Chương 14
I almost laughed from disbelief.
“He begged you?”
“Yes.”
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“That Teresa would leave him if she found out about the money.”
“He seemed more worried about the affair.”
“I didn’t know about the affair.”
“I know.”
“He told me the business would recover if he had thirty days.”
She looked at me.
“He cried.”
I could not picture it.
That made it worse.
“He cried in front of you.”
“Yes.”
“Has he ever cried in front of you before?”
“No.”
“He’s barely cried in front of me.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because you told me after your grandfather’s funeral.”
I had forgotten that.
The memory returned abruptly.
We had been sitting in a diner two years earlier, sharing fries after the funeral because neither of us wanted to go home yet.
I had told her my father cried privately in the garage and came inside pretending his eyes were red from sawdust.
A stupid family story.
A small thing.
She had remembered it.
Mariana folded her arms.
“He said he had spent his whole life being the person everybody depended on.”
I closed my eyes.
“That sounds exactly like him.”
“He said one mistake was going to erase everything.”
“One mistake.”
“I know.”
She gave me a tired look.
“I didn’t believe that part.”
“But you believed he could fix it.”
“I wanted to.”
“For the wedding.”
“For you.”
The distinction landed heavily.
She wiped at her face again.
“I kept thinking if he fixed the loan, I could tell you afterward and you would be angry with me instead of losing your father before our wedding.”
“You tried to choose which pain I got.”
“Yes.”
That answer hurt because it contained no defense.
“Yes, I did.”
We stood beside her car.
I looked at my wedding ring.
It still looked too new.
No scratches.
No dents.
Nothing to show it had already survived anything.
“You should have trusted me.”
“I should have.”
“You should have told me.”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know how to get past that.”
“I’m not asking you to get past it today.”
She looked at the ring on her own hand.
“I’m asking you to stop turning me into him.”
I looked at her.
“I’m not.”
“You are every time you act like hiding something and finding something are the same.”
The accusation stung because I could not dismiss it cleanly.
She had hidden the forged loan.
She had also found the suspicious transfers.
She had protected my father.
She was also the person now insisting we document everything.
Human beings were inconvenient that way.
Nobody stayed neatly guilty or innocent.
“I need a lawyer,” I said.
“Yes.”
“Mom does too.”
“Yes.”
“And Dad probably needs a different one.”
“Definitely.”
A reluctant smile almost appeared between us.
Almost.
Then Ernesto pushed open the coffee shop door and walked toward us.
“Not to interrupt the marital progress.”
“There is no progress,” Mariana said.
“Great.”
He stopped beside us.
“I just got a call from Rogelio.”
“What now?”
“The sheriff’s deputy is there.”
“That was fast.”
“He called the non-emergency line, then apparently started shouting about stolen machinery.”
“Of course he did.”
“There’s more.”
There was always more.
“What?”
“Claudia showed up.”
Mariana and I looked at each other.
“At the house?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She says she came to explain.”
“Is Dad with her?”
“Yes.”
“Mom?”
“With Celia.”
“Good.”
I reached for my car keys.
Mariana stopped me.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“If Claudia came back voluntarily, that matters.”
“Why?”
“Because somebody who just stole sixty-two thousand dollars and transferred hundreds of thousands in equipment usually does not drive into the victim’s driveway during a police call.”
“Unless she doesn’t know.”
“Maybe.”
“Or unless she thinks she can talk her way out.”
“Also maybe.”
Ernesto looked between us.
“She asked for me too.”
“Why?”
“She told Rogelio I know where the money went.”
We both stared at him.
“Do you?” I asked.
“No.”
“Think carefully.”
“I am thinking carefully.”
“You moved money for her.”
“I moved checks.”
“You let her use your account.”
“Yes.”
“Did she ever tell you what Northline was?”
“No.”
“Did she mention RDS?”
His expression shifted.
There it was.
Mariana saw it too.
“What?”
Ernesto rubbed the back of his neck.
“Not RDS.”
“What then?”
“She mentioned initials once.”
“What initials?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Try.”
He looked toward the traffic.
“It was when she picked up the second or third check.”
“What did she say?”
“She was annoyed because the amount was late.”
“With whom?”
“Rogelio.”
“What exactly did she say?”
Ernesto shut his eyes.
“I don’t know exactly.”
“Close enough.”
“She said something like, ‘R.S. keeps changing the plan.’”
My pulse quickened.
“Rogelio Sterling.”
“That’s what I assumed.”
Mariana frowned.
“You said R.S., not R.D.S.”
“Right.”
“Could it have been someone else?”
“Sure.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
My phone rang.
My father.
I answered.
“What?”
His voice was strange.
Not angry.
Not frightened.
Empty.
“Come here.”
“We’re coming.”
“Bring Ernesto.”
“He’s here.”
A pause.
Then Rogelio said, “Claudia says the money wasn’t stolen.”
I looked at Mariana.
“What does she call it?”
“Payment.”
“For what?”
My father did not answer.
“Dad.”
“She says I agreed to everything.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Then why does she think you did?”
Another pause.
When he spoke again, his voice was barely above a whisper.
“Because she has recordings.”
Mariana’s face changed when I repeated it.
“What recordings?”
My father swallowed audibly.
“Me authorizing the transfers.”
“Did you authorize them?”
“I don’t remember.”
“That is not no.”
“I said I don’t remember.”
“What was happening in the recordings?”
“She played one for the deputy.”
“And?”
“I sound like I’m agreeing.”
I felt cold despite the sun.
“To what?”
“To moving the money.”
Mariana held out her hand for the phone.
I gave it to her.
“Rogelio, what exactly do you say?”
My father hesitated.
“I say, ‘Do whatever you need to keep it off the books.’”
May you like
Mariana closed her eyes.
Ernesto whispered a curse.
