Fatal Trust (17 page)

“I wanted to tell you that I didn’t tamper with your brakes.
No matter what the cops think.”

Lexie felt a hint of disappointment that Ben’s call hadn’t
been motivated by concern about her. However, her predominant emotion was
annoyance. “I should have guessed they’d assume that since you’re an auto
mechanic, you must be guilty. They’re too dumb to realize that if you wanted to
hurt someone, you’d
never
do it that way because you’d be
the first person suspected. And what’s your motive for wanting me dead?”

“To get rid of you before you find more evidence I’m
guilty.”

“Except I know you didn’t do it,” she said. “I’m looking for
evidence that someone else did it. I’ll call the cops and tell them that.”

“A waste of time.”

“You’re probably right.” Lexie heard a car drive up outside
and checked out the window. A UPS truck that she doubted was delivering her new
rental.

“How do you know I’m not guilty?” Ben asked.

“If you were, you’d have been smart enough to destroy Max’s
note and hide the gun somewhere besides your pickup. More important, you loved
your grandfather too much to ever kill him.”

“Thanks. It’s a relief to have you on my side.”

She couldn’t believe he’d honestly thought she suspected
him, even after what Cecilia had implied. “Don’t be too relieved,” she said. “I
haven’t found out much. Do you have time to meet? I’d like your advice about
what I should investigate next.”

“My advice is that you quit investigating and go back to
Philadelphia,” Ben said. “Not because I’m scared you’ll find evidence
implicating me, but for your own safety. Someone tried to kill you.”

“I doubt the intent was to kill me,” Lexie said. “The brakes
could just as well have gone out when I was driving slowly and on level
ground.” A few hours had made her more rational about that—or maybe just more
willing to engage in wishful thinking.

“Well, someone wanted to scare you and didn’t care if you
got hurt,” Ben said. “I’ll hire a P.I. to investigate. My lawyer wants me to
anyway.”

“People around here will talk to me more than they will a
P.I.,” Lexie said. “If someone’s worried about me, I must be getting close.
I’ll be careful, but I need to do this. I owe it to Max. And I could use your
help.”

Ben was silent for a moment. “We’ll need to meet privately,”
he finally said. “When the cops questioned me about your brakes, they also
warned me to stay away from you.”

That sparked Lexie’s temper yet again. “They have no legal
right to do that.” Maybe it was being stuck in this depressing motel room all
day waiting for that damn car, but the local cops seemed more irritating than
usual.

“I know they don’t have a right, but I’d rather not piss
them off,” Ben said. “And isn’t talking to me some sort of conflict of
interest?”

“I’m talking to all the beneficiaries, at the request of the
trustee.”

“I’m the one accused of murder.”

“You haven’t been convicted of anything.”

“I’ve got some paperwork to do after the garage closes, so
I’m skipping sherry hour and dinner tonight,” Ben said. “Could you come by at
six thirty?”

She could if her rental had arrived by then. Although if it
hadn’t, she just might have to call the cops, tell them what she thought about
their suspicions of Ben, and ask them to do something useful for a change—like
give her a ride to his garage. “I’ll see you at six thirty.”

At 6:28 p.m., Lexie pulled her new rental car into Ben’s garage,
parking beside a rusty white pickup. She was a little apprehensive about seeing
him, but that was only natural. She was embarrassed about their one-night stand
now that she’d reverted to Catherine, especially since he was back with his
wife. She was also still upset about the way he’d misled her.

Her top priority was finding Max’s murderer, though, and Ben
was the person most likely to be able to help. She grabbed her purse and
notepad and got out of the car.

“How are you feeling?” Ben’s voice and expression held
genuine concern, but it was undoubtedly motivated by guilt—guilt that her
accident wouldn’t have happened if he’d told her the truth about Max, not
because he was the one who’d tampered with her brakes.

“Not bad,” she said as she accompanied him to his office. “I
was very lucky.”

“Walt’s convinced it was more than luck,” Ben said. “He
thinks Grandfather had a hand in saving you since he was responsible for
getting you involved in this.”

Lexie sat down on a folding chair. “I think Walt’s been
sampling his special a little too freely.”

Ben opened the refrigerator and got her a water. Then he
popped open a can of Coke and sat down on the other chair.

“Do you want to tell me your ideas first, or should I tell
you what I’ve learned?” Lexie asked, pleased she sounded coolly professional.
She needed to treat this like the business meeting it essentially was.

Ben met her eyes. “First I want to apologize. I’m sorry I
didn’t tell you Grandfather was alive. For what it’s worth, I tried several
times to convince him to let you in on it, but he refused. I could have told
you anyway, I guess, but Grandfather told me I owed him for taking me in when I
was thirteen.”

“Max was good with the guilt card,” Lexie said. “As Cecilia
pointed out, I was doing the exact same thing, lying to everyone in the house
because your grandfather wanted me to. But you certainly could have told me you
were an ex-I-banker and Harvard grad.”

