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“On my way.”
I spared a moment of gratitude for a guy who didn’t ask for details when I said, “Help,” and then I looked at Ken. “Vince is coming.”
“Good.”
We both sat there, lost in thought, for about five minutes, and then there was a knock at the door. When Ken said, “Come in,” Imani Coleman, Anemone’s lawyer, walked in, looking young, gorgeous, sophisticated, svelte, and curious as all hell.
“So what now?” she said to Ken, nodding hello at me.
Ken handed her the deed. She read it and then sank into the other chair. She looked at me and then at Ken, clearly thinking at the speed of light. Ken told her about the ceiling paintings and the strong suspicion I was actually Cleve’s daughter. She nodded if he were telling her about the weather. All she said was, “Have you told Cash Porter?”
“No,” Ken said. “I wanted to get all my ducks in a row first.”
“Well, yes,” Imani agreed. “These are some major ducks.”
And then they began to talk ducks, and I just sat there and went back to trying to wrap my mind around all the new.
Cleve Blue probably was my father.
He’d bailed me out of jail after the poster debacle fifteen years before and helped me get out of town by secretly paying for most of my car. He’d probably gotten George to drop the charges.
And he’d left me a huge building.
Because I was one of his heirs.
Because I was one of his children.
Because I was his oldest daughter.
Because I was part of Burney.
My mind was working overtime trying to file everything away so it made sense, but one thing was crystal clear.
I really needed to have a long talk with my mother.
CHAPTER 35
Liz’s phone call had scared me. Both the words and her tone. But since she said she wasn’t hurt and was at Ken’s, I suspected this had something to do with her cabin. Maybe the deal had fallen through? As I drove to the agency, I had mixed feelings about that possibility. By the time I got to Ken’s from the Big Chef, I’d sorted them out: I would help her do whatever was needed to get that house. Because she wanted it and my feelings didn’t matter squat in the matter.
I liked that because it would make future decisions that weren’t mine to make much easier to butt out of. Life is simpler with boundaries and respect.
I stopped in front of Ken’s office just as Cash pulled in beside me.
I ignored him because I would find out why he was here inside.
Cash didn’t ignore me. “Wait up a minute, what’s going on?”
“No idea,” I said, fighting back the urge to punch him in the mouth again. “How’d your meeting with the senator and O’Toole at the country club go this morning?”
“What?”
I really needed to get that poker game going. Between Cash and Bartlett, I could make a lot of money. I broke it into bite-sized pieces. “The meeting. This morning. At the country club. With Senator Wilcox. And Mayor O’Toole.”
Cash shook his head and gave me what I imagined he thought was a superior, smug grin, which didn’t help curb my urge to punch him again. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“That’s why I asked you.”
“Way above your pay grade, Cooper.” He looked at the bear in the cargo bed of the Gladiator and laughed, shaking his head. “Really, Cooper?”
