The Billionaire's Will

by Marti Talbott

  Jackie looked at her watch. “He said half an hour, and that was almost half an hour ago.” She watched as the waiter looked at the cluttered table, and then searched for someplace else to set out their lunch. “How about the coffee table,” Jackie said.

  The waiter nodded and began to transfer the tray of sandwiches and condiments, a pot of coffee, and four cups to the coffee table. He carefully laid out the silverware on a fan of cloth napkins, and then left the suite.

  “Yummy,” Michael said, sitting up straighter. He looked at Jackie and slowly began to reach for a sandwich. As soon as she shook her head, he jerked his hand back.

  “What do we know about Austin Steel?” Carl asked.

  Michael cleared his throat, “Single white male, six-one, in good physical condition, attorney, Bachelor’s degree from Colorado University and an honor graduate of Harvard.”

  “Austin’s father and Nick were good friends,” Jackie added, “and when his father died, Nick mentored him and paid for his education. Austin has worked for the Gladstone Corporation summers and holidays since he was fifteen, and is now the corporate attorney.”

  “Age?” Carl asked.

  Michael eyed the sandwiches again and sighed. “Twenty-eight.”

  “Never been married?” Carl asked.

  “Not yet, but he’s been looking,” Jackie answered.

  Michael rolled his eyes, “Isn’t everyone?”

  Jackie ignored him. “Answer the door, Carl.”

  “You really should let them knock first,” said Carl.

  “It is not my fault I am cursed with good hearing. I was born that way.” When someone knocked on the door, she grinned and slightly curtsied.

  “I didn’t hear anything,” Michael complained, standing up to greet their guest.

  “He hit the side of his briefcase against the wall,” she whispered.

  “Oh, well, maybe I did hear him.”

  Carrying his briefcase and wearing the same suit he wore in court earlier that morning, Austin Steel walked straight to Jackie and extended his hand. “Am I ever glad to hear from you. It was close, real close. I managed to get a continuance, but only for two weeks counting today.” He released her hand and looked into her eyes. “Nick said you were beautiful.”

  “Forget it,” said Michael. “She’ll never fall for that line.”

  Jackie giggled. “Mr. Steel, these are my associates, Michael Sorenson and Carl Kingsley.”

  “Don’t pay any attention to him,” said Carl extending his hand, “he’s tried every line in the book on her.”

  Austin shook hands with Carl. “Maybe he needs a new book.”

  “I like him, Jackie,” said Michael. He too shook Austin’s hand.

  “Gentlemen, help yourself to a sandwich and then we’ll get down to business?” Jackie took a seat in an armchair at the end of the coffee table and reached for a plate. “Mr. Steel, anything you would tell me, you can tell them.”

  “You still have that air crane, Carl?” Austin asked. He took off his jacket, laid it across the back of a chair, and then lifted a lamp off the end table and set it on the floor. “Nick loved the ride you gave him in yours so much, he tried to buy one like it.”

  Carl chuckled, “No, we traded it in for a newer model a couple of years back.”

  “Before it fell out of the sky, he means,” said Michael. He eagerly helped himself to a ham sandwich and piled it high with tomato, lettuce, and cheese.

  “Hey,” Carl complained, “she wouldn’t have fallen out of the sky. She was loyal, more loyal than any other woman I ever knew…present company excluded, naturally.”

  “Naturally,” said Jackie. “Please sit down, Mr. Steel. I hope you are hungry.”

  “I am, and please call me Austin.” He set his briefcase on the cleared-off end table, opened it, and then sat beside it in the armchair facing Jackie. “I brought you everything I could think of and if more comes in, you’ll get it as soon as I do. We’re up against a very high wall here.”

  “Higher than just finding a missing person?” Jackie asked.

  Austin chose a roast beef sandwich, spread mustard on the bread and added lettuce and tomato while he talked, “The Connellys hired the best there is. Bradley Hyde comes from Boston, wins ninety-nine percent of his cases, and he intends to win this one. I’m a corporate attorney and way out of my league, but I promised Nick I would handle it. Nick didn’t trust anyone else.”

