“Just happened last night,” Deuce said.
“Well congratulations to both of you,” I said.
Rusty pulled me aside and said, “That lawyer fella is here. Inside. You can’t miss him.” Then to the others he said, “Come on inside, y’all. Beers are on the house.”
Tina took my hand as we walked with the others up to the bar. She whispered in my ear and said, “He’s a friendly guy.”
“Sorry about that,” I whispered back with a grin. “Forget to tell you he’s a hugger.”
We went into the bar and I said to Tina, “Go make friends, I have to talk to that guy in the corner.”
She looked over at a smallish man in a blue suit and said, “The business you mentioned? He looks like a lawyer.”
“He is,” I said. “I’ll be along in a few minutes.”
I walked over to the man, sat down across from him and said, “You’re looking for me?”
“Are you Mister McDermitt?” he asked.
“Yeah, I am.”
“May I see some identification?” he asked.
“No,” I said. “Not until you tell me what it is you want.”
He pushed his glasses up on his nose and said, “My name is Greg Neff. As I said in the email, I’m here to get your signature on some documents. I represent the estate of your late wife, Alex McDermitt, nee Dubois.”
I pulled out my wallet and showed him my driver license. “What do you mean, her estate?”
“You mean you didn’t know?” he asked.
“Mister Neff, I’m not the kind of man that asks about things I already know.”
“When your wife’s parents died twelve years ago, she and her brother were named co-beneficiaries on their life insurance. When her brother died last summer, she was his beneficiary and she inherited his holdings in the estate. As her only legal next of kin, you will now inherit all of it.”
“Wait a minute,” I said. “I neither want nor need it. Isn’t there a charity you can give it to? Seems like a lot of trouble, you coming all the way down here over a few thousand bucks. We could have done this over the phone a lot easier.”
“Mister McDermitt, it’s more than a few thousand dollars and you, of course, may do with it anything you wish. My job is to simply get your signature on the documents and arrange the transfer of funds.”
He opened his briefcase and took out a file folder. Opening it, he turned it towards me and pointing to a number at the bottom of the top sheet of paper he said, “This is the total holdings of the estate.”
I glanced down, then slowly looked back up at him. “You’re kidding, right? Who put you up to this? Rusty?”
“No sir, I never joke about the estate of a deceased client. Once you sign these documents, I’ll arrange the transfer of the liquid assets, totaling $2.9 million to your bank. The rest of the holdings, totaling roughly another $5.1 million, are in stocks, bonds, and land holdings in Oregon. If you wish, my office can take care of liquidating those holdings and transfer them to your bank as well. It will be a total of $8 million, minus our fee of 10%.”
“I don’t want it,” I said forcefully.
“That’s completely up to you,” he said. “You’re free to do with it what you will. However, want it or not, it’s yours. Along with the responsibility that goes with it.”
“What responsibility?”
“Have you ever heard of the Outward Bound School?”
“Yeah,” I said. “They teach sailing to troubled teens.”
“Your late wife created a school similar to it in Oregon, called Catching It. At risk inner city kids from all over the northwest were sent there. She and several full time counselors taught them fly fishing.”
I laughed hard. When I got it together I said, “Okay, now I know you’re for real. I could totally see Alex doing that.”
“It’s become quite successful, Mister McDermitt. But now, if you’ll allow me a metaphor familiar to you, the school is like a ship without a rudder.”
“Whoa,” I said. “Don’t look at me to be that rudder, Neff. My own kids haven’t seen or spoken to me in twelve years.”
“There’s no actual contact required,” he said. “The counselors have been doing a very good job up there. Alex was looking to do the same thing down here. That’s where you’d come in. You know the people here. From what I’ve gathered, they trust and respect you. A few introductions of the schools acting CEO to local fishing guides and her permanent appointment by you, will ensure that the school not only continues, but grows and expands.”
“Okay, I can do that,” I said. “But, I still don’t want the money.”
