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them coming. Also thanks for suggestions. It's really helps me when I
write. Here is next chapter. Hope you enjoy it.
Chapter 11.
Phoebe was putting the final touches of her make up when Piper came in to her room.
"You look really nice," the older Charmed One smiled at her sister. "Do you have a date with Jason?"
"Yes," Phoebe closed her lipstick and observed the final result. "But it's not really a date. We are having dinner with his sister."
"Oh," Piper raised an eyebrow, "I did not know he had a sister."
"Well, he does. She just moved here from New York. She stayed there for the last 5 years, so I've never met her." Phoebe picked up a pair of high hills from her wardrobe. "She's apparently a very good lawyer. Jason says she's fed up with cold winters and wants to move somewhere warmer. She is looking for a job now."
The door bell rang interrupting the sisterly conversation. Phoebe picked up her purse and hurried downstairs, Piper followed her sister and both of them greeted Jason Dean. The oldest Halliwell wished the couple to have a great night and headed upstairs. She was ready to lie down, this pregnancy made her really tired in the evening.
Couple of hours later Phoebe found herself enjoying a pleasant conversation with Jason and his sister. Young witch was a bit worried meeting the first member of the Jason's family. But Veronica Dean turned out to be very nice. Her and Jason were obviously in good relationships but not as close as the Halliwell sisters.
"So how is your job hunting going?" Jason asked.
Veronica gave her brother a very pleased smile. "Actually not that bad. I already had an interview today with one of the best firms in town. There is an opening for a partner position there."
"Which firm is it?" Phoebe asked just to maintain the conversation.
"Carter, Jackman and Kline." Veronica replied. "One of their partners has just left."
Phoebe almost chocked on her chicken. "You said Carter, Jackman and Kline?" she repeated.
"Yes," Veronica smiled. "Do you know them?"
Jason shot Phoebe a worried look. She took the glass of water in front of her and finished it in a oner, "My ex husband works for them," she said.
"Oh," Veronica's smile disappeared. "I am sorry."
"That's OK," Phoebe plastered on her face her most cheerful smile. "So do you know the name of the person who left. I might know him or her and let you know if they were any good."
"Yes," Veronica replied obviously relieved that her brother's girlfriend seemed not too bothered by the mention of her former husband's firm. "It's a guy called Cole Turner. He apparently worked there for about a year. He's moving to a different job."
This time Phoebe blanched. Her gut feeling was true. The moment Veronica mentioned Carter, Jackman and Kline, she knew that Cole's name would come up. She told herself she was paranoid but it did not mean she was wrong. The young lawyer noticed how her brother and his girlfriend stiffened. A crazy thought came to her head. "Oh God," she gasped. "He isn't your ex, is he?"
Phoebe tried to regain her composure and managed a wan smile. "Yes, he is. Don't worry," she tried to make her voice sound reassuring, "me and Cole has been separated for a while," she smiled again, this time a bit more convincing and took a zip of her wine. She had to find out everything Veronica knew about Cole's new job but without making Jason suspicious. "It's good that Cole is moving on with his life. Did you say he's moving to another city?"
"No," Veronica shot her brother apologetic look. "From what I understood, he's received a big inheritance recently and I mean a really big one, hundreds of millions. Part of it is a significant stake in the large investment firm and he's moving to head their legal division."
"Which investment firm is it?" Jason perked up always curious to know the latest gossips in the investment world.
"DLM investments," Veronica replied. "Carter was swelling in pride when he was talking about Turner taking his new position. He's hoping that they would get a lot of contracts out of this. It's always good to have a friendly face in a big investment firm."
Jason nodded in agreement and Phoebe was thinking feverishly about an excuse she could invent to go home and talk to Piper and Paige. Cole leaving Carter, Jackman and Kline and receiving a large inheritance was an important development, important in a magical way. The middle Halliwell flashed Jason a quick smile, he smiled back his eyes asking her if she was okay. She gave him a reassuring look and turned to Veronica. "So do you think you have a chance of getting this position?"
"I think I do," Veronica smiled. "They want somebody young and ambitious and with experience in doing big investment deals. And I was specializing in New York in investments and with good results. So hopefully that would be enough."
Phoebe nodded in agreement, her thoughts far away. She gently massaged her temples, "I think I am getting a headache. It's been a very long day," she shot Jason an apologetic look. "I think I am going to take a taxi home, take an early night."
"Are you okay?" Jason asked concerned.
"Yes, I am fine, just have a headache."
"I'll take you home," Jason got up.
"No," Phoebe shook her head. "I'll be fine. You guys have a lot to catch up on. I don't want to spoil your evening." She turned to Veronica, "It was really nice to meet you. I hope that next time we'll be able to talk longer." She flashed Jason a last smile and headed to the door.
Brother and sister were left alone.
"I am sorry I spoiled your evening," Veronica put her hand on Jason's. "I did not know about Phoebe's divorce. It must have been quite bad?"
"Yes," Jason sighed. "I don't know the details. Phoebe does not like talking about it. But I got the idea that she had a tough time before they got separated and then had problems convincing him to give her divorce. She is trying to move on really hard."
"What do you know about people? From what I heard today, this Turner was a very good lawyer, apparently really successful in Court. And now he'll be working for DLM investment. They are considered to be "gold quality money."
"I know," Jason sighed again. "I did not want to say when Phoebe was here but I was working on an investment deal with them. But I guess now it's out of the window. Turner is going to burry it."
Veronica gave his hand a sympathetic squeeze. "Well, may be not. He's a professional and besides he won't be the only one taking the decision."
Brother and sister continued to discuss Jason's deal. In the meantime Phoebe arrived to Halliwell manor, "Piper, Paige?" she shouted damping her purse on the hallway table.
"In the living room," the youngest witch called out.
Phoebe found Piper and Leo curled together on the couch and Paige with a big plate of chips on her lap, all watching a horror film.
"You are early," Piper gave Phoebe a questioning look. "Is everything okay?"
"No," Phoebe plumped in the chair. "I learnt that Cole has recently received a very large inheritance, millions and millions type. He's left Carter, Jackman and Kline and has moved to head the legal division of the very successful investment firm." The rest of the family stared at her, "Jason's sister is applying for Cole's position at his former law firm so she's told me that he left and everything else."
"How can Cole get inheritance?" Paige voiced the question, which was on everybody's mind.
"Exactly my point," Phoebe grabbed the remote control and switched off the TV. "Cole does not have any living relatives at least not human ones. So it's either from someone from his mother's side, which means that it's demonic money or he has manipulated some mortal to leave him the money."
"Does Cole have any demonic relatives alive?" Paige asked looking from Leo to Phoebe.
The latter shook her head and whitelighter shrugged his shoulders, "Not that I know off. Is there anything about his relatives in the BoS?"
