It was time for Margery to frown. “You do. Um, I’m stunned you don’t know about it.”
“Why is that,” I asked.
“Because…” Kathleen turned to her computer and started typing and clicking her mouse. “Because the account has over two million dollars in it.”
18
CASSIDY
I blinked.Stared. “I’m sorry. What?”
My hands shook and my heart started pounding. What was she talking about?
Kathleen was a lovely woman in a pretty blue dress and she seemed to know Hayes well. But what the fuck?
Kathleen’s smile slipped. “You don’t know about the account?”
I shook my head. “No. You said it’s in my name?”
“Yes. It’s a custodial account.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know what that is.”
“A custodial account is a financial account set upby an adult for a minor, allowing the adult to manage investments on the child's behalf until they reach adulthood,” Hayes said.
“That’s right,” Kathleen agreed, smiling at Hayes. “You should be a banker instead of a lawyer.” She looked at her screen. “This account was set up… eight years ago. In March.”
I’d have been–ten. “That’s when my mother died.”
Hayes tipped his head down and murmured, “Were you given money in her will?”
I shook my head. “No. I wasn’t contacted by anyone.”
“Who’s the custodian?” he asked.
“Her father, Conrad Trout.”
I popped to my feet, ran a hand over my face, then leaned on Kathleen’s desk. “My father gave me two million dollars?” I whispered.
She shook her head. “No. It was set up for you. He’s the one who’s in charge of the money.”
“Until she comes of age, which she has,” Hayes added. “She should have received notice and taken control of it herself.”
Kathleen glanced between us. “Mr. Trout should have told her.”
“He didn’t,” Hayes bit out. “Who set up the account?”
“Myers and Milken in Denver. It’s a law firm.”
Kathleen must’ve caught on that there was a problem here. That this wasn’t just a little cash that I didn’t know about. A savings account for holiday gifts that my father hadn’t mentioned to me. She went back to work on her computer as I paced behind my empty chair and Hayes’. He reached out, took my hand and swung me back so I sat on his knee. His hand rested warm and protective on my thigh. People would see us like this, but right now, I didn’t care. I needed his comfort.
“Here’s their number.” Kathleen jotted it down on a sticky note and passed it to us.
“Want to call?” Hayes asked me.
I shook my head. “You do it. I don’t know what to say.”
“Why don’t you make the call in the meeting room?” she pointed to a glass walled space that had a conference table and a few chairs.
