Chương 13
“We borrowed for the kitchen.”
“I remember.”
“Then the boys’ tuition went up.”
“They go to public school.”
“Not anymore.”
That surprised me.
“They changed schools?”
“Last year.”
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
He gave a tired laugh.
“Because Vanessa didn’t want you knowing.”
“Why?”
“Because you’d ask how we were paying for it.”
Rachel leaned forward slightly.
“How were you?”
Mark stared at the coffee stain on the table.
“Debt.”
The waitress returned with three mugs even though I had said no.
Nobody corrected her.
Mark waited until she walked away.
“We have credit cards.”
“How much?”
I asked.
He swallowed.
“A little over ninety thousand.”
My mouth went dry.
“Ninety?”
“Between everything.”
“Does Mom know?”
“Yes.”
“Dad?”
“Some of it.”
“How much did they give you?”
His eyes moved away.
“Mark.”
“Forty-five.”
“Thousand?”
“Yes.”
I sat back.
“When?”
“Over the last eighteen months.”
I laughed once.
Not because it was funny.
Because suddenly Vanessa’s comments about my financial advantage had a new smell to them.
Not envy alone.
Panic.
“What does that have to do with my inheritance?”
“She thinks your parents should help us now instead of later.”
“That still doesn’t involve me.”
“She thinks it does.”
Rachel said, “Because Claire’s eventual share limits what Vanessa thinks she can receive.”
Mark nodded.
“That’s the logic.”
“What logic?”
I asked.
He looked embarrassed.
“Your dad sold the company for enough that Vanessa thinks the estate is basically fixed.”
“It isn’t fixed.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
He rubbed his hands together.
“She made projections.”
“The spreadsheet.”
“Yes.”
“She estimated what your parents have, what they’ve already given us, what you have from Daniel, everything.”
A waitress dropped silverware at a nearby table.
The sound made me flinch.
“What was family adjustment opportunity?”
Mark looked at Rachel.
She said nothing.
He looked back at me.
“She wanted your parents to frame the estate change as fairness.”
“Meaning?”
“She thought if they said you were already secure because of Daniel’s insurance, you might agree to take less.”
“I wouldn’t.”
“I know.”
“Did she?”
“No.”
That answer came quietly.
I stared at him.
“So what was the alternative?”
He closed his eyes for a second.
“This is the part I didn’t know until yesterday.”
My stomach tightened.
“What part?”
“She wanted leverage.”
Rachel’s voice sharpened.
“What kind?”
“Not blackmail.”
“That distinction would be more reassuring if you hadn’t volunteered it.”
Mark looked at her.
“I’m trying to explain.”
“Then explain.”
He turned back to me.
“Vanessa thought you’d agree if you believed your parents had helped you more than her.”
“They haven’t.”
“I know.”
“She knows.”
“I know.”
“So?”
“She wanted to create the appearance that they had.”
I stared at him.
“How?”
He rubbed his forehead.
“By making certain expenses look like gifts.”
“What expenses?”
“Travel.”
The word landed strangely.
“This trip?”
“Yes.”
I looked at Rachel.
She had gone completely still.
Mark continued.
“She wanted the rental, the hotel, meals, whatever she could, all to run through your card or your reservation.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It does if she can later say your parents reimbursed you.”
“But they didn’t.”
“She planned to have them transfer money.”
Rachel leaned forward.
“To Claire?”
“No.”
“To an account Vanessa controlled.”
I felt cold all over.
“What?”
“She opened a joint household account with your mother six months ago.”
I stared at him.
“Why?”
“Your mother thought it was for helping with family expenses.”
“Whose family?”
Mark gave me a look that answered.
“Vanessa’s.”
Rachel said, “And Vanessa intended to move money through that account and label it as support for Claire?”
“Yes.”
I could barely hear the diner anymore.
“What would that accomplish?”
“Paper.”
He swallowed.
“Transfers with notes.”
“What kind of notes?”
“Claire hotel.”
“Claire rental.”
“Claire support.”
My hands went numb.
Rachel asked, “Did Linda know?”
Mark hesitated.
“Not all of it.”
That meant some.
I looked at him.
“What did she know?”
“She knew Vanessa wanted the trip expenses documented.”
“As what?”
He said nothing.
I leaned forward.
“As what, Mark?”
“As family support.”
I sat back.
The booth suddenly felt too small.
“So my mother agreed to create a record that they were financially supporting me.”
Mark nodded.
“Your father didn’t.”
“Dad knew nothing?”
“He knew about discussing the estate.”
“Not the transfers?”
“I don’t think so.”
Rachel tapped one finger against the table.
“Why the duplicate key?”
Mark looked at me.
“I asked her that.”
My throat tightened.
“What did she say?”
“She said she needed access to your room because she wanted to photograph receipts.”
The diner seemed to tilt.
“Receipts?”
“She thought if she could match charges to things your parents supposedly reimbursed, it would look cleaner.”
Rachel’s expression hardened.
“That is fraud.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
He looked miserable.
“I know now.”
I stared at him.
“You knew she had my ID.”
“No.”
“You knew about the spreadsheet.”
“Parts of it.”
“You knew she wanted my inheritance reduced.”
“Yes.”
“You knew she was using this trip to build some kind of fake financial record.”
He looked down.
“I knew she was organizing expenses.”
“That is not what I asked.”
“No.”
His voice dropped.
“I didn’t know the rest.”
I believed he believed that.
I did not know whether it was true.
“What was supposed to happen yesterday?”
Mark looked at the coffee in front of him.
“She expected you to leave Lily with her and go downstairs.”
“Why?”
“So she could get into your purse.”
My skin went cold.
“She already had a copy of my license.”
“She wanted your card.”
“The whole card?”
“Just enough to confirm the last four digits and photograph it.”
I thought of my purse unzipped.
The rental company had said the caller knew those digits.
“What about Lily?”
Mark’s face changed.
“She wasn’t supposed to stay in the room.”
“Why?”
“Because she saw Vanessa going through your purse.”
Everything inside me stopped.
“What?”
Mark closed his eyes.
May you like
“Vanessa told me last night.”
I could not breathe.
