“I certainly have formed my own opinion about her.” Harvey smiled. “Tell me, is there anyone with influence over your aunt? Anyone we could try and get in the ear of to convince her to change her mind?”
“Possibly. There’s a man named Frank Matthews who she has a lot to do with. He’s the deputy CEO of the Recovering Veterans charity, but he also dated my aunt for a while. It was the only relationship I ever saw her have. And I hate to say anything bad about a veteran, but he… he’s a little off. I have nothing but respect for the people who fight for our country—my grandfather taught me that—but Frank is… a total creep. He’s tried to seduce me a few times, but I wouldn’t go near someone like him. Even if he were good-looking, which he isn’t, I wouldn’t go near him. There’s something off about his personality.”
“Do you think he’ll be able to provide us with any information about your aunt?”
“I’m not sure, but he’s the person closest to my aunt. He obviously appreciates all the money she gives to the charity and he thanks her directly for it. My family’s estate is the greatest contributor to the charity, and I must admit, I like that. I like that my family helps people that need it. I wish that charity no ill harm, but…” Anna shook her head. “My grandfather left that money to me.”
“I understand.”
Removing his legal pad from the top drawer of his desk, he began to jot down points about the case. Anna waited in silence as Harvey scribbled on the page, even though she wasn’t sure what he could be writing about.
“Do you have any other possessions from your grandfather?”
“No. He left all of his possessions to my aunt. I loved my grandfather, but I was still young when he died. I was only fourteen, and I didn’t know that much about him.”
“Do you know anything else about your grandfather that may assist us in disputing the will?”
“No.” Anna shook her head. “War turned him into a loner, and the only people that helped him were his close family. Nobody else knew anything about him. He made his money through the stock market, but he sold all his shares before his death because he believed in cash. He thought cash was the future.”
He took a deep breath. “I reviewed the will more closely overnight, and I couldn’t find any holes. The best angle that we could push for was to say that your grandfather put that condition in the will for your benefit. If we could prove that this was his sole intention, then we could dispute the will. Your grandfather had notes that he scribbled down and he left those notes in the possession of your Aunt Jessica. I’ve reviewed those notes thoroughly, and I haven’t been able to find anything of significance. There was nothing there that could help us dispute this will. There isn’t a lot that we can build on so far.”
“Wait, what are you saying exactly?”
“This will is watertight, Anna. My job as your lawyer is to give you the best advice available. And as your lawyer, my advice to you would be that if you want that money, you should enroll in Army Basic Training.”
“What? Didn’t you hear me when I said I would only pay you when the will is paid? Did you miss that piece of information?”
“I heard you. That’s why I suggest you enroll in the Army Basic Training, and complete it. Then if you wish to withdraw from the armed forces, you’ll be dishonorably discharged. That’s your best chance of receiving the inheritance. That’s my legal advice.”
“I thought you could solve anything?! People say that you’re a wizard at reading people! I thought you were the man that could sort out my will?”
“I am that man. As far as I’m concerned, as your lawyer, I advise you to complete the Army Basic Training. Ten weeks of your life is the sacrifice that you need to make to receive that inheritance.”
“No. The army is against everything that I stand for. I lost both my parents to the horrors of war. Do you know what that’s like?! I’ve lost almost my whole family to war. Our family has made enough sacrifices. I won’t do it. I won’t be another martyr for the decisions of crooked politicians.”
“And that’s your decision to make.”
“You don’t understand, do you?” Anna leaned forward, desperate for her voice to be heard. “My family is almost all gone because of war. War has taken everything from my family. And it’s the politicians that are to blame. They’re the ones that send our innocent men and women to fight for their ideals. The politicians sent my family to die in war! Do you know what it’s like to lose your family when you need them the most? You couldn’t possibly know the pain that I went through. I will not enroll in the army! I will not be another statistic! My family has given enough.”
Her brow was furrowed as she looked to Harvey for his reaction. She wanted him to understand. She wanted him to know that she could not commit to an institution that had stolen everything away from her.
When her mother committed suicide after a tour of Afghanistan, she felt discarded. She felt like she didn’t matter enough. The pain of her mother abandoning her at just six years old left her deeply damaged. Two years after her mother’s death, she lost her older brother to war when he was just eighteen. And when her father died in a training accident only three years later, Anna felt the tragic pain of desertion.
The pain of losing her family soaked into her soul. The people she loved the most were taken from her too early.
Nobody could comfort her.
The life she knew was taken by suicide, war, and the unfortunate crash of a training helicopter.
After the death of her father, Anna was left in the care of her closest relative, Jessica Lempare, her mother’s sister.
The army looked after her, but Anna wanted nothing to do with the organization that took her family. They provided financial support to her guardian, but it mattered little to Anna. She had money, but she didn’t have a family. And there was no love in her Aunt Jessica’s apartment.
Jessica’s cold wall of detached emotion only drove Anna further away.