“Why’s that a big deal? Did you sleep with me just to get
back at your mother since you thought I was a mere mechanic?” His blue eyes had
turned stormy, his tone anger-meets-bitterness.

“Of course not,” Lexie said, anger at his assumption edging
her own voice. “But it would have made sense for you to have a smart girlfriend
no matter who you normally dated, so I wouldn’t have made a fool out of myself
pretending to be someone I wasn’t.” Memory clogged her throat, and she took a
hard swallow of water. “The whole thing made me feel like when I found out my
husband had been cheating. I swore I’d never be that foolish again.”

“Why did you feel foolish?” Ben asked. “Olivia’s cheating
made me feel a lot of things, but not that, even though her partner was my own
cousin.”

“Because I learned about it from my mother, who’d heard it
at our country club. She wanted to know why I hadn’t mentioned it and what I
was doing to win Neil back, since Barringtons didn’t get divorced.” Lexie’s
hand tightened around her bottled water. “Do you have any idea how embarrassing
it was to admit I hadn’t told her because I didn’t have a clue it was going on?
Especially since it was apparently common knowledge at the country club.”

Ben grimaced. “I wasn’t trying to embarrass you,” he said.
“The cocktail waitress girlfriend thing was actually Grandfather’s inspiration,
and I couldn’t talk him out of it.”

“Because he thought people would be less likely to suspect I
was really his lawyer?”

“So he claimed. I think it was more because he was trying to
manipulate both of us. He thought pretending to be a cocktail waitress would force
you to be more laid back, and he was hoping you’d like it. The girlfriend part
was to force me into close contact with someone intelligent, which he hoped
would make me realize I missed using my brain and decide to go back to Wall
Street.”

That sounded exactly like Max, thinking he could mold real
lives the way he did fictional ones. “You left New York and your job because of
your divorce, right?” Lexie hadn’t even left the country club Neil and Deidre
also belonged to. Maybe Melissa was right that she hadn’t loved Neil enough.

“It’s more complicated than that,” Ben said. “A close friend
dropped dead of a heart attack. He was only thirty-eight, and it freaked me out
so much that I reevaluated my life. I realized I was burned out, sick of
working long hours making money for people who didn’t need or deserve it. I
wanted to do something that might pay less but would be more rewarding in other
ways. And would give me time to spend with a family. Unfortunately Olivia
wasn’t thrilled with the idea.”

“About your changing jobs?”

“Or having a family.” He picked a pen off the desk, gripping
it like a knife and stabbing the blotter as he spoke. “When we got married, I
assumed she wanted kids someday. I’d either read her wrong or she’d changed her
mind, because she didn’t want kids or anything else that would alter our
lifestyle. We argued about it a lot, although I was sure we’d work it out. Then
she left me for Jeremy, and I snapped. I’d worked as a mechanic in high school
and college summers and liked it. So I decided I was going to change my whole
life, starting by moving back to Lakeview and becoming the world’s most fair
and honest auto mechanic.”

He dropped the pen. “Grandfather’s murder must be related to
whatever he wanted to talk to me about that night.”

Lexie accepted Ben’s abrupt change of subject. Memory Lane
wasn’t her favorite street, either. Although now she understood his refusal to
date any woman who might want a career. From his history with his father and
his ex-wife, he assumed that someone career-driven wouldn’t be able to focus on
both him and having a family. He was wrong, but she could understand it now.

“If so, wouldn’t Max have given me a hint when he appeared
to me?” she asked.

“Not if he wasn’t positive he was right and planned to meet
me a couple of hours later to discuss it,” Ben said. “He might have intended to
confront the person he thought was guilty and invited that person to the
meeting, too, thinking I’d be there to protect him if necessary.” His features
clenched, as if he were fighting a cramp. “When I didn’t show up, Grandfather
confronted the killer alone and ended up dead.”

“Maybe he just wanted to tell you that he’d appeared to me
so I wouldn’t catch you off-guard,” Lexie said. “When he went outside to wait
for you, someone saw him, panicked, and killed him.”

Ben shot her an I-don’t-buy-it look. “I know you’re trying
to make me feel better, and I appreciate it.” At least he didn’t appear quite
so pained. “Let’s assume Grandfather learned something important, probably
related to the previous attempts on his life. You should check out the secret
passages and the room he stayed in for clues. The cops have done it and so have
I, but maybe you’ll notice something I missed.”

“We should also check his laptop.”

“The police have it now, but I checked it out first,” Ben
said. “The only things on it are letters to his agent and publishers and his
newest work in progress. A great premise, but no clues there. You said you’ve
learned something?”

Lexie told him what she’d learned about Muriel. “And Dylan
told me something, but I’m not sure it’s true.”

“What?”

“He claims he overheard Jeremy call Olivia and tell her
about Max’s murder and your arrest.”

“Jeremy probably did call her, figuring it would cause
problems between you and me.”

“The thing is, Dylan also claims he saw Jeremy and Olivia
lunching together in New York, just before Easter.”

“After Dylan’s had a winning streak, he spends a lot of time
in Manhattan, so he could have seen them.”