"No," Phoebe said firmly, "I know Belthazor's page by heart. It does not say anything. Cole only ever spoke about his mother. But she died about 30 years ago."
"Well, I will check it with the Elders tomorrow morning. See what they know." Leo offered. "But if it's true that Cole just manipulated some innocent then what are we going to do about it?"
"I don't know," Piper said thoughtfully. "It's not that we understand anything in finance. And we can't really vanquish Cole, we don't know how!"
"Well," Phoebe suggested, "we can expose him as a swindler. Find the real heirs. If he used his magic to manipulate somebody to leave him the inheritance, we probably can use the reverse spell to overturn it."
"This is strange," Paige murmured. "I never thought Cole was after money. He never seemed bothered by them."
"May be it's not money he's after." Leo suggested. "I will check with the Elders about this investment firm DLM. May be it's run by demons. It won't be the first time."
"We should also speak to Darryl," Paige suggested. "May be he knows this firm as well. Plus he might be able to find out from whom Cole inherited the money."
"Good idea, Paige," Phoebe smiled at her sister. "You see," she gave her family a triumphant look, "I was right, Cole is up to something. And we have to stop him." She headed upstairs leaving the rest starring after her. When she was out of sight Leo and two sisters exchanged worried glances.
"Here it comes again," Paige murmured, "You know, Phoebe can be pretty scary when she's on her anti Cole mission".
*******
Sunday morning found Nicole and Cole on the door steps of his mother's house. Half demon was carrying a flower composition, which incorporated candles they needed for the ceremony. Nicole carried a cake, the whole purpose of which was to prompt Mrs Raynolds to serve tea allowing to slip a potion into her cup. When Elizabeth opened the door, she looked even more pale and tired than before.
"Sorry to bother you on a Sunday, Mrs Raynolds," Nicole blurted out the lie she prepared. "I hope we are not interrupting anything important."
"No, not at all," the older woman gave Nicole a small smile. "What brings you here on a weekend? I thought local councils had a day off."
"They do," Cole answered, "but the report, we came to see you about the other day, is due tomorrow morning and we have found out that one of our assistants forgot to mail you your statement for signing. So we thought we'd come round and may be you'll be kind enough to read it and sign?"
"And we brought you some cake and flowers just to say sorry for intruding on your weekend," Nicole handed Elizabeth the cake.
"Oh, you should not have bothered," Elizabeth answered, "please come in." She ushered them inside and immediately started preparing tea. Nicole volunteered to help, which gave Cole a chance to settle the bouquet on the small side table and light up the candles by throwing small fire sparks at the tips.
When they were settled around the coffee table Nicole gave Cole a small nudge indicating that she successfully slipped the potion into Elizabeth's mug. While drinking coffee young Lugels continued a small talk but when Elizabeth's mug became almost empty half demon opened his briefcase and pulled some papers out.
"Here is your statement Mrs Raynolds. Please read it and pay special attention to the authorization statement at the end. I would actually ask you to read it aloud since it states how we can use this information. And then we can proceed with the signing."
Elizabeth who was looking at Cole with mesmerized eyes since he came in nodded and preceded reading first her own statement and then read aloud the authorization statement. She frowned a little since it was nothing like a usual authorisation statement. Cole and Nicole kept the first standard phrase and substituted the rest with the spell for power's transfer which should have made it easier for them to channel new powers into Elizabeth body. While she was reading Cole concentrated on unblocking his mother's memory. He easily found a massive memory block which Raynor created. But in spite of all his efforts he could not break it. Half demon carefully increased the pressure but with no success.
"I can't break it," he sent the telepathic message to Nicole.
The latter gave him a concerned look, "May be we should do it together by amplifying our powers."
"No," Cole shot back. "It will destroy her. Together we're too powerful."
Nicole thought for a second, "Give me your hand," she asked.
"Why?"
"Just trust me, try to tap into my powers, the way you did when I had the contents of my hotel room flying everywhere. This way you are not limited to only your powers and can increase the pressure little by little." Half demon held her hand and immediately felt a link between them. He slowly intensified the pressure on the memory block and finally managed to break it. Elizabeth gasped, her eyes flew open and looked wildly around.
"Now," Cole yelled. Nicole broke the contact with his hand and chanted a spell summoning the powers. The dark cloud formed in front of her and then Cole motioned it towards his mother. Elizabeth body started to tremble and she quickly shifted into the demonic form, which to Nicole looked like female version of Belthazor. Then she shifted back into her human form, which now looked very different from the woman who twenty minutes ago opened the door for them. Her transformations lasted for several second and then everything stopped and she remained in her demonic shape. She looked around her eyes focusing on Cole and said in a low growling voice.
"Belthazor!" She shifted into human shape and gave Cole a hug. "I almost lost hope." She pushed him on arms length allowing herself a full view of his face. "It's so nice to see you again, Belthazor." Her human voice was low and husky. And Cole was glad to finally recognize his mother in this gorgeous woman with black sparkly eyes and mischievous smile.
"It's nice to see you too, Mother," he said smiling.
"It took you a long time to find me," she said admiring him.
"I thought you were dead," half demon sounded apologetically. "Raynor told me you were killed by two witches and I only found out a few days ago that you were alive."
When he mentioned Raynor's name, Elizabeth's face paled with rage. "This bastard will not live to see another day," she stated her voice was full of hatred. "I will not be calm till I am a widow again."
"You already are," Cole said softly. "Raynor has been dead for the last 2.5 years," he paused, "from my hand."
Elizabeth' eyes expressed surprise, "But you said you did not know about me."
"I did not," Cole confirmed. He paused trying to find the right words and then continued. "We had a disagreement on a different matter." Black eyes stared at him with penetrating directness but half demon' face stayed unreadable. Nicole had to admit that they were definitely mother and son and she felt a little out of place on this strange reunion.
"Well, I am glad that he is gone," the older woman remarked coolly, "though I would prefer if it was me who killed him. But I suppose I should be content that it was you, my son, who did it." She lifted her hand to touch Cole's cheek, her face softening. Then she turned around and looked at Nicole.
"And who is this?" she asked.
Nicole was about to answer when Cole beat her to it, "This is my partner, Nicole Berg."
"Is she also a member of the Brotherhood?" Elizabeth asked. Her dark eyes were swirling into Nicole's face and the latter had to work really hard on maintaining her cool façade.
"No," she answered, "I am not a member of the Brotherhood."
"Oh," Elizabeth uttered, "so who are you then?" her eyes still bored into young woman's face. Nicole did not know whether or not Cole was planning to tell his mother about the whole Lugel thing so she decided to leave this out of her answer.
"I am quarter demon quarter darklighter and half mortal."
"Oh," Elizabeth' eyes became even more intense. Nicole felt very uncomfortable under such close scrutiny. Thankfully Cole has decided to come to her rescue.
