The Heir Hunter Read Online Free Page A

at all. Merchant and Associates had been orphaned just as the son had been. He decided in his grief that if there was anything he could do to ease some of the hurt, it was preserving and maintaining this final piece of his father. Merchant and Associates would exist—would
thrive—as
an ongoing tribute to its founder. This was a promise he had dedicated himself to keeping.
    Nick pulled himself from the bed and opened the living room blinds. He studied the joggers and dog walkers going about their business on the grassy Marina Greens. Alcatraz sat in the middle of the bay like some immense freighter at anchor. Another black-and-white cruised Marina Boulevard toward the wharves. Nick focused on a shapely brunette jogging along the gravel path by the bay. The water was gray, a tinge darker than the fog-choked sky.
    He entered the bathroom and turned on the faucet. He had always considered heir finding a bizarre line of work, more suitable for Sherlock Holmes than Dirty Harry, but he had come to see that he was better suited for findingpeople than he was for handcuffing them. The track record seemed to prove that. A four-year tally revealed that he and Alex had solved over two hundred cases and signed over five hundred heirs in fourteen countries. And even now, even after four years of it, the entire business remained wonderfully strange to him, kind of like working for the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes, only instead of one winner a year he found several dozen. All that and he got paid for it too.
    He leaned over the sink and splashed frigid water on his face. He needed to wake up. There was no telling what Alex would find in Columbia County. He dabbed himself dry as he surveyed himself in the mirror. His face remained youthful despite the creases around the eyes, the lines in the forehead. He smiled at himself weakly. He was doing fine. Four years after the murder and he was finally doing okay.
    The doorbell rang. He glanced at his watch. Noon. Alex’s call was long overdue, but at least his secretary was on time.
    “How can you live out here?” Rose asked as she stepped inside. “I had to park almost four blocks away.”
    “This is where all the successful young people like me live,” answered Nick, with a wink.
    Rose dropped a stack of files on the kitchen table. “You’re not so young anymore, Nick. Look at Doug. He’s barely older than you, and he’s got two kids already. Time for you to stop acting young and start thinking about settling down.”
    “You have someone in mind for me? A young Raquel Welch who can cook? I’m all for that.”
    “I might be able to arrange something,” she said as she took a seat at the kitchen table. “My niece Patricia is single, and she’s very sweet. She’s a big girl who’ll keep you well fed and happy. I think it would be good for you to meet someone new.”
    “I meet someone new every day.”
    “I’m not talking about old dead people, Nick. I’m talking about someone young, someone with a
pulse
, for goodness sake.”
    Nick smiled and shook his head helplessly. Taking on Rose two years ago as full-time secretary had been one of his better moves. With nearly thirty years of executive secretarial experience behind her, she had quickly made Merchant and Associates a fortress of organization.
    The phone rang. Rose grabbed it, drawing an amused look from Nick. She held it out to him after a moment. “Alex. She’s hyperventilating.”
    “She’s what?”
    She shrugged. “She’s excited about something.”
    This was nothing unusual. Nick took the phone. “Hey, girl.”
    “Nick! Nick, you aren’t going to believe this!”
    “That good?” he asked, taking a pen and paper from Rose. “How many estates?”
    “Only four, but you are not going to believe the fourth.”
    “Lay it on me.”
    “The name’s Gerald Jacobs. Gerald Raymond Jacobs. That’s J-a-c-o-b-s. Died five days ago upstate, and I’m not kidding you about this figure. Are you by your