The Shelter: Book 1, The Beginning (5 page)

“Thanks. Don’t let anyone near him until I question him.”

“Sir, D.C. has said we have to transfer him to headquarters in two hours.”

“How did they communicate this to us?”

“Via secure fax.”

“You never saw it, pull the paper out of the secure fax machine. We’ll transfer Buryakov when I’m satisfied we have all of the information from him we need to figure out what he was doing.”

“Sir, D.C…”

“Said nothing because you didn’t get a fax because we were out of paper.”

“Yes, sir, you realize you could be fired for delaying to carry out HQ’s order.”

“Good. I’m ready to sit on my boat and fish all day.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll pull the paper.”

“While you’re at it, pull the telephone plug, some asshole may put paper in it. No one will check the plug.”

“Yes, sir.”

Damn D.C. They want me to transfer Buryakov so they can return him to Moscow. The screwed up State Department must be behind this bullshit. Stupid State Department and their damn phony reset button. They delayed us moving against Buryakov for weeks. If they’d let me move when I wanted to, we would have the entire team in custody and we’d have a much chance of knowing what they were doing.

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I spent the morning making notes, talking with our accountant and sending her our tax records and previous year financial information so she could help us figure out the best way to handle our winnings. I didn’t notice Lacy calling the house until the ringing brought me back to reality.

Lacy sounded concerned, “Honey, got a minute? Did you speak with Beth?”

“She’s overjoyed for us, she said she’s going to raise her rate to do our taxes to $27 million. After we had a good laugh, she told me to take the lump sum and put 25% away for any other potential tax issues. She’s sending us some interest bearing account information we can stick the money in until this time next year. She reminded us that we have to spread the money around as soon as we get it. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) backs each insurer for only $250,000. Not per account, per person. After the 2008 banking meltdown, there is a hell of a lot less US banks than there used to be. There aren’t enough US banks left for us to open accounts at each to cover our $28 million. Beth said she’d help us open accounts in banks around the world to spread our risks. She also suggested some high-grade bonds.”

“What are we going to do?”

“I’m going to open accounts and you’re going to open some. I don’t intend to follow so many other lottery winners into the poorhouse.”

“How long will it take to set up?”

“Only a couple of hours. We should be able to have everything set up so when we make the deposit into our primary account, we’ll be able to instantly make the transfers into our new accounts to protect the money.”

“When are we going to get it?”

“Most likely tomorrow, Friday, why?”

“I’m thinking of going with you, the office is a real zoo today.”

“What’s going on?”

“You may think the low oil prices are good, however, it’s killing our margin. Do you remember me telling you last night there’s a rumor floating up from HQ that there could be a layoff soon?”

“Yes, what of it?”

“It looks like 20 to 25% of the company is going to be laid off tomorrow afternoon.”

“Do you think you’re going to be one of the 20%?”

“I don’t think I was on the list until Joe told Marshal about us winning. When I came in this morning, everyone was giving me a funny look. They think I’m going to quit, as such I think they will put me on the layoff list because I’m now an easy one to cut.”

“Why don’t you just ask Marshal? You two are friendly, you’ve done him a lot of favors before. If you’re on the list, maybe he’ll pay you off today so you won’t have to go in tomorrow, Friday firings are depressing. There’s no reason for you to stress about it. We’ll go get the money, and then celebrate.”

“OK, I’ll let you know when I see you tonight.”

“Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Hanging up, I hear on the news that the cost of a barrel of oil fell today to $42.00. I thought,
maybe the reducing oil prices isn’t such a good idea. The timing of our win couldn’t have been better if there’s a chance Lacy is going to be laid off. With me out of work and semi-retired, we relied on her income and her medical insurance benefits.

Lacy called at 4:30 PM to say she was on the way and could I meet her in the garage to help her. At 4:55 PM I heard the garage door open, I met Lacy as she pulled into the garage. She smiled while nodding to me. “You were right, I asked Marshal to be honest with me. He closed his door telling me I wasn’t originally on the list, but after hearing we won the lottery, he added me because he felt I was going to quit anyway. It allowed him to keep someone who was a single mother. I told him I understood and took the rest of the day off.” Laughing, she said, “I’m taking the rest of my life off.”

“Honey, it’s going to be OK. We’ll get through this.”

“You don’t understand, I’ve worked since I was 16. This is the first time I haven’t had a job. What are we going to do without insurance?”

“$28 million. Did you forget?”

“Why don’t you take me out to dinner tonight? I think we can afford it. Did you call the lottery people?”

“Let me get my coat. Sure did. We’re set to pick up the check tomorrow.”

Over a glass of wine, Lacy tells me, “Honey, I think you may be right, the economy is sliding into the crapper. Marshal told me he and his wife bought a new house in West Virginia last weekend.”

“Why the hell in West Virginia? It’s going to take him 90 minutes to get to the office.”

