In the Blink of An Eye

by Jerry Baggett

  Hilo said, “I’ve just been informed that the ranch and our money there has been taken over by the Feds.”

  “Oh, my God. I was on my way there, before going back to California.” I have to lie to him. “That means I can’t go back there or to my home in California. Everything’s fucked.”

  “We closed the Bahama accounts and moved the money,” Hilo said. “If you’d called in time, we could have saved the money at the ranch. That was a heavy blow. The company’s holding you responsible, Angel.”

  The man standing behind Angel said. “Boss, I’d like to kick the shit out of her. My nuts hurt.”

  “Not yet, Tiegs. We’re not ready for that. Lock her in the room here and let her think about things for a while. You may get a shot at her later.”

  Angel yelled, “I’ve been damn loyal to you, Mr. Hilo, and you treat me like an enemy! At least move my hands to the front so I can go to the bathroom. I spotted your man at the airport and rushed out to my car before I could go pee. But I didn’t expect this.”

  Hilo laughed. “Move her hands to the front and let her go to the toilet. There’s a commode in the room, isn’t there? Just lock her in that room while I do some more checking.”

  Angel waited for the men to leave before standing up and looking around. She looked at the rat-infested mattress and moved to the cubicle with a commode and small wash basin. She held her breath and pushed down on the flush handle. A small stream of water ran into the toilet. She flushed a second time, hoping for improvement. To hell with it. There’s no toilet paper or seat on the damn thing. She dropped her shorts and underwear around her ankles and backed over the toilet bowl.

  She woke to the sound of voices. “Get yourself together, Angel. You’re going to Mexico with us,” Hilo said. “I won’t let anything more happen to you for a while. You may end up back in California, if you cooperate.”

  “You know I can’t go back. The Feds will have the whole world looking for me. My condo on Catalina Island has been taken over, I’m sure.” I can’t let them take me to Mexico. Everything depends on getting back to my boat where the new identity might save me.

  “Tell me something, Angel. I’ve wondered how you managed a ranch in Alabama and worked as a nurse in California at the same time? We were pleased at the results of that operation and got a little careless. After all, you ran that place like a professional rancher for more than thirty years. You and Doctor Peyton were very well hidden.”

  “A simple frequent flier program. My best rest came while flying the night owl flight. It got easier after cell phones became popular and I went to part-time with Doctor Peyton. Please tell me I’ve earned my retirement and leave me alone. Your organization has profited as well as I.”

  “Can’t do that. El Jefe said we should bring you home to Mexico. I think you know too much.” He turned toward the door. “Unfortunately for you, Angel, we can’t let your knowledge of the organization’s very private network of bank accounts and business contacts just disappear into the far reaches of the world. You can understand that, can’t you?”

  Chapter 47

  “Where’s this treasure now?” Marcus McGowin said.

  “It’s locked in a storage facility, inside my SUV, along with my belongings. As senior trustee, uncle Mark, I felt you should decide how we handle this mess. Personally, I see no reason to announce a find of this magnitude on trust property. Squatters would destroy everything there overnight, with that kind of publicity. At yesterday’s gold price, one ingot would trade at two hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars. You received the full inventory by courier. Have you arrived at a rough estimate yet?”

  “It’s entirely too early to start appraising everything, Dick. We want to be sure of each step taken. I never met my great-grandfather but he would be happy that his family’s valuables have been found by the family, not strangers. My father loved his grandfather. Johnny lost his leg attempting to remove his father’s body from the battlefield. You know the history. Johnny survived the war, only to fight for survival through the aftermath of suffering the south experienced following Lee’s surrender. Let me fill you in some, a refresher on what you already know about your family.”

  He covered the phone for a second. “Before leaving for war, Colonel John Calhoun McGowin freed all the family’s slaves. He knew that a freed black man would not be able to assume full responsibility for his family without help from white people, regardless of any strong desire he might have to do so.”

