“Tell you what. Tomorrow I’ll do all the cleaning and shopping and whatever. You can have the evening off.”

She raised one eyebrow. “Really?”

“Sure.”

“Okay, deal.”

He reached into his pocket, pulled out his money clip, and peeled off five hundred-dollar bills. “That should handle incidentals until you’re able to access the business account.”

Allie stared at the money with bulging eyes. “Do you always carry that kind of money around?”

“I like to be prepared. See you tomorrow.”

He stepped off the boat, feeling really good about the day. He had pleasantly sore muscles from climbing up and down the ladder to the bridge, and his nose was sunburned.

His good mood lasted until he saw Reece striding toward him down the dock, looking ridiculously out of place in dress slacks, a starched white shirt and a tie. Why was he wearing a tie? No one down here wore ties unless they were getting married or going to a funeral.

“Where the hell have you been?” Reece demanded. “Why haven’t you answered your phone?”

“Um, Reece, cell phones don’t work out on the ocean. Is there a problem?”

“I’ll say. Mark Gold called from Austin.”

Gold was the legal researcher Cooper had hired to check into Allie’s claims about a will. “What did he say?”

“He says there is a will. Handwritten, but properly witnessed, properly executed in every way. Went through probate without a hitch. It leaves the boat to one Allison Therese Bateman.”

“We’ll hire a forgery expert,” Cooper said immediately. “The whole thing could be faked. Uncle Johnny wouldn’t have cut us out.”

“Apparently he did. I’ve talked to the lawyer here who filed it. His name is Arlen Caldwell. He was a personal friend of Johnny’s. Says there is no question that Johnny wrote and signed the will.”

“If that’s true, we’ll argue diminished mental capacity. And if that doesn’t work, we’ll prove Allie coerced him into writing a new will.”