Mike Smith Is Dead—Pt. 8

Sam notified Costa Rica Customs that two passengers were deplaning at the private hanger at San Jose airport. So, when they arrived they were bussed over to the normal Custom’s entry area. Their luggage was screened and they were generally waved through. Paulo was waiting curbside when Rosa and Kip walked out of the terminal.

The two-hour ride back to the apartment was frequented by tearful Spanish words. Kip listened, it was the same story he had heard about her meeting with her daughter. He simply sat in the backseat and watched the scenery and said nothing.

“I’m going to show Kip some houses.” Rosa leaned against the window. “He thinks he’d be better off living somewhere else.”

Paulo sat up straight. “Really?” he said brightly, and since Rosa had switched to English Kip figured for his benefit, Paulo answered in English as well. “When is he leaving?”

“Uh, Paulo, I’m right here in the back seat. And I’ll leave when Rosa finds me a place.”

“Well Rosa, I’ll start looking for a new renter.” Paulo was almost giddy.

It was barely noon when they arrived in Quepos.

“Paulo, I’m going to show Kip a couple of places. We’ll grab some lunch while we’re out.”

“Okay, but you just got here.”

Rosa giggled. “I made notes on the plane. Don’t expect me 'til dinner.”

Kip thought Paulo was perhaps shocked at the quick decision but didn’t interfere.

Rosa waited in her car while Kip stowed his gear at the apartment. When he got in on the passenger side she pulled away almost before he closed the door. “Kip, listen to what I have to say.”

“I’m listening.”

“My real estate company is a corporation. It is made up of myself and a silent partner. No not Paulo. The partner is a female lawyer, but that’s another story. Most Americans who come here form a corporation to buy their property in Costa Rica, so there are no taxes when the title is transferred, just shares handed down as it might be. The other thing is if you ever want to rent the property the rental liability is on the corporation and not on your personal income.”

“Okay, so you want me to form a corporation?”

She grinned. “No, I think an idea might be for you to buy the house through my corporation, you could buy my company. That way you would have 80 percent of the shares and I would hold 15 percent and my silent partner would hold the same five percent she now holds in the current corporation, you would be buying my shares.”

“So, I buy the house, but the corporation owns it?”

“Kind of, you simply gain 80 percent of the shares in my corporation. The shares then would be worth the value of all the properties we hold, the new house, and the real estate company combined including other rental properties.”

“Do you have an office now?”

“No.”

“Where is the corporation located?”

She steered the car onto the highway. “In my friend’s office.”

“Let me get this straight. I get controlling interest in this non located corporation, live in the house, and pay utilities and taxes, but it’s owned by a corporation, or is all that divided up by shares.”

“Technically, all of those costs are paid by the corporation and therefore deductions from income gained. Your personal accounts are protected. But, yes, you’d pay your own utilities, but the check for taxes would be written through the corporation account, which you and I and my partner will be the only signees. Of course, you would gain 80 percent of the rental income, less an escrow for repairs and retained earnings. Technically, you will lease the house from the corporation, maybe a dollar per year or whatever.”

“Let’s think about all that while we look at these properties you are so excited about.”

Rosa drove into a parking lot and made several calls. She looked over at Kip. “Good.” She pulled Kip’s arm. “I haven’t had a kiss in too long a time. Kiss me.”

Kip leaned toward her and she grabbed his face and kissed him.

Kip whispered, “What if your 15 percent moved into the house?”

“You mean before or after my brother’s stroke? By the way the corporation, as it now stands includes four condos on the beach, and my friend’s office plus two more office spaces in the same office complex, my own house, Paulo’s house, and the apartment you’re in. My friend leases her office on her own from the corporation. Kip, she was the initial investor and helped me get started. But, she only wanted 5 percent because she couldn’t do any of the work.”

“I think I understand.”

