Free Fool Me Once by Fern Michaels

Lowell shrugged out of his down jacket and ran to his white-faced daughter, who was shaking from head to toe. The jittery dogs at his feet danced and pranced as they tried to make sense out of the high-pitched babble around them. “What? For God’s sake, what happened, Ollie?”
    â€œRead this! Just read this!” Olivia shrieked. “Your wife is a thief!” She corrected herself. “Was a thief. Her friends are thieves! She robbed a damn bank! She wants me to…she wants me to…Read the letter, Dad!”
    Dennis reached for the yellow sheets of paper in his daughter’s hands. He had to pry her fingers loose. “Ease up, Ollie. Ease up.” Olivia relaxed her hold on the letter and handed it over. She started to pace as her father read the letter. “Well?” she shouted. “Say something, Dad.”
    Dennis sat down at the kitchen table. “I don’t know what to say, Ollie. I never had a clue. Not one. For some reason, though, it doesn’t surprise me. Allison was never afraid to take risks. What does surprise me is that she convinced Jill and Gwen to go along with her. Obviously, that little caper was something she couldn’t pull off on her own. Don’t look at me like that, Ollie. Don’t blame me for this.”
    Olivia ran her fingers through her hair. The color was coming back into her face. “I’m not blaming you, Dad. She wants me to…The nerve, the gall of the woman! She said she had no maternal feelings. She made these arrangements because…because it was the right thing to do. Damn her to hell! I’m not doing it! No one can make me do this. Almost forty years later she wants me to return the money, anonymously. She’s still not willing to take responsibility for what she did. Explain that to me, Dad.”
    â€œI can’t, honey. No one can make you do anything you don’t want to do. The letter was sealed. That has to mean the lawyer doesn’t know what’s in it. I seriously doubt Allison, I mean Adrian Ames, would have confided in her attorney even though the communication would have been privileged. Don’t even think about buying me a boat anonymously.”
    Olivia continued her frantic pacing to the annoyance of the four scampering dogs as they circled and whined at her feet. “We need to make some coffee, and we need to put something in it.” She ran water until it cascaded over the pot and down to the floor. The dogs lapped it up. Then she spilled coffee grounds all over the counter. Her father reached for the paper towels to clean it up. “How much brandy do we need to dull our senses to make this all go away, Dad?”
    â€œIt’s not going to go away, Ollie. You have to deal with it. Like it or not, she was your mother. I hate to say this but…a person’s last wishes should… be honored .”
    Hands on her slim hips, eyes dark with rage, Olivia glared at her father. “Okay, you do it! You were the one who was stupid enough to marry her! Oh, God, Dad, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. Well, I did sort of mean it. How in the hell did she get away with robbing a bank? Think, Dad.”
    The phone took that moment to ring, saving Dennis from a reply. He turned around to pick it up and growled a greeting. “Lea!” Dennis listened, a frown building on his face. “Let me talk to Ollie, and I’ll call you back. Oh, yes, it’s cold here. There’s a good bit of snow on the ground. It might snow again before the day is out. Give me an hour or so, and I’ll call you back.”
    â€œIs something wrong?” Olivia asked after her dad hung up the phone.
    â€œNot really. My fishing party is arriving early. They want to add a couple of extra days to their itinerary. If I want the charter, I’ll have to leave tonight. Otherwise, I’ll have Lea turn it over to Daimon.”
    Olivia felt her eyes well up. “It’s okay, Dad.