She shook her head. “What? She must be mistaken. Where is she getting that from?”
Alexa got comfortable, taking her shoes off. “We were chatting. She mentioned she’s living in hotels whenever she’s in town, ‘cuz of the good room service, but she kinda wishes she was living in the Malibu house instead. I didn’t know you two bought a Malibu house, so I asked her when you bought it. She said Sully bought it months ago when he was on a quick tour break. She’s seen pictures of it. It’s supposedly in the Colony.”
Kit’s furrowed brow spoke volumes. “What the fuck? We didn’t buy a house in Malibu. If Sully bought a house, I don’t know anything about it… until now. I remember that tour break. He was very preoccupied.”
Wes raised an eyebrow. “Do you two have separate accounts or joint?”
She folded her arms in front of her chest. “Both. Several joint accounts. And he’s got a few accounts here, some accounts offshore and a big one in Switzerland that were set up for him when he first started making money. When we got married we agreed that was his and I had my inheritance accounts that he’s never touched nor has access to. As far as I know he was putting his inheritance money from Nana into his offshore accounts. That was the agreement at least. Well, wait, Wes, you manage some of his investments, don’t you?”
He nodded. “Yep, but not directly anymore. I haven’t in years, my team does that now while I focus on expanding the firm and the profitability. I only have a handful of accounts that I still manage personally and, no offense, Sully’s net worth was not enough for me to spend time on it.”
Kit giggled. “I guess Sull wasn’t a member of the nine figure club.”
Wes chuckled. “No, not yet at least, but give the guy thirty years and he may get there with the kind of investments he makes. He’s very savvy with his money for someone that never formally studied finance. He’s sharper than some of my Harvard and Wharton grads. And you’re right, the three clients I still do manage are billionaires.”
Kit whistled. “Now that’s a whole different ball game. I can see what you mean. I’d imagine those strategies are dramatically different.”
Wes nodded. “You got it. Now, about Sully, I can talk to the guy who manages his account. He’s one of my best hedge fund managers. We can probably give you a better idea of where he’s at financially right now with his investments. We may be able to pull his financials, at least the ones we have access too. Sully has lots of accounts, Kit. He’s very good at diversification and he doesn’t have everything sunk in the markets. I know he invested in other ventures too. He listened to everything I told him when we first met back in ’85 and he’s done amazing things with it. Last I saw, he was doing well. Extremely well. We still talk strategies from time to time. If the guy ever wanted to quit being a rock star and decided to take up a career as a financial planner, he’d make a killing.”
She looked at Alexa. “Do you have any idea what a beach house in Malibu is going for these days in the Colony?”
Alexa shook her head. “Nope.”
Wes patted Alexa’s knee. “I’ll make a call. I can find out. One of my friends is a broker in that area. He can at least get us a comp.”
Kit nodded. “Thanks, Wes.” She let out a long sigh as he left the room. “Lex, why do I feel like I’m about to uncover a landmine here?”
She shifted in her seat. She didn’t have a good feeling about it either. “I’m sorry, babe. Do your best not to stress. Wes and I will help you find out as much as we can.”
CHAPTER 7
Lila knocked on the doorframe, getting Kit’s attention moments after Alexa and Wes had left. “Kit, you have a call on hold. An important one. I didn’t want to call up here in case you were sleeping…”
She nodded, shifting her focus from the TV back to Lila. “It’s ok, Lila. Who is it?”
Lila forced a grin. “I have that Ralph guy on hold right now. He says it’s urgent and he has information for you.”
She was stunned her private investigator had found information so quickly. Her head bobbed frantically. “Yes. I’ve been waiting for his call.”
Lila nodded. “He’s on line 2.”
Kit reached over and hastily picked up the receiver. “Ralph, so great to hear from you. What did you find out?”
He sighed. “In all my years in this business I’ve only had a few cases like this and they’re tough, Ms. McKenna.”
She took a deep breath and reminded herself to let it out and not hold it in. She exhaled slowly. “Ok. Tell me what that means.”
“Your hunch was right. This guy, Kirby Nelson, could very well be alive. The accident is suspicious and there is no autopsy report confirming his death. They never recovered his body.”
She nodded. “I know. That’s why I thought it odd back then. They did recover a body in the river, but they said the decomposition was so extensive by the time they found it that they couldn’t identify it was him for sure. They made an assumption it was.”
“Ms. McKenna, normally I would tell you to back off and not waste your money, but there is something suspicious that makes me want to keep digging.”
Her ears perked up. “What’s that?”
“First off, the assets you two had, specifically the bank accounts, were not locked because of probate issues. They were closed off to you because they were frozen by the Feds, yet he has no paper trail or anything related
