“Pshaw,” David said under his breath. “We’d have done it for free . . . it’s a beautiful place.”
“I know you would have,” she interrupted, causing him to stare at the screen openmouthed. “And that’s exactly what you’re going to get to do for as long as you want to. David. Inez. Cooper Manor is yours. Take care of it. And yes, Inez, your mother is welcome. Please bring her home to live with you. I know you’ve been worried about her.”
Now it was Inez who burst into tears. She stared up at the screen with shining eyes that probably only I could see. “Miss Vicki, no. We can’t. It’s too much. That house . . . it’s so expensive.”
Vicki snorted and rolled her eyes to the ceiling. “And it does me what good now? I can float on the ceiling almost anywhere. Inez, please . . . accept this small token. Really, it is small in the scheme of things. And just so you know, I’m also leaving you enough money to take care of the taxes and such for as long as you live there.”
“This is ridiculous!” Cassandra apparently had had enough. She stood up and slammed a fist down on the table. “I will not watch my daughter leave a multimillion dollar home to a servant.”
“Mother, shut up.” Vicki’s voice was cutting as she half-stood from her seat. “It is not my fault that you could never make amends with Grandma, nor is it my fault that her estate was left to me. You’ve made your own way and I’m very proud of you and Daddy. But this is my money and my property and I will damned well leave it to whomever I choose. I already know you’re going to challenge this Will and have made appropriate arrangements to defend it. Just so you know, I win. Now . . . sit down!”
I couldn’t help but smirk. Vicki was finally able to do in death what she’d always wanted to do in life. “You go, girl,” I whispered. Gran elbowed me in the arm. But Cassandra wouldn’t be able to see my smile in the dark.
“Ms. Meadows,” said Arons, “you really do need to sit down.”
With a light growl, she threw herself back into her chair so hard the springs squeaked.
“Thank you.” Vicki sat back down and returned to looking at Inez and David. “Now, no more arguments. Plan for the house to be yours. Until the lawsuit is over, you’ll be renting it from the estate. Barney has papers for you to sign before you leave. It’ll cost you a dollar a year. No telling how long the suit will last, but the lease is ironclad, so don’t have any fear you’ll have to leave. Oh,” she continued, and pointed to me. “There’s one exception. I’ve asked Barney to hire a surveyor. The guesthouse is going to be split off from the main house into a separate parcel. That property will be yours, Celia. That’s surprise number one.”
Holy crap! She was giving me the guesthouse? “Um, wow. Thanks, Vick.”
“You need to live near the ocean. You just do. So the beach is going to go with the guesthouse. I hope you don’t mind, David.”
He shrugged and looked my way. “Nah. Never did go there anyway. I’ve got the pool if I want to swim.”
“Now, as for the rest of my real estate . . . Celia, did you know that I own a holding company called C and S Enterprises?” She stared at me, smiling, waiting for me to get whatever I was supposed to get. It rang a bell, but I couldn’t place the name. I shrugged helplessly and she finally sighed. “Okay, I’ll give you a hint. One of the properties is an old Victorian with a big old palm tree out front.”
The penny dropped with a bang. “You own my office?”
Vicki threw up her hands in joy. “Yay! You got it in one. Surprise! The office is also yours. You’re the new landlord. Promise me I get to be there, at least in spirit, when you tell Ron.”
I laughed out loud. I couldn’t help it. God, he was going to hate that. “What does ‘C and S’ stand for, anyway?”
She grinned and tipped her head. “ ‘Chips and Salsa.’ In honor of all those late nights at La Cocina with you, Emma, and Dawna. I’m also giving Emma’s apartment building to her. But I knew she wouldn’t be able to be here today, so Barney will send her a letter to let her in on the secret. Now, don’t spoil my surprise and tell her early. She won’t believe it without the official letterhead. Dawna’s getting a surprise, too, but I’m not telling you what, so don’t ask.” She winked at me.
How well she knew us. She was absolutely right about Emma Landingham. Everything had to be by the book with her. And wow . . . I knew how much our nights at the cantina meant to me. Apparently they’d been just as important to Vicki. “You are . . . were an amazing woman, Victoria Cooper.”
She gave a little bow at the waist. “Yes. Yes, I was.”
I heard Jason chuckle. His face was entranced at seeing his daughter like this, so animated and happy. Maybe he’d never really known what an awesome person she was. He hadn’t spent much time around her. More’s the pity.
“So, that’s all my real estate. Now comes what Barney calls the residue. I’ve split my estate into four parts . . . well, technically, five. Sadly, it’s going to take a fifth of my total estate to fight my mother’s lawsuit. Pity. But there’s no helping it. I know you won’t be able to step back from this and let it go, Mom, so, I’ve planned for it.”
“I cannot believe you think so little of me.” There was no hurt in Cassandra’s voice, only rage.
“I don’t think little of you, Mom. I actually think quite highly of you. You’re a shrewd businesswoman and a talented actress. But today, here, anything you show us is just that—an act. You can’t help it and I can’t blame you for it. I pray you’ll stop before you completely drive Daddy away, but that future is unclear even to me. It’s all about choices. Celia was right. If you can just see past your anger and your hurt, you’ll know that what Grandma did she did for you. Denying you the inheritance money forced you to go out and earn it. She knew it would spur you on. She might not have been a clairvoyant, but she was smarter than you and me put together. And she knew that my talent had helped her earn a good part of her fortune, as much as you hate to admit it.”
I wished Vicki hadn’t invoked my name, because it turned Cassandra’s attention back to me. “I knew it! I knew you were the one who poisoned my daughter against me. You influenced her, manipulated her. Bitch, I swear you won’t see a dime of the money.”
Why wasn’t I surprised?
Vicki interrupted. “Celia had nothing to do with my decisions, Mom. This is all me. Just me, and if you’d only listened when I tried to tell you, Celia . . .” She paused and looked my way and panic was suddenly etched in her voice. “No! Celia! John, do something!”
I turned to Creede and saw a bright flash of red light. Creede flung one arm toward me and I flew across the room, hit the wall, and slid down to the floor. His other hand was thrust in the opposite direction. I heard glass breaking and the sound of a rifle shot far in the distance.
The lights came up abruptly and hanging in the air where I had been sitting was a copper-jacketed bullet, a Glaser round that expanded on impact. They’re used by the police when they don’t want stray bullets going through walls to kill innocents in the next room and by bodyguards everywhere who want to make sure that a shot into a bad guy doesn’t kill their client. Vicki’s ghost zoomed down from the ceiling to hover around me protectively. I wasn’t sure cold gas could do much, but it was a nice thought. Gran was likewise by my side in seconds.
I could feel the pulse of incredibly powerful magic sealing the entire length of the windows. The second and third bullets never made it through, just hovered in the air, not quite touching the glass, outside the window. The magic raised the hairs on my skin, more a caress than a sting. The sensation was soft and electric, close to erotic, and pulled at parts of my body that shouldn’t be excited by a near assassination. I really didn’t want my body equating nearly dying with sex, so I refused to look at Creede to see if it was intentional or not.