While Justice Sleeps(58)
“Did Justice Wynn ever let you see inside the safe?”
Noah looked at her incredulously. “I was allowed inside the house once, and even then, I was confined to the foyer. What did they steal?”
“Jewelry, cash, and some files full of notes.” She shook her head and immediately regretted the motion. “I’m trying to figure out who compiled all the information for him. It’s more than what I put together.”
“Maybe one of your fellow clerks?”
“I doubt it.” She massaged the nape of her neck, her mind playing through options. “The files contained information relating to several companies. We’ve been working on the GenWorks case against President Stokes, but the files included companies that aren’t part of the suit. You ever do any research for him? Off the books?”
“Justice Wynn barely trusted me to rewrite the wills he drafted.” He scooted forward, his voice dropping to a whisper. “Look, I’ve got to ask again. I’ve been a trust and estates lawyer for the absurdly wealthy for six years, Avery. The possibility of inheriting millions of dollars makes people do crazy things. According to the papers, Jared Wynn has become your newest friend, right?”
Avery’s expression hardened. “Which would give him a reason to attack Justice Wynn, not me.”
“Except that you’re all that stands between him and his inheritance. It’s all over the news, Avery. Jared knows if you take Justice Wynn off life support, he inherits everything.”
“Jared got ten million from his mother, according to you. I can’t imagine he’d risk jail simply to get me out of the way.”
A figure suddenly pulled up a chair and sat across from the cozy sofa. “I appreciate the vote of confidence,” Jared said dryly, eyeing Avery. He flicked a glance at Noah. “Who’s he?”
“Your father’s attorney,” Avery replied. “I asked him to come.”
Jared felt a tendril of relief that she hadn’t said boyfriend. But the relief quickly died. “You didn’t need the judge’s lawyer to speak to me, Avery. Should I have brought my own?”
Avery waved the question away. “Of course not. Listen, I asked you both to come because I need information. Fast. Jared, I went to your father’s house, and while I was inside, someone knocked me out. Whoever it was removed all the items in his safe.” She took a sip from her cup. “Who had a reason to steal from him?”
“Celeste,” both men said in unison.
Noah looked at Jared suspiciously. “If Jared here didn’t jump you, Celeste has the next-best reason. She’s desperate to learn what’s in his will.”
“I thought of her too,” Avery said. “But she strikes me as the kind of woman who’d have a lawyer attack me, not a thug. Plus, she’d likely have access to the alarm codes and the safe. Celeste could have taken that material at any time.”
Avery aimed her next question at Jared: “Justice Wynn had a binder filled with notes on various companies. Based on the names I saw, some of them seem to be related to biogenetics. Companies other than GenWorks and Advar. Was he carrying something like a binder the night he came to see you?”
The question pricked a memory, and Jared nodded slowly. “Now that you ask, yes. He had a thick black binder with him.” The recollection was followed by a curse.
“What’s wrong?” asked Avery.
“He told me he wanted to show me something, but I refused.”
“Did he tell you what was inside?” Noah interjected.
“It was that first night at the bar. After a while, he didn’t bring it up again.” Jared paused, then muttered a fresh curse. “I didn’t even look.”
TWENTY-THREE
“That’s okay, Jared. We have a place to start.” Not much of one, but she’d take crumbs. “There was a second file in the safe,” she continued.
Noah held up a hand. “Before we get to the safe, can I take this meeting to mean you’re keeping guardianship? You didn’t seem so sure when you left my office.”
Avery bit at her lip. “I signed the papers.”
“Agreements get broken, Avery. We both know that.”
Jared frowned at her. “Why would you give up guardianship? You didn’t mention that last night.”
“Last night, I didn’t have reporters camped out on my doorstep and a thousand messages on my phone,” she defended. “Or a stranger offering me half a million to be at his beck and call.”
“What?” Jared demanded.
Avery quickly recounted the call and her meeting in the Chief’s office. “So you’ll forgive me for not being sure of what I want to do. Noah and I discussed my alternatives today, and I raised the possibility of placing the chief justice in charge.”
“Why not me?”
“She couldn’t,” Noah answered. “Your father made it Avery or Mrs. Turner-Wynn. No one else.”
“You’re saying he refused to allow me to take care of him?” When no one responded, he muttered, “Of course.”
“Your father is trying to force my hand, Jared. That’s all.”
He gave her a long, shadowed look. “You’ll do this for him? Deal with being attacked by strangers and harassed by the press?”