Old Vine Sin by Parker French

Author:Parker French
Language: eng
Format: epub

16

REAL ESTATE SURPRISE

“Where?” Sarah asked, her hand on the doorknob.

“Harris Vineyard.”

Shocked, Sarah slid her hand up to clutch the edge of the door. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“There’s only one property on that drive, Sarah. Harris.”

“Maybe they’re just selling a piece of land.”

“Maybe.” His grave eyes met hers.

“I’m going to check right now.” Sarah hurried to her office, yanked out her desk chair, sat down, and flipped open her computer. Zach strolled into the office behind her. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him checking out the piles of papers that Wesley—not sure of her filing system—had stacked along the wall.

“You need a secretary,” he commented as she typed.

“I need Jean-Paul Harris’ creeps to stay out of my house. That’s what I need.”

“You had a break-in?”

“Aye. Just like Landon’s assistant, Ann Woods.”

“The hell…”

“I haven’t had time to refile everything.”

Sarah’s fingers tap-danced over the laptop keyboard as she found what she was searching for: a real estate listing featuring Harris Vineyard.

“Bingo,” she announced, tilting the laptop so Zach could see the screen.

“Never in a million years,” he muttered as he bent to read the details. His fresh laundry smell filtered over her, along with the warm scent of his chest.

“I’ll second that,” she said.

“Can he sell so soon?” Zach straightened.

Thankfully for her.

“Especially if there’s a sibling running around?” he added.

“No ifs, Zach. Landon located a daughter on Ancestry.com. I just found out.”

“Jesus.”

“Aye. But I don’t think she’s been contacted. Otherwise, why hasn’t she shown up?”

“How do you know she hasn’t?”

Sarah looked up at Zach. His serious gaze drilled into hers.

“And she’s vanished into thin air, Zach? That’s dark.”

“Like I said.” He shrugged. “Jean-Paul is a shithead. I wouldn’t put it past him.”

“Or maybe she showed up, and they reached some kind of agreement.”

They fell silent for a moment, both contemplating the possibility of more foul play or a completely innocent transaction. Zach sank to the loveseat under the window. Sarah shut the lid of her computer and leaned a forearm on her desk. She studied Zach’s wide shoulders and black hair as her thoughts raced.

“If there is a sibling in existence,” Zach continued, “can Jean-Paul sell the place on his own?”

“I’m not a legal expert, but I don’t think so. I do know the winery is part of a trust. And Jean-Paul is the only trustee.”

“Then he probably can,” Zach mused.

“I don’t think he can make a move if a legal heir comes forward.”

“I’m starting to smell a rat,” Zach said.

“Maybe. But maybe everything is okay. Maybe the lawyers are handling everything just fine.”

“There’s only one way to find out, Sarah.”

“How’s that?”

“The realtor that’s selling Harris? Andrew Jinneman? Courtney knows him. They were in rehab together last April. That’s all she could talk about, big-shot Andrew Jinneman having a serious gambling problem.”

“I thought people in rehab weren’t supposed to discuss the affairs of other patients.”

“You know how Courtney is.” Zach stood up. “I’m going to ask her to find out about the Harris sale. If there are two owners selling that property, there have to be two signatures.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.