Fatal Trust (20 page)

He waited until Ben and Jeremy were seated to continue. “I
knew Max for more than thirty years. He could be annoying, demanding, and
opinionated. His ego was second to none—he always assumed he knew what was best
for everyone else.”

Everyone chuckled at the truth in that.

“Max was also brilliant, loyal, and had a wicked sense of
humor. He was kind and generous and one of the best people I ever met. He gave
me a job years ago when I needed it, shared his family with me, and gave me
emotional support and the will to go on when Maria died. Max was my employer,
but he was also my best friend. I miss him every day. The only thing that makes
this bearable is that he’s finally back with his beloved Jessica.”

The tears that had welled up in Lexie’s eyes overflowed now,
making hot tracks down her cheeks. She didn’t bother wiping them away.

Trey raised his wineglass. “Here’s to you, Max. I hope
you’re enjoying yourself as much in death as you always enjoyed life.”

Everyone else at the table raised his or her wineglass.

And then Trey fell facedown onto the table, his Baccarat
crystal glass shattering, his pinot noir staining the white damask cloth.

Ben was out of his chair and behind Trey in an instant.
“Someone call 911. Help me get him onto the floor, Jeremy.”

“I’ll call,” Lexie said, loud enough to be heard over
everyone’s sliding chairs and agitation. She grabbed her purse, digging out her
phone as she hurried into the quiet of the hallway to make the call. When she
returned to the dining room, Ben, Jeremy, and Seth had Trey on the ground and
were loosening his tie. His immobile features had a waxy, grayish tinge.

“The dispatcher said you should give him an aspirin,” Lexie
said. “In case it’s his heart.”

“Cecilia’s getting one, since that’s probably what it is,”
Jeremy said.

“He had heart surgery last year,” Ben added.

“I’ve got an aspirin,” Cecilia said, running into the dining
room with Igor on her heels.

“Give it to me,” Ben said.

“Is Trey going to be okay?” Cecilia asked. “He’s like
family. He can’t die, not after Grandfather—” Her voice caught, then faded.

“He won’t if we’ve got anything to say about it,” Jeremy said.

Olivia rested her hand on Ben’s shoulder. “How can I help?”
She’d been lurking behind him.

“Go out front and let the paramedics in,” Ben said, his
attention still on Trey.

“I can’t leave,” Olivia said. “Trey’s like family to me,
too.”

“I’ll do it,” Lexie said. She resisted the urge to point out
to Olivia that virtually ignoring someone seemed an unusual way to treat a
near-family member she hadn’t seen in years.

On the other hand, it was obvious that to everyone else,
Trey really was family. The way they’d responded to his collapse and especially
the way Ben and Jeremy were actually working together to help him showed how
important he was to all of them. Seth had even stopped taking pictures.

Lexie unlocked the front door and stepped out on the porch.
It was getting dark, an approaching storm bringing in early clouds and gray
fog, making the air heavy. Lightning flashed far away, but she could feel its
electricity jolting her already jittery nerves. She strode up and down the
stairs, then back and forth along the driveway, trying to work off some of the
adrenaline swirling through her body. Trey wasn’t going to die. Stress must
have triggered his collapse—stress from Max’s death and now his concern for
Ben. Stress had probably also kept him from eating and drinking enough. He’d be
fine once they got an IV in him.

He couldn’t die. The family couldn’t handle his death, even
from heart problems. And she couldn’t handle his death. She’d only met Trey
recently, but she’d corresponded with him for years. Because of that and
because he’d been close to both Max and her aunt, Trey felt like an old friend.

Lexie heard the ambulance a few minutes before it arrived,
but didn’t stop pacing until it pulled up in front of Nevermore. Three
paramedics jumped out, carrying medical gear and a stretcher. She led them to
the dining room.

“Is it his heart again?” one paramedic asked as he knelt
beside Trey.

“I assume so,” Ben said. “He was giving a toast to
Grandfather when he collapsed. He never stopped breathing, but his breathing is
shallow, and his heart’s beating way too fast. We managed to get an aspirin in
him.”

“We’ll take it from here,” the paramedic said.

Everyone watched as the paramedic took Trey’s vitals. Lexie
was no expert, but they didn’t sound good. He also hadn’t appeared to have
moved since his collapse. That couldn’t be good, either.

“We’ll have someone from the hospital call here as soon as
they know anything,” the first paramedic said. “You all are as close to family
as he’s got.”

The paramedics secured Trey on a stretcher, then carried him
out of Nevermore. Every person in the dining room followed them, waiting
silently on the front steps until the ambulance took off, red lights flashing
and siren blaring.

