Sabrina woke to find a cold nose nudging her cheek. Girlfriend had a sense of urgency, so Sabrina sprung out of bed, leaving a snoring Neil behind her. She poked her head out the door to make sure no one from INN had appeared during the night and let Girlfriend out on her own once she determined the coast was clear.
She put on a pot of coffee and grabbed the manila envelope Neil had left on the kitchen counter. She walked over to the corner of her living room where she kept her yoga mat and sat on the floor. Her legs reached up against the wall and she sidled her butt up next to it, her back resting on the yoga mat. Sabrina closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. Her morning routine was to try to meditate during this ritual, but this morning she didn’t have time, so she was going to have to cheat and just read Neil’s papers.
She read the Pro Hac Vice order again quickly, comforted by the news Neil could be her advocate. Next, she took the thick document that was titled, “Antenuptial Agreement between Sean Michael Keating and Elena Consuela Soto Rodriguez.” Sabrina wondered why everyone referred to the document as a prenup, when it was titled “antenuptial.” She would put that on her list of questions for Neil.
The first ten pages seemed to be boilerplate, so Sabrina skipped to the end like she often did when she wasn’t sure if she should continue reading a novel. Life was hard enough without unhappy endings, so even if it was considered cheating, she flipped to the end of a book if she was in doubt. The end of the document was simply pages and pages of financial disclosures. Sabrina noted that Sean’s finances took up eleven pages, while Elena’s only took up two. Sean’s net worth was at least ten times more than Elena’s. On the last page, there was a category called “Anticipated Asset Acquisition” in which Sean disclosed that upon his father’s retirement in three years, 50 percent of the stock in Keating Construction would vest in Sean. Sabrina assumed the other 50 percent would vest in Gavin.
She leafed back to the middle to see what would happen if there were a death or divorce, which Sabrina knew was the whole point of a prenup. There was a general recitation noting that Elena was a valuable employee of Keating Construction as of the date the parties entered the agreement and married. If Sean died, Elena was protected by a large life insurance policy, which was to be paid and maintained by the corporation.
The provisions that would govern if there were a divorce seemed very straightforward to Sabrina. If there were a divorce prior to the third anniversary of the parties’ marriage, Elena would maintain her position within the company at her current rate of compensation, unless it could be shown she should be discontinued for cause, in which case there was a mandatory arbitration clause if there was a dispute. Regardless, she would be precluded from claiming any right, title, or interest in Keating Construction or any assets owned by it.
If the marriage lasted three years and one day, Elena was entitled to the same conditions about retaining her employment and rate of compensation. However, she was also entitled to 10 percent of Sean’s share of Keating Construction.
Sabrina wasn’t a legal expert, but this seemed like a decent deal for Elena. Now she understood why the Keating clan had been perplexed when Elena had refused to sign. Her hysteria about the prenup seemed rather incongruous with her calculating, controlling nature.
The smell of the coffee lured her away from the wall and her yoga mat. She poured a mug of it and wrote a couple of questions for Neil on an index card. She could hear him in the shower and realized she needed to call Henry to let him know they had to meet at the police department at ten.
Neil appeared in the kitchen just as Sabrina was signing off with an uncharacteristically hungover Henry. In contrast, Neil’s smoky blue eyes no longer seemed red with fatigue and his voice was chipper.
“Good morning, Salty. Are you ready for Matrimonial Law 101: Antenuptial Agreements?” he asked, accepting a mug of coffee from Sabrina.
She peppered him with her questions, getting the answers she’d guessed or expected. “Ante” and “pre” really meant the same in the law. It was like how a “separation” agreement was really a “divorce” contract. Sabrina got it. In her days as a meteorologist, she had used enough professional jargon to appreciate each field had its own language. Neil agreed with her that it was a pretty good deal for Elena.
“Especially the part about her only having to be married to Sean for three years before the property assignment kicks in. Usually you have to be married longer than that. The shortest I’ve ever seen is five.”
Sabrina thought back to her spur-of-the-moment picnic lunch yesterday with Jack and Paul. It seemed like the whole Keating clan thought in terms of a three-year plan.
She went into the bedroom and threw on one of her generic “meet the clients” black dresses, which were now also becoming her “go to the police station” dresses. Sabrina pulled her massive curls back into a ponytail, regretting going to bed with wet hair once again. Showering after her swim and a grilled cheese had been her limit the night before, and she couldn’t have been bothered to wait up while her hair dried.
“Come on, Attorney Perry. We’re off to see the wizard. Henry is going to meet us there. He spent the night drinking at Bar None with Heather, who continued to deny knowing anything about the necklace.”
Neil pulled the baggie containing the necklace out from the zippered side pocket of his khaki shorts.
“Well, you and I can do the same once we hand it over to Sergeant Detree, Salty.”