Heat Wave Read Online Free PDF Page A

the left.
    Carley looked around the room. It was daylight. No shadows.
    “Gus,” she said aloud, “I have to do this. I don’t want to intrude, but I’ve got to take charge of our lives.”
    She opened the desk. Gus had been secretive about money.When she asked him for details, he only told her, not quite condescendingly, “Honey, don’t worry. We have enough.”
    Now she found files about house insurance, health insurance, car insurance. No life insurance file. That was odd. Files about investments, savings, loans, stocks and bonds. She booted up the computer and lost herself in the maze of Gus’s financial dealings. Two years ago, the amount in the various accounts had been substantial. Now it looked as though most accounts were closed. She couldn’t find any sign of a savings account, or a money market account. Gus and Carley shared a checking account, and over the past few months she’d withdrawn just enough to pay the household bills. She’d intended to transfer money from the savings account into the checking account when she had time—but where was the savings account?
    Desperately, she scrolled and clicked through his computer. She turned to the deep drawer on the right side of the desk and clawed through the files. It didn’t make sense.
    Her heart raced. So this was what Russell was going to talk about with her.
    She had no money.

5
    • • • • •
    F orewarned is forearmed, Carley told herself, although she wasn’t certain what she was armed with. She did feel less frightened. Money matters were scary, but they weren’t
death
. They could be dealt with.
    She pulled on her favorite coat—a light wool, very chic—then took it off. It had a swing cut, which seemed frivolous. She pulled on her good old black wool coat, grabbed her purse, and left the house. She would walk to the law firm. Fifteen minutes of fresh air and deep breathing would do her good. She set off toward town.
    Nantucket seldom got as much snow as the mainland, and as she walked along, she found the sidewalks dry and clear even though a dusting of white scattered over the yards. Close to town, a white gravel drive circled in front of the law offices, providing parking space for their clients or the Winsteds. She climbed the steps to the handsome black door and turned the knob. She stepped inside.
    The reception room was empty. Claudia, their secretary, was absent, her computer off, her desk tidied.
    Carley peeked into the other downstairs room. Dick, their paralegal, was gone, too, and the kitchen/storage area where they made their coffee and kept their supplies was vacant. But she heard footsteps upstairs.
    The offices and long conference room were on the second floor.From force of habit, she turned right, toward Gus’s office, before correcting herself and turning left.
    Russell’s door was open. As Carley entered, he rose, smiling.
    “Carley, my dear.”
    “Hello, Russell.” She went around the desk and kissed his cheek.
    “Hello, Carley.”
    Her nerves already on edge, Carley flinched at the unexpected sound of Annabel’s voice. Spinning around, she saw her mother-in-law perched on the leather sofa, elegant in a suit and Hermès scarf.
    “Hello, Annabel. I didn’t realize you were going to be here.” Crossing the room, she bent to kiss Annabel’s cheek.
Thank heavens I wore a suit
, she thought, settling herself on the other end of the sofa.
    Russell lowered himself into his desk chair and sat for a moment, staring down at a pile of folders in front of him.
    “Carley, it’s often hard to discuss money, especially during times of such sorrow. I’m not sure how much you understood during the reading of Gus’s will.”
    Carley nodded. She’d been lost in a blur of distress that day. Numbers had melted and slid away in her mind.
    But she was firm when she answered, “I know Gus left me the house. Free and clear.”
    Annabel made a sudden little sound, a whimper of pain.
    Russell continued pleasantly, “Of