Chương 13
“Nothing.”
“Then why call?”
“Because my son is involved now.”
I straightened.
“How?”
“Naomi threatened to contact him.”
My grip tightened around the phone.
“Why would she do that?”
“To pressure Daniel.”
“What did she say?”
“That if Daniel ‘destroys her child’s future,’ she’ll make sure his son knows exactly why his parents separated.”
I closed my eyes.
“That’s disgusting.”
“Yes.”
Rachel’s voice remained calm.
Too calm.
The kind that came after anger had burned long enough to become useful.
“I don’t care what adults do to each other anymore.”
She said it quietly.
“But I care very much when they start using children as leverage.”
I looked toward my bedroom.
My daughters slept in a pile beneath the blankets.
“What are you planning?”
“To go to Walter’s house.”
“No.”
She went quiet.
“You don’t know these people.”
“I know enough.”
“No, you know what Daniel told you.”
“And what I found in our financial records.”
That stopped me.
“What did you find?”
“A payment.”
“From Walter?”
“From a company tied to Crescent Ridge.”
“How much?”
“Twenty-five thousand dollars.”
I felt my stomach drop.
“For consulting?”
“That’s how it was labeled.”
“You don’t believe that.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Daniel’s consulting invoices were all separate.”
“What was this one?”
“A retention bonus.”
“For what?”
“He doesn’t know.”
I stared at the wall.
“He doesn’t know why someone paid him twenty-five thousand dollars.”
“He says he assumed it was project closeout compensation.”
“Did he ask?”
“No.”
“Convenient.”
“Yes.”
Rachel did not defend him.
“Naomi received the same amount.”
My breath caught.
“How do you know?”
“Daniel had a copied payment schedule in an old project folder.”
“What schedule?”
“I’m looking at it now.”
Paper rustled on her end.
“Five names.”
“Who?”
“Daniel Mercer.”
A pause.
“Naomi Prescott.”
Another.
“Elliot Barnes.”
The property manager Samantha had named.
My skin prickled.
“Who else?”
“Martin Cole.”
“I don’t know him.”
“Neither do I.”
“And the fifth?”
Rachel went quiet.
“Victor Reynolds.”
I did not breathe.
“How much?”
“Seventy-five thousand.”
The hallway seemed suddenly too narrow.
“When was the payment?”
“Eleven months ago.”
I leaned against the wall.
That would have been just before Victor’s affair with Naomi began.
Or before he claimed it began.
“What was his payment labeled?”
Rachel hesitated.
“Family transition consulting.”
I almost laughed because the phrase was so strange.
Instead, nothing came out.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“No.”
“Send me a picture.”
“I already did.”
My phone buzzed against my ear.
“Rachel, do not go to Walter’s house yet.”
“Why?”
“Because if these payments are legitimate, walking in angry accomplishes nothing.”
“And if they aren’t?”
“Then walking in angry gives whoever made them time to explain them away.”
She was silent.
“You sound like someone who has done this before.”
“No.”
I looked toward my daughters.
“I sound like someone who has spent a year reacting too late.”
Rachel exhaled.
“What are you going to do?”
I looked at the clock.
6:24.
Our flight was still hours away.
The girls would wake soon.
There were suitcases to close.
Documents to check.
A country to leave.
And somewhere across town, the family I had just escaped was gathering around a secret that somehow contained my ex-husband’s name and seventy-five thousand dollars.
“I’m going to make coffee.”
Rachel laughed unexpectedly.
“That wasn’t what I meant.”
“I know.”
I walked into the kitchen.
“After that, I’m going to look at what you sent.”
“And then?”
“Then I’m going to decide whether any of this is important enough to cost my daughters their last peaceful morning here.”
Before Rachel could answer, another call came through.
Victor.
I ended the call with her and answered his.
He did not say hello.
“Penelope, don’t go to my parents’ house.”
I stared at the coffee machine.
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“I mean it.”
“What happened?”
“My father just told me why he paid me seventy-five thousand dollars last year.”
Every thought in my head stopped.
“You knew about the payment?”
“I knew about the money.”
“Not why?”
“I thought it was a bonus.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“That family transition label didn’t bother you?”
Silence.
“How do you know about that?”
“That is not the important question.”
“No.”
His voice dropped.
“It isn’t.”
“Then tell me what Walter said.”
Victor breathed in slowly.
“He said the money was for agreeing not to object.”
“Object to what?”
Another silence.
Then Victor said, “To selling part of Crescent Ridge to Halden before the environmental report became public.”
I gripped the counter.
“What environmental report?”
“The one that said part of the property had groundwater contamination.”
My mouth went dry.
“And you knew?”
“Not then.”
“Then what did you think you were agreeing to?”
“That Halden needed the deal closed quietly before another investor came in.”
I shut my eyes.
“Victor.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t get to say that.”
He went silent.
I heard voices in the background.
Walter shouting.
Miriam crying.
Then Samantha saying something sharp enough that even through the phone I could hear the anger.
“Where are you?”
I asked.
“At Dad’s.”
“Is Naomi there?”
“No.”
“She’s not coming?”
“She was.”
“What changed?”
“My father told her not to.”
“Why?”
Victor lowered his voice.
“Because Naomi has copies of the report.”
For several seconds, all I could hear was Victor breathing.
Then a door slammed somewhere behind him.
“What does Naomi want with the report?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s not good enough.”
“I know.”
“No, stop saying that.”
I realized I had raised my voice and lowered it before I woke the girls.
“What does she want?”
Victor answered more quietly.
“Leverage.”
“Against your father?”
“Yes.”
“About the baby?”
“Maybe.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It does if she thinks Dad can protect her.”
“Protect her from what?”
Another burst of shouting came through the phone.
This time Walter’s voice was unmistakable.
“You gave her access to those files?”
Victor moved away from the noise.
“I have to go.”
“No.”
“Penelope.”
May you like
“You called me.”
“I called to tell you to stay away.”
