Page 62 of Pro Bono

“It’s part of a long story, but this is a temporary phone I had to buy because my regular one is involved in a case, and I don’t want my personal calls to my mother recorded.”

“Hard to blame you. So how have you been?”

“Busy. I just finished a complicated pro bono case, and I have a new girlfriend.”

“Congratulations. I guess you found somebody who doesn’t mind having a man with no time to pay attention to her.”

“Not exactly, but she is an adult and acts like one.”

“She must be right there or you wouldn’t say such nonsense.” She raised her voice. “Hello, new girlfriend. I hope my son is being nice to you.”

“He’s very nice,” Vesper said. “And I’m pleased that you introduced yourself, Mrs. Warren.”

“Linda.”

“My name is Vesper Ellis.”

“I’m eager to meet you. Charlie has very high standards.”

Charlie said, “That just happens to be why I called, sort of. I wondered if you would mind letting Hawaii fend for itself and flying back to LA for a few days. I’m about to start working on something new, and it involves you.”

“How can it involve me? Don’t tell me I’m being sued.”

“No,” Charlie said. “I’ve been contacted by a pair of men who are in possession of the actual identification and the financial records of Mack Stone. I believe what they’ve got includes his birth certificate in the name he was born with, the documents issued by the companies where he reinvested your money, and enough other supporting stuff to find and claim it.”

“After seventeen years? How can that not be a scam? Have you seen all these documents?”

“I haven’t seen them yet. I expect to in a day or two.”

“And why did they bring this to you?”

“The short answer is that they learned they couldn’t claim it because it isn’t theirs. It’s yours. Not only did Mack steal it from you, but even if it had belonged to him, you were still legally married when he died, meaning it’s now yours.”

“You know what?” Linda said. “The time when we really needed the money was long ago. I think the final stage of my growing up was when I learned to do without it. I’m happy the way things are right now. I’d rather you keep it.”

“We don’t have it. Having you here in person would make it much easier to claim it.”

“Well, all right. I’ve missed you since your last visit here, and I know I’m going to like Vesper, so I’ll get on my computer and make a reservation. I’ll email you my flight information.”

An hour later she emailed her airline itinerary for a flight in three days. He emailed back, “Itinerary received. I’ll pick you up by the baggage claim. Please bring the following documents, unless they’re already here: your birth certificate, marriage licenses or certificates for both marriages, all documents you received after Mack Stone’s death (death certificate, police reports, etc.), any official documents regarding his theft of money from your accounts. Also bring anything else that strikes you as relevant that’s not mentioned here. It’s all ammunition for the search and the court cases. Your Highly Skilled Attorney, etc.”

The next day, Warren used the number three burner phone to call Copes and Minkeagan. He started with Minkeagan. “I suppose you’re wondering why you hadn’t heard from me.”

“No. You’ve been waiting for us to die of old age. Ain’t going to happen.”

“Mrs. Ellis’s case has been settled. I’m ready to get started on the McKinley Stone case.”

“Well, it’s about time,” Minkeagan said. “We were beginning to wonder if you’d found a way to screw us that we hadn’t heard of.”

“Does that mean you’re ready?”

“Yes, it does. Do you want us to come to your office?”

“No. It might take months to fix up after that fire. I’ll arrange a meeting somewhere else. The rest of the building is okay, so I’m trying to get them to move us to another floor.”

“How do you want to do this, then?”

“I’ll call you with the place, you bring the material you’ve got, and we can start going over it and making plans. Is that acceptable to you?”

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