by John Sullins
Keith studied her face but saw no indication of her thoughts.
“Is the coffee any good?”
“Great, let me get you some.” He got up and went to the coffee pot, re-filled his cup and poured one for her.
He placed the cups on the table and sat down. Before he could ask if she had heard anything, she said, “Well Keith, this may be your last free meal here.”
His heart sank. He knew she was now going to tell him he was not really the great grandson of former sheriff Sue Davis Lang Hunter.
She sat quiet for several seconds letting her words sink in. Then a big smile appeared.
“You are now a wealthy man who can pay for every meal. We verified you are who you say you are. You and I need to be in the judge’s office at one this afternoon.”
He stared at her.
“When you are finished with your breakfast and coffee, I want to drive you to your new home.”
He continued to stare at her.
“Aren’t you going to say anything? Do you have questions?”
He breathed in the longest breath of his life.
“I have a thousand questions and I don’t need to finish my breakfast or coffee. I’d like to go see my new house right now.”
“Ok, but I’m going to take my coffee with me and grab one of those doughnuts too.”
Joni’s SUV was parked outside the main lobby entrance. She got in and started the engine. Before putting it into drive she turned to face Keith in the passenger seat.
“The estate has four properties. The furthest is about fifty miles north. We’ll go there first. We can’t go inside because it is a rental property. The folks who live there have been paying rent for over ten years. Before that, it was rented for about fifteen years to a relative of the present renter. But we can drive past it so you can at least see the property. It is a ranch style brick on twenty eight acres. The rent money, seven hundred a month, goes into the estate escrow account.”
Keith put on his seat belt, “Let’s go. I am excited.”
Joni explained details of other properties as she drove.
“The second house we will visit is fifteen miles east of the first. It is also a rental. It is an older wood frame farm house sitting on four hundred acres. The house is in very good condition and there is a large barn on that property. The rent on it is a thousand a month. The third properties has a house and building but is unoccupied. If a person wanted to do some maintenance and repairs, it would be livable. The land is all forest, close to six hundred acres.”
“Wow, that is a lot of property. I don’t know what to say.”
Snowflakes drifted down on to the SUV’s windshield. She turned on the wipers, “We are expecting four to six inches of snow today.
“What time did you say we need to see the judge? Will I be expected to say anything?”
“We see him at one. I am sure he will ask you questions, about your past, where you have been, why you never came before, things like that. There won’t be any trick questions. Just answer honestly and there should be no issues.”
“Let me tell you about the other property. It is where your great grandmother lived most of her adult life.
He had been watching the falling snow but turned to face her. “So how long has it been since someone lived there?”
“Last night I looked up the date that your great grandmother died, it was in 2057. So I have to assume it was sometime about then.”
“Do you have the dates when my parents and grandparents died?”
“Yes, at the office. I can give you that information when we get back.”
Keith nodded.
Joni turned the windshield wipers to a faster speed to keep up with the increasing snowflakes.
“Now let me tell you about this last property. It is a huge log A frame. It is one of the nicest places I have ever seen. The Will required a caretaker be hired to clean and maintain the house and property on a regular basis. That is another strange situation, the Will named the caretaker. He was a friend of hers, a man named Ed Short. Mr. Short served as caretaker until he died in 2068 and his son took over the job. When the son died, a grandson of Ed Short took over the job. So the caretakers have all been of the same family.”
Keith did his best to absorb the information. He wiped his face with the palms of his hands and said, “You said the house was huge. How big is it?”
“I think you need to wait and see it. We will go there last.”
Chapter 31
The snow continued to fall and by the time they slowed to a stop at the end of the driveway of the first property was a couple of inches deep. Joni described the property lines as she pointed to a line of trees on the east and west sides of the house.
“I’ve never lived inside a house that nice. As a matter of fact, I may have never even been inside a place like that.”
“Well Keith, you will be the owner of it very soon.”
“How long did you say those folks have lived there?”
“About ten years, but if you’re getting any ideas about asking them to leave so you can live there, you need to forget about that.”
“Why, what do you mean?”
“There is something in the Will about allowing that family to stay there, but just wait, you need to see them all before you make up your mind about where you want to live.”
The roads were getting slick as they drove to the next property. She stopped the SUV at the end of the long straight driveway.
“Once we get the Will executed, I will make arrangements to come back and introduce you the renters here and the first place.” She pointed as she described the property lines and what she knew of the house.
The driveway to the third house, which was vacant, was cut through the large pines and cedar trees with limbs that provided some protection from the snow.
Keith leaned forward resting his hands on the dashboard.
“This is in a forest. It is beautiful. It’s like a tunnel.”
