Fatal Trust

by Diana Miller

  “Why didn’t you just disappear with your money?”

  “Because Max would have known something was wrong,” Trey said. “When he figured out how I’d outsmarted him, he’d have been so furious he’d have spent a fortune tracking me down. I had to kill Max so I could finally enjoy my money and my life. The same reason I had to kill my wife.”

  Lexie had thought she couldn’t feel any colder. She was wrong. “You killed your wife? Everyone says she was so wonderful.”

  Trey snorted derisively. “She was. You know what it’s like living with a saint? She drove me crazy. But if I divorced her, she’d have looked at my finances and maybe discovered my secret accounts. They’re right about those tangled webs you have to weave when you deceive. Thank God I’ll finally be able to quit lying once you’re out of the way.”

  CHAPTER 28

  Ben had been able to sit still only for a minute before he’d gone back to pacing while obsessing over Lexie’s strange comment to Jeremy. What the hell had she been talking about? It must be related to the trust agreement—the preposition “in” instead of the verb “is” would make a difference in what a provision meant. Except as far as he knew, the only unusual part of Grandfather’s trust was the requirement everyone spend fourteen nights at Nevermore to inherit. He’d read that provision so many times that he knew it by heart, and he couldn’t think of a questionable “in” or “is.”

  She’d made her comment right after talking about those books, so maybe it was related to the night they’d discussed Grandfather’s early books. That had been the night they’d checked out the Ferrari and the curve, but Grandfather hadn’t really died that way, so that wasn’t it. Water over the Bridge had a lawyer bad guy, but he couldn’t think of anything otherwise significant about it. And the other one they’d discussed had a woman who’d gotten killed in a car lot by an accountant who—

  The Key. It was called The Key. Not the money is the key, but the money in The Key. It was so damn obvious.

  Then the ramifications hit him, and the hairs on the back of his neck jumped to alert. “Mike, get in here,” Ben yelled. “It’s important.”

  Mike lumbered into the back room. “What? I was in the middle of winning at online poker for once. A free game, of course. I’d never play for money while I’m on duty.”

  “I think Trey killed Grandfather.”

  “Trey? No way. He’s a good guy. He’s been your grandfather’s best friend for years.”

  “You find it easier to believe I did it?” Ben asked. “I think Trey was embezzling from Grandfather, and when Grandfather found out, Trey killed him.”

  “Why do you think that?”

  “I don’t have time to get into it. But I think Lexie discovered what he was doing, and he found out. She left Nevermore with him, and I’m afraid he’s going to kill her.”

  “We know that whoever killed Max also poisoned Trey, which means it couldn’t be Trey.” Mike spoke slowly and overenunciated, as if he were explaining something to a child. “It makes sense Lexie would go with him since they’re both working with Max’s money.”

  “Go over to Trey’s house and check,” Ben said. “If Lexie’s fine, make up some reason, like needing to ask some questions about his poisoning.”

  Mike’s eyes flashed, and he folded his bulky arms over his even bulkier chest. “I let you use your phone and talk to your cousin in private, but I can’t do this. Trey was your victim, and I’m not going to harass him for you.”

  Ben could tell Mike wasn’t going to budge on this—he was as obstinate as Grandfather once he made up his mind about something. “Go back to your poker.”

  Now what? Someone had to help Lexie. Aunt Muriel was out, and Cecilia wasn’t back yet. But he knew Jeremy was around. He’d never asked Jeremy for help in his life. He hated Jeremy, and the feeling was mutual. Jeremy had stolen his wife, for God’s sake. If he were wrong about Trey, Jeremy would make sure everyone knew his suspicions, including Trey.

  On the other hand, Jeremy was tough and could take care of himself. Jeremy wouldn’t be willing to do him any favors, but he might do it for Lexie. Ben picked up the phone.

  # # #

  “You think Trey killed Grandfather? Are you nuts?”

  Cecilia had just stepped through Nevermore’s front door, and Jeremy’s statement stopped her cold. “Trey killed Grandfather?” she asked, to clarify.

