Chương 9
In the lobby, Linda was replacing toner in the copier. A black streak marked the side of her hand.
“Your father in a mood?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“He’s been in one since Reagan.”
Claire laughed before she could stop herself.
Linda closed the toner compartment. “Whatever is happening, don’t let him tell you the building will fall down without him. We all hold up a corner.”
Outside, Claire sat in the rental car and called Rebecca.
“I entered the facility,” she said.
Rebecca was silent for two seconds. “Did you access records?”
“No.”
“Did you discuss transaction terms?”
“With my father.”
“Of course you did.”
“He told me the lender requested a meeting.”
“That is material. Send me a factual memo of the conversation. Do not editorialize.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Be sorry by not doing it again.”
Claire put her forehead against the steering wheel.
Rebecca’s voice softened slightly. “Family systems make intelligent people stupid. That is not a legal defense.”
“I know.”
“Good. Write the memo.”
Vanessa asked to meet that evening at a coffee shop in Cooper-Young. She arrived twenty minutes late wearing sunglasses despite the cloudy sky. The engagement ring was still on her hand.
Claire had chosen a table near the back. Vanessa ordered an iced vanilla latte, then asked for less ice after the barista had already made it.
“You always do that,” Claire said when she sat down.
“What?”
“Change the order when it’s finished.”
“They put too much ice.”
“You could say it first.”
“I forget.”
For a moment, they were sisters rather than beneficiaries.
Vanessa stirred her drink. “Dad says you’re trying to have him charged.”
“I hired a lawyer.”
“That is not an answer.”
“I don’t control criminal charges.”
“So maybe.”
“Why did you ask me here?”
Vanessa removed the sunglasses. Her eyes were swollen.
“Daniel postponed the wedding.”
Claire sat back. “Because of this?”
“Because Dad called him.”
“What did Dad say?”
“That the company sale may collapse and our family finances are under investigation.”
“Why would that postpone your wedding?”
Vanessa looked at the ring. “Daniel’s father invested in the company.”
“How much?”
“Two hundred thousand.”
Claire stared at her.
“When?”
“Last year.”
“Is it documented?”
“I don’t know.”
“Was it disclosed in the diligence file?”
“I don’t know.”
“Vanessa.”
“Stop saying my name like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like I’m a drawer you’re opening.”
Claire pressed her lips together.
Vanessa took a drink. “Daniel’s father thought the company would sell. Dad told him there were multiple buyers.”
“There were.”
“Did he tell Cypress Ridge about the investment?”
“I did not see it.”
“It might be in there.”
“It might.”
Vanessa rubbed condensation from the cup. “Daniel thinks I knew about the trust.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“The condo came from your share.”
“He told me Mom sold some land.”
“Did you ask which land?”
“No. People don’t usually audit their parents when they offer help.”
Claire looked toward the window. A couple outside struggled to close a stroller under the awning.
“No,” she said. “They don’t.”
Vanessa followed her gaze. “Do you think I should give it back?”
“The condo?”
“The money.”
“It was yours.”
“Then why does it feel stolen?”
“Because he called it a gift.”
Vanessa’s mouth tightened. “You think everything Dad gives has a hook.”
“Doesn’t it?”
“He paid your tuition.”
“And reminded me every year.”
“He came to your graduation.”
“He left before dinner because I thanked Mom first.”
“He was proud of you.”
“He resented needing to be.”
Vanessa leaned forward. “You make him sound like a monster because it makes leaving easier.”
Claire turned back.
Vanessa’s voice shook. “You left me there.”
“You were nineteen.”
“Exactly.”
“I offered you my apartment in Boston.”
“For one summer. You had rules about dishes.”
“I had one rule. Rinse them.”
“That is not the point.”
“What is the point?”
“The point is you got to become a person somewhere else. I stayed, and every time I needed something, Dad made me feel chosen. Now you’re telling me it was money that already belonged to me.”
Claire had no quick answer.
Vanessa looked at the table. “He said the company would give me a job after the wedding.”
“Doing what?”
“Community relations.”
“Does the company have community relations?”
“It was going to.”
Claire almost smiled, but Vanessa saw it.
“Go ahead.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You didn’t have to.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re not. You think I’m useless.”
“I think Dad offers you roles that keep you dependent on him.”
“At least he offers me roles.”
The sentence struck where Vanessa intended.
Claire picked up her coffee. It had gone cold.
“What did he ask you to do last night?” she said.
Vanessa hesitated.
“Tell me.”
“He wanted me to say the house was being taken and Mom’s blood pressure was dangerous.”
“Was it?”
“She has high blood pressure.”
“That is not what I asked.”
“No. It wasn’t dangerous.”
“What else?”
“He said if you signed the waiver, he could clean up the estate file before the sale.”
“Before a sale he didn’t know I had arranged.”
“He thought another buyer might come back.”
“Which buyer?”
“I don’t know. Some company from Ohio.”
Claire remembered the process materials. A strategic buyer from Ohio had withdrawn after preliminary diligence. Richard had blamed financing.
“Did he say why they left?”
“He said they were cowards.”
“That sounds like him.”
Vanessa’s eyes filled. “I didn’t think it was stealing.”
“You knew the house wasn’t being taken Monday.”
“I thought it could be taken later.”
“You recorded yourself asking what would happen if I wanted the bank notice.”
“I know.”
“You understood there was no notice.”
“I understood he didn’t have one.”
Claire let the silence remain.
Vanessa looked around the coffee shop. “What happens to Mom?”
“She gets a lawyer.”
“She won’t.”
“She needs one.”
“Dad will say that means she is against him.”
“Then she has to decide whether she is.”
May you like
“You say that like decisions are free.”
Claire thought of the waived bonus, the paused deal, the trust money, the hotel room facing a garage.
