Murder in Retribution Read Online Free PDF Page B

report away from headquarters.
    He thought about it. “I’m not certain how long it will last. It has to do with contraband; the latest developments and protocol. I may be back by evening.”
    “If it does not look that way, call and I will come.”
    “Ask the concierge for the driving service.”
    “Michael,” she teased, “is the bloom off the rose already? I thought you would trust me with the Range Rover.”
    “I will have the Range Rover. You may drive me back home, if you wish.”
    “Brave man.” She smiled into the gathering twilight; she was a new driver, and not very competent.
    He was quiet for a minute, and then said, “I have been putting aside fungible assets for you.”
    Faith, here was a twist on post-coital conversation. “Tell me exactly what that means, my friend.”
    He continued slowly, “If I were to die, there could be a great deal of unpleasantness. The current heir to my estate is a cousin, and he and my mother could make your life very difficult.”
    “Michael,” she said gently, “they may have your stupid estate with my blessin’.”
    “If the child is a boy, the estate belongs to him.”
    Doyle blinked in surprise. She hadn’t thought about any of this. “Oh.”
    “I would like him to have it,” he added quietly.
    “Then he will have it, and no mistakin’.” If Acton needed reassurance that she was a fervent supporter of primo—primo-whatever-it-was, she would give it to him.
    “There are valuables and cash in a blind account at Layton’s,” he continued in his level tone. Layton was Acton’s man of business. “Jewelry, gold—fungible assets that are anonymous and outside the estate. On my death, go to Layton and he will help you. If Layton has died, do not speak of it to anyone else, and I will give you the deposit numbers.”
    She was silent, trying to absorb what he had told her. Correctly gauging her silence as confusion, he continued patiently, “If the bank accounts are legally frozen, this will give you access to funds that no one else will know to claim. You will need to hire the highest quality solicitors—spare no expense.”
    “Right.” She paused a beat, and then asked with what she thought was commendable calm, “Is there any reason you’re believin’ you’ll be dyin’ soon?”
    “No.” His arms tightened around her. “I am merely being cautious.”
    She was relieved; he was telling the truth, and was allowing her to read him so that she could see that it was the truth. It was a switch; he’d been very guarded around her lately, but then again, she’d been guarded, herself. Grow up, Doyle, she thought; you’re not the first couple faced with an unplanned pregnancy, and there will be plenty of time to become accustomed. Only—only it was such a shame that the current turf war served to remind her of raving-lunatic Owens, and her pregnancy served to remind her of raving-lunatic Owens, and he truly didn’t deserve another stray thought, the raving lunatic ; the whole miserable incident was dead and buried and done with.
    She paused, her scalp prickling as though she was on the verge of some intuitive connection, but the moment passed and she couldn’t get a glimpse, mainly because she was so very drowsy—how lovely it was to be at home and abed with Acton early, not late at night when they were already tired. Faith, with all the recent murders it was a wonder he had managed to get away from work at all—she’d been so busy sulking about her pregnancy that she didn’t know how far along in the investigation he was, he hadn’t discussed it with her. He’d been guarded about these turf war cases.
    She opened her eyes, wide-awake and her scalp prickling. Acton had been guarded about these cases. The last time he had been guarded with her about a case was because he planned on killing the suspect himself, and he didn’t want her to figure it out.
    Before she could continue on with this train of thought, however, he said, “Perhaps I