Chương 7
I looked up.
“Did you call him?”
Gerald’s silence was enough.
“When?”
“Later.”
“How much later?”
“Maybe an hour.”
“What did he say?”
My father’s face tightened.
“He said he was fine.”
“Where was he?”
“He didn’t say.”
“Did you ask?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“He told me it was none of my business.”
That also sounded like Nathan.
I hated how every plausible detail made the impossible parts harder to separate.
My phone buzzed.
James again.
This time I answered.
“I need you to stay on the line.”
He did not waste time asking why.
“What happened?”
I put the call on speaker.
My mother’s face hardened immediately.
Gerald looked almost relieved.
“James, were you aware Nathan got sick at my parents’ house on November eighteenth?”
Silence.
Then, “No.”
“Did he contact you that night?”
Another pause.
“Yes.”
My mother’s arms dropped.
I leaned against the counter.
“What time?”
“I’d have to check.”
“Do you remember what he said?”
“He asked me to meet him.”
“Where?”
“At my office.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
My father whispered something I could not hear.
“What condition was he in?”
James took a breath.
“He looked terrible.”
I closed my eyes.
“Did he tell you why?”
“He said he thought he had food poisoning.”
Patricia released a sharp breath.
James continued.
“He also said he had confronted Gerald and Patricia.”
My father stepped closer to the phone.
“About the accounts?”
“Yes.”
“Did he tell you we poisoned him?”
James hesitated.
“No.”
Patricia looked at me.
“You see?”
I lifted one hand.
“Stop.”
James said, “Why are we discussing poison?”
No one answered.
He changed tone.
“Fay, where are you right now?”
“The kitchen.”
“With them?”
“Yes.”
“Leave.”
My mother laughed bitterly.
“There it is.”
James ignored her.
“Take your keys and go somewhere public.”
“James.”
“Now.”
The authority in his voice annoyed me even while I needed it.
“I’m not a child.”
“I know.”
“Then stop ordering me.”
“Fine.”
He paused.
“Please leave.”
That was worse somehow.
I picked up my bag.
Gerald moved aside.
Patricia did not.
She stood between me and the front hall.
“Before you go, ask him.”
“Ask him what?”
She looked at the phone.
“Ask James what Nathan did with the copies.”
James went silent.
I heard it.
So did everyone else.
“James?”
“I have them.”
My mother closed her eyes.
My father sat down again.
I stared at the phone in my hand.
“You have the church records?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Since November eighteenth.”
I felt anger rise through the fear.
“You knew all of this?”
“I knew Nathan suspected financial misconduct.”
“And you said nothing to me.”
“He asked me not to.”
“He was my husband.”
“I know.”
“Apparently everyone knew things about my husband except me.”
No one spoke.
James finally said, “Nathan was trying to protect you from being forced to choose between him and your parents.”
I laughed again.
This one hurt.
“That worked beautifully.”
“Fay.”
“What else?”
“Not on the phone.”
My mother said, “Convenient.”
James replied, “Patricia, this is not a conversation you want to have with me.”
She smiled without warmth.
“That sounds like a threat.”
“It’s legal advice.”
“To whom?”
“To everyone in that kitchen.”
My father rubbed his forehead.
“I’m done.”
Patricia turned.
“What does that mean?”
“It means I’m done with this.”
He stood and faced me.
“I moved the money.”
My mother stared at him.
“Gerald.”
“No.”
His voice shook.
“I moved it.”
He looked at me.
“Not your mother.”
“What are you doing?”
Patricia whispered.
“I signed the transfers.”
Gerald continued as if she had not spoken.
“I used the reserve as collateral for an investment fund run by a man named Stephen Cole.”
James said, “Do not say anything else.”
My father laughed weakly.
“I think we’re past that.”
“What kind of fund?”
I asked.
“Real estate.”
“Where?”
“Mostly New Jersey.”
“Mostly?”
He rubbed his palms against his pants.
“I don’t know anymore.”
“You invested church money in something you didn’t understand?”
“I understood it at first.”
Patricia said, “Gerald, stop.”
He turned on her.
“You wanted her protected from this.”
“I wanted us protected.”
There it was.
A clean sentence at last.
Not love.
Not concern.
Us.
James said, “Fay, leave now.”
I looked at my mother.
“Is that why you wanted control of my inheritance?”
Her face tightened.
“No.”
My father answered before she could continue.
“Yes.”
She spun toward him.
“You coward.”
He did not react.
I felt my throat close.
“How?”
Gerald swallowed.
“Cole’s fund collapsed.”
“And?”
“We owe money.”
“To whom?”
“A lot of people.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know exactly.”
“You don’t know?”
“More than the church money.”
My mother’s voice turned flat.
“Gerald.”
“How much?”
I asked again.
He looked at me.
“About eleven million.”
For several seconds the number did not mean anything.
Then it did.
My inheritance was not safety to them.
It was a solution.
Patricia stepped toward me.
“We were never going to take your money.”
I backed away.
“Then why Chloe?”
“Because if you had someone helping manage the estate, creditors couldn’t pressure you into bad decisions.”
“Which creditors?”
“People connected to Cole.”
James spoke sharply through the phone.
“Fay, do not discuss the estate with them.”
My mother pointed at the phone.
“He doesn’t know what’s happening.”
“He seems to know more than I do.”
“No, he knows what Nathan wanted him to know.”
That stopped me.
“Meaning?”
Patricia looked at my father.
Gerald shook his head.
She ignored him.
“Nathan invested with Stephen too.”
James said, “That is false.”
“Is it?”
“Yes.”
My mother smiled.
“Then tell Fay why Nathan met him the week before he died.”
The silence on the phone changed.
I looked at the screen.
“James?”
“I knew they had contact.”
My skin prickled.
“What kind of contact?”
“I don’t know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because I am not going to invent answers.”
Patricia stepped closer.
“Nathan thought Cole had hidden assets.”
May you like
James said, “Patricia.”
“He thought he could recover the church money and keep your father out of prison.”
