Part 30 (1/2)
”Rosemary's attorney has provided an accounting of the trust. I have a balance due you that might be grossly inadequate, given the house, the funding that was misdirected, small details, and I recommend a good forensic accountant. You should challenge the trustee.”
Emma let out a huff of rueful laughter. ”Aaron, the trustee is dying. I saw her. She has very little time left and she wasn't pleasant. She asked me to leave her daughters alone-said that she's leaving the house and whatever money there is to them. I'm not going to challenge them. I'm not ever going back to court.”
”Unfortunately for Rosemary, she can't redirect the terms of the trust. The sum left to you is grossly inadequate. You're ent.i.tled to more. I'm afraid she was irresponsible.”
She shook her head. ”I'll take whatever it is and I'll pay you, but I'm not going to pursue this-she can take the burden to eternity with her. Those mean girls who got the house and the bulk of my father's life savings and insurance can choke on it. I've learned a few things about money, Mr. Justice. It can turn sour in your mouth.”
”You should think about your future, nonetheless...”
”And challenge a will? Oh, wouldn't the newspeople love that. No, if there's a thousand bucks left, I'll pay you. Otherwise, the idea of going after my father's money just holds no appeal at all. I know, you'd think I'd be more pragmatic, but I watched what that whole thirst for money can do to a person. I'm cleaning toilets for a living, Mr. Justice. I have a boyfriend who's a schoolteacher, a wonderful schoolteacher. I feel richer now than I did when I was married to Richard. I don't need anything more. I'm good.”
He was speechless for a moment. His hands were folded primly on his desk and he looked at her earnestly. ”Emma,” he said. ”It's more than a thousand dollars.”
”Well, how lucky for me,” she said with a laugh. ”And here I thought Christmas was over. How much then?”
”This would be half-what you were due at age thirty, with another payment due quite soon, when you're thirty-five. Before even doing an audit to see if there's more buried in there, it's $463,072.”
Emma's mouth hung open and she stared at him in shock. Then her eyes rolled back in her head and she fainted, falling off the chair and hitting the floor with a thud.
Sitting at his desk Logan felt frustrated by his failed attempts to get Riley alone at all over the holidays. First came family, he understood that. And she had explained that people didn't cancel housekeeping services, unless of course they were out of town and the office cleaning arm of the business stayed steady.
And then there was her ex's car accident. They might never have married but there was no disputing he was the ex. And although Riley insisted it was for Maddie's peace of mind and not hers, she was spending an awful lot of time with the guy.
But now the holidays were past, Maddie was back in school and the ex was cleared to go back to work. Everyone could get on a normal schedule and by the end of next month he and George would be closing out the surveillance on Emma Shay. Six months of watching and listening, no one had talked about money, the banking was tight as a drum, Emma was still cleaning houses and all seemed right with the world. It was possible the federal judge could extend the warrant, but it wouldn't be based on anything George and Logan had discovered. No calls to Aruba, no suspicious dialogue, no funny money.
”Good news,” Georgianna said. ”We caught a break. She's moving money.”
”Huh?” he asked, dumbfounded.
”Large sums, too. We got a wire transfer for almost a half million.”
”No s.h.i.+t?” he said, stunned. ”We know where it came from yet?”
”We'll know soon. We just have to exercise the warrant. And I think we notify the feds and offer to open an investigation.”
”We can notify the feds and let them open an investigation,” he suggested.
”It's our investigation,” she reminded him.
”It doesn't have to be.”
”Is this you making the easy choice?” she asked. ”You skipping out so you don't mess things up with the girl? Should we pull you out of this investigation for conflict of interest?”
”There's nothing to indicate Riley had anything to do with Emma Shay's financial situation.”
George sighed, took a deep breath. ”Emma's tied into the Kerrigan family in a big way. A bigger way than I think you realize. She works for Riley Kerrigan, she's sleeping with Adam Kerrigan, she's socializing with June Kerrigan, and the other guy? Your girl's ex? That was her boyfriend in high school and they've rekindled their friends.h.i.+p. She's referred to him in conversations with Adam. And there's another twist that makes me uncomfortable and suspicious. Emma Shay is having serious dialogue with a teenage girl she calls Bethany and I'm asking myself if that could be Maddie Kerrigan with an alias or a close friend of Maddie's. Emma and the girl are close. They seem bonded over something and I'm not sure what. The girl complains about her stepmother sometimes and Emma commiserates. Is it possible that it's Emma's child, given up for adoption? Could that be her motive for hiding money? A child?”
”What?”
”Just a thought. A guess, really. Quite a coincidence that Maddie Kerrigan is fifteen and this Bethany, whoever she might be, is fifteen and troubled. That aside, just with the money transfer we have enough probable cause. We'll get the okay, we'll get a little more traction on this then bring her in for questioning.”
He winced.
”There's a reason we don't get involved with our suspects.”
”Riley isn't a suspect!”
”She's a person of interest with a close relations.h.i.+p to our suspect.”
Logan knew this was not going to bode well for their relations.h.i.+p. Riley was not dumb. She was going to have no trouble connecting the dots. He didn't simply come upon her in the deli section, innocent of agenda or intention. He knew Emma had some connection to the Kerrigans and stumbled across Riley and then d.a.m.n! She was just the kind of woman he wanted. Somehow, he thought he could get the skinny on Emma without damaging his budding relations.h.i.+p with Riley.
”This is why we don't s.h.i.+t where we eat,” George told him.
He knew why. He just didn't want it to be true this time.
It was the second week in January by the time Riley finally got around to having lunch with Logan. She invited him. They met at a small, quiet restaurant on a Sunday. Riley was already having a gla.s.s of wine when he arrived. He smiled a little sadly as he sat down at her table. ”This is a little obvious,” he said.
”What do you mean?”
”I'm in a barely populated restaurant at a somewhat isolated table on a Sunday so you can give me some bad news.”
She sighed heavily. ”Come on,” she said. ”Let's have a gla.s.s of wine. Let's talk. Let's have lunch.”
”I'll join you for the wine but I reserve judgment on the lunch.” The waiter was there immediately, taking his order. ”You don't have to wait for the wine. Go ahead. Lay it on me.”
”What exactly do you think is going to happen here?” she asked.
”I think you're going to break up with me.”
”First of all, I hadn't considered us steadies,” Riley said. ”And second, I know I've been hard to reach the past couple of weeks-since Maddie's accident-but that's exactly the sort of thing I hate about dating. Just because we have a few nice dates and fun conversations you have this expectation of some priority when I have a daughter, a business-”
”And an elderly mother?” he asked. ”Don't spoil it, Riley. Men are clumsy a.s.sholes who just don't call when it doesn't work out the way they wanted. Women are completely different. They feel the need to be honest, to explain, to iron out all the details and make sure everything is smooth. Fixed.” His wine was delivered and he took a sip. Then he tapped her gla.s.s. ”Do it. Do what you came here to do.”
”Wow, you make it seem horrible. I think from now on I'm going with the not-calling route.”
”Nah, this is cla.s.sier. I'm ready to hear it. I think I know but I'm ready to hear.”
”What do you think you know?”
He shook his head. ”No way. It's your show.”
”I'm sorry. I'm going to put our dating adventure on hold. Maybe for a while, maybe forever, time will tell. It seems I have some old issues to sort through. Some baggage. I'm as surprised as you are.”
”The ex,” he said.
”You shouldn't really call him that. He's Maddie's father.”