"Mother," he said, "may be we should discuss what you want to do next."
Elizabeth turned to her son and smiled. "I suppose you're right. I guess we should go back to the Underworld. I had enough of mortal realm and of this horrible house. Are you still staying in your apartment or have you moved into mine?"
"Eh," for a second Cole did not know what to say, "I am not staying in the Underworld any more. I live in San Francisco in the mortal realm."
The older woman's face became stern. "You live in the mortal realm?" she repeated staring at Cole's face. "And can you tell me why, Belthazor?" he voice now had a distinct strict motherly tone.
In other circumstances Nicole would have found the situation extremely amusing. Cole Turner successful lawyer by day and an all powerful demon by night, confident and arrogant was getting the third degree from his mother and looked extremely uncomfortable under her stare. However, it was time past laughter. She knew Cole was nervous about his mother finding out the whole truth about his relationship with Phoebe, his betrayal of the Underworld and especially about Belthazor being gone.
Half demon knew his mother well enough to realize that it was better to tell her the truth now than trying to come up with a lie. He cleared his throat. "A lot has changed in the Underworld over the last 30 years. It's a long story," he paused.
Elizabeth waved her hand dismissively "I have time."
"Fine," Cole gave up. "If you don't mind I'll do it telepathically. It will be easier."
"Telepathy?" Elizabeth's brows shot up. "You were never any good at it, no matter how much I tried."
"Well, I have acquired a few more powers in the past years," he remarked. Nicole noticed that Elizabeth's face clouded for a second but was quickly replaced by a blank expression.
Half demon took a deep breath and then images of events unfolded in front of his mother and Nicole. The latter was impressed how Cole managed to summarize all the important events in the Underworld over the last 30 years. Belthazor was more of a witness there than the main character. Then she saw the anger of the Source when the Charmed Ones became active, Cole receiving a new assignment from the Triad, going after the Charmed Ones, failing to kill them on so many occasions, killing the Triad, being chased by the bounty hunters, loosing Belthazor to the vindictive woman, becoming the Source, being vanquished by the Charmed Ones and ending up in the Wasteland. It was the true narrative of what happened with one exception. Cole left out the main cause of all the events, his love for Phoebe. The visions stopped abruptly and Cole heaved a sigh. Did his mother buy it? He knew that he would have to tell her the truth about Phoebe at some point but he was not ready to do it yet. He will tell her later when they were alone. There was no need for Nicole to see the whole thing again.
He looked at Elizabeth. She was standing with her back to him looking into the back garden. When she was sure that she had enough control over her feelings she turned to face her son. "So what happened next?" she asked. "How did you escape the Wasteland?"
"I was contacted by Lugels while being there," Cole replied feeling relieved that his mother did not ask him something else. "They offered me new powers and the chance to return from the Wasteland if I work for them. And I agreed."
"Oh," Elizabeth's face had a strange expression on it. "And I suppose you," she turned to Nicole, "work for them as well."
"Yes," young Lugel nodded, "Cole and I joined in the same time and Lugels put us in one team."
Elizabeth looked like she did not need to hear Nicole's answer. She was again looking in the garden, her thoughts far away. The living room fell into uneasy silence. Nicole wished that she was somewhere far away. She was almost ready to tell Cole that she would see him later when Elizabeth broke the silence.
"Well, it's a lot of information to receive in one morning, so I think I will need a bit of time to think it all through. Do you have a place I can stay in?" she asked looking at Cole.
"You can stay with me in San Francisco if you want," Cole answered. The reaction of his mother worried him. She was not easy to fool and he was all but convinced that there was something she was not telling him.
"That'd be great." Elizabeth smiled coolly.
Nicole could sense half demon's uneasiness and it was completely in line with her own feelings of discomfort. This was way too easy and Nicole could swear that Cole's mother was not completely satisfied with his explanations and that she was hiding something herself.
Cole knew perfectly well that unless his mother decided that it was time to talk there was no way he could find out what was on her mind without using his telepathic powers. And he did not really fancy reading his mother's thoughts. He also had to talk to Nicole and it was much more urgent than he thought this morning. He decided that the best thing would be to shimmer to his Penthouse. "Than, that settled," he gave his mother a bright smile. "Let's go."
Nicole was about to say something, but Cole took her hand in his and the next moment they were shimmering to the Penthouse. When they arrived half demon gave Elizabeth a short tour and said, "I am sure that you would like to change. There are some outfits I picked for you in the guest bedroom and if you'd like to freshen up the bathroom is first door on your right." The older woman nodded. She was glad to be on her own for a while. That would allow her to think things over.
When she left the living room Cole and Nicole exchanged glances and the latter asked, "So how do you think this went?"
Cole shrugged his shoulders, "Well, regarding restoring my mother's powers and memory, I think it went well, with regard to everything else we'll find out soon enough. I'll try talking to her tonight."
Nicole nodded and said in a too bright tone. "Well, I guess I'll be going then. You will need some privacy for this conversation."
"Is that what you decided?" half demon asked curtly, "I was hoping that you had changed your mind after talking to Celina and Vladimir."
Nicole could feel her cheeks getting hot. He was absolutely right. Since she so bluntly refused to move into Cole's Penthouse the other day, she's done a lot of thinking. And now she regretted her outburst. Celina, Vladimir and Cole were right, it was safer for her to stay in the Penthouse, there was a lot at stake at the moment. She remembered what Cole told her about powers coming with a lot of responsibility. She accepted her destiny as a Chosen one, accepted on her own free will. She took an obligation to fulfil this destiny and she had to do everything possible to ensure that she Chosen Two succeeded. She could not back out now just because she wanted to stay away from Cole. Plus her conversation with Celina led Nicole to think about that decision of hers. She still felt that staying away from Cole would allow her to keep some piece of mind. At the same time she had a piece of mind for the last five years and it did not seem to make her happy. Nicole told herself not to think about it. It could lead her into the area she did not want to enter. Besides looking at the amount of work they had to carry out they would probably only come to the Penthouse to sleep and did not really matter whether they slept 10 meters apart or a 100 miles. Nicole snapped out of her thoughts.
"I did," she said trying really hard to keep her voice calm and steady, "but since your mother is staying with you there is no point really."
"Why not?" Cole raised his eyebrows. "She'll be only staying here for a few days. She never liked staying in the Upperworld. She might need a couple of days to check up on the situation in the underworld. But she would move there very soon."
"Why does not she like staying in the Upperworld?" Nicole could not suppress her curiosity.
"Don't know," Cole replied curtly. "She never bothered to explain and I never asked."
The tone of his voice made it obvious for young woman that it was better to refrain from further questions. "But it still might be very inconvenient for you if I stay here as well? And plus what are we going to tell your mother regarding why I am staying here. Because in all honesty I am not very comfortable with telling her the truth."
