“You just let us speak with everyone, all right, dearie?” Darcie said, squeezing his hand. Her greying hair was done up in a bun, and she patted it to make sure it still looked all right.
“Yes, we’ll take care of everything,” Bethany said.
“I’ll be all right, really.”
“Oh, Riley, we know how much he meant to you. Tonight, you just need to worry about saying goodbye. You don’t need to talk to anyone…Especially that creature,” Darcie snapped, her teeth rattling in her mouth. “The nerve of her to show her face here.”
Riley glanced up and saw Ms. Chandler walk through the door. “Well, she was kind of his girlfriend.”
“No matter. No woman of character smacks the grandson of her dead lover,” Bethany said.
“She should not be here and—who is that? Who did she bring with her?”
“Is that William Yancey?” Riley asked, taking in Ms. Chandler’s short black skirt and tight blouse. Not exactly what one should wear to the funeral of her lover. He turned his eyes to the man beside her and frowned. He recognized the man, but from where? He was dressed just as sharply as she was—coal-black suit, pressed white shirt, and blue silk tie. His hair was slicked back, and he carried a cigar in his jacket pocket. Two cigars. Ms. Chandler had her arm tucked through his, and her eyes were red as if she’d been crying. Riley pulled out his cell phone and casually raised it up as if to check a message, but instead, clicked a picture of the two of them and sent it to Ben.
It only took a few minutes before his friend texted back and said he’d look into it, along with whatever else this Chandler woman might be involved in. Riley looked over the full name in the text. Diane. He remembered now. Her name was Diane Chandler, power-attorney who left others strewn in her wake. She never lost a case or disappointed a client, and grossed at least twenty million last year. She had no business worrying about his grandfather’s money, yet for some reason she did.
“If you’ll excuse me, Aunts,” he said. “I think I’ll go say hello.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Bethany asked, patting the cheek Diane had smacked just yesterday.
“I don’t think she’ll try anything here. Too many witnesses,” he said, nodding to others around the funeral parlor. It was packed with friends of his grandfather’s and those from the company. If she raised a hand to him, he was pretty sure she’d be dragged out kicking and screaming.
Slowly, he made his way through the crowd, shaking hands and accepting condolences as he made his way to Diane’s side. She held onto the man’s arm tightly, as if afraid she might fall over. There was a hankie in her hand, but Riley didn’t buy it. Who wore six-inch heels to a wake?
“Diane, I’m glad to see you made it. Again, I am so sorry for your loss,” he said as she turned to face him. He held out a hand and waited.
“Same to you,” she said, but he felt the steel behind her words. Her grip was cold as she took his hand. “I wasn’t sure if you’d be up to attending this evening.”
“Wouldn’t miss it for anything.”
She quickly pulled her hand back and wiped abruptly at her eyes where fresh tears started to form. Fresh and fake, he thought as she directed the gentleman at her side to Riley. “And I assume you two have met.”
“Ah, pleasure and all. Horrible circumstances, though,” Yancey said, a bit gruff.
“Yes, horrible. I didn’t think you and my grandfather got along?”
“Not in person, no, but we had our moments when we weren’t competing for the same clients.”
Riley, a little ruffled, stiffened and stood straighter. “As you do with me. Constantly.”
“Yes, of course. I’m sorry about that, but business is business.”
“So, are you a friend of Diane’s?”
“Yes, we met through a legal issue my company had.”
Riley smirked. He knew all about the troubles Yancey Securities had had in the past. They were always under investigation for one thing or another. “Of course, a legal issue. I’m sure Diane was your legal counsel, too.”
“Yes. Do you have a problem with whom I do business?” Diane snapped.
Riley’s anger flared as he shook the man’s hand and forced a smile onto his face. “No, of course not. Well again, Diane, I’m sorry for your loss. I will see you both tomorrow at the funeral, I assume?”
They said they’d be there, and Riley backed away and hurried from the parlor. He needed to get away and call Ben. Diane was definitely after his grandfather’s company. Yancey Security was Cyber Vault, Inc.’s biggest competition. They’d been after their trade secrets for years and even tried poaching some of their clients and best techs. Thankfully, Riley and his grandfather treated them too well for them to ever consider leaving.