Part 35 (1/2)
”Hm.” Dar drummed her fingertips on the laptop keyboard.
”What do you think?”
”Well,” Kerry exhaled, ”at least it wasn't just some bs story Bob made up on his own,” she said. ”Which does not excuse him from skunkhood for leaving Bud and Charlie behind.”
”Mm. Think you can find him? Where do you figure he went- back to St. Richard?”
Kerry rolled over and squiggled across the bed, reaching for the island directory. The squiggling intrigued Dar, who enjoyed it as Kerry squiggled on back and opened the book.
”I'm betting he's here in St. Thomas,” she said. ”It's bigger and busier than St. Richard.” Her finger traced a column of hotels.
”Let's see if we can find the little stinker.”
Dar watched in bemus.e.m.e.nt as Kerry selected a number and dialed it on the room phone. ”He's probably not registered under his real name,” she commented.*209 ”Last name, no,” Kerry agreed, waiting for an answer. ”h.e.l.lo...
Hi, um...” Her voice s.h.i.+fted to a slightly different tone. ”This is kind of crazy, but I met this guy today... Yeah... I'm trying to find him again, and I only know his first name. Can anyone help me?”
She paused to listen. ”Oh, thanks. You're wonderful.”
Dar folded her arms over her chest.
”Hi, yeah. No, his name's Bob, and he's really cute... Oh, right, um...he's got red, curly hair, and he's really well built... Yeah, about that age. Yeah...okay, I'll hold.” Kerry hummed under her breath. ”No? Oh, what? Oh, I see... You did? Wow... Thanks!” She hung up. ”They're full. They sent their overflow to a different hotel, and she thinks Bob was one of them.”
”A different hotel?” Dar laughed.
”This one.” Kerry found the name on her list and proceeded to call it. ”Want me to try Southern belle, next?”
”Is that how you conned those circuits out of Southern Bell last month?” Dar was still laughing.
Kerry grinned. ”No, but...I'll have to remember that.” She cleared her throat. ”Howdy there... Ahm lookin' for a real cutie I met down on the beach t'day... Kin you help me?”
Dar covered her mouth and continued her scrolling, keeping one ear on Kerry's best efforts to sound like Dolly Parton. The information she'd recovered was straightforward enough, but the problem was, it was hard to tell if there was any truth to any of it.
What to do? She really felt in need of an expert to at least look at the case and give an opinion as to who was more likely to be telling the truth, if any of them were. The uncle had answered through a lawyer, in a tone almost insulting in its dismissal of the insinuation, and she instinctively favored the grandmother, but... Grandmothers can be sneaky, too, and maybe she was trying to hold on to her husband's money. Dar sighed. She checked her address book and looked up a number, then dialed it on her cell phone.
It rang twice, then was answered. ”h.e.l.lo?”
”Merry Christmas, Richard,” Dar said. ”It's Dar.”
”Dar!” Her family lawyer sounded pleased, if a bit puzzled, to be hearing from her. ”Merry Christmas and happy birthday, lady!”
”Thanks,” Dar replied. ”Listen, I need a favor.” She paused.
”More or less a professional one.”
Richard Edgerton's gears switched. ”Well, sure, Dar,” he answered briskly. ”You're not in any trouble, are you? Hard to believe.”
”No,” Dar answered without thinking, then considered. ”Well, not me personally, that is.”
He hazarded a guess. ”Kerry?”
”No. We're on vacation,” Dar explained.
”Uh huh.”
210*
Dar could hear rustling, and she guessed Richard was getting a pad to write on. He was a very good lawyer, and he knew estate law like the back of his hand. ”Don't ask me how I got involved in this, but I am,” she began.
”Uh oh.” Richard chuckled. ”Let me hold onto something. This should be a doozy.”
Dar sighed. ”You don't know the half of it.”
”He's here,” Kerry's voice interrupted her. ”He's staying in this hotel.”
”Hang on, Richard.” Dar looked at her. ”Invite him over for a drink,” she said. ”Tell him we'd like to chat.”
Kerry nibbled her lip. ”I won't let him know we know about Charlie and Bud.”
”Not yet, no.” Dar smiled grimly. ”Wait until he gets here.”
Kerry nodded and went back to the phone. Dar did the same.
”Okay, Richard, here's the deal. We're out on St. Thomas-”
”Nice place to spend Christmas,” Richard replied amiably.