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“Oh, okay. I’ve just had so many reporters trying to make up a story. Like Janey was some coed that played with men. Janey was the most down-to-earth person I knew. She rarely dated. She was waiting for Mr. Right. We had a joke when she’d come home from a first date. I’d ask, frog or prince? Most of the time, the answer was frog. This last guy she met in Sedona, though, she said she was hoping hewas a prince.”
“Marcus?” Rarity asked.
Cara nodded. “He fit the mold for her. Hit all the right bells. He was employed, not in a relationship, and just a really nice guy. She said she was hoping for aprince there.”
“Did she say anything about Caleb?”
Now Cara frowned. “Caleb was in the frog category. He’s the guy she was working with, right?”
Rarity nodded. She’d seen the way Caleb had looked at Janey. He was smitten with her, at the least. She just wondered if he’d ever acted on his feelings.
“No, she mentioned him. Said he was nice. They’d met before in a class, and he’d tried to continue the connection, but Janey definitely wasn’t interested.” A car pulled up at the curb, and a man got out. He checked the address on the house and then on his paper. “Uh-oh, I think another reporter is here.”
The man smiled at them, then approached. He looked between Rarity and Cara.“Cara Mantle?”
Cara held up her hand. “What can Ihelp you with?”
He held out a folded paper. When Cara took it, he nodded. “You’ve been served.”
Chapter 13
Rarity watched as the guy turned and sprinted toward his car. Then the process server drove away. She turned back to Cara and nodded to the paper still unopened in her hand. “What’s the issue?”
Cara opened the paper and read the first page. “I’m being sued for Janey’s estate. Her sister wants the money torevert to her.”
“Has the will even been probated yet?” Jonathon reached out for the summons and read it. When he finished, he looked up at Cara. “Do you have an attorney?”
“No, the will is still in court. Janey’s estate attorney said there might be a challenge, and if there was, to call her.” Cara sighed. “Janey owned the house. If I lose this case, Whiskey and I will have to find somewhereelse to live.”
“Call your attorney. If the will is valid, you shouldn’t lose. Just don’t give up.” Rarity wanted to give the woman a hug. She looked wornout with grief.
Jonathon handed the summons back to Cara. “Look, I know this is a lot, but don’t worry until you have something to worry about. Just callyour attorney.”
They walked back to Jonathon’s car and didn’t say anything until they were heading back to the salon. Rarity turned to Jonathon. “Why would someone who already has money want to stop Cara from gettingJaney’s money?”
“Maybe Trish doesn’t have as much money as she wants, or she already spent her part of the trust. There are a lot of reasons people sue. But it sure shines a different light on Janey’s sister.” Jonathon glanced in the rearview mirror as they left Cara’s street. “I think maybe Drew should have a closer look at Trish and her motivation.”
“So let’s go poke a hole into her alibi.” Rarity set the GPS back on the path to the salon. “It should be open by now.”
“Do me a favor. Call Drew while we’re driving. I think he needs to know about the suit. If Trish assumed Janey would leave her fortune to her, she could have killed her, not knowing that Janey had changed the will.” He turned onto the freeway. “Money is a big motivator. Especially when you need it to keep up your lifestyle.”
“Which doesn’t rule out Cara as a possible murderer. She could have known about her inheritance and needed access to the money now.” Rarity glanced back at the way they’d come. “Although I don’t see her as a killer.”
“You have good instincts. No wonder Drew trusts you.” Jonathon pointed to her phone. “Call Drew. Tell him what we found out and about the challenge to the will. This just opened up Trish for him to examine hermore closely.”
She found his name and hit Call. Then she waited forhim to answer.
“Hello? Rarity? Don’t tell me you and Dad got in trouble already.” Drew didn’t sound happy.
“No, we just have a bit of information to tell you.” She went through the meeting with Cara, then told him about the server and the court case. “Jonathon thinks you might want to look at Trish alittle closer.”
“Have you two talked to her hairdresser, yet?” Drew asked.
“We’re on our way there now. We had some time before the salon opened.” Now Rarity felt guilty for going to talk to Cara.
“Okay, but can you do me a favor and limit your involvement to this one question? We just need to know if Trish’s alibi holds up. I really don’t want you to go around Flagstaff trying to find Janey’s murderer. You two are scary together.”
Rarity rolled her eyes, and Jonathon laughed.
