Start Laying the Groundwork

The rest of the day is spent starting to lay the groundwork for your big plan. Natali spends much of the day on the phone with bankers, investment brokers, and lawyers. While she only had access to a portion of the money it was a good start. Money began being funneled into a new private holding account for the time being. A few easy assets were liquidated and a couple legal loose ends tied up. Half a million dollars was set aside for Soo-yin. Natali nearly blew a gasket when she heard about the 20% cut at the end, you assured her it would be worth it.

You spend a good bit of time practicing Vincent's signature over and over, careful to dispose of the papers in the fireplace. After a while you got it fairly close, good enough if nobody was looking too closely. You also take some time to learn some of your men's names and a few things about them. You start getting friendly with a few and really establishing a connection with them.

From the various safes, files, desks, and computer files that Natali had access to you collected as much information as possible. A safe-deposit key was among the items, probably something worth checking out if you could. You made sure to memorize important bits of information, date of birth and the like. Soo-yin was a big help when she gave you Vincent's wallet, phone, and keys. Natali did not ask how she got them. It was then that Soo-yin asked for a bigger room, you told her to take her pick of the guest rooms.

There were some big problems that were starting to worry you. You didn't have Vincent's contacts, security passwords, fingerprints, and various other details. The bulk of the Calabrese fortune was still out of your reach. Louis had some of the information, at some point you would have to pry what he had from him somehow. As long as suspicion was kept to a minimum and you were able to bluff well other bits would be able to be gotten from your lawyers and such. You knew a lot of the places Vincent had his money invested would be very difficult to get it out of, you were planning to take heavy losses on all of these. You figured that as long as the other guy was making out well they wouldn't ask too many questions about your decision to retire.

You were relieved to hear most of Vincent's immediate family was dead, and the others hated his guts. The previous wife, Melanie's mom, was also dead. Melanie...Melanie posed a unique problem. She was the one person who truly knew and loved Vincent. With her mom already passed on the news of her father's **** was sure to hit her hard. Sending her away was an option but her overly close relationship with Vincent made that awkward. Being an innocent in all this the 'blood payment' Soo-yin spoke of was out of the question with her. You struggled mightily with this dilemma.

After a late night supper of prime rib, potatoes, grilled veggies and a fine red wine you hit the sack. Plans for the next day coalescing in your mind.