Authors: Victoria Howard

Ring of Lies (12 page)

BOOK: Ring of Lies

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‘
I’d like to speak to
Mr
.
Parous, please.
My name
i
s Grace Elliott
.
I’m calling in connection with my late husband’s estate.
’
Grace covered the
phone
with her
hand
.
‘
They’re connecting me.
’
She angled the phone so that Jack could listen
to
the conversation.

‘
Hi,
Mrs.
Elliott.
Y
our solicitor told me to expect your call.
I’m kind of surprised to hear from you so soon, though.
What time is it in
England?
’

‘
Actually
,
Mr
.
Parous,
I’m
calling from here
in
Miami.
’

The attorney paused for three beats.
‘
You’re here?
Right now?
’

‘
I arrived this afternoon.
I was rather hoping
we’d be able to meet
—
tomorrow
morning
,
perhaps
?
’

‘
That’s
pretty
short notice
,
Mrs.
Elliott
.
Or Grace.
May
I call you Grace?
’

‘
Yes
,
of course, but—
’

‘
H
ow
about next week?
I’ve got space on my calendar on
Thursday at ten-thirty
.
I can fit you in then.
In the meantime
,
you can relax and enjoy our fair city.
Take a couple of tours
, m
aybe a day cruise.
Those are great.
My assistant can get you hooked up with a couple of tour operators.
’

Sh
e looked at
Jack
.
He
shook his head
and
covered the mouthpiece
with his thumb
.

‘
Sound tearful.
If he still says no, tell him you’ll be there tomorrow at
two
, and then hang up.
’

‘
This is a difficult time for me,
Mr
.
Parous
, as I’m sure you appreciate
.
I
had
rather
hoped to have
everything settled and
be on my way home
by then.
’

‘
I need to
draw up
some
documents
before we can meet, Grace
.
I’m not sure I
can
be ready any sooner
.
That’s stretching it.
’

‘
I’m sure your assistant will appreciate the overtime
, Mr
.
Parous
.
I’ll see you
tomorrow
at
two
.
’

Jack nodded, took the phone
,
and hung up.
He took a pull on his beer.

‘
Parous
should be able to tell us
how
Elliott
paid for th
e
house
. He’ll
also know
whether
or not
Elliott
had a bank account here or
whether
the funds were transferred from a British bank.
’

Without thinking, Grace rested her hand on his.
It felt warm and strong, just like she remembered.
When she
realize
d what she’d done, she pulled back.
He didn’t react either to the touch o
r the retreat.

‘
Thanks, Jack.
I feel better knowing that you’ll be coming with me.
It
’s
hard enough understanding English legalese
without having to
get my head round the
American legal system too.
’
She
speared a
nother
shrimp with her fork,
dipped it in
to the chilli-lime
dressing
,
and took a bite.

He shrugged and looked away.
‘
No thank
s necessary
.
I’d do the same for any friend.
’

Silently she watched him.
There were more lines
around his eyes
than she remembered, and his once black hair was now
threaded
with
silver
.
But apart from that, he looked no different
than when she’d last seen him.

‘
I’ve never heard of Gasparilla Island.
Is it part of the Florida Keys?
’

‘
No, it’s
a
Barrier
island
on the Gulf Coast about two hundred miles from here.
Why
?
Are y
ou thinking of going there?
’

‘
I don’t know.
I haven’t thought that far ahead.
I guess it depends on what
the attorney
says
tomorrow.
’

‘
I’ll ask around, see if I can find out
whether
Zachary Parous
has any unsavoury connections.
’

Grace frowned.
‘
Unsavoury connections?
I
don’t
understand.
’

‘
Miami is full of people
with underworld
connections.
Racketeering, money laundering, drug peddling, murder
; y
ou name it
this city has it
all.
’

‘
S
urely an attorney would
be above all that
?
’

‘
You’d think
.
But not
everyone is as honest as a
newborn
babe
.
People
get sucked in o
n
e small
dirty deal
at a time.
A
favo
u
r
for a friend, and then another, and another, until
they’re
in
so deep there’s no way
out
.
’

‘
What are the police doing about it?
’

He smirked.
‘
Not a lot.
They don’t have the manpower.
For every criminal they take out of circulation, there’s another waiting on the
sidelines
to take his place.
And a lot of the force is crooked too.
It’s n
o wonder
Miami has one of the highest crime rates in the country.
’