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“Yourpersonal assistant? I doubt he’d be interested.”
“Well, he’s certainly not going to be yours. Juni, on the other hand, could be.”
“That’s sexist.”
“No, my love. That’s possessive.”
I madeit downstairs with a few minutes to spare and found Beau in the kitchen with Decker.
“I was about to give Beau my report on some of the characters associated with the Lilacs. You should sit in on it too.”
“I asked Cru to do some checking on Cord, Hoss Schultz, and also James Rooker,” Beau explained.
“Depending on which one you’re talking about, I can tell you about James Rooker,” I said.
Decker shut his laptop. “Go ahead.”
“I hope I get this right. James Rooker was Cena’s brother. According to what Juni told me, he was driving drunk and had an accident. Manley, that’s Cena’s husband, was in the car with him. Both men died.”
Beau looked over at Decker, who nodded.
“Jim Rooker is James’ son. Apparently, he was a good guy. He recently passed away from cancer only a couple of weeks before Cena did. Juni said he worked until the day he died.”
“Got it,” said Decker.
“Then there’s Jimmy and Johnny. They’re Jim’s sons. They’re twins, and Jimmy’s older. Anyway, Johnny lives in Colorado.” I looked up at Decker. “I guess you already know that part.”
“I know all of it, but continue anyway.”
“Juni said Cena didn’t want to leave anything to Jimmy because she was afraid he’d blow right through it all.” I folded my hands on my lap. “That’s all I know. Oh, I asked why Cena didn’t leave it all to Johnny, and she said she didn’t know. She also has no idea how I got involved.”
“That it?” Decker asked.
“I think so.”
“Now, I’ll tell you what I know.” He reopened his laptop and turned to Beau. “We’ll start with Cord. He’s on the up-and-up, by the way. His mother, Patricia, was Cena’s niece. She was only ten when her father died—let’s continue referring to him as James. Her brother, Jim, was quite a bit older than her, and the two were never close. I haven’t pieced it all together yet, but somehow, she ended up in Colorado.”
All three of our phones chimed simultaneously.
“The attorney has arrived,” said Beau.
“Let him in, but tell him to cool his jets for a few.”
Beau stood and walked a few feet away.
“Back to Patricia. Cord said neither he nor any of his siblings knew anything about his mother’s family. That’s part of what I haven’t pieced together yet.”
“Did he tell you why he was here?”
Decker nodded. “The trust. I know Cord’s older brother, and he went through the same shit. I tried findin’ more about it then and got nowhere. Anyway, one thing I was able to find out is that Cena did leave something to Johnny. Actually, he got his inheritance early with the stipulation that Jimmy never find out about it. That was no skin off John’s back, considerin’ he has the same opinion of his brother everyone else seems to have.”
I wanted to ask what Cena left him, but it was none of my business. Actually, it felt like everything I’d learned since the day I received the packet from the lawyer was none of my business.
“John’s got a ranch in Black Forest, Colorado. Bigger than this place, in fact. That was Cena’s doin’. I don’t know how well you know Colorado, but Crested Butte, where Patricia settled, is about five hours from where John is, so no connection there, it seems.”
“The lawyer is insisting he needs to talk to us immediately,” said Beau.
“For Christ’s sake,” Decker muttered. “You’d think he’d want to get more billable hours in, sittin’ and waitin’.”
