Page 83 of The Fallen Man

“The will would point you at someone who Granger might send files to,” said Aiden.

“And it hit public records this morning,” said Jackson.

“Well, what did it say?” demanded Dominique. “Don’t keep us in suspense.”

“It said that Granger had a daughter,” said Jackson. “To whom he left the bulk of his estate. A Caitlin Granger.”

“C. Granger!” exclaimed Aiden. “Not Christina. Caitlin.”

“Right,” agreed Jackson. “And if she came to see him in prison, then she might like him well enough to hold his papers.”

“Not well enough to do anything with them, apparently,” said Evan.

“Who knows why she hasn’t come forward,” said Jackson. “Maybe she’s looking for the best place to sell them. Maybe she’s waiting for the perfect moment.” He shrugged. “We will have to find her and ask. Come on, let’s get lunch.”

They had only made it a few steps out into the main foyer when Jackson paused, his expression sharpening. Aiden watched as Jackson made eye contact with a non-descript person on the far side of the space. Aiden couldn’t even say if it was a man or woman—just someone in a drab sport coat with short hair.

“Who is Griffeth talking to?” hissed Dominique.

“Keep walking,” said Jackson, heading for the exit with a casual stride.

“He looks like a douchebag,” said Dominique, but did asinstructed, following Jackson toward the front doors.

“Well,” said a smooth voice, as they neared the exit, “if it isn’t the Deveraux family. My, my.” They all turned to see Ralph Taggert coming out of a side door. Beside him, Aiden felt Evan stiffen. “What? No Eleanor to hold your hands through this ordeal?”

Aiden looked over the assembled GOP group that was well within earshot. His lawyer’s instinct was to tell all of his cousin to shut the hell up and keep walking, but Jackson had already stopped and Dominique had done the same, standing shoulder to shoulder with Jackson as if they were blocking for Evan.

“Mr. Taggert,” said Dominique, looking the big man up and down and enunciating with clarity. “I dislike you.”

Aiden could practically see ears getting bigger as everyone leaned in to hear the exchange. It was like some sort of schoolyard fight scene, except for some reason they had elected Dominique to square off with the big kid.

“Well, my dear, the feeling is mutual,” Ralph said with great relish.

“I assumed as much. So, for future public interactions, since there will be no private interactions—because we hate you,” Dominique added as if trying to further clarify matters. Aiden tried not to embarrass the family by letting out a laugh. “I’m informing you that you will be seated as far from Evan as possible while still being within what can be considered family seating. Any attempts to change seats will be grounds for removal. Also, Olivia says that her grandmothermaycall her, but use of the wordsharlotor Bible quotes will be cause for immediate hanging up.”

“I can’t control the Bible thing,” said Ralph. “Wish I could, but ya’ll get what ya get on that one.”

Dominique wrinkled her nose. “She thought that might be the case,” she said. “Fine.”

“See you at the church,” said Ralph, grinning at Evan.

“It’s not going to be in a church,” said Evan and turned on his heel and walked out.

Aiden followed his cousins, trying not grin.

“Was it loud enough?” asked Dominique when they were outside.

“Perfect,” said Jackson. “Pretty sure they heard you in the hall. Nice job. I wasn’t going to be able to pull that off.”

“Pull what off?” demanded Evan, glaring at Jackson and Dominique.

“We have to normalize relations with the Taggerts,” said Dominique.

“Why? I don’t want to,” said Evan.

“Yes, but Olivia wants to talk to her grandmother and it will make things a teeny bit less awkward with her father.” Evan frowned as if he knew Dominique was speaking the truth but didn’t want to admit it. “And you and Olivia getting married puts Ralph in an awkward position politically. He’s already getting push back from his party. Being related to us could look bad and his upcoming challengers are straight QAnon wingnuts. Grandma says he’s the devil we know, so she wanted to help shore up his position. And that means we have to make it clear that we hate him. Jackson didn’t think he could do it without sounding threatening and obviously it can’t be you. Aiden could totally do it, but I thought it would be easier if I did it. Plus, I really enjoyed it. It’s not every day that Grandma lets me tell someone I hate them.”

Aiden laughed. Dominique was beaming.