Thirty minutes later they arrived at a walled and gated home. “Well, here we are.” Rosa drove through the open gate and pulled up in front of the house. “All of the owner’s personal items have been moved. The first property for you to look at has a gated drive as you saw, it’s on top of a steep hill, and has views of the valley on three sides.” She waved her hand. “It’s a ranch style home, fully furnished right now, and built on beautifully landscaped grounds. I think it’s absolutely, breathtaking.” She took a deep breath. “It has a large in-ground pool with an infinity edge overlooking the valley and an adjoining pool house. The pool area has a vine covered gazebo, enclosed terrace, and an open view of the Central Valley and mountains. Kip listen to this.” She read from the brochure, “the 3336 square foot home, on the main level, has three bedrooms, and 2.5 bathes. The home has a huge kitchen with living and dining area.” They got out of the car and Rosa unlocked the door which she pushed open and walked in. “Look, it includes an open floor plan featuring Italian ceramic throughout,” she paused and waved at the windows. “And lots of big windows that are all screened. The spacious kitchen is separated from the dining room by a concrete wall-planter. And, notice this rounded entrance door, we walk right into a water cascade to refresh the air. The house is fully furnished with the basic kitchen appliances and the washer and dryer come with the home. Which reminds me, it has a laundry room with entrance from the kitchen on this level. There’s a lower level since we are on a hillside and it is remodeled into a general banquet and game room with a bar and pool table plus another full bath.”

“And all that for what?”

“It’s listed for only $389 thousand American, but that’s not including basic furnishings, like refrigerators, stoves, hot tub, barbecue, and pool equipment. Totally furnished $399.” If you want it stripped down the owners will do that.” She turned and put her arms around his neck, “You could customize the interior to fit your needs. I would help.” Rosa kissed Kip and hugged him tightly. “On second thought. The furnishing will cost more than the difference, you probably should buy it furnished we could replace items as we saw fit.”

They did a walk through of the story and half pool house, originally used as both pool house and office. Kip pretended to push Rosa in the pool and she grabbed his arm.

“You do that and I know some monkeys who’d love to have a roommate,” Rosa teased.

They looked at two more properties in the same general area but none compared to the first one Rosa showed. Kip knew there was over a million dollars in his own account at Publica and the Scotia Bank account was growing with his benefits package, plus the investment was generating another hundred thousand per year being reinvested into a side investment account. Plus he had the bank cards for a reserve and emergency. He considered using some of that money.

“Is your lawyer friend going to do the closing?”

“Yes, you will meet her then, but with her doing the closing, it will increase her equity in the company, in other words what she pays for her shares her dividend would then be greater. She could if she chose to sell her shares for the same amount she paid for them or something greater. Though our agreement is first refusal, which means before she sells I get the first option to buy.”

“Confusing to me.”

Rosa laughed. “Real Estate in Costa Rica. So, did you see anything you liked?”

Kip looked over at her. “Yeah, but her brother protects her.”

“Property silly.” Rosa blushed.

“The first one, on the hill, is perfect.”

Rosa wrapped her arms around Kip and kissed him passionately. Rose’s eyes flooded with tears. “Oh.” She said. Rosa drove quickly back to the cottage and apartment noticeably more excited than Kip.

Paulo was tending some hanging plants when they arrived. “Kip has found a castle,” chimed Rosa. “A beautiful home.”

Paulo waved his trimmers. “Wow. That was fast.” He looked toward the cottage. “So when’s he moving?”

“Paulo, behave. We need to go to San Jose first thing tomorrow, are you available?” Rosa walked toward her brother. “So Kip can do some banking business.”

“I’ll be ready,” Paulo nearly danced toward his own cottage.

Kip looked around at his meager possessions. “I guess I should pack.”

Paulo took Kip to San Jose the next morning, he and Kip at the Publica Bank and then he and Rosa headed out on shopping errands.

Kip went directly to Salas’ office. Salas looked up and smiled when Kip entered. After pleasantries Salas pulled up the accounts and then gave Kip a printout. “I want to transfer out of my personal account $500 thousand to this company.” Kip handed him the account information. “I’ve agreed to buy 80 percent of this real estate company which as you can see has vast holdings.”

