t feel right for me. I think it was that I fell in love with those movies when Ethan first showed them to me, and wondered if I was capable of doing something like that.

“In my opinion, Lilli, you are capable of doing just about anything and you’ve been proving that for years now. I think the real question is, do you want do to that or is it something else. Or maybe it’s not even a novel. Maybe like a short story or two in different genres to see what feels right.”

“That sounds like the kind of advice I’d be getting from my old man over there.” Lilli said.

“Maybe he just didn’t want to interfere with your decision making process.” Del said. “But you know me, I’ll interfere with anything at the drop of a hat.”

Lilli looked over at Ethan who swallowed what he was eating and said, “Well it’s good advice. And Del knows you pretty well.”

“Hmmm.” Lilli was thinking, and maybe figuratively kicking herself in the ass for not thinking about it that way. “You know, that’s not a bad idea.” And all of a sudden Lilli felt the gears in her head become unjammed. She didn’t say anything else, but Del could tell he’d hit a nerve, and so he wisely changed the subject to the ribs and other stuff and they never went back to it. But all the while Lilli was thinking and plotting and really starting to feel like herself again. 

~  Epilogue ~

Lilli and Ethan spent a very enjoyable three days with Del and Shawna and got to see a lot of Charleston in the process. On the ride home they took their time and checked out a lot of the smaller towns along the way. Four days later they were back on Long Island. They had some dinner and then almost immediately retired. 

Ethan opened his laptop and started watching an episode of Slow Horses. Lilli sat in her chair by the window and watched the moon rise. She opened a file on her laptop and started writing some notes. 

Lilli wrote for about an hour then climbed into bed with Ethan who had actually closed his laptop and was sleeping peacefully.

Over the next six months, without mentioning a word of it to anyone, Lilli began to write stories. She didn’t plan them, or outline them or break them into sections and fill them in. She just started to write. She called it organized stream of consciousness.

Her first story was called ‘Jules’ Gift’. It was about a girl named Juliet who discovered she had a strange ability to open locks of various kinds. She met a guy who was actually a high end art thief and together they travelled around the country stealing paintings and lot of other stuff from rich people using her abilities. Lilli had no idea where that story came from or any of the other eleven that she subsequently wrote. They were all just made up on the fly, from a notion or a spark from something that she saw or heard that triggered it.

She thought back to an interview that Bob Dylan had done many years earlier with Ed Bradley on the TV show 60 Minutes. Bradley asked Dylan flat out where all his ideas came from. Dylan told him he had no idea. They just spilled out of that something he called a wellspring of creativity. 

Once Lilli finally realized that, and had gotten past the phase where she working just to emulate writing that had already been done, she started to create, as opposed to manufacture, ideas. It was a real shock to her system it made her look into places she had never been before. It made her look inside, at who she was and what she wanted to say. It was not intellectual or even rational. What it was, quite simply, was her surrendering her rational mind to her creative spirit.

Over the next year, Lilli wrote and fussed a bit over a dozen stories. She didn’t tell Ethan what she was doing, and he could sense her need to keep it private. When she was done, about eight or nine months later. she printed everything out and copied all the stories onto a memory key. Then she drove into Manhattan to her lawyer Sophia Fine’s office and had the stories all legally copyrighted.

“I know you have a few movie and TV producers on your client roster,” Lilli said. “I was wondering if you could have a look at these and if you thought they were worthwhile, maybe show them to a couple of those folks.”

Sophia looked at the pile of stories, which was a good three inches thick, in front of her. Then she looked up at Lilli. 

“How long have you been working on these?” Sophia asked.

“About a year, more or less, ever since I left D.C.”

“So you’re cranking these out at a rate of one a month.”

“On average, yeah, that’s about right.”

“Christ on a cracker Lilli! That’s crazy.”

Lilli just laughed. “It took a bit of time to find the right headspace, you know, but once I did they just started coming. I know that they are well written, because I’ve been writing all my life. But it would be interesting to know if they have any commercial viability. I could self publish them and probably will and sell them or give them away through Lilli’s Lost & Found. But all the while I was writing them, I kept thinking that some of them might make half-decent movies.”

Sophia just smiled. “I’ll be happy to look them over, copyright them and register them with the Writer’s Guild, then pass them along, Lilli. Do you have a digital copy?”

Lilli reached into her purse and pulled out a memory key and handed it to Sophia.

“You really are touching as many bases as you can.”

“Yeah. But, other than some of my poetry, this is my first personal labour of love. I hope you like them.”

“Leave them with me. As they say in the corporate world, ‘I’ll run it up the flagpole and see who salutes.’”

“That would be great Soph.”

“How does Ethan feel about all this?” Sophia asked.

“You know I’m not sure. I’ll have to make him a copy when I get home. Truth be told, I was kind of hesitant to show anybody. And I don’t know why.”

Sophia laughed. “You really are a piece of work, you know.”

Four months after she had finished them, Lilli had posted the stories on the Lilli’s Lost & Found site in a special section that the girls designed for them.

A few months later, three of Lilli’s stories were optioned, transposed into screenplays and made into very good little movies. In the second year, another three more were optioned. 

One day, Lilli got a call from MacMillan's over in England. Evidently, one of their fiction editors was a big fan of Lilli’s Lost & Found in the US and happened to see them. MacMillan’s suggested a paperback. They had a good relationship with Penguin Books which were worldwide and would publish the stories in a book and have it distributed around the world. All they needed from Lilli was a title and a bio and they would do the rest.

Lillie came up with the title ‘Smoke Signals’ which everybody liked. And away they went.

 Lilli didn’t write any more stories after that. She waited around for the inspiration to strike but nothing happened. She wasn’t unhappy about it. She just shrugged it off and went back to figuring out the next move. 

Because life was a game, and if nothing else she had learned that if one inning was finished all that meant was that it was time to move on to another.

FIN