  He finished making his sandwich, laid it on his plate, and then took five 8 x10 glossy photographs out of his briefcase. “This is Nicholas W. Gladstone; the man I admired most in the world after my father passed.” He handed the photo to Michael. “I mean to see his will is carried out to the letter. It’s the least I can do for him.”

  The photograph of Nick wasn’t of a man in a suit and tie, sitting in an office like Michael expected. Instead, Nick was dressed casually and didn’t seem the wealthy business type at all. “What’s that in the background?”

  “It’s a horse ranch he owns. There are instructors and riding trails for kids who want to learn how to ride. He loved horses, and so do I.”

  “Did he spend a lot of time there?”

  “He did. He couldn’t get enough of the kids and spent more time there than at the office.” Austin handed Michael the next photo. “Laura Montgomery Gladstone, his wife of twenty years and the only woman he ever loved. Nick was devastated when she died.”

  Michael passed that picture to Carl, and then devoured another bite of his sandwich.

  “She was quite a looker,” said Carl.

  Austin nodded. “Yes she was, and her daughter is as well.”

  “How did she die?” Michael asked.

  “She had a stroke. She was only forty-seven.”

  “Wow,” said Jackie, “that is way too young.”

  “I agree.” Austin wiped his hands on a napkin and gave another photo to Michael. “Next is Laura Gladstone Connelly, Nick’s only child. She was a fun loving kid growing up and Nick’s reason for living after his wife died. That was before Laura married the wrong man.”

  “She was in love, I suppose,” said Carl.

  “That’s what she told her father,” Austin answered.

  “Love does that to people,” Carl muttered. “It makes them crazy and stupid, or stupid and then crazy. It’s hard to tell which comes first.”

  Jackie took the picture of Laura that Carl handed her, examined it and then laid it on the end of the coffee table with the others. “She does look very much like her mother, and will soon be one of the richest women in the world, I take it,” Jackie said.

  Austin shook his head. “Not if we can find her daughter.”

  Jackie’s face jutted forward. “She has a daughter? Nick never said a word about a grandchild.”

  “He didn’t know he had one,” Austin answered. He paused long enough to take a bite of his sandwich, chew, and swallow. “I’ll explain that in a moment.” He handed Michael the next picture. “Meet Mathew Connelly. He hasn’t worked a day in his life, and doesn’t intend to start now. When Laura announced she was in love and intended to marry Connelly, Nick had him checked out.”

  “What did he find?” Carl asked.

  “Nothing good, that’s for sure. Connelly had been in prison for writing bad checks. He was suspected of bank fraud and possibly securities fraud, but they couldn’t prove those two charges. Laura didn’t care; she was determined to marry him anyway.”

  “The rich kid’s curse,” Michael said.

  “Exactly,” said Austin. “Connelly knew a good thing when he saw it and figured Laura was the best meal ticket in town. Nick told her if she married Connelly, he would cut her off. Laura didn’t believe him.”

  “Did he cut her off?” Carl asked.

  “He did,” Jackie answered. “It was leaked to the tabloids right after she got married. It said something like, ‘daughter gives up fortune to marry for love’.”

  “Nick was horrified when it was leaked to the press,�
�� Austin added. “He was a very private man, and it isn’t hard to guess who leaked it.”

  “Not hard at all,” said Carl.

  “Who?” Michael asked. “Was it Laura or Mathew?”

  “I doubt it was Laura,” Austin said. “She loved her father and believed he would change his mind someday. I suspect Mathew thought embarrassing Nick would make him change his mind much sooner.”

  “What happened after Nick cut his daughter off?” Carl asked.

  CHAPTER 3

  Austin took the time to eat another bite and wash it down with coffee. “A couple of months later, she called. Connelly dumped her in a cheap motel and ran off. She said she wanted a divorce and Nick was delighted. He went to get her, found her in a bug infested motel, and swore she would never live under those conditions again, no matter what Mathew did.”

  “This Mathew must be a real creep,” Michael muttered.

