Murdered in the Man Cave (A Riley Reed Cozy Mystery) by R. Barri Flowers Page B

money. I had no knowledge
of his financial state, but I assumed that since he had two
bestsellers under his belt, his head was at least above water.
    I heard Brent start to speak to me and gave
him my undivided attention.
    "I don't know where we went wrong in our
relationship, Riley, but I sure as hell know where we went right.
Thanks for giving me a shoulder to cry on from time to time. Since
I know you have always been one of my biggest fans, I leave you a
signed first edition of all my books in hardcover. If you've read
them all, read them again. I've always found novels better the
second time around. And if you find any errors, please keep them to
yourself."
    I smiled, holding back tears, as I accepted
the gift, which I would forever treasure.
    "Good bye to each one of you," Brent said,
"and thank you for the part you played in my life. Now get the hell
out of here and go live your own lives to the fullest, as I tried
to do."
    The screen went blank and Brianna pointed the
remote at the television and turned it off.
    "Thank you all for coming," she said. "Riley
and Pierce, you can get together with Luisa to set up a time to
pick up your items from the house. Or they can be delivered to you
wherever you wish. As to everyone else, once the will has gone
through probate and the criminal investigation is completed,
Brent's wishes will be honored."
    I understood that last part pertained to
state law, whereby a murderer could not inherit from the deceased,
if found guilty of the person's murder. Looking around the room, I
wondered if anyone present could have been involved in Brent's
death. I dreaded to think so. At the same time, money was always a
motivation for killing someone, assuming Brent's murderer hadn't
ended his life for another reason.
    "The Alzheimer's certainly took me by
surprise," Pierce said to me as everyone prepared to leave.
    "I think that's true for all of us," I told
him, seeing no reason to admit that Brent had shared this with me
in confidence.
    "I wish I had known. Maybe I could have
helped him with his writings or whatever."
    "I think Brent preferred to keep it to
himself for as long as possible, having such pride in his ability
to do everything for himself."
    "I suppose you're right." Pierce scratched
his check. "Can I give you a lift home?"
    "Thanks, but I'm riding with Emily," I
responded.
    "No problem. See you later."
    "Are you going to Brent's house?" I asked
him, knowing that Emily had invited a few guests over in honor of
Brent.
    "Yes, I plan to drop by for a few minutes,"
he said.
    I smiled, thinking we might be able to talk a
bit more about the book club meeting. "Okay, then I'll see you
there."
    He grinned and said, "By the way, that was
quite a gift Brent bequeathed to you. Those books will be quite
valuable someday."
    "Maybe, but I don't think he gave them to me
for the money," I said. "Nor would I ever sell them."
    Pierce appeared to be speechless, and I
watched as he slowly made his way out of the room. I approached
Emily, who was chatting with Ivana Croxley.
    "Hey," I said to them.
    "Ivana was just telling me that she and Uncle
Brent had planned to go to Hawaii next month," Emily said
sadly.
    "Really?" I looked at Ivana.
    "Yes, we were going to spend a week in Kauai
and one in Maui." Ivana's voice broke. "Now I wish we had just
taken off the moment we started talking about it. We could have
created lots of memories and maybe somehow this wouldn't have
happened."
    I hated to rain on her pleasant thought, but
said candidly, "I wish that were true. But it seems like someone
was determined to kill Brent and would likely have pursued that
whenever the opportunity presented itself."
    Ivana frowned. "Who would have wanted him
dead?"
    "I've asked myself that very question
numerous times," I told her, "but no answer has surfaced thus far.
I guess we'll just have to wait and let the police do their
job."
    "Meanwhile, the killer is still free to go
about their business," Ivana said.
    "I know and it