The day of the will reading was murky and damp. A heavy rain had fallen the night before and every bit of the Florida soil was soaked and sinking. I could consider it a bad omen—the long streak of sunshine broken on the day the family would read a dead woman's last will and testament—but I wasn't much for believing in signs. Especially not since rain and Florida went together like white on rice. My intuition, however, was sounding in alarm. It said—danger, danger, there's tomfoolery afoot.

          I arrived at the manor at ten fifty; sharp. Alexis was standing on the porch, waiting with her braids in a loose ponytail and her arms folded over her chest. I parked in the driveway, grateful for the opulent brick path so I wouldn't have to sink my heels into the wet earth to walk across the grass.

         Up on the porch Alexis greeted me with a terse, "Ms. Harper."

          "Please, you can call me Evie."

          "Evie." She nodded but kept her arms folded. "Readings in ten."

          Cutting it a little close I must admit, but I didn't want anyone, especially Robert, knowing I was coming. "You ready?"

          "I guess."

          "Who's coming?"

          "All my siblings." She turned back to the large embellished door and pushed it open. "And Corrine."

          Corrine. Looks like our runaway nurse found her way to me. "She's with Malik I take it."

          "Well, yes."

          "Robert's here too?"

          "Yes."

          "And Este?"

         "Out for the day."

          Inside the house was as quiet as a mausoleum. Our footsteps echoed through the empty halls. The faint smell of coffee grew louder the deeper we went into the house. Neither of us spoke. I suspect we were both lost in our own thoughts, and besides there wasn't much to say. If the will read today matched the one in Diana's keepsake box then the likelihood of foul play was slim and my job was over.

          And if not...

          As we rounded the corner Robert's voice grew from a whisper. He stood just outside of the open doorway to the office wearing his usual three-piece suit and laughing into his cell. He hung up and smiled when he saw Alexis. His smiled dropped when he saw me.

          "Hello, Robert." I said with a barely contained smirk.

          "Ms. Harper." The surprise of my presence did its job. He forced himself to smile, unnerved by the intrusion. "I'm surprised you're here."

          "I'll bet."

          He turned to Alexis and dipped his head a bit. "Could I speak with Ms. Harper alone."

         Alexis hesitated, sensing hostility but I smiled and said, "Yeah, it's fine. We're buds. I'll see you inside."

          When she was far enough inside the office, he took a step further into my personal space, then whispered in a quaking irritated voice, "Does the family know you're a private investigator?"

          "Does the family know you had all of them investigated."

          His back straightened. "You're quite a nosy person."

          "So I've been told."

          He sighed from the gut then gestured toward the door. "After you."

          Diana's office was more like a studio apartment—and nearly twice as big. It even had its own bathroom and a tidy kitchen nook with microwave, sink, mini fridge, and espresso machine for days when you need to stay locked in your office I suppose. The lights on the espresso machine were active. Six cups sat freshly filled on a serving platter. One for Robert and each guest.

          In front of Diana's sleek, modern desk they'd lined up five chairs. In one of them was Gabe. He sat slumped over with his chin resting against his hand and his elbow digging into the armrest. He had no real reaction when he saw me but then I'm not fully sure he even knows what's going on.

          "Let me get an extra chair." Robert made a big show of grabbing another chair from the conference table near the windows. He drug it over to line it up with the others with a distinctively resentful set to his shoulders. As it screeched across the floor you could practically hear his dissent. You're not welcome here.

          Whatever, I was invited. Fuck him.

          Once the chair was adequately in line with the others, he turned to me and said. "Would you like an espresso?" Everything about his voice and demeaner betrayed his desire to not get me anything but far be it for me to turn down an opportunity to be served by this jackass.

          I smiled sweetly. "That sounds lovely. Thank you."

         Just as he turned away, I caught a hint of a scowl. I don't think he likes me very much.

         I suppose it was impolite of me to force him to take time out of his busy morning to make an extra cup of coffee, but it didn't matter. Malik was late anyway, which I had expected. Destiny was late too, but that was way stupider because she lived here.

          Speak of the devil! Destiny strolled in from down the hall, looking as fabulous as ever in a silk blouse and pressed slacks. She went to grab an espresso, ran her fingers through her shoulder length hair, and then stopped when she saw me. "Who are you?"

          "Evie Harper. Friend of Alexis. Moral support."

          "Whatever." She went and sat down elegantly in one of the chairs. "Robert can we do this? I have a salon appointment in thirty minutes."

         "We're just waiting on Malik."

          "Aren't we always."

          "Now, now."

          We sat in silence for a couple of awkward minutes, the only sound the occasional clearing of throats, Destiny's sipping, and the drip-drip of my coffee brewing. Footsteps sounded from the hall. Everyone but Gabe turned expectantly. Malik came shuffling through the door, his eyes cold behind his glasses and Corrine in tow with a big smile on her face.

