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He leads the way to a small door tucked off in the corner as Eden shuffles behind us.
Inside the room are walls that stretch more than thirty yards, lined with various sizes of gray, metal post-office-looking boxes. Teddy walks directly ahead, not stopping until we are in front of a medium-sized one with 338 engraved across the front. He inserts the golden key and turns it, pulling it open. I expect only the one with the keyhole to open, but instead, a good portion of the other boxes come with it. It’s hidden and disguised to look like numerous boxes, but in reality, it is one large door.
He steps inside and flips a switch, illuminating everything inside the small secret room. Some rifles lean against one side while stacks of money tower up the other. My eyes bulge out of my head with the sight. I look behind me, and Eden seems unfazed and completely composed.
I walk to the side with all of the money and run my fingers over a few of the stacks. “This is unreal,” I mumble.
“It is most definitely real,” Teddy chimes from behind me. “This is a portion of the money that has come from not only me, but all the generations before me.” He walks to the far end of the wall and picks up a small stack of the cash, then walks back to me. “Look.” He grins, placing it in my hand.
I look at the bill on top and know it has to be old, but I’m not sure how old. Andrew Jackson’s face sits in the left corner, while the number five sits in the right. It almost looks fake with its splashes of red from the seal and serial number. I’ve never seen anything like it.
“When is this from?” I take the old five-dollar bill and flip it in my hand, amazed at the great condition it’s in.
“The 1900s, I think.” I can hear the question in his voice. “I’m not a money buff. Some of our money doesn’t get pushed how we would like it to sometimes, so we bring it here.” He stretches his arms around the room.
“This is so cool.” I grin.
He turns his back to me and sets the duffle bag on the floor, then opens it and starts pulling money from it. Each bundle he pulls out is neatly rubber banded and set in different stacks along the wall.
“After we pay all of the club expenses, our personal expenses, and make our loans for the month, the rest of the money either comes here or is sent to an offshore account. I’ll show you how to do that later.”
My mind spins with his words. This seriously can’t be real. I look behind me again and see Eden still standing with a small smile on her face as she watches our exchange. There is no doubt she is paid to keep her mouth shut.
Before I can reply to Teddy, he closes the bag and walks to me, leading me back out of the room. After closing the door, he locks it, then hands the key back to Eden.
“I need you to sign some papers for me, Monkshood. It will give you access to all of our accounts here and offshore.”
I nod with a bit of confusion as Eden leads us to one of the offices across from the door we entered.
We sit at the chairs across from her desk. As she shuffles through files stacked on the other side, I study the pictures propped neatly in black frames. One shows Eden with a man kissing her, his head buried in her neck. It’s a dated picture and a little grainy, so there is no making out his face, but her blonde hair and bright smile are unmistakable. Others have things like classic cars and small children.
I pick up the picture with a little girl in a pink dress holding a baby in blue. “Are these your kids?”
She beams. “They are. Both are much older now, in their twenties. That’s when we brought my son home from the hospital.”
“They’re beautiful,” I say, setting the picture back down in its place.
“Thank you, Mrs. Hale…” She raises her eyebrow like it’s more of a question than a simple thank-you.
I make no move to correct her. Instead, I cross my leg over my knee and smile.
“Here they are.” She pulls three papers from her stack and hands them to Teddy. “Each account number is there along with what they’re for. I’ll just need your signature here, and hers here.” She points to the bottom of the papers that are highlighted in yellow.
Teddy lays them on her desk and grabs a pen from the small cup next to her and signs the papers, then slides them to me. “And the rest?” he questions as I sign.
Eden nods and pulls a white Prada tote from under her desk and hands it to me. “What is this?” I weigh it in my hands, trying to figure out what’s inside without opening it.
“Don’t open it. When the right time comes, you’ll know what to do.” He turns from me and looks back to Eden. “Thank you for everything. I’ll be seeing you soon.”
“Likewise.” She smiles.
Teddy returns her smile and pulls me up from my seat and leads us back outside and to the car.
Back in the car, Teddy stays silent as he drives, and I use the time to admire the way his hands grip the steering wheel, showing off every vein and muscle as he turns.
We pull into the industrial side of Northridge Heights that houses all the major warehouses and factories. Big gray tin-colored buildings loom high into the sky as trains whistle in the distance. With the sun starting to peek below the clouds, it gives off an eerie vibe. Teddy slows the car to a crawl in front of a smaller building, almost hidden between two bigger ones. He steps out and slides open a ten-foot chain-link fence, then gets back in and continues. He pulls through the gate, revealing an alley with nothing other than a single light swinging on a cord above a door that has no identifying markings.
He gets out again and this time walks around to my side and opens the door, extending his hand to me. I take it and hoist myself out of the car.
