Treasured by Thursday
Page 75
Hunter clicked on his computer. “My son.”
Silence.
“The news had the truth for once?”
Something told Hunter that eventually Neil and those who knew Gabi would know the truth. Instead of a flat-out lie, he stated what he needed. “Hayden is the innocent one here. I want eyes on him, Neil. I’m here with Gabi and can send Solomon or Connor.”
Hunter gave the address he had, the name of the day care, and the two private investigators working the case so Neil’s men didn’t mistake them for someone else.
By the time he was off the phone, Gabi stood in the doorway, arms crossed over the black flowing robe covering her bare shoulders. “You need me,” she told him.
Her words and stance were flippant.
The reality of her statement, anything but.
The difference between defense and offense is really about the placement of the players on the board. Only for Gabi, her life went from defending her position to taking what she wanted overnight.
Hunter met with his lawyers first thing in the morning and Gabi met with hers.
Lori ushered her into the office, offered tea and a smile. “Looks like we missed an angle in your contract with Blackwell,” she said before Gabi could explain anything.
“Hayden wasn’t expected.”
Lori relaxed in her high-back chair. “Something tells me Blackwell knew all about his little bundle before he offered you a contract.”
“No doubt about it. But that’s not why I’m here.”
“Oh?”
Gabi opened the folder she’d brought in and held it over Lori’s desk. “Everything I say in here is confidential . . . right?”
From the drop of Lori’s jaw, she wasn’t expecting the question. “Completely.”
Gabi handed her the papers. Lori glanced through the pile as Gabi spoke. “My late husband was a drug smuggler.”
From the expression on Lori’s face, this wasn’t new information. She’d been Samantha’s lawyer for some time, and if Gabi had to guess, some of the less public information was old news to the attorney.
“You already knew that.”
Lori shrugged.
“What you don’t know . . . what few know is . . . I killed him.”
Lori snapped her eyes to Gabi’s “He died in the hospital.”
“I pulled the plug.”
The attorney released a sigh. “Telling the doctors to take him off life support isn’t the same as killing him.”
“Not according to the life insurance company that paid out after Alonzo’s death.”
Lori flipped through the papers until she found the forms regarding the payout.
“That’s a big payout.”
“I cashed the check and then promptly gave the money to a multitude of drug prevention programs. If you look at the fine print in the policy, if my hand was in any way responsible for the death of my spouse, including removing him from life support without a court order, the policy was voided.”
“Only you cashed the check.”
“You see my problem.”
Lori pulled out a legal pad and scribbled a note to herself. “Insurance fraud is a bigger deal than holding up a liquor store and shooting the clerk these days. Big companies are making examples out of anyone caught. We’re going to have to proceed with caution.”
Gabi hated the fear in her gut. “Had I known about the clause I would never have cashed the check.”
“Do you have the money to pay it back?”
Gabi removed the check Hunter had given her the night before and handed it to Lori.
The attorney laughed. “That’s a lot of zeros.”
“I think Hunter is good for them.”
Lori paper clipped the check to the file and closed it.
“There’s a couple other things I’m dealing with that you might need to know about.”
Lori held out her hand. “Another file?”
Gabi shook her head as she leaned over the desk and flipped the pad around. She wrote down the two bank names and account numbers in question. “The first is a bank in Colombia. The second in Italy. Both have my name on them. Well, Gabriella Picano.” Gabi went on to explain the details she could provide. Limited that they were.
“You have no idea who dipped into them?”
“No. The one in Italy had money going in, barely anything coming out. The Colombian one had a steady stream coming and going.”
“Laundering.”
“Probably. When I found out about them, I changed the access numbers and they’ve been silent ever sense.”
Lori cringed. “Do I even want to know how much is in these accounts?”
“A lot more than that personal check.”
“This complicates everything. If the insurance company finds out about the foreign money—”
“It’s not mine.”
“They don’t know that.” Lori turned to the computer on her desk and started typing. “This is going to take some time.”
Gabi thought presenting this information was the right direction and would leave her with a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day. She was wrong. “I can’t go to jail.”
“I don’t think it will come to that.”
There was safety in that. “We have to be as quiet as possible about this while we fix it.”
Lori was writing a note again. “That I can’t promise. When was the last time someone as high profile as you are was accused of fraud and it didn’t make the evening news?”
“I’m not high profile.”
Lori burst out laughing. “You’re married to one of the richest and most influential men in the world. You’re so high profile half the people out there will want to see you in jail out of jealousy, the other will assume you’re guilty and hiding other crimes that will land you in prison eventually.” Lori took her attention back to the computer and clicked a few buttons. The printer behind her desk sprang to life. “This would have been easier to fight if you weren’t married to Blackwell. A widowed socialite done wrong by her dead husband is a lot more sympathetic than the wife of a billionaire.”
