“Yesterday. My last ever. Definitely.”
“That was for . . .”
“The reading of the will.”
“There was the matter of a hidden safe.”
“Filled with gold bullion. As you’ve probably been informed.”
“Who took possession of that gold?”
“I have no idea.”
“And you were present because . . .”
“All the home’s locks are controlled through the same master panel that handles the alarms. When Dino decided he could trust me, he had my thumbprint added to the control system. I had no idea that included a safe in the wine cellar.”
“For real?” Zia brightened. “The old man stashed gold with his booze?”
Banks looked ready to bark, but Jenna lifted one hand in time to halt his outburst. Settle. She went on. “They accused me of stealing some of the funds. Sol will tell you the safe was completely full. There was nothing I could have taken.”
“So you say.”
“Yes, Agent Banks. That is what I say.”
“What happened then?”
“I have no idea. I opened the safe. I stood. I left the premises. And I am never, ever going back.”
* * *
Agent Wright Manley Banks continued to press her with questions, going over the same points from different directions, for almost an hour. His tone remained suspicious, aggressive. Jenna didn’t care. She found herself entering the same observant calm she knew when tending a patient. Nothing that happened on the outside disturbed her inner world. It couldn’t, not if Jenna was going to do the best by her patient. This agent might think he was searching for her button, something he could press and gain a reaction that might lead to Jenna divulging a secret. But she had no secret to reveal, and his hostile questioning left her utterly untouched.
As for Noah, Amos, and Zia, it was like watching three pots slowly rise to a boil.
Agent Banks pressed for her impressions of each family member. Asked about known associates. Everyone who visited or called during Dino’s final months.
Then he insisted on seeing the boat.
“Absolutely not,” Noah said.
This time, however, Amos sided with Jenna. “Give the man a tour. Else he’ll be back with a warrant and waste another afternoon. This way he won’t bother us again.”
Banks rose to his feet. “Don’t bet on it.”
They climbed into the boat, watched him nose around. Then it was over.
Agent Banks departed with a barely polite thanks for her time. “If you think of anything further, please give us a call.”
“About what? You still haven’t told me what you were looking for.”
“There you go,” Amos said.
Banks opened his car door, shot the three men a hard look, said, “We’ll be in touch.”
When the agent’s nondescript four-door was just a dust cloud headed for the valley’s gates, Noah asked her, “You okay?”
“I’m fine.”
