Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
~MAGGIE~
T his is it.
I thought the bank would be bigger. Grander. I know enough to know that people keep millions, if not billions, of dollars here to hide it from the feds. So, because it houses so much dough, I’d thought for sure it would be a big, important-looking building.
But it’s not.
It’s white and square, and if I’m being honest, it appears kind of institutional. If there weren’t huge guards with guns just inside the door, you’d think it was a hospital or something.
One of the guards checks our IDs and then escorts us to one of the bankers.
“Geez, they’re sticklers for safety,” I whisper to Cam, who just nods stiffly.
Maybe he’s more nervous than I am.
This part of the day runs pretty much the way I thought it would. We’re escorted to a little office where a banker collects my identification and the death certificate I brought with me. Then, he leaves—I assume to verify my information.
“I wonder?—”
But Cam cuts me off by leaning over to kiss me, then whispers in my ear, “We’re being watched.”
I fold my lips closed, and the nerves start to set in.
Of course, we’re being watched. Why didn’t I think of that? This isn’t your friendly neighborhood credit union, for God’s sake.
It feels like we wait forever, but when I glance at my watch, it’s only been ten minutes when a different banker returns, his face in serious lines.
“I’m Mr. Santiago,” he says. “I’ve verified that you are the beneficiary on the account in question. The death certificate is in order. How would you like the funds?”
“How much is it?”
His lips tighten.
“It’s not like I’ve been receiving regular bank statements.”
Mr. Santiago turns to the computer and taps some keys. “Seven hundred thousand, eight hundred and seventeen dollars and thirty-six cents.”
I stare at him, stunned.
That’s a hell of a lot more than five hundred thousand.
“If you issue me a cashier’s check?—”
“We should wire transfer this much money,” he says, cutting me off.
“Of course.” I glance at Cam, who nods and takes my hand reassuringly. “I’m sorry, I’m not thinking straight. I have my account information.”
“Excellent. We will transfer the funds, and you will check with your bank to ensure the money has been received.”
It takes no time at all. Before I know it, while on the phone with my bank in Washington, I’m the better part of a million dollars richer.
“Is that all?” Mr. Santiago asks.
“No.” I pull the key out of my purse. “There’s a safety deposit box here that I also need to collect.”
He goes back to tapping those keys, then hums. “I don’t see one.”
“Listed under Lemonade, LLC,” Cam replies.
More tapping.
“Here it is. Let me verify something.” Mr. Santiago narrows his eyes, scrolls through the screen, and then nods. “Yes, here it is. You are the beneficiary. I’ll show you back.”
There’s no paperwork from the money transfer, which feels a little weird to me, but I guess that’s the whole point of this place.
No paper trail.
We’re shown down a long hallway and into another small room with a table and three chairs.
“If you’ll wait here, I’ll go get the box.”
“We’ll accompany you,” Cam replies. “You understand.”
“Of course.”
The room is massive. Rows and rows of boxes, that have to be twenty feet high. Mr. Santiago finds the correct box and slides a key in, then I slide my key in, and we turn them together.
The door opens and reveals a simple metal box, just like in the movies.
“You may look through the contents here, or in the room we were in before.”
“I might need to sit down,” I reply. “Can we please go back to the other room?”
“Of course.”
He says that a lot. I briefly wonder if it’s the same as when southern women say, “ Bless your heart .”
Santiago leaves the room, and Cam and I sit next to each other, the unopened box on the table.
“Are we still being watched?” I whisper.
“Undoubtedly.”
I nod and open the extra bag I brought with me. “I’m just going to dump it in here, and then we can look through everything at the hotel.”
“I would also prefer that,” he says calmly.
I open the box and am stunned to find another box. So, I transfer it to the bag, and then Cameron and I stand to leave.
No one stops us as we make our way through the bank and outside. We don’t say a word as we walk the two blocks to the hotel, head up on the elevator, or even when we’re in the room. We just stand and stare at each other.
“Do hidden accounts collect interest?”
“As far as I know, not much.”
I nod and wonder why there was such a discrepancy between what Bill said was in there and what was really there but then shrug.
