George reached over and grabbed his phone, dialing a number he knew by heart. "Hey, Ford, can you come over? I need a little help with something."
"Yeah, I'll be right there."
Sure enough, five minutes later the front door banged open and Ford walked in. It kind of helped that he lived in an apartment two floors down.
"What's up?"
"Lock the door."
Ford raised an eyebrow, but did as George asked.
George got up and walked over to the radio, turning it on loud enough to muffle their words, but not so loud that they couldn't hear each other talk.
Ford's forehead furrowed as he walked closer. "What's going on? Are you okay? You're acting all weird."
Ford would know. Not only was he George's best friend, but he was also his cousin. They'd been born a week apart. Being so close in age, they'd always been lumped together. The good part was that they'd become best friends.
"Come here." George waved Ford over to his laptop, then pointed to the screen. "Look at those numbers."
Ford squinted down at the screen. "9-27-42-43-58-6. Okay. Why am I looking at them?"
George held out the lottery ticket. "Now look at these numbers."
"9-27-42-43—" Ford gasped. His hand started to shake. "George."
"I know, right?"
"9-27-42-43-58-6. Jesus, George. You have all the numbers right, every damn one of them."
"Yeah." George swallowed tightly as he pushed his glasses up his face. "That's a lot of money, Ford."
One point six billion dollars.
He couldn't even say it.
"Shit." Ford's eyes grew huge. "You need to talk to Dad before you do anything."
"You think he could help me with this stuff?"
"Uh, yeah. Dad's a CPA. This kind of stuff is right up his alley."
George chuckled nervously. "Fancy a trip to Paris? Or a new car?"
He could afford it now.
"I wouldn't turn down a cup of coffee," Ford said.
And that was why Ford was his best friend. Even with a billion dollars on the line, Ford wouldn't take advantage of him.
"Come on." George tucked the lottery ticket into his pocket then grabbed his jacket. "I'll buy you a cup of coffee after I stop at the bank."
Ford lifted an eyebrow. "Dude, I can pay for my own coffee."
"No, it's not that. I have money. I need a safety deposit box. I don't want anything to happen to this ticket before I have a chance to turn it in."
"You should take a picture of it."
"I already did."
