Page 37 of The Brothers Hawthorne

Grayson was well aware of the son. “And the Grayson family’s current financial situation?” The list of assignments he’d given Zabrowski after the conversation he’d overheard between Acacia and Trowbridge was lengthy.

The detective kept his reply short. “Not good.”

The muscles in Grayson’s jaw tightened. He’d kept Zabrowski on retainer to make sure that the girls were taken care of, and he had been given the distinct impression that finances were not an issue in the Grayson household—and never would be. “Explain.”

“When the Engstrom matriarch passed away the year before last, everything was left to Acacia and her daughters—in trusts.”

Grayson thought about Acacia saying that her parents were the ones who’d bankrolled her husband’s companies. “And?” He had no intention of letting Zabrowski off that easily.

“Outside of those trusts, all of Acacia Grayson’s assets were jointly held with her husband… who has since come under IRS and FBI investigation.”

Grayson had never allowed himself a temper, so he didn’t lose it. He didn’t sayWhat the hell have I been paying your retainer for?He didn’t have to. “What kind of investigation?” he demanded with icy, unnatural calm.

That tone had put the fear of God and Hawthornes in better men than the detective. Grayson could practically hear him gulp.

“White collar, presumably,” Zabrowski managed. “Tax evasion, embezzlement, insider trading—your guess is as good as mine.”

“Do I pay you toguess?”

“Point is, the joint accounts are frozen.” Zabrowski rushed the words. “Some have already been seized. Someone’s keeping it out of the press, but—”

“And the money left to Acacia in trust?” Grayson asked. Those funds would have been hers and hers alone, not subject to seizure based on her husband’s crimes unless she was implicated as well.

“Gone,” Zabrowski said.

Grayson felt his eyes narrow. “What do you mean,gone?”

“Do you know how many laws I had to break to even get this information?” Zabrowski shot back.

“Let’s assume none,” Grayson said in a tone meant to remind the private investigator that if lawshadbeen broken, he couldn’t know about it. “Continue.”

If Zabrowski resented being given orders by a person less than half his age, he was wise enough not to show it. “Acacia Grayson’s trust was drained—presumably by her husband before he fled the country.”

Sheffield Grayson didn’t flee the country.“And the girls’ trusts?” Grayson asked.

“Intact and substantial,” Zabrowski assured him. “But the Engstroms must have had some reservations about their daughter and her husband, because neither were listed as trustees.”

Grayson processed that in an instant and wasted no time with his reply. “Allow me to guess: Kent Trowbridge.”

If the joint accounts were frozen and Acacia’s trust was gone, that almost certainly meant Acacia was using her daughters’ trusts to fund their living expenses—but as trustee, Trowbridge would have to sign off on those expenditures. Grayson thought back to the night before, to the way the lawyer had put his hand on Acacia’s shoulder, far too close to her neck.

“Keep digging,” he ordered Zabrowski. “I want a copy of the trust paperwork so I can read through the provisions myself.”

“I can’t just—”

“I am not interested incan’t.” Grayson lowered his voice. Making someone strain to hear you was one way of ensuring they were that much more motivated to listen. “I’ll also need the details of the IRS and FBI investigations—but don’t run afoul of either agency yourself.”

“That all?” Zabrowski clearly meant that sarcastically, but Grayson chose to take the question at face value.

“You’ll find a transfer in your account, twice the retainer I’ve been paying.” That was another power move: transferring the money before the other person had a chance to decline your offer. “And I’ll need a recommendation.” Grayson pivoted to an easier ask, one to make the man forget for a second or two how tall the rest of the order was. “Who do you have who can discreetly make keys?”

CHAPTER 28

GRAYSON

The situation—Gigi, the key, the party, the search—had changed. That much was clear. Before, his objective had been to make sure that Gigi didn’t find her way into their father’s safe-deposit box. Now, however, he needed in that box himself.

Before the FBI realizes it exists.Grayson didn’t have a guess about what white-collar crimes his father might have committed, but hedidknow that the man had paid money to have Avery followed, stalked, attacked, and kidnapped. Assuming Sheffield Grayson had covered his tracks, that suggested the existence of offshore accounts or otherwise untraceable funds. If the FBI somehow managed to find a trail, however slim, of those transactions—or any other proof of Sheffield Grayson’s plot against the Hawthorne heiress—they might begin to view his disappearance through another lens.