The Inheritance (The Donatelli Series) (17 page)

Blade took the combination Colin Jacobs had given him and opened the safe in the study. The safe was hidden behind a portrait of James Banner, the first Banner to occupy the house. Blade’s great-great-grandfather. The portrait would hang in his own study, along with the portrait of Edward Banner, the grandfather he’d known too briefly.

He found two boxes of jewelry in the safe, both men’s and women’s, some of it quite old and undoubtedly valuable. Definitely keepers. A bank bag held twenty thousand in cash, more than Blade had ever seen in one place at one time. The papers were more interesting, especially detailed private investigator’s reports on each member of the Board of Directions of the Banner-Covington Shipping Corporation. Edward Banner’s handwritten notes gave Blade an insight into how his grandfather’s mind worked.

“Blade?”

He looked up to see Maria standing on the other side of the desk. “Maria, would you like to choose a wedding ring from here...” He opened the boxes of jewelry and pushed them across the desk. “. . . or buy a new one?”

She picked up an intricately carved ring with rubies and diamonds. The gold was badly tarnished, but the precious stones glittered in the light from the desk lamp. Blade had no doubt they were real gems. Everything in this house was real.

“This is gorgeous, but I’d be afraid to wear it.”

He pushed the zippered bank envelope across the desk. “I’m sure you and Sophia will find a good use for this.” He held up both hands. “No strings, Maria. It’s a thank you for helping me with the house.”

She pulled the bills out and flipped through them. “Good Lord, Blade. How much is here?”

“Twenty thousand. How are you coming upstairs?”

Maria closed the bag and pushed it back to him. “The second floor is as finished as it’s going to get until after we leave. Bridget has her notes and she’ll supervise the packing. What else did you find in the safe?”

“Information on members of the Board of Directors of my grandfather’s company.” Colin Jacobs served on the board, and since he had the combination to the safe, Blade assumed he’d removed his own PI report. If he had nothing to hide, wouldn’t he have left it there with the other reports?

After Maria left the room, Blade called the PI who’d done the investigating for his grandfather. He explained the situation and asked if he could purchase a copy of the missing report. “If you still have a copy.”

“My files go back twenty-some years, Mr. Banner, and I keep copies of everything. If I sent a report to your grandfather twelve years ago, I’m sure I have a copy in my files. Are you staying at the house on Long Island?”

“Yes. I expect to be here for a few more days. Are you the one who tracked me down for my grandfather?”

“Yes, sir, but Colin Jacobs was the go-between.”

“In that case, I’d like complete copies of all the reports you did on my grandfather’s behalf.” Jacobs wasn’t exactly forthcoming with the information, including the marriage by forty stipulation in the will. For the first time since he learned of the stipulation, Blade wondered if Jacobs had snuck that one by Edward Banner.

What did Jacobs have to gain if Blade didn’t inherit the entire estate?

He found Marvin sipping coffee in the kitchen. Blade pulled up a chair and sat down across from him. “Marvin, how well could my grandfather read the last few weeks of his life?”

“Not well at all. We canceled his subscription to the Wall Street Journal last year because he could no longer read without a magnifying glass. And then he became too weak to use the glass. A sad state of affairs for a man as bright as Mr. Banner.”

“Did Mr. Jacobs come here often?”

Marvin nodded, and Blade knew he wondered about the questions, but Blade couldn’t quit now. “How long has he had the combination to the safe in the study?”

“I believe Mr. Banner gave him the combination before you were found.”

No, not before he was found. Blade’s instincts told him that Jacobs knew long ago where to find him. He just didn’t pass that information on to the old man.

“Has Mr. Jacobs removed anything from the house?”

“Not that I’m aware of,” said Marvin. “Is something missing?”

“The papers in the safe aren’t complete. Did anyone else have the combination?”

“I have it, but I have never opened the safe or given anyone the combination.”

“Of course not. My grandfather trusted you, and so do I. It’s that crooked lawyer I don’t trust.” Jacobs still hadn’t given him a copy of the will or the information on the company that he’d requested.

Blade returned to the study and looked up the office phone number for the CEO of Banner-Covington. He dialed the number and asked for Joseph Grafton.

“He’s in a meeting right now. May I ask who’s calling?” asked the woman.

“This is Blade Banner, Edward Banner’s grandson.”

“One moment, please.”

Grafton answered immediately. “Mr. Banner, this is a pleasant surprise.”

“You didn’t expect to hear from me?”

“Actually, no, I didn’t. Colin said you had no interest in the business.”

“Colin was mistaken. I’d like to sit in on the next board meeting, but I’d rather not let anyone know I’m going to be there.”

“A surprise visit? I can arrange that, Mr. Banner. Your grandfather was a good man, and he is greatly missed. We were all disappointed that you were unable to attend the memorial service the employees held for him here at company headquarters.”

“I didn’t know about the memorial service, Mr. Grafton.”

“But Colin said—”

“From now on, I’d appreciate being informed directly about these things.” Blade gave him his cell phone number and post office box number in Gig Harbor.

“I assume you’ll be voting your grandfather’s shares from now on.”

“As soon as I can make an informed decision on the issues. Other than the information I pulled off the Internet, I know nothing about the company. Would you ask someone to send me a packet of information before the board meeting, including the voting records of the board members?”