  “That’s what Ben claims,” Jeremy said, waving the phone. “Because Trey’s been embezzling from Grandfather and Grandfather found out, all of which Ben figured out based on some cryptic remark Lexie made to me this morning.” He explained. “Now Ben’s worried she’s with Trey and in danger. Jesus, I was having trouble believing Ben was guilty, but he must be—and getting desperate if he’s trying to pin it on Trey. Trey would never hurt anyone.” Jeremy’s voice dripped with more than its usual anti-Ben disdain.

  Cecilia chewed her bottom lip. It did sound a little far-fetched. But Ben would never break down and ask Jeremy for help unless he was convinced he was right. “You have to admit it’s possible,” she said. “I’m not just taking Ben’s side. You know that Grandfather never paid much attention to his money.”

  “If Trey’s behind it, why did someone poison him?”

  “Maybe he took poison himself as a red herring,” Cecilia said. “Like in that Agatha Christie movie about those ten people on the island, and the real murderer fakes his death so no one will suspect him.”

  “Grandfather’s the one who faked his death,” Jeremy said.

  “You know what I mean. Trey might be guilty. If he’s got Lexie—”

  “We don’t even know for sure she’s with Trey,” Jeremy said. “Although her purse is in his office, so she probably went somewhere with him on trust business.”

  “If she left Nevermore willingly, she wouldn’t have left her purse,” Cecilia said.

  “How do you know that?”

  “Because I’m a woman.”

  “Or she’s walking around Grandfather’s land and didn’t feel like lugging her purse with her.”

  Jeremy had a point, but searching Grandfather’s land would take a lot of time. Cecilia was also getting a bad feeling about this. Of course, her instincts had never been that good—she’d been divorced three times, after all.

  But Ben obviously felt the same way. What would it hurt? “Look, Jeremy, it’s not that big a deal to check if she’s with Trey. What if she’s really in danger?”

  Jeremy let out an exasperated breath, and then returned the phone to his ear. “Okay, Ben. I’ll try to find Trey. I’ll start with his house. I’m doing it for Lexie, not for you. And because Cecilia’s going to nag me until I do.”

  “I think Ben’s right about Trey,” Muriel said when Jeremy had hung up. Cecilia hadn’t even noticed her aunt standing at the foot of the staircase, although in hot pink yoga clothes and tangerine Crocs she was hard to miss. “I’ve never trusted him. Something about his aura is off. Wait here.” She started up the stairs. “I want to get you something for protection before you leave.”

  “I don’t think—” Jeremy said. But Muriel was clomping too loudly to hear them.

  “It’s probably a rosary or a St. Christopher medal,” Cecilia said. “Or maybe a Wicca spell.”

  “Just as long as she doesn’t insist on reading her crystal,” Jeremy said. “I’d like to get this over with.”

  “I’m going with you, by the way,” Cecilia said.

  “Damn right you are,” Jeremy said. “Since you’re the one who got me into this.”

  “Here.” Muriel was back.

  She was holding a revolver.

  “Where the hell did you get that?” Jeremy asked.

  “It’s loaded,” she said. “Do you know how to use it?”

  “I know how to use it,” Jeremy said, taking the revolver. “Is it yours, Aunt Muriel?”

  “I bought it when Harold died,” Muriel said. “It’s dangerous for a woman living alone. After Maxwell was shot, I went home a
nd got it to use for protection while I had to stay here. Since there’s a murderer running loose.”

  “That looks like the gun that killed Grandfather,” Cecilia said.

  “Of course it does,” Muriel said. “I know nothing about guns, so I got the same kind Maxwell had in the basement. One of my friends at First Baptist had her son get it for me so I wouldn’t have to bother with all the paperwork. He’s the nicest boy.” She frowned. “Well, he’s in prison now for burglary, but—”

  “Let’s go, Jeremy,” Cecilia said, grabbing his arm and directing him to the front door.

  “Remember I saw Lexie shot and in the water,” Muriel called after them. “Trey lives on Lake Superior. Be careful. ”

  They would definitely be careful. Because faulty instincts or not, Cecilia had a really bad feeling about this.

