Chương 9
“Maribel?”
“Yes, sir.”
They went upstairs.
Eleanor opened the apartment door herself.
She wore cream slacks, a navy cardigan and no makeup. Her gray hair was brushed but not styled, and she looked smaller than Adrian remembered from dinner three nights before.
Then she saw Claire.
“Oh.”
Claire gave a faint smile.
“Good morning, Mrs. Cole.”
Eleanor looked at Adrian.
“You fired her.”
“Yes.”
“Did you hire her back?”
“No.”
Claire said, “It’s complicated.”
Eleanor stepped aside.
“Everything in this family becomes complicated before breakfast.”
The apartment smelled faintly of toast.
On the dining table sat an open newspaper, a bowl with half a grapefruit, and an old tablet in a brown leather case.
Adrian saw it immediately.
“Is that Dad’s?”
Eleanor followed his eyes.
“Yes.”
“You used it last night.”
She looked ashamed.
“I told you.”
“You didn’t tell me Nathaniel’s driver brought his laptop here.”
Eleanor frowned.
“What?”
Claire closed the apartment door.
“Mrs. Cole, did someone bring you a computer bag last night?”
“Yes.”
Adrian stared.
“Why?”
“Nathaniel said the bank site might not open properly on Thomas’s tablet.”
“You told me you used Dad’s device.”
“I did.”
“Then why did you need Cross’s laptop?”
“I didn’t. Maribel plugged something into the tablet.”
Claire stepped closer.
“What?”
“I don’t know. A little cord.”
Adrian’s pulse accelerated.
“Where is Maribel?”
“She went to the pharmacy.”
“When?”
“Ten minutes ago.”
Claire picked up her phone.
“Don’t call her.”
Eleanor’s eyes narrowed.
“Why?”
“Because we need to understand what she did before we make her nervous.”
Eleanor looked at Adrian.
“You think Maribel stole money?”
“I don’t know.”
“Maribel has worked for me eight years.”
“I know.”
“She came to the hospital every day after my surgery.”
“I know, Mom.”
“She made soup.”
“I know.”
His voice sharpened on the last word.
Eleanor flinched.
Adrian closed his eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
No one spoke.
He pulled out a dining chair and sat.
“Tell us what happened.”
Eleanor sat across from him.
Claire remained standing until Eleanor pointed impatiently at a chair.
“Sit. You’re making me feel interrogated.”
Claire sat.
Eleanor folded her hands.
“Nathaniel called around nine. He said Adrian had a problem.”
“Nine?”
“He called earlier too. I don’t remember.”
Claire asked, “Was it before or after dinner?”
“After Jeopardy.”
Adrian glanced at Claire.
Eleanor noticed.
“Yes, I watch Jeopardy. People over seventy are allowed television.”
“I didn’t say anything,” Adrian said.
“You had a face.”
“I always have a face.”
“That one came from your father.”
Claire looked down to hide a smile.
Eleanor continued.
“Nathaniel said something had been pledged incorrectly. He used banking words. I asked why Adrian hadn’t called me.”
“What did he say?” Claire asked.
“That Adrian couldn’t be on the record.”
Adrian’s jaw clenched.
“And you believed him?”
Eleanor looked at her son.
There was no fragility in her expression now.
Only irritation.
“No. I believed Nathaniel.”
The distinction struck him.
“He has known me forty years,” she said. “He sat with me while your father was dying. He handled things when you were in Singapore. When the hospital needed papers, he found them. When your father forgot where he kept the insurance file, Nathaniel knew.”
Adrian looked down.
There were parts of his father’s final year he had not been present for.
Work had been the reason.
Work was always an excellent reason until afterward.
Eleanor rubbed one finger over her wedding ring.
“He said Thomas had created the reserve because he never trusted boards when a family problem touched the company.”
“Did Dad say that to you?”
“No.”
“Then why—”
“Because it sounded exactly like him.”
Adrian stopped.
She was right.
Claire said, “What happened when the bag arrived?”
“Maribel brought it up. She said Nathaniel’s driver told her there were instructions.”
“In the bag?”
“A sheet of paper.”
“Do you still have it?”
Eleanor looked toward the kitchen counter.
“There.”
Claire found a folded page beside the fruit bowl.
The instructions were printed.
No letterhead.
Simple steps.
Open Thomas’s tablet.
Connect the supplied security adapter.
Log in with the legacy reserve credentials.
Approve the transfer labeled ESTATE COLLATERAL CORRECTION.
Adrian read the page.
At the bottom was a handwritten sentence.
Don’t mortgage Sunday. —A
Adrian stared.
Claire’s eyes moved to him.
“That’s supposed to be you.”
“Yes.”
“Is it your handwriting?”
“No.”
Eleanor looked stricken.
“I thought it was.”
“Mom.”
“I haven’t seen you write anything longer than your signature in fifteen years.”
Adrian sat beside her.
“I know.”
“What did I do?”
He looked at the instruction sheet.
Then at the tablet.
Then at his mother.
“We’re going to find out.”
Her mouth trembled once.
She pressed it closed.
Claire looked away.
Eleanor had not cried at Thomas’s funeral until the cemetery staff began folding the chairs.
Adrian remembered that now because of the movement of her mouth.
A tiny refusal.
He put his hand over hers.
She allowed it for a few seconds.
Then pulled away and straightened the newspaper on the table.
“What happens to me?”
Adrian did not answer.
Claire did.
“We document exactly what happened. We preserve the tablet and the instructions. You don’t delete messages or call Mr. Cross.”
Eleanor looked at her.
“And then?”
“Then counsel will advise you.”
“That means something unpleasant.”
“It means I don’t know.”
Eleanor gave a dry laugh.
“I understand why he kept you.”
Adrian looked at his mother.
“Kept?”
Claire stood.
“We need Maribel.”
Eleanor checked the kitchen clock.
“She’ll be back soon.”
Claire texted Priya and Jonah.
Adrian walked to the window.
Central Park was visible between buildings, bright green and indifferent.
His phone showed eleven missed messages.
Three from directors.
Two from the CFO.
One from Cross.
Four from communications.
One from an unknown number.
He ignored all of them.
“Why did you keep Dad’s tablet?”
Eleanor glanced toward it.
“I don’t know.”
“That’s not true.”
“No, it isn’t.”
May you like
She picked up her grapefruit spoon and set it down again.
“Your father held that thing every night for ten years. After he died, Robert asked if I wanted it wiped. I said no.”