Silence.
“The news had the truth for once?”
Something told Hunter that eventually Neil and those who knew Gabi would know the truth. Instead of a flat-out lie, he stated what he needed. “Hayden is the innocent one here. I want eyes on him, Neil. I’m here with Gabi and can send Solomon or Connor.”
Hunter gave the address he had, the name of the day care, and the two private investigators working the case so Neil’s men didn’t mistake them for someone else.
By the time he was off the phone, Gabi stood in the doorway, arms crossed over the black flowing robe covering her bare shoulders. “You need me,” she told him.
Her words and stance were flippant.
The reality of her statement, anything but.
The difference between defense and offense is really about the placement of the players on the board. Only for Gabi, her life went from defending her position to taking what she wanted overnight.
Hunter met with his lawyers first thing in the morning and Gabi met with hers.
Lori ushered her into the office, offered tea and a smile. “Looks like we missed an angle in your contract with Blackwell,” she said before Gabi could explain anything.
“Hayden wasn’t expected.”
Lori relaxed in her high-back chair. “Something tells me Blackwell knew all about his little bundle before he offered you a contract.”
“No doubt about it. But that’s not why I’m here.”
“Oh?”
Gabi opened the folder she’d brought in and held it over Lori’s desk. “Everything I say in here is confidential . . . right?”
From the drop of Lori’s jaw, she wasn’t expecting the question. “Completely.”
Gabi handed her the papers. Lori glanced through the pile as Gabi spoke. “My late husband was a drug smuggler.”
From the expression on Lori’s face, this wasn’t new information. She’d been Samantha’s lawyer for some time, and if Gabi had to guess, some of the less public information was old news to the attorney.
“You already knew that.”
Lori shrugged.
“What you don’t know . . . what few know is . . . I killed him.”
Lori snapped her eyes to Gabi’s “He died in the hospital.”
“I pulled the plug.”
The attorney released a sigh. “Telling the doctors to take him off life support isn’t the same as killing him.”
“Not according to the life insurance company that paid out after Alonzo’s death.”
Lori flipped through the papers until she found the forms regarding the payout.
“That’s a big payout.”
“I cashed the check and then promptly gave the money to a multitude of drug prevention programs. If you look at the fine print in the policy, if my hand was in any way responsible for the death of my spouse, including removing him from life support without a court order, the policy was voided.”
“Only you cashed the check.”
“You see my problem.”
Lori pulled out a legal pad and scribbled a note to herself. “Insurance fraud is a bigger deal than holding up a liquor store and shooting the clerk these days. Big companies are making examples out of anyone caught. We’re going to have to proceed with caution.”
Gabi hated the fear in her gut. “Had I known about the clause I would never have cashed the check.”
“Do you have the money to pay it back?”
Gabi removed the check Hunter had given her the night before and handed it to Lori.
The attorney laughed. “That’s a lot of zeros.”
“I think Hunter is good for them.”
Lori paper clipped the check to the file and closed it.
“There’s a couple other things I’m dealing with that you might need to know about.”
Lori held out her hand. “Another file?”
Gabi shook her head as she leaned over the desk and flipped the pad around. She wrote down the two bank names and account numbers in question. “The first is a bank in Colombia. The second in Italy. Both have my name on them. Well, Gabriella Picano.” Gabi went on to explain the details she could provide. Limited that they were.
“You have no idea who dipped into them?”
“No. The one in Italy had money going in, barely anything coming out. The Colombian one had a steady stream coming and going.”
“Laundering.”
“Probably. When I found out about them, I changed the access numbers and they’ve been silent ever sense.”
Lori cringed. “Do I even want to know how much is in these accounts?”
“A lot more than that personal check.”
“This complicates everything. If the insurance company finds out about the foreign money—”
“It’s not mine.”
“They don’t know that.” Lori turned to the computer on her desk and started typing. “This is going to take some time.”
Gabi thought presenting this information was the right direction and would leave her with a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day. She was wrong. “I can’t go to jail.”
“I don’t think it will come to that.”
There was safety in that. “We have to be as quiet as possible about this while we fix it.”
Lori was writing a note again. “That I can’t promise. When was the last time someone as high profile as you are was accused of fraud and it didn’t make the evening news?”
“I’m not high profile.”
Lori burst out laughing. “You’re married to one of the richest and most influential men in the world. You’re so high profile half the people out there will want to see you in jail out of jealousy, the other will assume you’re guilty and hiding other crimes that will land you in prison eventually.” Lori took her attention back to the computer and clicked a few buttons. The printer behind her desk sprang to life. “This would have been easier to fight if you weren’t married to Blackwell. A widowed socialite done wrong by her dead husband is a lot more sympathetic than the wife of a billionaire.”
