Whatever It Takes Read Online Free PDF

street-length camel-hair tuxedo coat and waited in the living room for Bradley’s arrival.
    The man rang the doorbell promptly at twelve-thirty, and as if Kellie had overheard their conversation—and she had not—she arrived home as Bradley opened the front passenger’s door of his car for Lacette. Kellie stopped, gaped at them with widened eyes, and quickly regained her composure. Self-assurance was Kellie’s trademark, and Lacette stared in disbelief when her sister walked to within a foot of the man and grasped his arm.
    â€œI’m sorry I wasn’t home. I had to do something to take my mind off my gramma’s death, so I’ve gone back to work.”
    â€œNice seeing you,” Bradley said, walked around the car, got in and drove off.
    So Kellie was after Bradley. “I shouldn’t get personal,” Lacette said, “but I can’t help wondering how your family deals with your irregular hours. Mama said she was in your office Sunday afternoon.”
    â€œNot all of my work involves distributing inheritances, thank God. You’d be surprised at how well grief and greed get along. My family understands this part of my job.”
    She wondered if Kellie knew he was married and whether, if she did know it, she would back off. Probably not.
    A bank official deposited twenty-five thousand dollars in an account for Ginga Moore and transferred the remainder of the money in Carrie Hooper’s account, one hundred and eighty-nine thousand dollars, to a new account for Lacette.
    â€œI had no idea Gramma was leaving me this much, Mr. Bradley. I . . . It’s . . . I’m stunned.”
    â€œKeep it to yourself, unless you want to share it.”
    â€œWhy did she leave Mama so little?”
    â€œShe said she had good reasons, and that your mother knew what those reasons were. If I were you, I’d leave it alone.”
    To Lacette’s surprise, Kellie was still at home when she got back there. One look at her sister and she saw the threat of war as clearly as if Kellie had handed her a document declaring it.
    â€œWhat the hell was he doing here with you? You want everything, don’t you, Lacette. Well, you’re not getting it. How much is in the account Gramma left you?”
    â€œHow much is in yours?”
    â€œI have to get back to the office. I’m already late. You stay away from Lawrence Bradley.”
    She was about to assure Kelly that the man didn’t appeal to her and that, in any case, she didn’t get involved with married men, but stopped short when she saw the anger in her sister’s eyes. Instead, she said, “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay away from him.” Kellie misunderstood that as a threat, but left without pressing the issue. Their grandmother’s death seemed to have brought out the worst in Kellie: mean, cunning and devoid of her usual humor and wit. I’m getting out of here as soon as I can find a house.
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    Kellie slipped into the office minutes before her supervisor returned from lunch. “You just made it,” Mabel, a secretary who sat across the corridor from her said. “And it’s a good thing, because she’s been on the warpath all morning. I’d have covered for you, if you hadn’t made it back.”
    â€œThanks, girl, you’re a good buddy. Say, did you see that guy pruning trees out there? I think that’s what he was doing. What’s a hunk like that one doing risking his cute little butt up in a tree? He ought to have Mr. Walker’s job.”
    â€œYeah. You let Walker hear you say that, and you’ll be up a tree. Laughter poured out of Mabel. Kellie thought her coworker enjoyed her own jokes more than anyone else did.
    â€œWhat’s the name of that fellow who’s working on those trees?” she asked Mabel.
    â€œNow you leave the guy alone. Thank God it’s too cold for you to swish around out there with