Tangled Web: A Small Town Romance (The Cortell Brothers Book 6) by Giulia Lagomarsino (an ebook reader txt) 📕

Robert came storming into the police station ten minutes later, looking pissed as hell. “What the hell is he in that jail cell for?”

Jack leaned back in his chair and smiled up at him. “Why, Robert, it’s so great of you to come down. Did you bring Anna with you?”

“Why would I bring her?”

“Well, I’m sure Carter would just love to see her. You know how much he likes her, and since the two of you still aren’t married…”

Robert narrowed his eyes at Jack. “You know she’s pregnant with my kid.”

Jack’s eyes frosted over. “Congratulations on the new family. Don’t go and fuck it up this time,” he growled.

Robert sighed and lost his attitude. “Jack, we all know what you’re going through, but you can’t go locking up all my brothers just because they’re pissing you off.”

“Yeah? What are you gonna do about it? Are you gonna call Josh in here? Maybe his killer girlfriend? Maybe you can get the mafia in here to threaten me.”

“You know they’re gone.”

His eyes narrowed and he stared Robert down. “The only thing I know for sure is that your family is still in my fucking town when you should have moved on a long time ago.”

“Open the fucking doors,” Robert bit out.

“Or what?”

“Or I’ll make you,” Robert snarled.

My eyes widened at the building heat in here. “Uh…Robert—“

“Threatening a police officer?”

“You know that’s not what I was doing.”

Jack stood and walked around his desk. “That’s sure what it sounded like.”

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!”

Jack unlocked the door and grabbed Robert’s arm, tossing him into the cell behind me. The slam of the cell door reverberated through my bones. Robert glared at Jack, but he just smiled back at us.

“Look at that…two down, four to go. That’s assuming that Derek isn’t in town anymore.”

I stood ready to clap back at the asshole, but Robert pressed his hand against my chest. “Don’t bother. He wants a fight. He still has to give me a phone call.”

“Just be smart and call Eric. He’s the most level-headed.”

Thirty minutes later, the cell door was slamming again and Eric came to take a seat beside us.

“You just couldn’t keep your mouth shut,” I sighed.

Lorelei

“What do you mean the money hasn’t gone through yet?” I shouted at my lawyer, Callum, over the phone. It had already been two months, and I was still waiting for that damn money.

“The trust was set up to be transferred to you immediately, but that doesn’t account for an investigation into foul play.”

I paced the room, pissed that this was taking longer than it was supposed to. “Callum, you promised me this would go through immediately.”

“Well, given the circumstances of his death, are you really surprised that Barty is asking for an investigation?”

Sighing, I knew he was right. There was nothing he could do about this. “I’m not staying in this house for a minute longer. Can I at least sell it?”

“Not until the trust is released. The way he wrapped this up, there’s not much you can touch until it’s released.”

“Do I still have access to his accounts?”

“The checking and savings. There should be enough for you to live on until this mess gets sorted out.”

I snorted. “And how long will that take?”

Callum sighed on the other end of the line. He was one of my oldest friends, and I’d had him set up this whole thing for me. He knew what was at stake here. “Look, it’s going to take as long as it takes. The coroner ruled Arlen’s death as a heart attack, and you didn’t want an autopsy. But Barty has a lot of money, and he’s going to contest this trust with everything he’s got. His lawyers are pulling out all the stops to make sure the money isn’t transferred to you. They need evidence of foul play. If they find that, they can exhume the body. If they can prove Arlen was murdered, this thing will drag out until they find out who killed him.” He paused and then took a deep breath. “I have to know, did you do it?”

“Seriously?” I said irritatedly. “You know I wanted to kill him. Answering that would just be stupid.”

“I’ll pretend like I didn’t hear that. So, what are your plans for now?”

I looked around me, shaking my head. I couldn’t stay here any longer. “I’m finding someplace else to go. I can’t stay here.”

“Where will you go next?”

“Someplace quiet. After living for a year in this monstrosity, I’d like nothing more than some peace and quiet.”

“Let me know when you find someplace new.”

“I will. And thank you, Callum.”

“You know I want your plan to work just as much as you do. Just be careful. This inquiry could go south fast if you’re not careful. Just find someplace to lay low for a while.”

I took a deep breath, closing my eyes as I got my anger under control. “You’re right. I just have to be patient.”

“That’s my girl. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Bye,” I whispered, hanging up on my friend.

I looked around the large house, trying to decide what I would do from here. If I left, I had no doubt that Arlen’s kids would come in here and take anything of value. They were leeches like that. But staying would make me miserable. In the end, it didn’t really matter if they took what was inside the house. It would amount to maybe a few million, but the estate was worth so much more than that, and they couldn’t just up and move an entire estate. Unless they were able to get the trust turned over to them, the sale of the estate would go through me.

“Hello, step-mother,” the little shit-head, Barty, said as he walked through the double doors leading into the living room. “Deciding how you’ll spend your millions?”

I smiled sweetly at him, tilting my head for effect. “Oh, I don’t have to decide. I already have it all laid out.”

“Don’t go spending it all at