  He hesitated. “This is going to take some time, Dick, but it’s important to know, relative to the time period. The colonel felt obligated to the black families. He met with the adult members of his own family and they agreed to provide each head of family household twenty acres of land with mules and farm equipment for self-sustainment. The family further agreed to assist in building living quarters on each parcel of land, using lumber and other material provided by the family. In return, the ex-slave families agreed to maintain the plantation throughout the war, on a sharecropper type of arrangement. The ex-slave families lived up to their agreement and thrived, right up to the point where Union troops moved in and scavenged the property down to bare bones, making life difficult for everyone, black or white.”

  He stopped and thought for a moment. “Grandfather Johnny was near death, in a field hospital, when his family carried him home to die. He recovered from losing his leg and began to exert strong leadership within the family. Government-appointed carpetbaggers were sent into the south to prevent further insurrection. Those appointed agents continued to appropriate land and other assets from landowners for their own selfish needs. A troop of soldiers was sent to arrest Johnny and charge him with treason, a pressure tactic. He resisted in every way possible and was later released, after he swore allegiance to the United States government. He turned over fifty acres of land, where the family’s shoe and boot factory had been burned to the ground by Union soldiers, in an attempt to grab the land. That fifty acres was deeded to the tri-county carpetbagger in charge as payment after reaching an agreement to be left alone.”

  “Your throat’s dry. Get yourself a drink of water. I’ll hold on,” Dick said.

  “Johnny and many other landowners considered the ex-slave population to be the white man’s burden. He recovered his health and prospered from then on, until the end of his life, at age ninety-seven.” He stopped talking for a moment. “All in all, my dad spent as much time as he could with his grandfather. He helped him around the farm and listened to his stories. Johnny had considered the family blessed. The strength of the family and their timber assets helped many other desperate families live through the devastation of the Reconstruction period.”

  He stopped again for another swallow of water. “Here’s what we’re going to do, Dick. I’m putting together notification to members of the trust. A meeting has been scheduled for January fifteenth, here in Los Angeles, at the McGowin Corporation headquarters. I would like for you to charter a plane and fly the recovered treasure to the headquarters building, here, at your earliest convenience. Our greatest concern now should be securing the asset. Will you agree to do that?”

  “Of course, Uncle Mark. You know our current situation here. I believe this problem will be resolved soon. We’re working in close cooperation with the DEA. I have to say, I’m looking forward to getting together again with all our family, there in LA.”

  Samantha said, “Oh, good. We’re going back to California. I’m anxious to meet your brother, Dammit, and Robbin.”

  “You won’t have long to wait, honey. They’re flying in here tomorrow, in the Gulf Stream. We’ll all fly to LA with the treasure. You’ll get to meet most of the family while we’re there. Are you ready for that?” He grinned. “Play your cards right and you may get to sit up front with the new corporate captain.”

  Chapter 48

  Dick brought the Gulf Stream down from thirty-five thousand feet in a steep decent over the Mojave Desert. He disengaged the autopilot for a further sta
ir-step drop in altitude over the water, south of Buellton. California’s Channel Islands stood magnificently in the distance. He circled back over the west end of Santa Cruz Island to touch down in Santa Barbara. He hoped Samantha had been paying attention to that view. She grew up in California and loved the coastline. The view from the air is probably why they call this area the Gold Coast.

  Dammit said, “Uncle Mark made our temporary hanger arrangements for the Gulf Stream in Santa Barbara. That man has influence in places I’ve never heard of. He even brought a minibus to haul us around. The whole family’s here to meet the plane.”

  Dick laughed. “Sam may go into shock after one of his big bear hugs. She’s never been exposed to a family like ours.”

  “Nah,” Dammit said. “She can take it. I like that girl of yours, bro. She and Robbin have been bonding over red wine all the way across country. We may have to prop them up for the meet and greet. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. We’re stopping for dinner at the Cliff House restaurant. They’re setting up a table at the water’s edge, Mike’s idea. We should make it in time to see the sun drop into the Pacific. He has some kind of surprise for us. My favorite time of day, watching the sun drop into the Pacific.”

