Chapter 12 - THE LETTER SHE NEVER SENT
The photograph made me wonder what else Rosa had meant to tell me. Maria knew only that they had stayed friends for decades, mostly through phone calls and holiday cards. Rosa had asked her to keep their connection quiet once she began questioning Bellini’s accounts.
Back at the apartment, I searched the filing box again. Tucked into a birthday card was an unmailed letter addressed to me.
Rosa had written about the clinic. She had found false charges and had helped patients challenge their bills. She said she was proud of my nursing studies, but feared I might blame myself for leaving school to care for her.
You gave me more than I could ever ask of you, Sophie. When this is over, please finish what you started because you want to, not because you think you owe me.
I read that line until the words blurred.
The rest of the letter named Dr. Vale. Rosa believed Vale had approved the charges to keep the clinic open through a financial crisis. Bellini had then used the same system to move donor money through Harbor Bridge. At some point, the theft had grown far beyond either of them.
Park confirmed part of it through the ledgers. Vale had signed off on the first false entries. Bellini had taken control of Harbor Bridge a year later.
Vale’s attorney contacted Park that afternoon. Vale was willing to talk, but she wanted protection before making a formal statement. Park set the interview for the next morning.
That night, Antonio called.
“Bellini contacted me again,” he said. “He knows Vale plans to cooperate.”
“Tell Park.”
“I did.”
“You sound like you’re going somewhere.”
“I’m at my mother’s.”
Maria took the phone from him. “He is. I made him dinner and took his car keys.”
I smiled despite myself. “Good.”
Then Maria said, “Sophie, there’s another thing. Rosa left me the envelope weeks before she died. It contained more than the account number.”
“What else?”
“A list of names. I only saw the first page before someone took it at Bellarosa.”
“Whose names?”
“Patients,” she said. “And beneath them, people who were paid to turn them away.”
May you like
The next morning, before Vale’s interview, Park called me.
Vale had failed to arrive. Her attorney couldn’t reach her.
