Chapter 5

We were wheels up by one and landing at Salt Lake City International by five thirty after gaining an hour to the time zone change. Instead of a suburban waiting for us, there was a Mercedes Sprinter rigged up as a passenger van. It was almost as comfortable inside as Jake’s jet!

It was only about forty minutes’ drive time out to Deer Valley where the lodge was located. The house that was part of the trust was one of a group of McMansions that were built at the top of a hill to take advantage of the views. In fact, right out the back door were two popular ski slopes that would take you down into town!

The house was gorgeous, all hardwood, exposed beam, field stone and a lot of windows. They were all double or triple paned, so more energy efficient, but the place was slick. According to the caretaker, all outside surfaces, like the patios and decks, were heated to keep the winter snows and ice from building up. The outdoor pool, and the two outdoor Jacuzzis, were all heated year round.

Six bedrooms, four with ensuite baths, one pair with a shared bath and one bathroom in the public spaces of the house. There was a four-car garage that already had two vehicles in it. One was a four-wheel drive Ford Excursion and one was an honest to goodness snow cat with tracks and everything. I was going to have to come back up here for that alone!

Since it was summer, it was green and brown everywhere and all the McMansions around us were empty. We drove down into town to check it out, but Jake said it best.

“Deer Valley in summer is like Vegas in the daytime. Not something you really want to see.”

We didn’t stick around long, heading back into Salt Lake City the next day.

The flight to San Diego only lasted two hours, but we lost an hour so there is that. After landing, it took an hour and a half to get to the Marina. We owned sixty percent of the California Yacht Marina in southern San Diego and Terry said there had been some noises like a couple of the minor partners wanted to sell out.

This was the most southern marina on the California coast, just six miles from the Mexican border. The boating and sailing is first rate in the area, but thieves from Mexico, drug runners and even pirates made the cost of doing business a lot higher. A good example was the twenty-four-hour guards, armed guards, that watched over the boats in the marina!

Looking out over the hundreds of docks, there weren’t but a dozen or so actual yachts despite the grandiose name. I did see several cat and trimaran power boats like the forty-five-footer in Galveston though, so that was kind of neat.

Listening to Terry reeling off the numbers I could tell that this place made money. People paid to park their toys and we made almost as much money in maintenance and supply as we did in docking fees. I spoke to Jake about it and, after getting his nod, I told Terry that if he could get a good deal for extra ownership percentages, to go ahead and do it through D&D, either properties or Charters, whichever was best. We might as well shoot for a hundred percent ownership if it made fiscal sense.

The house I owned out here was on Mission Bay and it was smaller than the other places I owned, but was right on the beach looking out on the ocean so that was nice. I was flabbergasted because this was freakin’ GTAV. The streets, the beach, everything!

Grand Theft Auto V was a video game where you played a criminal who hooked up with others to pull heists, steal cars and so on. A lot of the scenery in the game looked like it had been digitized right from San Diego. I was ready to do a mission and cap some fools!

Don’t give me that look. Yes, I know the difference between real life and games, but this was still pretty cool.

The beach house was cool, it was on the beach, but it was, well, kind of worn down. It was like an old bike you got when you were ten, and you have painted it a couple of times, put on some new handlebars and a couple of seats, but there is that crack in the neck, and it needs brakes and, well, you get the picture. It made me wonder how much it would take to tear it down and rebuild. Kinda sad, really.

I realized part of my problem was that I was sick of moving around. Okay, I wasn’t all that fond of the Carvers, they were nice and all but so ... blah. They were in it for the money, even if they did still care, some, about the kids they took in. If it weren’t for the cash, they wouldn’t bother. Still, I kind of missed my room, you know? My bed, my space.

I didn’t particularly care if I went back to San Antonio again, but maybe Austin, start a new life? I just wanted to be someplace for more than a day or two, some time to absorb all these changes.

When I expressed this all to Jake, he just nodded.

