Chasing Memories: The Forevermore Series, Book 2 by Anna James Page B

blood.
    His cell rang and brought Lucas back to the present. He glanced at the caller ID. Amanda. Reaching for the phone, he connected the call. “Hello.”
    “Oh, Lucas, thank goodness you answered. Why didn’t you tell me you’d gone to Miami?”
    “I wasn’t aware I had to.”
    “It would have been nice to know, especially with everything going on with settling Grams’s estate. I’ve been calling around looking for you for the last twenty minutes.”
    Lucas let out a harsh breath. Amanda was right. It wasn’t fair to leave and expect her to handle everything. Evelyn named him executor of her estate. “I’m sorry, but why didn’t you call my cell straight off?”
    “I don’t know. This whole situation has me flustered.”
    “What situation?”
    “It’s why I’ve been trying to reach you.”
    “You’ve got me now. Tell me what’s wrong? You sound upset.”
    “You’d be upset, too, if a strange man showed up in your office and said you had one week to vacate the premises.”
    “What are you talking about? You’re not making any sense.” Lucas rubbed at his temples, trying to stop the pounding that started in his head. “Calm down and tell me exactly what happened.”
    Amanda let out a cry of frustration. “A man, one I don’t know and have never heard of, came to Grams’s office first thing this morning. He told me he—his company actually—is the new owner of the Young building.”
    New owner? Lucas sat up straighter. “That’s impossible.”
    “I thought as much, too, but according to the paperwork he showed me, the brownstone now belongs to a company named Tabbat and Associates. The deal went through on the day Grams died.”
    Maybe this was why she’d wanted to have dinner with him? She hadn’t given a reason, and he’d assumed she’d wanted to catch up.
    Amanda gasped. “Wait. You didn’t know either?”
    “No. I had no idea.”
    “Oh my gosh, Lucas. Why would she keep the sale a secret? She never kept secrets from us before. Heck, why would she want to get rid of the building? I can’t even imagine a reason.”
    Neither could he. The property housed Evelyn’s real estate business. Where would she have gone if she’d sold it? “I can’t tell you why she decided to sell, or why this person is coming forward now. It’s been almost three weeks since Grams passed.”
    “Calvin—he’s the new owner, or the man who owns Tabbat and Associates—said Grams leased the building back for one month. The thirty days is up at the end of next week and he wants me and the rest of the agency staff to vacate the premises.”
    “Relax, Amanda. He can’t just kick you out. He’s got to give you notice.”
    “He did. I mean he gave Grams written notice. It was part of the paperwork he showed me. I don’t understand any of this. None of it makes any sense. Why didn’t she tell us?”
    He didn’t know, but he’d sure as hell find out. “Do you have this man’s full name and contact information?”
    “Yes. His name is Calvin Tabbat, and you can reach him at…” she rattled off the number.
    Lucas wrote it down on a notepad and repeated it.
    “Yeah, that’s right.”
    “Okay. Fax me the documents he showed you and I’ll call Richard Davis and have him look into it for us. As her attorney, I assume he’d have handled the closing. He should know what’s going on.”
    Amanda sighed. “I don’t have the paperwork. I didn’t think to ask for a copy.”
    Damn it. Not having those records made things more difficult. Richard could have taken one look at them and told him whether everything was in order or not. “Fine. Richard can request duplicates.”
    “Good, but what am I supposed to do in the meantime?”
    “I’ll have Brett fly back to San Francisco and help you pack up the rest of the office. The accountants already have the financial information they need to review before we can dissolve Grams’s corporation.” And they could verify the money transaction associated