Chương 12
Something elegant.
Something she would remember for years.
Instead Oliver hiccupped against me.
I opened my eyes.
"I don't know what to do with that right now."
"Okay."
"I'm not saying it's fine."
"I know."
"I'm saying I can't do this conversation today."
"I understand."
"Do you?"
A pause.
"No."
That was the first answer from her that felt completely honest.
I looked toward Julian.
He stared down at Leo.
He did not defend her.
He did not defend himself.
Sienna said, "I should go."
Naomi replied, "Preserve everything first."
Then the call ended.
The room changed without her voice in it.
It felt smaller.
My mother brought me a bowl of chicken soup and set it on the coffee table.
"Eat."
"I'm holding a baby."
"No."
She looked at me.
"Claire."
"I'm okay."
"You haven't eaten."
"I said I'm okay."
The irritation came out sharper than I intended.
My mother went still.
Guilt followed immediately.
"I'm sorry."
She shook her head.
"No, you're not."
I almost smiled.
"Not yet."
"Better."
Julian looked at the soup.
"I can hold Oliver."
I stared at him.
"I already have Leo."
"Which means you have experience."
My mother snorted.
Julian looked offended.
"I have two sons."
"You've held them for a cumulative fifteen minutes."
"Twenty."
I handed Oliver to my mother instead.
Julian watched the choice.
He did not comment.
I ate three spoonfuls.
The soup was too salty.
I told my mother.
She told me pregnancy had ruined my taste buds.
I told her I was no longer pregnant.
She said motherhood counted.
Julian listened to us argue about sodium while holding Leo.
The absurdity of it made me tired.
Outside, someone started a leaf blower even though there were barely any leaves.
The noise droned through the windows.
Life had the bad manners to continue.
My phone rang again.
This time it was Marcus Bell.
I answered.
"Marcus."
"Are you somewhere private?"
I looked at Julian.
"No."
"Can you be?"
My stomach tightened.
"Yes."
I handed my soup back to my mother and stood carefully.
Pain pulled across my abdomen.
Julian noticed.
"Do you need help?"
"No."
I walked into the downstairs guest room and shut the door.
"I can talk."
Marcus took a breath.
"Something accelerated this morning."
"What?"
"A bank compliance officer flagged multiple attempted account changes connected to Bellmere."
"The eight hundred forty thousand?"
"That's part of it."
I sat on the edge of the bed.
"What else?"
"Someone tried to remove an authorized signatory."
My fingers tightened around the phone.
"Who?"
"You."
I stared at the closed door.
"I didn't know I was an authorized signatory until twenty minutes ago."
"That may be why the request was flagged."
"When did they try?"
"This morning."
"What time?"
"Eight forty-seven."
Before Julian arrived.
Before Richard entered my house.
Before anyone knew Sienna had moved the money.
"Who submitted it?"
Marcus was quiet.
"We're still verifying."
"Marcus."
"I don't want to give you a name based on incomplete information."
"Do you have a name?"
"Yes."
I closed my eyes.
"Is it Richard?"
"No."
That surprised me enough that I stood again.
"Then who?"
"The request was submitted using Julian's credentials."
For a second, I could not hear anything except the leaf blower outside.
I looked toward the door.
Julian was in my living room holding our son.
"Could someone else use his credentials?"
"Absolutely."
"Do you know whether he did it?"
"No."
"Does he?"
"I don't know."
I pressed my fingers against my forehead.
"What am I supposed to do?"
"Nothing with the account."
"Naomi said the same."
"Good."
"Is there more?"
Another pause.
"Yes."
My stomach dropped.
Marcus lowered his voice.
"The bank preserved the original authorization documents."
I sat down again.
"Okay."
"Claire, your signature is on them."
"I didn't sign them."
"I haven't said you did."
"What year?"
"Three years ago."
My throat tightened.
Three years ago.
Before the twins.
Before Sienna.
Before Bellmere meant anything to me.
Marcus continued.
"There are two witnesses listed."
"Who?"
"Martin Hale."
I waited.
"And?"
He hesitated.
"Richard Vance."
I stared at the wall.
A framed print hung above the guest bed, something abstract Julian had chosen because the designer said the room needed blue.
My voice sounded far away.
"That doesn't prove they forged anything."
"No."
Marcus sounded almost relieved that I said it first.
"It proves your name was attached to Bellmere long before you knew Bellmere existed."
I looked toward the door again.
"Why would they need me?"
"That is exactly what investigators are trying to determine."
A floorboard creaked in the hall.
Then Julian knocked softly.
"Claire?"
I said nothing.
He knocked again.
"Leo needs changing and your mother says I'm doing it."
For one ridiculous second, I wanted to laugh.
Marcus heard him.
"Is Julian there?"
"Yes."
"Don't discuss the signatory issue with him yet."
"Why?"
"Because we need to know whether the login this morning was actually his."
I looked at the door.
Julian knocked a third time.
"Claire, I think he pooped through this thing."
Despite everything, a laugh escaped me.
A real one.
Short and helpless.
Marcus went silent.
Then he said, "I assume that's not about Bellmere."
"No."
I wiped my eyes.
"No, it is definitely not."
"Good."
I stood.
"Call Naomi."
"Marcus?"
"Yes."
"If someone used my name three years ago, before any of this started, then this wasn't a reaction to me finding the accounts."
"No."
"What was it?"
His answer came quietly.
"That's the question that just became much bigger."
I stood with my hand on the guest-room doorknob long enough for Julian to knock again.
"Claire?"
I opened the door.
He was holding Leo at arm's length with the expression of a man defusing something unstable.
A yellow stain had spread across the back of the baby's sleeper.
My mother stood behind him, openly enjoying herself.
"I told him not to lift him like a football," she said.
Julian frowned.
May you like
"I'm not lifting him like a football."
"You are absolutely lifting him like a football."
