Hindsight by A.A. Bell Read Free Book Online

I don’t trust them. Who could, considering that Colonel Kitching was their project leader for so long?’
    ‘I trust them,’ Mira argued.
    ‘Regardless, I’d much rather book you into a private hospital when you’re ready. You can still live here afterwards — blind or not, state ward or not — because the underlying Fragile X-chromosome syndrome that caused your complications makes you eligible to live here on a voluntary basis.’
    ‘Yeah, thanks,’ Mira said, feeling increasingly uncomfortable with all the talk about staying on at Serenity. ‘At least you’re offering me a choice in it now.’ She knew that, technically, as a handicapped ward of the state, she wasn’t fully fit yet to make such a decision without the consent of her legal guardian, even though her twenty-first birthday was now more than a year behind her. ‘No thanks to the surgery, though. I’ve already weighed the risks, and there’s a good chance I could end up with no sight at all. At least this way, I’ve been able to see Ben every day through the shades of different yesterdays. My own body too, which is nice for a change. Besides, if Kitching or his associates ever do come looking for me again, I’ll need something they want in case they try to threaten my friends again. Anyway, Freddie’s not the only one who can’t sleep nights, if you’re not safe. Aside from Ben, you’re the only person alive who’s ever treated me like family — even if it was only as a strict parent or bossy big sister.’
    ‘I’ll take that as a compliment — but think, Mira; if you have nothing they want, there’ll be no reason to seek you out or threaten Ben.’
    ‘Actually, her eyes aren’t the only thing of value about her,’ Ben suggested.
    ‘Oh, sure,’ Mira laughed, ‘I’m a wonderful, charming …’
    ‘I was talking about your parents’ estate actually, but that’s all true about you too. A little harder to value. Matron, how much is she worth, nowadays?’
    ‘Fifty-two million — give or take a few hundred thousand.’
    ‘Only fifty-two?’ Ben shifted about in his chair again. ‘How did it get that low? Last I heard a month ago there was at least sixty -two?’
    ‘Not after renovations to her room and her contribution to all the common areas. Some needed expensive work to the foundations. Don’t forget Treasury has been holding ten years of medical expenses until the sale finally went through for her parents’ old bird sanctuary, with interest and management fees and the renovations needed at every other facility she’s been to over the years. Frankly, ten million is cheap.’
    ‘That’s hardly fair,’ Ben complained. ‘Many clients can’t afford to pay anything.’
    ‘If ten mill is the price for my independence, good riddance to it,’ Mira said. ‘I’d much rather have the right to say no to anything.’
    ‘And you will, eventually,’ Sanchez promised. ‘But for the moment, if anyone wants your money, threatening to hurt Ben again won’t do them any good. Starting today, you need his signature to access your accounts — at least until you can both convince the guardianship board that you’re fully capable of handling your affairs yourself.’
    ‘In the meantime,’ Ben said, ‘we’ll get by regardless of what you can or can’t see — and we’ll do it without attracting any unwanted attention, not even from Freddie.’
    ‘Oh, but you will need this,’ Sanchez said.
    Mira heard the sound of a drawer open and close briskly. Then she heard a slip of paper slide across the desk to Ben.
    ‘Account numbers and transfer authority,’ Sanchez explained. ‘It’s all there, so you can set up your own access code and buy anything she needs, within reason, and the cash card will make it look as if you’re only buying things for yourself.’
    ‘This suggests you’re still a signatory as a guardian?’
    ‘Only for the first six months. I’ll review it every fortnight when I extend your temporary permits