Chapter 14 - What a Mother Would Do
I took the call with Ruth beside me and Ortiz across the table.
Adrian stayed outside.
That was my choice.
Lucia appeared on a laptop in an attorney’s conference room.
No pearls this time.
No cream coat.
She looked older without them.
“How’s the baby?” she asked.
“Alive.”
Her mouth tightened.
“And you?”
“You sound disappointed.”
“Claire.”
“You arranged my delivery. You forged my signature. You put my daughter’s death in a chart before she was born.”
Lucia leaned toward the camera.
“You have no idea what I’ve prevented.”
“Then explain it.”
She looked offscreen.
Her attorney murmured something.
Lucia ignored him.
“Victor had people watching you. Once you became involved in the trust, he considered you a liability.”
“So you helped him.”
“I kept him under control.”
“Peter’s dead.”
Her eyes flickered.
There.
The first crack.
“Peter was not supposed to be in that car.”
Ruth’s pen stopped.
Ortiz didn’t move.
I kept my voice level with everything I had.
“Who was?”
Lucia said nothing.
“Adrian?”
“He was going to destroy everything his father built.”
“By changing a trustee?”
“By handing our business to outsiders. By listening to people who don’t understand this family.”
“People like me.”
“You made him careless.”
I thought of Adrian on his knees.
Of the phone calls he never received.
Of trash bags outside my door.
“No. He made his choices. You made yours.”
“You think he’s innocent?”
“No.”
That stopped her.
“I’m not saving him from what he did.”
For the first time, she seemed unable to find the conversation she’d expected.
“I’m saving my daughter from what you planned.”
Lucia’s attorney touched her arm.
She shook him off.
“You can’t keep her from us.”
I leaned closer.
“Watch me.”
She lost her temper then.
Only for a second.
“I should have insisted they finish it six months ago.”
The room went silent.
Lucia froze.
Her attorney stood.
“We’re ending this call.”
The screen went black.
I stared at my reflection in it.
Six months ago.
Before I knew I was pregnant.
Before the divorce papers.
Before the night I’d nearly driven into a concrete barrier because my brakes hadn’t answered the first time I pressed them.
I’d paid a mechanic.
He’d called it wear.
I looked at Ortiz.
“My car.”
Her expression changed.
“What about your car?”
My hands began to shake.
“They tried before.”
Outside, Adrian saw my face through the glass.
He reached for the door.
Before he could enter, two federal agents stepped into the hallway.
May you like
One of them showed him a badge.
The other carried handcuffs.
