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)
“All right,” Dad says. “Now that we’re all in agreement, please enjoy the pastries that Rita brought over, and have another cup of coffee.”
“Wait a minute, Sean,” Cyrus says. “How are we supposed to respond to these letters?”
“I thought about that,” Dad says, “and I think we need to hire an attorney in the city to respond on our behalf. We’ll operate as a group from now on.”
“Who’s going to pay the attorney?” Porter asks.
“We’re all going to chip in,” Dad says. “However much you can. Brendan and I can each throw in a thousand bucks. What can you throw in?”
“I’m good for a couple of pennies.”
“For Christ’s sake, Port,” someone says from the peanut gallery. “Put me down for five hundred, Sean.”
“Perfect, perfect.”
“I just don’t have anything,” Mrs. Mayer says.
“Carmelita, that’s okay.”
She pulls a five-dollar bill out of her purse. “This is what I’ve got left from this month’s groceries. You can have that.”
Dad holds up a hand. “No, you keep that. We’ve got you covered.”
“If she ain’t paying—”
“Shut up, Port.”
“If you guys all trust me,” Dad says, “make your checks out to me. Or put in cash. We’ve got a basket up front here. Put your donation in there. Keep track of what you paid, because whatever we don’t use will be returned based on what you put in.”
More murmurs of agreement, and people come forward and throw cash and checks into the basket.
“Who’s going to find this attorney?” someone asks.
“Brendan and I will take care of that. Now have some more coffee and enjoy Rita’s pastries.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Ava
Driving to the city by myself wasn’t in my plans, but it’s where I need to go. My grandmother gave me the address of a bar and a storage facility on the outskirts of Grand Junction. She trusts me to go there to finish whatever she has set in motion.
But of course I have an ulterior motive.
I’m going to save my family.
I drive to the dive bar that’s open at ten in the morning and walk in.
“I’m supposed to ask for Mike,” I say to the bartender, an older man with graying hair and striking dark-brown eyes.
He meets my gaze, a rag in his hand. “Yeah? Who sent you?”
“Sabrina Smith.”
No facial reaction as he turns. “Good enough.”
“Are you Mike?”
He looks over his shoulder. “Does it matter?”
“I suppose not.”
He heads to the back for a moment and then returns with a manila envelope. “Here you go, miss.”
“Thank you.”
“How is she?” the man asks.
“How’s who?” Then I leave the bar, not waiting for his response.
Inside the manila envelope is a key to storage unit 528 at the facility.
So I drive. It takes about twenty minutes to hit the other side of Grand Junction, the industrial area.
U-Stor-It.
Cute.
Not.
I drive in. No one appears to be on duty, but why would they be? It’s an old facility. I pull into a parking spot and then walk through the rows of units until I find 528. It’s a larger unit with a garage door instead of a regular door. My God, what does she have in here? I inhale. All I smell is dust and gravel. No dead bodies… Still, I’m expecting to find the worst.
I breathe in deeply, grasp the key between my fingers, and turn it into the lock.
Then I open the garage door. It’s heavy, and it takes quite a heave for me to get it moving. Who knows the last time it was even opened?
I expect something horrid. Evil. Satanic.
I sure don’t expect what I see.
One lone box sitting in the corner.
A cardboard box, about the size for holding ten reams of paper.
I sit down on the cold concrete floor and open the box.
More manila file folders inside.
One is marked Western Slope Family Planning Clinic. Inside are several papers, instructions on how to get to the clinic and who to ask for.
The second one is marked The Fleming Corporation. Inside are leases, deeds of trust, and other things.
The third one…
Steel Trust.
I’ll be damned.
My family doesn’t own the town of Snow Creek.
Wendy Madigan does.
I pull the documents out. I’m no lawyer, but I’m capable of reading the first page of a trust.
Then I drop my jaw.
Because the beneficiary of the Steel Trust is none other than…
Ava Lee Steel.
My heart drops into my stomach.
All for me. The trust is administered by some law firm in Denver.
I don’t bother looking at the rest of the papers. I shove the lid back on the box, carry it to my car, and start driving.
To Denver.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Brendan
“Where did you get the name of this law firm?” Dad asks in the car, after everyone has left our house.
“Donny Steel.”
“Are you kidding me, Brendan? You got the name of a lawyer from the Steels?”
“Who did you want me to ask, Dad? He’s the only lawyer I know. He and Jade, and she’s his mother.”