“Will you want dinner?” Igor asked when it was quiet enough
to be heard.

“I’ve lost my appetite,” Cecilia said.

“Me, too,” Dylan said. “Although I could use another drink.”
He headed into the house.

“I think I’ll go back to my motel now,” Lexie said. “Call me
when you hear anything about Trey, Cecilia.”

Lexie was just getting into bed when Cecilia called with
news.

“Trey didn’t have a heart attack. He was poisoned.”

Lexie’s blood chilled.
Someone had poisoned Trey?
“God, no. Is he going to be okay?”

“He’s awake and able to talk, and Peter says he should be
okay. But that’s not the worst part.” Cecilia paused, taking a harsh breath.
“They’ve arrested Ben for trying to kill him.”

When Lexie strode through the front door of the police
station—surprised she’d hadn’t been ticketed for speeding on the way over—she
found Olivia already there, standing in front of an unoccupied gray metal desk.

Olivia whipped around toward her. “Ben’s attorney can’t get
a bail hearing on this latest charge until tomorrow, not that a judge is likely
to grant bail anyway. That means even though Ben’s innocent, he’ll be stuck in
jail for least one night and will lose his share of the trust. Even though he
isn’t guilty.” Her voice had the same whiney quality as a dentist’s drill,
making Lexie long to plug her ears. “That can’t be what his grandfather wanted.
You’ve got to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“I think it’s more important right now to get Ben cleared of
the charges,” Lexie said.

Olivia planted her hands on her hips and raised her chin and
voice. “That’s easy for you to say. You aren’t the one losing a fortune. But
you are the one who drafted the trust, and you should have provided an
exception for something like this. If Ben loses out, we will definitely be
suing you for malpractice.”

Before Lexie could respond, a policeman came into the room.

“I need to see Ben,” Lexie told him.

“His wife was here first. I was just getting him set to see
her.”

“She’s his
ex
-wife, and I need to see him because
his arrest could have legal ramifications for Max Windsor’s trust, which I
represent,” Lexie said. “I need to hear Ben’s side of the story before I can
advise the trustee what to do.”

The policeman shrugged. “Okay, you can go first since you’ve
got legal business. Come on.” He led Lexie to a hallway behind the desk, then
to a closed door. “Ben’s in here,” he said, unlocking and opening the door.
Lexie stepped into the gray-and-beige room. The policeman followed.

“Could I please talk to Ben alone? Some of the things I have
to discuss with him involve confidential trust matters.” She pulled a small
notepad and pen out of the side pocket of her purse. “You can take my purse
with you and search me. I’m not going to try to help Ben escape, and he’s not
going to hurt me. You must know him.”

“I thought I did, but I never suspected he’d kill his
grandfather or poison Trey.”

“He hasn’t been found guilty of either of those things,”
Lexie said. “Since you plan on keeping him in jail overnight, he stands to lose
a fortune under the terms of his grandfather’s trust. If Ben’s proven innocent,
he could very well sock you with a lawsuit for false arrest, and your
department will end up owing him all the money he’s lost, which I doubt you can
afford. It’s in your best interests to let me talk to him so I can figure out a
way to avoid that outcome. And as I said, some of that is confidential.” Lexie
had adopted the tone she used on those occasions when her argument had a few
holes that she hoped authoritative decisiveness would make up for.

The tone apparently worked on small-town policemen, or maybe
it was the threat of a lawsuit. “You can have ten minutes,” the policeman said,
and then he left the room, closing the door behind him. He didn’t bother to
lock the door or take her purse.

“I thought Olivia was coming in,” Ben said as Lexie
approached the gray metal table where he sat. In the fluorescent light, his
skin looked a sickly yellow green, and his left ankle was shackled to the
table. At least they hadn’t stuck him in an orange jumpsuit. “Thank God it’s
you instead.”

“I convinced the cop outside to let me see you first because
I’m concerned about the trust’s interests. Fortunately, neither the cops nor
Olivia know anything about trust law, since everything I’ve said was pretty
much crap.”

She sat down on the chair across from him and set the
notepad on the table. “Cecilia said the cops found a vial under the dining room
table and that it had contained turpentine that had been put into Trey’s drink.
That’s why they’re sure Trey was poisoned. But how could they know all that so
soon? You don’t have a crime lab in Lakeview.”

“There were a few drops of liquid in the vial that the cops
thought smelled like turpentine, so they used our fire department’s hazmat kit
to confirm that’s what it was. Then they checked Trey’s gin and tonic and found
more turpentine.”

