Hayes nodded and I stood. “Thank you,” I told her. Hayes took my hand, led me into the room and shut the door.
“I’m really nervous. What does this mean?” I asked. “I can’t have twomilliondollars. I thought I had athe few hundred in cash. I mean, what the fuck?”
He grinned. “Let’s call this number and find out.”
“You do it,” I said, wringing my hands.
He pulled out his cell and typed in the number Kathleen shared. “Yes, hello. I’m Hayes Wilder, Attorney at Law in Devil’s Ditch, Montana and I represent Cassidy Trout Wilder.”
His voice was deep, professional.
“Yes. Yes. Yes.” Hayes answered after short pauses, then passed me the phone. “They want to talk with you.”
I studied his face but he wasn’t giving anything away. I decided to click the speaker button so Hayes could hear, too.
“Hello?”
“Hello, this is Mr. Dart. I took over the law firm from Mr. Milken when he retired.”
“Okay.”
“Are you Cassidy Trout?”
I flicked my gaze at Hayes, who nodded. “Yes.”
“Mr. Milken represented your family’s estate.”
“My mother?”
“Your grandparents. Mr. Milken and Mr. Myers have both passed away, as well as your grandparents.”
“Um, I’m sorry to hear that. I mean, I knew my grandparents were dead, but not the lawyers.”
I closed my eyes and put my hand over them for a moment. I sounded like an idiot.
“Your grandparents died over twenty-five years ago. Then your mother more recently, sadly. Your inheritance from her has been in a trust until you turned eighteen. The trustee has been taking care of the trust in your stead since you were, until recently, under age.”
“Okay.”
“The trustee was to receive a stipend for their efforts and to notify you of any actions related to the trust.”
“I’m sorry, what?” I asked.
Hayes crossed his arms over his chest. “Kathleen Weaver here at the bank said that Conrad Trout, her father, is the trustee of it.”
“Yes, that’s correct,” Mr. Dart said.
Hayes met my eyes and explained. “Your father was assigned to take care of the money for you and to receive some money for his time. Like a salary.”
“Okay.”
“He was also supposed to tell you about the money and everything he did with it.”
“Like buy a car?”
“Yes, that’s correct,” Mr. Dart confirmed. “If he used your money to buy a car, then he’d have to notify you. It’s the law. He has a fiduciary responsibility.”
I didn’t know exactly what that meant. “Whywould he need my money to buy a car? He’s rich,” I said.