“Like I said, it’s yours to do with what you will. You can set up a trust fund for your own kids, a college fund for kids of local fishermen, create a new wing at Fisherman’s Hospital, anything you want. I’m only hear to get your signature and arrange the transfer.”
I thought about what he’d said. Julie brought me another beer and a coffee for Neff. “Everything alright, Jesse?” she asked.
“Yeah, Jules,” I said. Then as she turned to go I said, “Hey, wait. Sit down a minute.”
She sat down and I looked at her, then at Neff and back to her. “Jules, think about this a second, okay. Suppose you won the lottery and got a whole bunch of money. What would be some of the things you’d do?”
I’d known Julie almost all her life. She never had it easy, but never complained. She and Rusty made their way in these islands doing whatever they could. I knew that she had no aspirations beyond watching the next sunset and helping her friends.
“That’s easy,” she said. “If it was enough, I’d set up a college fund for the kids of local watermen. Why?”
“What if it was more than that?” I asked.
She looked at Neff, then at me and said, “Well, I suppose dad could retire. I’d set up some kind of sharing fund, where fishermen and boaters could get repairs done, without getting ripped off by the boatyards up in Miami. Hey, what’s this all about?”
“Thanks, Jules,” I said. “I’ll tell you all about it later, okay.”
She got up and went back to the bar. I turned to Neff and said, “How do I go about doing the things like she just said?”
“I have no idea,” he said. “I’m a probate attorney and have never been to Florida until this week. I’m sure our firm can recommend a local firm for you. Now, about these documents.”
“Okay,” I said. “First thing, you got one there that appoints the acting CEO as permanent?”
“Right here on top, sir,” he said. “I like the way you think.” I signed it and initialed the parts he said.
“Next thing,” I said. “Is it possible to transfer half of the non-liquid assets to the school?”
“Yes,” he said. “That will take a week or so. My firm will draw up the documents and have them overnighted to a firm here in the Keys for you to sign.”
“Do it,” I said. “And arrange for the new CEO to come here. Alex would want her dream fulfilled, I think.”
“She’s already planning on it,” Neff said. “She was only waiting for your invitation. Her name is Cindy Saturday. She actually took lessons from your late wife years ago and has become a prominent figure in the fly fishing community.”
“I’d also like to set up exactly what Julie just said. Liquidate the other half of the non-liquid holdings and set up a college fund for kids of local fishermen and a boatyard to help out the locals. Plus one of my own, a college fund for kids of Florida’s Military men and women who are killed in action. Yeah, I think Alex would have liked that. Can you help me out with it?”
“I’ll have the firm start researching local firms that specialize in that sort of thing,” he said. “If you’ll sign these other documents transferring ownership of the estate to you, we can get started right away.”
I signed all the documents he pulled out of his briefcase and there were a lot. “All that’s left is the transfer of liquid funds. We’ll need to go to your bank and
sign these forms in front of the bank manager.”
“It’s a couple miles away,” I said. “I don’t have a car. Do you?”
He laughed and said, “Of course, Mister McDermitt. Perhaps you could get a car now.”
“No,” I said. “Alex always chided me about The Beast, that’s my car. I think I’ll get it fixed and keep it. Let’s go.”
I got up and went over to the bar where my friends were and said, “I gotta run out for a minute. Shouldn’t be more than an hour.”
“What’s going on?” Rusty asked. “Who is that guy?”
“I’ll explain it all when I get back,” I said. Then turning to Tina I said, “Will you be okay waiting here with these deadbeats?”
“Your friends are nice, Jesse. Go take care of business and hurry back.”
Neff and I left the bar, got in his car and drove to my bank. As we pulled in he said, “Perhaps you should open a new account at one of the larger banks.”
“Not a chance, Neff,” I said. “State Bank of the Florida Keys is a local bank, where they all know everyone.”
We walked inside and just as I said the bank manager, Pam Lamarre, came out of her office. “Jesse, it’s so good to see you. I missed you at the memorial service. I’m really sorry about Alex, she had become a good friend. What can we do for you today?”