“Frankly, this is more than I have traveled in a few years, Jack. This last decade I have become a bit of a homebody. Don’t get me wrong, I am glad to do this, but I think I want to go and sit on my porch a bit, you know? So ... what is it you want, Jack? By now you know that the money you have gives you some serious power. You could go and do just about anything you want, really.”

“I really like the UT campus in Austin,” I told him, remembering the friendly people there. “I have to finish high school, but I think I want to go there. I think getting away from San Antonio, from my history there, would be good for me.”

“Austin might not be healthy, at least for a little while. Sure as heck, someone will talk in the police department. If you could go to high school anywhere, where would you go? Someplace away from Texas, maybe. Then, when you graduate, go to UT if you want. Hell, even if your grades are not the best, you could donate a couple of million and they will carry you from class to class on their shoulders.” Jake told me with a laugh.

“What about Florida? We don’t have any businesses there, no property, and no one knows me. Key West looks pretty cool on TV.”

Jake shrugged his shoulders. “I have no objections. Want to fly out there and see?”

“Really? Just like that? I thought you wanted to go back and kick it on your porch?”

“Well ... maybe not just yet. I think I want to help you find a place where you can be yourself.”

“Jake, we haven’t really talked much about it, neither of us wanted to bring it up” I said, cringing a bit. “Look, I don’t want you to, I don’t know, feel guilty or do this out of a sense of, um, obligation.”

He shook his head. “I’m not, Jack. Yes, I felt guilty because I didn’t see what my son had become. Yes, I felt like I had an obligation, but I have fulfilled that, making sure you were safe and cared for, that you would lack nothing I could give. Hell, you are one of about five thousand people in the US with a quarter of a billion dollars in the bank, and you are fifteen. No, this is different for me. I found I actually like you, Jack, and I want to see you succeed, to be happy. So, what is another airplane ride?”

I didn’t know what to say to that, so I just smiled and nodded. No, I wasn’t all emotional, it was dusty in that house, so close to the sand and all.

Shut up, you don’t know me.

Terry decided to come with us to check out the Florida Keys, just looking out for his client, you know? Uh huh. That he spent the first hour discussing bikini styles with Dave and Dean meant nothing.

I spent the flight with Jake, looking at property listings in Key West. I wanted something nice, but not too flashy, and near to the high school would be good. If it had a place for a boat, even better and a pool was almost a must.

The list was slim, most of the places being inland, but there were a couple that were on canals and had their own boat docks. I found one place that had a lift for a forty-foot boat, and covered dock too. It had a pool, smaller than I liked but big enough for short laps. The street side was low key, so it hardly looked like it was much out front, but it was five-bedroom, four baths. The house was forty-two hundred square feet on two floors and the lot was almost ten thousand square feet, so there was room to grow.

The price? Not horrible for the area, but not great either. They were asking two point four for it, but it had been on the market for a year. Jake said I could probably get it for seventy percent of the asking price, maybe sixty, if I told them cash and a quick close. If so, at a million seven, it looked more inviting.

I had to laugh when I said that and Jake looked at me funny. “Jake, I just said a million seven was a more attractive price. Two weeks ago, I bought a game I had saved three months to afford. Less than fifty bucks, Jake.”

He looked surprised, then grinned at me and wagged his eyebrows. “Feels good, right?”

We landed in Key West too late to do any looking, so we got a hotel and took in some nightlife. Our clocks were all screwed up and we were two hours ahead of home, I think, but three, or maybe four, ahead of San Diego? I would have to check Google.

The next morning, we called a couple of realty places, including the one listing the property on Flagler street I had looked at. One company offered to come right over to the hotel and bring their listings with them, while another company said if we came in, they would check their listings and get back to us.

Yeah, screw that noise. We called the eager beaver back.

The real estate agent who came over was youngish, early thirties maybe, and looked fresh with very little makeup. She was wearing a cute sundress and a blazer with white flats on her feet, very business-like for the Keys, from what we saw around town last night.

Sharon Wells was her name, and she sat right down with a pad while we told her what we were looking for. I gave her the address of the house we had seen online and asked for her opinion.

