Found Money - James Grippando [66]
The fifth message got his attention. It was from Liz.
“Ryan, just calling as a courtesy to let you know that my attorney is planning to take Brent’s deposition. The subpoena was served today, but I didn’t want to start taking depositions of family members without giving you a call first. Take care.”
He cringed. Courtesy my ass. She had called to gloat. He hung up and called Norm at home. He was already in bed, half asleep, half watching the late news. He grabbed the cordless phone on the nightstand. “Hello,” he grumbled.
“Sorry to bug you at home,” said Ryan.
He was groggy, forcing himself awake. “Yes, I did go to Boulder and I did copy the stupid yearbooks. It’ll take a couple of days for my investigator to run background checks on all your dad’s classmates.”
“Good. But that’s not why I’m calling. I need to talk to you.”
“Just a sec,” Norm said softly. He rolled out of bed and walked into the big walk-in closet, so as not to disturb his sleeping wife. “What’s up?”
“Liz’s lawyer is going to depose Brent, my brother-in-law.”
“Tonight?” He was being facetious.
“No, wiseguy. But the subpoena has already been served. I have to move fast if I’m going to stop it.”
“What does he know?”
“Not everything, but enough.”
“Walk me through it. Does anybody besides you and your mom know about the safe deposit box, the money?”
“As far as I know, my mom and I are the only ones who know about the safe deposit box at the Banco Nacional. The only one who knows about the three million at the Banco del Istmo is me. But Sarah knows about the two million in the attic. So does Brent.”
“What does Liz know?”
“Hard to say. She had a talk with my dad a few weeks before he died. I don’t remember exactly how she put it, but she claims he made some remark that money would come her way soon.”
Norm took a seat on the clothes hamper behind the closet door. “So that’s their angle.”
“What?”
“They’re trying to say the money was a gift from your dad while he was alive, rather than an inheritance that passes through the estate after death.”
“What’s the difference? From Liz’s standpoint, I mean.”
“Huge. If it’s an inheritance, it’s what the law calls a special equity. She can’t get her hands on it in the divorce. But if it was a gift made before your father died, that might be a different situation. Especially if she can show that your dad expressly promised it to her.”
“Meaning she can get it in the divorce?”
“It’s a tough argument. But it’s their only argument.”
Ryan rose from the hotel bed and began to pace. “A few weeks ago, I wouldn’t have believed Liz would reach like this. But I’ll believe anything after the wringer her lawyer ran me through in his office.”
“Who’s her lawyer?”
“Phil Jackson in Denver.”
“Oh, man. That guy’s a shark.”
“You know him?”
“Hell yes. He has his own publicist, for crying out loud. His mug is on the front page of the legal fish wrappers every other day. He’s slick. I think he’s downright dishonest. In fact, it wouldn’t at all surprise me to hear that one of his overly zealous investigators is behind the disappearance of your bag.”
“How could that be?”
“Let’s say Liz knows there’s money in Panama. Maybe your dad told her that much. She tells Jackson. He hires an investigator to watch you, letting you lead him straight to the money. Bingo. He’s hit the mother lode.”
Ryan shook his head. “I don’t know. Liz may have gone off the deep end, but I don’t think she would ever authorize someone to follow me to Panama and swipe my bag.”
“Jackson could have talked her into it. Or he could have done it without her authorization. He could be just