“Pam, this is Mister Neff, from Oregon,” I said. They shook hands and I continued, “Mister Neff is a probate attorney for Alex’s estate. We need to make arrangements for the transfer of funds. Also, I was wondering if you could help me set up a college fund for the kids of some local watermen, and create some kind of board to oversee it.”
“I assume we’re talking about a lot of money?” she said.
“Substantial,” Neff replied.
“Look,” I said, “I don’t want to get my hands in it. If you and some of the other local leaders can handle setting up the fund and who gets allocated what, it’d be a big help to me.”
“A college fund for the underprivileged kids of local fishermen?” she said. “Yes, Alex would have liked that. Count me in. I’ll talk to some of the other people in town and I’m sure we can put together a board of about six people. Is that what you want?”
“Perfect,” I said. “Neff’s firm is going to reach out to local legal people here, to handle the legal end of it.”
We went into her office and Neff produced the last few necessary documents for me to sign and Pam to notarize. Then he handed her a cashier’s check, for the liquid assets.
Pam sat back in her chair and stared at it, “Um, Jesse, maybe you should have Bank of America handle this. This is more than double the total assets of all of our customers combined.”
“No,” I said. “Keys Bank is in touch with people around here. Those megabanks aren’t. Pam, you helped me out a lot, when I bought my island and boat. I’m not going to trust anyone else.”
“Okay,” she said. “Would you like this in large bills or tens and twenty’s?”
Neff laughed for the first time. I said, “Just put it in my savings for now and transfer $50,000 to my checking. Once you get the board set up, we’ll look at moving it into mutual funds or whatever you recommend. The bulk will probably take a while to liquidate. Neff here will arrange that transfer when it’s ready.”
“There’s more?” she said.
“Yes ma’am,” Neff said. “This is about one third of the total estate. Jesse has generously donated another third of the estate to a school that Miss DuBois, er, Mrs. McDermitt started in Oregon, to allow it to expand here. The final third he wishes to use in the creation of this charity and another to benefit the children of our fallen military people.”
“I think Alex would have liked that too, Jesse,” Pam said.
“That’s another reason I came to you, Pam,” I said as I got up. “Now, I just found out yesterday that Dan Sullivan is in town and playing over at the Anchor, so if you two will excuse me, I’ll leave the rest of this in your hands. I’ll walk back Neff. Thanks for the lift.”
I left the bank and walked back to the Anchor. I really didn’t have any need for the money, but I was going to use some of it for some ideas I had. First was to set up an aquaculture system to grow vegetables on the island. Then a stand-alone electrical system to run both it and a reverse osmosis water maker, bigger than the one on the Revenge. I wanted to talk to Deuce about moving his field operatives to the island on a more permanent basis, once this was done. Although I’d come to grips personally with the loss of Alex, there were still a lot of bad people out there and other good people being hurt by them. Santiago was dead center on my radar.
When I got back to the Anchor, I could hear Dan doing a sound check out back. I walked in the bar and it was empty except for Rufus, an old Jamaican man, who was the cook. “Dey all out bock, Cap’n,” he said. “Ahn welcome back, brudda.”
“Thanks, Rufus,” I said. He passed me a cold Red Stripe as I walked by the bar toward the back door. The new deck was impressive. The old smaller deck had been completely torn down and the new one was twice the size, with umbrella covered tables scattered around the edges and uncovered tables in the middle, maybe twenty in all. On the far side was an elevated stage. The tables were about half full, as Dan warmed up on the stage. Another younger man was behind him on a small drum set. Rusty, Deuce, Tina, Chyrel and Julie were at a table close to the canal. I noticed Julie had her guitar case leaning against the railing behind her.
Dan saw me crossing the deck toward my friends and said in to the microphone, “I’ll get started in a second y’all. First I have to say hi to someone.” He stepped down off the stage and met me half way.