“Of course. The meeting is scheduled for next Tuesday morning at ten in the board room here at company headquarters. I’ll have my secretary get a package off to you this afternoon.”

“I appreciate that, Mr. Grafton.”

Blade ended the call and leaned back in his grandfather’s leather desk chair. Jacobs had told him the next meeting was in mid-May.

There were things Jacobs didn’t want him to know.

And Blade intended to find out what they were.

Chapter Ten

W
ork on the house continued. There were three suites on the third level, one for each of Edward Banner’s sons. Father Michael’s room had a big crucifix on the wall over the bed. His personal things had already been packed.

Blade motioned to the boxes in the closet. “We’ll have these things shipped out and store them in Harley’s room until I can go through them.” He had a feeling that room would be too full to hold the bike. There were a lot of things in this house that needed more than a cursory glance, and his uncle’s life was one of them. He could go through them more thoroughly after he and Maria and the kids settled into the new house.

Maria checked out the room, looking for anything that might have been missed, but aside from routine cleaning, this room looked like it had been untouched for decades.

Matthew’s rooms had been more recently occupied, but his things had also been packed. Blade and Maria checked through the closets and drawers to be sure there was nothing of importance left behind. There wasn’t.

They stopped at John’s rooms last. “I came in here after my grandfather’s funeral,” said Blade. “I don’t have any desire to know about my father’s past. Every memory I have of him involves pain. The other members of this family may have gone to heaven, but this Banner is undoubtedly burning in hell.”

The only other room on the third floor was a big playroom. “Oh, look at the train set. I always wanted one of these.” Blade removed the plastic dust cover and examined the winter scene someone had built, with tunnels, trestles, trees, a small town, and a train depot. “It looks like the kids built it themselves. We have to take this home.”

He crawled under the table. “The legs are bolted on, so they’ll come off for shipping. The kids will have fun with this.”

“Especially the big kid.”

“Hey, it’s my turn for a childhood.”

“You have a Harley. That’s your childhood.”

“Aw, come on, Maria. A guy can never have too many toys.”

Maria smiled. While she’d been excited over the exquisite furnishings in the house, Blade grew excited over the toys. If they married, she’d have four boys instead of three.

The
if
was turning into a
when
in her mind, because the more time she spent with Blade, the more she wanted to give him the childhood he’d missed.

Bridget produced a box and packing materials, and Blade packed the train set himself. The playroom closet was filled with games and sports equipment and toys, and Blade packed them all. Maria wanted to tell him that they could buy all this at home, that they didn’t need to pay for it to be shipped, but she couldn’t burst his bubble. He looked happy packing the loot he’d found, the toys his father and uncles had played with as children, so she didn’t say a word.

<>

Fred’s parents brought the boys home and visited with Molly. Fred didn’t come with them. Sophia liked Fred’s parents, but she couldn’t stand to look at Fred. His mother seemed relieved that the week had ended, and the boys were glad to be home. Daisy’s tail wagged like crazy. She’d missed her boys.

“Where’s Mommy?” Jimmy asked.

“She’s still working in New York, but she should be home in a few days,” Sophia told them. “Blade’s grandfather had a big house.”

“Did she get to see the Statue of Liberty?” Robbie asked.

Sophia shook her head. “I don’t think she had time.”

After Fred’s parents left, Angelo and Teresa came down for dinner. Sophia loved having them down the street, because she could see them more often. Teresa was such a sweetheart and she treated Angelo like a king. Sophia loved all her son’s wives. Nicky’s wife was like her own daughter, and Gina had married a good man.

Maria was the one Sophia worried about. She was vulnerable right now, and spending this much time alone with Blade could get her in big trouble. Her daughter had enough children to take care of without having another baby at this point in her life. If Blade got her pregnant, would he hang around or leave her to support the baby by herself?

Sometimes it was hard to keep her mouth closed and stay out of her grown children’s personal lives. She’d been the best mother she knew how to be, but she couldn’t make their decisions for them, and she couldn’t live their lives for them.

<>

Blade took Maria shopping for clothes to wear to the Banner-Covington Board Meeting. She seemed reluctant to spend his money, but when he told her what he wanted her to do, she agreed to buy an appropriate outfit and come along to the meeting. He needed her at that meeting, needed her insight and unique talent.

She chose a dark red silk suit, and he bought a summer-weight black wool suit with a tie that matched Maria’s suit. Her skirt was short enough to show off her legs and long enough to be discreet. She had great legs.

They spent the rest of the day in the attic, a catch-all place with lots of hidden treasures. Maria found diaries belonging to Mary Beth Covington, and she put them in one of the trunks Blade had decided to keep. They didn’t have time to read everything and make decisions about what was important. If Blade ever had children, some of these things could be of interest to them someday. The entire history of the Banner and Covington families was here, in their private papers and diaries and photos. The photo albums in the library and the diaries and jewelry spoke of privileged lives, the kind of life that had been denied to Blade.

Every member of this family had been raised in luxury. They’d been well educated and socialized with other elite members of society. Blade had fought his way through life alone, but he’d gotten himself educated along the way. Someday he’d take over as Chairman of the Board of his grandfather’s company. It might not happen this week, but it would happen.