Seduction on the Sand (The Billionaires of Barefoot Bay #2)(16)
Author: Roxanne St. Claire

And fall into his bed.

She inched back, not sure where the thought came from, but it sure wasn’t the first time she’d had it. With a quick and unexpected peck on her lips, he was gone.

She shifted to her other foot and checked her number again, furious at the way he’d left her so electrified. And disappointed to be alone. Why in God’s name would his leaving affect her like that? He was a billionaire, for crying out loud, and it was Monday morning. Of course, he had more important things to worry about than her little property problem.

Just like her parents.

She shoved that thought out of her mind, scrunching her eyes shut to mentally erase the words.  Over the course of the next two hours, she met with ineffective clerk after ineffective clerk. Keyboards were pounded, file drawers were opened, then she was sent to another department, then another.

It all reminded her so much of her old job that her stomach clenched. She’d never go back to that, never. She really did just want her farm and her goats and…

Becker’s face flashed in her mind. And his body. And the whole cycle of thoughts started all over again.

Finally, she got to Land Records where she was greeted by a familiar face, and the first one smiling all day.

“Liza!” Frankie reached out to shake her hand, not surprised when the other woman added a friendly hug. They’d gotten pretty darn friendly the last time Frankie had been here, and Liza had been an absolute treasure helping her navigate a maze of red tape and brick walls.

“What are you doing back here?” Liza asked, her stunning turquoise-colored eyes dancing with warmth. “The ninety-day wait period hasn’t passed yet.”

“I know, but I’ve been informed that someone has tried to file an illegal will in my grandfather’s name.”

Liza frowned and gestured to the hall. “I’ve been digging around since I got the message that you were worming your way through the processing system from hell. C’mon, let’s go in my office and talk.”

In the windowless room, Frankie took the guest chair, remembering the hominess of the little office, despite its lack of windows and abundance of government-issued ugly furniture. Frankie had seen her share of these four walls, but Liza made hers welcoming, with a lamp on the table instead of fluorescent light and a few pictures of a darling little brown-eyed boy she assumed was Liza’s son.

“It’s very puzzling,” Liza finally said as she slipped into her chair behind the desk. “I found that will a few hours ago when I first got the notification from documents pending that you were looking for it.”

Frankie shot forward. “And it’s fake, right?”

She blew out a breath. “I don’t know. It’s disappeared right out of the system not twenty minutes ago.”

“What?”

“It’s the strangest thing,” she said, turning to tap on her computer keyboard as if she hoped it might magically appear again. “I wouldn’t have even looked, but a notice came that you were in the process office and would eventually make your way here, and, of course, I remembered you and how there was no will and no deed for your No… What did you call him again?”

“Nonno,” she supplied. “It’s Italian for grandfather.”

Liza smiled. “Yes, I liked that and your story about your farm. It sounds so dreamy, you know?”

“It is,” Frankie said, understanding the longing to escape bureaucracy. “You should bring your son to my farm sometime. He’d love the goats.”

Liza’s smile faltered, and her gaze shifted to the framed picture next to her computer. “Oh, he’s not my…” Liza gave a tight smile. “Sure. I’d love to bring him over, thank you.” A box flashed on the screen, taking her attention back to the computer. “Ugh, still says ‘file not found,’ but…”

“But what?” Frankie leaned forward, trying to get a better look at the screen.

“Well, when I saw that notice that you were trying to track down a will and I found it, I had a chance to see the document scan.” Her pretty mouth drew down. “I hate to tell you, it looked legit.”

“It did?” Worry clamped her chest.

Liza’s gaze softened and grew sympathetic, like a doctor about to deliver very bad news. “Frankie, we do see this kind of thing from time to time.”

“What kind of thing?”

“Older folks do get scammed like that. These con artists and developers comb old-age homes and even some neighborhoods looking for elderly citizens who haven’t written a will, then they persuade the person, who is oftentimes not completely, you know…” She tapped her temple and gave a sympathetic tilt to her head.

“Nonno was pretty alert,” Frankie said. But then, she’d been gone awhile. How did she know how alert he was? She didn’t know he was sick enough to have a stroke, either.

“I’m sure he was, but in some cases, these people don’t know what they’re signing because they don’t have family to advise them.”

And neither had Nonno, because she was in Washington, DC. Tamping down guilt, she leaned forward. “Can you fight that?”

“Oh, absolutely, with the right attorney. Unless, of course, the land gets sold before you get a hold of it. Then you’re in trouble.”

Frankie pinched the bridge of her nose, squeezing against the frustration headache that had started hours earlier. “So, what happened to the document?”

Liza whooshed out a breath that fluttered her bangs. “I do not know, and I tell you, I’m freaking Sherlock Holmes when it comes to investigating things like this. I’ve dug through every file I can find, but it’s gone.”

“Then, that’s good, right?”

She shook her head. “It’s just weird. It could mean that it was flagged by someone, somewhere, and pulled from the system, or it could mean that someone made an offer on the land and a Realtor has the will.”

Frankie sucked in a breath. “No!”

“Don’t panic yet. I’m going to make this a top priority, and I promise to call you when I find it. Is this still your cell number?” She read from the open file, and Frankie confirmed.

Liza walked out with her, still chatting as they went down the hall, but when she opened the door, she went stone silent. Then she turned to Frankie. “Brace yourself. Hottie in the office.”

Frankie laughed, remembering how a handsome man could send a reaction fluttering through the otherwise dull halls of a government building. She inched around to take a peek, her whole body tightening at what she saw. Not a hottie…her hottie.