Chương 6
Maybe not to me.
Maybe not here.
But he had been carrying them a long time.
He pulled out a chair and sat.
"Michael's firm had been subcontracting emergency drainage and bridge work in three counties."
Governor Pierce said, "Which firm?"
"Harrow Civil."
I knew the name.
Everyone in the state finance office knew it.
Harrow Civil had collapsed eight years ago after a bonding dispute and a fraud inquiry that went nowhere.
I had never connected it to my mother's family.
My mother had used her maiden name professionally before she married.
Michael had kept their father's surname.
I felt foolish for not knowing.
Then angry at myself for feeling foolish.
People don't investigate their mothers as a normal part of adulthood.
My father continued.
"After Harrow lost eligibility, Michael moved the consulting side into Bellweather."
"With whose money?" I asked.
My mother looked at me.
That was answer enough.
Governor Pierce caught it too.
"Mrs. Bennett?"
My mother straightened.
"I invested."
"How much?"
"Private money."
"How much?"
"About two million."
Vanessa stared.
"You told Dad not to lend me fifty thousand for my first campaign office."
My mother whipped toward her.
"This isn't about you."
"No, apparently nothing is ever actually about what you say it's about."
"Vanessa."
"Stop saying my name like that."
My sister folded her arms tightly across her chest.
"You put two million dollars into Uncle Michael's company?"
"It was an investment."
"In a company he was using because his other company couldn't get insured?"
My mother's mouth tightened.
"I didn't know the full extent of his problems."
My father shook his head.
"You knew enough."
"Charles."
"You knew Harrow had lost bonding."
"I knew there was a dispute."
"You knew why."
"I knew what Michael told me."
My father leaned back.
"He told you whatever made you write the check."
That sounded like marriage, not testimony.
There was old resentment in it.
Old enough that I wondered how much of my childhood had happened over fault lines I never saw.
Governor Pierce pulled out her phone.
One of the security officers moved closer.
"I need counsel informed."
My father looked at her.
"Governor, I'm not confessing to a crime."
"I didn't say you were."
"You were thinking it."
"I was thinking I'd prefer a lawyer in the room before anyone says something they'll later claim was misunderstood."
My father gave a tired nod.
"Fair."
My mother looked at him.
"You cannot be serious."
"For once tonight, I am."
Governor Pierce stepped away and made the call quietly.
The remaining guests began to understand that the evening was no longer social.
One couple slipped toward the exit.
Then another.
The restaurant manager stood near the bar pretending to examine a reservation tablet.
Senator Marlowe approached my father.
"Did you know state reimbursements were being manipulated?"
My father looked up.
"No."
"Did Diane?"
"I don't know."
My mother snapped, "Of course I didn't."
Ethan spoke from behind Vanessa.
"Then why did Charles ask me to discredit Claire?"
My father shut his eyes.
"Because Diane panicked."
My mother stared at him.
"You told me she was coming after us."
"Because you told me Bellweather's name would lead to Michael."
"It would have."
"And?"
"And he had just died."
Her voice broke unexpectedly.
The room went still again.
I had forgotten that Uncle Michael died the same month my report surfaced.
A heart attack in his kitchen at fifty-three.
My mother had disappeared into her bedroom for three days.
I had brought her soup she never ate.
That memory arrived so sharply I could smell the thyme.
My mother looked at me.
"Your uncle had been dead twelve days."
Her eyes were bright.
"You came into our house with files and accusations."
"I didn't accuse you."
"You said Bellweather was connected to Dad's companies."
"It was."
"You said there was fraud."
"I said there were irregularities."
"You said investigators would follow the registrations."
"They should have."
Her face twisted.
"My brother was in the ground."
I felt anger rise, then stall against something more complicated.
Grief had never made her innocent.
But grief had made her human.
"I didn't know Bellweather was his."
"You didn't care."
"I didn't know."
"You kept digging."
"It was my job."
"You always say that."
"Because it was."
My mother laughed bitterly.
"That was your answer for everything."
"What was I supposed to do?"
"Give us time."
"Time for what?"
She looked away.
My father answered for her.
"To clean it up."
I looked at him.
My mother did too.
His expression was flat now.
"That's what she asked me for."
My mother whispered, "You agreed."
"I did."
"Then don't pretend you're better than me."
"I'm not."
He looked at me.
"I helped bury your report."
The sentence hurt less than I expected.
Maybe because I had known it without hearing it.
Maybe because pain gets tired too.
Ethan leaned against the back of a chair.
"How?"
My father rubbed his hands together.
"I called someone in procurement."
"Who?" Governor Pierce asked, returning to the table.
My father glanced at her phone.
"Is counsel coming?"
"Yes."
He nodded slowly.
"Then I'll wait."
Governor Pierce's face hardened.
"That's probably wise."
My mother let out a sharp laugh.
"Now you're careful?"
My father looked at her.
"I'm trying something new."
Vanessa sat down.
She looked suddenly exhausted.
"Did you both know Claire's personnel review cleared her?"
My father didn't answer.
My mother did.
"No."
Ethan stared at her.
"That's not true."
She turned.
"You don't know what I knew."
"I emailed Charles the result."
My father looked at him.
"You emailed both of us."
My mother's face drained.
Vanessa stared at her.
"So you knew."
My mother pressed a hand to her throat.
"I knew the complaint didn't proceed."
"That means she was cleared."
"It means they decided not to pursue it."
"No."
Ethan's voice sharpened.
"It means the allegations weren't supported."
May you like
My mother looked at him with open contempt.
"You started those allegations."
