Read Online Death By Drowning by Abigail Keam - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Abigail Keam
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sounds unpleasant, but it’s the truth. But there is the other side – nothing could happen and you will live to a ripe old age.”
Matt’s face was turning a shade of olive green.
Shaneika leaned forward and stabbed a pencil in the air. “I know that Josiah is having problems with her pain management. Will her pain go away?”
“She will always have a level of pain to endure.”
“Prescriptions?”
“She will be on pain medication of one sort or another until the day she dies according to the western idea of medicine.”
“What else is there?”
“Well, I’d like to take her to an old-fashioned medicine man from my tribe. I think he could help her, or she could try acupuncture.”
Shaneika started to speak.
I interrupted. “We’ll talk about that later.” I placed my hands on the table. “It looks like we are talking about an amount of money larger than 1.2 million dollars. That’s just the current medical bills for now and not what I’ll need in the future. What about my loss of income, damage to the house, Franklin’s injuries and Baby’s also?”
Matt cleared his throat. “Franklin has been compensated. His suit with the city is over.” His blue eyes looked cloudy and dull. They would not remain on my face.
“What did he get?”
“I can’t divulge that.”
“Has Kelly been reimbursed for taking care of Baby?”
Shaneika spoke. “No. That is part of the settlement with the city. I didn’t want to reimburse Kelly with the money I paid for the ten acres thinking that the city might dismiss the claim.”
“What about all these repairs to the house?”
“Actually only a small amount of damage was done to the house by O’nan’s attack. The bills for those repairs have been given to the city.”
Matt interrupted. “The repairs for both the house and farm are in my report. Shaneika and I thought it best to pay for those separately according to the CPA’s advice.”
“I also included the costs for the security measures you installed when O’nan was hounding you,” said Shaneika, “but I’m sure the city’s attorney will try to get the judge to throw those out.”
I thought for a moment. Not comprehending all the small details, I decided to concentrate on the big picture. “Shaneika, ask the city for twelve million to be paid in one lump sum.”
“Josiah, be reasonable. Times are tough. The city doesn’t have that kind of money and I’m not sure, even for your extensive injuries, that you are entitled to such a large amount.”
“These are my instructions. Ask them for twelve million dollars or I am going to give an in-depth interview to the Courier-Journal about my experiences with the police department and how I almost got framed for murder when the death was eventually ruled accidental. I assume the mayor wants to run for governor in two years. The mayor’s enemies will have a field day with it. Also I want some sort of health insurance the city will provide until Medicare kicks in.”
Shaneika shook her head as she wrote on her legal pad. “You’ll never get it.”
“If they offer 3.5 million or above with health insurance included, take it. I want at least a million in one lump sum.”
“But will you take 500,000 for a first payment?”
“Yeah, who wouldn’t, but they don’t need to know that. The health insurance is non-negotiable though. Really good health insurance would make me all giggly inside.”
“Well, I think they were trying to bluff their way out, thinking you might be nervous and take anything they offered.”
“Why would I do that? The worst is over. I survived the fall and have nothing but time to be a thorn in their side.”
Shaneika gave Matt a sly glance, but he looked away. They said nothing but scratched on their legal pads.
There was something hanging in the silence that said – BEWARE! We sat for a moment as I looked into each of their faces. Behind me I heard Jake shift apprehensively in his chair. Something of the Sherlock
Matt’s face was turning a shade of olive green.
Shaneika leaned forward and stabbed a pencil in the air. “I know that Josiah is having problems with her pain management. Will her pain go away?”
“She will always have a level of pain to endure.”
“Prescriptions?”
“She will be on pain medication of one sort or another until the day she dies according to the western idea of medicine.”
“What else is there?”
“Well, I’d like to take her to an old-fashioned medicine man from my tribe. I think he could help her, or she could try acupuncture.”
Shaneika started to speak.
I interrupted. “We’ll talk about that later.” I placed my hands on the table. “It looks like we are talking about an amount of money larger than 1.2 million dollars. That’s just the current medical bills for now and not what I’ll need in the future. What about my loss of income, damage to the house, Franklin’s injuries and Baby’s also?”
Matt cleared his throat. “Franklin has been compensated. His suit with the city is over.” His blue eyes looked cloudy and dull. They would not remain on my face.
“What did he get?”
“I can’t divulge that.”
“Has Kelly been reimbursed for taking care of Baby?”
Shaneika spoke. “No. That is part of the settlement with the city. I didn’t want to reimburse Kelly with the money I paid for the ten acres thinking that the city might dismiss the claim.”
“What about all these repairs to the house?”
“Actually only a small amount of damage was done to the house by O’nan’s attack. The bills for those repairs have been given to the city.”
Matt interrupted. “The repairs for both the house and farm are in my report. Shaneika and I thought it best to pay for those separately according to the CPA’s advice.”
“I also included the costs for the security measures you installed when O’nan was hounding you,” said Shaneika, “but I’m sure the city’s attorney will try to get the judge to throw those out.”
I thought for a moment. Not comprehending all the small details, I decided to concentrate on the big picture. “Shaneika, ask the city for twelve million to be paid in one lump sum.”
“Josiah, be reasonable. Times are tough. The city doesn’t have that kind of money and I’m not sure, even for your extensive injuries, that you are entitled to such a large amount.”
“These are my instructions. Ask them for twelve million dollars or I am going to give an in-depth interview to the Courier-Journal about my experiences with the police department and how I almost got framed for murder when the death was eventually ruled accidental. I assume the mayor wants to run for governor in two years. The mayor’s enemies will have a field day with it. Also I want some sort of health insurance the city will provide until Medicare kicks in.”
Shaneika shook her head as she wrote on her legal pad. “You’ll never get it.”
“If they offer 3.5 million or above with health insurance included, take it. I want at least a million in one lump sum.”
“But will you take 500,000 for a first payment?”
“Yeah, who wouldn’t, but they don’t need to know that. The health insurance is non-negotiable though. Really good health insurance would make me all giggly inside.”
“Well, I think they were trying to bluff their way out, thinking you might be nervous and take anything they offered.”
“Why would I do that? The worst is over. I survived the fall and have nothing but time to be a thorn in their side.”
Shaneika gave Matt a sly glance, but he looked away. They said nothing but scratched on their legal pads.
There was something hanging in the silence that said – BEWARE! We sat for a moment as I looked into each of their faces. Behind me I heard Jake shift apprehensively in his chair. Something of the Sherlock
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