“You have a brother and sister, though. Are they alive?” she asked.
He frowned. “I don’t know. They were both long gone to drugs and violence when I left. I’d be surprised if they were.”
“An estate from a firm like this is enough to tempt someone, especially if their moral compass isn’t strong to begin with,” she insisted.
He could see her logic and didn’t disagree, but it was a stretch. Her eyes held his as he toyed with the possibility she presented. That maybe Daisy had nothing to do with the attempts on his life and it was all about this inheritance. Something he’d known nothing about until two days ago. Silently, she asked him to consider it.
On a breath, he turned to Henry and nodded. “Is there a way to find out?” he asked. Daphne may not be right, but it couldn’t hurt to know.
Slowly, Henry nodded, then leaned forward and hit a few keys on his computer. “Let me pull up the investigator’s notes.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Daphne watched James pace the length of the hotel room she’d booked. After Henry showed them the reports, he’d thanked the lawyer, signed the papers needed to give him access to the trust, then they’d walked. And walked. And walked. She understood the need to burn off energy, the need to clear it from your system so you could think, so she’d walked silently alongside him.
Rising from the bed, she crossed the room to the in-house bar, poured two tumblers of whiskey, then handed one to him as he passed. Letting him do whatever he needed to, she walked to the large window overlooking the busy street below. At six in the evening on a Wednesday, the sidewalks bustled with people.
“You’ve spent time here,” James said.
She nodded. “A lot when I was modeling. I don’t dislike it, but it’s not my favorite city. It has some wonderful parts to it. Great museums, food, that sort of thing. But it’s a little too self-important for my tastes.”
“Says the woman who lives in Paris.”
She chuckled. “Touché. But at least in Paris, you can see the sky. I feel less…trapped there.”
His fingers landed on her lower back, and she glanced over her shoulder at him. He looked…not at ease, but more settled than he had in hours. “Thank you,” he said. She nodded again, not needing to ask what for. Sometimes, people just needed a friend to stand silently by them while they worked things through.
“We haven’t eaten anything other than pretzels since breakfast. Are you hungry?” she asked.
He paused, as if gauging his body, then nodded. “Do you mind if we order room service?”
She did not. She hadn’t minded walking for hours, either, but now that she was tucked up in a cozy hotel with her favorite slipper socks on, she did not feel the urge to go out again. “Menu’s by the drinks,” she said.
He collected the trifold paper, then brought it back. After selecting their meals, he called down and placed the order.
“I need to update my will,” he said, returning to her side. A soft rain had started falling, and the drops gathered on the slanted window before sliding down.
“You have one already?”
He nodded. “We did them in the army. Seemed a waste of time since I didn’t have much, but the lawyer was there and it was free, so I did it. Then a few years ago, when the businesses the Falcons own started gaining traction and doing well, we all updated them. I’m sure Mantis, Stone, Viper, Philly, and Monk will update theirs again now that they have partners, and a baby on the way,” he added with a smile. “But for me, everything I own will go to helping the network we work with.”
“The one that helps people escape bad relationships?” He nodded. “So even if your brother had succeeded in killing you, he wouldn’t have inherited anything,” she said.
Yes, his brother. The PI report Henry pulled up had noted a conversation with Malcom Carter, James’s half-brother, as partof the process he’d gone through when locating James. They didn’t have proof that he was behind everything, not yet, but Daphne had texted Ava the information while James signed the paperwork. Daisy was still a slim possibility, but James’s brother, and his hopes of inheriting millions from his dead sibling, fit the picture far better.
“He wouldn’t. But he wouldn’t have known that. If he still lives in the world we grew up in, it wouldn’t have occurred to him that I already have a will. No one ever had enough of anything to even consider the idea.” He took a sip of his drink. “You think Ava has found anything yet?”
“I’d bet yes, but if we’re at the apex of all this, she’ll want to keep the momentum going until she has all the pieces of the puzzle. She won’t keep us hanging for long, though.”
Not long after, dinner arrived at the same time the expected text dinged on her phone; Ava needed one more hour, then she’d call. Worried that the anticipation would affect James’s appetite, Daphne almost didn’t tell him, but she’d be pissed if the roles were reversed and he withheld the information from her. Regardless, the news either had no effect or the opposite effect. When they sat down to eat, he inhaled his food.
The staff had just collected their empty plates, leaving behind two wineglasses and the half bottle they hadn’t finished, when her phone dinged again. A text from Ava directing her to open her computer. Sharing what they’d found on a screen bigger than their phones would be easier, and she wanted to video call. Dutifully, Daphne dug her device from her bag and logged on.
“Thanks,” Ava said, taking a seat at a table as the call connected. “This will be easier, and Callie wanted to be here, too.” The image changed as the video switched to a camera in the room rather than Ava’s computer, and Callie came into view.
“How are you both holding up?” she asked.
James chuckled. “It’s been an interesting day.”