Salas looked up at him. “Then you’re not leaving Costa Rica anytime soon? Good.”

Kip laughed. “Not for a long time I hope. As I said before, please continue to take 50 percent of the interest and dividends paid on the primary investment account and merge it into my regular account. The other 50 percent in that special investment. Taxes should already have been paid when the dividends were paid.”

“Very well, that’s a substantial amount. You are planning more investments in Costa Rica?”

“Yes, I am.”

“You know the laws about immigration. Your current investments already qualify you for permanent status. But apparently you are looking maybe for citizenship like we discussed some time ago. A benevolent contribution goes a long way in that direction.”

“My new attorney is taking care of all that. Like you said, my investments will more than qualify me for a status.” Kip sat back.

“The eighth box we started recently, you have the key?” Salas nodded toward the safe.

“Yes, I do.”

Salas grinned. “I had additional items put in the box.”

Kip nodded. “Let’s keep running with the investments.”

He looked concerned. “I suppose so.” He typed on his computer. Salas pointed toward a signature pad. “Okay, put your number in and this time I have another pad for you to sign with your finger. And good luck with this company.” He pressed a button and the money transferred. Technically, Rosa now held $500 thousand of Kip’s money in her corporation. “Okay, I have moved 50 percent of the accrued monies over. Now, be careful, because there may be penalties if you move more in the next year. Unless it is directly to a bank investment.” He slid a piece of paper over to Kip. “$70 million American moved into your account.” He opened his desk drawer and handed Kip two Bank Visa cards. “Per our discussion, all is arranged.”

“Thank you. I’m aware of banking rules here, but thanks for reminding me. I need to get some Calones then get to work on this plan.”

Kip rode back to the apartment with Paulo and Rosa. An envelope was waiting for Rosa. “The offer is in and accepted,” she said. “Congratulations, you now own a corporation and with it a house and property in Costa Rica. Linda is handling all of the paperwork and told me that she can expedite the process.”

Kip turned to Paulo. “Thanks for your help over the last five years, I have something for you.” Kip winked at Rosa. And Rosa nodded.

Paulo looked dumbstruck. “Uh, I didn’t do anything.”

Kip laughed. “You didn’t think so, but you protected me and made me feel secure. Nobody tried to look for me. Oh, Rosa says it was delivered. Go on in your house, Maria is dancing a jig. I can hear her from here.”

Rosa and Kip stood by the real estate car and watched Paulo walk into his house then exit back to the yard as fast as a big man could move.

“Oh, thank you, thank you.” Kip had a 64 inch flat screen television delivered to Paulo’s house while they were in San Jose.

“Okay, I paid your cable TV bill for a year, so enjoy.”

Paulo quickly hugged Kip. For once, Kip was speechless.

The next day Kip and Rosa met Linda Cortez, the diminutive attorney at law, and a five percent holder in the corporation that Kip was now the majority shareholder. While they were filing papers he noticed a for sale sign on a late model Toyota Land Cruiser, Rosa called the owner and by evening he had his own vehicle, albeit registered to Kip Waller. Two weeks later they packed the Toyota and the real estate car up with accumulated property and drove to Florencia. Rosa and Kip carried things in and basically set them on the floor of the living room.

“Come with me.” She led him by the hand out onto the porch. “Look, it’s beautiful.” She put her arms around Kip and kissed him deeply. “I love you so.”

“There’s the pool house with an office and a studio type apartment. Why don’t you move your real estate business in there, set up a real office.”

Her eyes brightened. “I’ll talk it over with Linda and Paulo, but I think that’s a great idea. We could run all of our rental business out of there.”

“The we, my dear, includes me, if you’ll remember I don’t want publicity. You run the real estate business. I’ll write documentation for some historical books I may publish later. That and sit by the pool and watch a beautiful woman working.”

She hugged Kip’s arm. “If you say so.”