  “It gets a lot worse,” Austin said. “Nick bought Laura a mansion, handed her the deed, free and clear, and then set up a trust fund. The fund pays all her expenses plus twenty thousand a month.”

  “All her expenses and twenty thousand a month? I could live on that,” Michael said. “Jackie, I need a raise.”

  Jackie stared at him. “I pay all your expenses now.”

  “Yes, but I could use twenty thousand a month,” Michael argued.

  “For what?” Carl asked. “You get to fly all over the world in a private jet, with the best pilot there is. You get all you want to eat and drink, plus time off between cases. What could you possibly want?”

  “I plan to retire someday, Carl. I need a place on the beach to hang my hat, a car, a cook, and…”

  Carl raised an eyebrow. “He’s right, Jackie, we both need a raise.”

  Austin laughed. “They have a point.”

  “I appear to be outnumbered,” Jackie said. “Shall we get back to work?”

  “Oh, okay,” Carl mumbled. “You said the Corporation pays all her expenses. Why? He gave her more than enough every month to live on.”

  “Nick was clever that way,” Austin answered. “He gave her a credit card and had access to the account. That way, he could tell if she was in trouble without having someone check on her. He truly did love her; he just couldn’t stomach Mathew and didn’t trust him to treat her right.”

  “I take it Laura didn’t go through with the divorce,” said Jackie.

  Austin shook his head. “She never intended to. Once the first monthly payment came through, Connelly moved right in. Nick was furious and washed his hands of them both – at least as far as Mathew knew.”

  “He still saw Laura?” Jackie asked.

  “Nick couldn’t live without her; it hurt his heart in the worst way to be out of contact. The horse ranch was one business venture Nick and Laura didn’t think Mathew knew about. When Mathew was out of town, Laura went to see her father there.”

  “What sort of expenses does Laura have?” Jackie asked.

  “Thousands of dollars’ worth of clothes, cars, jewelry, vacations, cruises, you name it, she bought it,” Austin answered. “Her credit card had no limit. At least, that’s what she spent it on at first. After a while, Mathew got someone at the bank to add his name to the card.”

  Carl finished his lunch and set his plate back on the coffee table. “I bet that made Nick furious.”

  “It did at first,” said Austin, “but then he decided it was an easy way to keep track of Mathew too. Nick put a limit of $5,000.00 a week on the card, but it didn’t slow Mathew down much. It was still enough to gamble, pay for hotels, dinners and lots of women’s jewelry he didn’t give his wife.”

  “He’s probably my ex-wife’s brother,” Carl mumbled. “They run in packs, you know.”

  Michael ignored Carl and asked, “Anything else interesting in the credit card statements?”

  “Neither one of them bought anything for a baby, or Nick would have spotted it. Mathew is a gambler and goes all over the world to indulge his habit. What he can’t get from the card, he gets from Laura.”

  “So when she got pregnant, Nick didn’t find out,” Jackie said.

  *

  “No,” Austin answered. “Laura must have paid cash for her initial doctor’s visits.” Austin paused to take the last bite of his sandwich. “I need to eat here more often, this is good.” He used the napkin to wipe his hands and mouth, and washed his food down with more coffee. “My office is in the Gladstone Building right across the plaza.”

  “On the other side of the fountain?” Carl asked.

  “That’s the one. I live in the suite on the top floor,” Austin answered.

  “How did Nick find out about his granddaughter?” Jackie asked.

  “A week before Nick died, Adelaide Bertrand came to see him. She claimed to be his granddaughter’s nanny in France.”

  “France?” asked Carl.

  “I checked it against the old expense records and it is true; the Connellys spent six months there the year the nanny claims Georgia was born.”

  “So we have the granddaughter’s name at least,” said Jackie.

  Austin nodded. “Georgia Marie James.”

  “James?” asked Carl. “They didn’t even give her their last name?”

