Chương 14
“What happens with Patricia?”
“That depends partly on what you want.”
“I want the money back.”
“Good.”
She waited.
“That’s all?”
“No.”
“What else?”
I looked at Lily.
“I want to know exactly what they did.”
“That may be harder.”
“Why?”
“Because money moves cleanly.”
She glanced at Evan’s letter.
“Motives don’t.”
“I don’t care about motives.”
Maya looked at me for half a second too long.
I corrected myself.
“I care less about motives.”
“That I believe.”
She folded her hands.
“You also need to decide how much destruction you are willing to accept to get answers.”
My stomach tightened.
“That sounds like you’re warning me not to do anything.”
“I’m warning you that doing something has consequences too.”
“For them?”
“For everybody.”
She was quiet for a moment.
“If there was fraud, forged documentation, or misappropriation, there may be civil claims and potentially criminal exposure.”
“Potentially?”
“I don’t promise criminal outcomes.”
Her tone sharpened slightly.
“Anyone who does is selling something.”
I looked toward the window.
“What happens to Emily if her parents are charged?”
“That depends on facts that do not exist yet.”
“She’s in college.”
“I understand.”
“What about their house?”
“Claire.”
I looked back.
“You are already trying to calculate consequences for everyone else.”
The sentence irritated me because it was accurate.
“They’re still my family.”
“I didn’t say they weren’t.”
“I don’t want Emily punished.”
“Then don’t punish Emily.”
“What if recovering my money means she loses tuition or her home?”
“That may not be a decision you control.”
I looked down.
Lily’s sock had twisted halfway around her foot.
I fixed it.
Maya waited until I finished.
Then she said, “You are allowed to distinguish between causing a consequence and refusing to absorb one.”
I let the sentence sit.
It was dangerously close to sounding wise.
I did not want wisdom.
I wanted numbers.
“Can we figure out where all two hundred twenty thousand went?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“With records.”
“Can Patricia stop us?”
“She can refuse voluntary disclosure.”
“And then?”
“Then we decide whether litigation is appropriate.”
“That sounds expensive.”
“It can be.”
I laughed without humor.
“Of course.”
Maya studied me.
“Do you have money for legal fees?”
The question embarrassed me instantly.
“No.”
I hated how small the word sounded.
Maya nodded as if I had said something ordinary.
“Then we structure this carefully.”
“How?”
“First, I’m not billing you for today.”
I stiffened.
“I don’t want charity.”
“It isn’t charity.”
“What is it?”
“Richard paid for the consultation.”
Anger flared.
“He what?”
“He paid my standard consultation fee before giving you my number.”
I stood.
“He had no right.”
“No.”
Maya’s voice remained calm.
“He had the right to pay me.”
“You had the right to decline.”
I stared at her.
She continued.
“Now you know.”
“Do you want me to refund him and invoice you?”
I almost said yes out of pride.
Then I looked at the hotel room.
At my secondhand diaper bag.
At Lily’s tiny shoes beside the crib.
“No.”
The word hurt.
Maya nodded once.
“That is also a choice.”
My phone buzzed.
A text from Robert.
Claire, I need to tell you something Patricia doesn’t know I kept.
I showed Maya.
She read it without touching the phone.
“Do not answer yet.”
“Why?”
“Because he may be frightened and trying to protect himself.”
“That means he might tell the truth.”
“It also means he might tell the version that helps him.”
I read the message again.
“What do I say?”
“Nothing until we know what he claims to have.”
Another message appeared.
It’s the account ledger.
I downloaded statements every month.
Pat deleted access to some of them yesterday.
Maya’s expression changed for the first time.
Not dramatically.
Just enough.
“That,” she said, “is worth handling carefully.”
I stared at the screen.
A third message arrived.
She doesn’t know I backed them up.
Then a fourth.
And Claire, the forty thousand wasn’t the last money Margaret sent.
I looked at Maya.
She held out her hand.
“Call him.”
I tapped Robert’s number and put the phone on speaker.
He answered before the first full ring.
“Claire?”
“Maya Levin is here with me.”
There was a pause.
“Your attorney?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
Maya leaned toward the phone.
“Mr. Hayes, do you understand that I represent Claire and not you?”
“Yes.”
“Have you retained counsel?”
“No.”
“You should consider doing so before making statements that could expose you legally.”
Robert gave a tired laugh.
“I’ve considered about six hundred things since last night.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“No, I don’t have a lawyer.”
“Then I’m going to keep this narrow.”
She glanced at me.
“What did you mean when you said there was another transfer?”
Robert was quiet.
“I found it while going through the statements.”
“How much?”
“Sixty thousand.”
My mouth went dry.
Maya did not react.
“When?”
“August.”
Grandma had sent another sixty thousand three months ago.
I sat down slowly.
“For what?”
Robert said, “Patricia told Margaret Claire had found a stable daycare but needed a deposit, several months prepaid, and money to catch up on rent.”
I stared at the wall.
I had never found a daycare.
I had still been working from home in August with Lily beside me.
Maya asked, “Did the full sixty thousand enter the same account ending in 4418?”
“Yes.”
“What happened to it?”
“About forty-five went to the business.”
“And the rest?”
“Mortgage, taxes, two cards.”
I closed my eyes.
Three transfers.
Two hundred eighty thousand dollars.
Grandma had sent enough money to change the entire first year of Lily’s life.
I had received less than two thousand of it directly or indirectly.
Maya asked Robert where the backups were stored.
“Encrypted cloud folder.”
“Who has access?”
“Me.”
“Anyone else?”
“No.”
“Do not alter the files.”
“I won’t.”
“Do not send them to Claire yet.”
I looked at her.
She held up one finger.
May you like
Robert said, “Why not?”
“Because I want an orderly transfer that preserves the original files and metadata.”
