That same night, Frank drove out to the strip mall in the unincorporated zone. He walked in through the neon-lit bar to the back office, where Lester Cummings was waiting for him. Rudy Spinoza was standing behind Lester’s seat. Both men greeted Frank with cold silence, their hands firmly tucked in their coat pockets.
Frank made his proposal to Lester Cummings. He would transfer the title of his mother’s house on Mariposa Street over to Lester, as well as his own condo in El Dorado Canyon. The combined properties would be worth close to one million dollars even in a down market, Frank argued. If it took a while to sell them, Lester could easily rent them and collect a few thousand dollars per month in the meantime.
“This is the best you can do, Frank? I told you, I want my million dollars, plus the return I was promised.”
“I am giving you two properties in Santa Ramona. The market will turn around and these will be worth well over a million.”
“I told you I wanted cash.”
“This is better. You’ll find tenants, no problem. People may not be buying right now, but they still need somewhere to live. Santa Ramona is getting more crowded every day. So you get the free cash flow, and ultimately you’re going to sell these for well over a million.”
Rudy watched his boss for a reaction. Finally, Lester nodded. “I have a feeling this is the best I am going to get out of you for now. But you’re not off the hook yet.”
“What do you mean?”
“I have to be sure this deal doesn’t fall through. I need some kind of escrow, a little reassurance.”
“What are you suggesting, Lester?”
“Well, let’s try to think of an arrangement that has some mutual benefit. I need a way to be sure you’re not going to betray me. You also have needs. For one thing, your mother will have to find a new place to live. So here’s the way it’s going to be. Your mother comes to live in the retirement home at Shady Palms. You’ll pay the standard fee I charge all residents. In the meantime, you title the properties over to me, and I’ll sell or rent and see how that goes.”
“You’re asking me to move my mother into Shady Palms?”
“Don’t get cute, Frank. You know that I am not asking you anything. I am telling you the way it’s going to be, at least until I get my million dollars, cash, plus my return paid in full.”
YOU ARE READING
The Fugitive Grandma
Misteri / ThrillerJohnny Valentine is a lonely boy who dreams of becoming a hero, just like the masked avengers in his comic books. His feisty grandmother Stella is a retired supermarket clerk and cancer survivor. Running out of time, money and options, the old lady...
