Chapter Fifteen Marni
Chapter Fifteen
Marni
We wandered around an attorney’s office days later. Stella’s mom and Lukas, Stella’s ex. Cam and Hanna. A group of fidgeting,
skeptical people you would never invite to the same party, which might explain why the heavy mood felt more appropriate for
a funeral.
Aubrey came in late, right as the attorney sat down in the conference room and motioned for us to join him. She stood alone
at the far side of the room. Most of the others sat in chairs around the oval table. Not me. Too antsy. My nerves kept firing.
I stayed in the doorway because the need to flee rang through my head like a shrieking car alarm that wouldn’t shut off.
The letter requesting my attendance at this thing came when I was walking out the door to school this morning. The letter
had a careful, no-details writing style. Seeing Xavier’s name in the subject line and the attorney’s signature at the bottom
sent my stomach into an epic tumble. Something big waited. Something that could crush us all.
The temptation to linger in my classroom long after the dismissal bell and skip this unexpected event hit me in waves all day. One minute I dreaded getting in my car and driving here. The next I itched to slam the gas pedal to the floor in a desperate attempt to arrive first.
As I watched the attorney shuffle the papers in front of him, I realized I was no longer alone at the wall. Stella slid in
beside me. The meeting, or whatever this was, hadn’t started yet. Not officially. She looked as wary as I felt.
“I’ve never been to a will reading before.” I thought idle chitchat would ease the thick layer of worry inching through me.
Wrong.
“According to Lukas there is no such thing as a will reading. You see it in movies where it’s used to draw out drama. Outside
of Hollywood? Not really.”
Not that we needed more drama. This was one more chapter in the decades-long unspooling of the Tanner family mystery. The
disposition of Xavier’s estate had to wait until the younger Tanners were officially declared dead. Xavier fought that decree
for fifteen years. He no longer had that power.
My gaze lingered on Aubrey for a few seconds. She didn’t look around the room. Didn’t make eye contact. Didn’t so much as
twitch. Maybe she knew what was about to happen? That would explain her steady demeanor.
“The attorney’s letter said the meeting was about a ‘discussion of asset distribution’ and that could mean anything. Xavier
liked games,” Stella said.
“Dividing the Tanner assets shouldn’t impact me.” That reality played in my mind all day. Why did I need to be here?
I’d called Cam to get his take, but he didn’t answer. He showed up and now talked to someone I didn’t recognize in the hallway just outside the conference room. A return call would have been appreciated.
Stella glanced at me, then went back to staring at Aubrey. “Xavier wouldn’t give me anything either. Trust me.”
Isabel picked that moment to push up from her chair. She slapped her hand on the table as she stood, grabbing everyone’s attention,
which likely was the plan.
She rushed over to Stella, not bothering to lower her voice to a whisper. “Why are all these people here? They have nothing
to do with Xavier.”
“I don’t know, Mom.”
“This is ridiculous.” Isabel didn’t give Stella a chance to respond. She flounced away, back to her seat, and plopped down
with an exasperated sigh.
How that over-the-top mess of a woman produced cool operator Stella was a constant mystery. Thinking about the strain the
mother-daughter bond must undergo on a daily basis almost made me feel sorry for Stella.
Likely because she was used to it or had grown immune, Stella didn’t even blink at her mother’s behavior. She stood there,
tamping down any emotional reaction she might have, as if she experienced an unnecessary mom explosion every day.
“She’s panicked. This many people being present suggests Xavier did something unexpected with all his money,” Stella said.
Cam stepped into the room, wearing his usual brown corduroy blazer, the one that passed for dress attire no matter the season,
and shut the glass door behind him.
He nodded in greeting. “Stella.”
“If you’ll excuse me, I need to talk with my mom.” Stella pulled away before either of them said anything else.
“I bet.” Cam whispered the response.
We stood there, watching Stella sit down next to her mother, nodding at whatever Isabel jabbered on about. The topic had her
agitated and repeatedly throwing her hands in the air.
“Isabel worries the money spigot is about to shut off.” And she wasn’t exactly hiding her panic about the possibility.
“She should be. Xavier thought Isabel was a whiny waste of space.” Cam looked at me with a lifted eyebrow. “That’s a direct
quote, by the way.”
Interesting, but Isabel’s behavior only answered one question of many. “At least I get why she’s here. She was Xavier’s niece.
Why are we here?”
Cam folded his arms in front of him and nodded in the direction of the attorney’s bowed head. “According to the lawyer, this
is an interim meeting so everyone can know Xavier’s wishes while the court works out the next steps for the estate. Xavier
insisted the asset distribution reveal not be delayed.”
The comment sent my stomach into another nosedive. “That suggests Xavier knew something big was coming, like the reappearance
of a supposedly dead family member.”
Cam leaned against the wall as he scanned the room. His gaze hesitated on Aubrey but then continued past. “The hearing about
her parents will be rescheduled. Aubrey could be hoping for a windfall to pay her high-powered criminal defense lawyer. The
police are all over her.”
News I desperately wanted to hear. “What’s she saying about her parents and Noah?”
“So far, nothing.”
What? How was that possible? I’d been questioned on the day of the disappearance and in the days that followed and again as each
anniversary passed. As Victoria’s best friend, the police and FBI thought I must know something . . . and they weren’t wrong.
“She hasn’t voluntarily answered any other questions,” Cam said. “There’s no evidence. The department is scrambling. A detective
already talked with the estate attorney for insight into how Aubrey benefits with Xavier and the family dead. The FBI will
swoop in soon.”
Of course Cam remained in the know. He retired under stormy circumstances. The public demanded more access and answers about
the missing Tanners, but the town’s frustration shifted to the FBI. Everyone, including those who used to work for Cam, stuck
by him.
“Not that Aubrey looks worried,” Cam added.
My attention zipped back to her. She wore a black pantsuit. The ensemble looked expensive. An impressive feat from someone
who’d been off the grid for more than a decade.
For the thousandth time since she’d walked into that courtroom days ago, questions about where she’d been swirled in my head.
Someone had to know something. She’d been fifteen. Even with her big brain and ability to weasel out of any situation, she
would have needed help. A place to live. Money. Support to keep her hidden.
“Weird.” That was all I could think to say.
Cam let out a rough laugh. “Isn’t everything with the Tanner family?”
That’s just it. No. “Sixteen years ago I would have disagreed. Every day since they vanished I’ve had a different answer.”
They’d been a messy family back then. Far more financially stable than most. More argumentative and judging than many. But
alive. Together. Gathered around for dinner. Patrick and Victoria excited to attend Noah’s soccer games.
“Regardless of what Aubrey does, you need to be prepared.” Cam’s stare met mine. “This meeting isn’t going to go the way you
think it is. I know because Xavier named me as the estate’s executor.”
“Since when?”
“This morning.” Cam shook his head. “Earlier, of course, but that’s when I found out. Leave it to Xavier to keep it a secret
and dump the responsibility on me without notice.”
Stella was right. Xavier had played games. He loved to manipulate people and keep them guessing. This sounded like one last
move, but I couldn’t figure out why.
“The attorney delivered an envelope to me earlier with instructions and information. I didn’t realize there was more involved
until now . . .” Cam’s voice trailed off. Like he wanted to say more but stopped himself.
I’d felt guilty for destroying their relationship all this time. “You told me the friendship was never the same after that
night.”
“It wasn’t.” Without a clearer explanation, Cam walked over and sat down next to the attorney.
Call it a change in the air or intuition but things were about to shift again. I felt it and dreaded it.
Well played, Xavier.