"And neither am I." Cole nodded, "But that's why there is even more reasons for you to stay. Look, I am convinced my mother suspects something or even may be knows something. The way she behaved today was way out from what I'd expected. And that makes me nervous. I don't like things I can't understand. My mother is a very powerful and a very sneaky demon. And she's been alive way longer than me. So I have no idea what she knows about Lugels and their plans. Also though I am pretty sure she'll never kill me, I doubt that this courtesy would extend to anybody else. So I think it would be safer if you stay here for now."
Half demon sounded truly concerned and his words were in complete unison with Nicole's own gut feeling. And this feeling told her that Elizabeth could be very dangerous and that she would have no problem killing anybody whom she considered a threat to herself or her precious son. "But where am I going to stay and what are we going to tell your mother?" Nicole asked again.
"You'll stay with me and we'll tell my mother the same thing that we'd made the Charmed Ones believe in. That you're my live-in girlfriend."
Nicole stared at him in disbelief, "You're kidding, right?"
Cole rolled his eyes, "Look, I don't want to brag but my bed is massive. You can put 6 people there and none of them will even notice that there is somebody else there. Plus if you insist we can create some sort of a wall between us. And don't worry I'll be a perfect gentlemen."
"I am not worried," Nicole snarled. "But don't you think we are taking this whole safety issue a bit far. First we had to share a house, now we have to share a bed, what next?" The moment these words left her mouth Nicole would have given anything to take them back. One of Cole's eyebrows shot up and his mouth stretched into a wry smile.
"Well, I don't know what's going to be next but I'll be delighted to find out," he drawled, his smile becoming teasing.
"Oh, you are such a..." Nicole paused trying to find a right word and when none came to mind she threw a low voltage energy ball, which disintegrated before it even reached him.
"I am sorry for my unspeakable behaviour," Cole retorted and quickly sobering continued. "Look it's only for a couple of days and plus it will help me as well. I still have to tell my mother about my failed marriage to a witch, which in her eyes would be the lowest thing anybody can do. And if I can tell her that I already have a relationship with somebody of demonic origin it would hopefully soften her a bit and make my life a lot easier."
"You're such a woos," Nicole smiled shaking her head.
**********
On the other side of town Darryl Morris strode into the Halliwells' manor followed by Phoebe. He found the rest of the family gathered in the living room eager to hear what Darryl has found out about DLM Investments and Cole's inheritance.
Paige served Darryl some coffee and Phoebe who was the most anxious to hear the news asked, "So did you manage to find anything?"
The policemen took a zip of his coffee and nodded," Yes, but it's not much." He opened his notebook. "DLM Investment has been in existence for over 50 years. It's owned by several big corporations and invests in anything starting from media holdings to pharmaceuticals. They have a reputation of being gold quality money. No problems with customs, tax office or police. None of their investments went into anything remotely doggy. So all in all they are squeaky clean and police has nothing on them."
"What about Cole's inheritance?" Piper asked.
"Not much information either," Darryl gave the older Charmed One apologetic look. "Cole has inherited 7.6% in BalFor Holdings. The stock transfer forms were signed last week. The previous owner was William Schwarzlight and from what I understand Turner inherited his shares from him. William Schwarzlight has passed away about 3 weeks ago. He did not have any leaving relatives except his niece Nicole Berg, the daughter of his brother. The latter died 25 years ago. William Schwarzlight has been a guardian of his brother's fortune. Now it has been passed to Miss Berg. She also inherited 7.6% of BalFor Holdings. Her stock transfer forms were signed on the same day as Turner's. Miss Berg resided until recently in the UK but after her uncle's death has moved to San Francisco. I have here William Schwarzlight address, she will probably be staying there."
"Did you manage to look at the will?" Paige asked.
"No," Darryl shook his head. "The contents of the will are confidential and in order to get a warrant I need evidence and I don't have any."
"Well, how about that this Schwarzlight left millions of dollars to a guy he has no connections to? Isn't this a good enough reason?" Phoebe asked.
Darryl gave her a sympathetic look, "Phoebe, I understand what you are getting at. But it's up to the relatives or the corporation to raise the alarm. Neither BalFor Holdings, nor Nicole Berg expressed any concern. I can't go round spreading rumours, I'll lose my badge and Turner can easily take me to court for slander and since I don't have even a sign of evidence, he'll probably win."
"We understand, Darryl," Piper decided that it was time to interfere. "And we are really grateful for your help and would not want you to get into any troubles because of us."
Darryl nodded gratefully and continued. "By the way I checked the reasons for Schwarzlight's death. Apparently he died of a heart failure in his sleep. Because he lived on his own the police carried out an investigation. No suspicious factors were found."
"Everything here is suspicious," Phoebe could not contain her irritation anymore. "An old man dies of a heart failure and leaves his entire fortune to Cole Turner. Come on, for Cole it's five minutes job to arrange all this."
"Yes, honey," Piper said, "but we know what Cole is capable of and police does not. And we can't exactly tell them."
"But we ought to do something," Phoebe exclaimed.
"We will," the older Charmed One said. She turned to her husband. "What did the Elders say about this?"
The whitelighter shrugged his shoulders. "Not much. They say that DLM invests into many companies and has many investors. Some of them might be demonic but it's normal for any large investment firm. The Elders don't have a firm on their radar. With regard to Cole's inheritance they don't know anything at all."
"How useful," Paige snorted.
"Why don't you try to talk to Cole?" Darryl suggested. "He might tell you something. Criminals sometimes like to talk especially when they are convinced of their safety, he might want to boast especially in front of Phoebe."
Piper gave Darryl unhappy look. "We can't find him. Phoebe and Paige went to his Penthouse but he's apparently on holidays for 2 weeks."
"Well, then may be you should talk to Nicole Berg," Darryl continued. "She has the right to raise concern over her uncle's death and then we'll be able to properly investigate it."
"May be you should talk to her," Phoebe suggested.
"I can't," Darryl heaved an impatient sigh. "I don't have evidence. And if she does not believe me she would probably tell Turner about it."
"But the same is true for us," Phoebe retorted. "She will be even less likely to believe us, considering that I am his ex wife. Whereas you are a police officer."
"Exactly, so I have a badge to lose," he took a deep breath and continued calmer. "Do you realise that Cole now is one of the richest people in town. Can you imagine what he can do? One phone call and I will not get a promotion, ever."
"Darryl is right," Leo said. "This is not his type of trouble, it's ours. Especially if Cole started killing people for money, he can easily kill Darryl to prevent exposure, whereas we can at least defend ourselves."
"Fine," Phoebe grumbled. "We'll go ourselves and try to talk to Nicole Berg."
Darryl heaved sigh of relief and handed her a note with the address and his business card. "Let me know how you get on and if she wants to press charges give her my business card."
