Chapter 4 - RENT
Maria reached for her daughter.
“Emma, enough.”
Ruiz stayed where she was.
“She isn’t in trouble.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then help me.”
Maria looked toward Adrian.
For five years, she had kept her eyes down in Vincent’s house.
Now Vincent understood that quiet wasn’t always respect.
Sometimes it was practice.
Adrian gave a tired smile.
“The company owns her building. I handle some of the properties.”
“You collect rent in cash?” Ruiz asked.
“Occasionally.”
“Personally?”
“When tenants need flexibility.”
Maria’s laugh came out broken.
“Flexibility.”
Adrian’s face hardened.
Vincent pulled out a chair.
“Sit down, Maria.”
This time, she did.
“Owen found something in the accounts,” she said. “Before he died. He wouldn’t tell me what. Just that money was moving through empty apartments.”
Adrian started to speak.
Ruiz raised a hand.
“Let her finish.”
“After the funeral, Mr. Adrian came over. He said Owen had stolen company funds. He said there were documents.”
“Were there?”
“He showed me copies. Owen’s signature.”
Vincent felt heat rise behind his eyes.
“What did he want?”
“He said I could work off part of it. And pay the rest.”
“For five years?”
Maria nodded.
Vincent looked at his brother.
Adrian spread his hands.
“She was frightened. I gave her a job.”
“I gave her a job.”
“Through me.”
Ruiz asked how much Maria had paid.
“Sometimes three hundred. Sometimes five. When I couldn’t, he added it to what I owed.”
“Do you have records?”
“At home.”
Celia shifted near the window.
Maria noticed.
“There were supposed to be no police,” she said.
Ruiz’s eyes sharpened.
“Who said that?”
Maria pressed her lips together.
Vincent could almost see the old threat settle over her.
Lose the apartment.
Lose the job.
Lose the child.
He took his phone out and called his attorney, Nora Bell.
“I need independent counsel for Maria Carter. Today. I’ll pay. She chooses whether to use them.”
Adrian caught his arm.
“Can we speak privately?”
Vincent looked down at his brother’s hand until he removed it.
“No.”
Ruiz’s phone rang.
She listened, then stepped into the hall.
When she returned, her expression had changed.
“An anonymous report came in before your emergency call.”
“What kind of report?” Vincent asked.
“Someone said there was evidence of a financial crime in your study.”
Adrian looked at the floor.
May you like
Ruiz continued.
“And that you were planning to make sure Maria Carter never talked.”
