Fatal Trust Read Online Free PDF Page A

long
hallway. Ben stopped at the second door and flung it open. “You’re staying
here.”
    Lexie walked into a large room with an attached bath. The
sapphire silk comforter and drapes and the black lacquer furniture coordinated
with a sapphire, black, and white Oriental carpet. “This is beautiful. How many
bedrooms are there?”
    “Thirteen, of course,” Ben said. “Ten on this floor.
Grandfather’s bedroom is on the third floor, along with two tower bedrooms.”
    “I assume the tower rooms are supposedly haunted.”
    “According to Grandfather, all the bedrooms are.” Ben turned
and headed to the door. “I’ll stop by at six.”
# # #
    “You know, you’d be a lot happier if you loosened up,” Max
said. He was sitting in one of the leather chair s that faced
Catherine’s desk.
    His comment had come out of the blue—they’d been discussing
a proposed revision to his trust. But Max frequently sw itched topics
without warning. He claimed it was because he liked to catch her off guard. Catherine
suspected it was really because when it came to estate planning issues, he was
easily bored.
    She rested her palms on her mahogany desk. “I thought we’d
agreed that you pay me to be anal retentive,” she said levelly.
    “When you’re my attorney,” Max
said, waving his hand. “But that doesn’t mean you should act like you’ve got a
stick up your ass the rest of the time.”
    His words made Catherine smile. “Aunt Jessica always used
to describe my mother that way.”
    Max’s smile was tinged with
sadness. “I know. I owe it to Jessica to make sure you don’t turn into another
uptight Elizabeth.”
    “As Aunt Jessica also used to say, one Elizabeth Barrington
is more than enough for the world.”
    “I’m sure your mother would say the same thing about me,” Max said.
    “No, she wouldn’t.”
    “Don’t bother lying to be polit e, ” Max said, his
smile now genuine. “Your mother’s opinion really doesn’t bother me.”
    “I’m not lying,” Catherine said. “She’d never say it
because that wouldn’t be polite. Of course, that doesn’t mean she wouldn’t think it.”
    “Actually , I owe your
mother,” Max said. “She’s inspired my next book.”
    “Do you kill her off in some particularly gruesome way?”
    “Of course not,” Max said, looking offended. “I could never
kill off Jessica’s only sister , no matter how
much she disapproves of me and I disapprove of her. I’m planning to write about
a town where someone puts a drug in the water supply that turns everyone into
stiff, uptight, unerringly proper people who never smile or have any fun but are always courteous. I’d call them
something like Zombie Bluenoses.” His forehead creased. “Not that, of course.
It doesn’t have the right ring. But you get the idea. A whole town full of
pompous, polite paragons. Can you imagine a more horrifying place to live? Or even visit?”
    “The drug wouldn’t affect everyone in
town,” Catherine pointed out. “Not everyone drinks tap water anymore.”
Experience had taught her that Max not only wouldn’t get back on topic until he
was ready but he expected her to join in the conversation. To be honest, it was more fun than discussing
trust distribution issues anyway.
    “Good point,” Max said, stroking his white beard. ”I’ll
have to come up with another distribution system.”
    “What do these people do once they’re affected? Catherine asked. “Storm Las Vegas and try to convert everyone
there?”
    “That could be interesting,” Max said. “I haven’t figured
that out yet. Although I do know I’ll need a hero. A guy who burps and
scratches in public and eats with his fingers. He ends up saving the town. What do you think?”
    “I think it sounds ridiculous,” Catherine said. “And I
think that if you write it, it will still end up being a bestseller.”
    “Which is another reason for you to loosen up,” Max said.
“Otherwise I could very well put you in the