“Arthur Merrick died three months ago.”
“So?”
“He had no children.”
I shook my head.
“What does that have to do with me?”
Richard leaned forward.
“His will names his brother Thomas’s surviving child as beneficiary.”
Silence.
The living room disappeared around me.
I heard the neighbors outside.
Kevin laughing.
A car door closing.Someone moving a box across the porch.
Normal sounds.
Impossible sounds.
“My father wasn’t alive.”
Richard looked at the note.
“Apparently someone wanted you to believe that.”
I stared at the photographs.
Someone had watched me.
Someone had placed me at Greg’s restaurant.
Someone had paid Greg monthly.
But why?
“To keep me close,” I whispered.
Richard nodded.
“That’s what the note says.”
“Close to what?”
“That’s what we need to find out.”
Emily suddenly turned toward the window.
“Where’s Kevin?”
I stood.
He had been outside.
I crossed the room and opened the front door.
