Part 10 (1/2)

Now came the touchy part. Now he'd start wondering why. But Alicia had evaded the hard questions-the impossible impossible questions-with poor Leo Weinstein, and she could evade them with Jack. questions-with poor Leo Weinstein, and she could evade them with Jack.

”But I didn't. I turned him down.”

”You knew the price would go up.”

”No way. But it did. Thomas came back and offered me four million. And I gave him the same answer. And then he told me he was tired of bidding against himself and that I should 'name a f.u.c.king price'-his words-and I hung up on him.”

”Turned him down again... sort of like winning the lottery and not cas.h.i.+ng in your ticket, isn't it?”

”Not exactly. You see, Thomas hardly has a dime to his name.”

Jack leaned forward and stared at her. Now Now he looked interested. he looked interested.

”You know that for sure?”

”I suspected it. I mean, he's been in a low-level research job at AT&T since he graduated college. Where would he get approval for a mortgage that size? So I checked him out: His credit rating is the pits, and he quit his job about the time he started calling me.”

”So... a guy with no money and no job offers you four mil. I don't blame you for hanging up on him.”

”No,” Alicia said, ”you don't understand. I think he does have the money-in cash.”

”In cash? cash?”

”That's what he offered me-said I can take it or he can donate it all to the charity of my choice. How do you explain that?”

”Either he's crazy or somebody's backing him.”

”Exactly, but who? And why not approach me directly? Why go through Thomas?”

”Does it matter?” Jack said, leaning back again. ”A valuable piece of real estate lands in your lap. You can either live in it or sell it. You don't need me, you need a tax attorney.”

Alicia sensed him withdrawing, losing interest. She rushed forward with the rest of her story.

”But I can't can't live in it, and I can't sell it. When I turned him down, Thomas hired some high-priced attorneys to challenge the will. I can't take possession until this is resolved. They even got a court order to board up the place, so I can't even take a look around inside.” live in it, and I can't sell it. When I turned him down, Thomas hired some high-priced attorneys to challenge the will. I can't take possession until this is resolved. They even got a court order to board up the place, so I can't even take a look around inside.” Not that I'd ever want to Not that I'd ever want to.

”Why board it up?”

”Apparently it's been broken into since it's been empty. Thomas says he wants to protect what he expects to be his his property once his challenge to the will is upheld. He's even hired a security firm to guard the property.” property once his challenge to the will is upheld. He's even hired a security firm to guard the property.”

Jack smiled. ”All this from a guy with no income. Your half brother is very resourceful.”

”That's not the word I'd use for Thomas.”

”Still, you don't need me-you need a lawyer.” Alicia bit her lip. No, she needed Jack for what she wanted. But how would he react when she asked?

Sometimes it's good to deviate from routine, Jack thought, trying to look interested. And sometimes it isn't.

This meeting, never would have happened if he'd followed his usual MO. He always talked to prospective customers before setting up a face-to-face. That way he avoided the Dr. Claytons of the city-people with problems that could be remedied by more orthodox methods.

But because he'd already met Alicia, he'd set up the meeting without the usual preliminaries.

Not a complete waste of time, he thought, but pretty d.a.m.n close. The only thing that saved it was the good doctor herself.

Something about Alicia Clayton intrigued him. He met lots of people with secrets. Virtually all of his customers were hiding something. He was used to not hearing the whole story on the first pa.s.s. And he'd become adept at spotting the holes. He couldn't tell what they'd skipped, but he knew when they were holding back.

Alicia Clayton was different. He couldn't get a read on her. Either she was hiding nothing, or she was so good at hiding that she could hide everything, even the fact that she was hiding something.

Jack chose the latter. Because looking at her sitting here across the table from him, he sensed that she had a good figure under that coat and bulky cable-knit sweater, but she was hiding it. In fact, she could have been a striking woman with those fine features and dark, dark hair. Attractive in a steely way. But she chose not to be. She chose to downplay her looks. Hide them.

Well, how he looked was her call. And she wasn't exactly in the glamour business.

Didn't pay to read too much into these things, he supposed.

But she was so utterly composed. Too composed. Almost... wooden.

What else was she hiding? This woman wasn't just locked down tight, she was hermetically sealed. And that took practice. Many years of practice.

All of which intrigued him. Who was this woman who seemed to want to hide everything! everything!

But he knew he was unlikely to pop any of her seals this morning. So he was looking for a way to bring this little tete-a-tete to a close when she leaned forward.

”I had had a lawyer,” Alicia said. ”Until Friday when he was murdered.” a lawyer,” Alicia said. ”Until Friday when he was murdered.”

Jack smiled. Lawyers who did wills and such didn't get murdered. ”You mean 'killed,' don't you?”

”No. I mean murdered murdered. Can you think of a circ.u.mstance when a car bomb is anything but but murder?” murder?”

Jack straightened in his seat. The story had been all over the radio and TV.

”That car explosion in Midtown?” he said. ”He was your your lawyer?” lawyer?”

Alicia nodded. ”We were supposed to meet that morning. I guess someone didn't want him to make it.”

Uh-oh. Did he detect a little paranoia here?

”What makes you think you're the reason he was killed? I read they found some cocaine in what was left of his glove compartment.”

”I see lots of c.o.ke users,” she said. Her face remained a mask, but Jack noticed her right hand clenching into a fist. ”Most of the parents of my babies are drug abusers. Drugs are how they got the virus that they pa.s.sed on to their kids. I didn't see any signs of that in Leo Weinstein.”

She leaned back and seemed to relax-with an effort, Jack thought.

”Of, course, I could be wrong. But Leo's isn't the first violent death connected with this will.”

Jack found himself leaning forward. ”Another lawyer?”

Alicia shook her head. ”No. When I came to the obvious conclusion that someone was bankrolling Thomas, I wanted to find out who. I hired a private investigator-you know, to follow him, find out who he meets with, the TV detective kind of stuff. I didn't know what I was going to do with the information, but all this mystery and subterfuge was bugging me. I mean, if someone wants that man's house so badly, why not approach me directly? Why go through Thomas?”

”And what did you learn?”