Chapter 19
Traci worked through the morning, eating lunch at her desk. Shortly after one, she got a call on her desk phone from an old high school classmate whom she occasionally ran into around town. They were friendly, but hardly best friends.
“Traci? It’s Hannah Styles. Is this a good time?”
“Um, sure. What’s up?”
Hannah lowered her voice to a whisper. “I could get fired for this, but I thought you should know that I’m pretty sure your brother-in- law is up to something sneaky.”
Traci pushed her salad aside and felt a cold chill move down her spine. “Like what?”
“I’m not sure. All I know is, Ric called my boss late yesterday and asked him to go out to the Saint to meet with your father-in-law.”
Traci knew Hannah worked as a legal secretary for a local lawyer. “Are you still working for Reeves Corbett? But he’s not the family’s lawyer. Andy Plankenhorn’s firm handles our legal work. He has for years.”
“That’s what I remembered,” Hannah said. “I worked for Andy when I first got out of college, until I went on maternity leave.”
Traci tapped the pen against her chin. “And you have no idea what this is about?”
“Reeves asked me to find him a videographer to go out there with him. So I gave him the name of the woman who shot my little sister’s wedding last summer.”
“Who’s the videographer? Do you think she’d talk to me?”
There was a long pause at the other end of the call. “Uh, you know what a small town this is. I wouldn’t want it to get back to my boss that I talked to you. It’s kind of a breach of confidentiality. I could get fired, you know?”
“Okay, no, you’re absolutely right. I’ll keep this to myself,” Traci said, her mind racing at all the possible skulduggery Ric Eddings might be up to. “Thanks, Hannah. I owe you one.”
“The reason I called you was because I can’t stand that bastard Ric, excuse my French.”
Traci laughed. “Sounds personal.”
“Oh, it is. Back when I was a penniless college student, Ric sideswiped my poor little Chevy in the parking lot at the mall. He was driving the Saint’s black SUV with the logo on the door. Ripped the right rearview mirror clean off my car, and he didn’t even slow down. When my daddy called Mr. Eddings to complain about it, Ric straight up called me a liar.”
“That sounds exactly like him,” Traci said. “I’m gonna quietly ask some questions, and I’ll definitely keep your name out of it, but if you hear any more details, will you let me know?”
“You got it, girlfriend.”
She left a message on Andy Plankenhorn’s voice mail, telling him she had an urgent matter to discuss.
He called back fifteen minutes later. “Traci? What’s so urgent?”
“I can’t tell you how I found out about this, but I understand my brother-in-law may have retained Reeves Corbett to do some legal work that involves Fred.”
Plankenhorn let out a long, low whistle. “If he has, this is the first I’ve heard of it. Ric certainly hasn’t notified me that your family is changing law firms.”
“He hasn’t notified me, either,” Traci said. She told him about Reeves Corbett and the videographer. “That’s pretty concerning to me, given Fred’s current medical status.”
“It’s damn concerning,” Andy agreed.
“You and I both know that if Ric has hired an outside law firm, it means he’s up to something nefarious,” Traci said.
“I can’t say I blame you for having this reaction. Let me make some discreet inquiries and see what I can find out. In the meantime, when was the last time you saw Fred?”
“I check in on him at least once a week. The last time was two days ago. He’s no longer ambulatory, and he’s nonverbal these days, you know.”
“Does he seem mentally alert?”
“I suppose so. He watches the financial news all day, every day. One thing that makes me suspicious about Ric is that he rarely bothers to visit his dad. Says it’s too depressing. So why, all of a sudden, is he inviting Reeves Corbett—along with a videographer—for a drop-in?”
“I’m wondering the same thing,” Plankenhorn said. “Stay tuned.”