Read Online Death at King Arthur's Court by Richard; Forrest - Free Book Online

simultaneously see Rina on the patio and Lyon in the leather chair. ‘I shouldn’t bad-mouth Skee. He’s the one who’s gotten her into the health business, and that’s a relief from past obsessions with a certain rock band.’
    â€˜She seems to be the type of individual who’s extremely enthusiastic about everything she does.’ Lyon watched Rina suck on an orange with gusto and then throw back her head to laugh at Garth’s quip. It was impossible not to notice the way a patio lantern backlit her figure. He realized that Clay was watching him with his usual half frown and he quickly poured another sherry.
    â€˜She’s always had a crush on you,’ Clay said.
    â€˜Hey, I’m a happily married guy,’ Lyon said.
    â€˜You forget that Rina is an aging flower child. The fact that you’re married doesn’t concern her in the least. She believes in what she calls the full and natural expression of feelings. You and I might call it sexual license. I’ve never been quite sure if this philosophy is based on some sort of Zen or the residue of too many past drugs. In addition to her girlhood crush on you, I think that she’s really got her heart set on the house. She considers Nutmeg Hill as the best location on the river for an eagle sanctuary.’
    â€˜Bea and I would never sell this place.’
    â€˜Rina knows that. Bea has already told her.’
    â€˜I hope you’re not suggesting anything. I have no intention of sharing my house with very large feathered friends. And other alternatives won’t work, since I’m too old for her,’ Lyon said with what he hoped was a note of finality.
    â€˜Nothing is too good for the eagles. There is no sacrifice too extreme, although Skee seems to be helping to relieve some of that obsessive pressure. Our older brother doesn’t understand that. Morgan still holds it against Rina for dropping out of college in her junior year. It drove him up the wall when she followed the Grateful Dead for fifteen months as a Dead Head.’
    â€˜I’m surprised he didn’t try and stop her,’ Lyon said.
    â€˜Oh, but he did. Big brother turned off the money spigot.’
    â€˜How could he do that?’
    â€˜Although Morgan is only our half-brother, he is the one in charge of the trust our grandparents established. He has so much control that when Rina left college he was able to stop half her money.’
    â€˜Morgan’s an academic,’ Lyon said. ‘That breed believes that dropping out of college is the equivalent of deserting an army under enemy fire.’
    Clay clicked off the laptop and carefully placed the slim batch of financial records in a file folder. ‘The situation got worse. He finally caught up with her at a Dead concert in Foxboro, Massachusetts. There was enough marijuana smoke hovering over the stadium to fog-in an airport. As usual, Rina was exuberantly participating in the festivities. She was wearing a pair of skimpy denim shorts and no top while she sat on some guy’s shoulders and screamed and waved her arms every time Garcia plucked a note. Needless to say, Morgan was not amused. That’s when he stopped the other half of her trust payments.’
    â€˜I’m surprised he has that sort of absolute power under the trust once you reached your majority,’ Lyon said.
    â€˜I know. It’s illogical, but that’s how it was set up. His control doesn’t end until he decides that we are able to watch over our own affairs. Then he will make final distribution of the principle. When he cut Rina off after the Dead concert, he began to apply financial pressure on me. I was in the midst of studying for my CPA exam when he lowered the boom. He took the position that I was required to bring peer pressure down on Rina. Twin pressure was the exact phrase he used. I was to wrench her away from the arms of the Grateful Dead, detox her from drugs, and turn