AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Everyone cheats. I got caught. My sentence is bullshit and you know it.”
Crossing her arms over her chest, Mikelina said, “I’m not your judge or your jury. I’m not even your lawyer. I’m your daughter. And I’m trying to find a way to get back to a normal life.”
“Cry me a river. I’m in a one-room cell with a roommate who picks his nose and snores.”
“What is he in for?”
“Insider trading. He’ll be out by Christmas.”
“What’s your lawyer say about parole?” she asked.
“Not a chance in hell for at least another five years. Maybe ten.”
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She couldn’t live in limbo for that long. She couldn’t afford to live at the beach house either. She wanted a home base. She wanted to go back to New York where she had a life outside of her family.
“Your mother is divorcing me.”
“I know,” she said.
“That’s loyalty for you. Who is she seeing?”
Mikelina opened her eyes. “What?”
“She wouldn’t have done this on her own. She must have found a rich man to take care of her. Someone powerful enough to gloss over this scandal in society so she could go back to her friends.”
“Well, why shouldn’t she?” Mikelina said. “She didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Everything I did, I did for you and your mother.” He jabbed a finger at her.
It caught the guard’s attention, but he didn’t approach them.
“Don’t blame this on us. No one asked you to do anything illegal or dishonest.”
“Did you think your college was free? Do you think your mother’s spending account gets paid by the tooth fairy every month?”
“Dad, if you were having financial problems, why didn’t you tell us?”
“Because I wasn’t. I had everything under control until poor Mr. Edwards had his lawyer audit me.”
“Because you were stealing from poor Mr. Edwards.”
Tanner leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. “Don’t be naive. Broker fees are a cost of doing business.”
“Yeah, if you’re actually making the trades you said you were. Look.” She held up a hand. “I didn’t come here today to talk about this. What’s done is done, right?”
Tanner grimly nodded.
“I have a couple of people interested in buying the house.”
“Don’t you fucking dare sell my house,” he said in a low, ugly voice.
“It’s my house. And you’re not going to be using it for another five to ten years. I’m paying taxes on it, have been paying taxes on it since you signed it over to me.”
“There’s gratitude for you.” He shook his head. “You’re a real chip off the old block, you know that? You and your mother are bigger thieves than I could ever be.”
“That’s not fair,” she said through numbed lips. “I was planning on splitting the sale money three ways. Me, you and Mom.”
Glaring at her, he said, “You should ask for six million.”
“I’m not sure if that’s in the ballpark. I was thinking of half that.” She wanted to get a glimpse of the father she remembered. She could use her father’s advice. She leaned forward eagerly. Maybe by selling the house they could all get a fresh start, new life. New memories.
“It’s worth at least five. Get a real estate agent. Put the money in my account. And don’t come here again. Guards, we’re done here.” Tanner scraped back his chair and glared down at her until they escorted him back through the door of the prison.
Mikelina held it together as she walked back to her car. Taking short breaths through her nose, she blinked back tears that were threatening to burst out of her. With shaking fingers, she opened her car door and got in. As soon as she closed the door, she let herself mourn for the loss of her father.
