Chương 4
“I know what I kept closed.”
Leandro’s attention sharpened.
“What did Dad have private accounting for?”
Estelle glanced toward the guests.
Arthur understood first.
He set down his glass.
“Everyone should go.”
This time nobody resisted.
The spell broke all at once.
Chairs moved.
Fabric whispered.
Someone retrieved a purse from beneath a table.
Guests avoided looking directly at the family while making their exits, which only made their curiosity more obvious.
One woman paused long enough to whisper into another’s ear before both hurried away.
Leandro watched a man near the doorway slip his phone into his jacket.
“Phones,” he said.
Several people stopped.
He immediately knew how ridiculous the command sounded.
“You can’t confiscate everyone’s phone,” Estelle said.
“I know.”
“Then don’t start acting like your father.”
The words hit harder than she intended.
Leandro looked at her.
Estelle’s face crumpled for the first time that night.
“I’m sorry.”
He looked away.
“No.”
“You’re not him.”
“Apparently I’m the last person in the room to know anything, so maybe I’m closer than I thought.”
Maribel’s mouth opened.
Then closed.
That was new.
Leandro turned toward the server.
“Bring Ms. Boone to the library.”
“Yes, sir.”
The young man left with visible relief.
Maribel watched him go.
“You’re making a mistake.”
Leandro looked at her.
“Probably.”
“You don’t even know her.”
“No.”
“She is vindictive.”
“Maybe.”
“She tried to blackmail your father.”
Estelle said, “That is not what happened.”
Maribel turned.
“You weren’t there.”
“No.”
“You don’t know.”
“I saw the checks.”
Maribel went silent.
Leandro’s eyes moved between them again.
“What checks?”
Estelle rubbed her palms together.
A nervous habit he had not seen since he was a teenager.
“Your father made payments to Celia for nine years.”
“For what?”
“I never found out.”
Maribel laughed without humor.
“You found out enough.”
Estelle looked at her.
“I found your name.”
The room seemed to contract.
Daphne’s grip tightened on Estelle’s arm.
Leandro did not move.
Maribel’s face lost all color.
Estelle continued because stopping now would be another kind of cowardice.
“Your name was attached to the account references.”
Leandro looked at Maribel.
She gave him nothing.
“No,” he said.
Maribel’s chin lifted.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I know your name was on transfers from my father’s personal account.”
“That proves nothing.”
“I know.”
Estelle’s voice cracked.
“That is why I signed the statement instead of accusing you.”
Maribel stared at her.
For the first time, something like hurt entered her expression.
“You investigated me because of his paperwork.”
“I investigated the money.”
“You followed me.”
“I hired someone to verify where the payments went.”
Maribel’s eyes flashed.
“You hired someone to follow me.”
“Yes.”
The admission changed the room.
Even Daphne looked at Estelle.
Estelle saw it.
“I’m not proud of it.”
Maribel laughed once.
“Convenient.”
“No.”
Estelle’s voice became steadier.
“It was ugly, and I did it anyway.”
Leandro rubbed a hand over his mouth.
“What did the investigator find?”
Estelle looked at Maribel.
“Nothing criminal.”
Maribel blinked.
The answer seemed to surprise her.
“Nothing?”
“No.”
“Then why are we here?”
“Because nothing criminal is not the same as nothing.”
Maribel’s shoulders stiffened.
Leandro said, “Mom.”
Estelle hesitated.
“Celia Boone was meeting with Maribel.”
Maribel closed her eyes.
Leandro’s voice lowered.
“How often?”
“Three times that I know of.”
“When?”
“Over the last two months.”
Maribel looked at Estelle with open contempt now.
“You had me watched for two months.”
“I had the account activity watched.”
“Stop hiding behind language.”
“I’m not.”
“You always do.”
The library door opened across the adjoining hall.
The young server appeared first.
Behind him stood a woman in a dark blue coat, carrying a weathered leather folder against her chest.
She was perhaps sixty.
Her gray-streaked hair was cut bluntly at her jaw.
She looked neither frightened nor impressed by the house.
When she saw Maribel, she stopped.
Maribel whispered, “You.”
Celia Boone’s gaze moved to Estelle, then to Leandro.
“I came because somebody finally used the account.”
Leandro frowned.
“What account?”
Celia’s fingers tightened around the folder.
“The one your father made me promise never to touch unless Maribel tried to take this house.”
Leandro looked at Maribel, but she was staring at Celia as if the woman had entered carrying a weapon.
Celia noticed the look and gave a tired little shake of her head.
“I’m not here to destroy anybody.”
Maribel’s voice came out thin.
“That’s exactly why you’re here.”
“No.”
Celia shifted the leather folder under one arm.
“I’m here because you moved money.”
Leandro’s eyes sharpened.
“What money?”
Celia looked at him.
“Your father set aside a reserve account connected to the trust.”
Arthur, who had not yet made it fully out of the ballroom, stopped near the doorway.
“That account was dormant.”
Celia glanced toward him.
“It was supposed to be.”
Arthur stepped back into the room.
“How much?”
Celia did not answer him.
She kept her attention on Leandro.
“Enough that touching it would trigger notice.”
Maribel’s jaw tightened.
“I didn’t steal anything.”
Celia’s expression barely changed.
“I didn’t say you did.”
“You came here implying I did.”
“I came here because the account was accessed using authorization tied to your name.”
Leandro moved between them.
“When?”
“Yesterday morning.”
Maribel laughed once.
It sounded brittle.
“That’s impossible.”
Celia held out the folder.
“Then explain it.”
Maribel did not take it.
Leandro did.
The leather was worn soft at the corners, the kind of thing that had been carried for years rather than bought for effect.
He opened it.
Inside were printed account records, photocopies of signatures, and a handwritten note clipped to the first page.
He recognized his father’s handwriting immediately.
That recognition did something to his posture.
His shoulders lowered, but not from relief.
Estelle saw his thumb pause over the slanted black letters.
He read without speaking.
Maribel took one step forward.
“What does it say?”
May you like
Leandro did not answer.
Celia watched him with a kind of restraint that made Estelle distrust her less than she expected.