  Dick said, “You can’t kid an old kidder, bro. Your favorite time of day is anytime you can sit on the upper deck of that beautiful yacht, Forever Hooked, with a cocktail in your hand. I should know, I’ve heard ‘my favorite time of day’ coming from you, with a cocktail in hand, often enough.”

  Dammit laughed. “You may be right. There’s nothing better than a cold beer while grabbing rays in the cockpit. Now, you know, of course, Forever Hooked was left to Robbin in her cousin’s will, after he was killed on Catalina by drug smugglers.”

  The brothers loaded the last bag into the van. “By the way,” Dam said. “Packaging the treasure up with clothing and personal items was a great way to prepare it for shipping.”

  “Yeah, the best we could do. Each article’s wrapped in bubble wrap, packed in with the clothing. All the bags look the same, with family crest ID tags. Our personal stuff’s on top. You park the van and catch up with us in the corridor,” Dick said.

  Dick held Sam’s arm, slowing their progress down the corridor. “That’s Uncle Mark, the bear of a man with the full beard. He’s the ninety-year-old patriarch of the family. The big man next to him is his son, Mike. Next to Mike is his wife, Tracy, and their daughter, Catherine. They’ll all love you. Uncle Mark looks good. He’s lost weight, probably well under three hundred pounds now. At six-two, I’m the short round of the family.

  They walked a few steps closer. “The two attractive women on the other side of uncle Mark are his daughters, Sally and Gayle. Their children are all away at school. You’ll get a chance to meet them later.”

  He and Sam waited behind, while Dammit and Robbin reconnected with Mike and Tracy. Catherine couldn’t wait. She hurried past the huggers to grab Dick around his waist. “My favorite uncle,” she said, laughing. “I know we’re really cousins, but Dad said you and Dammit were more like brothers to him. After all, the three of you grew up together after your parents died in that plane crash. I wish you would visit more often, Uncle Dick.”

  “We all grew up on the original McGowin estate where you live now. A blessing for Dam and I.” He turned to Sam. “This is my very special friend, Samantha. She would like you to call her Sam.”

  Mark McGowin pushed back from the table. “I know the view is terrific, with the porpoise playing in the surf, ten feet away and all, but a majority serving on the board of trustees for the McGowin family trust happens to be sitting at this dinner table. It’s an opportunity to take care of our unexpected blessing.”

  He picked up a knife and tapped it against a water glass. “I hereby declare this gathering as an official meeting of the trustees for the McGowin permanent trust. A specific part of our business can be handled here, today, ahead of the next scheduled meeting. Before I ask for a second to the declaration, oh hell, I meant motion, we should raise our glasses to Dick and Samantha.” He tipped his wine glass. “Samantha! Welcome to our close family. To Dick and Samantha; our wish is your bonding be permanent, your future bountiful, and your journey through life be filled with joy.”

  Dick lifted his glass. “Thank you, Uncle Mark. To God, country, the McGowin family and their beautiful women.”

  Mike interrupted, “I second the motion to open this meeting.”

  Dammit said, “I move we place the recently acquired assets into the trust, in perpetuity.”

  Mark McGowin said, “The rules of the trust have never been breached. The senior member of each family branch will continue to retain a seat on the board as a direct descendant of Colonel John Calhoun McGowin, through his five children who bore children of their own, thus a five-member original board. Our current board is down to three direct descendants. Distribution of assets from the trust will continue to require unanimous approval of the board of trustees before distribution. There has been no change in these directives for multiple generations. Do I hear a second?”

  Mike said, “I second that motion to have the newest assets placed into the trust, in perpetuity. A meeting with trust attorneys has been scheduled to work out details for investing, as you know, Dad.”

  Mark McGowin said, “Do I hear a vote for approval?”

  “The vote carried with unanimous approval.” Mike said, “I move we table all other business until the next board meeting.”

  “So be it. The motion to table all other business has been seconded and approved. Do I hear a motion to close the meeting?” Mark said.