“Jesse,” he said grabbing me by the shoulders. Then in a thick Irish brogue, “Ow’s your onions?”
“What’s the craic, Dan,” I said back in my best brogue.
“Been a long time, man,” he said. “Rusty told me what happened, damn shame.”
“Thanks Dan,” I said. “How was the islands?”
“Arseways at times, but a lot of fun, mostly. You gonna be around a while?”
“Here for the night,” I said.
“Yeah, I saw that big Rampage when I woke up,” he said. “Hey, I gotta get to work, we’ll talk later.” He went back to his brogue and said, “Tear your hole off the haggart, boyo.”
I went over to the table and sat down next to Tina. All eyes were on me as I took a long pull on my beer. “Well?” Rusty said.
“Well what?”
“The lawyer, ya dim witted ground pounder!” he said.
“He just needed my signature on some papers concerning Alex’s estate,” I said. “I gave most of it to charity.”
“She would have liked that,” Rusty said. “Buy some books for the school kids or something?”
“Yeah,” I lied. “Something like that.” Then I turned to Deuce and said, “I need to talk to you a minute.” I leaned over and gave Tina a kiss and said, “Be right back.”
“You better,” she said. “Or I’ll run off with Rusty.”
Deuce and I walked over to the barge, out of earshot of everyone else as Dan launched into his first song, “She Only Loves Me”.
“What’s up?” Deuce asked.
“What would you think about moving your team, at least the field operatives, to the island?” I asked him point blank.
“Books for the kids, huh? Lawyers don’t travel 3000 miles for a small estate.” he said.
“Wasn’t a lie exactly,” I said. “Alex started a kind of Outward Bound School to teach kids in Oregon to fly fish and was going to start one here. A third of her estate is going to that. Another third will be used to set up college scholarships here for kids of local fishermen and fallen warriors.”
“And the last third?” he asked.
“About $2.7 million,” I said and watched his mouth fall open.
“You’re kidding.”
“No,” I said. “I thought we could set the island up to be completely self-sustainable an
d use it as an operating base for training. What do you think?”
“That’s really generous, Jesse. But, we have a state of the art training facility at Homestead.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I was thinking something more basic, not high tech training. Somewhere that nobody can see what’s going on, next to a town full of gossips.”
“You have a point,” he said. “What do you mean by self-sustainable?”
I gave him a brief rundown on my idea to grow and catch our own food, make our own water and add to the accommodations. “Give me five men and a week and I can have things ready to house the whole team. Two months later and food won’t be a problem.”
“I like the concept,” he said. “Especially just before a mission. Isolated training and planning. I’ll talk to Smith, see what he thinks.”
“Just Smith now?” I said sarcastically. “Not ‘the ADD’ or ‘the Director’?”
“Your insubordinate ways must be rubbing off on me,” he said with a grin.
“Want to go diving tomorrow?” I asked. “Me, you, Julie, and Tina?”
“Just a fun dive?” he asked. “Nothing to blow up or people to kill?”
“Yeah, I was thinking of Conrad Reef,” I said. It was where we’d taken Deuce’s dad’s ashes almost five months earlier.
“Sounds like fun,” he said.
We went back to the group and I noticed there were a lot more people on the deck. More than forty, at least. Rusty looked happy.
Dan finished his first song and said, “I’d like to have a friend join me on this next number. Julie?”
Julie got up, took her guitar from the case and stepped up on the stage. “Miss Julie Thurmond, everyone,” Dan said into the microphone. “This is a new song I wrote and Julie’s gonna back me up on guitar. It’s called ‘Stormfront’. Hope you like it.”
Tina took my arm as we listened. I always liked Dan’s style and Julie played a great accompaniment. The song itself was very visual, full of lightning, high wind, and waves, even on a bright, clear January day.
Tina said, “That song’s more about you than the weather, I think. What were you and Deuce talking about?”
“Just future plans,” I said. “We’re going scuba diving tomorrow.”
Fallen Hunter (Jesse McDermitt Series) Page 18