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Back Murder Past Due Save as PDF
Chapters (36)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Acknowledgements
  4. ONE
  5. TWO
  6. THREE
  7. FOUR
  8. FIVE
  9. SIX
  10. SEVEN
  11. EIGHT
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. TWELVE
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. NINETEEN
  23. TWENTY
  24. TWENTY-ONE
  25. TWENTY-TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. TWENTY-NINE
  33. THIRTY
  34. THIRTY-ONE
  35. THIRTY-TWO
  36. THIRTY-THREE

Burton turned to Rick Tackett. “And that means Mr. Tackett’s share would approach thirty-five million.”

“I can’t believe it,” Rick said. “After all these years of ignoring me, why now?” He kept shaking his head.

“Godfrey made no explanation,” Burton said.

“It was his way of saying he was sorry, probably,” Andrea Ferris said. “He was like that. He always thought money could excuse anything.”

“What about me?” Willie Clark startled everyone. “What did he say about me?”

Burton frowned as he consulted Godfrey’s will.

“To my high school friend, William Ebenezer Clark, I leave the sum of one million dollars and my grateful thanks for his friendship over the years.”

I waited for the eruption, and it came almost immediately.

“That’s all? That’s all he had to say?” Willie was screaming. He leaped out of his chair and tried to snatch the will from Burton.

Kanesha stepped forward and put herself between Willie and the lawyer. “Sit down, Mr. Clark. Now.”

Willie backed away, but he was still furious. His face was so red, he looked like he was going to have a stroke any moment now.

“That cheating bastard, I can’t believe he did this to me. Even dead he’s screwing me.”

“What are you talking about?” Andrea Ferris glared at Willie. “I don’t think a million bucks is anything to feel bad about.”

“You stupid cow,” Willie said. “I wrote the freaking books, not Godfrey.”

THIRTY-TWO

THIRTY-TWO

There was dead silence for a moment. Andrea Ferris jumped up from the sofa, the outrage plain in her face.

“You are totally nuts, you little creep.” For a moment I thought she was going to crawl over the coffee table to get to Willie. “I was Godfrey’s agent, and I know damn well he wrote those books.”

“Shows how much you know, you ignorant bitch,” Willie said, not in the least cowed by Andrea’s response. “I have proof that I wrote the books. Godfrey always said you knew, but I guess he didn’t trust you enough to tell you the truth.”

“What kind of proof?” Andrea sounded a little less certain now. “You’re damn well going to have to prove it.”

“Well, for one thing,” Willie said in a smug tone, “I can give you a copy of the manuscript for the book that’s coming out next September. How do you think I’d have a copy of it if I didn’t write it?”

“Godfrey could have asked you to read it for some reason,” Andrea said. “It’s set here in Mississippi again, and he could have asked you to do some fact-checking for him.”

During this exchange I had been trying to get Kanesha’s attention, but she steadfastly ignored me. She was intent on the argument between Willie and Andrea.