  CHAPTER 29

  “Did you make the earlier attempts on Max’s life?” Lexie needed to keep Trey talking. Maybe someone would happen by and hear the hint of hysteria in her voice. Or maybe talking would distract Trey enough that he’d trip and she’d be able to get away. Not much of an escape plan, but the best she’d come up with.

  “As I said, I got tired of waiting for him to die,” Trey said, his voice simmering with anger. “I thought Easter would be an ideal opportunity to kill him. With all the family around, there would be lots of suspects. I never dreamed Max would survive, not with the amount of arsenic I slipped in his drink, but he always was a tough old bastard. And lucky. He just happened to duck when I shot at him through the window. I was thrilled when Ben called to tell me Max had died in a car crash. Then it turned out he’d faked it.” The anger was now at full boil.

  Lexie changed the subject before strong emotion made Trey’s trigger finger twitch. “Why did you decide to frame Ben? I thought you were close to him.”

  “I am. I hated doing that, but it just kind of happened.” Trey’s tone had cooled several degrees. “Max sent me an e-mail that afternoon that he pretended was from Ben, asking me to meet him by the dock at one in the morning. That seemed like a strange time for a meeting, and I was worried that Ben might have found out what I’d done. I don’t own a gun, but I knew Max had one in the basement, so I got it and brought it to the meeting, just in case. I couldn’t believe it when Max stepped out of the bushes. He told me he’d left Ben a note about the meeting, but he must not have gotten it. Then Max confronted me about stealing from him.”

  “You shot him in cold blood?”

  “It wasn’t like I planned it,” Trey said, a tad defensively. “I was in shock, first that Max was alive, then that he’d found out what I’d been doing. I’d pulled out the gun and shot him before I’d even thought about it. Then I had to get rid of the gun. I could have thrown it in the lake, but I realized that if the cops found the note Max had left for Ben, they might suspect he was Max’s killer. I stashed the gun in Ben’s truck, hoping it would make him look even guiltier, especially since he’d bought it in the first place. Like I said, I hated to do it, but I didn’t want anyone suspecting me.”

  Lexie risked a glance over her shoulder. Unfortunately the gun was still aimed at her back. “I thought you were Max’s best friend.”

  “How can you be friends with someone bigger than life?” Trey asked, his tone dripping with bitterness. “Someone who thought he ruled me and the rest of the world just because he’d been lucky enough to make it big? It’s only fitting that his arrogance got him killed, thinking he could face me alone. When Max told me Ben was the only one who knew he was alive, it made the most sense to frame him, especially since I had his gun. When the cops found Max’s note in Ben’s room, I was home free.”

  “Did you intend to kill me when you tampered with my brakes?” Lexie asked.

  “Actually I didn’t,” Trey said. “I just wanted to make you suspicious of Ben. I like you, and I feel like we’ve got a bond, having both spent years catering to Max, doing whatever he asked, no matter how unreasonable. I found out what to do on the Internet, but I assumed the brakes would go out in town when you were driving slower.” He let out a long sigh. “I hate to have to kill you now, but I don’t have a choice.”

  The combination of regret and resignation in Trey’s voice terrified Lexie. “You’ll never get away with it,” she said, the words spurting out like blood from a sliced artery. “My car’s at Nevermore, so they’ll search the area when they realize I’m missing. Someone is bound to find my body, even if it ends up in the lake. A bullet hole’s going to look suspicious.”

  “If I have to shoot you, I’ll throw the gun into the water with you, and everyone will assume you killed yourself,” Trey said. “This is the gun Max kept in his nightstand in his bedroom. The way you’ve been poking around Nevermore, it makes sense you would have found it. If I can’t make the shooting look like suicide, I won’t bother writing that note about Ben being guilty. The police will assume one of the other beneficiaries killed you because you discovered who really killed Max. No one will suspect me since no one else knows I have a motive.”

  That he’d thought this through with accountant-like thoroughness added to Lexie’s terror. He was actually going to do it. “What?” she asked, abruptly realizing Trey was still talking.

