Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 77170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Hell, my loyalty is to her daughter.
But I also have loyalty to my father. And now…Jack. And as much as I’ve tried to get my father to give up on his quest over the years, now I understand more than ever. I want to know what happened to my great-uncle, what it has to do with the Steels and with Wendy Madigan, and why he fathered a son twenty years after his death.
Is there a reason?
Or is Wendy Madigan just batshit crazy?
My guess is that it’s a little of both.
I pick up my phone and call the city administration building.
“Snow Creek admin. May I help you?”
“Donny Steel, please.”
“Just a minute. I’ll see if he’s in. May I ask who’s calling?”
“This is Brendan Murphy.”
“Hold on.”
Pause.
“Mr. Steel will be with you in a minute.”
Pause.
“Hey, Brendan.”
“Hey. I’m sitting here looking at these documents. I want to make sure that you remove the lien from my property as you promised.”
“Right. I’ve been working on that.”
“Any problems?”
“Only one, but it’s a big one.”
“I should’ve known. What is it?”
“Well…the lien isn’t technically held by my family. It’s held by something called the Steel Trust, which of course Dale and I assumed was one of our family’s assets. But…I can’t seem to find any record of it.”
“For God’s sake.”
“Believe me, Brendan, I want to resolve this as much as you do. Our family does have trusts, but nothing specially called the Steel Trust. This Steel Trust has a lot of transactions with something called the Fleming Corporation, which Brock came across recently. But no one knows what either of those entities are. Seems my grandfather died with a lot of secrets.”
“Wendy Madigan is still alive,” I say. “She probably knows a lot of those secrets.”
“Probably. But Uncle Ryan has asked that we all leave her alone.”
“Bullshit.”
“She’s his mother,” Donny says.
“I get that. She’s also Lauren Wingdam’s mother. I’m going to get to the bottom of this.”
I end the call quickly, and then I go downstairs and hop into my truck. I’m paying Wendy Madigan a visit.
I pull into the Steels’ driveway. Hmm… Ava’s truck isn’t here. It wasn’t behind the bakery when I left. Is it possible we drove past each other without noticing?
Probably not.
I knock on the door.
The housekeeper, Michaela, answers. “Mr. Murphy, what can I do for you?”
“I’m here to see your houseguest.”
“I’m afraid you just missed Ava. She’s not here.”
“I’m not talking about Ava, Michaela. I’m here to see Wendy Madigan.”
“Oh, I see.” Michaela shifts her gaze around. “You’ll have to talk to Mr. Steel about that.”
“Talk to Mr. Steel about what?” Ryan approaches from the kitchen.
I step inside the house. “Good afternoon, Ryan. I need to speak to your mother.”
“Whatever for?”
“I’m sure your wife clued you in.”
“My wife? Ruby went on errands today, and she hasn’t returned.”
“Did she happen to tell you what those errands were?”
“No.”
“She was with my father and me. We were at your sister’s home doing a search.”
Ryan’s eyebrows rise. “A search?”
“Yes, and I think you’ll be interested in what we found.”
Ryan blinks. “I am. Come on in.”
I follow Ryan into the kitchen.
“Have a seat. I just need to text Dale and tell him I’ll be late for our meeting at the winery. Have you eaten?”
“No. Not since breakfast.”
“Michaela, can you make Brendan a Cuban sandwich?”
“No, thank you.”
“Have it your way. Now tell me, what exactly were you doing with my wife this morning?”
I quickly spill the details of what we found.
Ryan’s eyebrows rise several times, but he doesn’t gasp or show any other indication of surprise.
“You don’t seem overly shocked,” I say.
“I learned a long time ago never to be shocked where my mother is concerned. I was surprised enough, and freaked out, as you know, when she turned out to be alive. Shocked enough that I ended up at the hospital. That’s over. I won’t allow her to affect me physically again.”
“For the life of me,” I say, “I can’t figure out why she impregnated her daughter with my great-uncle’s sperm, but our DNA results indicate that’s the case.”
“These sperm samples you found in Lauren’s basement, I assume that’s what you want to ask her about?”
“Ruby explained that they may not even be sperm, and if they are, they certainly aren’t viable because they weren’t frozen correctly. What Ruby thinks, and I agree, is that they’re decoys. We were meant to find them. And that somewhere, she has sperm from your father, my great-uncle, and Ruby’s father as well.”
“I see…”
“Where’s Ava, by the way?”
“She went home. Said she had to meet one of the contractors for the remodeling of the bakery.”
“It’s just as well that she’s not here. I want some answers from your mother, Ryan. And I don’t want Ava involved.”
“I’m afraid Ava is already involved,” Ryan says. “My mother has made sure of that, and I’m not sure why. But we have a theory.”