Chapter 7
Just before they died, Sandra's parents had opened a safety deposit box and instructed that only their lawyer have access. The only reason Sandra knew about it was because she had found the number and the bank name when she had sorted through their things after their death. The bank had turned her away, sending her to talk to her parent's lawyer but he'd told her that it wasn't necessary for her to know what was in the box at that time.
"I need to talk to Mr. Horton please," Sandra asked the receptionist.
"And you are?" She asked rudely.
Sandra wondered if it was in the job description of a receptionist, or office assistant, or whatever they were called, to be a bitch. "Sandra Ames."
The women straightened in her chair, "Just a moment please." Her tone was much sweeter and politely fake.
Moments later she was in Paul Horton's office, while the bitch got her a water.
Paul walked into the office, his hair was much thinner and much whiter than when she had last seen him, but his smile was just as warm and welcoming as always.
"Sandra, my dear, how have you been?" He hugged her tightly, reminding her of a sort of bear hug.
Sandra smiled brightly, feeling much better seeing a familiar face, "Good, thank you and yourself?"
"Oh, the wife's got me on some low-cholesterol diet and doing Pilates with her on the weekends. Now isn't that a sight to see?" He joked.
Sandra laughed, Paul had very much, a bear sized figure but he wasn't a gross weight, he just looked comfortable in his skin. But the sight of him doing Pilates on a Saturday did have her laughing.
"But anyways, what can I do for you?" He leaned against the front of his desk.
"I wanted to talk to you about my parents," he nodded his head, crossing over to his chair behind the desk. "Specifically, about their safety deposit box." Paul's smile was long gone and he was leaning intently on his desk, waiting for her to continue, "I know I was adopted." She paused for a few seconds, "When I tried to talk to you about this before you said it wasn't relevant. I'm pretty sure it is now."
"How much do you know…about yourself."
Sandra sighed sadly, "Six months ago I would have said everything, and now…I'm not sure of anything."
Paul took a deep breath, "The man that put you up for adoption was a friend of mine, he wanted the adoption done fast and quickly. Since his wife hadn't been pregnant, I thought you might be an illicit child and he wanted to get you out of the picture before his wife found out. But it didn't seem right, I knew he loved his wife and his family more than anything…when he was killed a few days after, I knew there was something else going on."
Sandra finally spoke up, "He wasn't my father…he was a scientist."
"I never knew for sure but I knew he worked for the government, doing research or something, I figured there was a connection." He got up and grabbed his coat, "Let's go for a walk."