“Three million dollars?”
“Correct.”
“And I have access to the account?”
“Since you have custody of Josephine, yes.”
This was insanity. Three million dollars. My brother’s life insurance was three million dollars. The money was put in a trust account for Josephine and as her guardian, I had access to it all. Anna’s crazy pursuit made so much more sense now. She wanted the money.
I wish I could just get rid of it all. We’d been doing fine so far. If I knew Anna at all, things would get worse. A lot worse. She was desperate for the money and would try anything to get it. It scared the shit out of me. I couldn’t lose Josie. The money I didn’t care about. We were happy the way things were going. That just left the question as to how Anna got the money for a lawyer in the first place.
“So if I was to give the money away, I could? Hypothetically, of course.”
Jethro Lancaster, Nate’s lawyer who had drawn up the will and was currently sitting behind his desk, looked like he had bitten into a moldy lemon. “Excuse me?” he asked in his polite, posh way that fit his suit-clad, expensive-watch-wearing self to a T. Even his hair looked like he had polished it. I had to resist the urge to touch it when I first walked in. It was just too perfect. Maybe he was wearing a wig.
“If I wanted to get rid of the money. Could I do that?” He wasn’t old, I guessed him to be around mid-thirties, surely his hearing wasn’t that bad yet.
He put his elbows on the large mahogany desk and put his fingertips together. “Why on earth would you want to get rid of the money?”
“Hypothetically speaking, what if there was someone trying to get their hands on the money and I didn’t want them to have it. Could I just give it all away? Maybe to a charity?”
“Since you have custody of the child, you have control over half the money to make sure you can take care of the child. This has been stated very clearly in the will.”
“Hypothetically, what if that person could get custody of Josie, could they get the same access to the money?”
“Yes, the money is directly linked to Josie. She will gain control once she turns twenty five.”
“How about the animal shelter. Hypothetically. Could I give it to them?”
“You could give it to the acapella group down at the library if that’s what you wish to do. There are no stipulations on how the money should be used as long as you take care of the child.”
“That still leaves over a million dollars.”
“It does.”
“Could I put it all away for her for college?”
“I doubt she would need that much money to go to school.”
“What if she did?”
His sour, moldy lemon face scrunched up more, telling me he was done with the conversation. “You can do whatever you want with the money.”
“So, I should just get rid of it then. At least the half that I have access to. The other half will be protected.”
“It is not my place to tell you what to do.”
If he was an eye roller, he would be dizzy by now from all the eye rolling he would have been doing. I grabbed my bag, shook his hand and walked outside, my head spinning.
How did I not know about all the money? I knew Nate had set up an account for Josie, but I’d never checked how much was in there. It wasn’t relevant since whatever amount he left her would always be hers. I wouldn’t touch it.
What was I going to do? I didn’t know how Anna knew about the money but since the money was the only reason I could come up with that explained her sudden interest in Josie, she must have found out about it somehow. It was safe to assume she also knew how much was there. She wouldn’t go crazy over a thousand bucks. Maybe I should just pay her off. But if she knew how much was there, she would keep coming back until all the money was gone. And knowing her, it would run out quickly. Drugs and booze were expensive, especially if you consumed them in as large quantities as she did.
I was standing outside the lawyer’s office, contemplating my options, when someone stopped in front of me.
“Well if it isn’t the little whore who thinks she is better than me.”
I looked up at a sneering Anna. She was dressed in her usual outfit of short jean skirt and tight top that was at least a size too small with her boobs spilling out the top. I tried to step around her to get away without causing a scene in public but she wasn’t having it.