Chapter 11.
Phoebe was putting the final touches of her make up when Piper came in to her room.
"You look really nice," the older Charmed One smiled at her sister. "Do you have a date with Jason?"
"Yes," Phoebe closed her lipstick and observed the final result. "But it's not really a date. We are having dinner with his sister."
"Oh," Piper raised an eyebrow, "I did not know he had a sister."
"Well, he does. She just moved here from New York. She stayed there for the last 5 years, so I've never met her." Phoebe picked up a pair of high hills from her wardrobe. "She's apparently a very good lawyer. Jason says she's fed up with cold winters and wants to move somewhere warmer. She is looking for a job now."
The door bell rang interrupting the sisterly conversation. Phoebe picked up her purse and hurried downstairs, Piper followed her sister and both of them greeted Jason Dean. The oldest Halliwell wished the couple to have a great night and headed upstairs. She was ready to lie down, this pregnancy made her really tired in the evening.
Couple of hours later Phoebe found herself enjoying a pleasant conversation with Jason and his sister. Young witch was a bit worried meeting the first member of the Jason's family. But Veronica Dean turned out to be very nice. Her and Jason were obviously in good relationships but not as close as the Halliwell sisters.
"So how is your job hunting going?" Jason asked.
Veronica gave her brother a very pleased smile. "Actually not that bad. I already had an interview today with one of the best firms in town. There is an opening for a partner position there."
"Which firm is it?" Phoebe asked just to maintain the conversation.
"Carter, Jackman and Kline." Veronica replied. "One of their partners has just left."
Phoebe almost chocked on her chicken. "You said Carter, Jackman and Kline?" she repeated.
"Yes," Veronica smiled. "Do you know them?"
Jason shot Phoebe a worried look. She took the glass of water in front of her and finished it in a oner, "My ex husband works for them," she said.
"Oh," Veronica's smile disappeared. "I am sorry."
"That's OK," Phoebe plastered on her face her most cheerful smile. "So do you know the name of the person who left. I might know him or her and let you know if they were any good."
"Yes," Veronica replied obviously relieved that her brother's girlfriend seemed not too bothered by the mention of her former husband's firm. "It's a guy called Cole Turner. He apparently worked there for about a year. He's moving to a different job."
This time Phoebe blanched. Her gut feeling was true. The moment Veronica mentioned Carter, Jackman and Kline, she knew that Cole's name would come up. She told herself she was paranoid but it did not mean she was wrong. The young lawyer noticed how her brother and his girlfriend stiffened. A crazy thought came to her head. "Oh God," she gasped. "He isn't your ex, is he?"
Phoebe tried to regain her composure and managed a wan smile. "Yes, he is. Don't worry," she tried to make her voice sound reassuring, "me and Cole has been separated for a while," she smiled again, this time a bit more convincing and took a zip of her wine. She had to find out everything Veronica knew about Cole's new job but without making Jason suspicious. "It's good that Cole is moving on with his life. Did you say he's moving to another city?"
"No," Veronica shot her brother apologetic look. "From what I understood, he's received a big inheritance recently and I mean a really big one, hundreds of millions. Part of it is a significant stake in the large investment firm and he's moving to head their legal division."
"Which investment firm is it?" Jason perked up always curious to know the latest gossips in the investment world.
"DLM investments," Veronica replied. "Carter was swelling in pride when he was talking about Turner taking his new position. He's hoping that they would get a lot of contracts out of this. It's always good to have a friendly face in a big investment firm."
Jason nodded in agreement and Phoebe was thinking feverishly about an excuse she could invent to go home and talk to Piper and Paige. Cole leaving Carter, Jackman and Kline and receiving a large inheritance was an important development, important in a magical way. The middle Halliwell flashed Jason a quick smile, he smiled back his eyes asking her if she was okay. She gave him a reassuring look and turned to Veronica. "So do you think you have a chance of getting this position?"
"I think I do," Veronica smiled. "They want somebody young and ambitious and with experience in doing big investment deals. And I was specializing in New York in investments and with good results. So hopefully that would be enough."
Phoebe nodded in agreement, her thoughts far away. She gently massaged her temples, "I think I am getting a headache. It's been a very long day," she shot Jason an apologetic look. "I think I am going to take a taxi home, take an early night."
"Are you okay?" Jason asked concerned.
"Yes, I am fine, just have a headache."
"I'll take you home," Jason got up.
"No," Phoebe shook her head. "I'll be fine. You guys have a lot to catch up on. I don't want to spoil your evening." She turned to Veronica, "It was really nice to meet you. I hope that next time we'll be able to talk longer." She flashed Jason a last smile and headed to the door.
Brother and sister were left alone.
"I am sorry I spoiled your evening," Veronica put her hand on Jason's. "I did not know about Phoebe's divorce. It must have been quite bad?"
"Yes," Jason sighed. "I don't know the details. Phoebe does not like talking about it. But I got the idea that she had a tough time before they got separated and then had problems convincing him to give her divorce. She is trying to move on really hard."
"What do you know about people? From what I heard today, this Turner was a very good lawyer, apparently really successful in Court. And now he'll be working for DLM investment. They are considered to be "gold quality money."
"I know," Jason sighed again. "I did not want to say when Phoebe was here but I was working on an investment deal with them. But I guess now it's out of the window. Turner is going to burry it."
Veronica gave his hand a sympathetic squeeze. "Well, may be not. He's a professional and besides he won't be the only one taking the decision."
Brother and sister continued to discuss Jason's deal. In the meantime Phoebe arrived to Halliwell manor, "Piper, Paige?" she shouted damping her purse on the hallway table.
"In the living room," the youngest witch called out.
Phoebe found Piper and Leo curled together on the couch and Paige with a big plate of chips on her lap, all watching a horror film.
"You are early," Piper gave Phoebe a questioning look. "Is everything okay?"
"No," Phoebe plumped in the chair. "I learnt that Cole has recently received a very large inheritance, millions and millions type. He's left Carter, Jackman and Kline and has moved to head the legal division of the very successful investment firm." The rest of the family stared at her, "Jason's sister is applying for Cole's position at his former law firm so she's told me that he left and everything else."
"How can Cole get inheritance?" Paige voiced the question, which was on everybody's mind.
"Exactly my point," Phoebe grabbed the remote control and switched off the TV. "Cole does not have any living relatives at least not human ones. So it's either from someone from his mother's side, which means that it's demonic money or he has manipulated some mortal to leave him the money."
"Does Cole have any demonic relatives alive?" Paige asked looking from Leo to Phoebe.
The latter shook her head and whitelighter shrugged his shoulders, "Not that I know off. Is there anything about his relatives in the BoS?"