"I say so,” He snickered, "would Paulo object if we initiated the house?"

She slapped his arm. “Really, first it’s Mile High Club, and now it’s initiation of a house. All this big time spy stuff, I thought you were against relationships.”

“Well, it was a thought.”

She hipped Kip. “Think of this. Kip, you need to understand this, cause it’s important. There are many types of residency—you already know, because you’re an investor here. But, you can become a permanent citizen some day.”

“This I already know, what else?” He must have looked skeptical.

“Really, you can keep making investments, build some public building, provide a government service, make a benevolent contribution or even marry a Costa Rican woman, you can automatically become a resident and eventually a citizen.”

“Hmm.”

“Kip, are you listening to me?”

“Ma’am?”

“I said, you could build a building, support a fund, build a building, or marry a Costa Rican woman.”

Kip grinned and pretended to be concerned. “To get married I would have to use my real birth name, otherwise it wouldn’t be legitimate. Cause Kip Waller is not yet a legit name, I mean it hasn’t legally been changed, and besides that I’d have to find a willing and eligible mate; providing there’s one standing around on some corner somewhere begging to get married. Which reminds me, the question is, or at least should be, have you had your first marriage annulled? I know your ex divorced you, but the church is funny about that stuff. And your marriage was in the US were you married here or there, and are you legally divorced?”

Her eyes got big. “My marriage was never officially recognized by the church to start with, but I will ask Father Luis if that’s what you want to know, uh, or find out. Kip, is this some kind of proposal? I mean you didn’t get on your knee or anything romantic.”

“Let me think about that, besides my knees hurt.”

“Kip, you’re incorrigible.” She turned and faced away from him.

“But, I just said.”

She held up a hand to cut Kip off. “I need to go.” She walked out the front door leaving it ajar and got in the real estate car and drove away.

“Never anger a Latina,” mused Kip. He spent the rest of the day and evening puttering around the expansive house. With a set of instructions he eventually found the safe and deposited cash and papers and then Kip made a bed in the room with the best view and largest on suite bathroom, and then sat down to read. He had arranged his desk so his laptop and desk faced the bed. The large armchair at the side of the bed made an ideal reading area. “Wow.” Kip could see that from where he sat that he needed both a housekeeper and a yard person. “Whatever am I going to do with this cavernous space without Rosa here and half a dozen domestic help?” His security system was not yet installed so he got up and locked doors and windows. Eventually he walked out onto the veranda and looked at the twinkling lights from the valley. “It’s incongruous, here I am, basically wanted by people who don’t yet know they want me, but pursued by people who want what I can’t and won’t give them. And, living in a virtual mansion on a hilltop in Costa Rica. The funny thing is, I can’t tell a soul.” He laughed. “I hope the volcano doesn’t erupt, with my luck the State Department might stimulate it.”

Kip closed the veranda doors and locked them and returned to his chair. “Michael, you’re a jerk.” He dosed in the chair for more than an hour and was awakened by sounds in his driveway. His first thought was to hide, but elected to wait for an appearance of the intruder if one was to be. Noises in the front of the house told him whoever was there had a key. The latch turned and he heard footsteps in the hallway. He had no weapons so he stood beside the door and peeked. It was Rosa. Kip stepped out.

“What are you doing here at this hour?”

Rosa was wearing tight white pants and a sheer blouse. She walked directly to Kip and put her arms around him.

“I had a discussion with Paulo, and he is, well, he’ll be okay eventually. Maria is on my side and she will help rein him in. And, I spoke with Father Luis, he will arrange an annulment if one is necessary. He doesn’t think it will be necessary since the original marriage was in the US, not recognized by the church anyway, so the divorce has no bearing.”

“Really?”

“Oh, and I have a ton of papers to have you sign, it may take awhile, and there’s one more thing.” She started unbuttoning her blouse.

“What’s that?” He felt an arm tighten around him.

“Yeah, we need to initiate this house.”

To be continued ....