Chapter 6: The Escape

First thing Monday morning, I sat down and made a list of what we needed to do, to nab the bucks and make our escape. I hoped we could get it all done in a week.

First, we needed an attorney who specialized in representing folks who fell into a pot of money. I called Harold Thompson, mainly because I already used him and he seemed well informed. I didn't think he could help us personally, because he worked in the area of criminal defense and not finance. We had a nice chat and I asked if he knew of anyone who specialized in finance. It took him about a five second pause to come to the conclusion that we had won the lottery.

He said, "I do listen to the news. All that's on since Saturday is talking heads asking who in the local area from the Super America station in Weston, won the 385 million dollar record breaking lottery?"

"I would appreciate it if you would keep it to yourself, Harold."

"I am still your attorney. Let me look around and I will call you back shortly."

I puttered around the house and not too much later Harold called back.

"I located someone who I think might be able to help you. There is a guy that I went to law school with who is an unbelievable finance wiz and is very ethical and stable. I thought of him right away, but had to call him to see if he is available. He is, and he has done this type of work before. He has represented people in lottery wins and also in windfall inheritances, and knows all the ins and outs of the tax and investment issues."

I said, "Sounds like just what we need. Can you give me his contact information?"

"His name is Thomas Lee. He is a second generation Chinese American. Ready to copy his address and phone?"

He gave me the rest of the contact information, and after thanking him, I disconnected and immediately called Mr. Lee. He must have been expecting my call because his receptionist put me right through.

I explained to Mr. Lee, (call me Tom), what our situation was and he agreed with our scenario. He did have some good ideas to add to it. He had contact information for a discrete limo service and the number of a private flight charter company that served their clients 24/7.

I told him we were considering the east coast of Florida for our hideaway. He gave me the number of a real estate agent who handled short and long term leases and outright purchases in the area we were interested in. He said the agent had helped him before in placing clients into high end accommodations at short notice along the Gold Coast of Florida. Tom was a gold mine.

I arranged to come in and sign a representation agreement later that afternoon.

I gathered up Mai and Chucky, and we headed for the bank and stashed the ticket in our safe deposit box. On the way back, I asked Mai how she felt about making some calls.

"What kind of calls? You mean like to the limo service and the private flight charter?"

"Yeah, I just want to give them our contact information and inform them we will need their services within the week. Just to touch base so we don't have to call them cold later. Find out what their rates and procedures are."

"OK, are you going to call the realtor?"

"Yup, as soon as we get home."

"If she says she has an estate on the south end of Jupiter Island that has the latest electronic security and video monitoring, plus an in ground pool, an indoor workout room with padded floor, and a slip on the inland waterway, will you take it?"

"Huh? Sometimes even I get a little surprised with your talents. Is there anything else I should know about this house?"

"Well if we take it, I think it will have everything we need for when we add to our family."

"Is someone pregnant?"

OW! Jab in the ribs.

"No, Grandpa, just trust me. We will need the space later."

Needless to say, I called the realtor as soon as we got home. Her name was Julie Andres and she worked out of the Jupiter/Tequesta area.

I described our needs and told her that we were looking for either a long term lease or, if the deal was right, to buy. I gave her a run down of our minimum requirements but was just tempted to ask what she had around Jupiter Inlet Colony that had the features Mai had mentioned.

She ran down a few listings and just about the time I was going to butt in and ask, she described one that fit Mai's description perfectly except Mai only scratched the surface of the features this place had.

I stopped her and asked what type of deal we could work out. She said it could be leased, but the owner, a bank that got it in a foreclosure relative to a bankruptcy, would rather sell it. She said they could give a good interest rate to a qualified buyer.

"How much would they need to have for a cash deal?"

There was silence for so long I thought I lost her. Damn cel phones!

She finally came back with, "Cash?"

"Yes."

"Uh, can you provide that much cash now, on short notice?"

I told her to get to the bank, find out the cash deal, and email me the pictures she had of the property. I told her if the final price was right, and if we liked the pictures, they would have their money by next week.

She said she would get back to me later that day.

OK, now to go visit 'Tom'.

My partner came along, of course. Mai convinced Chucky he had to stay home because it would be too long for him to wait in the car. We toddled on over to Tom's office and were immediately ushered in.

Tom Lee was a fit looking late middle aged man, with black hair going grey at the temples. He rose and came around his desk to meet us and treated Mai like an adult. This warmed me to him right away.

He explained the procedures we would go through initially to get the prize, and how we would deposit it.

"Do you have a specific bank in mind, Mr. North?"

"No, I would just like it to be easy to deal with from anywhere. We will probably be moving to Florida by next week."

Tom nodded and said, "This is just to get the money somewhere safe until it can be properly distributed and invested. You will need a financial manager to handle those matters and interface with the outside world for you."

"Where do I find one of those?" I said.

"Sheesh! I knew this was going to get complicated," I was thinking.

Tom said, "We have an accounting firm on retainer, if you wish me to interface and monitor their activity, or you could ask for bids from a variety of firms. I could provide you with a list."

I looked at Mai. She barely nodded.

I said, "I think we would like you to handle it for us. We are looking for one trusted point of contact and while it may seem premature, we think you are him."

"I can do that. I can sense that special things are going to happen."

He was looking at Mai.

Tom told us he would have everything ready to go to the lottery office on Wednesday. I signed the necessary papers and we bid Tom goodbye. Things were moving right along.

We headed home, and on the way I asked Mai if she was sure we should buy the house in Jupiter. She just nodded her head, smiled and patted my hand.

When we arrived home, I checked my email and the pictures of the house on Jupiter Island were there. Julie sent a bunch of photos.

The ladies and I gathered around the big screen monitor and I ran a slide show of pictures. There were lots of "oohs" and "aahs", as the screen flashed from one photo to another. This place was classy! It appeared from the area photos that it would be a good choice for security also.

When the show was done, I asked it they were satisfied. Of course, we had to see the pictures again, only slower, with many comments.

By the time we were done, the ladies had determined that we would take it. They had also determined who would sleep in which rooms, what was needed for the kitchen to make it useable, how we would just have to re-decorate the great room, ad nauseum. I guessed we wanted it.

Julie called back as they were discussing their major overhaul and asked if we got the photos. I told her we did and my family was already planning the remodel.

She gave me the bottom price the bank would accept, and I immediately told her to set up closing for this week if possible. I told her we would be in the area late Wednesday and would like to move in ASAP.

She didn't think that would be a problem and thought we could close on a cash deal by Friday. Now, we had to get all the other details done before Wednesday.

Wednesday found us locked and loaded and ready to pull the trigger. The girls had packed up our short term needs and shipped them to a storage facility in Tequesta.

I managed to get them to keep the number of suitcases we were carrying down, to the point that the plane could take off, and the limo was alerted.

The plan was for me to be picked up by Tom, pick up the lottery ticket from the bank, drive to the lottery office, cash the ticket and do the grip and grin, leave and hit the bank, and he would drop me at the charter office.

We had hired a house sitter to live in, and the security company would be making rounds to forestall reporters or less lawful visitors. The ladies would time their departure, to arrive by limo at the charter office just before Tom and me.