She tunneled that pain into helping others, and protesting against anything that took advantage of those less fortunate. She protested against everything; from the poor treatment of animals to the excess spending of the big banks.
And in volunteering for organizations around the world, she found a family. She found people that embraced her passion for life and accepted her for who she was. She felt at home with the people who shared her pain.
But even with the consideration of her past, Bill Harvey was firm.
“Anna, that will isn’t going to change. If you want that inheritance, then you must sacrifice ten weeks of your life. That’s my advice to you.”
“No.” She shook her head, tears beginning to flood her eyes as she stood.
There was no chance that someone as determined as Anna would complete the training, but Harvey was interested in her next move. He needed to know if she was disputing the will for the money, or if she was doing it for her disgust of authority.
Fascinated in her next move, he watched her closely as she slowly walked out of his office.
What she did next, good or bad, would determine how he approached changing the will.
CHAPTER 4
“So, what are the options?” Investigator Jack Grayson asked as he took a large mouthful of his coffee.
The coffee was bland and watery, but Jack liked the diner. Its 1960s décor reminded him of the diner where his mother used to take him as a child. They were some of the only positive memories of his childhood.
Jack first walked into Harvey’s hypnotherapy office as a twenty-one-year-old who had seen more than his fair share of intensity in his life. He had his first swig of alcohol at twelve, started using hard drugs at fifteen, and was locked up at eighteen. His thick arms were covered with many tattoos that displayed a past life full of aggression.
But it wasn’t the life that he wanted.
He knew that he wanted to change his life, and by the time he met Harvey, he had spent the past year looking for a way to change his old habits. He w
alked into the hypnotherapy office needing an instant change and Harvey was able to show him that it wasn’t about tricking his mind to change—it was about accepting his current circumstances, and acknowledging that it was a part of his life. Under Harvey’s guidance, Jack learned the value of gratitude, mindfulness, and appreciation.
Their paths crossed again ten years later when Jack was looking for a job opportunity. When Harvey saw Jack’s name on the application form, he stopped the employment process, and hired Jack on the spot. He knew that he could work with the man.
The job of an investigator for a criminal attorney suited Jack perfectly, and he had never looked back. From quietly breaking into offices to tailing people, to finding a small error in a hundred pages of a file, Jack thrived in his job.
He had the perfect mix of brains, brawn, and bravado.
“There aren’t a lot of options for us in this case. As it stands, the will is watertight. I’ve reviewed the document over and over, but there are no cracks. Not even the smallest fracture. All the responsibility rests with the aunt. It’s all very clear-cut. This will was drafted in such a simple fashion that it cannot be misinterpreted.”
“So, what have you advised the girl?” Jack swirled the last of his coffee as he looked around the diner, and waved to the waitress. She quickly came over, refilled his mug, and then gave him a small wink. Jack pretended to wolf-whistle as he watched her walk away before turning his attention back to Harvey.
“I’ve advised Anna to complete the ten weeks of Army Basic Training if she wants the money. That’s the simplest way to achieve the conditions of the will.”
“Sounds like an easy thing to do.”
“Maybe for you and I it is. But for this girl, it’s a lot harder. She lost a lot of her family to war, and she hates the idea of going to work for the people that she now considers the enemy.”
“She thinks the US Army is her enemy?”
“Not quite. She has respect for the individuals of the US Army, but she hates the people that control the military. She hates the politicians that send innocent people to war. They’re her enemy. She sees them as taking away her loved ones. That’s where the hatred lies.”
“So why do you need me? Sounds pretty cut and dry at this point,” Jack questioned.
Harvey took a sip of coffee, his face scrunching from the bitter taste. He loved good coffee, but this tasted more like dirty river water. “The advice that I gave Anna is going to push her into a corner. It will be interesting to see what she does next. This isn’t over yet. In her mind, her options are now to complete the training, or go and see her aunt to discuss the will. We know that she isn’t going to complete the training, so it means that she’ll try and negotiate with her aunt. Anna isn’t stupid, so she’ll try a different approach to negotiation than she has in the past. Although the aunt is quite reserved, I don’t think she’s unreasonable. The situation I have put Anna in means that she’ll go and see her aunt with her tail between her legs and try and negotiate. That’s our best option.”
“I’m sure that isn’t the only thing that’s been between her legs,” Kate quipped, appearing at their table.
Harvey shook his head. “Hello, Kate. I think it’s quite clear that you don’t like Anna.”
“I just think that she’s trouble. I’ve seen many, many girls like her before. They have a sense of entitlement and aren’t willing to work for it. I mean, really, ten weeks isn’t that much of a sacrifice. I don’t see why she can’t just go and do the training.”
“It’s more complicated than that, Kate.” He placed his hand down firmly on the table.
Kate waved to the waitress to order her morning coffee. “Jack, here’s the file that Harvey asked me to give to you.”