She drove cautiously and slowed to a stop between the house and the barn. She looked at her watch and said, “We may or may not have time to get to the main property and still be on time to see the judge. You can take your time looking over this place and we can see the other one later today or tomorrow. Or we can make this a very fast look around and hustle onto the main house.”
Keith looked up at the huge flakes drifting down for five or six seconds. “You know, I have not had any family, that I knew about, since I was about three. I am in no hurry now. Let’s take our time here and get to the last one when we can. My head is still spinning about all of this.”
She took a ring of keys from her purse and led him up the front steps onto a long narrow front porch. As she unlocked the front door He turned to look at the yard and barn. He could not tell much about the yard with the snow covering the ground, but he estimated the opening in the trees for the house and barn was only about nine or ten of the six hundred acres. The trees that surrounded the old three story house and barn were so thick he could see only a few feet past the opening.
“”My GOD Joni. This is hard to believe. Where did she come up with the money for all of this? Surely a sheriff could not afford this.”
She held the door open for him to come inside.
“I know some of the history about her wealth, but it has been so many years ago that many details have been lost over time. She was married twice. Her first husband died shortly after they were married and he had a healthy life insurance policy. But from what I understand, from what my father told me, was that she became a bounty hunter and earned most of her money doing that.”
She led him from room to room through the three story house. The house was old, but in fairly good condition. It needed paint and a good cleaning but was still a nice house in Keith’s mind.
“It is connected to the county water system but it has been turned off for many years. I don’t know what would be required to get it functioning, probably a good plumber. The electricity
is also turned off. I’d suggest you get an electrician and plumber here just to be sure all is safe.”
“An electrician and plumber. I have about $30 to my name.”
Joni began laughing so hard she had to lean backwards against the door frame of the kitchen. When she was able to get control of herself she shook her head and said, “Keith, you have no idea how funny that is.”
He waited for an explanation, but she offered none. She continued to chuckle as they made their way from room to room which lessened Keith’s anxiety and nervousness.
“He looked out one of the upstairs window at the barn.
“I have spent a lot of long cold nights sleeping in barns since I left the Army. I want to see the barn before we leave.”
“I’ll lock the house and pull the car to the barn.”
He made fresh tracks through the snow and entered the barn through a side door. It was so dark he could see only a few feet so he moved to the large sliding doors on one end of the barn and slid one open.
He turned around and immediately noticed a dust covered canvas draped over some type of car. He ignored it and walked along the barn walls for tools, rope and other useful things as he had done in every barn he had been in during the past months. He returned to the car and pulled off the canvas when Joni pulled the SUV to the open door.
He pulled the canvas off from the back and walked around the car not overly interested in it. Joni saw what he was doing and got out of the SUV and entered the barn.
“What is it?”
“A Pontiac, an old one.”
She walked around the car and looked at the letters on the side of the front fender.
“It is a GTO, a red Pontiac GTO! I didn’t know it was here.”
GTO meant nothing to Keith.
“This is from the sixties or seventies. This is something special. My grandpa had a GTO. This could be worth a ton of money. They called these muscle cars.”
Chapter 32
The snow continued to fall and had already reached the six inch prediction by the time they walked up the court house steps.
Keith followed Joni into the judge’s office and was surprised when she introduced him.
Judge Morley, “This is Keith Hunter. Keith this is Judge Lawrence Morley.”
Keith stood six foot four and had broad shoulders like a linebacker but he had to look up at Judge Morley who had even larger shoulders.
Morley smiled and asked, “Did you play ball?”
“No sir, I just got out of the Army.”
Keith noticed a large photo of a football stadium filled with spectators, all wearing orange, on the wall behind the judge. The judge saw him studying the photo.
“I played left tackle for Syracuse. Have a seat, please.”
Keith rubbed the sweat from his palms on his pants legs and tried to stay calm.
The judge sat in a large leather chair behind his desk and leaned back.
“Tell me Joni about what you want to get done this afternoon.”
She handed the judge a file folder.
“As you know I have been responsible for this estate since my father passed away. It has been pending twenty seven years. It has been verified through birth records that Mr. Hunter is the great grandson of the deceased, Sue Davis Lang. The documentation is in the file. The verification was obtained by Jimmy Binkley, a licensed private investigator.”
The judge opened the file and reviewed the copies of birth certificates provided by Binkley.
“Mr. Binkley provided me the electronic copies last night. The phone number of the county office where each is filed is attached to each copy if you need personal verification. It is my opinion that considering the length of time since the death, we would be safe in assuming there are no other living relatives. Mr. Binkley is presently searching hospital and county birth records to be sure, and he is expecting to have that search completed by later today.”
The judge continued to review the file and did not look up. Finally he said, “Tell me your story Mr. Hunter. How is it you have waited so long to make your claim on this estate?”
