Chương 13 - Noon at the Shop
It was 7:12 a.m.
The property transfer was scheduled for noon.
So was a visit from a building enforcement contractor at my mother’s shop.
Adrian had signed both sets of documents.
My mother stared at the notice on her phone.
“They’re saying the building is unsafe.”
“Is it?” Hannah asked.
“No.
We passed inspection in June.”
Nora had the inspection certificate in a drawer.
My mother kept everything.
Receipts.
Buttons.
Letters that hurt to open.
This time, keeping things helped.
Hannah contacted the city office listed on the notice.
The official order number belonged to a different property.
The contractor’s letter had copied it.
Then she called a federal investigator she had worked with on a financial fraud case.
She described the recordings, the old insurance claim, the threats, and the pending transfer.
The investigator asked for copies and sworn accounts.
No dramatic promise.
No instant raid.
Just specific questions that made the evidence feel solid beneath my feet.
Luca’s directors agreed to suspend the transfer after Hannah sent the preserved documents.
Adrian responded within minutes.
He claimed the material had been fabricated by a disgruntled employee.
Me.
Then a photograph appeared online.
I was holding the engagement chair.
The caption said I had attempted to extort Luca Moretti after being caught stealing.
My phone filled with messages.
A cousin asked if it was true.
A former coworker told me to call her.
Someone I didn’t know wrote that people like me always wanted easy money.
I turned the phone face down.
My mother reached for it.
“Don’t read them,” I said.
“I wasn’t going to.”
She took a photograph of the screen.
“For Hannah.”
I almost smiled.
At 9:30, we went to the shop.
Hannah arranged for investigators to observe nearby while they reviewed the evidence.
Luca remained at the mansion.
His presence would turn the meeting into something Adrian could use.
I took a copy of the notebook.
The original stayed with Hannah.
My mother unlocked the front door.
The shop smelled like steam, fabric, and coffee.
Normal things.
Things worth protecting.
At 10:06, Vanessa called.
“Adrian changed the meeting.”
“To where?”
“He says the shop has cameras.”
“It has always had cameras.”
“He wants you at the loading entrance behind the building.”
“No.”
“He says you won’t get your father’s final recording otherwise.”
I looked at the photograph of Dad above the counter.
“Tell him to come through the front door.”
Vanessa went quiet.
Then she whispered, “Grace, there’s something I didn’t tell you.”
May you like
Behind her, a man said:
“Give me the phone, Vanessa.”
