Ring for Murder (Lighthouse Inn Finale) Read Online Free PDF Page A

night.
    Alex didn’t know what to do next, but his
instincts were strong. He found himself walking toward Elise’s room
without realizing that was where he was headed. He needed to talk
about what had just happened, and there was no one in the world
he’d rather discuss it with than Elise.
     
    Alex knocked on the door of her room.
“Elise, it’s Alex.”
    He heard her voice from the other side of
the door. “What is it, Alex? It’s late.”
    “Something’s wrong,” he said.
    That was all it took. “Give me one minute,”
she said.
    Alex slumped down on a chair in the hallway
and waited for her. He knew his brother was capable of some
atrocious things, but trying to extort money out of him after
taking so much was even beyond his low standards. Someone was
putting pressure on Tony for money, and fast; that much was
obvious. But Alex wasn’t going to roll over and just give it to
him.
    Elise came out wearing blue jeans and an old
t shirt. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, she had no
makeup on at all; Alex had never seen her more beautiful.
    “What’s wrong?”
    “Tony. He claims there was something wrong
with the transfer Uncle Jase drew up between us when our folks
died.”
    “What does that mean, exactly?”
    Alex could barely force the words out of his
mouth. “He says we have to sell Hatteras West.”
     
    “ We need some coffee,” Elise
said as she led him into the lobby.
    As they walked down the hallway into the
main area, Elise said, “I don’t care what time it is. You have to
call Sandra.”
    Sandra Beckett was Alex’s attorney, and
one-time girlfriend.
    “It’s late,” Alex said.
    “I don’t think she’ll mind. Call her, Alex.
She’ll know what to do.”
    Alex nodded, willing to do whatever Elise
suggested to make this nightmare go away. He looked up Sandra’s
home number, and after seven rings, she picked up.
    “Did I wake you?” Alex asked.
    “Alex, is that you? Of course not. I was
going over some paperwork. What’s wrong? You’re not drunk, are
you?”
    “What? No, of course not. Why would you ask
that?”
    There was a pause, and then Sandra said,
“You hear stories about bridegrooms with cold feet all of the time.
They call old girlfriends when their weddings get close at
hand.”
    “No worries about me. My toes have never
been toastier,” Alex said.
    “Then why the call?”
    “I have a serious legal problem, and I need
your advice,” he replied.
    “Nobody’s dead, are they?”
    Alex couldn’t believe the questions Sandra
was asking. “No, no one’s dead.”
    “Hey, you can’t blame me for asking. That
lighthouse of yours seems to attract its share of dead bodies. If
it’s not that, what is it?”
    “My brother claims that the document
transferring his share of the lighthouse to me isn’t valid. He’s
saying that we’ll have to sell everything.”
    Sandra whistled softly. “No wonder you
called. Alex, did Jase draw up the transfer?”
    Alex said, “Yes, of course he did. He was a
good attorney.”
    “Hey, I loved that man like a father, but we
both know how torn up he was about your parents’ accident. He
wasn’t on his game, and he knew it. Jase ran things past me for two
months after they died, but I never saw that transfer.”
    Alex felt the wind go out of his lungs.
Could Tony be telling the truth?
    His thoughts were interrupted when Sandra
added, “If you have the document, I’ll be glad to take a look at
it. I can be there in fifteen minutes.”
    “It’s in my safety deposit box at the bank,”
Alex admitted. “I won’t be able to get it out for two days.”
    Sandra said, “That’s convenient, isn’t
it?”
    “If you ask me, it’s exactly the
opposite.”
    “Stay with me. Did Tony offer some kind of
cash settlement, something that had to be done immediately?”
    Alex bit his lip. “He said he’d take a
hundred grand, but it had to be before the wedding. As a matter of
fact, when I turned him down, he cut that in half, not that