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PROLOGUE
Ava Martell was afraid to say it out loud.
She worried that if she actually spoke the words to someone else, it would make them real in a way that, up until now, they hadn’t been. But that was the whole reason she was here in this Brentwood café, sitting across from a lawyer. If she didn’t come clean, what was the point of being here?
“I can see that you’re nervous,” Nina said to her gently, “but remember, if you retain me, anything you say is privileged.”
Nina Kirby wasn’t just a lawyer, she was also a neighbor. And over the last few months, she’d become a friend too.
“You won’t even tell Rhett?” Ava asked, referring to Nina’s husband.
“Well, we are law partners,” Nina reminded her, “so typically I would share what I learn with him so that we can better prepare for whatever assistance you might need. But remember, he’d be bound by the same attorney-client privilege as me, so anything you say will stay in the vault, metaphorically speaking.”
Ava nodded reluctantly. As difficult as this was, she just needed to rip off the bandage and do it. She’d already waited too long.
“I’m worried that Harrison might be into something shady,” she finally whispered, quickly and quietly, before taking a quick sip of her dandelion-infused herbal tea.
“Can you be a little more specific?” Nina asked, brushing her shortish, blond hair out of her eyes.
Even though they were in a casual café primarily populated by aspiring screenwriters and lunching, stay-at-home moms, Nina was dressed crisply in business attire, with an understated blouse, blazer and skirt. Ava, who had just finished a workout session at the gym with her personal trainer, was in her Lululemon leggings and a tank, her brown hair pull back in a ponytail.
“Over the last six months, we’ve been hemorrhaging money,” Ava told her, looking down at the table instead of making eye contact. “I don’t typically pay super close attention to the books, but I went onto our bank’s website last week to make sure a wire transfer had been processed and that’s when I noticed.”
“Noticed what?” Nina asked.
“That my husband has been drawing at least a thousand dollars out in cash every week since mid-May, sometimes more. All told, it’s been over $34,000. Obviously, that’s a drop in the bucket for us,” Ava said.
“Obviously,’ Nina agreed.
“But it’s the pattern that worries me,” she said. “I’m worried about where it’s going and just as concerning, if it might escalate.”
“Have you talked to him about it?” Nina asked.
Ava shook her head.
“Part of me is worried that he might lie,” she conceded. “But another part is worried that he’ll tell me the truth, and that I won’t be able to handle it.”
“Let me ask you this,” Nina broached delicately, “has he seemed distant lately?”
“I know where you’re headed,” Ava said. “At first I thought he had a mistress. I looked at all our credit card statements for unusual charges, like to hotels or for gifts that he might have bought but not for me. I started calling in to his assistant to see if he was out of the office a lot. I would show up there unexpectedly. I even secretly followed him around town a few times, which is just so embarrassing.”
“And what did you find?” Nina asked.
“Nothing!” Ava said. “That’s why I’m so freaked out. If it’s not an affair, then why would he pull this money and not tell me? Is he on drugs? Has he been gambling and gotten in over his head with a bookie? Is he paying off someone to look the other way on something questionable at work?”
“What does Harrison do for a living again?”
“He’s a senior executive with a large hotel chain,” Ava said. “He does really well but as you know, my parents created and starred in the sitcom, Bundle of Trouble. The bulk of our estate comes from the residuals they get from having a top ten TV show for half a decade. I know I’m probably jumping to conclusions, but I have to be careful. I can’t be the reason the family fortune is bled dry.”
The server came over and they went silent.
“Can I get you ladies anything else?” he asked.
“I think we’re good, right?” Ava said.
“Yes, here you go.” Nina told him, handing over a credit card.
“Oh, let me get that,” Ava offered.
