Page 69 of Silent Deception
CHAPTER NINETEEN
After a tense Sundaydinner with Ryan and Adelfa, Clint took his coffee into his study, happy to escape Ryan’s attempts at polite conversation and Adelfa’s reproving glances.
When his private line rang, he nearly didn’t pick it up, but a glance at the caller ID on the phone revealed Leland’s number. He grabbed the receiver and paced over to the bank of windows facing thousands upon thousands of acres of Four Aces land.
The view usually filled him with a sense of peace. But not this time.
“Clint...sorry I didn’t get back to you right away.”
“I’ve been reviewing the reports from the investigator and the accountant I hired last spring.”
“It’s water under the bridge, Clint. You’ll never see that money again because Oscar screwed up and Nate is dead.”
“I’m well aware of it,” Clint snapped. “And that’s what all of us have believed. But Ryan has gone back into the records much further. He says significant problems existed long before Cantrell came on board.”
“You hired the best—a forensic accountant with a great track record and a respected PI—and they did their jobs. They’reexperts,Clint. They spent months doing exactly what you paid them to do.”
“Maybe they didn’t do it well enough.”
Leland snorted. “Your son may have gotten a business degree, but ask yourself what he’s been doing with his life. Not accounting. Not investigating white-collar crime.”
“He can still run a calculator.”
“He’s spent his life in theservice.” The impatience in Leland’s voice grew. “Trevor and Garrett wanted him here to help run the ranch office for a while, but he obviously isn’t capable of seeing the big picture. Given the way he defied you and walked out on this ranch years ago, maybe he just wants to stir up some trouble before he goes.”
Clint shifted uncomfortably as that final, heated argument with Ryan came back to him. Ryan’s fury, his promise to never return. Clint’s own scathing promise that Ryan would never inherit a blade of grass on Four Aces.
The past still festered between them—unmentioned, unresolved. Ryan had said as much on his first day back in August. “I don’t know. I don’t think he’d go that far.”
“No? Then remember the revised will you had me draw up. I’m sure he always expected to be a wealthy man someday, and now he’ll be living on a service disability pension. For all we know, he could be finagling a way to use these accusations for his own benefit.”
Clint gripped the phone tighter.
“Look, my specialty is law, not accounting or business management. Maybe you should bring in another team to go over everything, just to settle things in your mind. I’ve got contacts in Dallas who could make some recommendations.”
“Let me think about it.”