“Hmm ... a bit dated inside, that whole washed wood look was out a decade ago. The cabinets? Cheap junk installed after the last big hurricane. Still the lot, location, house is strong, it is worth some money, just not the two point four they are asking.” she leafed through her book and tapped an entry.

“It has been on the market a year this time around, eight months previously. They pulled the listing, waited three months, relisted. It is a way to get around the long listing, you know? Anyway, I honestly wouldn’t offer more than sixty percent, call it a million four? That and some TLC will make the place worth two point five again.”

We loaded up in the Caddy Escalade that had shown up for us at the airport and took a drive down to the place. No one was living there but they had a Realtor key box on the door so, with a phone call, she was able to get us in to look around. It definitely needed some work, but I liked the big yard, the pool and the dock. The whole wall opened up on the living room and let in the sea breeze too, which was cool.

“So, what do you think, Uncle Dean? Do you think you could do your work from this place?” I asked Dean, grinning when he rolled his eyes.

“It would need some work, but sure. Not far from the school for you, either. You’ll need wheels, I guess, but I can drive you at first.”

I got Jake, Dean and Terry together and we all agreed on one point five if there were no liens and the inspection panned out, with a quick close and we pay costs. If they wanted more, they could pay the closing costs and we could dicker some more.

Terry passed the word to the Realtor and she grinned. “Let me make the offer for you, all you need to do is sign here for me and I will call when I hear from the seller, okay?”

We spent two days in Key West, half of each day looking at property in case the first fell through, the other half of each day on the beach. I even managed to get a couple of those drinks with the little umbrellas in them. I found I had a real liking for Piña Coladas, even the virgin ones were pretty good.

On the third day, our Realtor called and let us know the owners had been in Cancun, and out of touch but that they were back at their home in New York. They had counter-offered at two flat and she was legally bound to bring that counter offer back. We sent her back with one point five, but only if we could close in two weeks or less and we would come to them. We would pay one point six, but they would have to come down here and would have to pay closing costs.

By the end of the day, we had a solid contract for one point five million with a closing in ten days. We would fly to White Plains New York or, rather, Terry would, and present them with a check in exchange for their signature.

In the meantime, Sharon gave us the name of a girlfriend of hers who did interior decorating and whose prices were reasonable. Crystal Moore was her name and she was beautiful!

Crystal sounded like a stripper name and this girl, if she wanted, could make good money doing that job. She was five ten or so, maybe a hundred and twenty, with nice rack and a very trim figure. She had a gorgeous smile and long blonde hair that almost, but not quite, hid how firm and perfectly shaped her rear was. I could see that even Dean was interested and I hadn’t seen him even look at a woman in the short time I had known him.

“So, what do you want with this place? What do you see in your head when you look around?” she asked us, standing in the middle of the living room.

“Think two single men. Well, a single man and a teen age boy. My uncle and I will be living here while I go to school down the road. No crystal dangly things,” I said, pointing to a lighting fixture out of the seventies. “And no washed wood crap cabinets.” I continued, pointing to the kitchen. I threw up my hands. I hadn’t really though that part through.

“So ... more Olde English men’s club than, say, stripper bar then?” she said with a grin. Jake laughed and nodded.

“Tell you what, Crystal, think wood. Light woods, some bamboo but not rattan. Lots of tile. Light, cool, airy, someplace a kid could bring friends and not be embarrassed. A cabana out back and he wants the boat lift and cover completely refurbished. I am sure he will want a boat. Need a cover for the pool too, maybe even enlarge it a bit.”

“Yeah! One of those solar powered covers that follow the sun so part of the pool is always in shade. Those are killer. Making it as big as possible is a definite must and, I don’t know, refinish the rest of the pool? Maybe even rip it out and start over. I want an outdoor bar-b-que place, you know? Kind of a kitchen with a fridge and icemaker.” I chipped in, picturing Rene’s back yard.

“Okay, good, I have some ideas. Give me an idea of a budget and time frame. I also need an email address so I can send some pictures, drawing, ideas and so on, then we’ll get started.”

