She turned her head toward me, and instead of crying, which I’d feared, she was laughing.
“Two hundred fucking million dollars?” she whispered before picking up her phone. “We need to get out of here. We’ve already been here an hour.”
“We’re okay.” I counted down. With the time change, we still had thirty-eight hours before I had to be back at the ranch.
“I am not in receipt of the death certificate,” the attorney said, coming back in and closing the door behind him. “Your best bet is to request that it be sent directly to you from the medical examiner in Washington, DC.”
“Is there anything else you need to go over with Ms. Hunter at this time?”
“I don’t believe so. Again, my apologies for the delays in scheduling the meeting. As you can imagine, everyone at the firm was shocked and devastated by our colleague’s passing.”
I stood and helped Stella with her chair. Not being able to get our hands on the death certificate presented a problem we’d need to figure out.
“What do we do now?” Stella asked when we left the same way we’d come in, through the shipping and receiving dock. Given Barb’s attorney had been murdered right outside this building, I wasn’t taking any chances.
“Maybe we should cut this trip short,” she said when Rock pulled the SUV up near the exit and we climbed inside.
“We still have time. Let’s figure this out.”
“I contacted Deck,” said Rock. “The plane is ready and waiting. My understanding is a flight plan has already been filed.”
“How long is the flight?” I asked.
“A little over an hour.”
“What kind of arrangements do we need to make with the medical examiner?”
“Decker is already taking care of it.”
“We can do it,” I told Stella. “There’s time.”
“But we don’t even know which bank the box is at.”
I patted the envelope. “Better start reading.”
32
Stella
“We should just go back to Colorado now,” I said a few minutes later.
“Nope. We’re here; let’s see it through.”
“What’s the point, Buck? I don’t know where the fucking safe-deposit box is,” I repeated.
“Rock, do you know if Barb’s place has been cleared as a crime scene yet?” Buck asked.
“No, but I can find out.”
“If it has, see who else Decker can pull in to help start a search.”
“I’m no genius, but what about the bank where the trust is located?” said Ink from the front passenger seat.
“What did you say?” I asked.
“That’s what the lawyer said before Buck asked us to step out, right? That your aunt left money for you in a trust?”
“What is wrong with me?” I mumbled, pulling the bound document out of the envelope. I put my hand on Buck’s arm. “Will you give me a job when I hand in my press credentials?”