  “I said I should have known you were going to be trouble. You’re a lot like your aunt, and she caused me as many problems as you did.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean she finally agreed to marry Max.”

  Lexie tripped, and she caught a pine branch to steady herself, her sweaty palm barely able to keep hold of the needles. That’s what was wrong with the photo in Max’s nightstand. Aunt Jessica was wearing a diamond ring on her left hand. Lexie turned back toward Trey. “I never knew that.”

  “It’s true. After all those years, she finally gave in. Too bad for her. If she hadn’t, she’d probably still be alive today.”

  # # #

  The trees along the road blurred together as Jeremy drove from Nevermore, the images as muddled as Cecilia’s brain. She was having trouble believing that Trey could be guilty and Lexie in trouble. Ben must be overreacting. Although it wasn’t any easier to believe anyone else in her family had killed Grandfather.

  Ben’s theory about The Key made sense, too. Grandfather might not have come out and told Lexie that Trey was guilty. He might have decided to first give her a hint, like he sometimes did in his books. He’d always said he should write mysteries because one of his favorite things was doling out just enough clues that the smartest readers could figure out what was about to happen before it did. And if Trey was guilty and Lexie was with him—

  Something flashed. “Stop.”

  “Why?” Jeremy asked, not even slowing.

  “Because I saw something in the trees just past the last curve,” Cecilia said. “It could have been Trey’s headlights.”

  “Why would he have pulled off there? It’s not like Grandfather really died there.”

  She hadn’t realized that’s where she’d seen the flash. “If it isn’t Trey, who else would it be? Stop the car and back up.” Her tone was sharper than she’d intended.

  At least it persuaded Jeremy to stop. “Your wish is my command, Queen Cecilia.” He backed around the curve, and then pulled off the road onto the narrow shoulder. “I don’t see anything.”

  “It was in the trees.” Even squinting, Cecilia couldn’t see anything, either, but she swore she had.

  “Probably lightning. It certainly couldn’t be reflected sunlight in this gloomy weather,” Jeremy said.

  “We need to check it out.” Cecilia grabbed her phone from her purse, and then opened the door.

  “No way. I’m not about to get caught outside in a thunderstorm doing a favor for Ben.”

  “The favor is for Lexie,” Cecilia said, getting out of the car. “It isn’t stormy, just cloudy.” The warm air did seem to have absorbed moisture since they’d left Nevermore, but the sky was more gloomy than menacing. “Lock the door. And bring the gun.
” She quietly closed the door behind her.

  “Yes, your royal highness,” Jeremy said, exiting the car. “I never realized you were so bossy.”

  The opening in the trees led straight down the ravine. Jeremy was right—that’s where Grandfather had supposedly crashed his Ferrari. Cecilia couldn’t see anything down there now.

  But she saw something out of the corner of her eye, a little farther back on the road. “Did you see that flash? And it for sure wasn’t lightning—it was too bright to not be followed by thunder.”

  “I didn’t see a damn thing,” Jeremy said, coming up beside her. “Are you maybe getting a migraine? Or having some sort of seizure?”

  “I feel fine. Come on.” She headed for an opening in the trees, just wide enough for a vehicle. The grass was flattened, but that could have happened anytime, and the ground was too hard to show tire tracks. She took several steps, rounded a slight curve, and nearly bumped into a gray SUV.

  Her blood chilled. “That’s Trey’s. The headlights must have flashed. Although I don’t know how, since I can’t hear anyone.”

  “Maybe Grandfather flashed them,” Jeremy said.

  “If he did, it means Lexie’s in real trouble.”

  “I was kidding,” Jeremy said. “The headlights probably shorted out.”

  “Why would they do that?”

  “How the hell am I supposed to know? Ask Ben.”

  “All that matters is that we’ve found Trey’s SUV,” Cecilia said. “What’s he doing here?”

  “He must be checking on something related to when Grandfather faked his death,” Jeremy said. “I’ll bet that path leads to the bottom of the ravine.” He pointed. “We’ll follow it until we find Trey and hopefully Lexie. Then you can assure Ben everything’s okay, and I can do something more fun.”