Read Morgan James - Promise McNeal 01 - Quiet the Dead for Free Online Page B

reduced to a very small greasy spot on the road to divorce court. Garland opened the file and slid the top page towards me. It was an eight by ten glossy headshot of a pensive young man, facing the camera. Except for his dark hair, layered behind his ears and a tad longer than currently fashionable, his face could have been any sincere, handsome man, who just happened to photograph well. As I focused on him, though, I changed my mind about him being just any pretty face. His eyes were mysteriously deep set and knowledgeable, his slightly aquiline nose authoritative and perfectly proportioned to the face. No, unless men were now going in for Glamour Shots photo sessions, this picture was one of many copies a theatrical agent would keep on hand. This was the face of a man who wanted, needed, to connect with the viewer, his audience.
    “Paul Alaine Tournay, the second, his grandfather being the first, or senior, however you want to put it.” Garland began, and pointed to the photograph, “Only son of Becca. Thirty-four years old.”
    “So, Becca was about what age when he was born?”
    “Eighteen. A student at the University of South Carolina, where her father was a professor, when her son was born. No marriage. Sperm donor unknown, at least to me. She refuses to talk about it; so, we can assume giving birth was not Becca’s first choice. Obviously, the baby was named for his grandfather. Paulie, as his mother calls him, was raised by Becca and Sr. Tournay, and graduated from the University of South Carolina with a degree in history and theater. Began acting and singing as a teenager and was well received at USC with the Shakespearean players. Plays classical piano. Toured for a while with a group called the Upstock Players doing the usual, The Fantastics, Music Man, that kind of stuff. Somehow got tagged for a short stint as Ronald in a disgusting soap titled, Forever . Soap only lasted one season. Must have been pretty bad. Three years ago Paulie moved back to Atlanta into the old Tournay house off West Wesley Road and Howell Mill. Lived there about a year, presumably with grandpa’s permission, before Tournay, Sr. died. Now the trust allows him to stay in the house.”
    “What does he do for a living now?”
    “He still acts locally and actually has a paying job as director of the Sixteenth Street Theater; not big bucks, but since he lives rent free in grandpa’s house and the trust pays all the household bills, except food. I guess he does okay. Grandpa even gave him a vintage Jag, so I guess no car payments. Though, upkeep on a Jaguar must be more than some car payments. Oh, and his mom says he buys and sells antiques and vintage stuff like that.”
    I nodded my head to show I’d taken in Garland’s recitation about Paulie Tournay. “So, what is the deal with the trust? How much money, and how does it work?”
    “About five million. How does it work? Ah, that is interesting.” Garland took a deep sip of tea. “It’s one of those beautiful set-ups to keep the IRS from getting all the inheritance. When Reagan was President, his administration got this and a couple of other trust formulas through Congress to save rich folks some inheritance taxes. This type of trust was available for five years and then expired. Tournay was lucky, or smart, enough to get in on it before it expired. Basically, Becca and Paulie, as he is so lovingly called by his mommy, get interest only on the trust for the first ten years and then Paulie gets the principal in one lump sum to control. At that point he can liquidate most of the assets by an ingenious convoluted tax formula if he chooses, at no penalty. Sweet deal! The only holdout will be Becca continues to get a monthly allowance from the trust, in the amount of the last year’s interest, until her death.”
    “That means Paulie doesn’t even get control of the trust for another eight years. Why is Becca so hot to do something now?”
    “No mystery there, not really. Even