Chương 6
Then the company announced layoffs in a division that had already been struggling.
Julian’s supporters blamed Elisa.
One evening, someone spray-painted LIAR across the gate of Camille’s building.
Camille found it first.
She took a photograph for the police, then tried to scrub the paint away with dish soap before Elisa came downstairs. The red letters spread into a pink film across the metal.
“You should have waited,” Elisa said.
“I didn’t want the landlord to see.”
“He’s going to see.”
“He complains when I leave recycling near the wrong bin. This is more noticeable.”
Elisa took the sponge from her.
Together they cleaned until the word became a red shadow.
A patrol officer arrived, looked at the photograph, took their information, and asked whether Elisa had received direct threats. She had. Most came from accounts without names. Mae’s office had been preserving them.
The officer advised them to vary routines and report anything specific.
After he left, Camille said, “That’s it?”
“That’s what there is.”
“You’re very calm.”
“I’m not calm.”
“You look calm.”
“I’ve looked calm in emergency rooms.”
Camille dropped the stained sponge into a bucket. “Do you ever get tired of being the person who can handle things?”
Elisa stared at the water, now the color of weak fruit punch.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“Why is that good?”
“Because sometimes you make the rest of us feel badly designed.”
Elisa almost snapped back. Instead she leaned against the gate and laughed once.
Camille joined her, though nothing was funny.
Nora called three days later.
Mae had advised Elisa not to answer unknown numbers, so the call went to voicemail.
Nora’s voice was quieter than Elisa remembered.
“I need to talk to you. Not through Julian. Not through lawyers, if that’s possible. I found something with my name on it. I didn’t know what it was when I signed. I know how that sounds. Call me, or don’t. I just—please listen before you decide.”
Mae wanted Nora’s attorney involved. Nora claimed she did not have one. Mae told her to get one.
Two days passed.
Then Nora appeared outside Mae’s office with a banker’s box.
She had replaced the ivory pantsuit with jeans, a camel coat, and flat shoes. Without the carefully finished styling Elisa associated with charity dinners and hotel openings, Nora looked younger from a distance and older up close. She wore no jewelry except small gold hoops.
The receptionist called security.
Elisa, watching from the conference room, said, “Let her in.”
Mae said, “No.”
“She brought documents.”
“She may have brought a device, a recording, or a legal disaster.”
“She looks terrified.”
“Terrified people create legal disasters every day.”
Nora sat in the reception area with both hands on the box. She did not look toward the glass conference-room wall, though she must have known Elisa was behind it.
Elisa said, “You can be here.”
Mae frowned. “That is not how representation works.”
“Then represent me while I talk to her.”
After twenty minutes of argument, Nora agreed to wait until a lawyer Mae contacted could arrive. The lawyer, Sandra Cho, specialized in white-collar investigations and wore running shoes with her suit because she had come directly from another courthouse.
Once everyone was seated, Nora pushed the banker’s box toward the center of the table.
“I didn’t open everything,” she said.
Sandra held up a hand. “We need to be precise about what these are, where they came from, and whether you have authority to possess them.”
Nora nodded too quickly.
The box contained statements from an account at a regional bank, corporate formation papers, insurance documents, and copies of property records. Several entities listed Nora as a manager or beneficial owner. One had received nearly six million dollars over three years.
Nora looked at Elisa. “I thought it was a development fund.”
“What development?”
“A wellness resort in Arizona.”
Camille, who had insisted on coming and had been instructed not to speak, made a small sound.
Nora’s face tightened. “I know.”
Elisa opened one of the folders without touching the documents inside. “Did you invest money?”
“Some.”
“How much?”
“Two hundred thousand.”
“And you received six million.”
“I didn’t receive it personally.”
“Your name is on the account.”
“Julian controlled it.”
“That’s what he says about my accounts.”
Nora looked down.
Sandra intervened. “My client is trying to determine her own exposure.”
“Your client slept with my husband for four years,” Elisa said.
Mae said her name softly.
“No,” Nora replied. “Five.”
The correction silenced the room.
Nora’s eyes shone, but her voice remained steady. “It was five years. I’m not going to begin by lying about the easy part.”
Elisa sat back.
She had expected an apology, perhaps an excuse. Nora’s bluntness felt almost indecent.
“When did it start?” Elisa asked.
Sandra glanced at Mae. Neither stopped her.
“After the Denver opening,” Nora said.
Elisa remembered that week. She had been recovering from shoulder surgery. Julian claimed he needed to remain in Denver because contractors had missed deadlines. He sent flowers from the hotel gift shop. White lilies, which Elisa disliked.
Nora continued. “He told me you were separated privately. That you remained together for the company.”
“And you believed him.”
“At first.”
“And after?”
Nora twisted a tissue around one finger. “After, I believed what let me continue.”
It was the first honest thing Elisa had heard about an affair from anyone.
“Did you ever see him hurt me?” Elisa asked.
“No.”
“Did you suspect?”
Nora’s answer took too long.
“I saw bruises once,” she said. “At the Hamptons house. You were wearing a swimsuit and a cover-up. Julian said you’d fallen in the bathroom.”
“I did fall in the bathroom.”
Relief flickered across Nora’s face.
“Because he shoved me.”
The relief vanished.
May you like
Elisa had not planned to say it. The memory arrived with the smell of sunscreen and wet cedar. Julian’s palm against her shoulder. The edge of the bathtub. Nora outside by the pool, laughing with guests.
Nora pressed the tissue flat on the table.
