Fatal Trust Read Free

not
happening.
    “Like a lawyer could manage that.” Ben studied her for a
moment, rubbing his chin, then nodded. “You can be a college dropout. That’s
why you came to Lexington from Illinois or Indiana or some other northern
place, to go to the university.”
    “I dropped out of college.”
    “After one year, because it was too much work. Now you’re a
cocktail waitress.”
    “Which everyone knows is the easiest job on the planet.”
    “No, it’s damn hard work, too,” Ben said. “But you like it
more than studying, and it’s got fringe benefits.” He leaned sideways and
wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Like meeting me when I stopped in for a
drink after the wedding.”
    Catherine slipped out from under his arm and turned to face
him. “Even if I were willing to go along with your plan, it has a fatal flaw.”
    “You don’t drink?”
    “Your grandfather probably mentioned my name and that I’m
his lawyer.”
    “I doubt it. He was pretty secretive about his legal and
financial affairs,” Ben said. “The letter about the two-week requirement that I
got after Grandfather died was signed by some guy at First Trust in
Minneapolis, not you.”
    “Trey sent me things fairly frequently.” Thomas J. Donaldson
III—nicknamed Trey—was Max’s full-time accountant and had an office at
Nevermore.
    “Trey’s off the suspect list since he just gets a year’s
severance pay,” Ben said. “But he’s been Grandfather’s best friend for so long
he’s almost family and will be around Nevermore. If he knows who you are, he
might slip up and give us away. You’ll have to change your name.” He folded his
hands on what looked like six-pack abs, rocking back in his chair. “What about
Cat? Or better yet, Tiger.” He smirked. “Sounds like major fantasy material to
me.”
    Catherine responded with the withering look that was one of
the few useful skills she’d picked up from her mother.
    His smirk morphed into a chuckle. “Spoilsport.”
    “I don’t suppose you’d consider hiring a private
investigator.”
    “Grandfather’s letter said he didn’t want anyone besides you
and me looking into this and maybe uncovering family secrets not related to the
murder. I wouldn’t feel right disrespecting his wishes.” Ben righted his chair.
“If you aren’t willing to help me, I’ll go it alone.”
    Max had made the same request in her letter. She’d hoped Ben
would be willing to disregard it, but no such luck.
    Catherine thought for a moment, chewing her bottom lip. She
had other work, but nothing that couldn’t wait, and Max had insisted she be
paid her regular rate so her firm wouldn’t be losing billable hours. It wasn’t
as if Ben were proposing she do something unethical, either. If Max had been murdered, she needed to make sure her current client First Trust, which
had taken over as trustee when Max died, didn’t distribute any of the trust to
his murderer. In fact, when she’d told the trust officer now handling the trust
about Max’s letter, he’d requested she do what Max had asked.
    She also owed it to Max to make sure his murderer was
punished. He’d been a good client, and getting his business had jump-started
her career. And most important, her Aunt Jessica would have wanted her to do
it.
    She was only giving it a couple of days, though, just long
enough to satisfy her conscience that she’d respected Max’s wishes and her
brain that this whole thing wasn’t a hoax. If she hadn’t identified the killer
by then, the trustee was hiring a P.I.
    She released her lip, along with a resigned breath. “My
middle name is Alexandra, so I could be Alex. Or Aly.”
    “How about Lexie?” Ben asked.
    “Lexie from Lexington?”
    “It’s easy to remember.”
    Did it matter? “Fine. Lexie it is.”
    Ben got to his feet. “Now we might as well go meet the
family.”
    “First let me make sure I’ve got the names and relationships
right.” Catherine paged backward in her legal pad