Chương 5
“Change them,” Maya said.
Victoria stared at her.
The humor left the room.
“Every exterior lock?” Pete asked.
Maya looked at Rachel.
Rachel nodded.
“Exterior doors, gate access, owner-level electronic credentials. Staff credentials can remain active until Ms. Carter decides otherwise.”
Pete lifted his case.
“Okay.”
Victoria stepped into his path.
“No.”
Alvarez moved closer.
“Mrs. Sterling.”
“You are not drilling my doors.”
Pete blinked.
“I probably won’t have to drill anything.”
It was such an earnest answer that Maya almost laughed again.
Victoria did not.
Rachel said, “The transfer agreement gave you until eight this morning to remove personal effects and surrender owner access.”
“My property is still inside.”
“Your personal property remains yours.”
“Then she cannot change the locks.”
“She can. We arranged supervised access for retrieval.”
“I do not require supervised access to my clothes.”
Alvarez spoke gently.
“At this point, ma’am, I’d strongly recommend you contact your attorney.”
“I have six attorneys.”
“Then odds are good one of them is available.”
Wright looked down.
Maya was almost certain he was hiding a smile.
Victoria saw that too.
Her face hardened.
“Fine.”
She stepped away from the locksmith.
“Change them.”
Then she looked directly at Maya.
“But do not confuse possession with belonging.”
Maya had no answer.
Victoria walked toward the grand staircase.
Alvarez stopped her.
“Ma’am, before you go upstairs, does Ms. Carter consent to you remaining in the residence?”
The question hung there.
Maya looked at Rachel.
Rachel gave her nothing.
This one was hers.
Victoria waited.
For the first time all morning Maya had the thing she had once believed she wanted.
Control.
She could tell Victoria to leave.
Immediately.
She could make her walk outside in last night’s gown, past the locksmith’s van and Deputy Alvarez’s cruiser, with nowhere prepared to go because she had refused to prepare.
Maya imagined it.
The image felt good.
That frightened her.
“How much do you need to take today?” she asked.
Victoria’s eyes narrowed.
“I’m not negotiating with you.”
“I’m asking.”
“I have lived here nineteen years.”
“I know.”
“You know nothing about living here.”
Maya’s temper moved.
She pressed it down.
“Two hours.”
Rachel turned slightly.
Victoria did not answer.
Maya continued.
“You get two hours to pack anything you personally need for the next several days. Wright or one of the guards stays with you. Nobody removes fixtures, art, electronics, documents belonging to the estate, or anything disputed. The rest gets inventoried and collected through the arrangement your lawyers already received.”
Victoria looked at Rachel.
“Did you tell her to say that?”
“No.”
“Unfortunately,” Rachel said, “she occasionally thinks without me.”
Maya gave her a look.
Victoria’s mouth twitched before she stopped it.
The almost-smile vanished so quickly Maya wondered if she had imagined it.
“Two hours,” Victoria said.
“Yes.”
“I need my bedroom private.”
“No.”
“Maya.”
It was the first time Victoria had said her name that morning.
Not thief.
Not this woman.
Maya.
Something old moved beneath the anger.
“I’m not having anyone watch me pack underwear.”
Wright looked deeply uncomfortable.
Maya sighed.
“Door stays open. Guard remains in the hall.”
Victoria considered.
“Ellis.”
Ellis nodded.
“Ma’am.”
“And nobody comes in unless I ask.”
Maya looked at Alvarez.
He nodded slightly.
“Fine.”
Victoria turned toward the stairs.
Halfway up, she stopped.
She did not look back.
“The blue room was Grant’s office,” she said. “There are privileged documents in there.”
Rachel answered.
“We know.”
Victoria continued upstairs.
Maya watched until the hem of the black gown disappeared around the landing.
Only then did she realize her whole body was shaking.
Wright noticed.
“You should sit down.”
“I’m fine.”
He raised one eyebrow.
Maya hated him immediately for being correct.
She sat on the bottom stair.
The marble was cold through her pants.
Wright took a bottle of water from a small service cabinet and handed it to her.
“Thank you.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Please don’t call me ma’am.”
He considered.
“Okay.”
Maya opened the bottle.
The cap crackled in the quiet.
“Did she really fire you?”
Wright glanced upstairs.
“She has fired me nine times.”
Maya looked at him.
“Seriously?”
“Christmas of twenty-three, twice.”
“Why twice?”
“I got rehired between dinner and dessert.”
Maya laughed, then pressed two fingers to her lip.
Wright almost smiled.
“That one wasn’t personal.”
“What happened?”
“Mr. Sterling invited a guest she had specifically uninvited.”
“What did you do?”
“Opened the door.”
“Terrible judgment.”
“Thank you.”
The ordinary conversation made Maya’s eyes sting unexpectedly.
She looked down at the water bottle.
Wright became serious.
“I’m sorry I didn’t move sooner.”
Maya looked up.
“When?”
“When she grabbed you.”
“You were figuring out who owned the house.”
“That shouldn’t matter.”
“No.”
He nodded once.
“No.”
Maya studied him.
“Why didn’t you?”
Wright looked toward the gold crest.
“Because I’ve spent five years learning not to put hands on members of this family unless somebody’s life is in danger.”
“Former member.”
He looked at her.
“You see what I mean.”
Maya did.
Authority was not erased by filing.
It lingered in muscles.
In hesitation.
In which person a room waited to hear from.
“That’s a bad security policy,” she said.
“It’s a terrible security policy.”
“Are there more?”
“Plenty.”
“Great.”
He nodded toward her hand.
“You want ice?”
“For my dignity?”
“Can’t help with that.”
“My hip.”
“That I can do.”
He left.
Rachel came over and sat one stair above Maya.
“You like him?”
“He’s the first employee I’ve ever had.”
“You have four others.”
“Don’t remind me.”
“Five, actually. House manager.”
Maya closed her eyes.
“I can’t own a house manager.”
“You don’t own the people.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I do.”
Rachel looked around the foyer.
“You could sell within ninety days.”
“To who?”
“Someone awful, probably.”
“That helps.”
“You want me to lie?”
“No.”
Maya took a drink.
The water tasted faintly metallic.
“What happens to the SM?”
“The floor?”
“Yeah.”
“You own the floor.”
“I mean the crest.”
May you like
“Also the crest.”
“Can I remove it?”