"No," Phoebe said firmly, "I know Belthazor's page by heart. It does not say anything. Cole only ever spoke about his mother. But she died about 30 years ago."
"Well, I will check it with the Elders tomorrow morning. See what they know." Leo offered. "But if it's true that Cole just manipulated some innocent then what are we going to do about it?"
"I don't know," Piper said thoughtfully. "It's not that we understand anything in finance. And we can't really vanquish Cole, we don't know how!"
"Well," Phoebe suggested, "we can expose him as a swindler. Find the real heirs. If he used his magic to manipulate somebody to leave him the inheritance, we probably can use the reverse spell to overturn it."
"This is strange," Paige murmured. "I never thought Cole was after money. He never seemed bothered by them."
"May be it's not money he's after." Leo suggested. "I will check with the Elders about this investment firm DLM. May be it's run by demons. It won't be the first time."
"We should also speak to Darryl," Paige suggested. "May be he knows this firm as well. Plus he might be able to find out from whom Cole inherited the money."
"Good idea, Paige," Phoebe smiled at her sister. "You see," she gave her family a triumphant look, "I was right, Cole is up to something. And we have to stop him." She headed upstairs leaving the rest starring after her. When she was out of sight Leo and two sisters exchanged worried glances.
"Here it comes again," Paige murmured, "You know, Phoebe can be pretty scary when she's on her anti Cole mission".
*******
Sunday morning found Nicole and Cole on the door steps of his mother's house. Half demon was carrying a flower composition, which incorporated candles they needed for the ceremony. Nicole carried a cake, the whole purpose of which was to prompt Mrs Raynolds to serve tea allowing to slip a potion into her cup. When Elizabeth opened the door, she looked even more pale and tired than before.
"Sorry to bother you on a Sunday, Mrs Raynolds," Nicole blurted out the lie she prepared. "I hope we are not interrupting anything important."
"No, not at all," the older woman gave Nicole a small smile. "What brings you here on a weekend? I thought local councils had a day off."
"They do," Cole answered, "but the report, we came to see you about the other day, is due tomorrow morning and we have found out that one of our assistants forgot to mail you your statement for signing. So we thought we'd come round and may be you'll be kind enough to read it and sign?"
"And we brought you some cake and flowers just to say sorry for intruding on your weekend," Nicole handed Elizabeth the cake.
"Oh, you should not have bothered," Elizabeth answered, "please come in." She ushered them inside and immediately started preparing tea. Nicole volunteered to help, which gave Cole a chance to settle the bouquet on the small side table and light up the candles by throwing small fire sparks at the tips.
When they were settled around the coffee table Nicole gave Cole a small nudge indicating that she successfully slipped the potion into Elizabeth's mug. While drinking coffee young Lugels continued a small talk but when Elizabeth's mug became almost empty half demon opened his briefcase and pulled some papers out.
"Here is your statement Mrs Raynolds. Please read it and pay special attention to the authorization statement at the end. I would actually ask you to read it aloud since it states how we can use this information. And then we can proceed with the signing."
Elizabeth who was looking at Cole with mesmerized eyes since he came in nodded and preceded reading first her own statement and then read aloud the authorization statement. She frowned a little since it was nothing like a usual authorisation statement. Cole and Nicole kept the first standard phrase and substituted the rest with the spell for power's transfer which should have made it easier for them to channel new powers into Elizabeth body. While she was reading Cole concentrated on unblocking his mother's memory. He easily found a massive memory block which Raynor created. But in spite of all his efforts he could not break it. Half demon carefully increased the pressure but with no success.
"I can't break it," he sent the telepathic message to Nicole.
The latter gave him a concerned look, "May be we should do it together by amplifying our powers."
"No," Cole shot back. "It will destroy her. Together we're too powerful."
Nicole thought for a second, "Give me your hand," she asked.
"Why?"
"Just trust me, try to tap into my powers, the way you did when I had the contents of my hotel room flying everywhere. This way you are not limited to only your powers and can increase the pressure little by little." Half demon held her hand and immediately felt a link between them. He slowly intensified the pressure on the memory block and finally managed to break it. Elizabeth gasped, her eyes flew open and looked wildly around.
"Now," Cole yelled. Nicole broke the contact with his hand and chanted a spell summoning the powers. The dark cloud formed in front of her and then Cole motioned it towards his mother. Elizabeth body started to tremble and she quickly shifted into the demonic form, which to Nicole looked like female version of Belthazor. Then she shifted back into her human form, which now looked very different from the woman who twenty minutes ago opened the door for them. Her transformations lasted for several second and then everything stopped and she remained in her demonic shape. She looked around her eyes focusing on Cole and said in a low growling voice.
"Belthazor!" She shifted into human shape and gave Cole a hug. "I almost lost hope." She pushed him on arms length allowing herself a full view of his face. "It's so nice to see you again, Belthazor." Her human voice was low and husky. And Cole was glad to finally recognize his mother in this gorgeous woman with black sparkly eyes and mischievous smile.
"It's nice to see you too, Mother," he said smiling.
"It took you a long time to find me," she said admiring him.
"I thought you were dead," half demon sounded apologetically. "Raynor told me you were killed by two witches and I only found out a few days ago that you were alive."
When he mentioned Raynor's name, Elizabeth's face paled with rage. "This bastard will not live to see another day," she stated her voice was full of hatred. "I will not be calm till I am a widow again."
"You already are," Cole said softly. "Raynor has been dead for the last 2.5 years," he paused, "from my hand."
Elizabeth' eyes expressed surprise, "But you said you did not know about me."
"I did not," Cole confirmed. He paused trying to find the right words and then continued. "We had a disagreement on a different matter." Black eyes stared at him with penetrating directness but half demon' face stayed unreadable. Nicole had to admit that they were definitely mother and son and she felt a little out of place on this strange reunion.
"Well, I am glad that he is gone," the older woman remarked coolly, "though I would prefer if it was me who killed him. But I suppose I should be content that it was you, my son, who did it." She lifted her hand to touch Cole's cheek, her face softening. Then she turned around and looked at Nicole.
"And who is this?" she asked.
Nicole was about to answer when Cole beat her to it, "This is my partner, Nicole Berg."
"Is she also a member of the Brotherhood?" Elizabeth asked. Her dark eyes were swirling into Nicole's face and the latter had to work really hard on maintaining her cool façade.
"No," she answered, "I am not a member of the Brotherhood."
"Oh," Elizabeth uttered, "so who are you then?" her eyes still bored into young woman's face. Nicole did not know whether or not Cole was planning to tell his mother about the whole Lugel thing so she decided to leave this out of her answer.
"I am quarter demon quarter darklighter and half mortal."
"Oh," Elizabeth' eyes became even more intense. Nicole felt very uncomfortable under such close scrutiny. Thankfully Cole has decided to come to her rescue.
