Snow Blind - Lori G. Armstrong [93]
“I know you found Vernon Sloane’s body.”
My stomach clenched, which allowed me to blow a really nice smoke ring.
“And I’m pretty sure after that you figured out I own Prairie Gardens. Made me sick to think of that old guy dyin’ alone out in the snow. Made me even sicker to think the people workin’ for me could’ve prevented it.”
“How?”
330
“By doin’ their jobs. I bought that place about a year ago. We’d started makin’ the changes when . . .”
He cleared his throat. “Anyway, I’d planned on runnin’ it myself, but after Mary passed on, I couldn’t.”
“So you hired a worthless piece of shit like Bradley Boner to run it?”
“Not me. But you’re right on about his character. See, Bradley is Mary’s nephew. He showed up at her funeral, got to talkin’ with my boys, and the next thing I knew, they’d named him executive director and put him in charge.
“I don’t trust that fruity SOB; never have, even if he is Mary’s kin. But it don’t matter because the retirement places I own are at the bottom of my kids’
priorities.”
“Really? Why?”
He snorted and I caught a glimpse of the feisty Bud Linderman I’d remembered. “Carin’ for old people ain’t as glamorous as sellin’ cars or managin’ real estate or cowboy nightclubs. But it’s profitable. My boy Rory would rather work where there’s hot young chicks not, in his words, ‘a bunch of old bitties.’”
“This does have a point, right?”
Linderman blushed. Jesus. Made me feel like I’d reprimanded a garden gnome.
“The point is, I wanna hire you to figure out what’s going on at Prairie Gardens.”
“You’re joking.”
“No, I ain’t. You’re a good investigator, prolly too 331
good. If anyone can make sense of it, you can.”
His flattery meant nothing.
“That little gal whose grandpa died is gonna file a lawsuit against us. And if his death was due to neglect on our end, I won’t fight her; I’ll try to settle with her as soon as possible.”
Lawsuit, the magic word that perked up my ears. He leaned forward, his face earnest. “I’m done tryin’ to cover up my mistakes. But by the same token, I ain’t gonna let some high-priced lawyer run roughshod over us if we ain’t at fault. I need someone unbiased to look into it.”
Ethical dilemma. Did I tell Linderman that
Amery originally hired us to find out if Prairie Gardens had been neglectful and deceitful? That broke client confidentiality.
But if we weren’t working for Amery, the possibilities were wide open. Why would I want to do it? I didn’t like Linderman, didn’t trust him either. Kevin would freak. Martinez would freak. While I weighed the factors, Linderman spoke up again.
“But here’s the thing. I have to hire you on the sly—cash on the barrelhead. My kids don’t want me involved. They think we should let Bradley handle it. I think we wouldn’t be in this pickle if they’d kept a keener eye on what he was doin’.”
“Without breaching client privacy laws, there’s a good chance my partner made a verbal agreement with 332
Ms. Grayson on doing the legal legwork for her case against Prairie Gardens.”
“Then that’s perfect.”
“How so?”
“If what you find helps her case, then you can turn the information over to her. If what you find out shows something other than our neglect caused Mr. Sloane’s death, then justice will be served.”
I blew a stream of smoke upward.
“You don’t trust me.”
“Why should I? Given what I’ve discovered about your facility, I’d say you aren’t going to be so ‘do the right thing’ once I pass you a list of all the problems I’ve already uncovered.”
“True enough.”
“On the other hand, I have no way of knowing you aren’t trying to save your own ass by manipulating me into working for you, so you can find out what angle my partner is working on for Ms. Grayson.”
“That’s also true. But let me ask you something. Who stands to benefit from Vernon Sloane’s death?”
“Financially? From the lawsuit?”
“No. From his will. It’s not Prairie Gardens. His granddaughter inherits all that money.”
“What money? Vernon Sloane didn’t have any
money.”
“Someone fed you wrong information. Vernon
Sloane was worth