Page 458 of His Hungry Wolf

“I tried to tell you. This is what people like my parents and Sey do to keep power. They take what they want. They don’t care about who they have to hurt to get it.”

The thought of bulldozers destroying my home flashed through my mind. It was a nightmare. I saw kids and families becoming homeless. I pictured them being scattered like ashes. I couldn’t let that happen to them. But, I couldn’t let Sey destroy Lou’s life, either.

“What if we fought back?” I said capturing Lou’s attention.

“How? We have nothing. No money. No connections. He has us.”

I thought for a second.

“I don’t know if that’s true.”

“What do you mean?”

“When your grandmother told you that you were going to inherit everything, didn’t she also tell you to get prepared?”

“She did, but I didn’t listen,” he admitted regrettably.

“Was your grandmother the type to take her own advice?”

“What do you mean?”

“Would your grandmother tell you to get prepared and not prepare herself?”

Lou thought about it.

“I mean, I think she did prepare. At least she tried. She had that law firm that was supposed to handle her will.”

“The one that specialized in the estate of authors?”

“Yeah.”

“The one that your father’s law firm got her away from?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you think she knew what was going on in her final days? I mean, did she have dementia or anything?”

“She died in her sleep. Before that, she seemed like she would live forever. That’s why I wasn’t in contact with her as much as I should have been,” he said looking down.

“Then, if she was of sound mind, and told you to prepare, she probably knew that there was going to be a fight. Mightn’t she have taken steps to win that fight? Steps that could give her side the advantage. Secret steps.”

“You’re saying that she might have left something behind that might help me get my inheritance?”

“Does that sound like something she might do?”

Lou thought about it. His eyes darted from side to side. As he did, excitement covered his face. I recognized this person. It was the man I fell in love with.

“It does. Did I tell you that she wrote mysteries? Clues were everything to her.”

I smiled.

“Lou, you did not tell me that.”

“I think you’re right. She might have left clues. But what?”

“If she did, it would be somewhere back at the house, right?”

“Maybe,” Lou said. “I can’t imagine where else she would have left it.”