“What?”
Sophie reached for my elbow. “As you can tell, Mrs. Ramses is surprised by this information. She didn’t know anything about it.”
Michelson’s gray gaze narrowed. “Of course not. I’m sure an amount north of roughly three million dollars would have no effect on your statement regarding Mr. Underwood’s state of mind.”
My rushing pulse rang in my ears as I lifted my hands. “I don’t want Ross’s money. That doesn’t even make sense. He had his parents and a brother. He and I weren’t that close.”
Mr. Michelson nodded. “Of course you weren’t. Again, why were you in his hotel room?”
Sophie reached for my elbow. “We are leaving.”
Mr. Michelson feigned a smile. “Thank you for coming in today.” He spoke to Sophie. “Should I contact you if we need additional information from your client?’
I wasn’t confident in her answer, or anything after that moment.
Did Rett know about the account and that I was the beneficiary?
Why didn’t he warn me?
Or didn’t he know, and now when he learns, he’ll question my earlier answer about my relationship with Ross?
A million questions floated around in my head as we met Ian in the hallway. Together, he and Sophie walked with me to the car.
“Mrs. Ramses, are you all right?” Ian asked.
I nodded. “I want to go home.”
He opened the door to the back seat. As I sat, the driver’s gaze met me in the rearview mirror. I recognized him as one of Rett’s men named Noah. If I knew his last name, at the moment it was escaping me.
“Mrs. Ramses.”
“Noah, I doubt there was another option, but I want to get home.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Sophie, Mr. Clark, and Ian spoke for a moment outside the car before Ian joined us, sitting in the front passenger seat. Once he did, I closed my eyes and laid my head against the seat.
It had taken us roughly twenty-five minutes to get to the courthouse. I wasn’t well enough informed on the comings and goings in New Orleans or its traffic patterns to know if the trip home would be better or worse.
Cars passed in the opposite direction. People walked the sidewalks. My thoughts were back on Ross and that he’d named me as a beneficiary.
Why did he do that?
Laying my head back again, I closed my eyes, shutting out the world I’d been away from for over a month and a half. There were so many people, sounds, and even scents. I imagined I was back in my suite, the second-floor one.
With my eyes still shut, I didn’t prepare for the hard jolt preceding a loud crash. My body was thrown forward only to be stopped by the tightening of the seat belt. My eyes popped open. Loud noises rang in my ears as I ducked away from the shattering glass.
Airbags inflated around the interior perimeter of the vehicle as smoke and dust filled the air.
Had we been hit or did we hit something?
“Ian?” I called toward the front seat between coughs.
The door beside me rattled. My first thought was that someone was trying to help.
I reached for the door handle and unlocked it. The hinges creaked as the door was pried open. The eyes staring at me weren’t my husband’s. Nevertheless, I knew them.
“Liam? What are you...?”