Page 2 of Stone Rules

Dewey, I think was the name Mom called him. He used to hang around the house a lot. He’s older now, skinnier and obviously strung out. At least he wasn’t one of the ones who touched me. He only liked to look. But that was bad enough.

“What do you say, honey? Now that you’re old enough, we can both have some fun.”

“Fun? You call what you did to me fun, you sick bastard?”

“What’s the big deal, doll? I never touched you.”

He puts a cigarette between his lips. Then he searches his pocket for a lighter. He doesn’t even see my knee coming. And because I have those extra few seconds, I’m able to lunge forward and grab his shoulders for more leverage.

When he doubles over, grabbing his junk that I’m certain won’t work for a good while, I ball up my fist and deliver a blow right in the nose, where I know it will hurt the most. I hear a crack when I connect. I’m just not sure the sound came from his nose breaking, or my hand.

I get my answer when I watch blood gush from his nostrils as his hands can’t figure out whether to cradle his face or his groin.

I turn and walk away, watching my friends race towards me. And all I can think is how great that felt. It was exhilarating. Cathartic.

It was closure.

What do you know. Piper was right.

Chapter One

I stare at the piece of paper in front of me, sure there has been some massive mistake. I look at the salt-and-pepper-haired attorney sitting across the large cherrywood desk. “Mr. Slater, I don’t understand.”

“This is just an estimate, Ms. Tate,” he says, his voice laced with a hint of apology. “This is only what we have discovered so far. It’s possible your mother had some other holdings we don’t know about yet. I’m sorry it’s not more.”

“More?” I look up at him in confusion. Then I blink twice, trying to clear my eyes before I look down and focus on the seven figure number. “I didn’t know there wasany.”

“Um . . .” Mr. Slater looks around as if there were other people in the room who would understand what I said. “It’s my understanding you’ve been out of the country for some time now, Ms. Tate. But your mother was Caroline Anthony. You must know what that means, right?”

I give him my bestI’m not stupidlook. “Of course I know she was famous, but that was a long time ago. As far as I know, she hasn’t done anything for years. And please, call me Charlie.”

“Well, Charlie, residuals can produce a lot of income. Especially considering the quantity of films she starred in before you were born. Then there was the life insurance.”

“Insurance?” I give him another crazy look. My mother didn’t seem the type to plan for the future.

“Yes. She had a few paid-up whole life insurance policies that were purchased around the time you were born. Funny thing though, she never changed the address on them. They all still bear the Maple Creek address. It’s almost as if she forgot they were even there. They hadn’t been updated in over seventeen years.”

“You are aware of how my mother died?” I ask.

He shuffles around some papers, reading one of them. Then he nods in understanding. “Drug overdose. I’m very sorry.”

“No need to be sorry. She was an addict. A drunk. A shit mother. She deserved every bad thing that happened to her.” I think of what Piper told me about how my mother was found. Alone and decomposing as her body went undiscovered for a week until the neighbors in her building complained of the smell. Nobody she knew cared enough to check on her. Nobody missed her. She dug her grave. Now she gets to rot in it.

Mr. Slater’s eyes go wide in surprise. I imagine as a probate attorney, he’s used to family that is actually upset over their loss.

I shrug a casual shoulder. Then I roll up one of my sleeves and lay my arm on his desk. “My mom didn’t win any Mother of the Year awards.”

His face contorts with disgust as he takes in the small circular burn scars on the inside of my forearm. He shakes his head and gives me a look of pity. “I’m s—”

“You’re sorry. Yeah, I got that. So, what now?”

“Well, you are Ms. Anthony’s sole heir, so you get everything. The will she made when you were born was never updated. The portions of the will that gave property to your father are revoked because of the divorce. And since the apartment she lived in upon her death was in her name only, that will pass on to you as well. You may live there if you wish.”

“Live there?”

“Yes. It’s very common. It will take months, probably eight or nine, for everything to get through probate. And we all know insurance companies tend to drag their feet as long as possible. However, we can have you appointed executor within a few weeks. That will give you control of her assets until we can get them properly transferred to you. You will be able to pay any of her outstanding debts and use estate funds for the upkeep of the apartment until you decide what to do with it.” He pushes some papers my way. “You just need to sign these and I’ll get the ball rolling.”

I sign what seems like a hundred documents and then get up to leave. Before I reach the door, I turn around and ask a question. “Mr. Slater, if she forgot about the policies for all those years, how did you find out about them?”

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