Chapter 10 - The Appointment
The false inspection report was good.
It used phrases from reports I had written.
It described conditions in the neighborhood.
It included photographs of a renovated building with bright windows and clean brickwork.
The building existed.
Harbor Renewal didn’t own it.
Paige confirmed that with the property records and the actual owner.
Whoever built the packet had done enough work to fool someone moving fast.
Someone trusting a familiar signature.
That had been the plan.
Make the documents look like mine.
Move the money through approvals my father would not question.
Then leave me holding the fraud if anything surfaced.
Richard sat back.
“She needed you discredited before an audit.”
“And Dad dependent before he asked questions.”
My phone rang.
Celeste.
I looked at Bennett, who had come to review the records.
She nodded for me to answer and put it on speaker.
“Evelyn.”
Her voice was soft.
Tired.
Almost reasonable.
“What do you want?”
“To stop this before your father gets hurt any more.”
“He’s in a hospital.”
“Because you frightened him.”
I watched Bennett write.
Celeste continued.
“I have documents you haven’t seen. Things Jonathan signed. Things that could damage the foundation.”
“Send them to Richard.”
“No.”
“Then send them to the police.”
A small laugh.
“You always need an audience.”
I said nothing.
“I’ll meet you tomorrow,” she said. “We’ll settle this privately.”
“Settle what?”
“You withdraw the accusations. I leave. Your father keeps his reputation.”
There it was.
Not grief.
Not love.
Terms.
“Where?”
She named a restaurant near the river.
“No lawyers,” she added. “No police.”
The line went dead.
Bennett closed her notebook.
“You’re not going alone.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
She considered me for a moment.
“Good. Because people who think they’ve lost control sometimes get reckless.”
My phone buzzed again.
A picture from Celeste.
A page from what looked like my father’s personal records.
Across the top was a heading about emergency financial authority.
Beneath it was a line naming me.
Then another message appeared.
Ask him what happened the night your mother died.
May you like
I read it three times.
Celeste had finally found a threat that didn’t involve money.
