Sunset Beach(134)

* * *



“Word at the office is that you got a big promotion today,” Jonah said. They sat comfortably side by side on the living room sofa.

“Thanks, Geoff,” Drue said sarcastically. “I guess Wendy must have assigned him to deal with applicants applying to the online job posting.”

“Are you excited about the prospect?” he asked.

“I sort of am,” she said. “Scared and nervous, but thrilled that I’ll be escaping from that damned cubicle.”

“Looks like I might be escaping soon too,” he said casually.

“What does that mean?”

“I’ve had a job offer. Contingent on passing the Florida bar exam later this month. Second time’s the charm, right?”

“From who?” she demanded. “I mean, Dad’s offered you a job, right?”

“Brice and I have talked,” he said. “But there’s another offer on the table.”

“Tell me it’s not those shysters at Secrest, Fuller, Post,” Drue said. “I heard they have a mobile legal unit in a converted school bus that actually chases ambulances. You wouldn’t go to work for the competition, right?”

“I can neither confirm nor deny,” Jonah said. “So let’s change the subject. What’s this legal matter you can’t discuss with your own father?”

“It’s complicated. And I don’t want to put Dad in a compromising position.”

“I, on the other hand, would love to have you put me in a compromising position,” he said.

“Maybe later.” She removed his hand from her knee, went into her bedroom and brought out the train case, setting it on the coffee table in front of him.

“Open it,” she said.

He did as directed, staring down at the stacks of currency. “Is this your way of telling me that your side hustle is drug dealing? Or money laundering?”

“I found this up in the attic,” she said, ignoring his attempt at a joke. “It’s been hidden up there since 1976. And I’m not sure what to do with it.”

He picked up a stack of bills, riffling them like so much Monopoly money. “After eavesdropping on that conversation with your dad the other night, I took the liberty of reading that Have you seen Colleen? blog. I read up on the case too. I have a pretty good idea of where this money might have come from. Does this mean you know what happened to her?”

Drue gulped and nodded. “Yes.”

Jonah stood up and walked around the living room. “I respect that Brice is your dad, but Drue, if he killed her…”

“He didn’t,” she said quickly. “And neither did Zee. All I can tell you is that I found this money.”

“Let me guess. There’s seven thousand dollars.”

“Yes. More or less.”

“Now I see why you can’t talk to Brice about this.”

“Colleen has no family left, just in case you were going to suggest that. Her parents died in 1980. She was an only child, and she and her husband never had children. Allen Hicks remarried two more times, and he never had children either. Besides,” she said. “Everyone who ever knew Allen Hicks agrees that he was a bad, evil person.”

Jonah riffled the bills again. “I’d say this money would be evidence in a criminal matter.”

“Which means, if I turned it into the police, they’d ask me a lot of questions about how it got up there in my attic. They might even come over here and dig up my yard or something.”

“That’s a possibility,” Jonah agreed.

“If I give this money to the police, they’ll keep it,” Drue said.

“Yes. I think that’s true. It would probably go into their general fund,” Jonah said.

He gave her a curious look. “You’re not thinking of keeping it or spending it, right?”

“No. But what if I wanted to give it away?”

“Like, to a charity?”

“In a manner of speaking, yes. But this charity isn’t an organization. It’s just a needy, deserving individual. And I would do it anonymously.”

He nodded. “I guess that would work.”

“I’d need some technical assistance,” she said.

“Is that why you asked me to bring my laptop?”

“Yeah. Do you mind?”



* * *



They spent the rest of the evening poring over online listings. Jonah checked Blue Book values and Drue emailed potential sellers.

Drue poked the train case with her bare toe. “Do you think the cash will be a problem?”

He picked up a banded stack of cash. “These aren’t new bills, and as far as I can tell from what I’ve read about the case, the bank didn’t keep records of the circulation numbers of the cash Colleen withdrew. All the sellers I contacted are more than happy to accept cash.”

“Good.” She leaned over and closed the lid of his computer. “We missed the sunset. But do you feel like a walk on the beach anyway?”

“Only if you promise to let me carry the Mace this time,” he said.



* * *



They strolled down to the water’s edge and Jonah slipped his arm around her shoulder.