give you this.” Romana took out an envelope from her bag. The envelope was heavy and thick.
“What’s this?”
“It’s $50,000 in cash,” Romana answered with a grin. “It’s an apology gift, and he said you don’t have to pay it back. Isn’t that great? If I were you, I’d open an account downstairs and deposit at least half of this.” Her smile lit Diana’s heart like a match to dry tinder. She shook her head and stood speechless.
“I should go back and thank him!” But Romana grabbed her arm gently, and stopped her.
“Oh, no, dear. He’s very busy right now. It’s amazing how much work he does, and he can do it all while drinking brandy!” She giggled, and Diana laughed.
“Now, when you get to your hotel, I want you to make sure all your documents are in order and make copies of them. When you come back to this bank tomorrow, go to the first floor. Sign for a safe deposit box, and put the originals in it so they can’t be ruined or lost. Next to the bank is a Notary Public. Have the copies made official, and then do your business with the other firms you need.” Romana dropped her smile. “But whatever you do, don’t come back up here. Don’t come to this floor, don’t talk to Jenny, and don’t try to see Mr. Rosenbaum.” Diana thought that it was an odd statement. “Mr. Rosenbaum will be out of the office as of today,” Romana continued, returning her smile. “He’s a very busy man.”
“So, you know him?” Romana nodded, her eyes barely closing.
“Yes. I know him very well. That’s why I was able to secure this for you. He, shall I say, owed me a favor.” Diana grabbed hold of the woman and embraced her fiercely.
“I can’t believe this is happening!” Diana couldn’t hold back her tears then, but this time they were tears of newfound jubilation. “I don’t know how to thank you, Romana! I don’t know what to say!” The woman rocked the young woman in her arms.
“Don’t you worry about a thing, my dear. Now, let’s leave, shall we?” They stepped into the elevator together. As the doors closed, Romana got on her smart phone. “This will only take a second.” She handed Diana a business card. “If you need anything while you’re in New York, anything at all, you can call me at this number.” Romana kept her smile as her call was answered.
“Temujin, this is Venus. The Piper’s been paid.” Diana didn’t look, but thought about the oddness of the statement. Venus?
“Understood. Good-bye.” She replaced her phone in her bag and looked at Diana again. “Sorry about that. So much business, so little time!” Diana dismissed the phone call completely, wanting to express her gratitude.
“How about joining me for dinner tonight, Romana?” Diana asked gleefully. “My treat, any restaurant you like!” Romana smiled appreciatively.
“Honey, I’d love to! I really would, but I have a few other personal appointments tonight that I just can’t cancel. Maybe some other time.”
“Well, then here’s my card,” Diana offered. “And my cell number. I’ll be here for two weeks, but then I’ll return after awhile to live and start the business.”
“It would be my honor to come to your opening day!” Romana announced. When the elevator reached the ground floor lobby, the two hugged once more before going their separate ways. Diana watched the woman walk out of the massive glass front doors of the bank, still smiling at the events that had just transpired.
She took a number for the next available bank associate under the NEW ACCOUNTS area, then took a seat in the plush waiting room lounge. She opened the folder and scanned the documents. They were all signed and stamped. She shook her head unable to believe the change of luck she had with the meeting of that woman. She figured by the way she was dressed that she was a corporate big shot. She wondered what it would be like to have so much power and influence.
Confident and excited, she put the envelop of cash into her bag. While securing the folder of documents, the business card Romana had given her fell on the carpeted floor. She picked it up and examined it for the first time in detail. It was simple. There was the name: ROMANA ‘VENUS’ POWERS at the top with her mobile number. There was no office address, email address, or occupation. In the center of the card in a larger font was her company: PIPER’S, Inc. And beneath that was a short statement:
“In the end, we all must pay the Piper.”
She grinned as she considered the clever correlation of the company name with the company slogan. Carlos had told the class of the fairy tale and legend of the Pied Piper, and thanked God she had been in his class. But what did she say in her short phone call? ‘The Piper’s been paid?’ And who is Temujin? Why did she call herself Venus? It didn’t matter. She’d just met the woman, after all. Everyone has his or her own world.
She finally arrived at her motel room a little after 6 P.M. She had taken a nice walk through the town just to enjoy the fresh air and the fresh possibilities she now had. What a game changer Romana turned out to be! She smiled the whole way home thinking of the innocent yet powerful way this woman had entered her life. The way she was dressed showed that she must have been a very important, respected and wealthy woman. But her smile, her warmth and her empathy proved that some people can be kind souls despite their wealth.
She dropped the documents, her bag, keys and a bottle of water on the table after entering the motel room. Like second nature, she took the remote control and turned on the TV as she stripped off her clothes and turned on the water in the bathtub. As the water warmed, she poured in various beauty oils and salts that she had brought along. She came out of the bathroom and stopped. She took the remote and turned up the volume when she saw something strangely familiar on the TV. A newscaster was standing in front of the very bank she had done business with.
“And now back to our breaking story. Sheldon Rosenbaum, the director of operations and loans at Trust National Bank in Rochester, was found dead in his office late this afternoon.”
“Oh, my God!”
“Police stated that a 9-1-1 call was placed by Rosenbaum’s secretary Jenny Price, sometime after 5:30 P.M. after he wouldn’t answer his office phone. Price stated that when she entered his office, Rosenbaum was lying face down on his desk. Thinking he was taking a nap, Price tried to wake him, but after several attempts she realized he wasn’t breathing, and called for emergency services.
“He was pronounced dead at the scene. As of this hour, no official word on the cause of death has been confirmed by the county coroner. But EMT responders said that there was an empty bottle of brandy next to Rosenbaum when he was found. There is speculation that he had suffered from what is called Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy, a type of heart attack that occurs when large amounts of alcohol hit the blood stream and then the heart at a very fast rate. People who binge drink suffer from this condition.”
“Empty? That bottle was full when he poured me a drink!” Diana couldn’t believe that he just chugged it all when she and Romana left the building. “How could he do that? That bottle was huge!”
“Over the last decade, Rosenbaum had been accused of racketeering, corruption, coercion, money laundering and extortion, but prosecutors were never able to prove the facts nor bring his cases to court. Many felt he paid off judges, grand jury members, lawyers and politicians to protect himself. Last fall, he was heard boasting at a fundraiser that he was “the true untouchable” in New York. Sheldon Rosenbaum is dead today at 56. We will bring you more of this breaking story when details become available. Please
