“So instead of reporting him …”
Luella’s neck turned as bright red as her lipstick.
“Instead of reporting him to Admin, I agreed to keep his condition a secret if he offered me a financial incentive to do so.”
Jesus. “Do you have agreements like this with other residents?”
“No. And I was helping him. Within a month, I had Vernon seeing a new doctor and he was in much better shape, mentally and physically. I believed he’d be okay living on his own.”
“Then why didn’t you stop spending so much time with him? Because of the money?”
“I didn’t only do it for the money.”
What a load of shit. “If you were trying to hide the fact Vernon needed full-time care, then you should’ve tried harder to cover your tracks.”
“What do you mean?”
“When I got a hold of the ‘volunteer’ schedule, it showed you devoting more hours per week to Vernon Sloane than to any other resident. Wouldn’t that tip 379
off the front office he needed extra care?”
“It might have if the general manager didn’t just sign off on the schedule on a biweekly basis.” She sniffed. “The office staff is so overworked they don’t care. The senior program is under the direct supervision of the GM. He pays us from a different account than the other employees.”
Which rang true with what Bud Linderman had
told me. “How well do you know Amery Grayson?
Because I distinctly remember, during our first conversation at the doctor’s office, you said Vernon didn’t have any family.”
“She isn’t family. She’s a vulture. And I tried my best to keep her talons out of him.”
“That wasn’t your choice to make. Because, like it or not, Amery is Vernon’s granddaughter.”
Luella glared at me. “I was the one who’d taken care of him. She moves here and decides she cares about poor old Granddad? Baloney.”
“Were you jealous of her?”
“No, infuriated by her. Whenever she visited Vernon, always when I wasn’t around, he became confused, thinking Amery was her dead mother, Susie. And she let him. She played into his delusion. Then he’d tell me he didn’t need me around because his daughter was back. Amery managed to trick him out of twenty thousand dollars, making him think she was Susie. But what could I do about it? Amery snooped through his things, which is why he gave me some of 380
his papers for safekeeping.”
Amery was responsible for stealing from her own grandfather?
“Again, she had a right to know, especially if she thought you were taking advantage of him financially.”
Something didn’t fit and I backtracked. “What kind of papers?”
Her eyes glittered. “Let me ask you something. Why did Vernon refuse to give his precious granddaughter, his only living relative, power of attorney?
Knowing he’d been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s?
With a cooperative client it’d take a lawyer less than a day to get that changed.”
My bad feeling intensified.
“Amery didn’t have power of attorney because Vernon refused to give it to her. He didn’t trust her and told her it’d take a court order. He trusted me. I earned every penny he paid me.”
“I don’t doubt that. But you have to admit it was beneficial for you to keep him in the private apartment as long as possible. Not only would you lose the money he paid you every month, but you’d lose the hours you charged to the senior program. How long do you think the GM would keep you on if someone told him about your little kickback scheme?”
Another glare. “You don’t have the authority—”
“As a matter of fact, I do. Do you have any idea who I work for?” I lied, “Linderman Properties Limited.” At her continued blank stare I prompted, 381
“LPL? Although they don’t write your checks, they own this facility.”
That got her attention. “Please. I can’t afford to lose this job, especially now that—”
“—your cash cow is dead?”
“No, now that everything is horribly mixed up. It wasn’t supposed to be like this! I thought I was helping him. If I would’ve known he was so far gone that he’d wander outside by himself during a blizzard, I never would’ve tried to keep him in his own apartment.” Luella shifted into total meltdown. Obviously Luella felt guilty, but she didn’t suspect foul play. Which led me to believe she’d been as oblivious to Amery’s machinations, besides the outright stealing, as everyone else had. Or we’d been oblivious to hers. Maybe she was just a really good actress.
As she sobbed, I revamped my strategy. “So you knew that Vernon Sloane was worth five million dollars?”
“Yes.”
“You knew about his will?”
She stopped crying mid-hiccup. “What about his will?”
“Just that it doesn’t matter if Amery had power of attorney or not because she’s set to inherit everything.”
“Who told you that?”
I shrugged. “Sorry. I can’t reveal my source.”
382
Come on, come on, fall for it.
“Well, your source is wrong.”
Bingo. “What?”
Luella abruptly pushed back. “Forget I said anything. I have to go.”
I literally threw myself in front of the door.
“Luella, talk to me. You can’t possibly—”
“I can do whatever I want. Leave me alone.”
I had no choice but to tip my hand on our suspicions about Amery. “Please. Listen to me. I don’t know what you’d planned to do with this information about Vernon Sloane having a different will. But my partner and I suspect Amery Grayson purposely led her grandfather outside to freeze to death to collect the inheritance she expects.”
When she clapped her hand over her trembling mouth, I was certain she had nothing to do with helping Amery.
“You were worried something like this was going to happen to him, weren’t you?”
Luella nodded.
“Vernon trusted you?”
“More than anyone else. And I … just want to do the right thing by him.”
“Then we cannot let that girl get away with killing him. Not only that, she’s suing this place for negligence, which would mean even more money for her.”
