Chương 6
Ethan stood.
She touched the top of her head, self-conscious.
“Don’t,” he said.
Her hand dropped.
He heard the command in his own voice.
“I mean, you don’t have to cover it.”
“That isn’t what you said.”
“No.”
The silence that followed was not dramatic. It was worse. It was familiar.
Ethan crossed to the small table and picked up an apple he did not want. He turned it in his hands.
“I’m trying not to tell you what to do.”
“You’re bad at it.”
“I know.”
“You’re good at sounding calm while doing it.”
“I know that too.”
She sat on the end of the bed. “Lorraine sounds calm.”
The apple became still in his hand.
Natalie looked embarrassed as soon as she said it, but she did not take it back.
He placed the apple down.
“I’m not her.”
“No.”
“You think I am.”
“I think you both decide what reality is and become irritated when other people do not enter it fast enough.”
He sat in the chair opposite her.
The distance between them was six feet.
It felt honest.
A knock came twenty minutes later. Ethan opened the door to find Priya Raman holding a black medical bag and Daniel carrying paper sacks from a deli.
Priya walked past Ethan without greeting him.
She was small, silver-haired at the temples, and dressed in navy scrubs beneath a linen jacket. She introduced herself to Natalie, asked permission before sitting beside her, and addressed every question directly to her.
Daniel placed the food on the table.
He was forty, lean, and perpetually overdressed for the weather. His charcoal suit looked untouched by the afternoon heat. He glanced once at Natalie’s head and then at Ethan.
The glance contained no accusation.
Ethan preferred accusation.
Priya checked Natalie’s blood pressure twice, examined the dressing, asked about nausea, fever, urination, dizziness, and food. Natalie answered with increasing reluctance.
“When did you last eat a full meal?” Priya asked.
“Yesterday.”
“What?”
“Toast.”
“That is not a full meal.”
“There was peanut butter.”
Priya waited.
Natalie looked away. “Tuesday morning.”
Ethan stood near the window, arms folded.
Priya glanced at him. “Please sit down.”
“I’m fine.”
“I wasn’t asking for medical reasons.”
Daniel handed him a sandwich.
Ethan took it and did not eat.
Priya removed the dressing carefully. The incision beneath it was small and clean, though the skin around it was irritated.
“No obvious infection,” she said. “That is good. Your blood pressure is low. You are dehydrated. Your pulse is faster than I like.”
“I get nervous.”
“You are allowed to be nervous. Your pulse does not receive an exemption.”
Natalie almost smiled.
Priya continued. “I can help with fluids here only to a point. I want bloodwork. I want the pathology report when it arrives. If you faint, develop fever, have increasing pain, shortness of breath, confusion, or cannot keep fluids down, you go to an emergency department. Agreed?”
Natalie nodded.
“Say it.”
“Agreed.”
Priya replaced the dressing and gave her a rehydration drink. Then she turned to Ethan.
“You will not interrogate her tonight.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
Daniel opened a bag of chips. “He was absolutely planning to.”
Priya ignored him. “She needs rest, food, and control over who enters this room.”
Natalie held the bottle in both hands. “I need to go back at eight.”
“No,” Ethan said.
Priya looked at him.
He corrected himself. “Why?”
“My folder is there.”
“We’ll get it.”
“And my laptop.”
“I’ll get it.”
“The password files are on it.”
“What password files?”
Natalie glanced at Daniel.
He pulled a chair closer. “Tell me what you found.”
She drank before answering.
“Lorraine had me reconcile household receipts after she moved the accounts. She said I needed to earn room and board. I found payments to a company called Sonoran Lifestyle Management. The invoices were for consulting, but the addresses were empty lots.”
Daniel stopped eating.
“How much?”
“I only saw four months. About two hundred thousand.”
Ethan stared at her. “Why didn’t you mention this in the car?”
“You were barely hearing the first thing.”
Daniel asked, “Did you copy the invoices?”
“Some. I saved them on the laptop.”
“Cloud backup?”
“Lorraine disconnected the villa Wi-Fi from my devices.”
Daniel’s face tightened. “Why?”
“She said I was leaking family information.”
“Were you?”
“I emailed myself one spreadsheet.”
“Good.”
“No. She found it.”
“How?”
“She had access to my email.”
Ethan’s voice became quiet. “How?”
Natalie looked at him. “The recovery address was yours.”
His account security flowed through the family office too.
Every convenience.
Every shortcut.
Every time he had said Lorraine was better with paperwork.
Daniel leaned back. “We need the laptop, the medical folder, and anything showing the source of the vehicle payment. We also need to preserve the current state of the accounts.”
“I took pictures,” Natalie said.
“Where?”
“My old phone.”
“Where is that?”
“Lorraine’s desk.”
Ethan stood.
Priya pointed at the chair. “Sit.”
“I’m going to the villa.”
“At eight,” Daniel said. “With me. Calmly.”
“Her phone is in Lorraine’s desk.”
“And if you force the door, anything we recover becomes part of a new argument. You need to stop creating new arguments.”
Ethan sat.
Natalie drank again. Her hands shook less after several minutes.
Priya opened one of the food containers and placed half a turkey sandwich on a plate. Natalie took two bites, then set it down.
Nobody pressured her.
Daniel ate chips. Priya reviewed discharge paperwork Natalie had folded into her medical folder before Lorraine took it. Ethan stood at the window and watched traffic move along Camelback Road.
For several minutes, nobody discussed theft, illness, or betrayal.
The ordinariness felt like mercy.
May you like
At seven thirty, Daniel laid out the plan.
They would meet at the villa with Lorraine’s attorney present. Daniel had requested a notary and an independent document witness. The transfers would be described accurately. No promises would be made about the timing or availability of Ethan’s payout. Daniel would ask questions about each prior transfer, including who authorized it and why.