  “That’s the name the Nanny was given. Nick didn’t get a phone number or an address for Miss Bertrand. He didn’t believe her at first, and neither did I, but two things convinced us otherwise. First, the Connellys were in France that year and second, Miss Bertrand didn’t want money. She just wanted to clear her conscience. Compared to the long lost relatives that have come out of the woodwork since Nick died, Miss Bertrand is a breath of fresh air. Fortunately, none of them have filed to contest the will.”

  “What did the nanny have to feel guilty about?” Jackie asked.

  “She felt bad that she didn’t come to him sooner. I guess she didn’t know Georgia had a grandfather until she read something in one of the tabloids. The tabloids still talk about Nick sometimes. Even after she found out, she still didn’t contact him. She was too scared.”

  “Scared of what?” Michael asked.

  “Nick didn’t ask,” Austin answered. “Miss Bertrand handed him the name of the boarding school she took Georgia to, and then she was gone. I haven’t had time to check everything out thoroughly. The Connelly’s filed to contest the will the day after the reading, and I’ve had my hands full.”

  Carl thoughtfully stroked his beard. “If they filed that fast, looks like they weren’t expecting to inherit.”

  “I’m sure they thought Nick left everything to charity.” Austin abruptly stood up and dug two flash drives out of his pocket. He handed them to Michael and sat back down. “Wait until you see the look on their faces when I told them he left it all to Georgia.”

  “You videotaped it?” Jackie asked.

  “Yep, it’s on the flash drive marked number one.” He passed the last eight by ten glossy to Michael. “Georgia, age six. It’s not a very good picture, but it’s the only one we have. At least, it was taken by a professional photographer. Miss Bertrand gave it to Nick right before she left.”

  Michael passed the picture to Carl, who passed it to Jackie. “She’s a blonde?” Jackie asked.

  “A toe head, Nick thought. All the children in his family started out blonde,” Austin answered.

  “That doesn’t mean anything,” Michael muttered. “Women change their hair color all the time.”

  “True,” said Austin.

  “You want us to find a way to send Mathew back to prison?” Carl asked. “I’d enjoy that.”

  “That would certainly be icing on the cake.”

  “I’m not sure checking into Mathew’s dealings will help us find Georgia,” Jackie reminded them.

  “Okay,” Carl grumbled. “But if we find something, I sure would like to personally put him back where he belongs.”

  “With my blessing,” said Jackie. “How did Connelly react to the reading of the will?”

&nbs
p; “He was shocked at first, and then furious. Contesting a will that leaves everything to charity is easier than if it is left to an individual. They might have been able to prove Nick was out of his mind, if it all went to charity.”

  “What proof did you have that Georgia existed?” Jackie asked.

  “None,” Austin answered, “not until I heard from their attorney a month later. The Private detective they hired, a Mr. Jerry Shubert, found what they claim is proof that Georgia died in a car accident in Scotland.”

  “You mean you didn’t have to prove Georgia existed?” Jackie asked.

  “Isn’t that amazing? Instead of making me prove there is a Georgia Marie James, or telling them how Nick found out, they confessed.”

  Carl wrinkled his brow. “I wonder why.”

  “I have no idea,” Austin answered. “It made no sense to me then, and still doesn’t now.”

  All four of them were thoughtful for a moment.

  “You must have spooked Connelly,” said Michael, pushing his glasses back up his nose. “He knew you didn’t know where she was or you would have brought her to court, so he tried to get the jump on you by producing a body.”

  Carl nodded. “He was hoping you’d stop looking.”

  “Probably,” Austin agreed. “The crash didn’t do her face any favors, so the picture of the dead girl isn’t much help. I had Georgia’s picture age progressed and there are some similarities. That’s on the flash drive too.”

  “That’s all they have?” Michael asked. “Just the photo of a dead girl?”

  “That’s it,” Austin answered. “When no one claimed the body, she was cremated. Georgia’s identification was found in a purse several yards away from the body. I guess it could be Georgia, but I sure don’t want it to be.”

  “When was the car crash?”

  “Three years ago.”

  Jackie stood up, walked to the window, took a moment to absorb what she had heard, and then turned to face Austin again. “Didn’t you hire an investigator when you first found out?”