A Family Divided

by Tom Berreman

  He recounted everything that happened after the crash of the vase woke him, then got onto his hands and knees to crawl under the bed, emerging with the syringe. He also picked up a large shard of glass, red with the orderly’s blood.

  The doctors would later determine the syringe contained a substantial dose of potassium chloride, an overdose of which could cause a heart attack. It would also be difficult to detect in an autopsy.

  Hospital security personnel viewed surveillance camera images and determined the man Joshua chased was not an orderly employed by the hospital. The police took the glass shard Joshua had collected to run DNA in case the orderly imposter was a criminal in the police database. They also traced the license plate number written on Joshua’s palm to a late model Camry stolen the day before.

  The man who attempted to end Curt’s life had escaped, at least for now.

  Chapter 22.

  “What’s with the cops?” Brent asked his siblings as he walked into the intensive care waiting room. It was more crowded than he’d seen before, with several nearby couches occupied by grieving families. Two uniformed police officers at the nurses’ station prompted his question.

  “A guy dressed as an orderly tried to kill our father early this morning,” Joshua said. “I woke up and chased him. But he got away.”

  “Jesus…,” Brent said. “Who in hell would want to kill our father?”

  “I don’t know, but Jessica and I were talking. We agree it’s time we reach a decision whether to remove Dad from life support.”

  “I don’t want you guys to take this wrong, but there is something we need to consider.” He laid a copy of their father’s will on the coffee table. “If we take Dad off life support, and Laura’s family keeps her on life support…, and she lives thirty days…, she inherits everything, all Dad’s money and property.”

  “The company too?” Jessica asked.

  “Yup.”

  “Sounds confusing, don’t we need a lawyer to figure this out?”

  “Yeah, I hired a lawyer named Allen Ginsburg. But I’m sure he’ll agree.”

  Brent had not consulted with Ginsburg or informed him of the conflicting health care directives. He studied his siblings’ reactions and, based on his sister’s, was confident he was at least halfway toward his goal.

  “Come on Brent,” Joshua said. “If that’s what Dad wanted, more power to him. If he wanted us to get the company, he would have set it up that way. Besides, don’t we each get a half a mill from that Crummey thing?”

  Curt Jennings established a $1.5 million Crummey Trust naming his three children equal beneficiaries. The trust, funded by a life insurance policy and structured to shelter part of his estate from taxation under certain well-defined circumstances, provided each of them with five hundred thousand dollars tax free upon his death.

  Joshua thought it was a fortune.

  Jessica thought it would solve her financial problems, and maybe save her marriage.

  Brent thought it was irrelevant, his goal to run a billion dollar company.

  “And that’s great,” Brent continued. “But the company is worth at least a hundred million. And does his trophy wife and her bastard son deserve it more than we do?”

  Brent regretted saying it the minute it left his lips, recalling how Laura and his brother had developed a close relationship.

  “Fuck you Brent!” Joshua replied, standing, a pair of lasers aimed at his brother. “Dad loved Laura, he has for over fifteen years, and I’m sorry you can’t get over that. And you’re telling us we should hope she dies? You are one sick fucker!”

  “Shut the fuck up!” Brent responded. He stood and aggressively approached his brother, his fists clenched.

  “Please guys, keep your voices down,” Jessica whispered as she stood between them to subdue the conflict, noticing the stares of others in the room.

  Joshua just shook his head, but before he responded Ryan walked into the room.

  “Hey Aunt Allison,” he said as he rushed across the room and embraced Laura’s sister who stood from the couch next to where Jessica and Joshua had been sitting. Each in the family powwow turned together, and three sets of Jennings’ eyes focused on a spitting image of their father’s new wife.

  Jason and Allison overheard their entire conversation.

  * * *

  “Tell us what happened this morning,” Allison said to Ryan.

