A King's Ransom by James Grippando

Author:James Grippando
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: Thrillers, Fiction
ISBN: 9780062024534
Publisher: Harper
Published: 2001-01-02T02:00:00+00:00

Chapter 35

With so many problems, I wasn't sure which to tackle first. I sat down and made a list. Several lists, actually. I ranked them in order of importance, then chronologically, then from easiest to hardest to solve, from most amazing to least amazing. It was getting me nowhere. In a snap judgment I made it a top priority to fire myself and find a new lawyer. One who didn't make lists.

But first I needed to have an honest talk with my mother.

I entered the house through the back door and found her seated at the kitchen table. I checked my ominous expression at the door for fear that she'd think something horrible had happened to her husband. But I didn't hold back on the truth. We were in legal battle with a nasty insurance company that was represented by one of the most powerful law firms on the planet. This was no time for any surprises from my own family. I told her everything. The meetings I'd had with the FBI narcotics agents. Dad's share of a fishing company with ten million dollars in hidden assets. And finally the suspicions about Lindsey.

Mom didn't answer for a time that seemed like forever. At last she said, Your father doesn't have a dishonest bone in his body.

What about Guillermo?

I only met him once. That brunch with your father in Palm Beach. Honestly, I don't really know Guillermo.

I'm beginning to wonder how well Dad really knew him.

Your father never even hinted that the company had that kind of cash on hand.

It's possible he didn't know. The FBI's financial analysis is a pretty sophisticated unraveling of a rather elaborate corporate structure. None of the bank accounts were held directly in the name of Rey's Seafood Company. It was all a matter of tracing the accounts of wholly and partially owned subsidiaries back to the parent corporation. Rey's Seafood was the ultimate parent. Or so they claim.

I can assure you, your father never saw a dime of that money.

How can you be sure?

I saw anger in her eyes. Without a word, she got up and left the room. Two minutes later she was back at the kitchen table with a file folder.

This is how I'm sure, she said, sorting through the papers for me. This is a second mortgage on our house that your father took out two years ago to pay off a shrimp boat that capsized in a storm off San Juan del Sur. No insurance. Unfortunately for us, he personally guaranteed the loan from the bank to pay for the boat. Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. She moved to the next file. Here's an unsecured line of credit that we've maxed out at ninety thousand dollars. Here's the cash advances we've taken on Visa, MasterCard, Discover - anyone who'd give us unsecured credit.

I had no idea things were so tight for you.

Your father's company hasn't turned a profit in eighteen months. At least, none that he's seen. Now, does that

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