“Sir, I did not come her to make a claim on the estate. I did not know there was an estate until Ms. Chade told me about it. My parents died when I was very small. I was raised in foster homes and an orphanage. I knew nothing about my grandparents or great grandparents until just a few months ago, shortly after leaving the Army. While in Indianapolis, a longtime friend did some research for me and found out the names of my grandparents and great grandparents. The only other thing my friend was able to find out was that my great grandmother was at one time a sheriff in this state. The only reason for coming here was to look for relatives.
“How did you connect with Ms. Chade?”
“When I arrived in Bangor a couple of days ago, I went to the county office and the sheriff’s and told them my story. A woman at the sheriff’s office found records indicating my great grandmother was sheriff in this county in 2004 and 2005.
When I got here yesterday I met the county prosecutor, John Stanley, and told him my story. He made a few calls and was able to find out my great grandmother’s address through hospital birth records. Her address when she gave birth to my grandfather was here in this county. I then went to the county tax office looking for any information about who now owned the property. I was hoping the property had been passed down from one relative to another and was still owned by someone I was related to. The lady in the tax office referred me to Ms. Chade.”
The judge looked at Joni.
“If I understand correctly from our brief conversation yesterday, both you and your father have handled this estate all of these years. How accurate are the figures in the file?”
“Well sir, the value of the property is only an estimate, but the financials are based on the bank account records, so they should be correct.”
“Have you told this young man the value of the estate?”
“No sir. I showed him three of the properties this morning but we did not have time to see the last one. The value of the estate has not been discussed.”
“I suppose there is no reason to keep it a secret, but I will not sign approval for the release of the assets to Mr. Hunter until the court has verified these records. That will take a day or two.”
Joni said, “I understand.”
The judge flipped over a couple of papers in the file and looked at Keith, “How does eight million dollars sound to you Mr. Hunter?”
Keith stared at the judge and then looked at Joni but said nothing.
“He is correct Keith, the estate is worth between eight and nine million dollars, depending on the property values.”
Keith felt his face flush and the back of his neck felt ice cold. He said nothing.
The judge stood up and held out his massive hand to Keith.
“That is a lot of money Mr. Hunter, you make sure you get yourself a good tax attorney.”
He turned to face Joni and winked.
Keith then looked to Joni, “Are you a tax attorney?”
“I am.”
“If you want the job, consider yourself hired.”
She smiled, stood up and put her hand on his shoulder.
“Let’s go see your great grandmother’s house.”
Chapter 33
Joni turned on the radio after starting the SUV.
“It’s obvious they missed their prediction on the amount of snow. We already have the six inches and it’s snowing as hard as ever.”
Keith kicked his boots against the front tire to avoid getting snow inside the SUV. He pulled the seat belt over his shoulder.
“I have always loved the snow. But it has caused me a ton of problems when I was traveling. I have spent a lot of nights wet and freezing because of it. I also went without eating when there was no dry firewood.”
She turned right out of the parking lot.
“I doubt you will be spending very many more nights out in the cold. You will have enough money to stay w
arm and buy all of the food you want.”
“You said she got the money for all of this from bounty hunting?”
“That’s what I was told. I know she also bought and sold houses in her later years. You might want to ask the caretaker about that. His family knew her better than most.”
“What did you say the caretaker’s name was?”
“Ed Roy Short. He uses both names, Ed and Roy, not just Ed.”
The snow seemed to lighten on the drive to the last property but there were no tracks from other vehicles so she drove slowly through the now eight or nine inches of snow.
“My dad told me that years ago, before the economy collapsed, the county kept these roads plowed during the snow storms. I think it has been over thirty years since I last saw a snow plow.”
Keith thought about the many stories he had heard from an old farmer he met while traveling from Georgia with his buddy Jim last year. The old man talked about the price of gas being only two dollars a gallon and being able to buy all he wanted. He remembered being told about the grocery stores being full of every kind of food, there was never an empty shelf the old man had said.
When she turned left into the driveway she watched Keith, waiting for his reaction when he was able to see the house.
About halfway down the driveway he spotted it for the first time.
“What the …………….You said it was nice but I had no idea it was this big.”
“I also did not tell you it is also lakefront. You have your own boat dock about a hundred feet behind the house.”
He stared in disbelief at the height and length of the three story log house. The house was in the shape of a T, the front part facing the road and the rear facing the lake, were shaped like an A frame. Sticking out from each side of the A frame, forming the top of the T shape were flat sided and shaped like a normal log house, but huge. She stopped the SUV behind an old pickup truck parked on the left side of the house and pointed at the front door.
“There’s Ed Roy.”
Chapter 34
A man not quite five foot tall, was standing on the front porch wearing a red overcoat many sizes too big for his small body. The sleeves on the coat were so long his hands were hidden up inside the sleeves when he waved hello. The only thing about him that was not small was the smile on his face.