Chapter 7 - The Attorney Who Disappeared
Nathan Cross vanished before sunrise.
His assistant found his office unlocked, his laptop gone, and a coffee still sitting cold on his desk.
His car was abandoned at Los Angeles International Airport.
He had not boarded a flight.
Richard stopped believing in coincidences.
The detectives searched Nathan's office and found almost nothing useful.
Then Anna noticed the framed family photograph on his credenza.
Julia stood beside Richard at a charity gala.
Margaret was on the other side.
Vanessa stood in the background.
Richard stared at it.
"This was two years before Julia died."
"So Vanessa knew all of you," Anna said.
He looked physically sick.
"I met her at a fundraiser eleven months after Julia died. Nathan introduced us."
Anna turned toward the detective.
"Then that introduction was staged."
Back at the hotel, Leo refused to nap.
He carried his wooden train from room to room and repeatedly said, "Blue room."
Anna knelt beside him.
"What blue room?"
Leo pointed toward the door.
"Mama blue room."
Richard overheard.
"Julia's study was blue."
"At the estate?"
He nodded.
"Margaret had it locked after the funeral. Said seeing it upset me."
Anna stared at him.
"Your mother locked your wife's study?"
Richard did not answer.
They returned to the estate with police.
Margaret was gone.
Her phone was off.
The blue study door was locked.
Richard broke it open himself.
The room smelled stale and faintly of Julia's old perfume. Books still lined the shelves. A porcelain cup sat on the desk as if she might come back for it.
Leo walked straight to the far wall.
"Mama."
He touched a low cabinet.
Anna opened it.
Empty.
Then Leo tapped the side panel with his train.
Hollow.
Richard removed two screws.
Inside the wall was a flat document pouch.
It contained a copy of Leo's trust agreement.
Anna did not understand the legal language.
Richard did.
His face changed as he read.
"What?"
"Julia owned forty-two percent of Bennett Coastal Holdings. Her shares transferred to Leo when she died."
"I thought you controlled the company."
"I manage his shares until he's twenty-five."
"Unless?"
Richard looked at the next paragraph.
"Unless I'm declared incapacitated, criminally charged with endangering him, or removed as guardian."
Anna felt the pieces moving into place.
"Then who controls them?"
Richard read the name.
"Temporary trustee: Nathan Cross."
The door behind them clicked.
Everyone turned.
A detective was holding another document from the pouch.
"Mr. Bennett, you need to see this."
It was an emergency guardianship petition.
Already completed.
Already notarized.
It claimed Richard suffered from violent episodes, prescription abuse, and impaired judgment.
The petition had two witnesses.
Vanessa Stone.
And Margaret Bennett.
At the bottom was a filing date.
Tomorrow morning.
---
The next chapters are on the left side of your screen.
If you enjoyed the story, bookmark my site: https://metro.treeiq.biz
May you like
New stories are posted daily, so check back for updates.
