Chương 7
Daniel looked tired.
“All right.”
“You finally told her?”
“Some.”
“Some.”
Ruth made the word sound filthy.
Maya said, “Auntie, what am I missing?”
Ruth was quiet.
Then she said, “The tape.”
Daniel’s shoulders tightened.
“You have it?” Maya asked.
“No.”
“Where is it?”
“I destroyed it.”
Daniel looked up sharply.
“When?”
“After Elena died.”
“Why?” Maya asked.
“Because she asked me to.”
Daniel stared at the phone.
Maya felt a surprising disappointment.
“What was on it?”
“Exactly what he told you, probably.”
Ruth’s voice hardened.
“Daniel yelling at his father. Threatening Elena’s career. Threatening me. Saying he’d make sure nobody helped Charles change the trust.”
Maya said, “Was there anything about medication?”
“No.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Ruth continued.
“Elena never believed he poisoned Charles or anything like that, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Maya glanced at Victoria.
“Then why did she accuse him of killing his father?”
“Because people say terrible things when somebody dies.”
Ruth sighed.
“Your mother had been doing CPR for almost fifteen minutes when the paramedics came. Charles was gone. Daniel arrived and started asking about documents before the body was even out of the room.”
Maya looked at him.
Daniel’s face had gone gray.
Ruth said, “Elena lost it. Told him he cared more about that trust than his father. Told him he’d killed the man with stress and greed. She regretted saying it later.”
Daniel whispered, “I deserved it.”
Ruth heard.
“No, you deserved plenty. Don’t steal things you didn’t earn. You didn’t murder Charles.”
Daniel looked down.
Maya had never heard anyone speak to him that way.
Ruth continued.
“You were cruel. You were scared of losing control. You threatened people who couldn’t fight you. That’s enough. You don’t need murder added to make it bad.”
Victoria stared at the phone.
Maya said, “Why destroy the tape?”
“Because Elena didn’t want her life reduced to being evidence against Daniel Whitmore.”
The sentence struck Maya harder than anything else that night.
Ruth’s voice softened.
“She wanted you to know her as your mother.”
Maya looked at Elena’s photograph.
“I barely know her at all now.”
“That’s grief talking.”
“No, Auntie. I didn’t know any of this.”
“You knew she sang badly in the car.”
Maya closed her eyes.
“You knew she hated mayonnaise. You knew she cheated at Scrabble and denied it with tiles in her pocket. You knew she sat beside your bed every night during your pneumonia because you were eight and convinced you’d die if she went to sleep.”
Maya’s lips trembled.
Ruth continued.
“You knew the parts that mattered to her.”
Maya wiped her cheek.
Victoria looked away to give her privacy that did not exist.
“Why didn’t you tell me Daniel offered to pay for treatment?”
“Because Elena said she’d haunt me.”
Maya laughed through her tears.
“That sounds right.”
“It does.”
Ruth became quiet.
Then: “What are you going to do?”
Maya looked at Daniel.
“I don’t know.”
“Good.”
“Good?”
“Means you haven’t done anything stupid yet.”
Maya laughed again.
Ruth said, “Come home when the boat docks.”
“I will.”
“And Maya?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t let rich people make you think every decision has to happen tonight.”
Victoria looked at Daniel.
Daniel looked at the table.
Maya said, “Okay.”
“Love you.”
“Love you too.”
The call ended.
For a while the three of them remained silent.
The yacht moved north through the darkness.
Finally Victoria said, “Your aunt is terrifying.”
Maya smiled weakly.
“She likes you.”
“How can you tell?”
“She didn’t insult your dress.”
Victoria looked down at the emerald gown.
“That would have been devastating.”
Maya laughed.
Daniel did not.
Victoria noticed.
“What?”
Daniel looked toward the envelope.
“Ruth destroyed the recording.”
“Yes.”
“You sound relieved,” Maya said.
“I am.”
She appreciated the honesty more than she wanted to.
Daniel continued.
“And ashamed that I’m relieved.”
Victoria returned to her chair.
“What happens tomorrow?”
Daniel frowned.
“With what?”
“The board vote.”
“It happens.”
“No.”
Victoria’s voice was calm.
“That version of tomorrow is gone.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You can’t cancel a seventy-five-million-dollar commitment because of something that happened in 2002.”
“I can postpone a vote.”
“You’ll create questions.”
“Good.”
“Victoria.”
She leaned forward.
“I’m not laundering your conscience through a rehabilitation center.”
His face hardened.
“That money will help people.”
“Yes.”
“Then don’t punish them.”
“I’m not.”
“You postpone this, donors get nervous. Construction financing gets complicated. We lose time.”
Victoria nodded.
“All true.”
“So?”
“So you’re finally going to do what Elena asked.”
Maya looked at her.
Daniel became still.
“No.”
Victoria’s eyes narrowed.
“You’re going to disclose what happened.”
“To whom?”
“The board.”
“That serves no purpose.”
“It tells them the source of the reputational risk before they accept your money.”
“There is no evidence.”
Maya flinched.
Daniel saw it.
“That came out wrong.”
“No,” Maya said. “I think it came out exactly right.”
“I meant there is no legal dispute.”
“You mean the tape is gone.”
Daniel rubbed his face.
“Yes.”
Victoria looked disgusted.
Daniel snapped, “What do you want from me?”
Maya answered.
“Nothing.”
He looked at her.
She stood.
“That’s the part you don’t understand.”
“Maya—”
“I came here because I thought my mother might have been paid to hide something. I thought maybe you hurt her. Maybe you ruined her career. Maybe there was some giant secret that would explain why she kept your name in a locked box.”
She picked up Elena’s letter.
“And there was.”
Daniel looked at her.
“But I don’t want your money. I don’t want your foundation. I don’t want revenge. I don’t even know yet whether I want anyone else to know.”
Daniel said, “Then what do you want?”
Maya looked at him.
“I wanted my mother back for five minutes.”
Nobody answered.
She folded the letter and placed it in her pocket.
“I can’t have that.”
She walked to the salon door.
This time Daniel did not stop her.
Victoria followed.
Maya turned.
“You don’t have to.”
May you like
“I know.”
They left Daniel alone beside the half-open envelope.
