“You don’t have children?” asked Mitch.
“No. No, never had any of my own. My only life regret.”
“These other women are going through husbands at an alarming rate,” said Dan. “Hasn’t anyone noticed? Doesn’t anyone question it?”
“You don’t understand,” said Lawrence. “My wife and the other wives control this country club. I’m fairly certain they have everyone on their little sick payroll. I’m careful about who I pair up with to golf, what I say, what I do, all of it. She knows when I eat here what I’ve ordered, all of it.”
“Sounds like she definitely has people on her side,” said Dan.
“These women have a lot of money. They’re not just rich, some of them are like Vanderbilt and Getty rich. No lie,” he frowned. “Sue Ellen Sherman is a direct descendant of General Sherman. It’s why she refuses to change her last name, so that she can throw that in your face. Her current husband owns the majority share in three major pharmaceutical companies.”
“Is that legal?” asked Mitch.
“I’m not sure,” he said shaking his head with a smirk, “but she’s got more money than water in the Pacific.”
“So, this is all about enjoying the drugs themselves, killing their spouses, and getting richer and richer?” asked Mitch.
“Yes,” he nodded. “They literally follow one another around the country to the next group of eager, desperate men. Usually older but don’t want to start with a new, young wife. If you haven’t met these women, you’ll note that they are no strangers to the needle or the knife. They all look decades younger than their years.”
“I prefer natural,” frowned Leif.
“You know what?” asked Lawrence. “So do I.”
“Is she home now?” asked Leif.
“No. She and her friends went on an overnight shopping excursion to Charleston. Took one of their private jets. No one is there right now.”
“We’ll follow you, help you get your bags packed and then get you to New Orleans. You’ll be gone before she gets back home.” He nodded at them but didn’t move. “Lawrence?”
“I feel like a fool. A complete idiot. My stepson is trying to kill an innocent woman and my wife is helping him. What does that make me?”
“Unlucky,” said Leif. “You’re not guilty and you’re proving that by talking to us and helping us. We promise, it will all work out.” He stared at the young men.
“Spec Ops?” They all stared at him, not saying anything. He nodded with a grin. “I guessed it but you have that demeanor. I was just an Army grunt a million years ago but it gave me the foundation I needed to lead men in a business. You wouldn’t think concrete could be so profitable but it has been.”
“Well, if you feel like you want a change, we also own a construction company,” smirked Mitch. “I’m going to bet our general contractor, Grant, could use some help.”
“You know what? I just might consider that. Let’s go boys. I’m ready to make this change and make it fast before I find myself on a cold slab in the morgue.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Leif drove Lawrence Talbot to New Orleans, getting him settled in a luxury hotel in the city. Georgie, Jill and Maggie met him in his suite to review the changes to his will.
“I can’t believe you’ve done this so quickly,” he smiled.
“It wasn’t that hard,” said Jill with a smile. “It looks as though your other attempts at any changes were blocked by your wife’s attorney, and I might add, yours as well. Illegally, of course. We’ll be addressing that later filing a lawsuit against them both if you wish.”
“I can’t thank you enough,” he said nodding at them. “It makes me ashamed I didn’t get outside help sooner.”
“Don’t be ashamed. It happens to the best of us. We’ll get this signed and notarized, file it and all will be done,” said Georgie. “One thing you can help with is getting some of the other men to speak to Mitch and Dan. They’ve been trying to make contact with them and can’t get them to respond.”
“We have a separate line we use that the wives don’t know about,” said Lawrence. “We started to get suspicious a while back and agreed we needed to stay in touch. I’ll text them right now.”
The girls reviewed the document one last time, marking the places where Lawrence would need to sign and date. By the time that was done, he’d sent a message to the other husbands.
“Done,” he said. “They should allow the men to speak with them now.”
“Let’s hope so,” said Jill. “If we don’t stop these women, and your stepson, there’s no telling what our men might do.” Lawrence chuckled.
