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“The key is finding Jarreau and Deming. That’s the only way.”
“But if Brent can’t do it, and Birk can’t, then how do we do it?”
“We set a trap. We have an arrogant client who thinks he’s untouchable. We use it to our advantage.”
“If you’re talking about luring him into a confession, I’m all ears. But I don’t think Chad is the type to take the bait.”
20
The lure had to be big and, most of all, believable.
While considering their next move, they went over their plan with several people who knew about such things. Brent Cody gave it a fifty-fifty chance of working. Birk was even more skeptical. But Beckett seemed to believe it had enough deceit at the core and played on Chad’s greed factor that it might lure him into the trap.
Jade and Kelly were fervent supporters if it meant taking down Chad. But it was Brogan who wanted the plan to proceed so they might find out what happened to Trey.
It was up to Lucien to deliver the bad news to Chad via phone call. “I know you wanted us to solve Anna’s murder, but we happened upon something else while investigating the main event. Times have changed. Old-fashioned police work has added a little something they call genealogy into the mix.”
“What do you mean?” Chad asked.
“Apparently, your father, Frank Pollock, fathered another child.”
“Who the hell asked you to check into my father’s background?” Chad shouted into the phone. “I sure as hell didn’t. That wasn’t part of the deal. That wasn’t what I paid for.”
“Jeez, calm down. I figured you’d want to know about another sibling since you lost both of yours back-to-back.” Even over the phone, Lucien heard the panic in the man’s furious breathing.
“Who is this person claiming to be my father’s child? How do you know he isn’t a con man trying to get at the trust fund? Or a scheming woman with phony DNA?”
“Because we’ve checked this person out. We haven’t contacted them yet. We wanted to run it by you first. Besides, according to the wills, any living heir—legitimate or not—is entitled to a share of the trust fund, the overall inheritance.”
“That’s bullshit. My father set up the trust for me, Anna, and Matthew,” Chad pointed out. “Specifically for us and not some fraud trying to get at the money.”
“Frank set up the trust for living heirs. Go back and read the wills. Since both wills went through probate shortly after your parent’s passing, the court agreed that their estate would feed into the trust, and the trust is then shared equally by the living heirs. But I’m sure your lawyer will be able to clarify all the specific legal jargon for you.”
“How do you know this stuff? I never granted permission to dig into my trust fund.”
“Probated wills are a matter of public record. Frank and Freida’s wills were no exception. The amount of the trust wasn’t a secret, was it?”
Chad ignored the question and asked one of his own. “Do you plan on telling me who this person is?”
“Not yet. We’ll need to contact him about releasing his personal information to you. After all, he might not want to meet you.”
Chad took the insult with his usual outrage. “You’re working for me. I hired you. Now, I’m firing you. I don’t want you doing anything else except giving me this guy’s name.”
“If you fired us, then I can’t very well follow through on passing along his name now, can I?”
“I want my money back, you sleaze. I’ll sue you for everything you’ve got.”
“You can try. But it won’t give you the name of Frank’s other living heir.”
“I’ll hire someone else to investigate his claim.”
“Good luck with that. By the way, you wouldn’t happen to know where a couple of Anna’s friends ended up, would you? They left the Los Angeles area very suddenly after she died. Weird behavior.”
“Which friends?”
“Two men named Aaron Deming and Vincent Jarreau.”
Lucien heard a slightly audible gasp on the other end of the line.
