Chương 5
Adrian opened his eyes. “Find Elena Ramirez.”
Graham hesitated.
“Why are you hesitating?”
“Because legal has already found her.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means someone ran a background review. She has thirty-eight thousand dollars in medical debt, nine thousand on credit cards, and a pending dispute with her landlord. Her ex-husband owes child support.”
Adrian’s voice cooled. “So?”
“So the cash on your lap matters.”
“She didn’t put it there.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Lily saw Vanessa.”
“A child saw an adult in a kitchen mirror. Then cash appeared in a room with a wealthy, sick man. Every defense attorney in Illinois will turn that into fog.”
Adrian shifted against the raised hospital bed and felt the weakness in his arms. “You believe Vanessa?”
“I believe panic makes people loyal to the first explanation that protects them.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Graham rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ve watched Vanessa build a second life around you for three years. I’ve also watched you dismiss household employees without learning their last names. I don’t know which fact is supposed to guide me.”
Adrian looked toward the untouched breakfast tray. Oatmeal had formed a pale skin in the bowl.
“Bring Elena here.”
“She may not come.”
“Offer a car.”
“That is exactly the kind of thing that makes this look like you are buying a witness.”
“Then ask politely.”
Graham almost smiled. “You have people for that?”
“I used to.”
At nine, the hospital’s communications office issued a statement describing Adrian’s condition as stable and under evaluation. By nine fifteen, a financial news site reported that the billionaire had suffered a “private medical event” days before his wedding. At nine twenty-eight, a gossip account posted that police had visited his penthouse after an altercation involving his fiancée, a domestic employee, and “a significant quantity of cash.”
By ten, Elena’s name was online.
Someone found a photograph from Lily’s school fundraiser. Elena stood behind a folding table holding a paper cup of coffee, unaware she was being photographed. The caption identified her as a catering employee. Replies called her a mistress, a thief, an opportunist, and a desperate mother. Other strangers declared her brave. The certainty of both groups made her equally ill.
She turned off her phone.
At ten thirty, someone knocked on the apartment door.
Lily was supposed to be at school, but Elena had kept her home. They stood silently in the kitchen while the knocking continued.
“Ms. Ramirez?” a man called. “I’m with Channel Seven. We’d like to hear your side.”
Lily whispered, “How do they know where we live?”
Elena did not answer.
The man knocked again. Another voice joined him from the hallway.
Elena took Lily into the bedroom and pushed the small dresser against the door, though the apartment door already had two locks. She hated how theatrical the gesture felt. She hated more that it helped.
They sat on the bed with their shoes on.
Lily leaned against the wall. “If we tell everyone, they’ll know Vanessa lied.”
“They will know what we say.”
“That’s the same.”
“No.”
“It should be.”
Elena studied the chipped polish on her thumbnail. She had planned to remove it before work because Vanessa disliked visible wear. The thought almost made her laugh again.
Her phone lit with a call from an unknown number. She ignored it. It rang a second time. Then a message appeared.
This is Graham Pike. Mr. Vale would like to speak with you at the hospital. Transportation can be arranged. No press.
Elena read it twice.
Lily watched her face. “Is it him?”
“His company.”
“Are we going?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because we need a lawyer.”
“We don’t have one.”
“That’s part of the problem.”
Another message arrived.
He is asking, not ordering.
Elena stared at the words. They sounded like something Graham had added for himself.
She replied that she would speak only if Detective Brooks approved.
The reporters remained outside until a patrol car arrived. By then, Elena had packed a bag for Lily, three granola bars, phone chargers, the folder containing her lease, and the black ribbon that had fallen from Lily’s hair at the penthouse. She did not know why she brought the ribbon. It was simply on the bathroom counter when she looked around for anything she might regret leaving.
Detective Brooks met them through a service entrance at the hospital.
“You did the right thing by contacting me,” she said.
Elena could not tell whether it was praise or procedure.
“Am I a suspect?”
Brooks held her gaze. “Everyone connected to unexplained money and possible poisoning is being investigated.”
“That means yes.”
“It means I’m not going to lie to make you comfortable.”
Lily looked up at the detective. “Do you think I lied?”
“I think you told us what you remember.”
“I know what I saw.”
“Those are not always different. They are also not always the same.”
Lily frowned. “You talk like my mom.”
Brooks glanced at Elena. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Adrian’s room had been moved to a private floor. Security checked Elena’s bag, then apologized after Brooks stared at them. Lily surrendered a green plastic whistle she had forgotten in the side pocket.
“It’s for emergencies,” she said.
“One emergency at a time,” Elena told her.
Adrian was sitting up when they entered. He wore the clean white shirt Graham had brought, though the collar remained open. Without the evening shadows of the penthouse, his illness looked less dramatic and more serious. His face had the waxy stillness of someone concentrating on remaining present.
Lily stopped near the foot of the bed.
“You look worse.”
Graham coughed into his hand.
Adrian said, “Thank you.”
“My mom says not to tell sick people they look good when they don’t.”
Elena closed her eyes. “Lily.”
“What? He doesn’t.”
May you like
Adrian’s mouth moved slightly. “Your mother is right.”
Brooks positioned herself near the window. “This is not an interview. Ms. Ramirez agreed to a brief conversation. Do not discuss testimony you have not already shared with police.”
