Free When You're Expecting Something Else by Whisper Lowe Page A

stupid,” Kaitleen argued.  
     
    “I know, we have to get him home first. We can use a contract with San Francisco Geriatric Hospital to get the medical team and supplies set up. Kaitleen, I’ll need your friend Julius to get us some paperwork in the name of Margaret Wise. Once we have her consent for Jared’s full time care in writing, we can kill her off in an accident in Europe. Then I can work my way into his damaged life.” Marta said, sounding as if she almost believed that Aunt Margaret actually existed.
     
    “I’ll talk to Julius tomorrow, but I want you to forget about the matrimony part of your plan. Have you even thought about the Wise attorneys? You know this estate is going to be well documented and well protected,” Kaitleen said. “This is too big, I’m not even sure it can work. Let’s not let greed ruin our original plan. Let’s just stick with the insurance billing.”
     
    Cassandra nodded. “Kaitleen is right. We know we can get away with the usual insurance fraud. The rest of your plan is too grandiose. Count me out. Come on let’s eat before the food gets cold. Is there any wine here? I need a drink.”
     
    “Please, don’t say fraud ,” Kaitleen said with furrowed brow. “Just say billing. I need a drink, too.”
     
    Cassandra chuckled. “It is fraud, Kaitleen. You know that. I personally love saying the word.”
     
    Marta carried the bag of food into the kitchen where she’d already set the table for three, with heavy stoneware plates and solid, thick utensils and glasses. “This place is kind of masculine, but I can live with it for now,” she said, looking at the dark kitchen colors and giant stainless steel appliances. She opened the boxes of food and put them into the microwave. She found several bottles of red wine in a high cupboard, pulled one out, then found a corkscrew in a drawer, and poured generously to fill the three glasses. When everyone was served, she reached into her large Gucci tote bag resting on the dark, granite counter and pulled out a computer disc.
     
    “This, my friends, is how we’re going solve the problem of the Wise lawyers. Everything we need to know is right here on this disc I found in Jared’s office. I’ve already made my copy, and I’ll get it to my cousin Antoni tomorrow. He’ll know how to divert funds and replace the current lawyers,” Marta said, referring to her Eastern European cousin with his illicit links to the computer hackers’ underworld.
     
    “You’re almost scaring me,” Kaitleen said, smiling wide despite a mouth full of fried rice. “Okay, let’s at least give it a try, see how far we can get.”
     
    “Count me in, too. I almost forgot about your cousin and his computer skills,” Cassandra said.
     
    They clinked their wine glasses together and drank to their very fine plan.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Eleven
     
    My first meeting date is with a man named Sal, a dark-haired stallion of Italian descent, with such a suave, smooth style he nearly wipes me off my feet with his first smile. His tanned face is perfectly chiseled with angled cheekbones, a roman nose, and a dark whiskery shadow looking like a day’s worth of growth. His dark hair is brushed back with a flat top. We’re at the same Starbucks where I joined datesforall.com listening to chatter all around us, sitting outside near the open door where I can still hear the hissing of the pressure machines inside as well as the crunch of tires passing in and out of the parking lot. The temperature, digitally displayed on a building across the street, is seventy–two degrees. The sky is perfectly blue without the hint of a cloud.
     
    I sit sipping a simple tall black coffee, wearing my multi-colored sleeveless sundress with black strappy sandals. He’s dressed casually in kakis and a tan and white striped golf shirt with white collar and trim, tennis shoes on his feet. He stirs sugar