Page 86 of Tessa's Trust

I didn’t want to imagine Sadie and Lenny in the buff doing the nasty. “Do you think she would’ve let Rudy Brando stay in one of her properties?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I could find out where he was staying while he was in town,” she mused.

Anticipation licked through me. “Would you?”

“Of course.” And then she proceeded to make several phone calls.

I listened and wondered if I should have accepted the cookie. A little sugar sounded nice, but the tea was wonderful, so I’d made the right decision. Finally, after her third phone call, she smiled.

“Rudy Brando was renting one of the Frisky cabins out past Bear Creek.”

I sat back. “Really? In the winter?”

She shrugged. “Yeah. Apparently, he needed somewhere cheap, and they were willing to let him rent a place so long as he plowed the road.”

“Huh. Well, that’s interesting.” The Frisky Trust was a series of cabins left to the city from Ralph Frisky when he passed away. The city kept the cabins, and all proceeds from the rentals went to the library and the park. It was a good arrangement, and it had been kind of Frisky to leave the property.

“Interesting,” I said.

Nana patted my hand. “I’m sure Sheriff Franco knew that already.”

“Yeah. He’s not sharing all his information,” I murmured.

She reared. “Are you kidding me? I will call him immediately.”

“No, please don’t.” I held up a hand. “I appreciate it, Nana, but I think the sheriff has had enough of me for today.”

Her chin firmed. “We’ll just see about that.”

Chapter 30

I called Anna on the way out to the old Frisky Trust land to let her know about the lawsuit Marilyn Brando had filed.

Anna sighed over the phone. “If she thinks she has a valid claim, I’m not surprised. I have Aiden doing a deep dive on her. So far, she’s come up pretty clean. She’s wealthy and from Louisville, Kentucky. Somehow, Rudy Brando charmed his way into her million-dollar life. We’re trying to get a warrant for her bank records to see if he perhaps robbed her like he did other women. But so far, we don’t have enough evidence.”

“She already admitted that Rudy took some of her money, but she still seems to have plenty. I think she’s bored and looking for a fight,” I said. “Don’t let Aiden get in trouble investigating her.”

He was an ATF agent and probably didn’t have a valid reason to go poking around in Marilyn Brando’s finances.

“Don’t worry about it,” Anna said. “I’ve got you.”

“Thanks.”

Then she chuckled. “I cannot believe you took those three ladies to commit a B&E.”

My temples started to ache. “I didn’t take them. They took me,” I protested. “I couldn’t let them go by themselves.”

“Oh, I know. Nonna’s become involved in more than one of my cases before, and Georgiana loves to commit mild crimes. We have to do something about that private investigation company.”

“I know. But that’s a worry for another day,” I said. “If they would stick to gossip and talking to people, they’d actually be quite helpful. It’s the breaking the law that concerns me.”

“Ditto,” Anna said.

I glanced at the dash. “Hey, would you do me a huge favor? Are you busy today?”

“Usual busy. Not much.”

“Have you eaten?” I asked.

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