  Following the awkward waiting room encounter with Curt Jennings’ children, Allison, Jason and Ryan retreated to a small conference room used for confidential doctor-patient consultations. Allison introduced Jason to Ryan and explained he was an old friend willing to help them sort through legal issues.

  “There’s not much I can tell you. All I’ve heard is that an orderly was in Curt’s room with a syringe. Joshua was sleeping in the recliner and woke up when the guy tipped over a flower vase. He chased him to the parking lot, but he got away. He got the guy’s license plate, but the police said it was a stolen car. Turns out he wasn’t a hospital employee, just some guy dressed like an orderly trying to inject Curt with some drug that would cause a heart attack.”

  “How well do you know Curt’s children?” Jason asked, hoping to gain insight into the conversation they overheard in the waiting room before Ryan arrived.

  “Not a lot, Curt and Mom were pretty close to Joshua. They went to San Francisco to visit him, like once or twice a month. They brought me along a couple times, he’s a pretty cool guy. They didn’t see Jessica much, she was always too busy, with three young kids and a husband who worked too much. But I overheard them talking a few times, mostly about Brent.”

  “How so?”

  “Like Curt didn’t trust him, like he was trying to weasel into his company. Not sure what he meant by that, but it didn’t sound too good.”

  Joshua may have been right with his accusations, and it must have something to do with Curt’s will.

  “Ryan, here’s what we should do,” Jason said. “You and your aunt go back to your house, try to get settled. The doctors told us there’s nothing more we can do here, they’ll call us if anything changes. I need to talk to Brent about boring lawyer stuff.”

  “Okay,” Ryan said.

  “We can touch base again in the morning.”

  “What do you mean in the morning? You’re staying at our house tonight, right?”

  Jason sensed Ryan took a liking to him right away and wanted as much family around as possible in this difficult time.

  “No, I’ll find a hotel close by, it’s just--”

  “That’s ridiculous,” Ryan interrupted. “Before Curt and my mom got married, he built a small guest house overlooking the ocean. I guess they figured with a whole new side of the family they’d have more overnight guests. You can stay there.”

  Jason turned to Allison for help in deciding. She just smiled and shrugged her shoulders. Finally, he succumbed.

  “Okay, okay. You win. I’ll meet you there later. We can order Chinese takeout…, or pizza…, or--”

  “Pizza,” Ryan said, this time with a wide smile. “But it has to be a Jumbo Supreme from Carbone’s.”

  “Jumbo Supreme from Carbone’s it is then.”

  Allison and Jason glanced at each other, both noticing Ryan smile for the first time since they arrived.

  Chapter 23.

  Waiting to meet with Brent, Jason noticed a woman in a California Highway Patrol uniform emerge from the doctor’s office.

  “Excuse me, ma’am,” he said as he approached her. “I’m legal counsel for Laura Dahlstrom Jennings. Are you here for the accident investigation?”

  “Yes,” she replied, sounding business like and eager to cut the conversation short. “I’m here to pick up the toxicology reports.”

  “I appreciate you can’t disclose any official response until the investigation is complete. But, off the record, do you have any preliminary findings?”

  “You’re right, I can’t give you anything official. But off the recor
d, Ms. Jennings’ blood alcohol was high, point oh nine, but she wasn’t driving so it’s not relevant. Mr. Jennings’ was at point oh six, not legally intoxicated, but high enough to be a contributing factor.”

  “Anything else? Off the record.”

  “A witness to the accident was driving northbound, and he jotted down the license plate of a motorcycle that was passing traffic at a high rate of speed on a double yellow center line. He might have caused Mr. Jennings to panic, but we can’t be sure. We contacted the owner, a guy named Larry Reinhardt. Our officers talked to him but he reported the bike stolen a few days before and had a rock-solid alibi, he was nowhere near the accident scene. We never followed the lead any further.”

  “Anything else?”

  “We can’t rule out brake failure.”

  “On a brand new, four hundred thousand dollar car?”