“I don’t care about this place anymore. They’re all a bunch of vultures, too. Why do you think I didn’t 383
tell anyone? I did exactly what they asked me to. It was wrong. I know that now, and I’m sorry. It’s not fair that they should benefit either. No one should. That poor, poor man.”
I blinked. “Who’s ‘they,’ Luella?”
“Please, let me go,” she whispered. “I’ve said too much. I-I need to clear my head. Let me go.”
“On one condition.” I searched her teary eyes. “Don’t do anything rash. Don’t talk to anyone. Especially not to Amery. She’s a very dangerous woman.” I pulled out a business card. “Think about your options. Anything you tell me is in confidence. I won’t say anything to anyone until I hear from you. But if I don’t hear from you within two days, Luella, I will track you down.” The second I moved she was out the door.
I stared out Reva’s small picture window, waiting for her to return.
Poor Vernon Sloane. No one saw him as a man, only dollar signs. I wasn’t lucky enough to have had grandparents, or aunts and uncles in my life. Even though I had little experience with old people, I realized I was prejudiced. Calling them geezers. Making fun of the way “white-heads” drove their big cars. Hating to be behind them in line because they were so 384
slow. Bitching about forking a portion of my earnings into Medicare and Social Security.
In other cultures the aged weren’t an embarrassment to be locked away. The elderly were looked to for guidance, lauded for their knowledge, and treated with respect as valuable members of society.
The casual disregard with which we treated our elderly in this country
made me sick. And I was as goddamned guilty as everyone else in allowing it to happen.
“Julie? You okay?” Reva said behind me.
I jumped. I hadn’t heard stealthy girl come in.
“Yeah.”
“Was Luella able to help you?”
“Some. Not as much as I’d hoped.”
“Oh. Anything I can do?”
“Maybe.” I continued to gaze out the window because the question I had was wildly inappropriate and completely embarrassing. I didn’t know if I could look into Reva’s sharp turquoise eyes and ask it. “You told me you don’t have any family left. So what happens to your estate when you …?”
“Die?” She chuckled. “I had a hard time saying that word at your age, too. I couldn’t imagine it. And here I am. Eighty-eight years old.”
“You don’t look a day over seventy.”
“Bah, flatterer, but I’ll take it. Anyway, to answer your question, I’ve left the little money I have to the Campbell County Library System. I know how much 385
it’ll be appreciated. That’s probably why I’m low on the Prime Time Friends priority list.”
“What?”
“That’s the other function of the organization, if you hadn’t figured it out yet. They try to get residents here to bequeath all or part of their estate to the program.”
I let my forehead rest on the icy pane of glass. Why hadn’t I asked Reva for this information earlier?
Had I automatically discounted her conversation as the ramblings of a lonely old woman? Bitter about her lot in life and her friend dying?
“You mentioned something like that to me, didn’t you?”
“Yes, my friend Nettie signed over everything to Prime Time Friends a couple of months before she died. And before you ask, Miz PI, no, I don’t think her death was intentional so they could get their hands on the pittance she had. Her death was from neglect, plain and simple.”
“That makes me feel even worse for her, Reva.”
“Me, too.”
I turned around. “So it’s the norm for the Friends?
To see the residents as dollar signs?”
“That’s all we are to most people, Julie. Medicare, Medicaid, funeral planning, free scooters, adjustable beds, wheelchairs, and prescription medicine programs. That’s why I like Luella the best of all the volunteers. She never makes me feel like a number.”
386
Yeah, but Luella sure had Vernon Sloane’s number. All five million of them. “Well, you’re number one in my book. I appreciate all your help.”
Reva snorted. “It’s not like I have anything else to do.”
The slanted jeweled green eyes on her retro cat clock shifted; the long tail twitched back and forth, announcing the top of the hour. I sighed. “I should go. I have a couple of things to finish up at the office before I can call it a day.”
“You all done with this case, then?”
“I’m not sure. I definitely need to regroup.”
“I wish you luck.”
Her shoulders slumped as she cleared the dishes from the little table. Even her sassy hairbow drooped. Guess she thought I’d gotten what I’d needed and wouldn’t be back, which made me feel like a heel. But she’s right, isn’t she?
Yes, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t change. I wanted to change. Besides, hadn’t I been bitching about having too much free time in my off hours? I genuinely liked Reva and suspected she and I were more alike than either of us knew. God knew I could use a wise woman in my life.
“You kicking me to the curb, Reva? Because I was hoping the next time I stopped by you’d crack that bottle of Jack Daniels instead of serving me that shitty tasting tea.”
Her lips quirked. “Such a potty mouth.”
387
“I’ve heard librarians have seriously creative language once you get them drunk. They start throwing out words like lugubrious and verisimilitude and get into fistfights about the misuse of the Dewey decimal system. ” I fixed her bow. “Let’s test that theory. How about a week from Wednesday? Sevenish? You can tell me about your bad boy and I’ll tell you about mine?”
“Sounds like a deal.”
“Until then, try to stay out of trouble, spy girl. And if you can’t be good, have fun being bad.”
388
On the way back across town, I’d come up with a couple different scenarios.
