“These al pastor tacos are so addictive.” She sipped her cola.
“Roz,” he said impatiently and set out to finish the first of three crunchy beef tacos.
She smiled. “Oh, all right. Sebastian and Wayne’s agreement included an escrow fund, the one that Sebastian thought Wayne wasn’t contributing to. They both had to put in a substantial amount to ensure the health of the movie studio project. Even more interesting given what happened, there was a death clause. If one of them died, the entire escrow fund went to the other partner.”
“Wow. How much are we talking here?”
“This paperwork didn’t include exact numbers, but it had to be a lot for a big project like this one, right?” she said. “That’s not all. If Sebastian died first, Wayne would’ve had the right to buy the property from his estate for far below market value, which I suppose was a way to ensure the project would continue. That way all of Wayne’s so-called investment wouldn’t have been lost.”
“That sounds like a terrible agreement from Sebastian’s point of view. How could he sign that?”
Roz offered a half shrug. “Maybe he did it for love. He said Wayne agreed to make one of Nicole’s screenplays into a film and that’s why he went along. And I think he was charmed by the guy, at least at first. Sebastian seemed to be excited by the prospect of a movie studio, too.”
“But if Wayne hadn’t paid his fair share to the escrow fund when he died, that means Sebastian is really out of luck. Though he couldn’t have known that up front if Wayne’s shady lawyer was hiding the truth.” Alden forked up a tasty bite of refried beans and considered the ramifications. “What if both of them died?”
“That’s a good question. The heir of the last one to die would make out. The inheritor would be the rightful owner of everything—the property, the project, the money.”
“Holy cannoli. We need to see if Wayne has an heir.”
“I wonder if Duke found family to notify. An heir is certainly a potential suspect. But Sebastian would’ve theoretically benefited from Wayne’s death. And then if Sebastian died …” Roz pursed her lips around her straw and drank deeply of her soda, and Alden got distracted by her mouth until she said, “I think we know who Sebastian’s heir is. Nicole.”
“Whoa.” He paused for a second, then resumed eating. They both did, chewing on the idea.
“Have you talked to Nicole yet?” he finally asked, all three tacos happily consumed.
“Not yet.”
“If Nicole killed Wayne and then sabotaged her husband’s plane …”
“That’s heavy,” Roz said. “Killing her own husband? The father of her children? But she’s not our only suspect. Wayne was no good. He ticked people off. He bilked Sheryl out of fifty thousand dollars—that we know of. ”
“Good lord. How?”
“He asked her to ‘invest’ in a pitch deck and a trailer and stuff like that for a movie he probably wasn’t making.”
“And she was naive enough to go along.” Alden hated seeing people ripped off, especially when scammers preyed on their fragile egos and dreams. “Do you think she did it?”
Roz swirled her cup. “Honestly, no. I think she’s just starting to realize he wasn’t all he pretended to be. But maybe. We thought she found the body. Maybe he wasn’t dead yet when she went to see him.”
Alden’s phone buzzed on the table, and he eyed the text. “That’s Craig getting back to me. He says he can meet me at Bean Me Up. He’s there working.”
“I’ll go with you.” Roz dabbed her mouth with her napkin and smiled. “Mocha for dessert. I could go for that. Maybe we’ll learn more about Enolia and Wayne. Then we’ll deal with Nicole.”
“And Blake,” Alden added.
“Right, Blake. Our flying thespian. Alden?”
“Yes?” He reached across the table impulsively. She laid her hand in his, and he grasped it.
“Let’s tread carefully,” she murmured. “Somebody tried to kill Wayne in more ways than one. And somebody tried to kill Sebastian, too.”
“And us!” He feigned an affronted tone. “You can’t leave us out.”
She let out a dry chuckle. “I suspect we were collateral damage, but that’s kind of my point. If the killer or killers decide we’re getting too close, I have no doubt they’ll try to kill again. And they might actually aim at us next time.”
“I won’t let them hurt you.” He squeezed her hand. “And I won’t let either of us get into a plane until this is all over.”
Chapter Nineteen