  “I know it sounds unlikely, but there were no skid marks at the accident scene indicating hard braking as you would expect. And hydraulic lines to the master cylinder were severed. But we haven’t been able to determine whether it was accident damage or the cause of the accident. Off the record,” she added.

  “By cause of the accident, are you suggesting foul play?”

  “No comment, on or off the record.”

  * * *

  Jason and Brent sat in the same conference room where he talked with Allison and Ryan earlier.

  “This is a tough time for everyone involved,” Jason said, “and I’m sure you view me as an outsider intruding into your family’s affairs.”

  Brent just looked him in the eyes, expressionless, saying nothing.

  “But given the unique family dynamics,” Jason continued, “it’s important we resolve any unanswered questions sooner rather than later.”

  “Like what?” Brent replied.

  “First is whether Curt or Laura…, or both…, have a health care directive. Allison has a copy of Laura’s will, she thinks it’s the most current, naming her as Ryan’s legal guardian and executor of her estate if both she and your father are deceased.”

  “I’m well aware of that.”

  “But she’s unsure whether she has a health care directive.”

  “I wouldn’t know about that.”

  “Does your father have a health care directive?”

  “I don’t think so. I’ve been through his personal files and have found no such document.”

  “Okay.” Jason sighed at Brent’s reluctance at being forthcoming, then continued. “As Curt’s oldest child, I assume you’re the executor of his estate if both Laura and your father are deceased.”

  “Yes, that is correct.”

  “Come on, Brent,” Jason said, frustrated by his uncooperative attitude. “Like it or not, you’ve got to work with me here. What documents do you have to help us sort through this mess?”

  “I’ve gone through the personal files my dad kept in his desk at the office, and all I found were copies of his and Laura’s wills. No health care directives. I haven’t checked his safe deposit box yet, I’ll let you know when I do.”

  Brent had assumed his dad kept copies of any important personal documents in his office. He always had when he and his mom were married, most likely to keep her from snooping through his home office files when he was away. But things might have changed.

  “But now that I think about it,” he continued. “I should come to the house and go through the files in his home office in case he has documents there.”

  “No, that’s okay, Allison and I are staying at the house with Ryan. We can review the files. And trust me, I’ll share anything we find with you. In the meantime, can I get a copy of your dad’s will?”

  “You’ll see it in the normal course. I’ve hired Allen Ginsburg, an attorney with Jamison Mattoon & Thorsby, to represent our family’s interests. Here’s his card. From now on it’s better that you deal directly with him.”

  Brent’s deferral to his lawyer, followed by silence, told Jason this meeting was over. He recalled Joshua’s accusations that Brent hoped Laura would die before Curt and the highway patrol’s suggestion that foul play may have caused his father’s fatal accident. Resolving the legal issues he faced was growing more complicated every day.

  He began to regret his decision to leave Grand Marais.

  Chapter 24.

  “I can see why you insisted on Carbone’s Jumbo Supreme,” Jason said after finishing his second slice. “That’s the best pizza I’ve ever eaten.”

  Ryan smiled as he reached for his fifth slice, attesting to a fifteen-year-old boy’s insatiable appetite. Jason and Allison each sensed comfort in Ryan, that while his mom’s condition hadn’t improved, at least he was home with the only family he had left.

  The three sat on the back deck of Curt and Laura’s home enjoying their pizza with an incredible Pacific sunset as a backdrop. The home, purchased six months before under Laura’s name, reflected his wealth and her sense of style. Perched on a small cliff overlooking the Pacific, its interior was bright and airy with many windows, off-white walls and a minimalist decorating approach. A deck overlooking the ocean wrapped around three sides and provided a walkway to the guest house. A wide staircase descended to the secluded, sandy beach below.

  The guest house perched on the cliff with similar architecture and interior design had its own small deck offering a breathtaking view of the Pacific.

