“I’ve never been to a will reading before.” I thought idle chitchat would ease the thick layer of worry inching through me.Wrong.
“According to Lukas there is no such thing as a will reading. You see it in movies where it’s used to draw out drama. Outside of Hollywood? Not really.”
Not that we needed more drama. This was one more chapter in the decades-long unspooling of the Tanner family mystery. The disposition of Xavier’s estate had to wait until the younger Tanners were officially declared dead. Xavier fought that decree for fifteen years. He no longer had that power.
My gaze lingered on Aubrey for a few seconds. She didn’t look around the room. Didn’t make eye contact. Didn’t so much as twitch. Maybe she knew what was about to happen? That would explain her steady demeanor.
“The attorney’s letter said the meeting was about a ‘discussion of asset distribution’ and that could mean anything. Xavier liked games,” Stella said.
“Dividing the Tanner assets shouldn’t impact me.” That reality played in my mind all day. Why did I need to be here?
I’d called Cam to get his take, but he didn’t answer. He showedup and now talked to someone I didn’t recognize in the hallway just outside the conference room. A return call would have been appreciated.
Stella glanced at me, then went back to staring at Aubrey. “Xavier wouldn’t give me anything either. Trust me.”
Isabel picked that moment to push up from her chair. She slapped her hand on the table as she stood, grabbing everyone’s attention, which likely was the plan.
She rushed over to Stella, not bothering to lower her voice to a whisper. “Why are all these people here? They have nothing to do with Xavier.”
“I don’t know, Mom.”
“This is ridiculous.” Isabel didn’t give Stella a chance to respond. She flounced away, back to her seat, and plopped down with an exasperated sigh.
How that over-the-top mess of a woman produced cool operator Stella was a constant mystery. Thinking about the strain the mother-daughter bond must undergo on a daily basis almost made me feel sorry for Stella.
Likely because she was used to it or had grown immune, Stella didn’t even blink at her mother’s behavior. She stood there, tamping down any emotional reaction she might have, as if she experienced an unnecessary mom explosion every day.
“She’s panicked. This many people being present suggests Xavier did something unexpected with all his money,” Stella said.
Cam stepped into the room, wearing his usual brown corduroy blazer, the one that passed for dress attire no matter the season, and shut the glass door behind him.
He nodded in greeting. “Stella.”
“If you’ll excuse me, I need to talk with my mom.” Stella pulled away before either of them said anything else.
“I bet.” Cam whispered the response.
We stood there, watching Stella sit down next to her mother, nodding at whatever Isabel jabbered on about. The topic had her agitated and repeatedly throwing her hands in the air.
“Isabel worries the money spigot is about to shut off.” And she wasn’t exactly hiding her panic about the possibility.
“She should be. Xavier thought Isabel was a whiny waste of space.” Cam looked at me with a lifted eyebrow. “That’s a direct quote, by the way.”
Interesting, but Isabel’s behavior only answered one question of many. “At least I get why she’s here. She was Xavier’s niece. Why are we here?”
Cam folded his arms in front of him and nodded in the direction of the attorney’s bowed head. “According to the lawyer, this is an interim meeting so everyone can know Xavier’s wishes while the court works out the next steps for the estate. Xavier insisted the asset distribution reveal not be delayed.”
The comment sent my stomach into another nosedive. “That suggests Xavier knew something big was coming, like the reappearance of a supposedly dead family member.”
Cam leaned against the wall as he scanned the room. His gaze hesitated on Aubrey but then continued past. “The hearing about her parents will be rescheduled. Aubrey could be hoping for a windfall to pay her high-powered criminal defense lawyer. The police are all over her.”
News I desperately wanted to hear. “What’s she saying about her parents and Noah?”
“So far, nothing.”
What?How was that possible? I’d been questioned on the day of the disappearance and in the days that followed and again as each anniversary passed. As Victoria’s best friend, the police and FBI thought I must know something... and they weren’t wrong.
“She hasn’t voluntarily answered any other questions,” Cam said. “There’s no evidence. The department is scrambling. A detective already talked with the estate attorney for insight into how Aubrey benefits with Xavier and the family dead. The FBI will swoop in soon.”
