She sat taller. “The inquest regarding Herman Wade’s estate has escalated. There’s now a preliminary injunction.” She turned to me. “All of your parents’ assets that can be attributed to their inheritance are frozen.”
“Frozen?” I asked.
“That means their percentage of Wade is frozen,” Van said.
“Did you know about this?” I asked, turning to my fiancé.
“I had no idea until Lena called. Even so, I didn’t know about the details. I was waiting for her to tell us.”
“With all due respect,” Lena said, “there’s nothing you can do now and nothing you could have done if you’d known a week ago.”
“My parents…” I didn’t finish the sentence. They had tried to reach me. I was the one who didn’t return their calls.
“What’s the basis for the injunction?” Van asked.
“Fraud.”
I looked up from my glass of red liquid. “Does anyone know who filed the suit?”
Lena and Van looked at one another.
“If you know, tell me,” I said.
They both shook their heads. Lena was the first to answer. “I’ve had people digging. Your grandfather’s final will and testament was filed by an appointed executor.” She shifted her shoulders. “That isn’t unusual. The unusual part is that instead of using the Wade legal team that represented his company, Herman Wade went to another law firm.”
“Cobbs and Wilson,” Van said. “I was looking into it the morning of our wedding.”
It was hard to reckon with the reality that we’d lost two weeks. The wedding and everything with Wade. While the wedding never happened, the world beyond our snow globe continued. Van was right. It was time we jumped back in.
Lena continued, “The executor who filed Herman and Juliette’s legally binding will was named Stephen McCook.” She looked at me. “Does that name ring any bells?”
I shook my head. “I haven’t seen that name in any of my research regarding Wade.”
“The information you were provided only went back eighteen months,” Van said. “Lena told me today on the phone that Stephen McCook died roughly two years ago.”
“Is that significant?” I asked. “You’re not thinking that there was foul play.”
Lena took another sip of her drink. “According to the coroner’s report, no. He had an undiagnosed heart issue.”
“But you searched for his cause of death. Why?” I asked.
Lena lifted her hands. “I’m not accusing anyone of murder. The timing is curious.”
“Two years…” My gaze met Van’s. “That was when Mom used the house as collateral.”
Van and Lena nodded.
Lena stood and walked to the oven where our meal was warming. “I’m wondering,” she said, “if we want to eat now before our appetites disappear.”
Spinning the stem of the nearly empty wine glass, I felt the way her words twisted my stomach. “What are you going to tell us?” I looked at Van. “Or do you already know?”
“I spoke with Oscar this afternoon.”
I’d heard him.
Lena leaned against the counters by the ovens, her hands on the counter’s edge at her sides. “He told you.”
“He told me about a transaction between the shell companies. I also learned what Aphrodite had done.”