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“I’m not starving myself.” Rarity laughed. “But if you want to talk about moving in, I’m ready to have theconversation.”
“Whoa, girl, you’re moving fast today. Maybe I want to be wined and dined first?” He must have seen the shocked look on her face, because he laughed. “I’m just kidding you. I think we should talk about what our next step is. But I want to do that on vacation, not in between all the day-to-day stuff.”
“Okay.” Rarity glanced around the bookstore, distracted. “We can do that.”
“Don’t sound so excited.” Archer nodded to the back room. “Do you want me to go check the lock?”
“I’m avoiding it, aren’t I?” Rarity felt her face burn. “I’m not afraid, I promise.”
Archer squeezed her arms. “There’s been a lot going on. Don’t worry about it. I’llbe right back.”
When he came back to the front, he reported, “Doors locked and lights off. No scary face in the window watching for you.”
“Now, see, I feel rejected. Where is he today?” She grabbed her tote and Killer’s leash. “Let’s get out of here. I’m ready to make some dinner.”
* * * *
The next morning, Rarity was drinking coffee while she waited for Archer to get off the phone. He was setting up another weekend group guide session. When he got off the phone, she opened her calendar. “When do you need a babysitter for me?”
“That’s not really what I’m doing. I just can’t be here Sunday. Maybe Holly or Malia could come and hangout with you?”
“I’ll get it covered. When will you be home?” She wrote the information in her planner, then tucked it into the tote. “I’ll call around this afternoon and get someone over here. Don’t worry.”
“I do worry. Maybe you should call now?”
“Holly just got off work, and Malia probably worked at the Garnet last night. I’m not waking either of them up before noon. I’m not sure I even could.” She went to dump her coffee. “We better get going. Jonathon’s going to be waiting outside in the cold.”
“It’s not that cold.” Archer hurried to get his jacket and bagready for work.
Jonathon was waiting for them when they arrived at the shop. He stood and followed Rarity into the bookstore. “Drew talked to Janey’s sister last night. She’s saying as far as she knows, she’s the sole heir and executor of the will. She was a little put out when he suggested that Cara might have a claim. Apparently when the trust was set up by their grandparents, it had a clause that reverted the money from one sister to the other in case of death. Of course, anything that Janey had already taken out of the trust would be hers to do what she wanted in the will. I’m thinking we’ll find that the money isn’t as cut and dry asTrish thinks.”
Rarity put her tote on the counter and unclipped Killer’s leash. “So I wonder how Trish’s finances are without the influx of Janey’s money. Do we know how much the trust was worth?”
“Drew’s requested a warrant to get all that information, and he has a meeting with Janey’s lawyer, Catherine Johnson. She stopped using the family lawyer, Allen Holbart, a few years ago. Cara said Janey thought he was cheating them.” Jonathon opened his briefcase and took out his laptop. “It’s funny how loudly Drew talks in his den. With the television on low, I can hear most of his conversations. Especially since he tends to put everything on speaker. Just a warning in case you call him while I’m around.” Jonathon took out his notebook. “I think that’s all I needed to report. Now back to work on this novel. I’m enjoying having this investigation going on while I’m writing about this fictional one. It’s giving me all kinds of ideas for red herrings and characters.”
“Like the ex-cop who knows too much?” Rarity teased. “I just hope there’s not a beautiful and intelligent bookstore owner who feeds the PI information about the seedy side ofselling books.”
He laughed and then focused on his computer. “Of course not. In my story, the bookstore owneris the killer.”
Rarity went back to her own computer and work. She needed to finalize next week’s book order and do payroll. Which reminded her, she still needed to pay Janey for her last few days of work. She looked up Catherine Johnson’s phone number, then called, hoping to get ahold of the lawyer. Catherine had helped Rarity with some legal issues when she’d bought the store. Maybe she could helpwith this too.
“Hey, Catherine, I’m glad I caught you.” Rarity saw Jonathon’s head turn just a bit, and his fingers stopped moving on the keyboard. At least she knew she was being listened to. Not like Drew, who didn’t realize how sound carried inhis own house.
“Rarity, so nice to hear from you,” Catherine said. “I’ve got a few minutes before my first appointment arrives. What can Ihelp you with?”
“I have a question. I have a check for Janey Ford for work she did for me before she died. I understand you were her attorney. Should I just send it to you? Should I make it out to the estate or something? We were planning on doing direct deposit, but I haven’t even gotten that set up yet for her.” Rarity hoped she might get more information from Catherine about Janey besides where to send her final check.
“Oh, that poor girl. It’s so sad for her to be gone so young.” Catherine must have been typing, as Rarity heard keys clattering in the background. “Let’s look at her will. I just took over her finances a few months ago. Oh, yes, she signed over a power of attorney for me to deal with these issues. Send the check here, and I’ll include it with the final distribution to her heir when the court releases the funds.”
“Sounds good. Cara could use all the money she can get to take care of Whiskey. I bet that dog eats a lot.”
Catherine laughed. “He’s a bruiser, that’s for sure. I’m glad her sister wasn’t put in charge of Whiskey. That girl would have the dog put to sleep if she had control over the estate. Thank goodness Janey had withdrawn all the trust funds before her death. Now Trish has no recourse. I know Cara would much rather have Janey back, but this will help her keep the house.”
“When things slow down, I need to get in and set up a will. I need to have arrangements set up for Killer,just in case.”
“Well, you come down anytime. I’ll get that added to your will. I know it’s a pain, but thank goodness Janey had the foresight to make sure Whiskey was taken care of. I know they’re just pets, but they mean a lot to us.” A bell went off in the background. “Sorry, I’ve got to go. My appointment’s here.”
Rarity got off the phone and added a note to her murder notebook. She looked over at Jonathon. “Do you think I should call Drew?”
