Treasures aka See How She Dies

“Look, even if she is a fraud, she looks too much like Kat to let it pass. The press will go crazy. There will be pictures in the paper-old photos of Kat put up against new ones of Adria. Comparisons are going to be made whether we like it or not and unfortunately, we all have to admit that the girl does look a lot like our late stepmother.”

“I’m not admitting anything.” Trisha tossed back her drink and poured herself another. “I don’t want to hear this.”

“The newspapers and television reports are just the beginning. Then she’ll get herself a lawyer, a good lawyer who wants some notoriety, someone who’s willing to take a risk just to score big and get his face in the papers. A lot of attorneys are more interested in fame than money.”

Trisha snorted.

“Well, nearly as interested.”

“So, what do you plan to do?” Zach asked, his gut twisting a little. Talking about Adria behind her back, plotting against her, bothered him more than it should have. Maybe Trisha was right, maybe he needed a beer.

Jason’s lips curved into a smooth smile. “What’s the saying from The Godfather-I’m going to ‘make her an offer she can’t refuse’?”

“There is none.”

“I think a hundred grand will do it.”

Trisha’s mouth fell open. “You’d give her that much?”

“Not to begin with, of course. We’ll start low and try to intimidate her, but a hundred thousand isn’t much when you think of the cost of attorneys if we have to go to court. And think of all the time the estate will be tangled up in probate. It’s bad enough as it is-an estate this size takes forever.”

“I bet the old man is sitting down in hell somewhere and laughing at us,” Trisha said, lighting a cigarette and blowing smoke rings. “Imagine, leaving nearly fifty percent of his estate to a daughter he couldn’t find or didn’t even know if she was dead or alive. What a joke!”

“Unless we have proof of her death,” Jason reminded them both. “Then her share of the inheritance can be divided among the rest of us.”

Zach’s blood turned to ice as he noticed the cold hint of a smile curving Jason’s lips. Just how far would any of his siblings go to get their hands on Witt’s fortune? They all had their personal axes to grind. Jason loved money; Trisha had always wanted revenge against the family, and Nelson was ambitious to a fault.

And what about you? You’re not exactly lily-white.

As for his brothers and sister, he was certain they would like to get what they wanted, and they would surely steal. But would they kill? His back teeth gnashed silently and his fingers clenched involuntarily into fists.

Trisha gulped from her drink and sighed. “Our father who art in hell. Truly one of the world’s great bastards.” She looked up sharply and her gaze met Zach’s. “No offense, Zach.”

Zach let the comment slide. The questions about his paternity no longer rattled him. Who really gave a damn?

“Just because he made a provision for London, doesn’t mean we can’t fight it,” Jason pointed out. “Haven’t you heard that wills are meant to be contested? We just have to prove that the old man was senile at the time he had the will drawn up. That shouldn’t be too hard. After all, who in his right mind would leave millions of dollars to a girl who had been missing for nearly twenty years?”

“So why haven’t you done anything about it?” Trisha said, squinting through her smoke. “You’re the hotshot lawyer.”

“Because Dad’s attorney will swear that the old man was as sane as you and I. Claims he’s got proof that Witt hadn’t lost any of his marbles.”

“So it’s his word against ours.”

Zach hated discussing the old man’s estate. It was necessary, of course; he wasn’t foolish enough or rich enough not to care, but he really wished he could just wash his hands of the whole family. Greedy vultures, that’s what they’d all become.

And what about you? You’re here, aren’t you? Hoping to keep the ranch. Hell, what a mess. Then there was Adria. At the thought of her, his blood heated and he rubbed his chin in frustration. He didn’t like the idea of trying to buy Adria out, but he didn’t have a better plan.

“So, the first order of business is getting rid of our latest London,” Jason said. “Send her packing and try to break the will.”

“I don’t think she’ll go for it,” Zach said, his voice sounding a lot steadier than he felt. “It’s more a question of pride and truth than money with her.”

Jason shook his head and rubbed his chin. “It’s always money, Zach. Haven’t you learned yet that everyone has a price? Even Ms. Nash. We just have to find what it is.”

Zach heard noises on the stairs and his nerves tightened. He could feel Adria’s presence before she followed Nicole into the room. “Have you all met Adria?” Nicole said, forcing a smile on her tanned face.

Adria didn’t seem the least bit intimidated. In fact, she looked as if she really did belong. Her hands were stuffed into pockets of a jean jacket trimmed in leather and she didn’t bother to smile. She slid a glance in Zach’s direction and he stiffened. For a second they stared at each other before she forced her eyes to meet Jason’s steady gaze. “I got a message that you wanted to see me.”

“I did. Come in and have a seat-” He pointed to the grouping of leather furniture positioned near the fireplace. “Would you like a drink?”

She hesitated for a heartbeat, but then she managed a thin smile. “Why not? Have you got any white wine? Chardonnay.”

Jason moved to the bar, as if he were willing to do whatever she wanted. Zach considered leaving but before he could make his way to the door, footsteps sounded on the stairs and his mother and Nelson strolled into the room. Eunice took one look at Adria and for a split second her face drained of color, but she recovered herself. “So you’re Ms. Nash,” she said, extending her hand, though she appeared anything but friendly. Her eyes were cool, her mouth pinched at the corners, her skin stretched tightly over the bones of her face. “I’m Eunice Smythe.”

Adria knew quite a bit about the woman whose fingers felt like dry parchment, but mostly she’d pieced together rumors. She would love to know the truth. There had been gossip that Witt had divorced Eunice because of infidelity with Polidori, though, of course, no one but Eunice knew the truth. Whatever had happened between Witt and his wife, it had cost Eunice. She’d been denied custody of her children in a time when a father’s rights were virtually ignored.

“Well, Adria. Nelson tells me you think you’re Witt’s long-lost daughter.” Eunice’s smile was as cold as steel as she let go of Adria’s fingers.

Jason handed Adria the glass of wine she really hadn’t wanted. She held the stem in a death grip. Her throat was suddenly dry, her fingers damp with sweat. “That’s why I’m here, yes,” Adria replied. “To find out the truth.”

“The truth,” Eunice murmured as she studied Adria. “Sometimes so elusive.” Without so much as a sip, Adria set her drink on a nearby table. “So let’s get down to it, shall we?” Eunice settled into a cream-colored chair. “Nicole, would you be a dear and fix me a gin and tonic?” she asked her daughter-in-law, and when Nicole poured the drink and handed it to her, Eunice patted the younger woman’s slim arm. “That’s a good girl.”

“Always,” Nicole replied in a brittle voice as she shot her husband a glance that would have cut through granite.

Every muscle in Adria’s body was strung tight; tension was thick in the air and she didn’t know which was worse, being stared at by the dead animal heads mounted on the walls, or by the very living beasts that congregated around her. You asked for this, she reminded herself. You knew it would be tough, so just hang in there! Giving herself a mental shake, she sat on the edge of the couch, directly across the glass-topped coffee table from Eunice, and refused to give in to the impulse to stare at Zachary, to silently ask for his help.

Jason slid onto the couch next to her.

Zachary looked bored. He leaned against the stones of the fireplace, his features composed, his gaze fixed on her, his jaw looking as if it hadn’t seen a razor for a couple of days.

Adria shifted a little and watched as Nelson slung a leg over his mother’s chair, positioning himself near her. Nicole, after delivering the drink to her mother-in-law, caught her husband’s commanding gaze and hastily said