The Color of Lies by CJ Lyons

The Color of Lies by CJ Lyons

Author:CJ Lyons
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blink
Published: 2018-09-27T16:00:00+00:00


CHAPTER 24

Ella

“Motive usually boils down to profit, power, or passion,” Alec tells me. He sounds so earnest, like a law professor or something. Much older than his years. “At least that’s what my dad always says.”

“Passion—like a love affair?” I’m shaking my head. “That’s the one thing even I remember, how much in love my parents were. They—we—were happy.” I’m trying to convince him, as if what Alec believes could change what dozens of professional investigators decided fifteen years ago.

He hesitates. “Okay. Let’s skip that one.” He leans back on the bench, one arm slung over his messenger bag beside him. But he doesn’t need to get his laptop; it’s clear he remembers everything about my parents’ case. “Power. Guess that would be control of Cleary and Sons, right?”

“That’s Darrin, but he was in London. Besides, he was my dad’s best friend. They were college roommates. And he’s worked his butt off growing the company, basically rebuilt it from the ground up after my parents died. But according to their will, Cleary and Sons still belongs to me. So I can continue the family legacy.” I hate the gray tinge of bitterness that colors my words, am thankful Alec is blind to it. My parents couldn’t have foreseen how their final wishes bound me tighter than iron chains.

“The police verified Darrin’s alibi.” He frowns. “But maybe that’s a motive for Helen and Joe? With you alive and your parents dead, they can access all that money.”

I shake my head and roll my eyes, the idea is so ridiculous. “Right, the two people on the planet who want nothing more than to become hermits and lock themselves away from the rest of the world would conspire to be forced to raise a kid? No way. Besides, Darrin controls the money. He has to approve any expenses, like when we moved into town and bought the house here or redid the basement and turned it into a studio for Helen.”

He frowns, his pool of suspects quickly diminishing. “Which brings us right back to profit. Follow the money. If it wasn’t Darrin, Helen, or Joe, who else stood to gain from your parents’ deaths?”

“That’s easy. Me.” Though I don’t remember much about that night, I’m at least sure I had no hand in my parents’ deaths—other than running away and abandoning them. “I get everything—the family trust, their insurance policies, even a special educational trust that Darrin just told me about. Now that I’m eighteen, I can access that money as well.”

“No one else? Maybe at Cleary and Sons?”

“Darrin’s the only one who still works there—after my parents died, he expanded the company, refocused it on targeting corporate clients, which meant new specialists, new staff. The only thing left of the old Cleary and Sons are a few document boxes in the attic at my old house up at the lake.”

That makes me wonder about what else might be up there—maybe it’s time I finally looked? The last time I was up in



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