I had to roll my eyes when everyone turned to look at me. I was supposed to be the kid, right?

“Okay, I don’t know what these things are supposed to cost, but with an updated kitchen, it won’t be cheap right? How about two hundred and fifty. Is that enough?”

Crystal stared at me for a moment. “Two hundred and fifty thousand should be enough to do the entire house including the outside, though I will have to price that awning setup, the pool and the refurbishment of the boat lift.”

“Okay, but if it looks like things are going north of half a million, I will want to talk about choices. I don’t want to put more into the house than I can get out of it again.”

Crystal seemed surprised and gave me that strange look again. “Okay, that sounds very reasonable. In fact, in that kind of budget I can get you the new, guaranteed storm proof shutters that a company in Tampa is advertising. Some new polymer or something, but guaranteed for up to five million in damages. They are a bit pricey, probably thirty-five to fifty for a place this size, but worth it if you can afford them.”

“Okay, Crystal. Let’s write up a contract and Terry will get you an American Express card that draws on the house account.” I told her, glad that was over.

“Wait, we didn’t agree on a timeline!” she protested, even as she pulled out her forms.

“Yesterday would be good, but two weeks would be okay. I can live with a month, but it is already July and school starts in August.”

“Yeah, we have ... five weeks, I think. Sheesh! Okay, we can do this. It might cost a bit more to rush some of the work, but it can be done. Sign here, and here, and get me the funds so I can start ordering things like the plantation blinds and those shutters, they are made to order up in Tampa so I have to get moving on those.”

“I can have a card overnighted to you for delivery first thing in the morning, Ms. Moore.” Terry said, waving off her concerns.

While she completed the paperwork, I pulled Terry to the side and asked him to get Dean a card as well for business use. I suggested no limit, but Terry wanted me to limit it and require approval on anything more than five thousand. We compromised on a 10K limit and it was done.

Once Crystal was gone, we locked up and went back to the hotel.

“So, Jack. What are you going to do until the house is ready?” Jake asked, pouring himself a drink.

“Well, I have to go back. At the very least I need my school transcripts, right? I need to figure out how to get registered here, I think Rene has to do that. You said she would be okay with this, so I will offer to fly her here, put her up for a few days of fun in the sun with Sylvie. I want to pick up my clothes and a few personal belongings. I still have a key to the Carvers’ place, so that won’t be a problem.”

I thought for a few minutes, then turned to Dean. “Dean, I am assuming you still want to do this? I never did ask you if you wanted to pull up stakes and follow me around, much less play my uncle in Florida!”

He grinned and shrugged. “I was living in a weekly rate hotel. I dumped my few belongings into a storage unit before I showed up to meet with you, Dave had warned me that we would be traveling. I have nothing to leave behind and you are paying a buttload more than I was making in the Marines and I have no bills. I am banking everything since you are paying for lodging, transportation, meals and even clothes. So, no, I hate it and I want to be broke and unemployed!”

He seemed to think it was hilarious that I flipped him off. Even Jake laughed.

The month went by pretty quickly, especially when Rene put the bug in my ear about being emancipated. Texas doesn’t much care for emancipation but, with a Circuit court judge on my side who could call in a few favors, I think I set a new record. By the time that Crystal said the house was ready for occupancy, I was a legal adult. Still couldn’t buy guns, drink liquor or vote, but the rest was in reach.

Dean and I flew back to Key West again, this time on a chartered jet because we were bringing firearms. Yes, I bought those Kriss Vectors. There were some complaints about cracked housings under heavy use, but the company had a lifetime warranty and claimed the new design was better so, whatever.

The house was ready inside though the shutters would not be installed until the following week. The boatlift and cover had been gone over and, since the motor needed an overhaul, the local place offered me a deal on a new motor and stronger cable setup that would allow me to lift up to thirty tons. My biggest restriction was the forty-five-foot length and a thirty-foot beam clearance under the cover.

