Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 66978 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66978 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
That explains this posh hotel suite. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
She nods. “Yes, it was difficult to lose her, but I’m adjusting.”
“She must’ve left you a healthy estate.”
“She did. I’m very fortunate.”
“What did she do for living?”
“She was a hedge fund manager,” Racine says. “A very successful one.”
“I’d say she was,” I say. “If you can afford Dom Perignon.”
“They say money can’t buy happiness,” Racine chuckles. “But it sure is fun trying.”
“Is that why you want to see Kelly? To help her financially?”
“Of course. And to see her. She’s my daughter. My one and only.”
“What about her father?”
“Her father’s not in the picture.”
“Oh?”
Racine says nothing, just drops her gaze to her lap.
She’s not going to talk about him, whoever he is.
“Was he ever in the picture?”
“No.” She doesn’t raise her head.
“What about Kelly? Was he ever in the picture for her?”
“No, he wasn’t.” This time she raises her head. “I don’t talk about him. Not to you, and not to anyone,” she snaps.
“All right. I’m sorry to bring up a sore spot.”
She turns her frown into a smile. “Don’t worry about it. I just get a little testy where he’s concerned. I had to raise Kelly on my own, and although I worked as an accountant, things were always tight for us.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
I’m also not quite understanding. If Racine was an accountant, she wasn’t wealthy, but she certainly was making enough money for a family of two to live a pretty good life. I sense there’s a story there.
“Kelly didn’t have it easy,” Racine says. “She desperately wanted to play volleyball, but I needed her to work, to help.”
Kelly’s tattoo. A volleyball surrounded by wilted roses. “That must’ve been difficult for her.”
“It was, the poor thing. I didn’t have the money to send her to college, either, so she worked as a waitress at a local diner before…” Racine looks down, sniffling.
But something isn’t gelling with her story. The sniffle sounds forced. And I bet—
“Racine, look at me.”
She looks up. Her face is peaked, but as I suspected, not one tear glistens in the whites of her eyes.
“I know this must be difficult for you to talk about,” I say.
“Yes, it is. I miss her so much, too. That’s why I came here. To see her.”
“I’d like to facilitate that.”
“Would you?”
“Of course. I care about Kelly. I’m watching over her. Why wouldn’t she want to see you, Racine?”
She shakes her head, sniffling again. “I wish I knew. I wish I knew so many things.”
I nod. So do I.
My phone buzzes. It’s Buck. “I’m sorry. I’m going to have to take this. Do you mind if I step out into the hallway?”
“Not at all.”
I rise, leave the suite. Just to be safe, I walk toward the elevators. “Hey,” I say into the phone.
“I got a report in. On Racine Taylor.”
“Give it to me. I’m with her now, in her hotel room.”
“What the hell are you doing in her hotel room?”
“She wasn’t talking. And she’s, you know…into me, so I thought—”
“Do not do that.”
“Are you kidding me? I’m not touching her with a ten-foot pole. I’m just going to let her think that I might.”
“Whatever, dude. Apparently Racine Taylor came into some money about five years ago.”
“Five years ago? She told me it was a year ago. She said her aunt died.”
“Did she give you a name?”
“Not yet.”
“See if you can get a name out of her, but I’m betting that’s not where this money came from. There’s a deposit of half a million dollars into her bank account on November fifth five years ago, and then, almost like clockwork, another half mil every three months after that for a year.”
“Man.”
“Not only that, but somehow she got into some investment portfolio with some hot stocks and made a killing. She’s worth about thirty million, Leif.”
“That explains the Waldorf and the Dom Perignon.”
“Damn.”
“I know, right?” I shudder as the thought of Racine selling out her only daughter consumes me. “Do you think there’s truth to my theory? That she’s the one who sold Kelly out?”
“The timing is a little off. Kelly was taken in May of that year. The first payment didn’t come until about six months later.”
“Right.” I scratch my head. “With Aspen and with Katelyn, payment was immediate, and it was also a lot less than two million dollars. Something’s not adding up.”
“So I guess we scratch that theory out.”
“Yeah.” Though the thought still pesters me like a swarm of gnats.
“See what you can find out about her.”
“Hey, did she ever work as an accountant?”
“No. In fact, she and Kelly were on food stamps when Kelly was a kid. Looks like she kicked Kelly out of the house when she turned eighteen, before she even graduated from high school. A friend took her in.”
My heart hurts. “Are you serious?”