“Al told me about the trouble you’re having.  What can I do to help?”  Babs couldn’t imagine what advice she could possibly offer, but she liked Lane and would do whatever she could.

Lane smiled.  It was such an unbelievable situation.  She reached into her Brahmin bag and got Uncle Vinnie’s card.  As she handed it to Babs, she explained.

“When I was four years old, my father and I were in a car accident.  The accident was caused when a drunk teenager crossed the centerline and hit us.  I was uninjured, but my father died a few months later as a result of his injuries.”

“Lane, I am so sorry.  That must have been difficult.”

“Thank-you.  It was made more difficult because my mother who had ovarian cancer died just weeks after my father died.  I was raised by my mother’s younger sister.”

Babs looked at the card Lane had handed to her.  She still didn’t know why Lane was in her office or why Lane had given her Vincenzo Luciano’s card.  She reached out and took Lane’s hand.

Lane gave a half smile.  “I learned yesterday that the young driver came from a very wealthy family.  His father put 1.5 million dollars in trust for me.  Vincenzo Luciano has been administering that trust all this time.  Apparently, it’s grown substantially.  I’m here because I want to discuss the trust.  I’m not sure what to do with it.  Mr. Luciano suggested that I talk with my own advisor before I make any decisions.”

“I see.  Let me call Mr. Luciano’s office and have the details sent to me.”

Babs stood and walked to her desk.  She dialed the number on the card, gave her name, and her client’s name to the person on the other end of the line.  Seconds later Mr. Luciano was on the line.

“Mr. Luciano, My name is Barbara Burns.  I represent Lane Parker.”

“Yes, I’d appreciate that,” she said before she gave her fax number.

“Yes, what can you tell me about the specifics of the trust?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact Mrs. Parker is in my office.”  She put the call on hold and looked at Lane.

“Mr. Luciano has suggested we meet him at Bellini’s for a late lunch meeting.  Are you free at one o’clock?”

Lane nodded.

“Yes, Mr. Luciano, we’ll be happy to meet you there at one.” Babs disconnected the call.

Lane looked across the desk.

“Babs, Vinnie is my boyfriend’s uncle.”  She paused.  That was the first time she’d called Ben her boyfriend.  It was odd, was she too old to have a boyfriend?  Maybe, but she wasn’t old enough to use the term gentleman friend and it was too soon to call him her significant other even though that was really what he was.

“The entire situation is … complicated, I guess.  The man I found dead was the teenaged driver who killed my father.  Ben and I had lunch yesterday with his uncle who told us about the trust.  I understand that my aunt knew about the trust, but refused it.  Apparently, Mr. Gardino had them hold the money in trust anyway and Mr. Luciano was supposed to find me when I became of age.  He knew me as Angelique Valle – but my Aunt had begun calling me Lane.  Even though he said he did try, it was impossible.  So it was quite by accident that it all came out at lunch yesterday.”

There was a rap at the door and Bab’s assistant brought in the fax from Mr. Luciano’s office.

“Let me look all of this over.  Perhaps we can meet in an hour at Bellini’s.  That would give us half an hour to talk before we meet with Mr. Luciano.”

Lane smiled.  She’d felt a little under dressed during her meeting yesterday with the Luciano brothers.  The uncles were wearing Gucci shoes and Brioni suits which retail in the thousands. She thought she’d like to go home and put on a suit of her own before the meeting even if it would take at least ten of her suits to equal the price of the one Uncle Vinnie had worn yesterday.  Still, she’d feel better.

Ben had been extremely anxious to get her out of her house, and she had to admit that he had a point.  She called him from the parking lot of Babs’ office.

“Red, how did the meeting with Babs go?”

“Uncle Vinnie faxed some paperwork to her and asked if we’d meet him at Papa’s at one o’clock for a late lunch.  I’m going home – my home – to change.  I felt a little under dressed with those two old men yesterday.”

“Lane, I don’t want to sound like an old woman, but I really would feel better if you aren’t alone at your house until this is resolved.  I can’t get away right now.  I’ll send Tanner to meet you.  Please don’t go in until he gets there.”

She couldn’t decide whether to be angry, but then again, she had called Ben and she’d done it because she knew he had a point about it being dangerous to be alone at her house.  She agreed to wait for Tanner knowing that it meant Tanner would go in first, gun drawn to clear the house before he let her in and that he’d wait while she changed.  On the one hand, it seemed like overkill, on the other it was a small price to pay for her safety.

Safety.  Suddenly it dawned on her that the kids would be back tomorrow.  If it wasn’t safe for her to live in her house right now, how was she going to keep the kids safe?  She’d talk to Ben.  Maybe they could get the police to add an extra patrol or something.

She drove to her house and was surprised to find Tanner’s SUV already parked in her driveway.  Tanner was outside the vehicle walking around the house.  Securing the perimeter is the way it would read in a novel.  She sat in her Escalade until Tanner motioned for her to get out.  He had her enter the garage code and he preceded her into the house just the way she’d imagined it.  He cleared the house, room by room even checking the basement, before he let her go further than the garage.

“Go ahead and change.  I’ll wait in the hall.”

Lane went into her bedroom and quickly selected not a suit, but a dress.  It was a tailored, linen, sleeveless sheath in black and cream.  She dressed quickly with nude hose, and black and cream shoes.  She quickly transferred some things into a black and cream striped Brahmin bag and then grabbed up her discarded jeans, blouse, and sandals and put them into a duffle bag as she walked into the hall.

“Hope I didn’t keep you too long.  Are you supposed to follow me to Bellini’s or am I on my own now?”

Tanner laughed.  “You’re on your own, but you might want to give the man a call.  He worries.”

Sometimes it was easy to forget Ben was 12 years younger because he had always acted as if he was the older brother, father, uncle.  She laughed a bit.  It made her think about her little cousin Hannah.  When Hannah was about three, she was trying to process how Lane really fit into the family and one day she told Marta “I have a sister.” When Marta asked who she said, “Lane and I have an aunt.” When Marta again asked who, again little Hannah replied, “Lane and I have a cousin.” Again, the answer was “Lane.” But, when she followed with “and I have two Mamas.” Taken aback Marta asked who, “You, and Lane.” Little Hannah had replied.  Apparently, Lane was whichever female relative that little Hannah needed.  Maybe Ben was whatever man Lane needed.  She shook her head.    Ben was her friend, her boyfriend.  He wasn’t her brother, father, uncle, or even her husband, yet.  Where the heck had that come from?

She sat in her SUV and called Ben.  Her cell was connected to the stereo system via blue tooth, so she felt safe to drive.

The phone had barely rung when he picked up.  “Red, Tanner says everything’s fine at the house.”

Lane smiled.  Of course Tanner would have called Ben while she was changing.  “I’m on my way to Papa’s.  I have a couple of errands to run this afternoon, and then I need to stop by my office.  Evie sent a package for me and I need to pick it up.  Any idea what time you’ll finish up today?  I was thinking we could meet for dinner some place.”

Lane knew Ben had a trial starting Monday and since she’d taken up so much time this week, she suspected he might be working late doing prep for it.