Crystal had purchased linens, towels, cups, dishes, silverware, light bulbs and toilet paper, everything a single guy would need in a new house. She had even stocked the pantry and the fridge and had a bottle of champagne on ice waiting for us when we arrived. The house remodel had turned this place into a turn key operation and, once Dean and I had carried all of our personal gear inside, we were ready to live.

Crystal was there, smiling as we walked around and did a lot of grunting and smiling. She had done a really great job. The house was manly without being caveman, and still had some real class. When we popped the cork on the champagne, the last thing she did was to hand over the American Express card.

“I have to be honest, I loved having that. It was like a magic wand. I wanted something done or some bit for the house, waved the magic wand. It was so much easier than having the client constantly cutting checks or billing someone. COD sucks!”

“Crystal, you were worth every bit of your fee and I told my lawyer, whose accountant pays those AmEx bills, to give you a nice bonus as well for early completion. I will be sure to recommend you if it comes up and send you any more business we have.” She seemed thrilled at the bonus, but still a little confused at my offer to refer her. She knew that I was the guy behind this, but she still had a hard time reconciling my age.

Ah well, no big deal. She would get over it or she wouldn’t.

I made sure Dean took the master bedroom to keep up appearances, but really, there was little difference between the master bedroom downstairs and a second master, with a slightly smaller walk in closet, upstairs.

We spent the rest of the day making plans for changes that we hadn’t wanted Ms. Crystal to handle. We needed a couple of gun safes, a good alarm system too. Dean insisted on video coverage 360 degrees around the house, especially on the water side. He wanted video inside too, in every room including the bedrooms, but with the bedrooms and baths going to a sealed recorder that overwrote every five days. It would take one of us to access those records if something happened.

Dean had turned one of the downstairs bedrooms, probably a nursery since it was connected to the master bedroom, into an office. He had them put in a wall of monitors to watch the security cameras. I had them do something similar upstairs but had four forty-inch screens showing multiple cameras each, all behind an accordion door so it looked like a closet.

Dean also wanted a backup generator system for the house with AutoStart. Liquid Petroleum Gas would be the easiest and it could be added to the side of the house, out of sight and out of mind. The concrete hutch we had installed for the LPG was specially reinforced on the side facing the house in case of catastrophic failure or tampering.

Dean had done his homework and he already had contacts for all three tasks. A couple of calls got the balls rolling and appointments made, so we were sitting pretty for now on that front.

Now, we were going to need wheels. Since we were flying under the radar so far, not even any whispers from the Austin debacle, so no armored vehicle was needed yet. Dean wanted a truck to haul gear in and I wanted something sporty and was willing to take the hit. I had gotten my driver’s license in Texas, after the emancipation (and the phone call from the judge telling the DMV idiots that he would personally bring a deputy marshall down to arrest them if they didn’t do what they were supposed to do!)

Insurance was going to be an expensive proposition. Only two companies would even agree to cover me, and that was only with a massive deductible. Basically, they would say I was insured, but pay for nothing unless the car was stolen. Jerks.

We ended up taking a helicopter taxi into Miami, just to find car dealers! If we had wanted an electric cart or a scooter, there were a dozen places, but the only real dealer in all of the keys, was Kia!

We spent two days looking and finally Dean found a Ford Raptor, which I thought was kind of silly on a tiny island, but it made him happy so whatever. I had agreed to pick up half the cost of his vehicle if he wanted it in his name, or the whole cost if it was a company car ... so he was out the door with his very own killer truck for twenty-five thousand.

For myself, I picked up a factory certified, used Subaru WRX. I wanted something cool-ish, but as much as I had fun test driving a Porsche Boxster, it went against my plans for laying low. Same for the BMW M3 or even the Z4 and don’t even get me started on the Lotus, those things were crazy cool! This gently used WRX would get me around to school and around the island without more flash than an upper-middle class high school kid should show.

We caravanned back to the Keys again and found that while we had been gone, the company that was reconditioning the boat lift had finished and left the paperwork for the new equipment on the back deck in a waterproof case. Nice!