“What a time for them to be efficient,” Lexie said.

“They also sent everything to the state crime lab for
further verification,” Ben said. “I have a feeling they called some other
police department for advice since I can’t see them thinking of all this on
their own.”

“Were there any prints on the vial?” Lexie asked.

“Of course not.”

“I assume the police think you tried to kill Trey before he
told them about Max’s threat to disinherit you.”

Ben nodded. “Trey was awake enough to mention that, after
they pumped his stomach and informed him he’d been poisoned.”

“But you told Trey to go ahead and tell the cops, that it
wasn’t a big deal.”

“Right. I was concerned that he was so stressed out about
it. We all worry about Trey after his heart attack least year,” Ben said. “Trey
told the cops that, but they assume I just said that to make Trey complacent,
and that I planned to kill him before he could do it.”

“Why didn’t you mention your argument with Max to me?” Lexie
asked.

“Because I’d honestly forgotten it,” Ben said. “Grandfather
lectured me about my current career all the time. I didn’t take his threat to
disinherit me any more seriously than I’d taken his previous threats to open a
competing garage and steal all my business or to never speak to me again.”

“If you didn’t take Max’s threat to disinherit you
seriously, why did you drop your plan to expand the garage?” She wanted to
believe Ben, but she needed to consider all the facts dispassionately. She
couldn’t let her personal feelings interfere with her obligations to the
trustee and Max.

“How did you know about that?” Ben asked.

“Lakeview gossip.”

He smiled wanly. “Figures. I dropped my expansion plans when
Grandfather told me about the attempts on his life and asked for my help. I
didn’t want to be distracted by remodeling until I was sure Grandfather was
safe.”

With the exception of her ex-husband, Lexie had always been
good at detecting lies, and she’d swear Ben was telling the truth. Besides, his
reasoning made sense. “Who knew that Trey talked to you about the argument?”

“You think Grandfather’s murderer overheard and tried to
kill Trey to strengthen suspicions of me?”

“It’s possible,” Lexie said. “Could you have been
overheard?”

“Trey told me at the garage, so I guess so. Both Trudy and
Shawn had left for the day. I didn’t see anyone, but that doesn’t mean someone
wasn’t lurking around, since I hadn’t locked up yet. Or maybe Trey mentioned it
to someone else.”

“I’ll talk to Trey as soon as he’s well enough for
visitors,” Lexie said, putting it on her list.

“Tell Trey that I didn’t poison him.” Ben shook his head.
“It’s hard to believe someone would try to kill him just to frame me. Maybe the
real motive was that Trey knows something relevant to Max’s murder, something
he hasn’t yet realized is important.”

“And framing you was a fringe benefit.”

“Yeah,” Ben said. “When you talk to Trey, also warn him to
be careful. He could still be in danger.”

“I will.” Lexie glanced at her watch. “I’d better go. My ten
minutes are almost up, and I’d hate to annoy the cop. I’m counting on his
goodwill and my lawsuit threat to get me in again.”

She got to her feet. “Olivia’s going to be coming in next.
She’s very concerned you stand to lose a fortune because you’ll be stuck in
jail overnight. She doesn’t think I’m sufficiently focused on that issue at the
moment.”

“More evidence her desire to reconcile has a lot to do with
my improved financial situation.”

“Here I figured it was because you’re unbelievable in bed.”

He managed a faint smile. “And in a ’67 Corvette.”

Lexie chewed her bottom lip as she stuffed the notepad and
pen back into her purse. “I should have thought to convince Max to include an
exception for something like this.” Much as she hated to admit it, Olivia had a
point. Probably not a malpractice-worthy one, but a point nonetheless. “He
obviously didn’t intend for you to forfeit your share of the trust because the
cops made a mistake. But you could end up with a judge who’s a stickler about
following the language of the trust, to hell with intent.”

“Grandfather would never have let you include anything like
that,” Ben said firmly. “Since he wasn’t really dead, his primary concern was
making sure no one could weasel out of staying at Nevermore. He told me he
didn’t even want to include that hospitalization exception you suggested, but
thought it would seem suspicious if he didn’t agree.”

The door opened. “Time’s up,” the policeman said, stepping
into the room.

“Thanks for letting me talk to him.” Lexie headed for the
door.

“I’ll bring your wife back now,” the policeman told Ben, and
then he followed Lexie out of the room. “I think this is yours.”

Lexie turned around to see him holding out a manila envelope
with “Catherine Barrington” printed on it. “What is it?” she asked, taking it
from him.