  “Not yet, Dad. I forgot something. After a discussion with the trust’s investment group, everyone will be pleased to know annual annuity disbursement checks to recipients will increase, effective immediately, as a result of the new capital investment. The amount of the increase will be determined by the accountants. I believe you will see a noticeable difference in your annuity check in the next year.”

  Mark McGowin said, “A motion to close the meeting has been seconded and approved. This meeting is officially adjourned. Minutes will be officially recorded and distributed at the next meeting.”

  Samantha squeezed Dicks thigh. “Well, that was easy. I’ve been worried about what you would do with all that money. No one’s even making a big deal out of millions of dollars.”

  He smiled at Sam’s sincerity. “I could never say money isn’t important, because it is. Money is only the means to an end. Its value often depends on what one’s end needs are. Once your needs have been met, for the most part, money becomes less valuable, don’t you think?”

  “Maybe. I’m not sure yet. Perhaps I’ll agree with you at some point.” She laughed.

  “Let me put it another way,” he said. “Responsibility and strict adherence to established rules are the key to wealth management. Much like the responsibility to one’s job, business or any endeavor, wealth is soon lost, without perpetuity. A permanent trust should benefit all those in your family orbit. Once you reach that point, money is another tool in the tool chest. In the McGowin trust, the senior member of each branch is responsible for sharing the proceeds responsibly and equally, with their siblings. Every family member then has an opportunity for an established passive income to start their adult life. Individual family members may succeed or fail on his or her own merit.”

  Mike slapped his hands together and grinned at the smiling faces. “Listen up everyone. All personal luggage will be loaded directly aboard Blue Dolphin, in Mandalay Bay. The McGowin family yacht stands ready for five days of family bonding with a brief stop at Avalon, then Newport and Dana Point. She’ll anchor in San Diego Bay overnight before returning, non-stop, to Mandalay Bay in Ventura County. Consider this a family reunion cruise. Anyone with objections to that had better hide under the table.”

  He laughed. “My last interruption. The captain, and that be me, has ordered all hands, including late sleeping scalawags, be prepared to stand by for the moor
ing operation in Avalon harbor at 5:48 a.m. That’s sunrise tomorrow morning, for a magnificent view of the sun burning through the morning mist of the San Pedro Channel. Bloody Mary’s are optional.”

  Blue Dolphin eased to a stop in the calm water of Avalon Bay. The three men on deck watched the anchor drop quietly, in deep water, one hundred yards off Casino Point. They continued drinking coffee, and talking in low undertones.

  Dick waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. “Do you have a sense of how you’d like this to play out?”

  “Uncle Mark made plans for the day here in Avalon. He thought everyone would like a day of relaxing, just plain visiting the shops, and good restaurants. He thought a tour of Avalon in one of those little rental vehicles would be nice. I’m not sure what else he had in mind.” Dammit pointed at the Wrigley mansion, then at the Zane Grey house, on an opposing hill. “Have you ever actually taken time to visit those land marks?”

  Mike laughed. “Only walking past. As kids, we were always too busy playing around underwater, like spearing fish on the edge of the game reserve.” He thought he heard a door open. “You know, I think we should let the beauties keep on sleeping for a while. Happy hour lasted a bit too long last night. Dad’s stories about growing up in Alabama kept everyone in stitches. Catherine’s already down in the galley, putting everything together for wake-up coffee and sweet rolls. That can be any time after the scalawags drag themselves topside.”

  Dammit put his coffee down and slapped Mike on the back. “I get a kick out of how he enjoys telling about his thirteen-year-old cousin dropping him through the outhouse toilet hole as a baby. It’s true. Dad’s own brother confirms the story.”

  “Yeah,” Dick said. “And that’s not the only laughable tale told last night.”

  He felt one of the phones vibrate in his jacket pocket: Samantha’s phone. He looked at the name on the screen; Angel. Should I answer it? He hit the speaker button. “Hi, Angel. This is Dick McGowin. Sam’s asleep. Should I wake her?”