Hellion, a New Adult Romance Novel(100)
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
MICK AND I ARE HOLDING hands under the conference table at the lawyer’s office. Teagan is on my other side, holding my other hand. Rebel is at work, unable to get away from the huge workload that was made worse by our road trip and then Mick’s subsequent focus on me and my family. A lot has happened in a week, not the least of which is this head-to-head with the lawyers.
“So tell us exactly what this so-called secretary said to you.” The young lawyer speaking to Mick looks very happy but the older one, not so much.
“She said a lot of things, but mainly that Teagan’s dad was fine up until the last couple months before he died and then he just kind of went downhill fast.”
“Downhill in what way?” the lawyer asks.
Teagan squeezes my hand hard.
Mick responds. “Getting absent-minded. Nauseated. Sweaty. Disoriented. Chest pains.”
“Sounds like heart attack symptoms,” says the older lawyer.
“Not really. It went on for weeks, not just days. But that’s not the worst part.” Mick looks at Teagan, and I know what he’s about to say. I let go of his hand and cover mine and Teagan’s with it. She knows what he’s about to say too, but that doesn’t make it any easier to hear.
“Tell us.” Now the older lawyer is leaning in too, less skeptical or mad or whatever he is.
“I guess he was kind of a grade-a dick to his employees for years. But at the end, when he was really sick, he was working late with his assistant and he made a joke.”
“A joke?” The lawyer looks confused. “How is that relevant?”
“He told her that if he ever kicked the bucket under suspicious circumstances, someone should check to see if his wife was poisoning him.”
The room goes silent but for the ticking of a clock on the bookshelves. It has a heavy brass case and a swinging pendulum inside. It looks expensive with lots of little shiny parts to it. I’m mesmerized by the movement. Back and forth, back and forth. My best friend’s world is falling down around her ears and that thing is just going to keep on going and going and going.
“That’s a little hard to believe,” the lawyer says. He looks a little stunned.
“There were other rumors.” Mick sighs. “That his wife and her brother were out to get him. That they were always scheming and planning behind his back. I’m not sure that any of it can be backed up, but maybe that poisoning angle could be.” He looks around the room, and I want to hug him for looking so hopeful. He’s my hero and Teagan’s too.
The lawyers look at each other and exchange a few words in low tones that I can’t really hear well. I’m too busy trying to read Teagan’s mind and make sure she doesn’t lose it right here in the office. When she first heard the news she almost took Rebel’s apartment apart. He had to restrain her in his human straitjacket arms until she stopped freaking out. None of us blamed her a bit. Alissa had to leave the room she was crying so hard and Colin snuck out to his apartment. Only Mick and I stayed and it was a very long night.
“Well, it’s a long shot,” says the head lawyer, “but I think it’s worth checking out.”
“You do?” Teagan sits up, her voice clear for the first time all day.
“Yes. Here’s why … generally speaking, when a person has suspicions that a spouse is trying to kill him, strong enough that he voices those suspicions to a co-worker or family member, it’s generally not a joke. They do often believe what they’re saying. There are many cases of this on the books. And sometimes they’re correct. His suspicions combined with the fact that he was acting so strangely with a manifestation of several physical symptoms says that there was definitely something not right there. Maybe it was just the stress and poor health. But his medical records are clean up until a few months before he passed. Hopefully it was just bad luck and bad habits catching up to him. But I think we should spend the money on looking for some facts. We can hire an investigator that we’ve used successfully in the past if you approve the expense.”
I look at Teagan. “Can you afford that?”
“They’re taking an I.O.U. from me.”
“But you only make, like, fifteen bucks an hour. That’ll take forever to pay off.” I look at the lawyers for confirmation, but they say nothing. They’re zombies looking at me like they want to taste my brain or something.