Chương 5
“We’ll find one tomorrow.”
“I may lose my license.”
“You’re not licensed to be married to an asshole.”
“My accounting credentials.”
“I understood you.”
Mara closed her eyes.
She did not sleep. Each time a door opened in the hall, her body tightened before her mind caught up. At two in the morning, a nurse brought crackers and ginger ale. At three, Leah dozed in the chair with her mouth open. At four, Mara watched the dark window slowly acquire the gray reflection of the room.
Daniel had always disliked dawn. It made expensive houses look ordinary.
By morning, his attorneys had requested release on bond.
Victor’s legal team argued that he was sixty-three, had no criminal history, and posed no flight risk despite owning homes in four countries. Prosecutors sought detention based partly on the attempted overnight transfer of archived company files. Daniel’s lawyers claimed the transfer had been routine maintenance.
Ortiz called Mara before the hearing.
“We found a laptop in a pool-equipment cabinet,” she said.
Mara looked toward Leah, who was pouring hospital coffee into the sink.
“Whose?”
“We’re working on that.”
“Was it connected to the transfer?”
“Possibly.”
“Daniel hates the pool house. He says it smells like chlorine.”
“That’s useful only if he claims the laptop is his.”
“What about Victor?”
“He hates technology.”
Ortiz paused.
“Celeste’s attorney contacted us.”
“She has an attorney already?”
“People find attorneys quickly when federal agents take their phones.”
“What did she say?”
“Nothing yet.”
Mara rubbed the place beneath her collarbone where Daniel had hit her.
“Is she pregnant?”
“We’re not investigating her pregnancy.”
“Of course.”
Ortiz heard the irritation.
“Your concern is understandable. It’s also outside my warrant.”
Mara almost apologized, then did not.
“Did Daniel get bail?”
“The hearing is this afternoon.”
“Will he be allowed near me?”
“That will depend on the court’s conditions and the separate protective order your counsel should request.”
“I still don’t have counsel.”
“I sent Leah three names.”
Mara looked at her sister.
Leah raised the hospital cup.
“One called back,” she said. “Naomi Price. She can be here at eleven.”
Naomi arrived at eleven-ten wearing a navy dress, flat shoes, and no expression of awe at the private room. She was in her late forties and carried a leather bag softened by use. Her first act was to ask Leah to leave.
“My sister can stay,” Mara said.
Naomi remained standing.
“Then your sister may eventually become a witness to privileged conversations and be questioned about them. You can decide that risk after I explain it.”
Leah gathered her coat.
“I like her,” she told Mara.
When they were alone, Naomi pulled the visitor’s chair closer.
“Agent Ortiz gave me the broad outline,” she said. “She did not tell me privileged investigative details. I need your version, including the version that makes you look bad.”
Mara told her about the lender certificate.
Naomi listened without interrupting.
When Mara finished, the attorney asked, “What did you receive personally from that loan?”
“Nothing direct.”
“Indirectly?”
“The company refinanced debt. The stock value rose. Daniel’s trust distribution increased.”
“Did your household benefit?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know.”
“That answer has to improve.”
Mara felt heat climb her neck.
“I wasn’t responsible for his trust.”
“You were a forensic accountant married to a beneficiary of the company whose records you reviewed.”
“I kept separate finances.”
“Did you live at the estate?”
“Yes.”
“Did you fly on company aircraft?”
“Yes.”
“Did household staff receive salaries from an Ashford entity?”
“I think so.”
Naomi uncapped a pen.
“You’re allowed to dislike these questions. You’re not allowed to pretend they’re unfair.”
Mara looked at her.
“I thought you were my attorney.”
“I will be, if we agree on the terms. That means I protect your legal interests. It does not mean I help you maintain a flattering story.”
The bluntness should have offended Mara. Instead, it loosened something in her chest.
“What are the terms?” she asked.
Naomi named a retainer large enough to make Mara laugh once, without humor.
“My personal account is frozen,” Mara said.
“Why?”
“The government restrained several marital accounts pending review.”
“Do you have money outside them?”
“About thirty-eight thousand.”
“Any property in your name alone?”
“A condo in Baltimore that I rented out after the marriage.”
“Mortgage?”
“Small.”
“Then we begin with a smaller retainer, and you provide complete financial disclosure. We can discuss payment after I know whether your unrestrained assets are actually yours.”
Mara stared at the pen in Naomi’s hand.
“I could lose everything.”
“Yes.”
“My son could lose everything.”
“Your son may lose access to Ashford money. That is not the same as losing everything.”
Mara disliked her for that sentence.
She hired her anyway.
Daniel was released under strict conditions after surrendering his passport and agreeing to electronic monitoring. Victor was also released, though the judge prohibited both men from contacting potential witnesses or accessing Ashford systems.
A state judge issued a temporary protective order barring Daniel from contacting Mara or coming within a specified distance of her residence, workplace, or hospital.
By then, Mara no longer had a residence she could safely use.
The estate belonged to an Ashford trust. The Manhattan apartment had been purchased through a company under federal scrutiny. The beach house was Victor’s. Even Mara’s Baltimore condo had become complicated because rent payments passed through an account Daniel’s advisers managed.
Leah took her home.
Her house stood in a development outside Harrisburg where every third driveway contained a basketball hoop. The guest room had once been Leah’s office. It held a narrow bed, a bookcase full of science textbooks, and a lamp with a crooked shade. A neighbor’s dog barked whenever a delivery truck stopped.
Mara arrived wearing the ugly maternity dress from Target.
May you like
It was soft, comfortable, and patterned with small yellow flowers. She hated that Leah had been right about it.
For the first three days, reporters parked at the entrance to the development. One knocked on Leah’s door and asked whether Mara had orchestrated the raid as revenge for Daniel’s affair. Leah told him Mara was asleep, then took a photograph of his press badge and sent it to his editor with a complaint about trespassing.
