Page 170 of Buried Too Deep

Cora sighed. “I’ve had an eventful few days, Harry. Also, their boss is on the speaker. Hi, Burke.”

“Hi, Cora,” Burke said dryly. “And hello, Harry.”

“I’ve heard of your firm,” Harry said. “I’m glad you’re helping Cora. But, Cora, this has got to be expensive. I’ll move money from the trust into your bank account.”

“No, you won’t,” Burke said. “We’re doing this for free because whoever’s after Cora shot one of ours. Joy will be okay, but it was close.”

Harry looked relieved. “I’m so glad that she’ll recover.”

“We are, too,” Cora agreed. “Harry, we need to ask some questions about my father.”

“I figured you would. He’s kind of been front and center in all this, ever since they identified his body. Where would you like to start?”

Cora blew out a breath that sent her curls bouncing. “I guess I’ll jump into it. Did you manage any of my father’s financial affairs?”

Harry didn’t answer right away, sending Phin’s suspicion spiking. “I didn’t,” he finally said. “But he did ask me some questions that made me wonder what he was up to.”

“Questions about a Swiss bank account?” Cora asked.

Harry nodded. “You found it, then. I never knew for sure if he’d set one up.”

“Did my mother know?”

“She knew that he’d asked me,” Harry said. “After he disappeared, I told Priscilla about our conversation. She figured it was money he’d used for the other family he’d left her for.” The older man swallowed. “And all this time he was dead.”

Cora’s shoulders slumped, so Phin took her hand and squeezed it lightly. She leaned into him before returning her attention to Harry. “She didn’t try to find the account?”

“No. She was so devastated when he left, she said he was welcome to it. She didn’t want anything of his. Did you find the account?”

Cora shrugged. “I found the number. Went to the bank yesterday and filled out a metric ton of paperwork to get access to it.”

Harry hesitated. “Do you know how he got that money?”

“Yeah, we do. I don’t know how much to tell you, only because the less you know at this point, the safer you might be.”

Harry paled a fraction. “It was illegal, then.”

Cora tilted her head. “You suspected?”

“I hoped, actually. He’d tell your mother he was going to Mobile or Tupelo for business. She worried that he wasn’t where he was supposed to be, that he was cheating on her. She asked if I’d follow him and see where he was really going. She couldn’t, not with you and John Robert being so small. And John Robert always being so sick. I followed Jack once. He said he was going to meet a client in Mobile, but he went to Baton Rouge instead.”

“You knew he wasn’t where he was supposed to be, then,” Cora said sadly. “And so did Mama.”

“Yes, dear. I hated telling her that. I really did.”

“Did you?” Phin asked. “You didn’t want her for yourself?”

“Phin,” Cora snapped.

Phin wasn’t sorry. This was Cora’s safety, her life on the line. He held Harry’s gaze. Watched the man’s face turn a deep red.

“It’s all right, Cora,” Harry finally said. “His point is fair. I loved your mother. I think my feelings started when she was in college, before she met Jack Elliot, but she was too young and I was too old. And then she was married and so happy. And I was still too old for her, anyway. I was content just to be her friend.”

Letting go of Phin, Cora leaned across the table to cover Harry’s hand with hers. “And after my father disappeared?”

“I loved her still, but she never got over Jack. She knew how I felt. Or she thought she did. I think she thought I had a crush, but it wasn’t just a crush. She was everything to me. It killed me to watch her suffer when your father disappeared. And then, when she died…God. I wanted to die, too, but there was you and John Robert to take care of. I knew she’d want me to make sure you all were provided for.”

Cora squeezed Harry’s hand. “You did that. Thank you.”

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