          "Morning, family." He was more handsome than I remembered; his jaw was wide, eyes deep set and wanton. The only unattractive thing about him in my humble opinion was the lack of weight for a man his age. He was tall alright but also as slim as a teenage boy. And personally, I liked 'em thick.

          When his eyes met mine; he was not surprised. Robert warned him, then. Unlike Robert he was unable to pretend to smile and instead chose to openly frown at me. I'm starting to think I'm not so popular.

          Corrine was oblivious. Did Robert warn Malik but not her? Is she not privy to all information? That's a bad way to run a conspiracy.

          If there was one.

          Malik and Corrine took their seats. Robert grabbed the serving platter and then went down the row offering espresso to all participants. Everyone grabbed a cup except Corrine who wasn't thirsty and Destiny who already had one. When he got to me, we stared at each other for a moment before I bypassed the cups closest to me and grabbed the cup he'd set to the back of the platter for himself.

          His mouth screwed up but he said nothing and walked quickly behind Diana's desk where he took a sip of coffee, cleared his throat, and flipped open a thick pressboard folder.

          "Well, today we, Diana's closest family and friends," he looked pointedly at me. "Are gathered to hear her last will and testament."

          The room held its breath. All eyes found Robert. I looked at each sibling trying to read their expressions, but the veneer of wealth had left them all masters of the poker face. I turned my gaze back to Robert and sipped the coffee I hadn't really wanted.

          "Let it be known that I, Diana Dupont, appoint Robert L. Davis as the executor of my estate."

          He raddled off the written responsibilities of the executor with all the oratory skills of an apathetic ninth grader called on to read Shakespeare out loud in class. Such responsibilities of the executor were handling the final financial decisions of the deceased as stated in the will—i.e. paying leftover bills and taxes and making sure her heirs received their due. That she appointed Robert perplexed me but perhaps she trusted him.

          "To my daughter Destiny Williams-Wells," Robert continued. "I leave the sum of five million dollars."

          At the sound of the word 'five' the room stilled. The air thinned. Destiny looked around from face to face. She didn't panic at first—she chuckled. This was a joke. It had to be. Five million was nothing to this crowd. But when Robert held steadfast, her calmness gave way to confusion, which gave way to anger.

          "This can't be right!" She stood so abruptly her chair rocked back. "Five million? Out of a hundred and fifty million! This is bullshit!"

          "Destiny, please! There's more." Robert looked down and flipped the page over ever so dramatically. "And my home in Martha's Vineyard."

          Destiny's eyes bulged. She bit into her lip. Deep frown lines formed at her brow. She turned to Malik. "This is you!"

          Malik looked at her coolly. "Destiny, please. Can we get through this? I have a meeting."

          Robert waited for Destiny to sink back into her chair before he continued. "To my daughter Alexis Dupont I leave the sum of six million dollars."

          "This is ridiculous." That was all Alexis said to that. But then she had seen the original will and had prepared herself for the possibilities.

          Destiny seized on the opportunity and leaned forward so she could look at Alexis. "This is bullshit, right?"

          Alexis said nothing but the sisters agreed with a shared look that was more in sync than any interaction I'd ever seen them have.

           "To my son Gabriel Dupont, I leave the sum of twenty million dollars." Twenty million? To the slacker? So the divorcee and the clear favorite get five million each while the shirking party boy gets twenty?

          And Gabe's debts had been about ten million. Enough to pay it off and live off of. That meant Gabe, who I hadn't paid too much mind to until now, was a part of the conspiracy somehow.

          "To my good friend Robert Davis, I leave the sum of forty million dollars."

          Oh. Shit.

          Destiny flew out of her seat and ran toward Robert. I thought she meant to chop him in the throat—okay I was hoping she would chop him in the throat—but she seized on the paperwork like a lioness biting into a gazelle's ass.

          She grabbed up the document; her eyes moving fiercely over the page. "How did you do this?" She shouted at Robert. "This shit isn't notarized."

           "Wills don't need to be notarized. You know that."

          "This is bullshit!"

          "Destiny, please calm down." He shrugged and held his hands up in surrender. "I'm only the executor."

          She narrowed her eyes and tossed the will back on the desk. We waited for her to retake her seat. Her face was a mixture of anger and grief. She hadn't hired me, so she wasn't privy to any intel about the previous will or the letter. For all she knew her mother really did leave her twisting in the wind, though from the defiant look in her eyes she was already plotting to contest it.

          Robert cleared his throat yet again and took a sip of espresso before continuing. "Uh, to my lovely nurse Corrine Thomas, I leave the sum of twenty-five million dollars." Corrine smiled. It was small, barely noticeable. You'd think an ordinary person suddenly inheriting millions of dollars would react with a little more excitement. But then, she knew it was coming. I could tell by the relaxed slump of her shoulders that she knew.

