“So you do trust me.”
“I do now. If you show me where you hid everything.”
“It’s at your place.”
“What?”
“I said it’s at your place.”
“How can it be at my place?”
“I laundered every dollar of what was in that vault through my accountant and the sum total has been deposited in your bank account as the overdue inheritance from your father. I even paid the tax on it. Your debts have been cleared out of my accounts. Thought it was only fair. Consider it the child maintenance you should have had from me since Jasmine was born.”
“You’re shitting me, right?”
“You got a banking app on your phone?”
“Yeah. There was nothing but a minus figure in there yesterday.”
“Check it now. I had my guy move the funds this morning just before I went in the bank. That way, if I didn’t come out again, at least you’d have got what you were entitled to.”
She digs her phone out and taps away at it for a minute. “Holy shit,” she says under her breath before looking up at me. “You weren’t kidding, were you?”
“It’s all yours.”
“What am I supposed to do with that much money?”
“Whatever you want.”
“Maybe I’ll buy the bookstore instead of renting it. Wouldn’t that be something?”
“Thought you might say that, but it’s already yours. I transferred the deeds last night.”
“You did what?”
“I don’t want all this shit hanging over us, Natalie. You’ve got your inheritance. You’re not in danger anymore. You can put it all in a trust fund for Jasmine if you want. Anything you like.”
“What about you?”
“What about me?”
“What’s your plan now? I thought your father was going to kill you if you didn’t take him the money.”
“I’m going to go see him now. If I come back, maybe me and you can make a go of this thing.”
“And if you don’t come back?”
“Then it’s been one hell of a ride. In every sense of the word.”
* * *
Me and Jasmine are eating dinner together when there’s a knock on the door. Eileen goes to answer it while I clean spaghetti out of my charming daughter’s hair. “How did you even get that in there?” I ask.
She shrugs and then grins at me. “Baspetti hair.”
“Spaghetti.”
“Baspetti.”