Chapter 8
“I wouldn’t say well.”
“She came here.”
“Four times.”
I turned.
“Four?”
“Five, if you count last night.”
I said nothing.
Evelyn motioned toward the dining room.
“She preferred tea. You drink coffee, according to her.”
Something tightened behind my ribs.
Clara had talked about me here.
Evelyn placed a cup in front of me.
I did not touch it.
“Why did you contact her?”
“Because contacting your family directly had gotten me nowhere for almost twenty years.”
“You could have contacted me.”
“I did.”
“When?”
“Twice.”
I frowned.
“That’s not possible.”
She left the room and returned with a file.
Inside were copies of two letters.
One dated six years earlier.
Another four years earlier.
Both addressed to my office.
Both requesting a meeting regarding Lakefront Development.
I recognized the address.
My executive office downtown.
At the bottom of each letter was a red stamp.
REVIEWED – NO ACTION REQUIRED.
My mouth went dry.
“Who reviewed these?”
“I hoped you could tell me.”
Mateo stepped closer.
The initials beside the stamp were R.V.
My older uncle.
Raffaele Valente.
My father’s younger brother.
The man who had helped me take control of the family businesses after my father’s death.
The man who had taught me which accountants to trust, which properties to sell, which obligations belonged to the old generation and which should be left buried with it.
“Raffaele,” Mateo said quietly.
Evelyn watched me.
“Mrs. Valente recognized the initials.”
“Clara knew my uncle?”
“She met him many times, according to her.”
“Everyone has.”
“Then perhaps she knew enough to be cautious.”
The implication irritated me.
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
Evelyn took her seat across from me.
“She planned to.”
“When?”
“When she had facts instead of suspicions.”
I looked at the folders.
“What did she find?”
Evelyn was silent for a moment.
Then she opened a second file.
“My husband worked maintenance for Lakefront Development. Good man. Terrible businessman. He trusted paperwork if someone wore a tie while handing it to him.”
Her smile was brief and sad.
“One day, Daniel discovered his name listed as an authorized representative for Harbor Ridge Holdings. He’d never heard of Harbor Ridge.”
“What did he do?”
“He asked questions.”
“And?”
“He lost his job.”
I glanced at Mateo.
Evelyn continued.
“Nothing dramatic happened. Nobody came after us. Nobody threatened us. Daniel simply became a man companies stopped hiring.”
There was no accusation in her voice.