Page 37 of Blood
“I’m guessing it’s something your parents wanted you to have. Or something they wanted to keep safe.” I sit up, then look down at Everleigh, studying her face. “Do you want to open it and see?”
She bites her lip but nods. “I need to know. How do you open it?”
I slide out of bed, pulling on my boxers and holding the micro-SD card in my fingers. “My computer has a drive for cards like this. We can put it in, and it should open. Do you want me to get my laptop?”
With her nod, I hand her the SD card and leave the bedroom to grab my laptop from where I keep it in the kitchen. I use the little table in my makeshift dining room when I need to sit and do work. Mostly, I use the computer to keep an eye on my bank accounts. I unplug it from where it’s charging.
I carry the laptop back into the bedroom and settle on the bed next to her. Then I open the computer, and she hands me the SD card. It slides easily into the right slot. A folder immediately opens. There’s a Word document, but nothing else. I double click to open it.
Everleigh,
If you’ve found this and are reading this rather than talking with Daddy and me, I imagine something has happened to us. Know that we love you very much and that no matter what else you’ve heard, we love your brother very much as well. You may not know this, but we adopted him as a baby and chose to keep it from him to preserve our family. He recently found out, and I know he’s angry. I hope he chooses the right path.
If something has happened to Daddy and I, the following information will be important. We don’t want you to have to worry about anything, and this should take care of you.
Be well, darling.
I love you.
Love, Mom
Everleigh reads over the letter again, not understanding. “What does this mean? What do I do with this?” She lifts her hands, palms up, then drops them again.
“Baby…” I hesitate, looking over the information that follows the letter from her mom. Strings of numbers with a few words, ones I can manage to piece together. “Those are bank accounts. One looks like an insurance policy. Maybe life insurance. It means they planned. They had things saved for you. They were worried that something was going to happen to them.”
Tears are gathering in her eyes. One makes its way down her cheek, then is joined by more. “Asher must have confronted them. They knew he was dangerous, that he was going to do something.” A sob wrenches from her chest. “They should have talked to me! I could have done something. I could have stopped him.”
I pull her into my arms. The computer falls to the bed from my lap. Everleigh buries her face in my shoulder while I hold her tightly against my chest. “Shh, baby. You couldn’t have stopped him; Asher was dangerous. He would have killed you. Hetriedto kill you twice that we know about. You’re lucky, Everleigh. He can’t hurt you now.”
She doesn’t answer. Her shaking sobs continue for about another minute before they start to wane, then finally fade to sniffles.
When she picks her head up to look at me, her face is blotchy. Her eyes are red. Even still, she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.
“It’ll be okay, bunny. We can figure all this out tomorrow.”
Without warning, she slaps her hand over her mouth and jumps out of bed. She bolts to the bathroom. The door barely closes behind her before I hear her throwing up.
30
Everleigh
Thewomanatthebank looks up something on a computer. It took me almost a week to go to the bank in the first place. I wasn’t sure what I’d find; I’ve had too many surprises in the last month, and I don’t think I can handle more.
The woman checks my ID, then squints again at the computer screen. “Just a minute, dear. I’ll be right back.”
Several minutes pass before a man in a suit taps my shoulder, and I stiffen. Wolf squeezes my hand when the man motions to me. “Miss Mason? Please come with me.”
This doesn’t seem good, but I have no choice. Wolf and I follow him to a glass-walled office. He motions to two chairs. I sink into one, with Wolf sitting next to me. The bank employee settles in a large chair behind the desk.
“I’m Thomas Anson, one of the investment managers at this bank.” He offers a hand across the desk.
I shake his offered hand warily. “I’m Everleigh Mason. I mean, you know that already, right? I, umm…”
He smiles sympathetically. “I want to welcome you as a client. I understand these accounts have passed to you from your parents, and I’m so sorry to hear of their deaths.”
“Uh…thank you.” I have to admit, I’m not sure what’s happening here.
I would think the lady at the front could just hand over whatever money is in the accounts and close them out, but maybe you have to talk with a guy like this to close accounts. Maybe it’s a few thousand? I could really use the cash. There’s no chance of me getting my security deposit back for my apartment, not with the way it was trashed. I’ll need to come up with enough for the first and last month’s rent, plus a security deposit for a new place.
