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)
“You can bring whomever you need to bring,” he says. “Can you be here by ten o’clock?”
“Can we make it one in the afternoon? It’s a four-hour drive.”
“Yes, of course. One o’clock it is. See you tomorrow, Ms. Steel.”
“Yeah. Tomorrow.” I end the call.
And I stare again at the card in front of me.
Death.
The end.
But the end of one thing always signifies the beginning of another.
I didn’t get all the answers I wanted, but apparently I got a bunch of money. That plus my trust fund? God only knows how much I’m worth.
I don’t want Wendy Madigan’s dirty money, but I know exactly what I’ll do with it.
Chapter Forty-One
Brendan
I sit with Ava and Ryan in a conference room at the Denver law firm of Wolfram and Burke.
“So, Ms. Steel,” Duke Wolfram says, “we have some papers you need to sign. Then we’ll get this will probated, and you can get your money.”
“I told you I don’t want it.”
“Well, it’s yours. You’ll need to decide what you want to do with it, then.”
“I’ve already decided,” Ava says. “How much will it cost to pay off all the liens that the Steel Trust holds on all the property in Snow Creek?”
“That’s a sizable chunk, Ms. Steel.”
“I don’t care. Tell me how much.”
“Close to fifty million dollars, but—”
“Good enough. I want to use the money that I inherited from my grandmother, Wendy Madigan, to pay off those liens.”
“But you don’t have to do that. Wendy Madigan was the sole principal of the Fleming Corporation, so upon her death, all ownership in that entity passed to you, Ms. Steel.”
“I’m not sure what you’re getting at.”
“The Fleming Corporation holds the liens on the properties in Snow Creek,” Wolfram continues. “As Ms. Madigan’s sole heir, you, for all intents and purposes, are the Fleming Corporation, so you can release the liens.”
Ryan shakes his head. “I’ll be damned…”
“Do you think Wendy thought about this?” I ask.
“Hell if I know,” Ryan says. “She was brilliant, but she was old.” He runs his hand over his face. “My God, she was willing to bankrupt our town for my daughter. This is crazy even for her.”
“Is it?” I ask. “At least this is only money. She hurt people. She killed people.”
Ryan shakes his head. “I’m not comparing the two. What I mean is that the amount of this trust—these liens—is nothing compared to what Ava is entitled to as a Steel heir. It’s like a drop in the bucket. I don’t understand why…”
Ava pats her father’s hand. “It’s better that you don’t understand, Dad.” She turns to Wolfram. “Does the trust have any assets other than the liens?”
“Most of it was tied up in the liens,” Wolfram says, “but there is some cash value. About two million dollars.”
“What happens with that money?” she asks.
Mr. Wolfram leans forward. “It’s yours. The grantor, Ms. Madigan, through the Fleming Corporation, specified that upon her death, the beneficiary, you, may receive all trust assets without restriction.”
Ava bites on her lip. “I think… It’s not a lot of money, but I think I’d like to distribute it to the people of Snow Creek. To all the lienholders equally. For the emotional duress my grandmother put them through.”
“That’s generous of you, sweet pea.” Ryan smiles.
Ava shakes her head. “Hardly. It’s money I never knew I had, and as you said before, it’s a drop in the bucket. In fact… I want to give the rest of the inheritance to the people of Snow Creek as well. We’ll form a committee. Figure out what the town needs. Wendy’s money will do good, not evil.”
“Are you sure about this, young lady?” Wolfram asks.
“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.” She looks to me. “Except for when I told this man that I love him.”
My cheeks warm, and Ryan glares at me.
But Ava smiles, squeezes my hand. “I understand now. I understand all of it. Everything the cards were trying to tell me, even everything my grandmother was trying to tell me. In a way? I owe her some gratitude.”
Ryan rolls his eyes. “You don’t owe that woman anything, Ava.”
“I owe her my life, Dad, and so do you. You and I wouldn’t be here but for her.”
“I stopped thinking about that a long time ago,” Ryan says.
“But don’t you see? She wasn’t a good person,” Ava says. “I think we can all agree on that. And in the end, we didn’t get all the answers we wanted, but Brendan, now you know who was behind your great-uncle’s death. You can let that rest. Now we know why Patty Watson died. We can let that rest.”
“We still don’t know who shot my brother,” Ryan says. “Though my mother did imply she was behind that. And we still don’t know…”
“What, Dad?”
“A lot of things. Who was behind the crimes that were being committed on our property…” He rakes his fingers through his hair. “My mother was behind it, but she wasn’t acting alone. And who that orange diamond ring belongs to… We don’t know everything yet, Ava.”