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Maybe with the company being sold and my father laid to rest, the truth would reveal itself and I could live in peace. Lonely and in peace.
“Sounds like we have a busy day tomorrow,” Harper winked.
“We?”
“You don’t think I’d let you do all this alone do you? Hell no, I want to see what’s in that box too. Maybe it’s pirate treasure.”
I laughed. “My dad wasn’t really the pirate type.”
“Still, I have a feeling, whatever it is, it’s going to be a game changer.”
“Or it could be a stamp collection.”
“Looks like we’ll know soon enough.”
With that, I drank my coffee and thought about how not to cry for the next twenty-four hours until I finally put one mystery to rest.
Chapter 22
“This is it,” Harper said, bouncing a little in her shoes.
I held the key to the bank lockbox and looked at the old hunk of metal on the table.
“I’ll give you some privacy,” the older gentleman banker said. As he walked out of the room, his footsteps echoed. The whole room was lined with lockboxes, neatly ordered and shelved. It was old and dingy. But in that small room, smelling mothballs and co
ld metal, was the first time I’d felt close to my father in a long time. Whatever was in there, it was a step to realizing that he was truly gone. And I wasn’t sure how to deal with that.
“Are you going to open it?” Harper asked.
I nodded, words seeming to fade in the back of my throat before I could even speak them.
I put the small key in the lock and twisted. The snap of the lock gave way and I opened the long top.
“Paper,” I said, examining a stack of folded forms.
Harper looked in. “That’s it? Paper?”
I reached for the documents and opened them. The paper whined like it hadn’t been opened in years. It was stiff, and as I read the first page, my eyes got wider.
“This can’t be…right. Can it?” I glanced from the forms to Harper, then back. I looked at the second page. Then the third. Harper came to stand behind me to read over my shoulder.
“Holy shit,” she breathed. I could feel her eyes working a mile a minute, just like mine were, reading frantically. “Do you know what this means?”
I shook my head, then nodded, then shook.
“I think it means…” I flipped to the next page, “That my father’s company is…mine.”
“Look at this,” Harper pointed at the date. “These are corporate documents that were drawn up right when your dad’s business partnered with Anita.”
“But, they didn’t partner,” I said, reading more. “This states that Anita put up money as a loan. She’s not a partner. She’s a creditor. She holds no stake in the company.”
“So, why is she selling it?”
“My father was going to sell it. And when he did, Anita would be entitled to her initial funds, plus fifteen percent interest.” I flipped another page. “But that’s it.”
“Wait,” Harper said and turned back over the last page. “So, this says,” she tapped on the paper, “That Anita only put up fifty grand. But the company is worth…”
I shrugged and did some mental math. “Probably closer to fifty million.”
