Chương 6
“The financial counselor asked why my pay stubs showed insurance deductions when the coverage search found nothing. She printed a form. Then someone from your office called the room and told me not to discuss payroll with hospital staff.”
Victor turned toward Leo.
Leo was already reaching for his phone. “Who called?”
Anna recited the number.
It was not Dominic’s prepaid line. It belonged to Mrs. Bell, the household manager.
Victor called her himself.
Margaret Bell answered after four rings. She was sixty-one, punctual, unsentimental, and had managed his Gold Coast house for eight years. She knew which guests needed decaffeinated coffee, which politicians arrived through the garage, and which employees had sick children even when they tried to hide it.
“Mr. Russo,” she said. “How is Miss Bennett?”
“You called her.”
A pause.
“I wanted to make sure she was all right.”
“You told her not to discuss payroll.”
“I told her questions should go through the agency.”
“Why?”
“That is the procedure.”
“Whose procedure?”
“Lakeshore’s.”
“Who told you to call?”
Mrs. Bell breathed slowly into the phone. “Mr. Vale.”
Anna watched Victor’s face.
He asked, “Why did she work yesterday?”
“She was scheduled.”
“She had a fever.”
“She said she could complete the rooms.”
“Did she?”
“Mr. Russo—”
“Did she tell you she was sick?”
“Yes.”
“Did she ask to leave?”
Silence answered before Mrs. Bell did.
“She had already missed one shift,” she said. “Lakeshore’s attendance policy permits termination after two unscheduled absences within thirty days.”
Victor looked at Anna.
She did not look away.
“Who gave you that policy?”
“Mr. Vale instructed me to follow the agency handbook.”
“Did you threaten her job?”
“I explained the consequences.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Mrs. Bell’s voice lost some of its professional smoothness. “Yes.”
Thomas shifted in his wheelchair.
Victor pressed his tongue against the inside of his cheek. “Come to the hospital.”
“I have a house to manage.”
“Not anymore.”
The line went quiet.
Victor continued, “Bring every message, handbook, schedule, and invoice related to Lakeshore. Do not call Dominic. Do not delete anything.”
“I would never delete records.”
“Good. Then you won’t mind bringing your phone.”
He ended the call.
Anna stared at him. “You fired her?”
“I suspended her.”
“You said not anymore.”
“I was angry.”
“That must be convenient.”
Victor slipped the phone into his pocket. “Do you want her working there?”
“I want to know why she did it.”
“She told you why.”
“No. She told you a rule. People hide behind rules when they don’t want to tell you who scared them.”
Victor studied her.
Anna’s face was still pale, but the weakness that had made her seem fragile in his bed had changed. Sitting beside her brother, she looked exhausted rather than helpless.
“You think she was scared of Dominic,” Victor said.
“I think everyone in your house is scared of someone.”
Thomas muttered, “Including the guy with the gun.”
Anna ignored him.
Victor’s phone vibrated. A message from his attorney, Nina Kessler, contained six words.
DO NOT TOUCH ANY MORE RECORDS.
He called her.
Nina answered with, “Tell me you haven’t assaulted Dominic.”
Victor glanced at Leo.
“Not seriously.”
“That sentence is why I take blood pressure medication.”
“What did you find?”
“What did you find?”
“Insurance theft.”
“You found suspected benefits fraud connected to companies you own.”
“I don’t own Lakeshore.”
“Your holding company paid it. Your signatures authorized transfers. At least two vendors share an accountant with businesses currently mentioned in a federal subpoena.”
Victor stepped away from Anna and Thomas. “What subpoena?”
“The one I was trying to verify before alarming you.”
“You should alarm me sooner.”
“You shoot alarms.”
“I don’t shoot paper.”
“You once shot a fax machine.”
“It kept ringing.”
Nina was silent for a moment. “I need you to listen. If Dominic routed payroll deductions through your businesses, this is not a private dispute. Do not threaten him. Do not move money. Do not destroy anything. Do not ask employees to change statements. Do not offer Anna Bennett money beyond the hospital payment without counsel.”
“She’s owed money.”
“She is owed wages and stolen premiums through a documented process, not an envelope in a parking garage.”
Victor looked through the consultation-room window. Anna was rearranging Thomas’s blanket although it did not need rearranging.
“What do we do?”
“I come to the hospital. You say nothing until I arrive.”
“I’m not under arrest.”
“Let’s keep one pleasant thing in your morning.”
Mrs. Bell arrived before Nina. She wore a navy dress, sensible shoes, and the expression of a woman entering her own funeral through the wrong door. A leather folder rested against her chest.
Anna stiffened when she saw her.
Mrs. Bell stopped several feet away. “I’m sorry you became ill.”
Anna’s mouth opened, then closed.
Victor said, “That isn’t an apology.”
“I didn’t intend it as one.”
Thomas looked between them. “Wow.”
Anna rubbed her thumb across the edge of the hospital bracelet. “Why did you call me three times yesterday?”
“You were late.”
“I told you I was at dialysis.”
“You told Lakeshore.”
“I told you.”
Mrs. Bell looked down at the folder. “Mr. Vale said the contract would be canceled if attendance problems continued.”
“Whose contract?”
“The household’s. He said Mr. Russo was dissatisfied with staffing.”
Anna turned toward Victor.
“I never discussed attendance with Dominic,” he said.
Mrs. Bell nodded once, as though confirming something to herself. “I suspected that.”
“Then why did you believe him?”
“Because he signs my checks.”
Victor frowned. “I sign your checks.”
“No,” she said. “Your name is printed on them.”
The distinction landed with more force than accusation.
Mrs. Bell placed the folder on the table. Inside were printed emails, schedules, warning notices, invoices, and handwritten notes in her precise script. She unlocked her phone and gave it to Leo.
“I did not delete anything,” she said.
May you like
“Why keep printed copies?” Anna asked.
Mrs. Bell adjusted the cuff of her dress. “Mr. Vale preferred telephone calls. I preferred remembering what he said.”
