Twilight Earth Read Online Free PDF Page A

nodded. “It really is a full time job and it seems like it’s growing every month. I was going to ask Tom if I could bring in an intern or assistant after the first of the year.”
    “I’ll have to talk it over with the ladies, but I think you can probably plan on it. We’re gonna need some time to get our collective heads around this," Ben said. “This is getting to be too much in too short a time.”
    Bob nodded understanding. “Well, you don’t really need to worry about anything too much. Tom did state in his will that he wanted to be cremated and have his ashes ‘returned to the Earth’. Tom had a great many friends, so I would recommend two separate ceremonies; one for the public and one for family.” He pulled a business card out of the folder, and handed it to Ben. “Just have the bills sent here and they’ll be taken care of.”
    “What about the household bills?” Ben asked.
    Deirdre sniffed. “Tom had them all set up to be automatically paid through our checking account. Although I am curious why we had a mortgage if we have that much money.”
    “Tom wanted to make sure you were all set up. One of the things you’ll need is good credit. So, in order to create that, he had the corporation guarantee certain loans in all of your names. He then set up accounts to automatically make your payments on time, every month. So, you don't have to worry about any of that,” Bob explained.
    “What happens if we want to buy a new big-ticket item; for example, a new house?” Ben asked. “We were discussing having one built."
    “Those are actually two different things. However, in either case, just call me and I’ll get it handled. I do need to get signatures from all of you before I leave so we can have credit cards issued for you.”
    Bob asked to see Tom’s computer in the study. Ben took him to it and he typed in a few commands. Satisfied that he had done what he needed to do, he left shortly after that. Ben checked the computer and saw that Bob had triggered a secure erasure program; destroying all the data Tom had on the computer, reformatting it, and restoring it to the original factory set-up.
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    Ben and the girls planned and held Tom’s memorial services and were amazed by the number of people that came to the public service. There were so many Government, Military, Corporate and Celebrity VIPs, the Secret Service and UN Marines that it all but closed down the entire town. Ben overheard Jorga asking Deirdre if she thought the President would show up.
    The fact of the matter was that they had to plan an additional service just for the local townsfolk. There had been so many other VIPs at the first public service that none of the local people had been allowed to attend. The degree of mourning for Tom frightened the small family. They’d had no idea of the scale of his professional life; he'd managed to keep all of it hidden from his family. They were shocked when they began receiving notes of condolence from several world leaders, some of them from ‘hostile’ nations.
    The biggest surprise came when several men in black suits showed up the day after the local public memorial service with a federal warrant to seize all of Tom’s business related items. As if psychically summoned, Bob arrived with a platoon of armed Marines wearing the armbands of UN troops.
    “Mr. Gilly, I’m afraid you cannot interfere here; we are executing a federal seizure warrant. We’ve already frozen Mr. Bedouin's assets. He and his family are suspected of espionage and...”
    “Agent Thoms, since when does the NSA handle domestic investigations? Isn’t that the FBI’s purview? By the way, you better check with your bosses; you haven’t seized or frozen anything. You also have no jurisdiction here,” Bob said smiling softly. He really disliked this particular agent ever since the man had started trying to investigate the private side of Operation Bedouin’s Hope.
    “Really? I don’t see