          That one went off without much drama though Destiny seethed harder and Alexis's wheels were clearly turning. On my end I shouldn't have had that espresso because now half my thoughts were on how they pulled this off and the other half were on finding a bathroom.

          But the fun had only begun as Robert finished the reading with the cherry on top of the dumpster fire sundae. "I give the shares in my company and the rest and residue of my estate to my beloved son Malik Williams."

          "The residue of my estate?" Destiny scoffed. "You mean this house!"

          "And everything in it." Malik finished the thought with a self-satisfied grin.

          "Oh, hell no!" Destiny stood and crossed the distance between herself and Malik and swung on him. It was a weak hit that did little but knock the glasses off his face and into his lap. "I don't know what kind of fucked up game this is but it's bullshit."

          Malik retrieved his glasses, put them back on, and stood so that he towered over her. "It's what mom wanted."

         "Fuck that! And fuck you too Robert." She pushed Malik aside and stomped her way out of the room. "I'm calling my lawyer!"

          I leaned over and whispered to Alexis. "Are you okay?"

          "I just...I don't know."

          "Will you sue?"

          "I don't know." She stood and followed Destiny's lead without a backward glance at her family. "Excuse me."

          "Well," Robert announced to the conspiracy crew. "That was a lot."

          It was. Makes me glad to be an only child.

          There was nothing more I could get from this crowd, so I got up and went in search of a bathroom. I had intended to catch up to Alexis to ask her where one was that wasn't attached to the office, but the girl moves fast because she was nowhere to be found so instead I went opening doors until I found one not far from the row of bedrooms I'd checked before.

          Once I was done, I was walking back out into the hallway when I heard Gabe shouting with more passion than I thought he was capable of. The door was only slightly cracked so I had to put my ear to it and try to tune out all other background noise.

          "What the hell, Malik!" I couldn't see him but Gabe's rage sent a wave of fury so thick I could feel it on the other side of the door.

          "What?" Malik sounded confused, but he couldn't be because even I knew what this was about.

           "Twenty million?"

          "It's a perfectly reasonable amount."

          "Corrine got twenty-five."

          Malik shushed him. "Keep your voice down."

          Gabe had the sense to lower his voice. "What the hell?"

          "Look, without Corrine this shit would have fallen apart."

          "But twenty-five million?" There was a small thudding like he stomped his foot to make a point of it. "That's just more for you when you marry her."

          "That's between me and her."

          "I was the one who introduced you." His voice got sharper with agitation. "She was nothing but a two-bit pill pusher when she met me."

          "Is it my fault you can't think beyond your next fix?"

          "It's all about money with you isn't it?"

          "Yes."

          "Well what will you do when our sisters sue us?"

          "Destiny can be bought. And Alexis can't do it alone."

          "What—"

          "Look, little brother. I'll move some stuff around before they even have a chance to file. By the time they lock the accounts you'll be taken care of." He sighed deeply but it sounded forced. "Don't worry. You'll get your cut."

          "It's the amount I'm worried about."

          "What's wrong with twenty million?"

          "It's pocket change!" He whined. "Why does Corrine get more?"

          "Because Corrine did more work."

          "So?"

          The sigh Malik gave this time sounded more genuine. As in he was genuinely tired of this shit. "So, she took on more risk." There was a silent pause and then Malik spoke again with more anger. "If the drugs hadn't turned your mind to mush you could work out the basic concept of higher risk, higher reward."

          "But—"

          "Look, twenty million is plenty to pay your debts and coast through the rest of your pathetic life—assuming of course you don't OD in a gutter. In which case, I remind you, your remaining wealth transfers to me."

          "Are you threatening me?"

          "Why would I need to threaten you? You won't tell any more than Corrine or Robert would. No matter who did what, we're all equally culpable under the law. Remember that in case your junkie ass thanks about coming clean."

          Did I mention how happy I am to be an only child?

          "I have to go. I have a meeting." Malik's voice had calmed some, but he was still anxious to leave.

           "What should I do?"

          "What you've always done. Absolutely nothing."

          I waited for two sets of footsteps to retreat before I left the bathroom. On my way downstairs I found Alexis in the living room with a bottle of gin and an expression of pure grief.

          "Hey," I said. "You okay?" It was redundant. Of course she wasn't okay but what do you say at a moment like this?

          "They killed her."

          "We still don't have proof."

          "I know it. They did it." She nodded, more to herself than anything, then took a drink of her gin.

           I didn't know what to say. I was pretty sure they were involved too, but where do I even go from here? I know the motive was money—but how did they do it?

          And the audacity to take advantage of a person dying from a degenerative brain disease was beyond disgusting. Especially since for two of them she was their mother.

          "So what now?"

          "They killed my mother." She said; her face cloaked in rage. "Do whatever it takes."