Sedona Law 5 by Dave Daren (e book reader android .TXT) 📗

kind of over it with him, and he didn’t like that. It was just … stormy. I guess that’s the word for it.”

I thought about that night with Allison and Jerry after rehearsal. He sure looked like he wasn’t thinking about Clare at the time.

“Tell me about the day he died,” I said. “What were you doing that day?”

“Let’s see,” she remarked and furrowed her brow. “That was Saturday. I was pretty busy. I had a hair appointment, and then I went to yoga and it was while I was there that I got the call about … ” She trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

“Who called you?” I asked gently.

“His mother,” she replied.

“How is your relationship with her?” I followed up.

Suddenly, Clare got very uncomfortable, and a look came over her face that was almost panicked.

“Can you just give me a second?” she requested.

“Absolutely,” I said.

She left the room, and that implied the questioning was too emotional for her. But, I could tell it was something else, too. While she was gone, I peered around a little bit. I noticed a desk area in the kitchen. Sitting on top of the laptop was a printout from a Southern Life Insurance, a policy under Jerry Steele. He had a life insurance policy?

I snapped a photo of the letter and read it from my phone, while I waited for her to return.

The printout stated that because of Thad, she was eligible to receive an insurance payout of whoa … one million dollars. Christ almighty. Then there were some next step instructions for her to complete.

Just then, Clare returned to the room.

“Look,” she said as she wiped a tear from under her eye,“I’m sorry. I can’t complete this interview.”

“Absolutely,” I said agreeably. “I understand, but I would be a little concerned about how a pending investigation would affect your insurance settlement.”

She blinked in shock. “How did you … ” Then she saw the printout sitting on the table.

“His parents are trying to squash you getting the money, aren’t they?” I asked. “That’s why they’re the hot button.”

“It’s true,” she sighed. “Look, Jerry had a kickass life insurance policy. He left Thad, yes, a lot of money. But his mother thinks I’ll take it from him and spend it myself, so they are doing everything they can to discredit me, and take the money themselves.”

“I would think they would want Thad to have it,” I replied.

“They say they do,” she said with a shrug. “They say they want to hold on to it for him, to manage it. But I know damn well what they want to do with it. I doubt Thad will see much, if any of that money if it goes to them.”

“And how are they discrediting you?” I asked.

“They … are … ” she trailed off for a moment and then started back up. “Fuck it. You’re going to talk to them anyway.”

She sighed, sat back down, and played with her fingers before she continued. “Several years ago, I was going through a really difficult time, and … very long story short, I checked into a mental hospital for depression.”

“That must have been very hard for you,” I said sympathetically.

She nodded. “It was.

“Where did Thad stay during this time?” I asked.

“With them,” she admitted. “With Jerry’s parents. Jerry took care of him sometimes, but mainly Thad stayed with his grandparents. So, they want to use that time against me, and make it seem like I was unstable. They plan to tell the insurance company I was diagnosed for bipolar disorder. That’s just straight up lies.”

“You were only treated for depression, then?” I asked.

“Depression and anxiety,” she replied and shook her head. “It’s a long, personal journey I would rather not get into.”

“Of course,” I said. “Are you currently taking medications?”

“I am,” she said. “The doctor prescribed me with a couple of things.”

“And does that help?” I asked.

“It does,” she confirmed. “I’m a good mother, Henry. I love my son, and I take good care of him. There’s no reason why they should try to take that money away from us. That money was designed for Thad to have a good life. And I can give that to him.”

“That’s completely understandable,” I murmured.

However, my red flag radar was going off like a siren. This woman had a lot to hide. She was a loose cannon on personality altering medication, with a million dollar insurance settlement hanging in the balance, and her in-laws were allegedly spreading lies about her being bipolar?

This didn’t make any sense, because if she were to lose the insurance money over her mental capacity, they would have to prove her incompetence. Lies wouldn’t cut it, and these grandparents would know that. Taking custody away from a mother in the State of Arizona is really, really hard. Hell, even the meth heads get to keep their kids most times, as sad as that is.

There was something fishy going on here. And Clare Clearmont was definitely not clear.

I went back to the office to write up my findings on the interview, and it wasn’t long before Vicki and AJ showed up.

“How did it go out there?” I asked.

“So, the Wright Way guys are a definite lead,” AJ snorted.

“Is that right?” I asked as I closed my laptop.

“So, I met with Peter at his house,” she reported. “He said the expose Jerry did four years ago bankrupted him. It caused some of his workers to sue him for six million dollars.”

“Six million?” I repeated and whistled. “Jesus, what was this guy doing?”

“Well,” she said, “I couldn’t get the whole story, but basically a guy fell off some kind of scaffolding and broke several bones. So, the guy filed an insurance claim, and it would have