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)
Once I’m outside the office, waiting for the elevator, my phone dings with a text. It’s Brendan. In fact, there are several texts from him, along with two missed calls. My phone was buried in my purse as I was driving the four hours to Denver. I didn’t hear any of it.
I don’t want to talk, so I send him a quick text.
I’m sorry to worry you. I’m fine.
He texts back immediately.
Where are you?
In Denver.
In Denver? What are you doing in Denver?
Nothing. I’m on my way back now.
Drive safe. We need to talk when you get back.
All right. I should be home by about eight o’clock. Meet me at my place.
I’ll be there.
Brendan is waiting in the alley when I pull up.
“So that was your truck I saw today, wasn’t it?”
I scrunch my forehead. “What do you mean?”
“I was driving into Grand Junction with my dad, and I saw your truck barreling out of town.”
I give a small smile, even though I’m not feeling it. “Yeah, that was probably me.”
He caresses my cheek. “You shouldn’t drive like that, Ava. It’s not safe.”
“I got there and back, didn’t I?”
“Yeah, you did, and I’m damned glad. But please, you’ve got to be more careful.”
The cardboard box from storage is sitting on the passenger seat. I grab it and exit the truck.
Brendan takes it from me. “Let me get that for you.”
“It’s okay. It’s not that heavy.”
“I’ll do it anyway.”
He carries the box to the back door of the bakery, and I unlock the door. We walk in and go straight up to my apartment. He sets the box on the kitchen table, where my tarot cards are still spread.
Brendan places his hand on the box. “What is this anyway?”
“The key to everything,” I say on a sigh. “At least according to my grandmother.”
“What?”
“I’m the key, Brendan.” I shake my head. “I never wanted to be any damned key, but apparently I am.” I jingle my bracelets. “And these? They didn’t come from Grandma Didi after all. They came from Grandma Wendy.” I twist my face into a scowl.
“Ava, I’ve had a long couple of days. I’ve missed you so much.” He grabs my hand. “And I wish I knew what you were talking about, but I don’t.”
I let out a breath. “It’s a long story, Brendan. Believe me, I wish I knew what I was talking about too, but I really don’t.”
“Can I look in the box?”
“You and I promised we wouldn’t keep any more secrets from each other. So yeah, go ahead and look inside.”
He takes the lid off the box, pulls out the first file folder, which of course is the one from Wolfram and Burke, since it was the last one I threw back in after my ill-fated meeting today.
“Shit…”
“What?” I ask.
“This is the law firm that…”
He pulls a folded letter out of his pocket. “Take a look at this.”
My eyes widen of their own accord. It’s signed by an attorney named Dion Hays of Wolfram and Burke. “He said the file was active lately.”
“Who said?”
“Duke Wolfram. That’s where I was today, Brendan. I was in Denver, paying a visit to Mr. Wolfram.”
“Whatever for?”
“I found the Steel Trust.” I pull out another file folder. “Look at the beneficiary.”
Brendan’s jaw drops. “What the hell is this, Ava?”
“Are you accusing me of something?”
“Of course not. But that’s your name. It freaked me out.”
“I know.” I run my hand over my forehead. It’s sticky with sweat. “This is all fucked up, and it’s got me pulling my hair out.”
He strokes my hair. “Don’t do that, sweetheart. But you’re going to have to tell me what you know.”
“I know nothing.” I riffle through the box’s contents. “I’ve never seen any of this before.”
“Neither has Donny,” Brendan says. “He says his family doesn’t know what the Steel Trust is.”
“And you think I do? The only ones who do are those people at the law firm, and they wouldn’t talk to me. Something about attorney-client privilege.”
“But your name is on this document.”
“Right, but I’m not the client.”
“Then who the hell is?”
I sigh. “Brendan, if I knew, I’d tell you.”
He pulls the band from his ponytail and then threads his fingers through his hair until he looks like a wild man. A wild beast.
A wild and sexy beast.
But I can’t be getting turned on now. Too much else going on.
“This is nuts,” he says.
“You think?”
“Ava, what are you telling me, exactly?”
“My grandmother. She told me to go to some dive bar in Grand Junction and ask for Mike. When I did that, I got a key to a storage unit. A big storage unit, one with a garage door instead of a regular door, so I was expecting to find… You know. Not good stuff. But this box was all that was there.”
He shuffles through the folders. “Western Slope Family Planning Clinic?”