  “Would you guys mind if I go up to my room?” Ryan asked after they devoured the Jumbo Supreme. “I’m tired and have a bunch of texts from my buddies asking how I’m doing. I really should respond.”

  “I think that’s a great idea,” Allison said as the three of them stood. She kissed him on the cheek before he walked into the house, leaving Allison and Jason on the deck. They walked over to the railing as the giant orange sphere disappeared beyond the horizon.

  “These beautiful sunsets can get a little boring day after day, don’t you think?” Jason said.

  “Oh, I could get used to it,” Allison replied. “We don’t get many like this in Minneapolis.”

  “When do you ever get any like this in Minneapolis?”

  “Okay, okay…, whatever.”

  After a few moments of silent contemplation, Allison spoke.

  “I’m nervous. If Laura doesn’t pull through, I’ll have a huge responsibility taking care of Ryan. It’s so overwhelming, and I’m not sure I’m up to it.”

  “Let’s just take it one day at a time. And no matter what happens, you’ll do just fine. I’m here to help you through the tough stuff.”

  “Oh Jason,” she said as she turned and hugged him. “I’m not sure what I would do if you hadn’t come with me.”

  He held Allison, but not too close, only enough to comfort her in a time of angst.

  Looking at the sunset over the Pacific he missed Lake Superior and thought of Megan. When he committed to go to California, he sent her a long email explaining why and that he might not be in touch as often. He received an out of office reply she was in the field on a story and unavailable until the next day.

  But that day had come and gone without a reply.

  The sun he was watching set would soon rise over Hong Kong, and he wished he were there with the woman he loved, waking next to her as the same sun shone into their bedroom window.

  He hoped her love for him hadn’t diminished over the months and miles of separation.

  Chapter 25.

  The early morning ocean was quiet, the small waves barely encroaching onto the sand. Several gulls soared effortlessly overhead in the light ocean breeze while a lone kayaker fifty yards off shore enjoyed a leisurely paddle.

  The cool water felt good on Jason’s bare feet as he walked the line between the ocean and the beach. He paused for a minute and looked back toward the Jennings’ beach-side home, noting the footprints he left behind. As the trail went as far as he could see, he realized he had walked a long way. But he was focused more on his thoughts than the passage of time.

  He
recalled the evening before when Allison reached out to him for comfort. As they called it a night and began to leave the deck she dropped subtle hints he spend the night in the main house instead of the guest house. But he played coy and acted as though he hadn’t heard them. He had to be careful. She still had feelings for him, and he had to show her they weren’t reciprocal.

  Then why the hell did you sleep with her?

  Just the thought of that night in Grand Marais rekindled his feelings of guilt, shame and regret. But he couldn’t undo the past, he had to look forward. But the thought forced him to recall even more of his past.

  When he entered the Capitol in his quest to stop a political terrorist from releasing a biological weapon he focused on Megan sitting in the section reserved for the press. He had to stop the attack, if for no other reason than to save her although there were hundreds of potential victims, including the president of the United States.

  He remembered waking from a week long, medically induced coma after a bomb destroyed his car, and Megan’s beautiful blue eyes were the first thing he saw. She had stayed at his bedside for his month of recovery, convincing him to leave Chatfield & Smythe and move to Grand Marais. She gave him reason to believe she would join him following her London assignment, and he looked forward to that.

  But she took a new position in Hong Kong instead.

  He stopped and walked into the ocean until his knees felt the cool water, the small waves wetting the bottom of his khaki shorts. As he looked west he saw the faint silhouette of an ocean-going ship, but couldn’t tell whether it was coming east or going west, perhaps setting sail for the far east, maybe Hong Kong. Again he thought of the sun he watched set the evening before, the sun now rising behind him in the east, the sun having set hours ago in Hong Kong.

  It made him appreciate how far apart he and Megan were, when he was in the light, she was in the dark. It made him miss her more, and he winced again at the intensity of deep regret he held for sleeping with Allison.