Chương 6
“No. Because she deserves that much.”
The answer unsettled her because it sounded almost sincere.
Richard said, “Meet me somewhere public. Bring Ethan. Bring Marcus if you don’t trust me.”
Marcus raised his eyebrows when she repeated it.
Richard continued, “One hour. The lobby of the Langham. Not one of my properties.”
“Why there?”
“Because there are cameras everywhere and enough people around that you’ll feel safe.”
Claire looked at Ethan.
He was drawing a face in syrup with the edge of his fork.
“Fine.”
Richard said, “And Claire?”
“What?”
“Do not go into Room 317.”
She hung up.
Marcus stared at her.
“Well,” he said.
“Yeah.”
Ethan looked up.
“We’re obviously going to Room 317.”
Claire pointed at him.
“That is exactly the kind of thinking that got you locked in a car.”
“I was looking for my Nintendo charger.”
“You were in Dad’s office.”
“He took it away.”
Claire rubbed her forehead.
Marcus said, “This family has exhausting boundaries.”
The meeting at the Langham lasted twelve minutes.
Richard arrived alone.
Claire had chosen a table in the center of the lobby where three cameras were visible.
Ethan sat beside her.
Marcus remained standing.
Richard noticed all of it.
He sat opposite Claire.
“You look like your mother when you’re furious.”
“Don’t start with that.”
He nodded once.
Fair enough.
He put his phone on the table.
Screen down.
Hands visible.
“Your mother is alive.”
Ethan’s foot stopped swinging.
Richard looked at him.
“I am sorry you learned that this way.”
Ethan said, “Were you going to tell me?”
Richard hesitated.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“I don’t know.”
“That means no.”
Richard looked away.
Claire said, “Room 317.”
Her father folded his hands.
“In February 2017, your mother met a man named Steven Vale in that room.”
“Who’s Steven Vale?”
“My former business partner.”
“Former why?”
“He died in 2018.”
“How?”
“Cancer.”
Marcus shifted.
Richard noticed.
“Marcus thinks he saw blood.”
Richard closed his eyes briefly.
“Yes.”
Claire waited.
Richard looked at Ethan.
“This part should not be discussed in front of him.”
Ethan said, “I can go sit over there.”
He pointed toward a velvet chair twenty feet away.
Claire almost refused.
Then she nodded.
“Stay where I can see you.”
“I know.”
He carried his hot chocolate to the chair.
Richard watched him go.
“He shouldn’t have been dragged into this.”
“You dragged him.”
“I told Daniel to bring him to you.”
“Daniel put him in the back of an SUV and locked the doors.”
Richard’s mouth tightened.
“That was not my instruction.”
“Why didn’t Daniel just walk him downstairs?”
Richard looked at Marcus.
Then at Claire.
“Because Daniel panicked.”
“About what?”
“The key.”
Claire waited.
Richard continued.
“Steven Vale was threatening your mother.”
“Why?”
“They had worked together.”
“At the hotel?”
“No. Before.”
“What kind of work?”
Richard rubbed one thumb across the side of his hand.
It was a nervous habit Claire had never noticed.
“Accounting.”
Claire almost laughed.
“My mother was a high school art teacher.”
“After you were born.”
“You told me she hated numbers.”
“She did.”
“That sounds inconsistent.”
“She was good at them. She hated them.”
Claire sat back.
“Go on.”
Richard looked toward the lobby windows.
“Steven and I started buying distressed hotel properties in the early 2000s. Your mother helped us with the books before we could afford staff. Later, after we had accountants and outside firms, she stopped.”
“Why was Steven threatening her in 2017?”
“Because she found records.”
“What records?”
“Payments.”
“To whom?”
“City inspectors. Union representatives. A zoning consultant.”
Marcus said, “Bribes.”
Richard looked at him.
“Yes.”
Claire stared at her father.
“Your bribes?”
“Some were authorized by Steven without my knowledge.”
“Some?”
Richard did not answer.
Claire smiled without humor.
“There it is.”
“Claire—”
“Did Mom threaten to expose you?”
“Yes.”
“And Steven?”
“Yes.”
“What happened in Room 317?”
Richard looked toward Ethan.
The boy was watching them over the rim of his cup.
Richard lowered his voice.
“Steven grabbed her.”
Claire’s throat tightened.
“She hit him with a lamp.”
Marcus looked away.
“Did she hurt him?”
“Cut his head open. Six stitches.”
“That’s the blood.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t he call the police?”
“Because he had just threatened to ruin her children if she talked.”
Claire leaned forward.
“How?”
“He claimed he had documents making it appear she had authorized some of the payments.”
“Had she?”
Richard paused.
“She had signed several transfers years earlier.”
“Knowing what they were?”
“No.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Because I arranged them.”
Claire stared at him.
Richard did not look away.
There was no defense in his face now.
Only fatigue.
“You used her signature.”
“I told myself it was temporary.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“No.”
“You committed fraud.”
“Yes.”
Marcus exhaled slowly.
Claire felt something inside her become strangely calm.
Her father had always been good at controlling rooms.
He knew when to deny.
When to argue.
When to charm.
This confession was not accidental.
“What are you trying to get ahead of?”
Richard looked at her.
“Your mother came to me after she hit Steven. She was terrified he would use the documents against her. I told her I could fix it.”
“You paid Marcus.”
“Yes.”
“You deleted the footage.”
“Yes.”
“What else?”
“I paid Steven.”
“How much?”
“Two million.”
Marcus gave a quiet whistle.
Richard ignored him.
“In exchange, he signed a release, transferred his interest in two properties, and agreed never to contact Laura again.”
Claire said, “And then?”
“And then your mother discovered what I had done.”
“What?”
“The original transfers.”
“The ones with her signature.”
Richard nodded.
“She realized I had used her name to move money years earlier.”
“And she left you.”
“Yes.”
“Then why fake her death?”
“I didn’t.”
Claire laughed.
“Careful.”
“She staged the bridge.”
Claire stopped.
Richard said, “I did not know she planned it.”
May you like
“Why would she do that?”
“Because she thought disappearing was the only way to keep Steven from following her and the only way to keep me from forcing her back.”
