Chapter 3
JAKE WAS INFORMED they’d be going back on deployment, back to Baja Mexico, in a week, which was way sooner than any of the Team had planned. They were to do a revisit of the Santiago gang, who, among other things, were running guns from the US to Mexico for use in their drug trade. But last deployment they discovered the gang was also responsible for kidnapping young girls and selling them into the sex slave business all over the world. By chance, Kyle’s squad had stumbled upon the three innocent girls, able to rescue only two of them. Jake had accidentally shot their teacher in the gunfight that broke out during the rescue.
But the main reason Jake was uncomfortable going back was the fact that there was a certain General Cortez who nearly detained him, due to the shooting. He wasn’t looking forward to meeting him again. They’d been lucky the last time. The quick-thinking crew of their transport manufactured a letter on CIA stationery, forged the Director’s signature and presented it as evidence the entire SEAL team was due home on an emergency basis. By now, the Mexican authorities would know the letter was a ruse. Jake knew the General wasn’t the type to take these sorts of practical jokes very well. So he asked Kyle the obvious when he got the call.
“You really think it’s a good idea I should go back down there, LT? I mean, my dad’s just died. We have the will reading, I’ve got all sorts of things to complete as executor. I’d be fine if you said I could skip this one.” Jake was hoping Kyle would agree with him.
“Already asked and answered,” he said over the phone. We’re to show no fear in dealing with the authorities. Our liaison thinks they’ve been given the word to fully cooperate with us.”
“In all fairness, Kyle, he’s gonna be pissed, and still pissed he didn’t grab me when he could. He might just do it out of spite, this time.”
“Nope. You’re part of the package. We’re doing a show of force. Gonna work a joint operation to pick up these cretins, but let’s assume they want the mission to go as planned so they can get some reward the US is offering. That’s the carrot, Jake.”
“I don’t like it, sir.”
“But you’ll do it.”
“Of course.”
“When’s the will reading?”
“Monday.”
“Well, you’re right. Timing sucks.”
On Monday, the clan met at the office of Burt and Adele Green’s attorney, Mr. Bob Fellows. The firm occupied the top two floors of the prestigious San Diego skyscraper the shape of a long grey-blue crystal.
Adele was about to take a seat next to Jake and Ginger, when Bob Fellows came over to her and whispered he’d like a private moment with her.
“No, Bob. Let’s get this over with. Or, is there some problem you’re warning me about?”
She’d said it a little too loudly, so the private conversation was not going to be very discrete. Fellows sighed and rolled his eyes at Jake when his mother wasn’t looking.
“What was that all about, Mom?”
“Oh, beats me. I suppose we’ll find out shortly. I don’t honestly know why we all have to sit here. Some firms just mail out the paperwork to people so they don’t all have to cram in here.” She turned and frowned. Jake followed her gaze.
Entering the office was Belinda Matheson, with Gerud. Behind the couple was the older woman who had been at the funeral.
“Good Lord,” she whispered under her breath, and then stood up abruptly. “What the hell are you doing here?” She was speaking to Belinda, but for a second Gerud thought she was talking to him and was shocked. She hadn’t noticed the older woman behind them yet.
Everyone in the room examined the trio. Bob Fellows broke the silence.
“Come on in and take a seat. I invited them, Adele.”
When he got a raw glare from Jake’s mother, he ignored it and rubbed his hands together, ready to begin.
“First, I wanted to take a moment and let you know how all this works. As you will see, certain family members have been given responsibility to handle certain aspects of Mr. Green’s estate.”
Adele stiffened and blinked without expression.
“I would ask that you just hold your comments until after I’ve read everything. I also need to let you know Burt intended to write a letter to each of you individually, but he passed before he could complete this task. So, if the words in this codicil seem rather cold and unfeeling, that’s the way they’re supposed to be. They were to be softened by his personal message to all of you, which with only one exception, was never written.”
He cleared his throat and gave a nervous smile. He sat back behind his desk and took a drink of water and began reading over provisions of the will that Jake was sure were boilerplate legalese that bored him to tears. Until Fellows came to the part,
“I hereby appoint as my executor, my son, Jake Green. He shall have full power to dispose of all my sole separate property, the company known as Green & Green, and my half of the assets I now hold with my wife, Adele Green, as he sees fit.”
Adele was on her feet. “What? When did he write this? This isn’t anything we discussed.”
“Please, Adele, have a seat and we’ll go over everything when I’m finished.”
Jake stood, wrapped his arm around his mother’s waist and brought her down to sitting position again.
Several items were listed separately, gifted to individual people as part of the will itself. Burt had an old car that he gifted to his grandson, Aaron, which brought the room down in laughter, since Aaron was only two years old. Karlene’s face looked like an ugly smear. There were several rental houses listed, two that were left to Karlene and Monica. The rest would be sold off or held as the executor saw fit. All of the houses were heavily encumbered, as Jake recalled, so he wasn’t sure there would be any benefit to keeping them. He was going to have to use Christy Lansdowne or someone in her office to give him an evaluation to help him figure out what to do with them.
Burt’s half interest in their main home fell to Adele as community property. But there was a cottage in Hawaii he’d bought and no one else knew about, which he gifted to Ginger, which Jake found curious. The proceeds of the sales of properties, minus the business debts would be distributed amongst all the heirs.
Adele got out her Kleenex, bracing for round 2.
“I hereby bequeath the home at 345 Belmont Court to Belinda Matheson, my daughter, and to Jill Matheson, her mother, in equal shares.
Jake could tell Adele was going to erupt in a murderous rage, and was glad they’d not had that little nip before they left the house. It had taken some doing to talk her out of it, but Jake sensed this reading could leave some bombshells behind, and he’d been right.
Gerud discretely took his arm off Belinda’s shoulder and clasped his hands between his legs on his lap. Jake also noticed he did a slight lean in the opposite direction, making a small space between himself and the woman he now knew was his half sister. Belinda was whispering something to her mother. Apparently this was a surprise to her as well.
Monica, Karlene and Ginger were all left modest savings accounts for benefit of the grandkids for college, or to be held in trust until they turned twenty-one.
But most remarkable was the statement why Gerud was not left anything at all. Jake’s heart broke when he heard the news.
“Gerud has been treated like my son all his life. For reasons only his mother knows, I am leaving any remaining inheritance he would receive to his mother to distribute as she sees fit.”
A gasp overtook the room. Bob Fellows stared directly at Adele as Gerud bolted out the door before Jake could stop him.