“Dylan said that the way they were acting, he assumed they’d
gotten back together,” Lexie said. “But Jeremy told me that he hadn’t talked to
Olivia since they broke up, so Dylan could have made the whole thing up, trying
to deflect suspicion from himself.” If they were going to find Max’s murderer,
she needed to be straight with Ben, but he was down enough without thinking
he’d lost Olivia once again.

Ben rocked back in his chair, steepling his fingers. “Maybe
Jeremy and Olivia are together but keeping it secret. Maybe Jeremy killed
Grandfather, and she’s trying to stay close enough to me to make sure I’m
convicted.”

“I can’t believe that,” Lexie said. Ben sounded remarkably
complacent about his theory, but pride naturally had him hiding how much the
possibility hurt. “When I ran into Olivia at the jail, she told me she’d
changed and realized she wanted you enough to compromise.”

Ben righted his chair. “I have a feeling that learning I’m
about to inherit a fortune has a lot to do with Olivia’s renewed interest in
me. She called the day after everyone thought Grandfather had been killed in a
car accident, which was the first time I’d talked to her since our divorce. She
claimed she’d wanted to get back together for a while, but hadn’t proposed it
to me because she knew Grandfather wouldn’t approve after her affair with
Jeremy. That doesn’t sound like Olivia, though. She’d have assumed she could
convince me to defy Grandfather.”

“You’re willing to take her back even though you believe
she’s only after your money?” That Ben loved Olivia that much made Lexie’s
chest ache, but it was just from hurt pride. “Sorry, that’s none of my
business,” she quickly added.

Ben was looking at her as if she’d spoken in tongues, not
just tactlessly. “Who said I’m willing to take her back?”

“Olivia said you’re getting back together. She’s also
staying at Nevermore with you.”

“Not in my room. She’s only at Nevermore because I didn’t
think I could refuse her request to stay there after she loaned me bail money
when I was having trouble getting the cash.” He picked up the pen again,
turning it over in his fingers. “The truth is, I’ve realized Jeremy did me a
favor breaking up our marriage. Olivia and I really don’t have that much in
common.”

Lexie nodded slowly. “Because she’s a smart, ambitious
professional woman, and you’re done with that kind of life.”

“No, because Olivia cares more about money than people,” Ben
said. “Plus she’s a little too bitchy for my taste.” He was flicking the pen
against his thigh now. “Against all my convictions, I’ve discovered I’m
attracted to another smart, ambitious professional woman. Which shows what a
masochist I am, since she clearly prefers Jeremy.”

Lexie’s eyes widened. “I only went to dinner with Jeremy to
ask about his relationship with Olivia. As I told you before, he isn’t my type.”

Ben stood, then took her hand and pulled her to her feet.
The smile he gave her made desire coil in her stomach. “I want to show you
something.”

She followed him out of the office to a red convertible with
a tan interior parked in the back of the garage. “Nice car,” she said.
“Although I don’t know much about cars.”

“This is a beauty. It’s a 1967 Corvette, to my mind one of
the hottest Corvettes ever made, with great performance features. This one has
been completely rebuilt with a close-ratio four-speed transmission and a
three-fifty-horsepower engine.” Ben patted the hood, then released her hand and
circled the car as he continued. “It’s got nineteen factory options, including
power everything, a speed-warning dashboard, and headrest seats. It might not
be a trailer queen—”

“A what?”

“A car that’s rarely driven and usually transported by
trailer,” Ben said. “But it’s been perfectly maintained. It’s a hell of a car.”
He stopped walking when he was directly in front of her. “Now I have a question
for you.”

“About the car?” Her heart was hammering, and she was a
little breathless.

“Sort of.” He moved toward her, backing her against the
passenger door. She could feel him already hard against her, and her body
heated in response.

“Here’s the question.” His voice was low and a little rough.
“Have you ever done it in a ’67 Corvette?”

So now she could add sneaking around to her list of sins,
Lexie thought as she pulled out of Ben’s garage a couple of hours later. Not
that she had any real reason to sneak around, since she and Ben were both
single, but it still was undoubtedly something a proper Barrington didn’t do,
so obvious her mother hadn’t considered a specific rule necessary. She could
guarantee that having sex with a suspected murderer fell into the obvious
category, no matter how convinced she was of Ben’s innocence.

Yet she had absolutely no qualms about what she’d done,
which worried her. She was supposed to feel at least a little guilty about her
improper behavior. She was starting to think maybe she wasn’t a Barrington at
all, that her parents had brought the wrong baby home from the hospital. Or
maybe she’d really been born to her Aunt Jessica, who’d decided she didn’t want
a child. Although it was hard to imagine Jessica consenting to have her
biological daughter named Catherine Alexandra, let alone raised by her stuffy
sister.

Lexie smiled faintly. She was still very glad she’d been
born years before Jessica had taken up with Max. Discovering she was Max’s
long-lost daughter while having a fling with his grandson was a complication
this already convoluted adventure did not need.