“I need you to look into the Recovering Veterans charity,” Harvey preempted Jack’s next question. “They’re receiving a large donation from the estate each month, and they have a strong interest in how this will is structured. For any change to the conditions of the will, there needs to be an agreement between the trustee and the charity. While Anna is working on negotiating with her aunt, we should be focused on strengthening our position with the charity.”
“You really don’t think this is over yet, do you?” Jack opened the manila folder. He looked through the first few pages of the file, reviewing the details of the charity. “You think that Anna is going to be able to negotiate with her aunt?”
“I do. I think her next discussion with her aunt will lay the groundwork for our next move. There’s going to be a lot of negotiation to come and the stronger our position is, the higher chance we have of retaining most of the inheritance for Anna.”
“You’re asking me to find some dirt on the charity?”
“Or the people in the charity. I need you to look for anything that will help strengthen our negotiating position. There’ll be something that we can use to strengthen our discussions with them.”
As Jack continued to look through the file, Kate’s phone rang. “Excuse me, I need to take this.”
While Kate walked off to the side of the diner to answer the phone, the men continued their conversation.
“So, any change to the will requires the support of the charity?”
“It requires the conditional support of the charity. As the trustee, the aunt has the final say, but if she had the support of the charity, then we could push any change through really quickly. Otherwise, we may need to go to court and plead our case in front of a judge. I don’t want to do that as that’s a long process. Our easiest option will be if all the parties agreed on a change.”
“What would happen if the aunt died before Anna turned twenty-five?” Jack asked before he was interrupted by Kate returning to the table.
Both men turned to look at Kate, standing by the booth, with a pale, shocked look on her face.
“That appears to be the case. Jessica Lempare has been murdered,” she stated. “And Anna has been arrested.”
CHAPTER 5
Despite the warmth of the meeting room, Anna Lempare was shaking as she sat on the metal chair.
Her world had been turned upside down.
One moment, she was binge watching her favorite television series in her apartment, and the next, she was being taken away by LAPD Detectives for the murder of Jessica Lempare.
Her body had been in shock ever since.
“Hello, Anna.” Harvey entered the room, and placed his briefcase on the small desk. “Are you okay?”
Anna stared at him. Her arms were folded across her chest, her shoulders were slumped forward, her hair a tangled mess.
Anna went to answer Harvey’s introduction, but no noise came out. She ran her fingers along the edge of the small table in the middle of the room, trying to get comfortable on the solid metallic chair.
The meeting room was tight and windowless, and the concrete walls trapped the heat inside. With very little space in the room, Harvey was thankful that he was not claustrophobic.
“Are they treating you well?”
Anna shook her head repeatedly. “She’s dead. My Aunt Jessica is dead. She’s dead.”
“That’s why I’m here.” Harvey slowed his speech pattern down, using a lower tone of voice to create a sense of calm in the room. It was a technique he learned while studying hypnotherapy, and he had used it often to calm people in different situations. His deep voice resonated around the small room, and he could see that it was affecting Anna as her shoulders started to loosen. “Anna,” he continued. “We’re going to have to talk about what your options are and what happens from this point forward. I need you to listen to what I say to you.”
“I don’t understand what’s happening. Nobody is talking to me. They all want me to keep my mouth shut like a good little girl and do as I’m told. That’s not me. I won’t play their stupid little games. They have these rules that aren’t supposed to suit someone like me. They aren’t designed for me. I want to break all their rules.”
“Anna.” He wa
ited for her to look at him before he continued. “This is the situation that we’re in. I need you to take a long, slow deep breath before we talk any further.”
She looked at him, closed her eyes, and inhaled until her chest was full. When she exhaled, her shoulders dropped further from their height of tension, and she placed her hands, palms down, on the table in front of her.
“I’m listening.”
“You’ve been arrested and charged with the first degree murder of your aunt, Jessica Lempare. That much we know. Why don’t you take me through what happened?”
“I didn’t do it,” she said. “I didn’t kill my Aunt Jessica. I didn’t do it.”
“There’s evidence to suggest that you did. That’s why you have been arrested. I’ve had a brief look at the file on your arrest, and a witness places you there around the time of the murder.”
“I didn’t do it,” she insisted. “I wasn’t even there. It wasn’t me. Aunt Jessica was alive when I saw her last. She was alive.”
“I imagine that you’ll plead Not Guilty to this charge then?”
“Yes! Of course! I am innocent.” She shook her head again. “This is horrific. I didn’t do it. How could the police get this so wrong? I didn’t do it.”
“Yet, you don’t appear to have been crying? You don’t seem overly upset about the death of your aunt? You seem more concerned about the fact that you’ve been arrested, rather than the fact that you’ve lost a family member.”
“I’m upset,” she argued. “She was my Aunt. As much as we didn’t see eye to eye, the old bat was still the last surviving member of my family. Do you know what that is like? To be the last person from your whole family? Generations of history rely on you. Do you know how that feels?”
“I don’t.”
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