Nothing worth murder.
Unless—
I remembered my grandmother’s estate.
Grandmother Evelyn Mercer had died three years earlier.
She had owned land, investments, several commercial properties.
Most went into a trust.
The family never discussed exact values.
Grandmother had believed talking about money made people vulgar.
“I need her trust documents.”
My mother’s expression changed slightly.
“They’re old.”
“Do you have them?”
“Somewhere.”
“Where?”
“At home.”
“Then get them.”
“Tonight?”
“Yes.”
“Renee—”
“Mom.”
I grabbed her hand.
“They buried an empty coffin today.”
My voice trembled.
“Tomorrow, they start taking apart my life.”
The trust documents changed everything.
The original fund had been created by my grandfather.
After his death, my grandmother controlled it.
When she died, distributions began among several descendants.
But there was a clause neither my mother nor I remembered clearly.
If one named beneficiary died before age forty without surviving children, that beneficiary’s remaining share reverted to a separate family holding fund.
I read the number twice.
My share’s estimated value:
$8.4 million.
I stopped breathing.
My mother lowered herself into a chair.
“I didn’t know it had grown that large.”
“Who controls the holding fund?”
She flipped pages.
Then stopped.
Her finger rested beside a name.
Deborah Mercer, Trustee.
I looked at my mother.
She looked horrified.
“Oh, God.”
My stomach tightened.
“If I die before forty, my share goes back under your control.”
“For the family,” she said quickly.
“Not to me personally.”
I nodded.
I believed her.
At that moment, I believed her completely.
But another detail bothered me.
“Preston wouldn’t receive the trust.”
“No.”
“So why kill me?”
My mother looked at the paperwork.
“Maybe he didn’t know that.”
But Preston had transferred forty-two thousand dollars to an estate consultant.
A man does not pay forty-two thousand dollars to learn nothing.
I kept reading.
Then I found another clause.
Upon my death, my surviving spouse could make a claim for reimbursement of certain marital contributions made toward trust-owned property.
Complex.
Legal.
Potentially worth millions if manipulated.
