Ring for Murder (Lighthouse Inn Finale) Read Online Free Page B

said. The rain began in earnest then, and they could
hear it beating down on the restaurant’s roof.
    Alex was determined not to let it spoil the
mood of the evening, though.
    He was getting married tomorrow, and nothing
else mattered.
    Or so he thought.
     
     

Chapter 4
     
     
    Back at the inn, everyone was settled in for
the night, but Alex couldn’t get to sleep, no matter how hard he
tried. He’d been avoiding Tony all evening since the pair of
confrontations he’d witnessed, hoping that whatever his brother had
to say to him could wait, but when Alex walked out onto the porch,
he found his brother there, sitting in the shadows. At least the
rain had finally stopped.
    “I figured you’d come out here eventually,”
Tony said.
    “I was just going to bed,” Alex said.
    “Alex, I hate to rain on your parade, but
you need to hear this before you get married. It’s going to affect
your life, and you need to make sure Elise knows what she’s getting
herself into.”
    He had had enough of his brother. “What is
it, Tony?”
    “It’s all of this,” Alex’s brother said as
he waved a hand around the air.
    “What are you talking about?”
    “Uncle Jase made a mistake when he wrote up
the transfer of property when we settled the estate. It’s invalid,
Alex. I had an attorney look it over, and there are issues with the
agreement that make it unenforceable.”
    Alex couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“What are you talking about, Tony? Why did you have a lawyer
involved in the first place?”
    “Hey, fair is fair,” Tony protested. “Family
is one thing, but legal is another.”
    Alex reached down and grabbed his brother’s
shirt roughly just as someone walked out onto the porch. It was
Alex’s future father-in-law.
    “Is there a problem here?” Mr. Danton asked
Alex pointedly.
    Alex released his brother’s shirt. “No
problem, sir. Just two brothers having a little chat.”
    Elise’s father looked skeptical, but he kept
it to himself. “I’ll just turn in, then.”
    “You’re lucky he saved you,” Tony said after
Elise’s father was gone. “It would be tough getting arrested for
assault on the day before you were supposed to get married.”
    “Tony, I gave you everything, all the
stocks, the bank accounts, the insurance money, just so I could
keep the inn. What happened to all of that money?”
    “It’s gone,” Tony said.
    “So you started looking around for another
easy score, didn’t you? Well, it’s not going to be that simple.
This place is mine.”
    “Not according to my attorney.”
    Alex couldn’t believe this was happening. It
was the stuff of the worst nightmares he’d ever had in his life.
“We agreed. You took that money.”
    “Listen, I don’t want to take this place
from you. Give me a hundred thousand right now, and we’ll call it
even.”
    Alex couldn’t keep from laughing, despite
the tragedy of the discussion. “Tony, I could barely scrape up a
tenth of that if I cashed in everything liquid I have, including
any wedding money Elise and I may or may not get tomorrow.”
    Tony frowned. “I don’t believe you. This
place has to be making money. Don’t jerk me around, Alex. This is a
one time offer, good until midnight tonight. You’ve got it, and you
know it.”
    “I can show you my checkbook if it will
prove it to you. We need a new boiler, our air conditioning system
is nearly shot, and the lighthouse needs to be painted. For all
intents and purposes, I’m broke, and steadily going deeper in the
hole every day.”
    “How about fifty thousand?” Tony asked. “I’m
willing to be reasonable about it.”
    “How about nothing,” Alex said, his temper
getting the better of him.
    “Then get ready to sell this place, dear
brother, because if you can’t pay up, I want half the cash value
for what this whole thing is worth. You can kiss your lighthouse
good bye, Alex.”
    And before Alex could say another word, Tony
walked off the porch and into the