Monday I was off to enroll in school. We had another week before it started and I needed to go clothes shopping. I had been checking out what the locals wore and my cowboy boots and jeans were not going to cut it. I needed camouflage.

Registering turned out to be a major headache. The main administration building was open and, when I went in, the lady behind the desk called out for me to have a seat until my parents came in. When I tried to tell her about my emancipation, she got mad at me.

“What chu mean emancipated? What is that supposed to mean? You white! Don’t matter none nohow, yous is only fifteen. You gots to have a parent. No parent, no registration.” she said, crossing her arms under her prodigious breasts.

“I would prefer to keep this low key so if you would please, please stop broadcasting my personal business to everyone in the room, I would appreciate it.” I said, seeing heads turning my way.

“You got nothing errybody else ain’t already seen or heard, boy. Making some big deal about this, I say what I want to say, it’s a free damn country!”

“Ma’am, may I see your supervisor or the principal, please?” I asked politely.

“No, you may not. Come back with your parents and you can see the principal.”

“Ma’am, if you don’t let me see the principal, or whoever is in charge, there will be big problems.”

“You, get out. Get out right this minute or I will call the police. I don’t take to no child threatening me!” she was outright screaming now and every head in the place was turned to face me. So much for low key.

I stepped outside and stood on the front steps to call Dean, and then to call Terry.

“Terry, need a lawyer here in the keys.”

“What did you do, Jack? Didn’t you just get there? You stumbled on a diamond heist this time?” Terry had the jokes today, but I wasn’t in the mood.

“Terry, this ignorant ... This lady behind the desk, in addition to screaming out my private information to everyone in the room despite my pleas, refused to register me because, and I quote, ‘You gots to have a parent.’ and ‘You cants be emancipated, you is white!’ I called Dean, and he will get me to the principal, I imagine, but I may have to lean on the school to accept me.”

“Why not home school, Jack? Get a tutor?”

“I could, but I thought I would like high school, you know? Make some friends. At least, that is what Rene wanted me to do. She insisted on public school to make me integrate. Anyway, I may fall back on that if I have to sue the school district. I will too, sue I mean. I already spent two million on a damn house!”

Terry hung up laughing, but I knew he would put me in contact with someone.

Dean’s truck pulled into the lot, the exhaust rumbling and turning heads. Since we were barely a mile from the house, it hadn’t taken him long.

I explained everything and he just looked disgusted. He nodded once, set his chin and marched into the office.

“You listen to me and you listen good. You will get your supervisor or the principal out here right now or I will have a federal judge on the doorstep with US deputy marshals to shut this school down pending a review by the board of education for the state of Florida and the Federal Education Administration. Do you understand? Nod your head, woman, and go get me your boss NOW.” Dean stood there, his fists on his hips and glaring at the woman until she slunk away into the back office.

Wow, I was majorly impressed. He spouted what I am pretty sure was complete bullshit with total confidence and sounded like a Gunny J. Lee Ermy doing it!

“What is going on in here?” A balding, portly man in a sweat-stained shirt came out of the door marked, ‘Principal’ and looked around in confusion. The heavyset lady from behind the counter that had given me grief was pointing in our direction.

Dean didn’t wait though, he hooked one finger in my direction bulled past the swinging half door in the counter and advanced on the pair.

“Let’s do this in your office. I am already considering a lawsuit because your employee saw fit to announce private information to a crowded room that had no need to know.” Dean growled, pointing back at the office the principal had come through.

Once we were all inside and the door closed, Dean turned it all over to me.

I explained why I was there, what I wanted, how the lady had denied me a chance to register and refused to let me appeal, threatening me with the police etc. I showed him the court order emancipating me, my school transcripts and so on.

“Well, I don’t know, this is not usual at all. I will have to consult with the school board. I am afraid that you can’t register until I discuss this with the school district lawyers. We might have some legal issues with this! How can you be a student and an adult? That is against everything we do. If you are an adult you can, well, you could leave the campus, or skip classes. You could even refuse to follow what a teacher says! It would be chaos!”