“He told me if oil prices stay below $50 a barrel the company will most likely close our branch and many others. At his age, he doesn’t think he’ll be able to find another job.”

“He’s only 57 isn’t he?”

“Yes, but he said it’s almost impossible to find a job that pays him similar to what he currently earns. He said the new house has enough land they’ll be able to raise animals and grow their own food to be self-sufficient.”

“How many acres did he buy?”

“Twenty.”

“Marshal didn’t strike me as a farmer.”

“He’s not. He said he’s also going to cash in his 401K, for what he said is usable shit.”

“What did he mean by that?”

“I don’t know. I asked him, he said, he expects the market to crash within six months. He’s going to cash out his 401K and IRAs before the market enters free fall. He agreed with you that Greece is going to be the spark that sets the Euro on fire, taking down the EU. He said OPEC is driving the cost of oil down in order destroy the fracking industry, it's sure taking a toll on us. He said he expects once OPEC buries our fracking industry, they’ll bring the cost of a barrow of oil back to over $100. He said you should keep an eye on Russia and China, they’re going to use the financial situation against us.”

“I didn’t realize Marshal paid that much attention to everything.”

“Honey, remember he has two PhDs, one in economics, and one in math. He said he made a medium-sized fortune shorting the market in 08 and another fortune in 13-14 when he projected the market was going to jump. He said he’s getting out of the market and suggests we not get in. He’s converting everything he can to gold. He gave me a memory stick with some files for you. He said you should understand the math.”

“That sounds scary. When is he moving?”

“He said in thirty days. I’ll check the files when we get home. I was thinking if we’re going to move, we should move closer to the kids. If we assume the market is going to crash, I don’t like living on the outskirts of D.C. Remember the riots in Baltimore? I don’t want to be anywhere near race riots.”

“I told you, I won’t move to Iowa, we visited there once, I hated it. Tell Sammi to move East, I also don’t like Illinois, where Shelly and Todd live.”

“Shelly can’t move because of the custody issues, Sammi won’t move because of Ricky’s job. We could move someplace close to both, but still be in an area that we’d like.”

“Like where?”

“Nashville, or some place close to it. I don’t want to live in Ohio, there’s also Kentucky?”

“I think I like Nashville better.”

“I have an idea, why don’t you pack a bag; we’ll collect the money and we’ll hit the road to investigate different areas. We can stop and see the kids while we’re at it. Since you’re out of a job too, what do you have to lose?”

Lacy laughs, saying, “I like it. By the way, Marshal did give me a little gift.”

“Huh? What kind of gift?”

Lacy laughs, she hands me an envelope, “He gave me six months pay and my six weeks accrued vacation. It’s a month per year, it’s what everyone else is getting on Friday.”

“Well, this is a nice surprise. When it rains, it pours, I thought they were going to give you two, maybe four weeks pay, and your accrued vacation. I didn’t expect this.”

Laughing, Lacy asks to see the desert menu, something she almost never does. I look at her in surprise. “I’m celebrating.”

“I’ll join you.”

We return home and pack for a week before going to bed, we have a big day ahead of us. Early the next morning we drive the 2 hours to Richmond. We have our pictures taken, we sign a couple release forms, we can’t stop staring at the check. I’ve never seen a check with so many numbers on it.  $28,774,653.00. We’re both shaking while holding the check. Next stop the closest Bank of America branch which thankfully is less than two blocks away. Walking into the bank, a woman says, “Welcome to Bank of America, how can I help you?”

“We’d like to make a deposit.”

“I can help you with that, do you have your ATM card?”

“Yes, we’d like to split the deposit into two accounts.”

“No problem.” The teller looks at the check turning white and starts shaking. She calls out, “Mrs. Redding, may I see you, please?”

The manager joins the teller, I ask her, “Is there a problem?”

The manager looks at the check saying, “We’re going to have to put a hold on these funds until the check clears.”

“No, you're not. It’s a certified check drawn on Bank of America, which is this bank. The lottery commission banks at this very branch, you can check their balance. You’re not supposed to put a hold on certified checks, if you do, I’m sure Wells Fargo across the street would like our business.”

Mrs. Redding looks at me saying, “I’ll have to check with corporate, would you like to sit in my office. This shouldn’t take too long.”

“Don’t go far with our check. I’d like it if you stayed someplace I can see you.”

Fifteen minutes later, which feels like a year, Mrs. Redding returns smiling, “Would you like some coffee?”

Lacy says, “Yes, please.”

Lacy opens a CD in the amount of $250,000, we deposit the rest into our normal checking accounts with the intent to start transferring to other accounts as soon as we’re out of the bank. I figure if we find a place to live, we may want to bargain with cash in hand.

We left Richmond with $15,000 in cash and $28 million in different accounts. We started our journey to see our girls and granddaughters while thinking about where we’re going to move. While I’m driving, Lacy logs onto and pays off everything we owe. Laughing, she says, “We’re now debt free.”