"Mother," he said, "may be we should discuss what you want to do next."
Elizabeth turned to her son and smiled. "I suppose you're right. I guess we should go back to the Underworld. I had enough of mortal realm and of this horrible house. Are you still staying in your apartment or have you moved into mine?"
"Eh," for a second Cole did not know what to say, "I am not staying in the Underworld any more. I live in San Francisco in the mortal realm."
The older woman's face became stern. "You live in the mortal realm?" she repeated staring at Cole's face. "And can you tell me why, Belthazor?" he voice now had a distinct strict motherly tone.
In other circumstances Nicole would have found the situation extremely amusing. Cole Turner successful lawyer by day and an all powerful demon by night, confident and arrogant was getting the third degree from his mother and looked extremely uncomfortable under her stare. However, it was time past laughter. She knew Cole was nervous about his mother finding out the whole truth about his relationship with Phoebe, his betrayal of the Underworld and especially about Belthazor being gone.
Half demon knew his mother well enough to realize that it was better to tell her the truth now than trying to come up with a lie. He cleared his throat. "A lot has changed in the Underworld over the last 30 years. It's a long story," he paused.
Elizabeth waved her hand dismissively "I have time."
"Fine," Cole gave up. "If you don't mind I'll do it telepathically. It will be easier."
"Telepathy?" Elizabeth's brows shot up. "You were never any good at it, no matter how much I tried."
"Well, I have acquired a few more powers in the past years," he remarked. Nicole noticed that Elizabeth's face clouded for a second but was quickly replaced by a blank expression.
Half demon took a deep breath and then images of events unfolded in front of his mother and Nicole. The latter was impressed how Cole managed to summarize all the important events in the Underworld over the last 30 years. Belthazor was more of a witness there than the main character. Then she saw the anger of the Source when the Charmed Ones became active, Cole receiving a new assignment from the Triad, going after the Charmed Ones, failing to kill them on so many occasions, killing the Triad, being chased by the bounty hunters, loosing Belthazor to the vindictive woman, becoming the Source, being vanquished by the Charmed Ones and ending up in the Wasteland. It was the true narrative of what happened with one exception. Cole left out the main cause of all the events, his love for Phoebe. The visions stopped abruptly and Cole heaved a sigh. Did his mother buy it? He knew that he would have to tell her the truth about Phoebe at some point but he was not ready to do it yet. He will tell her later when they were alone. There was no need for Nicole to see the whole thing again.
He looked at Elizabeth. She was standing with her back to him looking into the back garden. When she was sure that she had enough control over her feelings she turned to face her son. "So what happened next?" she asked. "How did you escape the Wasteland?"
"I was contacted by Lugels while being there," Cole replied feeling relieved that his mother did not ask him something else. "They offered me new powers and the chance to return from the Wasteland if I work for them. And I agreed."
"Oh," Elizabeth's face had a strange expression on it. "And I suppose you," she turned to Nicole, "work for them as well."
"Yes," young Lugel nodded, "Cole and I joined in the same time and Lugels put us in one team."
Elizabeth looked like she did not need to hear Nicole's answer. She was again looking in the garden, her thoughts far away. The living room fell into uneasy silence. Nicole wished that she was somewhere far away. She was almost ready to tell Cole that she would see him later when Elizabeth broke the silence.
"Well, it's a lot of information to receive in one morning, so I think I will need a bit of time to think it all through. Do you have a place I can stay in?" she asked looking at Cole.
"You can stay with me in San Francisco if you want," Cole answered. The reaction of his mother worried him. She was not easy to fool and he was all but convinced that there was something she was not telling him.
"That'd be great." Elizabeth smiled coolly.
Nicole could sense half demon's uneasiness and it was completely in line with her own feelings of discomfort. This was way too easy and Nicole could swear that Cole's mother was not completely satisfied with his explanations and that she was hiding something herself.
Cole knew perfectly well that unless his mother decided that it was time to talk there was no way he could find out what was on her mind without using his telepathic powers. And he did not really fancy reading his mother's thoughts. He also had to talk to Nicole and it was much more urgent than he thought this morning. He decided that the best thing would be to shimmer to his Penthouse. "Than, that settled," he gave his mother a bright smile. "Let's go."
Nicole was about to say something, but Cole took her hand in his and the next moment they were shimmering to the Penthouse. When they arrived half demon gave Elizabeth a short tour and said, "I am sure that you would like to change. There are some outfits I picked for you in the guest bedroom and if you'd like to freshen up the bathroom is first door on your right." The older woman nodded. She was glad to be on her own for a while. That would allow her to think things over.
When she left the living room Cole and Nicole exchanged glances and the latter asked, "So how do you think this went?"
Cole shrugged his shoulders, "Well, regarding restoring my mother's powers and memory, I think it went well, with regard to everything else we'll find out soon enough. I'll try talking to her tonight."
Nicole nodded and said in a too bright tone. "Well, I guess I'll be going then. You will need some privacy for this conversation."
"Is that what you decided?" half demon asked curtly, "I was hoping that you had changed your mind after talking to Celina and Vladimir."
Nicole could feel her cheeks getting hot. He was absolutely right. Since she so bluntly refused to move into Cole's Penthouse the other day, she's done a lot of thinking. And now she regretted her outburst. Celina, Vladimir and Cole were right, it was safer for her to stay in the Penthouse, there was a lot at stake at the moment. She remembered what Cole told her about powers coming with a lot of responsibility. She accepted her destiny as a Chosen one, accepted on her own free will. She took an obligation to fulfil this destiny and she had to do everything possible to ensure that she Chosen Two succeeded. She could not back out now just because she wanted to stay away from Cole. Plus her conversation with Celina led Nicole to think about that decision of hers. She still felt that staying away from Cole would allow her to keep some piece of mind. At the same time she had a piece of mind for the last five years and it did not seem to make her happy. Nicole told herself not to think about it. It could lead her into the area she did not want to enter. Besides looking at the amount of work they had to carry out they would probably only come to the Penthouse to sleep and did not really matter whether they slept 10 meters apart or a 100 miles. Nicole snapped out of her thoughts.
"I did," she said trying really hard to keep her voice calm and steady, "but since your mother is staying with you there is no point really."
"Why not?" Cole raised his eyebrows. "She'll be only staying here for a few days. She never liked staying in the Upperworld. She might need a couple of days to check up on the situation in the underworld. But she would move there very soon."
"Why does not she like staying in the Upperworld?" Nicole could not suppress her curiosity.
"Don't know," Cole replied curtly. "She never bothered to explain and I never asked."
The tone of his voice made it obvious for young woman that it was better to refrain from further questions. "But it still might be very inconvenient for you if I stay here as well? And plus what are we going to tell your mother regarding why I am staying here. Because in all honesty I am not very comfortable with telling her the truth."
