Chương 7
He muttered something at another driver.
Then he said, "Can you help me or not?"
I looked at Marcus.
He wrote one word.
STALL.
"I need to check the account."
"Your investment account has plenty."
Every person at the table went still.
I said nothing.
Grant filled the silence.
"You told me that."
"No."
"Of course you did."
"I told you I had investments."
"Right."
"Not how much."
"Mara, come on."
His voice became almost playful.
"We're getting married tomorrow."
"Saturday."
"What?"
"The wedding is Saturday."
There was a brief silence.
"Right."
That mistake was small.
It disturbed me anyway.
Grant had spent months counting down to the wedding.
Now he sounded like a man counting down to something else.
"How long?"
"I have work."
"You took today off."
My eyes moved to Marcus.
Grant knew my schedule.
Of course he did.
"I still have emails."
"Can you do it before noon?"
"Why noon?"
"The vendor needs confirmation."
"Send me the invoice."
Another silence.
"What?"
"If I'm lending twenty-five thousand dollars for a vendor payment, send me the invoice."
"I don't have it with me."
"Then when you get it."
"Mara."
"What?"
"I don't need you to pay the vendor."
My heart accelerated.
"What do you need?"
"A transfer to me."
"No."
The word came out before I could stop it.
Marcus closed his eyes.
Dana looked at the ceiling.
Grant stopped breathing for what felt like several seconds.
"No?"
"I mean I don't transfer that kind of money without documentation."
"You were about to make me your husband."
"That doesn't change bank procedures."
"Our procedures."
"We don't have procedures."
"We were supposed to."
His voice rose.
He caught himself.
"Sorry."
I heard him inhale.
"Sorry."
He sounded exhausted now.
"I've had a terrible morning."
"What happened?"
"Nothing."
"Grant."
"Work nonsense."
"Are you still at work?"
"Not today."
Dana turned her phone toward me and pointed to the employer notice.
"Why?"
"Because I took the day off for the wedding."
It was such an ordinary lie that I almost admired it.
"Okay."
"Can you just check the account?"
"Promise?"
I looked at Marcus.
He did not move.
"Yes."
"Thank you."
Grant's relief was immediate.
"I knew I could count on you."
The sentence made something inside me go quiet.
"I have to go."
"See you at three."
"Yes."
"Love you."
This time I did not hesitate.
"Love you too."
After the call ended, Dana reached for her thermos.
"Well."
Marcus stared at the notes.
"He lied about why he's off work."
"He lied about the company."
I said it more quietly.
Dana took a drink.
"And he knows enough about your investments to target a specific source even if he doesn't know the exact balance."
"I've left statements here."
"Then assume he's seen them."
Marcus tapped the legal pad.
"The interesting thing is the amount."
"Why?"
"Twenty-five thousand solves an immediate problem."
He looked at Dana.
"It doesn't solve the debt picture."
"No."
"So either he's asking for a test amount or he's plugging today's hole."
Dana nodded.
"People under financial pressure often stop thinking in totals."
"What do they think in?"
"The next fire."
I looked at Grant's last message.
There was already another one.
Thank you for trusting me.
I turned the screen off.
At nine twenty, I called my studio manager, Elena, and told her I would not be coming in.
She reacted with immediate suspicion.
"You have a fever?"
"No."
"You sound weird."
"I'm dealing with something personal."
"Wedding personal or real personal?"
"Those are apparently the same thing today."
There was a pause.
"Do you want me to come over?"
"No."
"Do you want me to cancel anything?"
"Move Monday's site meeting."
"Done."
Another pause.
"Mara."
"Yes?"
"If this is Grant, you don't have to protect his reputation from me."
I closed my eyes.
"Why would you say that?"
"Because you've been weird for a month."
Marcus looked up.
"What kind of weird?" I asked.
"You defend him before anybody criticizes him."
"I do not."
"You just did it."
I almost argued.
Then I stopped.
Elena continued.
"And he came by the office twice when you weren't there."
My chair scraped backward.
"When?"
"Last month."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I thought you knew."
"What did he want?"
"First time, he said he was picking up your laptop charger."
"He wasn't."
"I know that now."
"Did you give him anything?"
"The charger."
"What else?"
"Nothing."
I stood.
"Second time?"
"He said he needed copies of the farmhouse drawings."
"Why?"
"He said you were talking about renovation financing."
I could hear blood rushing in my ears.
"We weren't."
Elena swore softly.
Marcus held out his hand for the phone.
I shook my head.
"Did you give him the drawings?"
"PDFs."
"What was in them?"
"Existing plans, square footage, renovation history."
"Anything financial?"
"No."
"Appraisal?"
Another pause.
"Mara."
"What?"
"He asked if we still had the appraisal from the preservation loan."
My stomach dropped.
"Did you give it to him?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I couldn't find it."
I sat down slowly.
Dana was already making notes.
Elena said, "What's happening?"
"I can't explain yet."
"Should I be worried?"
"No."
That was another lie.
I hated how quickly they were becoming useful.
"Don't give Grant access to anything."
"Obviously."
"And don't tell him I called."
"I won't."
"Elena."
"I won't."
When I hung up, Marcus said, "The nine-hundred-thousand figure."
I nodded.
"He may have gotten it somewhere else."
"He may have."
"But he was looking."
"Yes."
Dana leaned back.
"That gives you behavior."
"Not proof of fraud."
"No."
She looked at me.
"But behavior matters when deciding whether to marry somebody."
I laughed once.
It sounded harsh.
"Apparently we still need to say that out loud."
At ten, Marcus drove me to his office in downtown Lancaster.
Dana followed in her own car.
May you like
I carried the twins' trust statements in a canvas grocery bag because I could not find anything more dignified.
At a red light, Marcus glanced at the bag.