I don’t have it in me to be a super-sleuth. Like I told Cam earlier, I’m done. The money is in my account, and now it’s time to see what’s in the box.
“It’s not heavy,” Cam points out as he sets it on the table by the windows.
“With my luck, it’s empty.” I bite my lip and then reconsider. “On the other hand, that would be the best-case scenario. Okay, let’s get this over with.”
I open the lid on the white box and frown. On top is a crisp envelope with MAGGIE written in block letters.
“That’s his writing,” I mutter and pick up the envelope, setting it aside. The only other thing inside is a black velvet box, likely from a jewelry store.
“Read that first,” Cam suggests.
I pull a letter out of the envelope and begin to read aloud.
Maggie,
If you’re reading this, it’s because I’m dead, and you’ve found the account and box down here in the islands. I wonder how long it took you to find it? I think I hid it all pretty cleverly.
I’m not going to tell you where all the money came from because I don’t want you to ever be held responsible as an accessory. I’ll just say that it can’t be traced, and now it’s yours. You probably found other money in other places, but that was for Constance and Heather. I didn’t think I’d ever be a father, but I am, and I have to provide for her.
Of course, there were other women. Too many to name here. Am I sorry for that? No, not really. I’m sure it hurt you, but I have needs that you couldn’t deal with. Not your fault, just the way it is. Don’t be too hard on yourself for it.
I roll my eyes and glance up at Cam, who looks like he wants to commit murder, then I keep reading.
I’m pretty sure that everything I’ve done will catch up with me and kill me. Whether it’s because of the women and their husbands or other reasons. I won’t live to be an old man. I can’t leave this for you in a conventional account. It would be seized. This way, it can’t be.
Also, the other little present in here, well, don’t worry. It’s not stolen. I bought it, fair and square. Just another way to hide money. It’s worth about a hundred grand. Do whatever you want with it.
I know that I was a shitty husband, and you should have had better at the end of the day. But from the minute I saw you in Algebra, junior year, I wanted you for myself. And I have you. I don’t know if I love you, honestly. You can be such a royal pain in my ass, and you complain constantly, but you’re beautiful, and that’s all that really matters. Oh, and if I am dead, go ahead and tell your brothers to fuck right off. I hate those assholes.
Take the money and do what you want with it. It’s yours. And, yeah, I’m a shit, but I do hope you have a great life, Mags. Better than what you had with me.
J.
Cam takes the letter from my hands, skims it, then folds it and puts it back in the envelope.
“He was a prick,” he says at last.
“Yeah, I don’t feel so bad anymore.” I blink, surprised by how light I feel. “Okay, let’s see what this is.”
The box is hefty, and when I push the lid open, diamonds shine in the sunlight.
“Holy shit.”
Cam looks over my shoulder. “There have to be a hundred karats here.”
The necklace looks like it should be on the neck of royalty. It glitters and shines when I move it from side to side.
“What in the hell am I going to do with it?”
“You don’t have to decide today. Or any other day. Put it away, and deal with it later.”
I nod thoughtfully. “You’re right, there’s no rush. Although, I’ll never wear it. It’s…gaudy.”
I close the box and then stare over at Cam.
“It’s over.”
He nods slowly. “Was it worse than you thought?”
“No.” I ponder the question and reach for an apple from the bowl of fruit on the table. I’m suddenly starving. “Not harder. But not easy, either. About what I expected, actually.”
“And now that it’s over, how do you feel?”
“Lighter.” I take a bite of the apple. “A lot lighter, actually. You know what’s funny? That letter didn’t hurt my feelings.”
His eyebrow goes up, and he starts to protest, but I keep talking.
“I’m serious. He said so much worse to me when he was alive. I didn’t really expect much more from him. I knew he didn’t love me. You don’t treat people you love like that. And I wanted to love him. But I didn’t. Hell, I laughed at his funeral.”
“I think that probably happened out of shock,” he says kindly.
“Okay, so it took one of his mistresses yelling at me to make me laugh, but still. So, no, this didn’t hurt me. And, frankly, it sounds like he’s trying to be sweet in the letter. He was just such a complete, selfish asshole that this was as good as it got with him.”