"And neither am I." Cole nodded, "But that's why there is even more reasons for you to stay. Look, I am convinced my mother suspects something or even may be knows something. The way she behaved today was way out from what I'd expected. And that makes me nervous. I don't like things I can't understand. My mother is a very powerful and a very sneaky demon. And she's been alive way longer than me. So I have no idea what she knows about Lugels and their plans. Also though I am pretty sure she'll never kill me, I doubt that this courtesy would extend to anybody else. So I think it would be safer if you stay here for now."
Half demon sounded truly concerned and his words were in complete unison with Nicole's own gut feeling. And this feeling told her that Elizabeth could be very dangerous and that she would have no problem killing anybody whom she considered a threat to herself or her precious son. "But where am I going to stay and what are we going to tell your mother?" Nicole asked again.
"You'll stay with me and we'll tell my mother the same thing that we'd made the Charmed Ones believe in. That you're my live-in girlfriend."
Nicole stared at him in disbelief, "You're kidding, right?"
Cole rolled his eyes, "Look, I don't want to brag but my bed is massive. You can put 6 people there and none of them will even notice that there is somebody else there. Plus if you insist we can create some sort of a wall between us. And don't worry I'll be a perfect gentlemen."
"I am not worried," Nicole snarled. "But don't you think we are taking this whole safety issue a bit far. First we had to share a house, now we have to share a bed, what next?" The moment these words left her mouth Nicole would have given anything to take them back. One of Cole's eyebrows shot up and his mouth stretched into a wry smile.
"Well, I don't know what's going to be next but I'll be delighted to find out," he drawled, his smile becoming teasing.
"Oh, you are such a..." Nicole paused trying to find a right word and when none came to mind she threw a low voltage energy ball, which disintegrated before it even reached him.
"I am sorry for my unspeakable behaviour," Cole retorted and quickly sobering continued. "Look it's only for a couple of days and plus it will help me as well. I still have to tell my mother about my failed marriage to a witch, which in her eyes would be the lowest thing anybody can do. And if I can tell her that I already have a relationship with somebody of demonic origin it would hopefully soften her a bit and make my life a lot easier."
"You're such a woos," Nicole smiled shaking her head.
**********
On the other side of town Darryl Morris strode into the Halliwells' manor followed by Phoebe. He found the rest of the family gathered in the living room eager to hear what Darryl has found out about DLM Investments and Cole's inheritance.
Paige served Darryl some coffee and Phoebe who was the most anxious to hear the news asked, "So did you manage to find anything?"
The policemen took a zip of his coffee and nodded," Yes, but it's not much." He opened his notebook. "DLM Investment has been in existence for over 50 years. It's owned by several big corporations and invests in anything starting from media holdings to pharmaceuticals. They have a reputation of being gold quality money. No problems with customs, tax office or police. None of their investments went into anything remotely doggy. So all in all they are squeaky clean and police has nothing on them."
"What about Cole's inheritance?" Piper asked.
"Not much information either," Darryl gave the older Charmed One apologetic look. "Cole has inherited 7.6% in BalFor Holdings. The stock transfer forms were signed last week. The previous owner was William Schwarzlight and from what I understand Turner inherited his shares from him. William Schwarzlight has passed away about 3 weeks ago. He did not have any leaving relatives except his niece Nicole Berg, the daughter of his brother. The latter died 25 years ago. William Schwarzlight has been a guardian of his brother's fortune. Now it has been passed to Miss Berg. She also inherited 7.6% of BalFor Holdings. Her stock transfer forms were signed on the same day as Turner's. Miss Berg resided until recently in the UK but after her uncle's death has moved to San Francisco. I have here William Schwarzlight address, she will probably be staying there."
"Did you manage to look at the will?" Paige asked.
"No," Darryl shook his head. "The contents of the will are confidential and in order to get a warrant I need evidence and I don't have any."
"Well, how about that this Schwarzlight left millions of dollars to a guy he has no connections to? Isn't this a good enough reason?" Phoebe asked.
Darryl gave her a sympathetic look, "Phoebe, I understand what you are getting at. But it's up to the relatives or the corporation to raise the alarm. Neither BalFor Holdings, nor Nicole Berg expressed any concern. I can't go round spreading rumours, I'll lose my badge and Turner can easily take me to court for slander and since I don't have even a sign of evidence, he'll probably win."
"We understand, Darryl," Piper decided that it was time to interfere. "And we are really grateful for your help and would not want you to get into any troubles because of us."
Darryl nodded gratefully and continued. "By the way I checked the reasons for Schwarzlight's death. Apparently he died of a heart failure in his sleep. Because he lived on his own the police carried out an investigation. No suspicious factors were found."
"Everything here is suspicious," Phoebe could not contain her irritation anymore. "An old man dies of a heart failure and leaves his entire fortune to Cole Turner. Come on, for Cole it's five minutes job to arrange all this."
"Yes, honey," Piper said, "but we know what Cole is capable of and police does not. And we can't exactly tell them."
"But we ought to do something," Phoebe exclaimed.
"We will," the older Charmed One said. She turned to her husband. "What did the Elders say about this?"
The whitelighter shrugged his shoulders. "Not much. They say that DLM invests into many companies and has many investors. Some of them might be demonic but it's normal for any large investment firm. The Elders don't have a firm on their radar. With regard to Cole's inheritance they don't know anything at all."
"How useful," Paige snorted.
"Why don't you try to talk to Cole?" Darryl suggested. "He might tell you something. Criminals sometimes like to talk especially when they are convinced of their safety, he might want to boast especially in front of Phoebe."
Piper gave Darryl unhappy look. "We can't find him. Phoebe and Paige went to his Penthouse but he's apparently on holidays for 2 weeks."
"Well, then may be you should talk to Nicole Berg," Darryl continued. "She has the right to raise concern over her uncle's death and then we'll be able to properly investigate it."
"May be you should talk to her," Phoebe suggested.
"I can't," Darryl heaved an impatient sigh. "I don't have evidence. And if she does not believe me she would probably tell Turner about it."
"But the same is true for us," Phoebe retorted. "She will be even less likely to believe us, considering that I am his ex wife. Whereas you are a police officer."
"Exactly, so I have a badge to lose," he took a deep breath and continued calmer. "Do you realise that Cole now is one of the richest people in town. Can you imagine what he can do? One phone call and I will not get a promotion, ever."
"Darryl is right," Leo said. "This is not his type of trouble, it's ours. Especially if Cole started killing people for money, he can easily kill Darryl to prevent exposure, whereas we can at least defend ourselves."
"Fine," Phoebe grumbled. "We'll go ourselves and try to talk to Nicole Berg."
Darryl heaved sigh of relief and handed her a note with the address and his business card. "Let me know how you get on and if she wants to press charges give her my business card."