Chapter 12

Kris and I were at Teterboro to meet the arriving flight at one o’clock. Terry was taking advantage of the opportunity to augment her wardrobe but said she would be at the apartment by the time the four of us returned.

We were alerted when my G-5 was on final approach and watched with interest as it flared out and touched down. The pilot was good. He just kissed the runway and rolled out, then turned off on a taxiway. The plane rolled to a stop and the stairs came down. A few minutes later, they were cleared by customs and immigration and the two girls came rushing down to greet us.

They were literally bubbling over with enthusiasm for their very first flight in an aircraft. Like Kris, they had no memory of first arriving at the Institute, and while they might have been flown in they had no memory of it. It turned out that their flight was essentially a nonstop airborne banquet. The service began as soon as they reached cruising altitude and didn’t end until they were on final. They absolutely adored it.

For my part, I had two checks made out to Cash for $5,000 each, which I presented to the grinning crew. “I wanted them to really enjoy the flight, and they certainly did. Thank you!”

“Thank you,” they both replied.

Then the captain said, “Never have we had the experience of flying two such beautiful young women. And they were so happy, they were just bubbling over. It was really a great flight for us, too.”

We gathered up a few of their things and headed back. I was actually driving myself this time, taking my BMW M-5 out for an airing. We pulled into the garage beneath the building and then drove into my private garage inside it. There was parking for 20 vehicles, but only four of the spaces were then in use.

“Good grief!” Tina exclaimed, “what is this?”

“It’s a garage, turkey!” Kris replied disdainfully. “What the hell does it look like?”

Neither girl replied. They just looked around with their eyes wide.

We went straight up to the apartment in my private elevator car. Like Kris before them, they were dazzled with the whole thing, and even more dazzled by the apartment when we showed them around. We finished at the suite we put them in and again they oohed and aahed, particularly at the bathroom with its giant shower, sunken tub, two sinks and a bidet. Their sitting room was very comfortable with two computers, a large-screen TV and lots of bookcases. The girls adored it.

We went into the library where Terry was waiting for us. The girls screamed — why do women always do that? — and exchanged hugs and kisses. Clearly this was a wonderful reunion of old friends.

When things quieted down, I served Dom Pérignon to welcome them to New York.

At that point Liz opened her purse and pulled out an envelope. Seeing what her friend had done, Tina did the same thing. Liz said, “Mr. Wilkerson gave us each a letter as we were leaving, but he also gave us strict instructions only to open them here in New York in your presence.” Looking at me she asked, “So may we?”

The instant I saw the letters, I knew exactly what Wilkerson had done. And I blessed him for it! He wanted me to have the pleasure of seeing the looks on the girls’ faces when they learned that they were now wealthy.

Liz began to read:

My Dear Liz:

First, I want to take this opportunity to thank you for all you’ve done here at the Institute. The contributions you have made, along with the other Carriers, has been incalculable. (And yes, I am aware of the nickname of your group and its provenance. Personally, I think you are three of the most beautiful women ever to be at the Institute.)

But the fact is that you have impressed others very much, too, most particularly including Mr. W. Cameron Harris, III. Indeed, he was so impressed with you all that he established special bequests for both of you. I told you about your “allowance”. What I didn’t tell you was its source. You see, Mr. Harris has given you a gift of one million dollars.

She and Tina both just sat there, stunned. Then with her hands shaking so hard she could scarcely unfold the paper, she opened the accompanying check and found it was for more than $1 million. Clearly, Wilkerson had carried out my wishes precisely. The additional money represented its interest earnings, less whatever money she had spent.

“My God!” she gasped. Then she asked Kris, “Did he give you $1 million, too?”

“Tina knows the answer to that one,” Kris replied. “She set it up. My agreement is contingent on me being paid nothing.”

Then she snapped her fingers as if she had just remembered something. She punched me hard on the arm and said, “But you owe me, Cam Harris! Now pay up!”

“Huh... ?” I so-intelligently replied.

“Your father is a lawyer, and so are you. You know the law: A contract isn’t binding unless a consideration is offered and accepted. And you’ve never paid me!”

“Consideration? What consideration?” I was genuinely baffled.

“Now look here, Mr. Harris, it says right there, plain as day, ‘$1 and other valuable considerations.’ You owe me a buck and you never paid. Now pay up!” she repeated.

God, I love this girl. Then I remembered that I had a pocketful of change, but I went back to our bedroom. There on the top of my dresser I keep a bank into which I dump my pennies. Retrieving my penny bank, I went back to the library and sat at my desk. There I carefully counted out 50 pennies and was able to find six nickels along with a couple of dimes to make up the dollar.

Carefully I counted it again in front of Kris, then pushed it over to her.

“Do you want a receipt?” she asked acidly.

“It’s really not necessary, but if you want...”

At that point she lost control and began giggling uncontrollably. When she regained control sufficient to speak again Kris asked, “Why didn’t you pay it all in pennies? It’s obvious you have far more than a hundred in there.”

I raised an eyebrow and said, “I’m a lawyer, but you are, too. Surely you know the answer to that.”

Slowly she shook her head, looking chagrined.

I grinned at her, causing her actually to blush. “It’s because pennies are legal tender only to 50 cents, and small change only to five dollars or so. I’ve forgotten the actual limit on that one. But it doesn’t apply to silver dollars. They are legal tender for all debts, public and private.

“It’s funny, too. Some years ago, as a protest against inflation or some such, a guy went to the Bursar’s Office at Princeton to pay his entire tuition bill with silver dollars. They were about to flatly refuse when someone had the good sense to call the university’s attorney. They asked him if they had to accept payment in silver dollars. The attorney replied, ‘Only if you want to get paid for this year. If you don’t accept it — if you refuse it — he attends free of charge. Your student will have offered payment in full in legal tender, and you would have refused his offer.

“‘Not smart!’

“They accepted his payment.”

By this time Tina had read her letter and it said essentially the same things that Liz’s did. Neither girl bothered to read the balance of the letter aloud.

But they both sat there looking at me with tears streaming from their eyes. It was Tina’s turn to speak. “Cam, how can we ever thank you? No one in the world does things like this for anyone, least of all two partially reconstructed whores!”

“Golly, Tina,” I replied with a grin, “I thought you’d never ask!” With that I gave them my very best Groucho Marx-imitation leer.

“Oh, hell!” Tina responded, “if you want to take it out in trade, that would be delightfully easy to arrange.” Then with a leer of her own she added, “Liz has already had her first, so I’m next!”

“It might be easy to arrange with him,” Kris interjected, “but not while I’m around. Unless you’re really tired of living, that is ... You do know I’m capable of easily beating the shit out of you, and would do it gladly!”

All four girls started howling with laughter at that one.

The next morning we started in on the project for which I had brought the girls to New York. When I explained that I wanted a look at my own company’s files that Sylvia had password-protected, I asked Tina if she could do it.

She raised an eyebrow and commented, “Get serious! Can I get in? Is the Pope Catholic?” Then she frowned, looked at Liz and asked, “Don’t you think I should feel insulted?”

Liz just giggled.

Tina’s fingers began flying over the keyboard while she remarked, “Know something? This is the first legal hacking I’ve ever done in my life!” Then her face fell and she added, “Oh my gosh! What if my friends ever found out... ? That I hacked a computer legally...”

Turning to me she shook her head and said, “Cam, I really don’t think I can do this after all. If word ever got out... ! I would never live it down! There’s not a chatroom in the world I could ever show my face in without being laughed out ... Oh, the shame...”