“I suspect you’re right,” he says. “Please tell me you don’t feel weird about the money anymore.”
“I don’t.” I blink, surprised at my quick response. “I really don’t. He didn’t tell me who he stole it from, so I can’t return it. And now I can get my hot water heater fixed.”
“Wait, your water heater is broken?”
“And I can replace my car. And buy some recording equipment. But does it make you feel weird that I have more money than you?”
Both of his eyebrows go up now, and then he laughs a little. “Who says you do?”
“I…you…wait, what?”
He just laughs again and shakes his head. “We’ll have to set you up with a financial planner. You can’t just have that much money sitting in a checking account.”
“I know. Kane has a guy.”
“I have the same guy,” he says, and I’m even more intrigued.
“Cam, you never told me that your job made you rich.”
“You never asked.”
“I—”
“I said I couldn’t tell you what I did and what I do now. You never asked about the rest. I do okay.”
“Right. You do okay. Sure.”
“Why are you acting weird?”
“I’m not acting weird.”
“Yeah, you kind of are.” He reaches over and pulls me against him. “It’s just money, Mags.”
“That’s easy to say when you have it.”
He kisses my forehead. “You’re right. And I haven’t always had it. What I do can be dangerous, and I’m well compensated for it.”
“Being a computer geek is dangerous?”
His eyes close into slits, and I grin.
“Yes.”
“What could happen?”
He sighs. “Imprisonment. Death. Any combination of the two.”
My heart stutters. Death? “You have to quit.”
“Maggie—”
“You have to quit today. We have enough money. You don’t have to do that anymore. It’s too risky. Just quit.”
“Hey, I’m fine.” I shake my head, but he holds on tight. “Listen to me. I’m fine. The really dangerous days are behind me. That was mostly when I was in the Army. These days, everything is on the up-and-up and much less dangerous.”
“Don’t just tell me that to placate me, Cameron Cox. I mean it.”
“It’s the honest truth.”
I sigh and feel a little teary. I had no tears when I was dealing with the last of the Joey stuff this morning, but the very thought of losing Cam reduces me to a blubbering mess.
“If you’re lying to me, I swear to God, Cam…”
“I wouldn’t lie to you, not about that.”
“Okay. Wait, is that how you knew that we were being watched at the bank?”
“Anyone with two eyes could see the cameras. Well, anyone who isn’t preoccupied with closing her dead husband’s account, that is.”
“Yeah, I was a little distracted. Do you think they could hear us, too?”
His lips twitch up into a patient grin. “Yes. Yes, they could hear us.”
I nod and glance back down at the box. “Do you think you can find out who this necklace belongs to?”
“In about ten minutes. Come on, we’ll order up some food and I’ll start doing some digging.”
“Okay.”
“What do you want to eat?”
“My ma’s shepherd’s pie. But I’ll settle for a burger.”
“We’ll be home by tomorrow night, and you can have all the shepherd’s pie you want.”
“I’m ready to go home. Wait, why can’t we go today? I have a lot of money, Cam. I can charter a flight.”
“Okay, Daddy Warbucks, there’s no need for that. We can just see if we can change the flight to today.”
“Oh, right. Or that.”
“That money’s already burning a hole in your pocket.”
“No, I just want to go home. I want my family.”
“I get it. Okay, let’s get a flight out today, and we’ll figure out the necklace later.”
“I have to get on a flight with that thing. What if they arrest me? Holy shit, Cam, what if they seize it and arrest me for smuggling or theft?”
“You’ve watched a lot of movies, haven’t you?”
“Hey, it could happen.”
“It won’t. Just pack it in your purse. Trust me.”
“Oh, God, I wouldn’t do well in a Cayman prison.”
“I don’t know. You’d probably have a good view of the ocean.”
I slap his arm, and he laughs.
“You’re not going to prison.”
“Says the man who’s not at risk of it. Maybe I should hire the plane, after all. Less questions.”
“You’re a bit of a drama queen. You know that, right?”
“If I booked a charter flight, we could join the mile-high club.”
He laughs and then swats me on the butt. “Don’t tempt me.”