Chapter Nineteen Her

Chapter Nineteen Her

Present Day

I arrived back at the house to another unexpected visit from Elias. Impeccable timing. I was just about to contact him and

demand information about this possible lawsuit and threaten not to pay his bill if he said no.

After a quick look at the safe contents while in the car, nothing struck me as very interesting. The kids’ files contained

receipts for expenses Richmond had paid on their behalf. Knowing him, he probably intended to present them with a bill for

reimbursement when each graduated from college.

Elias sat down across from me with Richmond’s home office desk between us. “I hear Kathryn visited yesterday morning.”

Of course he knew. He seemed to be connected to everyone and everything in this town. “It didn’t go so great.”

“She made that clear.” Elias pocketed his cellphone and gave me his full attention. “She tracked me down to rant while I was

in the middle of a business dinner last night.”

“And here I thought I’d won her over with my obvious charm.”

Elias sighed. “Kathryn is not a woman you want as an enemy. She has a lot of power in this town.”

“Do you hear yourself?”

“She’s raised money for police-related charities. She can call in favors.”

“Unless she plans on manufacturing evidence”—and that was my worry—“I should be fine. Now, why are you here?”

“About that...” Elias was not one to hesitate but he came to a full stop.

I prepared to be annoyed. “This sounds promising.”

“Yes, well. I have a... let’s call it a request.” He cleared his throat. “From Kathryn, actually.”

“The same woman who’s whining about me all over town?”

Another Elias sigh. “Admittedly, her timing is not ideal.”

I was starting to hate hearing her name. Yeah, she was the first Mrs. Dougherty and very pissed that there was a second Mrs.

Dougherty, but she sure grabbed that divorce settlement agreement without any hesitation. She even went along with the fake

separation timeline Richmond needed in order to get a quick divorce from her and marry me.

The series of events had been too easy. That never felt right. Still didn’t. It was like a hole I needed to fill, but I wasn’t

sure how. Her acquiescence might have meant she’d been looking for a way to parachute out of the marriage to Richmond. That,

I could admire.

“Is this the same offer where I give her everything and skip town?”

Elias frowned. “What?”

Thought so. “She showed up. She threatened. Told me all the money and property should be hers. I think she called me trash,

or something similar.”

“She didn’t mention any of that.”

“Of course not.” Remembering the conversation with Kathryn made whatever residual guilt I’d harbored for upending her life

vanish. Her sense of entitlement killed my tolerance for her. “Let’s get this over with so I can say no. What’s her request?”

“Money.”

The Dougherty family’s favorite topic. How to get it. How to hoard it. “She has money.”

Elias hesitated for a second time, which was scary. “She wants to use Richmond’s money. The money that goes to you now that

he’s dead. Specifically, she wants you to pay for Portia’s school expenses and for the remainder of Wyatt’s college expenses,

including the payment for next semester, which is now due and should have already been paid by Richmond.”

I swiveled the chair back and forth. Not a big swing but enough to signal I didn’t take this conversation seriously. “Okay,

I’ll play along. Why does she think I would do any of that?”

“Under the divorce agreement Richmond was to pay those expenses and alimony. You were instrumental in securing those provisions

for Kathryn, even though she doesn’t know that.”

“I’m regretting helping her now.” I actually wasn’t. Screwing Richmond didn’t mean I wanted to give him ammunition to financially

screw Kathryn and the kids. He was my target, not them.

“She says Richmond promised, outside of their written divorce settlement agreement, to secure his monetary obligations to

her by taking out life insurance, payable to Kathryn if anything happened to him.”

“Let me guess. He didn’t.” Once an asshole, always an asshole.

“It was an oral agreement.”

I stopped swiveling. “Did you hear this magical agreement or know about it before now?”

“No. It’s a standard clause but it wasn’t in the signed agreement.”

“So, we’re talking about a top-secret understanding only Kathryn knows about, which benefits Kathryn. Convenient.” I had to

give her credit. She knew how to play this game.

“Richmond and Kathryn made a lot of private side deals over the objections of their attorneys. Kathryn’s divorce counsel was

furious she consented to the settlement terms after meeting alone with Richmond. The attorney advised her against signing.”

“I bet. How much money are we talking about?” Because I wasn’t a total bitch. I could share for the kids’ sakes.

“Portia’s school, including boarding, costs about seventy thousand dollars a year.”

No fucking way. “Did she switch to one in Paris? Does she get there by private jet?”

“Hackley. It’s in Tarrytown.”

“I’m betting the public schools in Rye are perfectly fine. They’re also free.”

Elias kept going, obviously missing my tone. “With all the fees and his student apartment, the cost for Wyatt to attend Tufts

is a little over eighty thousand dollars per year.”

Elias was messing with me. He had to be. “You’re spouting off these numbers like they make sense.”

“And then there’s money for Kathryn.”

“No.”

“She believes—”

“I said no.” After her performance in the kitchen? Absolutely not.

“As the administrator of the estate, I have oversight of all the accounts. You never accessed any of the money in the joint accounts while the two of you were married. The separate account he set up for you, yes, but even then, not much.”

“Kind of kills the whole she married him for his money theory, right?”

“Technically, you do, or will soon, have access to all of his assets and property and be a rich woman, so your argument is

not as compelling as you might think.”

“Killjoy.”

“You recently paid household and funeral expenses. Nothing unusual except one six-thousand-dollar withdrawal for you, which

is inconsequential compared to the multimillion-dollar estate.”

Nosy bastard. “And?”

“Paying for the children’s expenses would go a long way to smoothing some of the rough feelings between you and Kathryn.”

“I’m actually not interested in smoothing Kathryn.”

“She is threatening to sue Richmond’s estate. That doesn’t mean she’d win. She very likely wouldn’t because of the divorce

agreement, but a lawsuit takes time and money.” He leaned back in his chair. “As you’ve pointed out, my hourly rate is not

inconsequential.”

“Happy you finally admit that.”

“Keep in mind, to Kathryn you’re the other woman. The mistress who stole her husband of over twenty years and turned her life

upside down. She views herself as your victim.”

“Clearly.” What the hell. Why not? What else would I do with that much money? “Fine. You can pay the kids’ school expenses from whatever joint or Richmond account works best. Mostly because I believe the kids are better off being away from this town and their father’s overblown reputation. And if they’re gone they can’t drop in and visit me.”

“Good, I’ll tell—”

“On one condition.”

Elias let out a woe-is-me exhale. “I’m listening.”

“Peter Cullen. I want info. Talk.”