Vernon Sloane had given Luella paperwork for safekeeping. No-brainer what kind of documents he wanted hidden from his snoopy granddaughter. Legal documents, like a new will.
By requiring a copy of a will to be filed on-site, Bradley Boner knew exactly how much each resident was worth. He knew who had heirs and who didn’t. It was like a fucking treasure map. Encouraging seniors to gift their entire bank accounts to the Prime Time Friends organization. In exchange for a cheap plaque on the wall in the common area?
I’d hoped Luella wasn’t in on it, but courting Vernon Sloane for a five-million-dollar donation to Prime Time Friends would be a huge coup for her. 389
I smoked, my brain playing ring-around-the-rosy with the possibilities.
Then the truth smacked me upside the head.
Luella was hiding the latest will as a bargaining chip. She could blackmail Amery, demanding a large chunk of the five million, or else she’d turn over Vernon’s newly inked will, and Amery would get nothing. If Vernon had written a new will, wouldn’t the attorney’s office have a copy? Yes. But would a lawyer even let a man with dementia write a new will? Probably not. Which meant Vernon might not have used an attorney. There were plenty of those “create-a-will”
kits, and I’d think an old folks’ home would be a perfect place to find them, which would also explain why Luella hadn’t come forth with the other will yet. Luella wouldn’t be that naïve, threatening a murderer, would she? If Amery killed her grandfather for money, she wouldn’t hesitate to kill Luella. How could I prove it?
I couldn’t.
My other get-Amery-to-confess idea was just as lame, but still an option I’d have to fine-tune. I flipped on my computer and ran a records search on Beth McClanahan, narrowing the age scan to ten years. Then I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes. A catnap would revive me. Why was I so damn tired all the time? Unfortunately, I hadn’t devoted my nighttime hours to sextracurricular activities with Martinez.
390
My cell phone rang. I was disappointed when TM
didn’t pop up on the caller ID.
“Hey, Brittney.”
“I can’t believe you told her!”
“Told who what?”
“My mom. You told her that stuff I said to you in confidence, and now look what you did. I knew I shoulda listened to him about not trusting you.”
Him who? Dad probably. At least Trish was trying to rectify her mistakes. I didn’t respond, feeling stung she’d automatically jumped in to accuse me of wrongdoing.
Brittney babbled in the awkward silence. “Mom came in my room last night and started asking me all these embarrassing questions about the hired man.”
Her voice turned churlish. “If he’d touched me in my private parts. That’s just gross. What did you tell her?
Why would she ask that?”
“Because she was worried about you, Britt.”
“That’s exactly what she said. So I think you put her up to it.”
“No, I didn’t. But even if I did, did you tell her the truth?”
Sullen silence.
“I’ve got plenty of stuff to do besides listen to you sulk on the phone.”
Sniff. Sniff.
“Are you crying?”
“No.”
391
Count to ten. “Look. I didn’t rat you out, okay?
Your mom came to me and all I told her was that she should ask you about it.” I paused to let that sink in.
“Really?”
“Really. So why the tears?”
She wailed, “Because right after that my mom and dad had
a huge fight. They never fight. Mom was yelling and Dad wouldn’t even talk to her and then he took his stuff and slept in the barn.”
“Take a deep breath. Parents fight. It’s not the end of the world.”
“I think they were fighting about you.”
I frowned.
“Are you trying to break them up? Because you’ve been spending time with my mom and if you’re telling her the same kinda stories about Dad beating you up that you told me, and then they get a divorce, it’ll be your fault.”
Why the fuck did I let her—and Dad and Trish—
blame me for everything that went wrong in their oh-so-perfect lives? “Again, fighting doesn’t mean they’re going to get a divorce. The best thing you can do is to stay out of it.”
“Really?”
The outer office door slammed. “Really. Anything else I can do for you?”
“Yeah.” More snuffling. “I haven’t seen you in forever.”
More guilt. Big goddamn surprise.
392
My office door opened. Silver crutches caught the fluorescent light when Martinez paused in the doorway. Be still, my heart. My blood pulsed, more prominently in some spots than others. Tony shut the door. And locked it. He stalked me with that look. The look that made me forget my own damn name.
“Julie? You still there?”
“Ah, Britt. I’ve gotta go. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
I shut the phone off and closed the distance between us in two steps. “I missed you. Really missed you. Going crazy kind of missing you, Martinez.”
“I heard.”
“How’s your leg?”
“What leg?”
“I’m serious.”
“Serious enough to take off my pants and judge for yourself?”
I lunged for him at the same time he lunged for me. The crutches crashed to the floor. We followed in a tangle of tongues, arms, and legs.
When we were both mostly naked, I broke free from a toe-curling kiss to drown in his eyes, losing myself in the look that was mine alone. “You sure—”
“Yes. And I’m tired of you being on top.”
He flipped us, then he was on me, in me, and I didn’t care about anything else.
393
Usually after an intense bout of sex, Martinez and I rolled around in bed. Rolling on the cold office floor wasn’t an option. We dressed, but he kept me close, kept touching me as if we were still naked.
Snow Blind Page 27