Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 93482 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93482 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
When I arrived at the bank, the general manager himself was there to greet me with a handshake and see to my safe deposit box needs.
“And what size box are you going to be needing, Father?” the manager asked.
“If I’m being honest, size is less important. The things I have to store are rather small, but they are sentimental. I wonder if box 627 is available. The number is from my favorite Biblical quote.”
Curiously enough, that wasn’t a lie. Of course, it was my favorite for all the wrong reasons. Call me old-fashioned, but I still believed in hating one’s enemies.
Plus, I knew Mary Quinn’s box was number 628, which meant I needed a box as close to that as possible.
“I can check, though you should know that is a larger box and requires a much larger fee.”
“That is perfectly acceptable. I am more than willing to pay whatever is required. I may be a member of the clergy, but I am also a Manwarring, and I believe my family has significant assets with this bank.”
“Oh… of course, just give me a moment and I will see what I can do.” The bank manager turned to his computer and quickly started typing away. I had to focus on calming my body. The urge to tap my foot, or twiddle my thumbs, was ever present as the excitement coursed through my veins.
What did Mary Quinn store in that box?
I knew what I hoped to find, but the possibilities were endless. Especially since the manager had said the box next to hers would be a larger one. Did that mean Mary Quinn had a massive deposit box that held all her secrets? What would I find there? How many skeletons did she store in First National Bank’s vaults?
“Good news. It looks like that box is available. If you’d like to follow me, I can let you into the vault to store your items.”
“Thank you,” I said, giving the bank manager a genuine smile.
He led me to the back, and I still had to focus to control my excitement. We opened the box together, and he left his manager key in the lock with the key for my new box.
“I am so sorry. Would it be possible to have a little privacy as I store my items in the box?”
“Of course,” the manager said. “I’ll have to lock the door when I leave, but I will stay right outside. When you’re done, just tap on it and I will let you out.”
“Perfect.”
As soon as he was gone, I made a show of getting into the box, and then turned my back to block the camera just to be on the safe side, even though I knew for client privacy the cameras did not focus in on the contents, just the general movements inside the vault. I made sure not to move my body, so it looked like I was still in my box, but my hand reached over and unlocked Mary Quinn’s safe deposit box.
Hers was a gigantic box about the size of a filing cabinet drawer. When I opened it, I was in awe of my good fortune.
I still didn’t believe God was on my side, but I believed he was definitely against Mary Quinn.
The box held what looked like at least several hundred-million-dollars’ worth of bonds, and file folders labeled with the names of several of the more powerful families. Picking up the one with my family’s name on it, I opened it to see several pictures of my father fucking or getting head by different women. I could have lived my entire life without seeing that. Behind that, there were bank statements.
Several showed direct ties to the Irish mafia. There were other statements showing links between our family and other organized crime, ones that would really piss off the Irish. There were even secrets in this file about my family that I did not know about. I knew we didn’t come from the old money my father liked to say we did. I knew we had Irish mafia ties. Hell, I used them myself. But I didn’t know about the insurance fraud, the tax fraud, and the surprising amount of stolen whisky barrels that my father just simply slapped our labels on and sold. Then there was evidence of the Irish using our trucks to ship things other than our whisky.
She really had enough here to bring down my entire family. Well, she used to. I slid that file and every other file that she had into my safe deposit box, then I added all the bonds, thinking that Mary Quinn had enough money.
I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with them yet, but I knew she didn’t need them. Then I found a pile of envelopes, all of them addressed to my Rose.